"The soils of California taken as a whole are exThe ceedingly productive. They may be compared to the rich bottom lands of the humid regions. The unfavorable conditions that may exist, such as hardpan, alkali, poor drainage, poor structure, etc., can be readily recognized; but a superficial examination of the soil is not enough. Soils should be examined to a depth of at least six feet, bearing in mind that plants that would in a humid region send their roots two or three feet into the soil, are advantaged in California by having a root penetration of six to twelve or more feet."

The reader may perhaps be assisted to a fuller realization of the unique characters of California soils and their diversity within exceedingly narrow limits by considering the foregoing carefully drawn details of their occurrence in connection with the references to topography in Chapter I. Let him remember that above the timber line he may stand upon many peaks and ridges of perfectly bare granite and look down upon valleys, fifty miles away and ten to fourteen thousand feet below, in parts of which borings of two or three thousand feet through the soil mass have not reached bed-rock. With such extremes within sight it is perhaps easier to realize the diversity at various elevations and inclinations between them.

Determination of the adaptations and capabilities of California soils by the pioneers through their introduction and trial of plants from all parts of the earth, followed by definite understanding of general and local soil characters and qualities resulting from

scientific study, have exerted a marked influence not only in stimulating general diversification and building up great outputs of special products not largely undertaken elsewhere in the country, but have also profoundly influenced rural life and development. Actual sight of what the soil could do induced many of the argonauts of 1849 to forsake their quest of gold for agricultural enterprises. Reports of their achievements by residents, tourists and expert investigators during the first decade of California's statehood were published in popular and scientific journals and books and attracted immigrants of good mental capacity, experience in projecting new enterprises and possessed of adequate capital to invest in land and enlist in agricultural production both staple and unique. As these undertakings attracted persons of all nations, they brought to the new country knowledge of plants and products beyond the American range of cultures and productions, confident that California's natural conditions favored success with them. Soil characters and capacities have always been considered influential factors in determining human development and progress, and the soils of California are probably to be counted among the best of the natural advantages of the State.

CHAPTER III

OTHER RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA

ALTHOUGH from the agricultural point of view California is a state of open lands, requiring no clearing or at most the removal of a few scattering trees from large areas, it possesses forest of great extent, comprised of trees which add to large economic values unique characters of longevity, majesty, symmetry and beauty and biological habit which have induced science, literature and art to qualify them as the most remarkable trees in the world. These forests constitute one of the natural wonders of the State. Description and portraiture of them have been presented in nearly all popular publications for the last half century. Most exact exposition of their species, singly or in groups, has been made by botanists in text-books, monographs and reports. The United States government has reserved its right of continuous possession of vast areas so that coming generations may see living things which really began to grow on the face of the earth when Solomon was building his temple, three thousand years ago. Although the "big tree of California" (Sequoia gigantea) stands in the Sierra Nevada Mountains the supreme manifestation of arboreal size, age, impressive

grandeur and creative power, this conifer is not itself the embodiment of California's greatness in trees but only an exponent of it. A sister species, the redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), of the northern coast region has specimens that are actually taller and have greater area. On the whole, the redwood is incalculably greater in its service to mankind and it also has the power which no other great conifer possesses, to restore the forest from sprouting stumps. Nor are the "big trees" comparable, in their possession of area and industrial value, with either of several pines, firs and cedars which attain a stature, bulk and lumbering value in single trees and acreproduct beyond the attainment of these species in any other state except in Oregon and Washington. Scientific interest has been centered in the "big trees" as survivors of a genus which in geological time was so wide-flung over the North American continent that it lived in Greenland, and yet it has now no living species on the continent except in California. Out of three hundred species of oaks in the whole northern half of the world, California has exclusively for her own fourteen species, of which single trees have achieved world fame in both popular and scientific publications. W. L. Jepson of the University of California writes in his "Silva of California": 1

"Even today scientific knowledge of the forests of California is still in its infancy, although it can now

1 "The Silva of California," page 9: by Willis Linn Jepson: Memoirs of the University of California, Vol. 2, Berkeley, Calif., 1910.

be said that we have here the most remarkable development of coniferous forests to be found anywhere. While this statement is not true as to any one characteristic it is believed to be true as to the sum total of their characteristics, their richness in species, the features of their geographical distribution, their biological history, and their commercial value both as to relative quantity and actual quality."

The relations of the forests to the development of California rural life, both in its spirit and its industries, are notable. As an inspiration to nobler thoughts and loftier sentiments, the great temples and communities of trees have been and always will be a great uplifting influence in life. It is conceivable that the first great service of the forests to the agriculture of California was their testimony to the capability of its interior districts for the excellent growth of plants. Prospectors searching for gold almost always returned with incredible stories of strange trees, not merely hugging the edges of streams but growing in continuous profusion across their valleys up their inclosing slopes and upward and beyond over ridges and up mountain sides until they reached scant vegetation again near the lines of perpetual snow. There were abundant tales of looking from the floors of glacial gorges thousands of feet deep and seeing great trees perched upon the bare granite; wonderful trees rooted in crevices of outjutting rocks where no soil could be discerned and resisting by their own individual strength the forces of tempests against which trees in forests defend