AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT 



is of little value and one variety of olive, which hap- 

 pens to be the best we have. Even their methods of 

 tillage and irrigation were wrong, as will be cited 

 in another connection later. Their spiritual labor 

 and sacrifice are rightly venerated, but their agricul- 

 ture had permanent value only in its suggestiveness. 



During the mission rule, and after the seculariza- 

 tion especially, men from Spain and from Mexico 

 secured large grants of California land in return for 

 personal services and otherwise, but the rude feudal 

 system which was thus inaugurated was of no per- 

 manent value to the possessors nor to the develop- 

 ment of the country in fact the flock of Mexican 

 grants which were ratified by the admission of Cali- 

 fornia to the United States were birds of ill-omen 

 for decades after the American occupation. The 

 agriculture on these old grants was primitive and 

 unworthy of the land which it encumbered. 



Inducted in the Spanish period are the ventures 

 of the Russians to establish themselves on what is 

 now the Pacific Coast of the United States, but they 

 contributed practically nothing to agricultural de- 

 velopment. 



THE AMERICAN PERIOD. From a modern point of 

 view the true pioneers of the development of the 

 Pacific Coast as we now see it, were the continent- 

 crossing stalwarts, who braved the perils of the 

 "Great American Desert," during two decades pre- 

 vious to the gold discovery in 1848. Technically the 

 "pioneers" included all who arrived in California 

 by any means of locomotion "during '49 and the 

 spring of '50." All the histories of the Coast States 

 record their names and describe their exploits. 

 Three names lead in all narrations: Fremont for 

 California; Lewis and Clark for the north coast 

 regions. Accompanying or following them practic- 

 ally all the pioneers of the first class were explorers, 

 hunters and trappers. Some were actuated by pa- 

 triotism, some by peltry, some by pure adventure. 

 Agriculture was not in their thoughts, and although 

 many did take a quick suggestion from what they 

 saw at the California missions, the prevailing idea 

 was that California was not a farming country. 

 This was a pardonable mistake because they had 

 never seen such a country before. Knowing what 

 havoc a few weeks of summer drouth would work 

 with crops on the mid-continent prairies, they could 

 not conceive how the same crops could endure 

 months without rain and really be the better for it. 

 The latter fact was slowly recognized, and retarded 

 the development of California agriculture even after 

 the State was thronged with gold-seekers. Oregon 



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