WHEAT, FROM FIELD TO MILL. COMBINED HARVESTER IN ACTION. WHEN THIS MODERN MECHANISM PASSES THROUGH A GRAIN FIELD, THE GRAIN IS SACKED AND READY FOR SHIPMENT. NOTE THE MAN TO THE LEFT STANDING

WITH THE GRAIN REACHING TO HIS SHOULDERS.

into the tens of thousands of acres. These are used chiefly for the production of grain and for stock raising. One by one, however, they are being subdivided and placed on the market, and new districts are opened up for settlement. There is plenty of good land and good water to be had in Merced county at fair prices, and in the next decade its farming population is likely to increase to two or three times the present figures.

of Water.

The San Joaquin river flows through the eastern part Abundance of Merced county in a stream, which, in the rainy season, is large enough to admit of some navigation. Into it flow on the west a series of small creeks: Los Banos, Sycamore, San Luis, and others; and on the east there are the Merced river, a large volume of water, the Chowchilla river, Bear creek and the Mariposa. There is an abundance of water for present use and enough is flowing to waste in the San Joaquin to water a vast area which is now only used for wheat. The soil varies in different sections of the county, but the greater part of it is a sandy loam of great depth.

Wheat is still the largest single crop of the county. Its production is carried on in the wholesale manner that usually prevails in the San Joaquin valley. Barley, oats, and corn are also grown in quantities; the first of them is exported chiefly for brewing purposes and the product raised in Merced county is particularly bright and free from rust. There is a successful creamery in operation near the town of Merced, and the butter which is shipped from there to San Francisco commands a price above the market average for its superiority.

Sweet Potato

One unique agricultural feature of Merced county is A the growing of sweet potatoes. The district northwest of the Region. town of Merced, near the stations of Atwater and Batata, produces about two hundred carloads of the vegetable annually, and the "Merced Sweets" are the standard of the San Francisco market. The soil of this region seems to be particularly adapted to them, and the product averages fifteen thousand pounds to the acre, bringing about a cent a pound. Plenty of instances could be quoted where

Acres of
Insect

they have yielded the grower two hundred dollars an acre, although the average is, of course, much lower.

Another unique product of Merced county is the Destroyer. buhach, from which insect powder is manufactured and sent all over the United States. Over three hundred acres are devoted to the pyrethreum plant, as it is called, and the business is said to be very profitable. The town of Merced, the county seat, contains about three thousand population, and is an incorporated city of the sixth class. It is one hundred and forty-three miles from San Francisco. Here is a flouring mill with a capacity of one hundred barrels a day, two electric plants, and a number of shops and prosperous stores. People are wide-awake and enterprising and have a Board of Trade, which is at work making the merits of the county widely known. Other towns in the county are La Grand, Snelling, Dos Palos, Los Banos, and Batata.

Fresno's Position and

Fresno county is located in the center of the San Area. Joaquin valley. Fresno, the county seat, is the geographical center of the State. The boundaries of the county extend across the San Joaquin valley, from the Coast Range mountains on the west to the summit of the Sierra Nevada on the east. The county contains 5,606 square miles or 3,587,840 acres, of which it is estimated fully 900,000 acres are tillable soil. The census of 1900 gave the county 41,000 population and Fresno city now (1903) has a population of about 20,000.

Topography

Fresno county presents a great variety of climatic conditions and soil. It is divided into four regions — the foothill region, the valley region, the timber or forest and Climate. region, and the region of snow and ice. It will be readily understood that with such a variety of topographical conditions a corresponding variety of climatic condition exists. The yearly seasons are two. The dry season usually begins about June 1st and lasts until about the 1st of November. The average rainfall is about ten inches. There is an average of two hundred and seventy-five days of sunshine in the year. There is no time in the whole year

ONE OF FRESNO'S SHADED HIGHWAYS, AN AVENUE EIGHT MILES LONG, ONE HUNDRED FEET WIDE, BORDERED BY ALTERNATING PALM AND EUCALYPTUS TREES.

Irrigation and
Production.

Fresno Land Values.

Industries of

that men and teams may not work out of doors. The extreme summer temperature ranges from ninety to one hundred and ten degrees, but the atmosphere is very dry and the heat is not so perceptible as in localities where there is a humid climate. The nights are nearly always cool. There are no sunstrokes, no hail storms. The health reports show that Fresno city and county death rates are the lowest of any in the State.

The county is irrigated mainly from the Kings river, which rises in the Sierra Nevada mountains and passes through the entire farming district, though there are other principal sources capable of large development. The distribution of water is operated by splendid irrigation systems, comprising thousands of miles of main and branch distributing canals, supplying an abundance of water at a minimum cost of 62% cents to a maximum of 75 cents per acre per annum. A failure of crops on irrigated land is unknown. The principal products are: cattle, horses, sheep, hogs, hides, wool and tallow, lumber, firewood, gold, copper, petroleum, wheat, barley, oats, rye, corn, oranges, lemons, olives, figs, all kinds of deciduous fruits, table grapes, raisin grapes, dried fruits, raisins, wines and brandies, butter, cheese, poultry, eggs, all kinds of garden vegetables, sweet and Irish potatoes, tomatoes, celery, melons, all kinds of berries, honey, etc. There are 1,194,900 deciduous fruit trees in the county and this number is added to each season. There are 77,255 acres of vineyard producing wine and raisin grapes.

Grazing and foothill lands not under irrigation are obtainable at from $5 to $10 an acre and grain land at from $15 to $25 an acre. Land with water, suitable for alfalfa, fruit and vines, at from $35 to $75 an acre. First class vineyards in full bearing command from $250 to $350 per acre; good orchards in bearing from $150 to $200 per acre; unimproved citrus lands from $50 to $100 an acre.

Fresno county is the greatest raisin producing district the County. in the world. Making raisins is a very simple process, and one that any intelligent man can engage in successfully with the information that is always to be had from