8TATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 13 



little less than an inch in April, it was evident thai we would not raise one 

 half the yield of the preceding year. The early part of the Winter was 

 most unfavorable, and did not promise well to the producers in any of the 

 departments of agricultural industries. The early rains were very light, 

 moistened the soil sufficiently to start Summer-fallowed grain, after which 

 the long dry spell proved damaging in the extreme. From reports received 

 since harvest, we have placed the yield of wheat at 600,000 tons (less frac- 

 tions), or 20,000,000 bushels for the year 1885, as against the unprecedented 

 yield of 57,420,188 bushels in 1884. It is to be regretted that we are una- 

 ble to give the tabulated statements as given in the reports of this society 

 for 1883-84. The system under which these returns were made was 

 becoming more perfed each year, and as their accuracy became more 

 apparent the interest would increase, so that in a few years these reports 

 would have been received by the world, and, known to have come from a 

 disinterested source, would have been invaluable to the commercial inter- 

 ests of our State. We are at times led to believe that dealers do not desire 

 to have the public too well informed upon this subject, as then "Othello's 

 occupation would be gone:" or, in other words, the seller would he as well 

 informed as the buyer. We still have faith in the Legislature, and hope 

 to be able to have a law similar to the one defeated at the last session, 

 enacted. It should be incumbent upon our Senators and Representatives 

 to establish a statistical bureau of agriculture in connection with and 

 under the direction of this Board. 



Our fruit and wine crops for the year have been above the average, and 

 the indications are that these interests, at no distant period, will outrank all 

 other agricultural pursuits. The farmers of this State are* awakening to 

 the fact, that to be successful every year dependence must not be had upon 

 cereals alone. Rotation in crops, as well as variety, is deemed necessary, 

 and the consequence is that fifty or one hundred acres of the large wheat 

 tracts of our State, are being set apart here and there, and planted in trees 

 and vines. A few years since nothing was deemed profitable to plant but 

 wheat, rye, oats, and barley. But the increased demand, and facilities 

 now opened, enables California to expand in her productions, and show 

 that it is within her power to answer the demands of the world, not only 

 in breadstuffs but in fruits and wine as well. Not only is she able to excel 

 in the production of deciduous fruits, but the past few years have shown 

 that citrus fruits can be grown from the base of Mt. Shasta, on the north, 

 to the Colorado River, on the south. This fact is of no small moment, as 

 herein lies the foundation of a continual line of exports from the first day 

 of January until the thirty-first of December each year, and as time pro- 

 gresses the exports of our citrus fruits in the Winter will fully equal the 

 outgo of our Summer and Autumnal products. 



The natural inducements offered by this State to small farmers, or that is, 

 cultivators of small tracts of land, cannot be equaled by any other country 

 in the world. It is here that he can begin with a few hundred dollars and 

 gain a competency that will keep him from want the remainder of his life. 

 Industry and economy are the two ingredients that are necessary for our 

 new comers to have in their make up. Land is reasonable, cost of living 

 moderate, and by perseverance and pluck, none need fear failure. The 

 establishment of immigration societies has done much to disseminate the 

 knowledge of the productive qualities of California, now let them go farther 

 and see that our settlers are properly cared for after location, see that the 

 products of their labors are not "scooped up" by speculators, see that they 

 are at all times possessed of the requisite information as to the value of 



