River

The Kern river district is the most productive of all the oil fields in the county. The other producing districts are the Sunset, McKittrick and Midway. Because of the valuation made by the discovery of oil, land values rose in this district from $1.25 an acre to four, five and even ten The Kern thousand dollars an acre. The Kern delta is a vast estate Delta. of 400,000 acres, which is under a system of irrigation remarkable for its simplicity. Nature has done everything possible to make Kern river an ideal stream from which to divert water into artificial channels at minimum expense. Large areas are being annually added to the irrigable territory. The county contains many artesian wells. Kern river is said to contain minerals which have a wonderful fertilizing effect. The Kern river is the source of power for an electric generating plant, from which power is transmitted to Bakersfield and Kern City for illumination, factories and the operation of a street railway two miles in length, connecting the two places.

and Mountain

In the classification of the counties of California, the Rich Foothill foothill and mountain counties of Mariposa, Tuolumne, Counties Amador, and Calaveras, whose watershed is toward the west, are naturally included in the great San Joaquin valley. Of Amador, Calaveras and Tuolumne readers from far away have heard much in the romances of Bret Harte, for here are located the picturesque old mining towns of Angels, San Andreas, Douglas Flat, Dry Town, Mokelumne Hill, Copperopolis, Poverty Flat, and other settlements as rich in nomenclature as they were once and are still in gold. But there is more than romance about these regions of Sierra pine and red soil and granite bedrock. Here is the vast region of the Mother Lode from which countless millions in gold have been taken, and in which millions more remain to make the fortune of the prospector and investor. All through this section are rich mines. with big outputs, and mining improvement and development is going on constantly.

Yosemite.

Jointly in Mariposa, Tuolumne and Madera counties To the is located the Yosemite National reserve, the Yosemite valley, that world wonder being located in Mariposa

WHERE NATURE AND SCIENCE COMBINE TO HELP THE FARMER. TRACTION ENGINE PULLING GANG PLOWS THROUGH PEAT LANDS OF THE SAN JOAQUIN DELTA. THESE LANDS ARE ESPECIALLY ADAPTED TO THE

GROWING OF POTATOES AND OTHER CROPS.

Raising

county. To reach the valley are several different routes, the principal one being by way of Raymond and Wawona, by Oakdale and Jamestown, and by way of Big Oak Flat. A railroad has been projected to the boundaries of the great national park, and this means great things for the progress of Mariposa county. The soil is fertile and beneath the soil is gold, which miners have been working since the earliest days of the California gold excitement. An Apple Up on these mountain slopes are orchards of apples that Region. have won fame for the quality which is given by the climatic conditions here. The mountains are covered with magnificent forests of sugar pine. Lumbering aud mining and fruit raising constitute principal industries. .There is no space to describe the marvels of the great Yosemite, that gorge in the Sierra Nevada to which aweinspired tourists come time and again and always parting with the feeling of impressed grandeur caused by their better acquaintance with this marvel of Nature's handiwork.

Present and

Through the San Joaquin valley north to south with Railroads many branching lines run the overland routes of the Planned. Southern Pacific and Santa Fe railroads. Here also is the Sierra Railway running up into the mountains, and various lines of stages traverse the country, making easy easy access to all points. From Bakersfield to the sea at San Luis Obispo or near there is projected the Midland Pacific Railway, whose promoters promise a speedy completion of a line which will afford the south San Joaquin valley a sea outlet. Through the valley run many trains daily both local and through, and both transcontinental lines are eagerly competing for the vast growing trade of this prosperous region.

IN THE CENTER OF THE DAIRYING DISTRICT. MILKING TIME ON A FARM AT NOVATO, MARIN COUNTY.

CHAPTER V.

COAST COUNTIES NORTH OF SAN FRANCISCO. Beautiful Valleys of Napa and Sonoma -Vineyards and Wine Cellars-Last of the Old Missions-Petrified Forest-Cities of Santa Rosa and Napa-Lake, the Switzerland of California -Redwood Timber Forests of Mendocino, Humboldt, and Del Norte-Rich Mines of Trinity-Marin and Its Sky-seeking Railway-Summer and Winter Resorts and Mineral Springs-Traces of Russian Occupation-Sportsmen's Paradise in the Eel River Country -Progressive Eureka and its Future-Sheep and Cattle Raising -The Largest Wine Tank in the World.

Now in midwinter, see! the buds unfold;
The yellow poppies open one by one;
The mountain streams, bound by no despot cold,
Flash through the woods, rejoicing as they run.

A most fair land: it is the land of gold;

It is the land of pleasure and the sun.

-FLORA MCDONALD SHEARER.

A

S the State increases in population the large coast region north of San Francisco must grow steadily, for its resources are the marvel of all visitors. Here is a region of vast area, of unfailing rainfall, well supplied with timber, rich in minerals, with thousands of sheltered valleys and yet with population comparatively small. More railroads and more people are needed for development. The Southern Pacific, California Northwestern, the North Shore, all have lines which pass through this rich and growing territory. The forests of Del Norte, Humboldt and Mendocino and the rich mines of Trinity are the primary objects for railway extension, but fruitgrowing, wine-making, hops, grain, alfalfa, cattle, and the thousand and one agricultural and horticultural industries must grow up and thrive on a scale unimagined at present. The harbors of Eureka and Crescent City are excellent. The fleet vessels of the Pacific Coast Steamship Company now ply between them and San Francisco.