CALIFORNIA. 



73 



Angel, -s Cciiiity. The district^ that yields the 

 iiiiu'iint of oil is in Ventura County. 

 Three lar^c companies o|irnili' here, and there 

 :nv \\ell- in Tnvy canon, the Ojai valley, and 

 Sc^pe. Santa Paula, Adams, Wheeler, and Aliso 

 canons. The \\dls already in existence supply 

 SIMI liarrels daily, and new ones are being sunk. 

 There is an extensive system of pipe lines in this 

 territory, and a large refinery at Santa I'aula. 

 Bc.-ides the large companies in operation there 

 are many small wells owned by private parties, 

 and their product is all sold to the large con- 

 cerns. The crude oil is worth about $1.00 at 

 the well. 



Agriculture. Two States in the Union pro- 

 duce half of t he entire barley crop of the country, 

 and of these two California takes the lead, New 

 York being second. While the California crop 

 is reported to average something like 16,000,000 

 bushels annually, those figures are far from 

 representing the actual amount. One of the pe- 

 culiarities of California is the prominent place 

 occupied by this grain in farm economy. The pio- 

 neer American agriculturists found the Span- 

 iards in the habit of feeding barley to their 

 horses, that grain taking the place occupied by 

 oats at the Last. The spirit of imitation being 

 strong upon the newcomers, they undertook the 

 cultivation of barley, and adopted the practice 

 of utilizing it for food for their horses and 

 mules, to the exclusion of other grain. That 

 habit has become firmly fixed throughout the 

 State. The largest barley-producing county is 

 San Joaquin, while San Bernardino comes second, 

 .Merced third, and Contra Costa fourth. The 

 bay counties and those adjacent to the ocean are 

 large barley producers. The moist atmosphere 

 of those sections, so detrimental to wheat in the 

 production of rust, is positively beneficial to the 

 growth of barley. 



California consumes more corn than she pro- 

 duces. The bulk of the crop is produced in the 

 southern counties, there being an extensive re- 

 gion in San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ven- 

 tura, Los Angeles, Orange, and San Bernardino 

 Counties, where this cereal is produced without 

 the aid of irrigation, and without rainfall from 

 seed time to harvest. In the San Joaquin valley 

 there is considerable corn production through 

 the agency of irrigation, but in the counties 

 mentioned sole dependence is placed upon the 

 natural moisture of the soil and the influence of 

 the fogs driven inland from the ocean. Under 

 favorable conditions crops of 60 to 125 bushels 

 to the aqre are not infrequent. 



The wheat crop of 1891 proved to be nearly 

 an average one in quantity, about 1,000,000 tons 

 being harvested. In quality it was the best that 

 has l>een raised for several years. About one 

 fourth of it was produced north of a line drawn 

 through San Francisco and Stockton, and the 

 remainder south of that line. 



The wool product for 1891 is estimated at 

 32.41 r>. v .T>i ) pounds, against 34,917,320 pounds for 

 is 1 .'". ::::.-)!U.7'Jil pounds for issji. and :W.:ii;'.i.!i70 

 pounds for 1888. Although there was a decrease 

 in the product, the prices for it in 1891 were 

 very satisfactory, and its total value is estimated 

 at $ 5,500,000. 



The vintage of 1891 is estimated at 10,550,000 

 gallons, against 1 7,500,000 gallons in 1890. About 



1.250,000 gal Ions of brandy were also produced. 

 The estimate of the raisin product is :>,5oo,000 

 tucnty-pound boxes; of fresh fruit dried, 445,- 

 H(MMMM) pounds ; of fresh fruit canned, 50,000,000 

 pounds; of potatoes, 125,000,000 pounds; of 

 beans, 50,000,000 pounds ; of prunes, 25,000,000 

 pounds; of sugar, 9,000,000 pounds; of petro 

 leum, 474,500 barrels ; of lumber, 500,000,000 feet. 



Earthquakes. In the central portion of the 

 State, several distinct shocks of earthquake were 

 felt on April 19 and 21, but none were severe 

 enough to cause widespread damage. A few 

 buildings were thrown down, ceilings cracked, 

 plaMcring detached, and fragile movables broken. 

 At Sacramento the ceiling of the State Capitol 

 was slightly damaged. No loss of life was re- 

 ported. San Francisco suffered only slight 

 damage. The only large place reporting heavy 

 loss was Woodland, where the damage to build- 

 ings was estimated at $50,000. 



Hydraulic Mining 1 . On Jan. 20, a State min- 

 ing convention met at San Francisco for the 

 purpose of hastening the resumption of hydraulic 

 mining in the State. There nave always been 

 two conflicting interests in this industry, that of 

 the miner and that of the riparian farmer, whose 

 lands and the stream adjoining thereto were in- 

 jured by the debris caused by such mining 

 operations. At this convention both parties 

 were fully represented, and they co-operated in 

 seeking an adjustment of their difficulties. Reso- 

 lutions were passed, and the following memorial 

 to Congress was adopted unanimously : 



Your memorialists, representing the people of the 

 State of California in convention assembled at San 

 Francisco, for the purpose of considering the question 

 of hydraulic mining and the improvement of water 

 ways of the State, respectfully represent: 



"that for many years there has been a conflict be- 

 tween the farming and hydraulic mining interests of 

 California by reason of the debris from said mines 

 injuring the navigable rivers and lands bordering 

 thereon. By decisions of the Federal courts injunc- 

 tions were issued against these mines, and they were 

 closed down, throwing many persons out of employ- 

 ment and causing great loss of capital invested in 

 mines, ditches, ana a great industry paralyzed. The 

 Legislature of the State of California, realizing that a 

 rehabilitation of this mining industry would benefit 

 the people of the whole State and nation if it could 

 be accomplished, by joint resolution brought the 

 matter to the attention of Contri <. 



In accordance with this resolution Congress passed 

 an act appointing a commission of engineers for the 

 purpose of ascertaining if some plan could be devised 

 to adjust the conflict between the mining and tann- 

 ing sections; and for examining the navigable rivers 

 and their tributaries, with a view to improvement 

 and rectification of the rivers. That this board of 

 engineers, officers constituted under the provisions 

 ut the act of Congress entitled "An Act tor the in- 

 vestigation of the mining debriv question in the State 

 nt California," approvetf Oct. 1, 1888, have made an 

 examination and investigation of the mining debris 

 question in the State of California, and have made an 

 examination of the injured navigable river channels, 

 their tributaries, ami lands adjacent thereto, with u 

 view to the improvement and rectification of said 

 rivers. 



That it appears from said rej>ort that there are 

 many hundred million dollars ol gold in the aurif- 

 erous gravel deposits of California which can be ex- 

 tracted by the hydraulic process, filling the arteries 

 of commerce and stimulating to increased energy all 

 the industries of this State and of the nation, and 

 that wise statesmanship demands that this vast 



