196 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



God promised as an inheritance to the seed of Abraham, had, in the time 

 of the reign of King David, one million three hundred thousand valiant 

 men who drew the sword. Athens, Macedonia, and ancient Rome, and 

 gold-gorged and gold-ruined Spain, in their palmiest days, were not pos- 

 sessed of the varied climate and the soil products and adaptability for 

 greatness that our own loved State now has. 



If Buckle be right, and the advancement of civilization and culture of 

 man depends upon these four conditions, namely: First, climate; second, 

 food; third, soil; fourth, physical aspects of the land — all these elements, 

 which tend to make a great and prosperous people, are within the bounds 

 of this, the Golden State. Its soil, varying with locality, will yield the 

 vegetable products of the most fertile and favored of modern and of 

 ancient countries. 



In looking over the reports of oar Consuls to foreign lands, and the con- 

 ditions requisite for the cultivation and raising of the products which 

 constitute their principal staple exports, we find here all the conditions for 

 their like production. The figs of Smyrna, the olives of Spain and Algiers, 

 the silks and wines of France, the wheat of Russia, the hemp of India, and 

 the oranges of Sicily, can all be produced here with proper cultivation. 

 We have the soil, we have the climate, we have the moisture and the facil- 

 ities for procuring moisture, requisite for the production of all the vegetable 

 products of the temperate zone, and many of the semi-tropical fruits. 



The usual winter rains are sufficient for the commencement of their 

 growth, and usually for their maturity. It has been demonstrated that 

 by deep and thorough cultivation of the soil, vines and trees will grow and 

 mature their fruit here without summer rains and without irrigation. But 

 nature supplies the needed moisture without summer rains, near the 

 borders of the ocean; and in the interior of the State she has placed inex- 

 haustible reservoirs, from which can be procured the needed irrigating 

 streams, even during the driest of seasons. 



The westerly winds during the summer season, passing over the ocean 

 landward, bear on their wings the moisture-giving fog clouds, which fully 

 supply all summer-needed moisture for the land, extending many miles 

 inland from the ocean shore; and each winter mantles the summits of our 

 mountain ranges with deep new-fallen snow. This the rays of the spring 

 and summer sun dissolve and send in fertilizing streams, some coursing 

 along the surface of the mountain sides, and form rivers, which flow through 

 mountain ravines and into the valleys below, and some flowing oceanward 

 in deep subterranean channels. 



These surface streams by dams and irrigating canals can be, and in 

 many places, especially in Southern California, and in the Tulare and 

 Kern Valley basins, and in the upper part of the great San Joaquin Valley, 

 have been, by man's industry and skill, conducted along hillsides and 

 over plains and valleys, and have made them an earthly paradise. The 

 streams which flow in subterranean channels can be, and, in many in- 

 stances, have been brought to the surface of the earth through artesian 

 wells, and, with constant flow, render certain the productiveness of the soil 

 over which spread their waters. I am not delivering a treatise on irriga- 

 tion. I merely state the fact that there is comparatively little land in 

 California needing moisture through artificial means to which such needed 

 moisture cannot be supplied if the storehouses of such moisture, which 

 nature has provided, be properly utilized. I need not speak of the deep, 

 rich soil of the tule and tide lands of this State, which are now being 

 rapidly and thoroughly reclaimed, except to allude to what has been 

 accomplished elsewhere. Holland is kept free from the waves of the 



