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the cereals ; and the largest returns to agriculture will be found in 

 their growth. Some attempts have been made at cotton growing. 

 Some efforts have been made to introduce the culture of tea and 

 coffee; but these experiments, while moderately successful, have 

 been attended by loss when compared with the results which would 

 have been attained in the culture of cereals. I would not discourage 

 in the slightest degree any experiment in the direction of varied 

 agriculture; but I desire to invite your attention to the more prac- 

 tical phases of this subject. The chief agricultural feature of this 

 State is, and for many years will continue to be, wheat and barley. 

 If the lovers of progress in this field of industry complain, let them 

 remember that profit is very largely the end and aim of activity and 

 industry. A hundred acres of land devoted to wheat raising will 

 yield more actual return than the same acres devoted to the raising 

 of cotton or tea; therefore, if these acres are devoted to the latter 

 productions, they are so devoted at an aggregate loss to the common- 

 wealth. The exchange value of our cereals will be found to exceed 

 the value of other products, the cultivation of which is as yet experi- 

 mental. So long as we may purchase with the wheat grown upon an 

 acre in California more cotton than would grow upon that acre, it 

 will be wise and judicious to grow the wheat and purchase the cotton. 

 This standard should be applied to all productions. Every acre 

 should be devoted to the production of that commodity which will 

 bring the largest reward to the cultivator of that acre. 



I am not ignoring the value of a rotation in crops to the preserva- 

 tion of the fertility of soils, but I would have this principle applied 

 only to that extent consistent with a scientific agriculture. It can- 

 not be denied that to wring from the unwilling soil a meager pro- 

 duct, when that soil would produce abundantly of some other 

 product exceeding in value, is unwise. The experiment is a pro- 

 ceeding which, sooner or later, w T ould impoverish the commonwealth. 

 If, by the growing of wheat and barley, to which our soil and climate 

 are specially adapted, we can purchase more tea, more cotton, more 

 sugar, more rice, than might be grown upon the same area, it is 

 wise economy to adhere to the growth of the cereals. Another advan- 

 tage to us in the growth of cereals will be found in the character of 

 the markets afforded to us by becoming large producers in one line. 

 The large quantities of wheat produced in this State tend to organize 

 the markets in our favor. So long as we may be depended upon to 

 produce a large surplus of breadstuffs, we discourage that line of 

 production in other parts of the world; transportation accommo- 

 dates itself to our wants and necessities, and the markets of the 

 world look to us for a supply. An example of this was found in the 

 large cotton production of the Southern States. _ History does not 

 afford another example of such wealth-producing power as was 

 exhibited in the cotton product of those States. Prior to eighteen 

 hundred and sixty-one the chief source of the world's supply of cot- 

 ton was found in the Southern States. With the disorganization of 

 the system of labor in that country, and the cessation of supply dur- 

 ing the war, originated the growth of that staple in other countries 

 under a stimulus which rapidly developed, until to-day compara- 

 tively a small proportion of cotton is supplied by our country. 



A true economy will impel us to employ all our lands in the direc- 

 tion of their highest capacity for production. We have lands better 

 adapted to grazing than to the raising of cereals. We have other lands 



