RICH SEDIMENT SOIL ACCOUNTS FOR SUCCESSFUL TRUCK FARMING IN SISKIYOU. HERE ARE SHOWNCELERY AND CABBAGES IN STRAWBERRY VALLEY AND A PUMPKIN PATCH NEAR GAZELLE
zones, abundant rainfall provides a bountiful supply of water for every crop.Down gentle slopes the percolating moisture drains to nourish growingplants, whether cultivated or luxuriating in their native wildness.In the more arid areas "dry farming" is being conducted upon modernscientific principles with gratifying returns.But to tell the whole truth about agriculture in <strong>Siskiyou</strong> <strong>County</strong>, it mustbe distinctly stated that there are several thousand acres of comparativelydrier lands which do not yield good crops. Of course, there's a reason forthis. The fact is that their tillers are still farming dry, planting their grainand vegetables in the manner practiced in moister climes, and trusting toJupiter Pluvius to send them enough rain to mature at least a fair crop.Periodically a season of lighter rainfall comes and the yield is far less,-onehalfor a fourth of what it should have been by the application of modernmethods.Wherevei irrigation or "dry farming" has been resorted to, the story isdifferent; products treble and quadruple at but a small increased cost per acre.Success in <strong>Siskiyou</strong>, as elsewhere, for the farmer depends upon a discriminatingknowledge of the composition and adaptabilities of its soils, theamount of moisture needed to mature its crops, the importance of rotationand the more general diversity of farming.Available Agricultural LandsAccording to the Census of 1910, there were 1,114 farms in <strong>Siskiyou</strong><strong>County</strong>, covering a total of 455,876 acres. Of this amount 186,147 acreswere classed as improved land. In 1915 the grand total approximates aquarter of a million acres. The great majority of these farms are large-sizedranches, averaging 409 acres in area. More than three-quarters of theseholdings exceed one hundred acres each.The census value of all crops in 1909 was $1,426,394. Multiply this conservativesum by one and a half, and you will get the value of the crops of<strong>Siskiyou</strong> <strong>County</strong> for 1914. It must be remembered that stock raising anddairying, two leading industries, are additional sources of profits.For future development, 271,914 acres of public lands await the homesteader,the miner and lumberman in this county. Although distant frommarkets at the present time, the certainty of new railway construction willwarrant the appropriation of many desirable quarter-sections.The Cereals Bring Certain RewardsIn the early days of <strong>Siskiyou</strong> <strong>County</strong>, "before the railway came," thevirgin soil of Scott Valley and Shasta Valley yielded fabulous returns to theranchers who supplied the many booming mining camps along its goldenstreams. Then followed a fallow era when live stock grazed over these oldtimegrain fields, restoring the surface fertility. Now billowing fields ofwheat, oats and barley wave their promises of wealth each summer, promiseswhich are always fulfilled.Not only is there a rapidly increasing local demand for grain but the haulto Central <strong>California</strong> markets is not costly and high prices are paid to theshippers of <strong>Siskiyou</strong> cereals.Everyone now realizes the importance of supplying the shortage of wheat.Ever more insistent is the world cry for bread. In spite of the fact that theIUnited States needs an annual increased production of 20,000,000 bushels ofwheat each year, according to Government reports, there is not as muchwheat grown in this country as was annually harvested twelve to fifteen yearsago. Flour mills at Montague, Dorris, and Fort Jones are now being operatedon a steadily increasing scale and their facilities are being greatly improved.Barley is a banner crop in the valleys of <strong>Siskiyou</strong> <strong>County</strong>. Yields of fromseventy-five to a hundred and ten bushels of barley per acre are commonly15
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