STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 193 



are said to be well under way, and the prospect of success at that point 

 altogether encouraging. In Santa Clara County, also, oil springs have 

 been found near the Los Gatos Creek, which are being worked by an in- 

 corporated company, and are said to promise well. 



QUICKSILVER MINES. 



This article would seem to be very generally diffused over our coast, 

 if the claims advanced by prospectors are to be admitted. In every 

 direction we hear of discoveries of cinnabar being made, many of them, 

 no doubt, having little foundation in fact — the oxide of iron, or othor 

 worthless substance, often being mistaken for this metal. Of the dis- 

 coveries that created such a sensation- in Napa County two or three years 

 ago, but little further has since been heard, and although many compa- 

 nies were formed at the time for working these reputed mines, and some 

 retorts erected, we do not find that much of the metal has ever found its 

 way into the market. The New Almaden mine is under successful head- 

 way, turning out a large quantity of quicksilver. The New Idria mine 

 has produced nothing for the past two years, being tied up by legal pro- 

 cess. The Enriquita and Guadalupe mines, near San Jos6, are both at 

 work with their usual results. 



25 



