244 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



[The following report was awarded the second iiremium of twenty-five dollars.] 



TUOLUMNE COUNTY. 



Thomas C. Birney Assessor. 



Assessor's Office, District No. 2. 

 I. N. Hoag, Esq., 



Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture : 



Dear Sir: — I herewith transmit to you a table of statistics of District 

 No. 2, Tuolumue County. With a desire to contribute what may 

 be in my power, I shall most cheerfull}- comply with t e request of the 

 Secretar}^ of the State Board, to furnish such information as is contem- 

 plated in the circular forwarded to me witl)- the tabular blank sheet. 



It is a matter of history most creditable in our State legislative enact- 

 ments, that earl}?- measures were taken by the State authorities to 

 develop the agricultural resources of this commonwealth ; and the 

 honor of initiating efficient measures on this subject is no less due to the 

 efforts of scientitic men engaged in the undertaking, than to the legis- 

 lative authorities that commenced the work of so noble an enterprise. 

 In making this report it is proper to state that my opportunities have 

 been more limited than I could have wished, to do justice to the several 

 subjects contemplated in your circular, touching the general resources 

 of the district and county, agricultural, mineral, and manufacturing. 

 The County of Tuolumne is ])robably surpassed by few in the State in 

 the elements of permanent wealth. Labor and investment have hereto- 

 fore been richly rewarded. Placer diggings have equalled those of any 

 other portion of the State, and are at the present time wrought with 

 such success as invites the miner to renewed efforts, though it is true 

 that the auriferous earth has been thoroughly explored and wrought to 

 a much greater protit heretofore, than at the present time. But quartz 

 mining is now just commencing its successful operation and develop- 

 ment. The auriferous quartz in this county, and to a considerable 

 extent in this district, is as rich and productive as in any other portion 

 of the State, and some of the veins are scarcely equalled by those of any 

 other in the State. Success has attended the labors of those who have 

 opened and wrought the auriferous rock, and has stimulated the most 

 active efforts of prospectors to make new discoveries in the quartz, and 

 these efforts have been such as to most reasonably satisfy those who 

 have engaged in this laborious pursuit. 



The water power in this disti'ict is all that could be desired for the 

 purposes of irrigation or mining, and, to a considerable degree, for lum- 

 bering. So plentiful are the sources of supply that almost an}' amount 

 can be appropriated for irrigation, a fact that, at no distant day, will 

 make certain agi'ieultural pui'suits some of the chief objects of laboi- in 

 this district, particularly gardening and the production of fruits, of which 

 many of them Avill be sources of profit, as well as articles of luxury. 

 Investment in tlie productive foothills of tli.is district, for graj^e growing 

 and wine manufacture, will, it is believed, be a source of permanent 

 wealth. These foothills have been shown by abundant expci-imonts to 

 be a peculiarly excellent soil for the grape, as well as for other fruits 

 growing in a climate like ours. The richest and most choice varieties 

 of the grape flourish luxuriant!}^ on the hillsides of our district, and in 

 other districts of our county; and it requires only capital, and a knowl- 



