CALIFORNIA 



1062 



CALIFORNIA 



cultivation. Streams are numerous and supply 

 much of the water needed, but many of the 

 irrigation enterprises are private and depend 

 upon wells. As Arizona is to-day profiting 

 much from waters drawn from the Colorado 

 River, so California has profited in recent 

 years. The Imperial Valley, in the southern 

 part of the state, was a parched desert, but 

 investigation proved that its soil was good, and 

 not the alkaline substance of some of the near- 

 by deserts, and water was turned upon it. 

 The result was immediate, and the fertile 

 region thus opened up proved inviting to set- 

 tlers. At Yuma, Arizona, the United States 

 Reclamation Service has in process of con- 

 struction a reservoir which will provide irriga- 

 tion facilities for thousands of acres on the 

 California side. 



Stock-Raising. In the days of the Mexican 

 occupation of California stock-raising was the 

 chief industry, for the wide grass lands needed 

 no irrigation. Vast herds of cattle and flocks 

 of sheep grazed on the public lands, but with 

 'the development of other forms of agriculture 

 this particular branch declined in relative im- 

 portance, the sheep coming into especial dis- 

 favor because the grass which they cropped 

 did not grow again. The raising of stock is 

 still a thriving industry in parts of the state, 

 however, the cattle, horses, sheep, mules and 

 swine having a combined value of about $125,- 

 000,000. The poultry business is also profit- 

 able, and the country around Petaluma is one 

 of the chief chicken-growing centers in the 

 world. 



Mining. It is impossible to think of Cali- 

 fornia without recognizing its mineral wealth, 

 and particularly its gold, for it was the dis- 

 covery of gold in 1848 that revolutionized the 

 history of the state. In the one year of 1849 

 more than 40,000 people started out for the 

 new gold fields by the overland route, and 

 many of them perished in the deserts before 

 they reached their goal (see GOLD). But obsta- 

 cles greater than deserts and gigantic mountain 

 chains are necessary to keep man from the 

 places where gold may be found, and the 

 mining industry grew rapidly. The earliest 

 methods were most primitive, for much of the 

 gold lay near the surface, and a pick, shovel 

 and washing pan were all these pioneers needed. 

 As the shallow gravel streams were exhausted, 

 mining, properly so called, was introduced, 

 and remarkably rich veins of gold were opened 

 up, most of them on the western slope and in 

 the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas. The 



"mother lode" proved to be one of the richest 

 gold-bearing quartz veins in the world. Be- 

 tween 1850 and 1859 about $55,000,000 worth of 

 gold was produced annually in the state; from 

 that time the decline has been steady, but not 

 sudden, for about $20,000,000 worth was mined 

 in 1915. Since 1897 California and Colorado 

 have been the chief gold-mining states, now 

 one, now the other, holding first place. In all 

 over $1,500,000,000 worth has been taken from 

 the mines far more than any other one state 

 or country has produced. It is little wonder 

 that California is called the Golden State. 



Silver, too, is mined, though in much smaller 

 quantities, and the annual yield of copper is 

 valued at about one-fourth the annual yield 

 of gold. California also produces considerable 

 lead and zinc, a little coal, various clays useful 

 in brick and tile making, two-fifths of the 

 world's output of quicksilver, and millions of 

 barrels each year of petroleum. Especially 

 remarkable has been the development in petro- 

 leum production, the number of barrels in- 

 creasing between 1899 and 1913 from less than 

 2,000,000 to 98,000,000, an output which 

 gave California first rank among the states. 

 More recently Oklahoma has outranked it in 

 the value of its output of petroleum, but not 

 in quantity. In its yield of borax California 

 ranks first, Death Valley being the principal 

 source of supply. Tungsten has been produced 

 in paying quantities in the Mohave Desert, 

 since 1915, and the output is rapidly increasing. 



Fisheries. Whaling is no longer the flour- 

 ishing industry it once was, but it has not 

 died out, and San Francisco is now the chief 

 whaling port in the world. Detailed statistics 

 as to the fisheries, whether coastal or inland, 

 are not available, but it is certain that Cali- 

 fornia is one of the foremost states in the 

 taking and canning of salmon. In addition to 

 this, sturgeon, smelt, halibut, soles, mackerel, 

 cod and bass are caught in the coast waters, as 

 well as the characteristic sand-dab, red snap- 

 per and pompano. The tuna, one of the largest 

 of the mackerel tribe, is also plentiful; it has 

 of late years come into increased popularity, 

 and is now being canned as extensively in the 

 state as is salmon. The fishes of the streams 

 include Rocky Mountain trout of large size, 

 black bass and shad. Oysters, mussels, clams, 

 crabs, shrimps and crawfish increase the output 

 of sea food materially. 



Manufactures. A state with such immeas- 

 urable natural resources has endless possi- 

 bilities for manufactures, but the almost total 



