STA TE A GIUC UL TUBA L SO CIE TY. 181 



Dried apples. 12,000 harrels $144,600 



Barley, 294.000 sacks 7."..5.00O 



Ercaii. fi0,000 pounds (ioO.OOO 



Butter, 140,000 kea;s 2,800,000 



Flour, 298,000 barrels 4,980,000 



■Oats, 150.000 barrels 600,000 



Total $9,889,000 



But three years later we produced all these articles, with the excep- 

 tion of dried apples and butter for the consumption of a much larger 

 po])ulation — and of the dried apples and butter we produced a fair 

 proi)ortion of all that was consumed, besides all tlie potatoes and 

 vegetables, and many other products. He closed with the following 

 peroration : 



111 tlie raidst of all these blessings, with so ruuch to inspire us' with hope for the future, 

 with so much to elate the heart of the patriot and dignify the ambition of the statesman, we 

 vet have one great and overshadowing want, which to some degree i)aralyzes the arm of iudus- 

 Iry and lies like an incubus u]ion the prosperity of Oalifornia. I allude, of course, to the want 

 -of a railroad connecting us with the Atlantic .seaboard. We need laborers to work our mines, 

 farmers to till our lands, herdsmen to cover our hills with flocks, mechanics to manufacture 

 <m\- wares, merchants and traders to extend our commerce, and to supply tliese wants a railroad 

 is indis[)ensab!e. It is emphatically the great work demanded alike by every consideration of 

 personal interest and by the genius and spirit of the age. Long years of hope deferred have 

 already elapsed, whilst nothing has been done toward its commencement. We have been too 

 patient under this neglect. We have for eight years past quietly shipped our millions upon 

 millions to Wall street, from vi^hence golden streams were distributed throughout the land, 

 ■enriching every part of the confederacy, whilst in return for all this treasure we have received 

 little else thanour board and clothing, with the indefinite promise of a railroad some future 

 ■day. It is time we demanded as a right the fulfillment of that promise; and if we shall live 

 to see the day when the iron horse, with his impetuous speed, shall come from the Atlantic to 

 ■qtiench his fiery thirst in the coo! waters of the Pacific, then our fondest dreams have been 

 realized, and clouds of doubt will no longer obscure the bright future of California. 



The premiums awarded and paid at the third annual fair, at San 

 Jose, commencing October 7th, amounted to the sum of $6,746. 



The annual meeting of the Society was held at San Jose, October 

 10th, when the City of Stockton was selected for holding the annual 

 fair for 1857. 



C. M. Weber was elected « President, and the following gentlemen 

 Vice-Presidents: Wm. Garrard, of San Joaquin; Wm. Daniels, Santa 

 Clara; P. B. Redding, Shasta; W. B. Osborn, Los Angeles; A. H. 

 Meyers, Alameda; H. D. McCarthy, Calaveras; John A. Sutter, 

 •Sutter. Corresponding Secretary, George H. Sanderson, San Joaquin. 

 A. Wolf, San Joaquin, Treasurer. 



At tlie first meeting of the Executive Committee C. M. Weber ten- 

 dered his resignation as President, and William Garrard was elected 

 to till the vacancy, and E. S. Holden elected a Vice-President; also, 

 A. Wolf resigned as Treasurer, and Edw. P. Connor was elected to 

 till the vacancy. 



The fair at Stockton commenced on the twenty-ninth of Septem- 

 ber, and continued four days. The labors of the visiting committee 

 were continued this season, and they brought out and made public 

 many new facts in California agriculture. One of these was the great 

 value of alfalfa as a forage crop, and its adaptation to the soil and 

 climate of California. They were shown a field of three hundred 

 acres of this clover in Yuba County, belonging to Messrs. Pinney & 

 Cameron, who had it divided into three fields of one hundred acres 

 each, and were taking in stock to pasture on it. The committee 

 reported that so well was this clover appreciated that while these 

 gentlemen charged double the price received for pasturing stock by 



