54 Transactions op the 



opinion in the South that a good supply of Summer rains was indis- 

 pensable to the successful production of cotton; but the experiments 

 made here have proved the fallacy of this theory, and seem to point to 

 its opposite as more correct, that cotton produced without Summer rains 

 is superior. 



The Petit Gulf Seed, and varieties derived from it, are recommended 

 for planting in this country. 



Quite a large breadth of land in the Merced Valley will be planted to 

 cotton the coming Spring, and we indulge strong hopes of its satisfactory 

 success. Its general cultivation would be of great value to the State, 

 both to agricultural and manufacturing industries. It would furnish 

 employment to labor during those portions of the year when such em- 

 ployment is now most difficult to obtain. Until our industries are so 

 diversified and multiplied as to give labor employment the year round 

 California can never come up to a proper maximum of prosperity. 



RAMIE. 



This textile plant has been experimentally cultivated by a few indi- 

 viduals in the State during the past year. The result seems to be satis- 

 factory as to its adaptability to our soil and climate. The great obstacle 

 to the general cultivation of this most valuable fiber has been the want 

 of proper machinery to separate and prepare it for manufacture. "When 

 this machinery shall be introduced, we have no doubt its cultivation will 

 become a valuable acquisition to California. 



FOREST CULTURE. 



In our report to the Legislature a year since, we gave this subject a 

 full and careful consideration. In view of the rapid consumption and 

 destruction of timber on this coast, and the natural climatic influences 

 operating against the reproduction of natural forests, we deem it of the 

 utmost importance that artificial forest culture shall be fostered and 

 encouraged in every possible manner. We believe that as a strictly 

 financial operation the cultivation of forests for timber, lumber, and 

 wood in this State may be made eminently successful. 



For the purpose of calling the attention of our landowners to this 

 subject, the Board, last Spring, offered fifty dollars for the largest quan- 

 tity of useful forest trees planted during the year. 



We have now three claimants for this premium: E. F. Aiken and 

 Thomas Edwards, of Sacramento county, and James T. Stratton, of 

 Alameda county. Aiken states that he has planted of Lombardy poplar 

 and Balm of Cfilead, five thousand; multicaulis, seven thousand five hun- 

 dred; morus alba, twenty-five hundred; California black walnut, ten 

 thousand; American white maple, four thousand; American white elm, 

 five thousand; English elm, two thousand; Spanish chestnut, four hun- 

 dred; American chestnut, five hundred. He remarks: The last five 

 varieties were imported from the Atlantic States at considerable 

 expense and planted in March last, and have done so well that I have 

 ordered several thousand to set out the coming season. The elm and 

 maple have grown from four to seven feet this season. 



Edwards proves that he has seven thousand locust trees, half one and 

 half two years old since they were planted out in the form of a forest, 

 being some four years old from the seed. They are planted in rows 

 alternately eight and ten feet apart, and four feet apart in the rows. 



