COVNTRY 
 
 UFEm^AeClTY 
 
 Wiillilffrlfiff 
 
COUNTRY LIFE 
 IN THE CITY 
 
California Capitol at Sacramento 
 
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 j^,. 
 
 COVNTRY 
 
 U\^m%e CITY 
 
 FARMING oTiihQ 
 FRONT LAWN 
 of CALIFORNIA'S 
 CAPITOL 
 
 WEST SACFLAMENTO 
 
 CALIFO FLNIA 
 
rK9 
 
 Copyright, 1913 
 
 by }Arest Sacramento Company 
 
 Sacramento 
 
 
Sutter's Fort, Sacramento 
 
 Epitome 
 
 IN THE latter part of 1839 a soldier of fortune, one 
 time military officer under Charles X, bent on a seri- 
 ous mission, rested at the point where the Sacra- 
 mento and American rivers meet. The Sacramento 
 flowed peacefully through its wonderful valley; the 
 plains were bunch grass carpeted. Herds of antelope, deer 
 and elk fed here and there upon nutritious wild forage. Far 
 away toward the east rose blue mountains, their tips glis- 
 tening where the snow crested them. Northward towered 
 a mighty snow-capped peak. Across the Sacramento the 
 tules grew, tall and rank. All manner of wild fowl, teal 
 and spoonbill, gray geese and honkers, brants and curlews, 
 hovered over the tules or fed in the marsh lands. Beyond 
 the tules was a vast stretch of land, and again a row of 
 somber hills. Clumps of trees grew beside the river. 
 
 Here and there the vast expanse of prairie east- 
 ward was broken with park-like oaks. The land appeared 
 of wondrous fertility and the traveler hesitated. He 
 
TITr 
 
 
 
 Freighting on the Sacramento River at West Sacramento 
 
 sought a place where he might found a colony. The soldier 
 of fortune was Captain John Augustus Sutter. The soil 
 and setting appealed to him. He obtained a land grant 
 from the Mexican Government. 
 
 On his grant he built a block house, a tiny affair where 
 the scattered settlers gathered for mutual defense from 
 warring Indian tribes. The interior of the little fort rang 
 with patriotic zeal, which was carried beyond with flash 
 of fire and roar of cannon. On this fort was raised the sec- 
 ond American flag to be raised in California, July 4, 1846. 
 
 The big river had been named "Sacramento" by Cap- 
 tain Moraga. The name signified the Sacrament. The 
 settlement which sprang up about the block house was also 
 christened Sacramento. Captain Sutter was the first agri- 
 culturist in the valley. His first wheat-field was a portion 
 of that land where a mighty city was to grow. He planted 
 the first fruit trees and grape-vines and demonstrated the 
 unsurpassed fertility of the soil. 
 
■■■Liir>. 
 
 ^m 
 
 
 The palatial Steamer "Fort Sutter" plying between West Sacramento and San Francisco 
 
 Later gold was discovered in the blue hills and there 
 came a horde of fortune seekers. 
 
 Sacramento developed into a tov^^n, an outfitting point 
 and trading center. 
 
 Through land grants of prodigious generosity the fer- 
 tile valley was taken up by a mere handful of ranchers. 
 The rich ranges were pastured to herds of cattle. Then 
 followed an era of grain farming. The ranches, many of 
 them containing upwards of fifty thousand acres, became 
 vast fields of wheat and barley. From the beginning these 
 great ranches proved a set-back to progress. Their owners 
 were loath to part with even a tenth of their holdings and 
 yet were content to take but a tenth of the wealth they 
 might have obtained from them. Unbroken, the ranches 
 retarded the ultimate growth of population, kept away 
 settlers, and prevented the land from giving up its poten- 
 tial wealth. 
 
 At length pressure became too great. The owners be- 
 
Nicolaus Building, 
 
 Offices West Sacramento Company, 
 
 Sacramento 
 
 gan to dispose of parts of their holdings. Settlers, quick to 
 grasp opportunity, flocked in and houses began to break 
 the monotony of prairie. The empire of small landowners 
 was begun. 
 
 Rich as was the level prairie that stretched from the 
 river to the Sierras, its fertility was to have a formidable 
 rival, for the floods of a thousand generations had been 
 washing rich sediment from the hills and depositing it in 
 the lowlands. 
 
 The tules gave first evidence of the fertility of this sedi- 
 mentary deposit. They grew year after year, to die down 
 at the end of each season adding a tangled, enriching veg- 
 etable mold to the already rich soil. How long this endless 
 succession of growth and decay had continued no one 
 knows. The tule land invited speculation and investiga- 
 tion. The investigators found an unusual condition. They 
 found soil of unbelievable fertility, of superlative richness. 
 The tules grew in marsh land ; to farm this meant reclama- 
 tion. Capital became interested. Levees were built and 
 the great work of reclamation began. The land was re- 
 stored in immense tracts, some of ten thousand, some sixty 
 thousand, some a hundred thousand acres. Valued at $25 
 
Overlooking a Portion of the 
 Business Section 
 
 Corner of Eighth and 
 K Streets 
 
 to $100 per acre unreclaimed, the land went to $500, $700 
 and $1,000 per acre — prices justified by proportionately 
 astounding returns. The soil is inexhaustible. Soil experts 
 have pronounced it surpassing in fertility that of the Neth- 
 erlands of Europe, or of the Nile Valley of Egypt. 
 
 The country has a wonderful setting. It has beauty of 
 situation, charm of climate, fertility of soil, wealth of 
 water. Itisthe farmer's dream of the ideal. It is being 
 transformed into an empire of gardens and orchards, 
 owned by the most prosperous landowners in the world. 
 
 During these years of farm land development, the city 
 of Sacramento also grew. From a straggling river village 
 it became the mining center in the great mining days. It 
 became the central distributing point for the world's great- 
 est valley. It became the State's capital and a city of 
 recognized importance. 
 
 Of necessity the city spread out over the plains east- 
 ward and southward, following the lines of least resistance. 
 The land beyond the river was not yet reclaimed. No 
 bridges spanned the river. Then a transcontinental rail- 
 road, seeking a short route from San Francisco to the 
 capital, crossed over the Sacramento. 
 
Sacramento's Magnificent 
 New Courthouse 
 
 
 
 Passenger Station of 
 
 The Western Pacific Railway 
 
 Now this land has been reclaimed. Splendid bridges 
 span the river, other railroads have crossed, and soon a 
 Dominion of Small Farms will make green the tule lands 
 in the shadow of the capitol. 
 
 Sacramento— Capital of California 
 
 Sacramento is growing at a wonderful rate. 
 
 It is the fourth largest city in California. Its population 
 in 1890 was 26,386; in 1900 the census showed that it had 
 jumped to 29,282; in 1910 it had reached 44,696. The pres- 
 ent population as nearly as can be estimated is 80,000. It is 
 the central distributing point for the entire Sacramento 
 Valley, a part of the San Joaquin Valley and Nevada. 
 The city covers an area of approximately sixteen square 
 miles. 
 
 It is a jobbing and retail center, fifth in the State in 
 bank clearings. The bank clearings for 1908 were 
 
$250,000 High School, 
 Sacramento 
 
 $44,883,128.11; in 1909, $54,512,723.22; in 1910, $70,870,- 
 997.13; in 1911, $78,376,700.21; in 1912, $92,747,060.69. 
 
 Real estate values have doubled in the past three years. 
 Whole residential districts have been built up within 
 twelve months. Farm and truck gardens have developed 
 into boulevarded home sites. Tall buildings are shadowing 
 the streets. In value of building permits Sacramento is 
 third in northern California and fifth in the entire State. 
 In 1906 the building permits aggregated $994,811.50; in 
 1910, $2,326,606.00; in 1912, $2,793,544.83. 
 
 Here are located the shops of the Southern Pacific and 
 Western Pacific railroads, giving employment to over five 
 thousand workingmen. 
 
 Sacramento has twenty-one school buildings and the 
 school population is almost seven thousand. It has modern 
 stores and theatres, seventy-four miles of asphalt and 
 macadamized streets, an art gallery with a collection of 
 treasures valued at $750,000. It has two libraries with up- 
 
Sacramento's Parks 
 Show Many Interesting Vistas 
 All Are Conveniently Situated 
 
 wards of 200,000 volumes. There are eleven hotels, one of 
 v^hich cost half a million dollars. 
 
 All denominations of Christianity are represented with 
 splendid churches. The Roman Catholic Church and the 
 American Episcopal Church maintain their Bishop and 
 other Chief Ministers at Sacramento, which is the center 
 of operations for these great and well organized institu- 
 tions of the Christian spirit. 
 
 Within the city limits is located the eighty-acre tract 
 of the State Agricultural Society where is held the annual 
 State Fair. 
 
 The city of Sacramento is just across the river from 
 West Sacramento. Five bridges will soon connect the 
 capital with the model Suburban Home and Garden dis- 
 trict — West Sacramento. 
 
Picturesque Scenes in the 
 
 Public Parks of California's Capital 
 
 Fifteen Minutes from West Sacramento 
 
 West Sacramento 
 
 "Farming on the Front Lawn of California's Capitol." 
 West Sacramento spreads out fan-like west and south 
 from the "M" Street bridge. Stand in the center of this 
 bridge and you may obtain a magnificent bird's-eye view 
 of the beautiful tract. This bridge forms the eastern ap- 
 proach to the main artery for the Garden Farms district. 
 West Sacramento embraces 11,500 acres. Its eastern 
 boundary is the Sacramento River and it has eight and 
 one-third miles of river frontage. Across the river may be 
 seen the sky-line of the fast growing metropolis. The 
 glistening dome of the State Capitol looms from its setting 
 of green. The smoke from the shops and factories arises 
 between the river and the distant blue hills. River boats, 
 
Several of Sacramento's Banking Institutions 
 
 laden with foodstuffs and freight, move up and down the 
 Sacramento River. Heavily laden steam trains creep 
 across the bridges. Fast interurban trains dart in and out 
 with busy passengers. 
 
 Two modern steel bridges now connect the capital and 
 West Sacramento. The property is reached in less than 
 five minutes by electric or steam train and ten minutes on 
 foot carries one from West Sacramento into the heart of 
 the business section of the capital. Four electric inter- 
 urban railway lines will eventually pass through the prop- 
 erty; one is already in operation, two are under construe- 
 
Representative Types of Business Blocks at Sacramento 
 
 tion and will be completed this summer, and the other has 
 just been surveyed. These lines are the Sacramento and 
 Woodland, the West Side, the Oakland, Antioch and 
 Eastern and the Vallejo and Northern. The main line 
 double-track systems of the Southern Pacific, from the 
 north, west and south, cross the property and the company 
 will soon erect a freight and passenger station in the new 
 district. Overland trains for the Northwest and for Omaha 
 and Eastern points, and fast refrigerator express trains 
 for Middle West and Atlantic States' distributing centers 
 pass through West Sacramento on regular schedule. 
 
A Few of Sacramento's Leading Hotels 
 
 The interurban electric railways reach out in all direc- 
 tions, connecting the rich agricultural country with the 
 towns and cities. The service is such that West Sacra- 
 mento is nearer the business center of the capital city than 
 are its own limits eastward. The farthermost point in 
 West Sacramento is but fifteen minutes from the whole- 
 sale district of Sacramento. The eastern and southern 
 city limits of the capital are forty-five minutes distant. 
 
 A splendid boulevard system of re-enforced concrete 
 highways 100 feet in width, more than twenty miles in 
 length, delightfully shaded with American elms, and cost- 
 ing fifteen thousand dollars per mile, will give access to 
 every portion of West Sacramento. In addition to this 
 main boulevard system, the property will be criss-crossed 
 with fifty miles of macadamized roads, affording the best 
 
America's Leading Theatrical 
 Attractions Appear Regularly at 
 Sacramento in Modern 
 Fireproof Theatres 
 
 Homes of the 
 
 B. P. O. E. and the 
 
 Women's Tuesday Club 
 
 of traffic arrangements and giving every separate tract an 
 outlet and frontage. 
 
 In the center of the tract is beautiful Lake Washington, 
 three miles long and averaging one-quarter of a mile in 
 width. 
 
 Already five millions of dollars have been expended 
 during the three years of development of West Sacra- 
 mento. Many millions more are yet to be spent before the 
 plans are completed. 
 
 West Sacramento Farms 
 
 West Sacramento Farms is purely a suburban garden 
 and home district. It is owned by a syndicate of men who 
 represent the pioneer spirit and who have long been identi- 
 
All Denominations Are Represented with Modern Churches 
 
 fied with the development and growth of the State. The 
 Company has unHmited capital at its command. Its plans 
 are comprehensive. They include a model empire of gar- 
 den homes and a city which will embrace every modern 
 idea of ideal environment, comfort and beauty. The entire 
 tract has been laid out along lines conducive to right living, 
 to proper development, to individual advantage of every 
 home owner and to the cumulative advantage of the com- 
 munity as a whole. 
 
A Residence Street Arched 
 
 with Stately Elms 
 
 An Unique Vine Growth 
 in the Residence Section 
 
 The soil of the tract is rich sediment ; a river silt built 
 up with a mixture of rich humus, moist and retentive. It 
 is mostly virgin and thoroughly sub-irrigated. It is ideally 
 drained by a splendid canal crossing the entire property 
 from northeast to southwest. Tule soil is the best land 
 known for vegetable gardening and fruit growing. Be- 
 cause of the character of its soil, West Sacramento Farms 
 presents the safest and surest land for intensified farming 
 in California. To make ready the virgin soil for immediate 
 farming, the West Sacramento Company imported giant 
 steam-plows and with them turned over every foot of the 
 entire tract. Where the tule growth was heaviest the 
 ground was plowed to a depth of twelve to fourteen inches ; 
 in other parts it was plowed to a depth of three feet. Then 
 the ground was harrowed from end to end and made ready 
 for planting. The soil was found to be of unusual richness. 
 Soil experts declare that it is particularly adapted to the 
 growing of celery, hops, onions, asparagus, tomatoes, pea- 
 nuts, cabbages, potatoes, artichokes, beans, melons, alfalfa, 
 sugar beets ; to pears, figs, plums, cherries ; to strawberries, 
 loganberries, blackberries and raspberries. 
 
 Portions of the tract were leased during the three years 
 of development and wonderful crops were taken from the 
 
^AK.FDANCISCO 
 
 SAUSAL(TO 
 
 SA.N RAFAEL 
 TjBURON / SAKJTA POSA, 
 
 PANORAMIC VIEW 
 
 OF WEST SACRAMENTO 
 
 SHOWING ITS 
 
 PROXIMITY TO THE MARKETS 
 
 OF SACRAMENTO AND 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO 
 
A View of the Capitol Grounds, Five Minutes from West Sacramento 
 
 tracts farmed. One lessee cleared $200 per acre from to- 
 matoes. Six crops of alfalfa, rich and sweet, were taken 
 in a single season from different sections, grown without 
 irrigation. A Bartlett pear orchard on the tract netted 
 $500 per acre. These indicate the possibilities of the land. 
 
 A soil expert was engaged and an analysis made of 
 every ten-acre tract in West Sacramento Farms to a depth 
 of six feet. Every purchaser will be given an analysis of 
 the soil of his particular tract, and advised as to what it 
 is best adapted. In addition to this, a $10,000 agricultural 
 laboratory is being constructed ; it is centrally located, and 
 in charge of Mr. Caesar Bigler, a recognized expert agri- 
 culturist. This laboratory will be at the service of every 
 settler, without charge. Expert advice may thus be ob- 
 tained at all times. 
 
 An additional and unique feature of West Sacramento 
 Farms is the great Free Market and Market Plaza, set 
 aside in an advantageous location, easily accessible by land 
 and water. This free market will be controlled by a com- 
 mission selected by the home owners. Its affairs will be 
 
Sections of the 
 
 Re-enforced Concrete Boulevards 
 
 at West Sacramento 
 
 Twenty Miles of These 
 Splendid Boulevards Within the 
 Confines of West 
 Sacramento 
 
 protected in such manner that no public or private cor- 
 poration will ever be able to gain control of its approaches 
 or influence its government. 
 
 Electric light and power service has been carried 
 throughout the entire tract. Power and light will be fur- 
 nished at low cost. 
 
 It is the aim and desire of the West Sacramento Com- 
 pany to make West Sacramento Farms as nearly ideal as 
 the incorporation of modern ideas will permit. Architects 
 who studied both abroad and at home the model com- 
 munities and country home districts have charge of this 
 work. The best has been culled from the years of planning 
 and success of others. Absolutely no detail has been over- 
 looked that will tend toward making a model district. Each 
 settler will be assured a condition of healthfulness and 
 uniform living conditions not to be found elsewhere. San- 
 itary and building restrictions will be enforced by a com- 
 mission of men competent to pass upon building plans, 
 fences, outbuildings, sewerage and other essentials, so 
 
Baby and Calves 
 in Alfalfa Patch 
 
 that the whole development may work to a harmonious 
 result, with neatness, sanitation and good taste uppermost. 
 The future of West Sacramento Farms is assured. It 
 will be the most beautiful, the most productive, the most 
 satisfying home-life section to be found in the whole 
 world. 
 
 The Market Place of a Million People 
 
 A garden in the richest soil would be valueless without 
 a market. Food products must be raised near the point of 
 consumption or be in easy reach of such point. 
 
 West Sacramento is at the very threshold of one of the 
 world's greatest markets. 
 
 Just across the river is the city of Sacramento with its 
 eighty thousand people. It is a market worthy of con- 
 sideration even should not greater markets be available. 
 But westward ninety miles is San Francisco Bay and its 
 million! 
 
Cabbages — One of the Best Products of West Sacramento 
 
 San Francisco is one of the world's best markets. Its 
 people know and demand the best things in life. Its res- 
 taurants and hotels are the finest west of New York City. 
 Its people are epicures. 
 
 Across the Bay from San Francisco are Oakland, Ala- 
 meda, Berkeley, Richmond, Sausalito, with a combined 
 population equaling that of the metropolis of the Golden 
 Gate. A million people who must eat! A million people 
 who demand the best that orchard and farm and garden 
 produce! 
 
 Consider for a moment the future. Where is there a 
 city of the ambition, the progressive spirit of San Fran- 
 cisco! What other city in the country could raise $50,000,- 
 000 for an international exposition within three years after 
 it had been devastated by fire! What other city could 
 make, would make such comprehensive plans for the en- 
 tertainment of untold thousands as San Francisco is mak- 
 ing for her Panama-Pacific International Exposition vis- 
 
Onions Are An Important Product of West Sacramento 
 
 itors in 1915! It is a manifestation of the spirit that 
 pervades the West. California expects, and rightly, a new 
 commercial birth as the result of the Panama Canal. The 
 spirit that is making for the success of the exposition is the 
 spirit that will make California grow — the spirit that will 
 not only populate the greatest State in the Union, but add 
 to the world's wealth by increased production from the 
 richest of the world's land area. 
 
 This market of a million people is but three hours dis- 
 tant by steam and six hours by boat from West Sacra- 
 mento. Points of production and consumption are con- 
 nected by the finest competitive systems of steam and 
 electric railways and by fast river boats. 
 
 In addition to this market of a million people there are 
 the Eastern markets constantly demanding the early fresh 
 fruits and vegetables from California. Fast refrigerator 
 express cars carry the products to Chicago and to New 
 York. Was there ever such a market! 
 
The First Crop Year Showed a Yield of Forty Sacks of Beans to the Acre 
 
 West Sacramento— the City 
 
 A city at West Sacramento is inevitable. 
 
 The growth of the capital city has demonstrated that 
 a metropolis is to build at this point on the Sacramento 
 River. Conditions heretofore have precluded expansion 
 westward, but the time is at hand when homes and busi- 
 ness houses and factories must arise on the other side of 
 the river. Distance is already working a hardship on fur- 
 ther extensions of the city limits eastward and southward. 
 The growth must once more follow the line of least resist- 
 ance. This time it is westward. 
 
 But the city of West Sacramento will arise under con- 
 ditions far different from those of the average city. It 
 must grow as the ideal, not haphazardly. 
 
 The evolution of every great city has been fraught 
 with serious problems. History has shown that the things 
 conducive to right living and pleasant living are lost sight 
 
A Mammoth Live Oak in West Sacramento Alfalfa Field 
 
 of in the hurly burly of ordinary development, until a re- 
 arrangement becomes necessary; the changed conditions 
 are then not brought about except with great expense and 
 severe hardship. 
 
 The West Sacramento Company has looked into the 
 future. It has planned big and it proposes to carry its 
 plans to successful conclusion. It has worked not from 
 idealistic plans alone, but it has sent forth trained men 
 to observe and to bring back the best in municipal develop- 
 ment and government. 
 
 Here is a city in the making, an opportunity to plan 
 absolutely for the future. 
 
 We shall not give out all our plans for the present. 
 But we will indicate some of the features that have been 
 incorporated in our scheme of development. 
 
 The tenements and crowded home sections of our big 
 cities are the result of unfortunate conditions. Expan- 
 sion was necessarily upward, for men must live near their 
 
Fields of Golden Corn Stretch Off for Miles 
 
 work and transportation facilities were bad. Before the 
 present modes of fast transportation were evolved it was 
 impossible to live far from the shop or factory. Now 
 fast trains carry us cheaply and workers are eagerly seek- 
 ing those districts where they may have space to breathe, 
 a green lawn and flowers, a garden plot and shade trees. 
 The worker has a right to a home where convenience and 
 beauty, however simple, are obtainable. He has a right 
 to demand conditions that make life worth while. He 
 will welcome those districts where his welfare is the com- 
 munity's welfare, where he is a part of its social life. 
 
 It is upon this theory that the West Sacramento Com- 
 pany has laid out this town site. 
 
 The city of West Sacramento will lie east of the agri- 
 cultural district, facing Sacramento and in sight of the 
 capitol building. It is separated from West Sacramento 
 Farms by beautiful Lake Washington. This lake is near- 
 ly three miles long and a quarter mile wide. Excellent 
 
Si-^ -h ----.c^ »~-i? 
 
 West Sacramento is the Center of the Largest Wheat Growing District in California 
 
 fishing and sail boating are among the delightful pleasures 
 it affords. Around it will be built a concrete, hundred- 
 foot wide boulevard, parked as are the boulevards of Paris. 
 On one side of the lake are villa sites, where will arise the 
 homes of the more expensive type, homes costing ten 
 thousand dollars and more. Already some of these sites 
 have been selected by owners who are preparing to build. 
 
 The circular boulevard scheme of Paris and the diago- 
 nal scheme of Washington, D. C, have been drawn upon 
 for the laying out of this town site. This combination of 
 schemes gives a complete system of radial boulevards and 
 traffic arteries, all leading to a central plaza, with con- 
 venient cross-town thoroughfares intersecting the whole 
 general system of main boulevards and main arteries. 
 
 Architectural vistas have been kept in mind. The 
 streets have been so planned that eventually when the 
 great city will have arisen, not a street but will lead to 
 some point of interest or of general utility. 
 
Growing Corn at West Sacramento 
 
 An Abundant Hop Growth 
 
 Five bridges will span the river, and from the ap- 
 proaches to these bridges will radiate these main arteries 
 of traffic. 
 
 An art commission will have power of approval of all 
 buildings, of the location of factory districts, business sec- 
 tions, public buildings and homes. The object of this com- 
 mission is to create an absolutely harmonious city. Build- 
 ings proposed must conform in character to those already 
 erected in a given locality, and to a standard established 
 by the commission. This does not mean that the banker 
 must build a small bungalow, or that the man of small 
 means must erect a palace. It does not mean the stifling 
 of individuality or individual taste. It means only that 
 each home owner will be shown how to build a house of 
 higher type, of greater beauty than the average home and 
 at less cost. 
 
 The streets in the residential districts will be laid out 
 in such manner that their roadbeds will be of ample width 
 to care for the traffic originating in such a district and 
 
Hops Attain a Wonderful Growth in this Section 
 
 yet not to invite through traffic. This will mean safety for 
 the children in the residence streets. There will be a good 
 sidewalk and ample parking in front of each home. 
 
 Around each home there will be breathing space, a lawn 
 and a yard. 
 
 The art commission will be at the service of every 
 owner in the matter of landscape gardening and in the 
 control of fencing and outbuildings. 
 
 Public buildings, library, offices for the administration 
 of municipal affairs, art museum and other community 
 buildings will be grouped in the civic center, from which 
 will radiate the business districts, the theatre districts and 
 hotel districts. School buildings will be arranged by dis- 
 tricts in such manner that no child will be compelled to 
 walk more than a few blocks. 
 
 At one end of Lake Washington will be a public park ; 
 it covers nearly 200 acres, considerable of which was al- 
 ready studded with beautiful shrubs and shade trees, and 
 
Strawberries Show a Handsome Profit at West Sacramento 
 
 more of these, in great variety, have been added. Artistic 
 landscape effects are being planned. It is intended to ideal- 
 ize this spot; to give it an atmosphere of rest, peace and 
 contentment ; to make it a show place of comfort, a Garden 
 of Eden of which all will be proud. 
 
 The entire aim is to provide in advance against the 
 drawbacks and the shortcomings of the ordinary growing 
 city, to outline a plan for the complete and harmonious 
 development of an ideal city and to conform to such plan 
 consistently. 
 
 There is no attempt to found an Utopia. The inevi- 
 table city west of the river has been placed in the hands of 
 those who propose to give their time and their money 
 and their energy to make it a commonsense city, incor- 
 porating as nearly as possible the successes of the greatest 
 cities of the world and profiting by the mistakes of most of 
 our American cities. 
 
 It has been proved that home builders are willing and 
 
Olive Trees Bear Profitably in this Vicinity 
 
 anxious to take advantage of districts where building re- 
 strictions are assured and certain harmonious improve- 
 ments have been provided before a home was erected. It 
 has been noted that in such districts pride in home develop- 
 ment is marked. 
 
 The West Sacramento Company believes that the peo- 
 ple will welcome a still further development of this idea 
 in the careful planning of a complete, modern, model city. 
 
 Engineers are now at work perfecting all the plans for 
 the town site. Plats and prices will be ready at an early 
 date. Those desiring an early selection should send in 
 their names now as a great demand for lots in the model 
 city on the opening date of sale is anticipated. 
 
 Would You Pass Up the Opportunity? 
 
 We believe that you are interested in this property. 
 We believe that you are quick to recognize what a splendid 
 
$500 an Acre Was Cleared in this Bartlett Pear Orchard at West Sacramento 
 
 opening we have provided for the man who desires to get 
 back to the soil, to live in the country under most favor- 
 able circumstances ; to be near enough the city to enjoy the 
 benefits of its social life ; to have the best of transportation 
 facilities, the best of markets, the best of ideal surround- 
 ings. Here is the opportunity to live on your own garden 
 plot under most favorable conditions. Does it appeal to 
 you? Wouldn't you think it wise to provide such an ideal 
 home for your wife and your children? Could you pos- 
 sibly ask for more than West Sacramento will give? Five 
 acres will provide a comfortable income. In asparagus 
 it will bring in $1,250; in berries from $1,000 to $2,000; in 
 cherries from $800 to $1,500; in pears from $800 to $2,500. 
 These are but a few of the possibilities. 
 
 The West Sacramento Company is now offering for 
 sale tracts ranging from five to forty acres in West Sac- 
 ramento. We will gladly quote prices and terms of sale 
 on request. The prices which we have placed on this 
 
Looking Down an Avenue of Peach Trees 
 
 property are unusually low for land of even less fertility 
 and a less advantageous location. Terms of purchase are 
 most liberal considering the very large amount of money 
 invested in the project. Prices are not given in detail here 
 as they are subject to immediate change — while direct quo- 
 tations will be held open for a reasonable length of time. 
 We want you to talk it over with us. Tell us your 
 desires, your ambitions, your ideals. We'll work with you. 
 We'll show you what can be done here. We suggest that 
 you read the soil report of West Sacramento given on the 
 following pages. It will help you. 
 
 Soil Report of West Sacramento 
 
 By Mr. Caesar Bigler, Agricultural Expert 
 
 The West Sacramento soil forms part of the best type found in 
 the world. It is derived from material carried in suspension by the 
 flood waters of the Sacramento River and its tributaries. The tex- 
 
Packing Pears at the Reed Orchard at West Sacramento 
 
 ture of this soil is a sand and mild clay loam, with a rich dark color, 
 and contains from 5 per cent to 6 per cent of humus. 
 
 The sub-soil of this type consists of a darker loam, high in lime 
 content, probably derived to a great extent from materials eroded 
 from the higher plain soils. 
 
 The petrographic analysis of this top soil is as follows: 
 
 Per Cent 
 
 Zeolithes and soluble matter 18.013 
 
 Volatile matter 4.000 
 
 Kaoline 37.821 
 
 Orthoklas 2.422 
 
 Albit 1.528 
 
 Anorthit 1.528 
 
 Mica 0.406 
 
 Quartz 30.980 
 
 Total 100.000 
 
 This analysis shows that this soil is built up by the lavas, the 
 shale rocks and granites of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and not 
 alone from the volcanic rocks of the foothills. 
 
 The total amount of principal plant nourishments contained in 
 the top soil of this type are: 
 
Per Cent 
 
 Nitrogen (N) 0.317 
 
 Phosphoric acid (P' O') 0,257 
 
 Potash (K- O) 1.496 
 
 Lime (Ca O) 0.571 
 
 Dr. Clark, of the United States Geological Survey, has made 
 some 2000 analyses from soils all over the world, and reached the 
 conclusion that the average of the earth's crust contains 2200 lbs. 
 of phosphorus, and 50,000 lbs. of the element potassium in two 
 million lbs. of soil. 
 
 The West Sacramento soil contains 2244 lbs. of phosphorus and 
 25,000 lbs. of potassium per two millions of soil. While our soil is 
 below the average in potassium it is above the average for phos- 
 phorus, which is of the utmost importance and will assure a great 
 fertility to this soil. Most of the California soils contain only 700 
 to 900 lbs. of phosphorus per two million lbs. of soil. 
 
 Besides this there is a total of 24,000 to 35,000 lbs. of humus 
 per acre foot. This is almost ten times as much as 95 per cent of 
 California soils contain. 
 
 Humus is one of the most important ingredients in an arable 
 soil, keeping it from crusting and binding and making it easily 
 tillable ; humus further checks evaporation, owing to the capacity 
 of humus bodies to retain water. Such a soil does not dry out fast, 
 and is, therefore, less subject to drought and surface shrinkage. 
 Humus is further the chief depository of nitrogen and a chief source 
 of nitrogen supply for plants. A correlation between the nitrogen 
 content and humus content of this soil type is well marked by the 
 extremely high content of nitrogen found in our analysis. 
 
 The above analytical data indicate a very rich soil of easy 
 tillage, and one which makes a good general purpose soil. 
 
 Enclosed is a card for convenience. Fill it out. Send it along. 
 We will be only too glad to answer your questions, and if 
 possible meet you and show you our property. ::::::::: 
 
 West Sacramento Company 
 
 Nicolaus Building Kearny &' Pine Sts. 
 
 Sacramento San Francisco 
 
In presenting this book to the public, 
 the West Sacramento Company has 
 been careful that no exaggeration or 
 over-statement of facts should be 
 made. West Sacramento is such an 
 unusual project and of such a high 
 character, that it seems impossible 
 to over-estimate its importance. 
 "Country Life in the City'' is only a 
 conservative story of the facts as they 
 are proposed or exist, and in every 
 instance I believe the statements 
 made herein to be absolutely true. 
 
 .Af^. 
 
 General Manager. 
 
"Country Liife in the City" 
 
 Issued by 
 
 Land Sales Department 
 
 West Sacramento Company 
 
 Written by Byron Kilgour, Manager 
 
 Publicity Department West Sacramento Company 
 
 Designed by the Booklet Department of the 
 
 Cooper Advertising Company 
 
 Printed , by Taylor, Nash &' Taylor 
 
 San Prancisco 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 017 139 834 4'