336 SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY AGRL SOCIETY. 



of space, and we hope, in the near future, to have a better opportu- 

 nity to describe it. Its managing director and master-mind is Mr. 

 Lane, who also owns a large flouring mill, second in importance only 

 to the huge "Stockton Mills," belonging to Mr. Sperry. Among the 

 largest manufacturers of agricultural implements are Messrs. Matteson 

 & VVilliamson. The Stockton Furniture Company is well known 

 throughout the State, and there are several other large concerns, 

 engaged in the manufacture of furniture, blinds, sash, doors, etc. 



Immense as is the wheat crop of San Joaquin, probably as much 

 comes from other counties to find a market in Stockton, whose dealers 

 are able to offer a good price because the grain can be carried direct 

 to the vessel lying in the stream, and thus escape railroad exactions, 

 wharfage dues, and many "little foxes" that prey upon, if they do 

 not " destroy the vines " of the exporter. The wine interest is repre- 

 sented by the brothers George and W. B. West— the latter of whom 

 has a fine vineyard and a large nursery near the city — and a number 

 of others, who are anxiously awaiting the result of the attempt to force 

 the Leon Chotteau treaty through Congress — an attempt for the defeat 

 of which so much depends upon the merchant. Generally — and spe- 

 cifically as to the two persons above named — the viniculturists seem 

 to appreciate the gravity of the situation and their need of help 

 bestowed by this journal. The grocery trade appears to be hopeful 

 and buoyant, but, like some other' lines, it does not seem to be fully 

 alive to its opportunities for building up more than a near trade. 

 Within the next ten years Stockton ought to become the Chicago 

 of the Pacific Coast. With illimitable wheat fields from which to 

 draw real wealth ; with manufacturing establishments that can com- 

 pete with the world in agricultural machinery, furniture, flour, car- 

 riages, and paper; with navigable waters reaching down to the Bay 

 of San Francisco, and thence to Mexico, Central and South America, 

 on this side, and to Hawaii, Australia, Japan, and China, on the 

 other, there is no exaggeration in predicting a continuous growth in 

 the future, as in the past thirty years. The manufacturers complain,, 

 and with apparent justice, that high rates of freight practically shut 

 them out of profitable localities, such as Nebraska, Nevada, and 

 Wyoming. One instance is cited in which an order was received 

 from the latter State for a piece of heavy machinery — an order which 

 would probably have opened up a large trade — which had to be 

 revoked because a demand was made for ten cents a pound for freight. 

 They are also, they claim, debarred from valuable extensions of trade 

 by the apparent unwillingness of Congress to make sufficient appro- 

 priations for the improvement of the San Joaquin River. Still, they 

 are a thriving people, who might be even more prosperous by making 

 themselves more widely known. 



At Lodi our correspondent encountered the late severe tempest^ 

 and was compelled to defer a description of that enterprising place 

 until a more suitable season. Enough was seen of San Joaquin 

 County, however, to rank it as one of the most valuable counties to. 

 the commerce of the State. Its farmers possess a soil rich as the delta 

 of the Nile; its wheat buyers, merchants, and manufacturers of Stock- 

 ton have wealth, energy, and skill; its morality is good, as is evi- 

 denced by the general observance of Sunday— a rare thing in this 

 State; its schools are equal to any; and in all the elements of future 

 greatness it lacks nothing but time and a constant watchfulness for 

 additional markets for its productions. 



