STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 215 



slitiites them, my subjects. Although the subject of agriculture cannot 

 be exhausted, and is always appreciated on these occasions, y'etl propose, 

 at this time, to change my base of thought, and speak of our California, 

 the briglitest and richest gem in the glorious circle of the thirty-eight 

 free and independent States, over all of which to-day floats Freedom's 

 banner — the stars and stripes — the beacon light that invites the subjects 

 of other nations to our romantic and productive shores. 



CALIFORNIA. 



California, in name, is worldwide known, but her historj^ — the his- 

 tory of her vast resources — is but little known outside of her bordere. 

 It is this knowledge we, as Californians, wdio are her adopted sons, 

 should embrace all oppoi'tunities we have to disseminate; by so doing, 

 we shall be educating hundreds of thousands of other lands to the inex- 

 haustible resources and faultless climate which we possess, that they 

 may be enticed to migrate here, thus giving to the Pacific slope what 

 is most needed, population. 



California presents one of the most beautiful and varied landscapes in 

 the world; presents, too, a most remarkable instance of rapid advance- 

 ment and growth in substantial prosperity and wealth; a climate to suit 

 the most fastidious; her sea coast fanned by the cool northwest trade 

 winds, giving health and vigor to the great Valleys of San Joaquin and 

 Sacramento, (four hundred miles in length by seventy-five in width.) and 

 to an altitude of four thousand feet in the Sierra Nevada. The valley 

 climate is unsurpassed for its evenness of temperature and salubrity, 

 while high up in the Sierra, almost perpetual snows cover the lofty 

 peaks. 



Eighteen years ago, California was but a wild, uncultivated wilder- 

 ness, inhabited only by Indians, the wild beasts, and a few scores of 

 white men. Eighteen years ago, steamboats, stages and railroads were 

 unknown in this land. The waters of our magnificent bays and rivers 

 were ruffled onU^ by the canoe, paddled b}^ the Indian, transporting his 

 dusky family and household goods from one camping ground to another. 

 To-day floats on these waters many princely steamers, transporting the 

 lordly Saxon from rich and populous cities constructed upon the Indian's 

 camping grounds, and upon the ashes of his fallen race. Eighteen years 

 ago, the magnificent Sierra, towering in solitude for ages, looked down 

 upon lonely valleys and plains, the surging of the Pacific only disturbing 

 the solitude of the scene. To-day, we have half a million of population, 

 scattered over mountain and plain, and the hum and din of business, 

 and the ring of pick and shovel, make hundreds of towns, camps, and 

 lonely mountains merry. 



THE METROPOLIS OP CALIFORNIA. 



San Francisco is a State pet; a cit}^ Californians take pride in; it 

 being the great commercial centre, the metropolis of the Pacific, the 

 third commercial city of the Union, and rapidly advancing to the sec- 

 ond. She is the half-wa_y traffic and trade mart of Australia, Japan, the 

 Amoor Hiver, and the Pacific Islands. Her population has increased 

 from hundreds in eighteen hundred and fortj^-nine, to one hundred and 

 twenty thousand ; and her taxable property to over one hundred million 

 dollars ; her tonnage movement, entering and clearing annually over six 

 hundred thousand tons, by one thousand nine hundred and eighty vessels, 



