Excerpt from Sacramento Valley Agriculture
Sacramento History Online

1 A Sacramento Valley Land Development Association pamphlet declared in 1911 that the "Sacramento Valley is one of the great valleys of the world, with a vast and fertile soil area. It produces great quantities of precious metals and structural materials. It is blessed with an abundant water supply, and an agriculture much more diversified than is found anywhere else on the face of the earth."

2 Major influences in the development of agriculture in the Sacramento Valley included the Gold Rush and the resulting influx of miners, climate (droughts and floods), railroads, land speculation, development of irrigation, and the transition to a diversified crop culture.

3 The discovery of gold in Coloma by James Marshall in 1848 brought more than 100,000 people to California within two years. In response to the needs of these Gold Rush pioneers, agricultural expansion in the Sacramento Valley began in earnest, especially in the mid-1850s. At that time the decreasing opportunities in the mines brought many of the miners into the valley. Grains for flour, and feed for horses and mules were needed. Production of crops began.

4 Droughts in the late 1850s dried up the range lands, and floods in the 1860s drowned hundreds of cattle, only to be followed again by drought. This vicious cycle brought disaster to the cattle industry, which never fully recovered.
Which paragraph contains information that should be cited?
A) Paragraph 1
B) Paragraph 2
C) Paragraph 3
D) Paragraph 4