RESOURCES OF THE STATE. THE State of California, with all the imperfections alleged against her citizens, presents one of the most remarkable instances of the rapid advancement of a State in all the elements of substantial prosperity and real wealth, which the world has ever beheld. With a climate unsurpassed for salubrity; a soil, the wonderful products of which have excited the admiration and attracted the notice of her sister States and Europe; a commercial position to control almost the entire trade of Asia and the Pacific Islands, and the inexhaustible wealth of a mineral region, in extent equal to the aggregate area of several States of the Union, who shall attempt at this day to picture the brilliant future awaiting her enterprising and energetic population? A comparison of the present condition of California and its resources, with that of the different States of the Union, as set forth by the census of 1850, will exhibit a series of facts which will create surprise, and when the number of the population is considered, it will be found that it is far in advance of her sister States in nearly all the elements of civilization and of progress. I. AGRICULTURE. The amount of land in the State of California, adapted to the purposes of agriculture, is estimated at forty-one millions six hundred and twenty-two thousand four hundred acres, exclusive of the swamp and overflowed lands, estimated at five millions, which, when reclaimed, will produce every variety of crops.* The amount of grazing land is estimated at thirty millions of acres, making a total of seventy-six millions six hundred and twenty-two thousand acres of land suitable for agricultural and stock raising purposes. * If properly drained, these lands could be applied to the culture of rice or other vegetable productions, and judging from the character of the soil immediately about them, they would prove highly prolific. And here, in passing, I will mention one incident in relation to the capacity of the soil for production, that may prove not only interesting, but useful in illustration of erroneous opinions heretofore expressed relative to lands on the San Joaquin Valley, and which, perhaps, has exerted as great an influence in preventing the permanent settlement of these plains as perhaps anything that has been urged against them. Towards the foot-hills of the mountains, to the west, is a low table of the valley, apparently destitute of water, either for the support of vegetation or animal life; in some parts, this land has a slight gravelly appearance, but this is not general. On one ranch situated on this plateau, there have been two full crops of barley harvested from the same piece of ground, and when I visited this place in October, the third crop was then being harrowed in, the whole having occurred within the term of two hundred and seventy-three days.-Dr. Trask's Geology of the State, p. 54, 1854. TABLE, Exhibiting the number of acres of Land under Cultivation in California, during the year 1856, with the amount of Wheat, Barley and Oats, raised thereon. TABLE, Exhibiting the number of acres of Land under cultivation in California, during the year 1857, with the amount of Wheat, Barley and Oats, raised thereon. COUNTY. No.Acres Wheat. Barley. Oats. cultiva'n Acres. Bushels. Acres. Bushels. Acres. Bushels. Totals.....684,267 164,642 3,205,484 216,991 5,088,330 44,966|1,201,405| * No grain raised. TABLE Exhibiting the number of acres of Land under cultivation in California, during the year 1858, with the amount of Wheat, Barley and Oats, raised thereon. COUNTY. No.Acres Wheat. Barley. Oats. cultiva'n Acres. Bushels. Acres. Bushels. Acres. Bushels. Stanislaus... Sutter Tehama Trinity Tulare. Tuolumne. 3,211 2,625 953 1,800| 4,363 537! Yolo Yuba 8,550 1,850 18,500 4,000 48,000 500 10,000 17,000 2,225 62,300 11,000 308,000 1,400 19,060 839 25,170 Totals.....756,734 186,464 3,568,669 237,692 5,382,718 44,616 1,322,231| * Estimated. + None raised. + Cut for Hay. |