CALIFORNIA. 



83 



this 122 owners possess 5,347,464 acres in 

 tracts of from 20,000 to 334,100 acres; 150 

 owners possess 2,098,476 acres in tracts of be- 

 tween 10,000 and 20,000 acres; 231 owners 

 possess 1,603,458 acres in tracts of between 

 6,000 and 10,000 acres; 1,860 owners possess 

 3,744,537 acres, in tracts of between 1,000 

 and 6,000 acres ; 2,383 owners possess 1,961,- 

 209 acres in tracts of between 500 and 1,000 

 acres; and 23,250 owners possess 5,711,663 

 acres, in tracts of from 100 to 500 acres. The 

 amount of arable land in the State, including 

 the reclaimed swamp and tule lands, is now 

 stated at nearly 50,000,000 acres; and al- 

 though, including towns and cities, nearly 

 .alt' of this is in the hands of private 

 owners, yet, owing to the mistaken policy of 

 su,_-h large estates being held by single individ- 

 uals, and to the difficulty of obtaining a suffi- 

 ciency of farm-hands, it is asserted that less 

 than 3,500,000 acres are under actual cultiva- 

 tion. Immigration is increasing slowly ; the 

 distance is so great and the expense so heavy 

 that comparatively few of the European immi- 

 grants reach California, and the immigration of 

 Chinese, Japanese, and Malays is not encour- 

 aged, though there are some accessions to the 

 number every year. Mining, the cultivation 

 of cereals, the production of wine and grapes, 

 the rearing of cattle, and of sheep with a 

 special view to the wool- product, are the lead- 

 ing industries of the State, and all of them 

 are, in general, lucrative. But, aside from 

 these principal products, there are many oth- 

 ers, some of them peculiar (so far aa the 

 United States are concerned) to California, in 

 which the State bids fair to take a high rank 

 ere long. Among these we may name the 

 production of sugar from the sugar-beet, which 

 bom the peculiar character of the soil is more 

 successful here than elsewhere in the United 

 States ; the production of silk, now becoming 

 in some sections of the State a household in- 

 dustry, and, from the favorable climate and 

 the long dry season, attaining an excellence 

 which has not been observed elsewhere; the 

 culture of the olive, largely practised in the 

 southern counties ; of the orange and lemon, 

 of excellent quality and in abundant quantity ; 

 of the fig, the pomegranate, the almond, and 

 the English walnut, all profitable crops; of tea 

 and coffee, both now successfully grown in the 

 State; of ramie, jute, and other textile fibres, 

 including cotton, of long staple and silky fibre ; 

 of tobacco, which by new processes of curing 

 is produced of quality equal to that of the 

 Vuelta Abajo of Cuba; of the wool of the 

 Angora goat, a long and delicate fibre which 

 is in great demand ; of dried and pickled fish, 

 especially the salmon, of excellent quality, 

 though of an entirely different species from 

 the Eastern fish. With these varied resources, 

 and a soil of the most remarkable fertility, it 

 i-i ii'it Mil-prising that the growth of the State 

 in material wealth should have been so rapid, 

 or that for the year, July, 1872, to July,1873, its 



assessed valuation of taxable property should 

 have amounted to $637,232,823.31, nor that at 

 the close of the year they should sum up their 

 leading productions as follows: 25,000,000 

 bushels of wheat harvested (this was below 

 the yield of the previous year, which exceeded 

 30,000,000) ; 11,700,000 bushels of wheat and 

 flour exported. The gold and silver mines 

 yielded $80,000,000, and the Branch Mint 

 coined $16,380,000. The wool-clip was 25,- 

 000,000 pounds; the wine-product 4,000,000 

 gallons ; the mining-stock sales $189,000,000 ; 

 the direct imports of the year $40,000,000 

 (aside from large indirect imports and exports), 

 and the direct exports $24,000,000. In some 

 classes of manufactures, California, notwith- 

 standing the disadvantages of high wages and 

 the distance of great markets, has proved a for- 

 midable competitor with the Eastern States. 

 This is particularly true of all mining tools 

 and machinery which are produced in San 

 Francisco and other Californian cities of ex- 

 ceptional excellence and durability ; of wool- 

 en blankets and generally of heavy woolen 

 goods; and of wines, cordials, and distilled 

 liquors. The production and refining of su- 

 gars, and especially of the crude and raw su- 

 gars of the Sandwich Islands, is also a large 

 and growing industry. 



The railroad system of California is practi- 

 cally under the control of a single company, 

 the Central Pacific, which either by lease or 

 purchase has brought all the railroad lines of 

 the State, except the projected Texas Pacific, 

 under its management. About 1,200 miles of 

 completed railway in the State are already 

 tributary to this great trunk-line, and more 

 than 300 miles more are in course of construc- 

 tion. The prices for freight per mile exacted 

 by the combined railroads have been in some 

 instances almost prohibitory, ranging from 

 three or four to fifteen cents per ton per mile, 

 and a long, exciting, and determined struggle 

 between the railroads and the citizens who 

 were not stockholders has been maintained 

 for three years. The progress of this contro- 

 versy to the close of 1872 was very fully de- 

 tailed in the ANXUAL CYCLOPAEDIA for 1872. 

 During the year 1873 both parties were active 

 and resolute. The strife had entered into poli- 

 tics, and, as both parties realized that very 

 much depended upon the sympathies and ef- 

 forts of the men who should represent them 

 in the United States Senate, the term of Mr. 

 Casserly expiring in March, 1875, and he hav- 

 ing already resigned, there was a fierce strug- 

 gle both in and out of the two old parties to 

 elect such members of the Legislature as 

 would support their candidate. The elections 

 of 1871 had been carried by the Republicans 

 in regard to the State officers; Governor 

 Booth having been elected by a large majority, 

 and the Legislature being largely Republican 

 in both branches. The election of 1872 was 

 only for President and members of Congress, 

 and resulted in a majority of 13,302 for Presi- 



