46 Transactions of the 



unusually large breadth of land was Summer fallowed during the last 

 Spring. The weather for farm labor the fore part of the present sowing- 

 season being so favorable, all the land thus prepared has been put in 

 early and in a most excellent condition. There has been sufficient rain 

 to keep the work of planting going on continuously in most portions of 

 the State, and it is believed that as a general thing land has been 

 in a better condition for working and planting than in seasons when 

 we have experienced a greater abundance of wet during the planting 

 time. If we have the amount of rain fall between this and Spring which 

 we may now reasonably expect, we may look forward for one of the 

 most abundant grain harvests we have ever experienced in the State. 

 The prospects of an unusually large foreign demand for our surplus 

 grain were never better than at present. The supply of wheat on hand 

 at the present time at Liverpool, Kew York, Chicago, and Milwaukee, 

 the great centers of concentration of the breadstutfs of the world, is 

 reported to be four million seven hundred and seventy-eight thousand 

 bushels less than it was one year ago. The war in France and Germany, 

 if continued until after the time for planting in those countries is past, 

 must cause a very great falling off in the production of breadstuff's there 

 the coming season, while the excess of consumption and destruction by 

 the armies over the ordinary consumption of those countries in time of 

 peace must necessarily be very great. The present indications are that 

 Germany and France will not only fail to produce a surplus the coming 

 season, but that they will themselves be heavy buyers for their own con- 

 sumption. 



SILK CULTURE. 



As a consequence of the war between France and Germany, this prom- 

 ising industry just in its infancy in our State, has met with a very unex- 

 pected and much to be regretted loss. Our silk culturists, encouraged 

 by previous large and apparently constant demand for California silk 

 eggs for European countries, turned their product for the past season 

 mostly into that article. Orders were received from Paris last Spring 

 for large quantities of eggs, and the prospect for good profits to pro- 

 ducers looked very flattering. When the war commenced, however, the 

 orders that had been received were countermanded and no others sent 

 out. Great injury to all the industries of France, and especially to those 

 connected with silk culture and manufacture, is the necessary result of 

 the war, carried on as it has been entirely within the borders of that 

 country. The sale of the California eggs has thus unexpectedly been 

 cut off and the product of the past season rendered almost an entire 

 loss. As the eggs will necessarily hatch in the hands of the producers, 

 no consideration can be realized from them except for those necessary 

 for home consumption. Through an anomalous combination of circum- 

 stances the immediate demand for cocoons has also been injured by the 

 war. The silk manufacturing machinery of France, being nearly half 

 that of the world, has heretofore been able to consume nearly all the 

 silk produced in Europe, and has also required large importations from 

 the silk districts of Asia. This machinery is in effect now most entirely 

 idle. As a consequence the cocoons and raw silk produced the last 

 season in many portions of France, in Italy, Spain, and other parts of 

 Europe, and in China and Japan, are seeking a market elsewhere. The 

 capital and machinery employed in silk manufacturing, outside of France, 

 are insufficient to handle and consume the large amount of extra mate- 

 rial thus offered. Thus, for the present, the market is overstocked with 



