"fine, soft and silky, and white as the driven snow," and that of San Diego, has been pronounced equal to the best Sea Island staple. The Committee of the State Agricultural Society in their report for 1858, say:

6

"It is with pleasure that we have to refer to the successful growth of this great peace preserver' between our common country and the manufacturing States of Europe, and, we hope, of the different sections of our own. We examined, in contrast, Georgia upland cotton and the growth of this State, from seed taken from the same parcel, and the improvement in fineness and fiber of the native growth over the imported or Georgia growth, is manifestly striking, and in this we have the concurrence of experienced spinners from the East. But the staple of the native cotton is not quite so long as the Georgia grown, although it is fully as strong. This we attribute to the lack of moisture in the land on which it grew. We believe it a reasonable calculation to say, when our bottom or swamp or overflowed land, is leveed and dyked, to keep out the spring and summer floods, that we shall be able to produce an article of finer texture, as is now the case on our dry lands, and one of superior length of staple-the two ingredients to make a first-rate article of cotton. Several other samples rate as 'fair upland.' The one from Slocum's Bridge has the advantage in staple and texture to any of the others. But we have to refer to another sample, grown in Los Angeles County, equal if not superior to the best Mississippi or Louisiana cottons, and of course, superior to all others, and of but one grade below Sea Island cotton. This sample is not of the Sea Island seed, but the gray Petty Gulf kind, proving conclusively, the perfect adaptation of our climate and soil for the production of the very finest staple cotton yet found anywhere of its kind."

TOBACCO. The results of the experiments already made, have established the adaptability of the soil and climate of this State, to the culture of this important staple. Small quantities have been cultivated in the counties of Alameda, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Shasta and Trinity, with results of the most satisfactory character. The great consumption of this article in California will render its cultivation an object of some considerable importance, and as so little care and labor are necessary in raising it here, it is more than probable that but a few years will elapse, before it will find a place in our commercial tables, as an article of home production and, perhaps, of export.

Dr. Trask, in his report of the Geology of the State, 1855, referring to the soil and climate of the southern portion of the State, says:

"The climatal condition of these plains, and the adaptability of their soils, are such as we may reasonably expect, ere a few years shall pass, that cotton, coffee, tea, sugar and rice, the latter four articles particularly, will find a place in our catalogue of home productions, and the only impediment that now stands in the way of their immediate production is the high price of labor, which is consequent upon the sparseness of population."

SUGAR CANE.-The cultivation of the sugar cane has been successfully prosecuted in several counties of the State. In Los Angeles, small quantities have been raised annually for the past five years, but no preparations have as yet been made for its manufacture into sugar.

The Committee of the State Agricultural Society, in their report for 1858, in referring to a specimen of the cane on exhibition at the State Fair, says: "The sample produced speaks well for its production and successful cultiva

tion in our State. It has matured six or eight joints, and is of full size. The success which this experiment has established in our State, must dispel all doubts of the profitable and successful culture of this great and indispensable staple, entering as it does, so largely into the every-day use of all classes." CHINESE SUGAR CANE.-The experience of the past season in the culture of the Chinese sugar cane, have fully established the practicability of the soil and climate of this State for its successful cultivation, and there is no reason why it may not become a profitable product to California. Several acres have been raised in the counties of Alameda, Los Angeles, Santa Clara, Tehama and Yuba, and a limited quantity manufactured into syrup. The attention of the agriculturists of the State has been attracted to the cultivation of this product, and there is scarcely a doubt but that it will soon become an important branch of our resources.

SUGAR BEET.-The cultivation of the sugar beet, and its conversion into sugar, have attracted considerable attention during the past season. Many acres of the beet were sown last season in Santa Clara, and the yield and profit arising therefrom exceeded the most sanguine expectations of those engaged in its production.

HONEY BEE.-The experiments to introduce the honey bee into this State have met with the most complete success. A large number of swarms are in the counties of Butte, Napa, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Santa Clara, Tuolumne, etc.; they appear to thrive well and increase rapidly. The amount of honey stored during last season, is estimated at 5,000 pounds.

HEMP. The efforts of several of our agriculturists, to test the capacity of the soil of this State for the production of hemp, have been attended with such flattering results as to leave no longer a doubt but what there will be in a few years, a sufficient quantity produced here to supply the demands for home consumption, and a share of the trade existing abroad. The hemp raised in San José, last season, will favorably compare, in yield and quality, with that of the Eastern States, and the cordage made therefrom is equally durable.

FLAX.-The returns for the year 1858, show that small quantities of flax have been cultivated in Alameda, Los Angeles, Santa Cruz and Yolo.

CULTIVATION OF RICE.-It is believed, by those practically acquainted with the cultivation of rice, that the extensive marsh lands of this State may be made available for that purpose, and, in order to test its practicability, several companies have been formed, and arrangements are already in progress for the commencement of operations.

It is well known that vast tracts of the marsh lands of China have been converted into fertile rice fields, which are now of great value and importance, in maintaining the supply of this necessary article of food. The great consumption of California alone should be sufficient to enlist the attention of those persons interested in the development of the resources of the State.

MULBERRY AND ITS CULTIVATION.-The experiments already made for the cultivation of the mulberry in this State have been very successful. The following extract from the Report of the State Agricultural Society for 1856,

will exhibit the progress already made by one of the principal agriculturists of the State:

"The Committee cannot pass the garden of Mr. Prevost without a particular notice of his efforts to introduce into our State the cultivation of the mulberry, and we may safely say he is the pioneer in this new work of silk raising. The Committee must warmly commend this enterprise, and in noticing his fine plantation of over twenty-five thousand mulberry trees, they feel that at least a just and appreciative notice of his laudable exertions is due to him. Mr. Prevost assured us that no country in the world was more favorably adapted to the raising of the silk-worm than California, from the fact of the absence of electricity, which is peculiarly injurious to the worm; and another favorable feature is the dryness of our atmosphere."

1. FRUIT AND FRUIT TREES.

TABLE

Exhibiting the Number of Fruit Trees in Cultivation in the State of California, 1857.

The number and variety of fruit trees in cultivation at the present time in California, and the remarkable products therefrom during the past season,* will best exhibit the progress and condition of the fruit growing interest of the State. Not only the varieties grown in the Eastern States but those of the tropical climates have been successfully cultivated, and in such abundance as to surprise many of the most experienced fruit growers. The following, from the Report of the State Agricultural Society, for 1856, of the operations of the Messrs. Thompson's farm, in Solano County, thirty miles from San Francisco, will convey some idea of what California is at the present time, as a fruit producing country:

"We have produced apples this season of beauty and flavor unsurpassed even in the far famed State of New York; while the nectarine, apricot and gooseberry have so improved, by their removal to California soil, as scarcely to be recognized as the same fruit. With foreign grapes, too, we are much gratified. We have produced in the open air the grape from Malaga and the South of France, the size, beauty and flavor of which would be hard to excel in their native countries.

We are in a favored country for fruit growing. We grow the pomegranate, olive and fig, side by side with the apple, pear and quince; the grape of Malaga with the hardy Isabella, Diana and Catawba; the almond and olive with the black walnut and shellbark; the magnolia with the sugar maple and elm-the natives of the far North and the far South grow side by side, and all flourish well."

From a Report of the Santa Clara County Fair, held in September, 1858, the following is extracted to show what can be produced in a single county in California:

"You see, in one view, upwards of sixty different varieties of apples, pears and grapes, as California alone can produce. The fruit consists of apples, pears, peaches, (too late for many peaches) plums, pomegranates, quinces, oranges, nectarines, grapes, soft and hard shell almonds, walnuts, white, blue and black figs. Some apples measure five and a half inches in diameter, sixteen and a half in circumference, and weigh as high as two pounds each; pears, four and seven-eighths inches in diameter, fourteen and a half in circumference; quinces, four and three-eighths in diameter, and thirteen in circumference; peaches, three and one-eighth in diameter, and ten in circumference; grape vines, two years old, from the graft, bearing one hundred pounds black Hamburg grapes, grown in the open air. Indeed, all the fruit exhibited was grown in the open air, except the oranges."

In speaking of the resources of Los Angeles County, the editor of the Star, says:

"The time will come-we hope it is not far distant-when our valleys will resound with the hum of busy industry; when corn, and wine, and oil will abound; when the golden ears of an abundant harvest will cover the hills and plains, the result of well-directed energy and skill. It requires but the enterprise and capital to make, prudently, the experiments; to strike the waters out of the flinty rocks, and to spread it over our lands, enriching and fertilizing the present arid wastes. Science furnishes the mode of obtaining

* In Santa Cruz, a peach tree from a bud inserted a year ago produced eight large peaches, and a tree two years old produced over two hundred peaches. In Tehama County, there is a tree which has borne and ripened two crops of apples this season, and the third crop is now on the tree as large as hickory nuts.-ED.

the enriching element, let common sense dictate its application. First, among other facts, we have a climate unsurpassed in any country or clime. The genial rays of our almost tropical sun produce in abundance the fruits of the most favored regions. Our vines attain a luxuriance unknown elsewhere; our grapes astonish, by their size and delicious flavor, the most experienced growers of other States; besides these, we have lemons, oranges, olives, apples, apricots, aloes, figs, nectarines, plums, pears, peaches, pomegranates, pine apples, quince, raspberry, strawberry and walnuts. The currant of commerce will grow here; so also will cork-wood. Our wine is even now of first quality, what it wants in artistic finish being made up in purity and wholesomeness. We export wine, brandy, corn, hides, wool and salt. We should manufacture and export oil; olives grow here in abundance."

The table of fruit trees, page 240, exhibits an aggregate of nearly two millions of trees in cultivation during the year 1857; this is exclusive of the grape, strawberries and other small fruits amounting to several millions. The returns from twenty-four counties, for the year 1858, show an increase over 1857 of seventy-five per cent., a ratio of increase that will give as the present stock of the State three and a half millions.* The number of apple is estimated at eight hundred thousand; peach, nearly two millions; and pear, one hundred thousand. The principal fruit growing counties are Sacramento, Los Angeles, Yuba, Napa, Alameda and Santa Clara.

The cultivation of fruit, in the mineral regions, has for the past few years attracted considerable attention, and, as an evidence of what a gold-bearing county can perform in the science of pomology, the following, which were produced in Tuolumne County, one of the richest mineral regions of the State, are referred to: a fig tree, four years from the cutting, seventeen inches round the stem, twenty feet high, and its branches occupying a circumference of forty-five feet; this tree has borne two crops this year. A grape vine, three years old, that will yield eighty pounds of grapes. A tree, three years old, which bore fifty-five apples weighing on an average nine ounces each; and another, not a year old, with two apples ripening on it.

CULTIVATION OF THE GRAPE.

The increasing attention bestowed by the people of this State, in the cultivation of the grape and its manufacture into wines and brandies, and the remarkable progress made therein during the past three years, leave but little doubt that these products will soon become one of the most important branches of our resources. No better evidence need be presented of the adaptability of the soil and climate of California, as a wine-growing country, than the fact, that the grape is produced in every section of the State, and in several counties in such variety † and abundance that its manufacture into wines and brandies already engages the attention of a numerous population. The State of California presents an inviting field to the wine grower, for *Date and Appearance of Fruits at San Francisco. -Apples, June and throughout the year; apri. cots, May to June 15; blackberries, June and July; cherries, June and July; figs, July to November; gooseberries, May and June; grapes, July to December 15; limes, November to January; nectarines, July 15 to August; oranges, November to March; peaches, June to November; pears, July to December; plums, June to August; quinces, September to January; raspberries, May 20 to August 15; strawberries, April to December.

+ In a single vineyard in Sonoma there are to be found nearly three hundred different varieties of the grape.