USA > California > History of California, Volume V > Part 18
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The details of California climate are presented elsewhere in this publication, hence need not be men- tioned in this chapter further than as applied specifically to crop production. Much has been written of Cali- fornia climate, and by many writers, and while it is widely known in a general way, its highest and best interpretation is exhibited in the marvelous range of the products of the soil. There is no other country or principality on the globe where can be found growing all the varied products which characterize this wonder- ful state. Why this is true has never been satisfactorily explained, but the fact cannot be disputed. It is not due to temperature alone for the seasons are propitious in Italy and Spain, yet the results attained here are not possible there; it is not due to soil alone, for other countries have rich soils; it is not due to the recurrence of a wet and a dry season-a period of rain and a rainless period-for this peculiarity is found in
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the Mediterranean basin; nor is it any known pecul- iarity of the atmosphere. Yet in a most happy union of all these, together with a wonderful variety in topography, there is an alchemy of nature which has made California productions phenomenal. The same wonderful range of field crops and fruits, attesting climatic and soil peculiarities not found in other states, are found in the extremity of the Sacramento valley as are found in the extreme southern part of the state. Latitude here cuts but little figure; elsewhere it marks the zones of heat and cold. Here these zones are marked by altitude and not latitude, and the isotherms, in general, run north and south instead of east and west.
The climate of California has usually been set forth as an attraction for tourists, but one cannot live on climate alone; it is, most of all, an agricultural resource of incalculable value by the influence of which the inhabitants are able to diversify and increase the number of products. It is a resource of cash value because man's labor can be turned to profit every day in the year. Every day is a growing day in California; in the field, orchard, garden, on the stock farm and in the dairy, every day is one of productive labor.
Then, too, climate means variety of production. The whole gamut of vegetable life is run here. The whole range of productions from the hardy crops of the New England states to the rice and cotton of the southern states; the wheat of Minnesota or the oranges of Florida; the apples of Michigan or the lemons of Sicily ; the peaches of New Jersey or the olives of Spain; the corn of Kansas or the melons of Persia; the barley of Russia or the vines of France; the potatoes of Ireland
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or the peanuts of Georgia; the sugar beets of Germany or the figs of Smyrna; all bespeak the wonderful cash value of California's range of climate and soil. They work for the farmer and not against him in crop production.
Still not every place in California is adapted to the entire range of crops; selection of locality on the basis of both climate and soil must be made with reference to the particular crops one desires to grow. Somewhere in the great state, however, with a range of climatic conditions associated with a latitude of 33 at an altitude of 270 feet below sea level, to a latitude of 24 with an elevation of 14,339 feet, can be grown the entire range of products mentioned above, and practically all crops except those which characterize solely the strictly tropical portions of the world. Climatically, then it may be well claimed that Cali- fornia is not only unique, but is wonderfully favored for productive labor of man.
The favoring characteristics of California climate find their fitting complement in the adaptability of her soils to a very wide range of field crop production, and to the perfect development of fruit bearing tree, vine and nut. In their wonderful variety, and con- sequent range of special adaptation, even within narrow limits of area, the soils resemble very strikingly the climates. On account of this wide range of both climate and soil the secret of success in producing crops most abundantly and cheaply depends very much upon close attention being paid to the choice of specially adapted locations for the desired crops. Over climate we can exercise little or no control. Either the plant
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must be adapted to suit the climate, or its production is limited only to those regions where a natural climate is found to which the plant is suited. Soil environment, however, is subject to modification in a very large degree, and in permanent crops errors in soil situations are much more easily remedied than mistakes in suitability of climate. Many mistakes have been made in California from the fundamentally wrong idea that any crop would grow anywhere, an idea fostered by certain promoters, whose optimism takes on as wonderful a growth under this climate as do the crops when grown under suitable conditions. As a matter of fact, notwithstanding the wide range of adaptability in the state generally, a most careful selection of both climatic and soil situations, as well as water supply, must be made if one meets with the most abundant success.
The grand divisions which constitute the arable areas of the state are determined by the topography of the country. The Sierra Nevada forms a natural boundary on the east. The Coast range mountains form a broad belt traversing the entire coast, and consist of a number of parallel ranges between which are many small and rich valleys, some of large extent. The Coast range mountains merge into the Siskiyou mountains on the north, a connecting link with the Sierra Nevada, and the Tehachapi mountains, which form another connecting link at about two-thirds the length of the state from north to south. Thus is formed superior California north of the Tehachapi mountains and southern California on the south.
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Between the Sierra Nevada and the Coast range, and their connecting links, lies the Great Valley of central California, about four hundred miles long and from fifty to sixty miles wide; an agricultural area of great productiveness and comprising more than one- ninth of the entire state. The Sacramento river, rising in the extreme north of this valley, runs through the northern portion of it, which is known as the Sacra- mento valley; the San Joaquin river runs northward through the southern portion, known as the San Joaquin valley. The two rivers unite near the middle of the Great Valley and flow westward into San Francisco Bay.
South of the Tehachapi mountains the Sierra Nevada continues at a less elevation, and is locally known as the Sierra Madre. The region known as southern California lies west of these mountains, while on the east is still the Mohave region, and on the extreme south the Colorado basin region, both of which are included in the grand division of southern California.
If we except the region in the extreme north-western portion of the state-the region extending northward from the bay region of San Francisco-where the conditions of rainfall approximate more nearly those of the humid states, the soils of California have been formed under the conditions which characterize those of all regions with scanty rainfall, and as a result they present some very distinct differences from those of the humid regions. Soil is formed by a complex process, broadly known as weathering, from the rocks which constitute the earth's crust, and as a matter of fact, is only pulverized and altered rock intermingled
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with such organic matter as may have grown and decayed upon it. Two distinct classes of forces are active in soil formation: physical and chemical. The physical agencies merely cause pulverization of the rock; the chemical so thoroughly change the essential nature of the soil particles that they are no longer like the parent rock. The resultant action of all the chief physical soil-forming agencies is more vigorous in regions of limited rainfall than in the humid regions, and the resulting rock powder formed by these physical agencies is constantly, and not intermittently, being acted upon by other agencies which change its chemical composition. While the physical agencies of soil formation are the most active in the semi-arid regions the same does not hold for the chemical agencies. As a matter of fact, the process of soil formation, whether in semi-arid or humid regions is essentially that of the "fallow," or so-called resting period, given to dry-farmed land. The fallow lasts for a few months or a year, while soil formation is always going on and has gone on for ages, and the result in quality, though not in quantity, is the same as in the fallow-the rock particles are pulverized and plant foods are liberated. The net result of the action of these agencies is the formation of a rock powder containing a great variety of sizes of soil grains intermingled with clay. The larger grains are called sand; the smaller silt, and those so extremely fine that they do not settle from standing water within twenty-four hours are known as clay. In the formation of clay, water is the most active agent, and under humid conditions its formation is most rapid.
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Soils formed under semi-arid conditions thus contain less clay than those of humid regions, and we find loams, or even sands, predominating rather than the heavy clays of the southern and eastern states. But even here we must make a careful distinction between the sands produced under humid conditions and those formed under such conditions as exist in California, for here it is found that even the apparently barren sands are extremely fertile when supplied by irrigation with the necessary moisture. Here the descriptive term sand does not bear the same relation to fertility as in the humid states. There the term refers to quartz sand which is incapable of forming clay under the weathering agencies; here, the sand is not simply siliceous, but consists largely of comminuted portions of granitic and eruptive rocks, with an admixture of the ancient schists which cover the flanks of the Sierras, which under humid conditions would have formed clays instead of sands. Thus we find that even the desert-like sands are rich in plant food in California and produce excellent crops whenever water is applied to them. Some of the most productive orchards and vineyards of the state are upon what would appear to our eastern brothers most unpromising barren sands.
Again the humus content forms another interesting and important difference between California and east- ern soils. In humid regions the native plants cover the ground thickly and form a thick mass of humus- forming material. Under semi-arid conditions they are bunched scantily over the surface and form a limited mass of humus material. The prevailing forces in countries of low rainfall tend to yield soils
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low in humus, and California is no exception to this fact. The classic investigations of Dr. E. W. Hilgard, however, have shown a most important difference in the humus composition in the arid as compared with that of the humid regions, viz: that the humus formed under the former conditions carries three and one-half times as much nitrogen as does that formed under the latter conditions, which is a most important matter when considering the relative fertility of such soils. Owing to the more sandy nature of these soils as already indicated, the high percentage of humus is not so much needed in California soils to maintain them in good tilth as in the case of the more clayey soils of the more humid climates. Since the nitrogen content, from the standpoint of intrinsic fertility, is the most important quality of the humus, the smaller quantity of humus is not so important as would at first appear, a fact which is abundantly borne out in experience.
One of the most distinct differences between the soils of California and those of the eastern states lies in the lack of any clear line of demarcation between soil and sub-soil. There is no true sub-soil in Cali- fornia lands, in the sense that it is known in the eastern states, and here again the peculiar conditions under which California soils have been formed is evidently to their advantage.
In the regions of the eastern states the sub-soil has been profoundly modified by the actions of the heavy rainfall, which, in soaking through the soil has carried with it the finest of the soil grains, especially the clay, into the lower soil layers, thus making the
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sub-soil more distinctly clayey than the top soil. The final result of this together with the carrying down of lime and other soil components by the rains has been the formation of a subsoil of the fine clay particles which is so compact as to render it difficult for roots and even air to penetrate it. Normal weathering, then, goes on most actively in the top soil and the subsoil remains raw and unweathered, so that when turned up a normal state of fertility is reached only after several years of exposure to the elements. Hence the prevalent idea that to turn up the undersoil and expect to secure a profitable crop the first year is a fundamentally wrong procedure. In the semi-arid regions, the light rainfall seldom fills the soil so completely full of mois- ture to any great depth as to effectually exclude the air, or to carry downward any large amount of the fine clay particles, or remove serious amounts of lime. Thus the top soil and the undersoil are left in essentially the same degree of porosity. The soil remains deep, the air moves through it freely, and all forms of plant life root deeply. Thus California soils are weathered and suitable for plant nutrition to very great depths. There is little or no distinction between soil and subsoil and the California farmer need give little attention to the danger from plowing his lands deep, which is evidenced repeatedly by the impunity with which the California farmer proceeds to scrape off the top of his soil and dump it in the low places in the levelling of his land for alfalfa under irrigation. As compared with the same acreage it is as though there were three or four farms, one above the other.
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Again, a difference is found in that the leaching action of rains, which is often great in the eastern states, practically causes no loss of material useful as plant foods, for the top water seldom gets into the general underground drainage, and thus the plant foods are held more abundantly for plant use. The effect of this very limited leaching is further shown in the higher lime content of the California soils, and as Hilgard has well said, "they are naturally marled," making their plant food very available and easily obtained by plants.
To sum up the chief characteristics, then: California soils, on account of their condition of formation carry less clay than those of humid regions; the sand which takes its place is fertile because it consists of particles of many kinds of the parent rock instead of being essentially siliceous sand; they carry less humus, but of higher quality, because its nitrogen content is higher; they carry more lime which renders the plant foods more available and improves wonderfully their texture; they are more uniform in structure, are more permeable and deeper; they have subsoils as fertile as the topsoil. In ease of handling, productivity, certainty of crop- lasting quality, they far surpass the soils of the coun- tries where scientific agriculture was founded, and confound many of the theories and methods developed under such conditions.
Any attempt to scientifically classify, or even describe in detail all the soil types of California in their wonderful variety would lead far beyond the limits of this chapter, and a limit must be set by discussing only the most general types which characterize the great agricultural areas of the state.
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The Alluvial Loams. These loams exist along the courses of the existing streams, and extend back from the stream channel to variable distances until they finally merge into the loams of the valley plain, or the adobes. These alluvial loams have been built up by deposits from the streams, and in their natural condition represent the highest type of an all-around soil. They consist of fine alluvium, with seldom any admixture of coarse material. They are naturally very deep, but as they approach the valley plains become more shallow and gradually merge into the soils which characterize that area. These soils are naturally well drained, but very retentive of moisture, and for the most part are farmed to high-class products without irrigation.
Important areas of this class of soil are found along all the important streams of northern California, particularly in the region of San Jacinto, Hamilton, Colusa, and Chico, where they are being extensively farmed to sugar beets, alfalfa, corn, and garden crops, as well as hops, prunes, pears, to all of which they are particularly well adapted.
In the San Joaquin portion of the Great Valley the alluvial loams are also an important class, and are found notably in the valleys of the streams crossing the eastern side of the valley, as well as about the borders of Tulare Lake. Here the type takes on a brownish to black color, varies in texture from heavy to light, but is always easily tilled and exceedingly fertile. The noted soils of the Mussel slough region and the country about Fresno are of this general type.
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Their extreme fertility, excellent texture, retentiveness of moisture, and ease of cultivation class them among the most highly productive soils of the world.
The coast valleys also present important areas of this class, among which may be mentioned the impor- tant and highly developed fruit sections extending from Oakland southward nearly one hundred miles, including the Alameda and Santa Clara valleys. It is mainly to this class of soil that this noted region owes its preëminence in fruit production.
The Loams of the Valley Plains. Broadly speaking, in the northern division of the Sacramento valley the soils are prevalently loams, a type of soil consisting of an admixture of clay with enough coarse material to secure permeability to air and water, give ease of cultivation, deep root penetration and free drainage of surplus water. These loams are more or less heavy, according to the proportion of clay commingled with the sand or coarse material. Interspersed between these main loam areas are tracts of heavy clay, locally known as "adobe," which is often the exact counter- part of the prairie soils of the Mississippi valley.
In the southern portion of the great central valley, the San Joaquin valley, the soils are of a decidedly different character, being much lighter in texture owing to a much larger admixture of sand, and fre- quently are distinctly sandy soils, but seldom to such an extent as to render them sterile when supplied with irrigation water. Even in the case of the heavier soils, called "adobe" by contrast, although not strictly such, they take on a lighter character and would elsewhere be classed as medium clay loams.
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In the matter of intrinsic fertility it would be difficult, if not impossible to decide between the two divisions; for while the heavier soils of the northern portion of the Great Valley are usually richer in plant food, and thus more lasting, the generally greater depth of the lighter soils of the San Joaquin valley, seems to compensate in a measure for their lower percentage of plant food. This is further true since the descriptive term sand does not bear the same relation to fertility in an arid region as it does in the humid states of the east, as already explained in earlier portions of this chapter. Here the sand is not simply siliceous, but consists largely of comminuted portions of granitic and eruptive rocks, with an admixture of the ancient schists which cover the flanks of the Sierras, to which material we have also added the marly residuum from the underlying material of the rolling plateau lands which commonly border the foothills of the valley side. This commingling of materials forms a more or less sandy soil, but one which is intrinsically fertile and one whose plant food is in an unusually available form owing to the presence of a high per- centage of lime. The only factor which appears necessary to make any of these sandy soils very pro- ductive is an adequate quantity of water for irrigation.
On the east side of the Sacramento valley low ridges and swales at right angles to the river's course come in from the foothills, forming a gently undulating plain with a general fall of fifteen to twenty feet to the mile, often extending clear to the river's edge. The soils on this side of the river nearly all have a distinctly reddish tinge, showing intermixture of the red foothill
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soil with the valley deposits. The soils of the extreme northern portion of the Sacramento valley, north of Stony creek, are usually of a reddish color and of a more or less gravelly nature. It is devoted very largely to grain production, with here and there suc- cessful orchards of deciduous fruits. Gradually, how- ever, as irrigation water is made available either from gravity or from an underground supply by pumping, it is being developed to alfalfa and a wide variety of other crops with marked success. South of Stony creek the valley is quite level and the soils consist principally of silty or sandy loams, especially bordering the strictly bottom lands along the rivers and streams.
Immediately adjoining this body of silty loam is found a variation of the type, locally known as Gridley loam, a more or less sandy loam soil of reddish color, underlaid at a depth of two to six feet by a dark reddish clay loam, and occasionally by a gray, calcareous hardpan at a depth of about six feet. Taken as a whole this type appears as an extensive level plain, and where other soils intervene between this type and the river there is a well defined terrace noticeable. This type is largely of sedimentary origin, though altered somewhat by the action of the Feather river. Alkali is not found in this soil and it is well supplied with all the mineral elements of plant food, though sometimes deficient in humus. Almost the entire area of this soil has been highly developed to a wide range of field crops and fruit. Peaches have proven very remunerative on a large portion of the area, but find their highest develop- ment on the lighter phases. Pears, apples, apricots, figs, olives and prunes have also proven profitable
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crops, although apricots do not give as good results as in some other sections. On the heavier phases of this soil in the Sacramento valley the noted Thompson Seedless grape reaches its highest perfection, and the Tokay, Mission, and Zinfandel do well. Where there is sufficient moisture, alfalfa, cow peas, beans, corn, and potatoes are well adapted.
A marked agricultural change in the Sacramento valley is taking place at the present time on this soil. The large individual holdings which have prevented the highest development of agriculture are being sold in small tracts, water both from gravity supply and pump- ing, is being developed for irrigation and there is a rapid increase in the acreage planted to the more intensive crops.
The loams of the valley plains about Fresno and Tulare have been the scene of some of the highest development to fruit in the world. In this region the general character of these soils is lighter than in the Sacramento valley, as already pointed out, and with a much less rainfall, irrigation has been more extensively developed than farther north. On account of the limited precipitation the region represented by these soils in the San Joaquin valley in its pristine condition appeared almost desert-like in lack of vegetation, yet wonderful transformation has been brought about through the magic touch of irrigation and is represented by the exceptional quickness of growth, early bearing, and lavish production of tree, vine, and field crops in general. There is a wide variation in the surface appearance of these lands throughout the San Joaquin valley, and they are locally known as "reddish loams,"
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"white ash," and "sand hill," in the different phases, but all will pass under the general classification here used, viz: loams of the valley plain. With their varia- tion in color, there is also a variation in texture, the first named being the heaviest and the last named the lightest. Although the sand hill class often carries as high as 90% sand, yet it is highly calcareous and the plant food exists in such highly available form that it is intrinsically very fertile, and produces magnificent crops, both fruit and field, where the bottom water does not rise sufficiently to prevent satisfactory root development.
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