State Agricultural Society. 343 



COTTON GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 



The evidence that cotton can be successfully and profitably grown in 

 this State is so strong tbat it is no longer regarded as an experiment. 

 The reports concerning the coming crops for this season are most flat- 

 tering. The fields in Merced, and other counties, according to our 

 interior exchanges, present a beautiful appearance. The adaptability of 

 the soil to its growth in different sections of the State has been thor- 

 oughly tested. The results of these experiments prove conclusively 

 that large bodies of land, which, heretofore, were not supposed sus- 

 ceptible of cultivation, and have been allowed to remained uncultivated, 

 can now be regarded as among the most productive in the State. 

 Colonel Strong is deserving great credit for successfully demonstrating 

 that California is one of the best States in the Union in which to grow 

 cotton. He has never failed in raising a good crop. The cotton grown 

 here is regarded as far superior to that which is raised in the Southern 

 States. It is of excellent quality, being remarkably white and clean, 

 and wholly free from stains of any kind. We believe that it has 

 been sufficiently tested to warrant all of our farmers who have land, to 

 enter into the business of cultivating this staple upon a large scale. 

 From the best information we can get, we learn that the crop this year 

 will be in the neighborhood of four thousand acres, and that the aver- 

 age yield will be, probably, one bale per acre. It can be sold at from 

 twenty to twenty-five cents per pound. At these rates it will be seen 

 that every acre planted to cotton will return from sixty to eighty dol- 

 lars, while the expense of cultivation will not be greater than that of 

 Indian corn. Those who have grown cotton during the last year or 

 two, say that their profits have been greater than they realized from 

 grain crops on similar land. We doubt not that in a few years cotton 

 will supersede wheat culture to a great extent, and be regarded as the 

 most profitable crop that can be produced on our rich valley lands. 

 This will stimulate manufactures in our midst, and utilize the many fine 

 water privileges our State possesses, by the erection of factories, which 

 will afford profitable employment not now existing for largo amounts of 

 labor and capital. 



