STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 143 



the production of all kinds of vegetables, and all the other lands produce 

 fine vegetables in abundance when watered. There are thousands of acres 

 which are devoted to this branch of fanning, and the production is very 

 large and annually increasing. The exhibits included every kind of vege- 

 table, and were so fine as to excite admiration. From the growing demand 

 for California vegetables in all the country so far east as the western base 

 of the Alleghanies, the large profit in vegetable growing, and the unexcelled 

 transportation facilities of this county, there can be no doubt that large 

 areas will, in the near future, be devoted to this branch of agriculture. A 

 noticeable feature in the exhibits of this county were the watermelons. 

 The valley of the Mokelumne is known as the " melon belt " of the State. 

 About two thousand acres of land are annually devoted to melon cultivation, 

 and in the season five or six carloads are shipped daily from Lodi and other 

 points. The exhibition of the more semi-tropic productions is worthy of 

 mention. The exhibits of figs, comprising the purple, white Smyrna, and 

 white Adriatic varieties, would indicate that this county alone can produce 

 a large portion of our country's demand. 



There were beautiful samples of silk, both raw and manufactured. All 

 parts of this county produce the mulberry tree to perfection. Cotton of a 

 superior quality was shown, and also fine samples of flax and hemp. The 

 excellence of these was such as to give promise that the State can produce 

 all these textile plants to run the spindles and looms to supply our own peo- 

 ple with manufactured fabrics, and thereby retain millions of dollars at 

 home which are now sent abroad. The hop exhibits were fine, and we are 

 told that the product is large and the industry of hop growing profitable. 



The exhibition of grapes and wines was creditable. There are some fine 

 vineyards in the county. The first grapes grown were the Mission variety, 

 and these were followed by the better table, raisin, and wine varieties. Some 

 of the vineyards, notably those of the West Bros., have now the Cabernet, 

 Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, the Verdot, Mondeuse, Malbeck, Tannat, and 

 others of the choicest varieties of European wine grapes. The Messrs. 

 West make brandy from the Folle Blanch grape, and it has the highest 

 reputation among California brandies. 



The growing of cereals in this county*is still the leading agricultural 

 industry. In 1886 there were two hundred and sixty-five thousand acres 

 devoted to wheat growing. The average yield was sixteen bushels to the 

 acre. This is 25 per cent higher than the average crop rate of the United 

 States. In the northern half of the county the average yield is much more, 

 and may be put at twenty bushels to the acre. There were several exhibits 

 of wheat in the sheaf and in the sack, which represented fields that yielded 

 forty, forty-seven, and fifty bushels, respectively, per acre. The exhibitions 

 of barley were fine, and were from fields which had yielded large crops. 



There was a notable exhibit of grasses, comprising fifty-three varieties. 

 Many of these were the indigenous grasses which made California so famous 

 as a pasture ground in the old grazing days; others represented grasses 

 imported from many other countries, and are now grown for pasture or for 

 hay. This was an interesting and important exhibit. In the march of 

 our agriculture we are driving out the flocks and herds by the plow of the 

 grain grower and the orchardist. There are to-day fewer sheep and cattle 

 in the State than there were eight years ago, and we have nearly half a 

 million more backs to clothe and mouths to be fed than we had then. We 

 are paying out large sums annually to the grazers of Arizona, Nevada, 

 Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, for beef, wool, mutton, and horses, while 

 we have large areas which would make a better return from grazing than 



