was only 20,000 short tons; this year up to November 1st, one concern 

 alone has produced and marketed a much greater tonnage than the 1902 

 output. 



Specifications everywhere now admit California asphaltum, and 

 wherever it has been fairly tested it has been established as the standard. 

 Laid side by side with the so-called "natural" asphalts it has repeatedly 

 shown its superiority, being more durable and requiring a less expenditure 

 for maintenance. This season sailing vessels have been chartered, loaded 

 with the material, and sent around the Horn to the Atlantic seaboard. 

 Large shipments have been made to the same destination by steamers, 

 while thousands of tons have gone overland. The material has now been 

 accepted on its merits, and the next few years should show an astonishing 

 building up of this California industry — an industry unique in that Cali- 

 fornia is practically the only part of the world where it may be carried on 

 successfully. 



california's production of 

 Petroleum. 



By CHARLES Q. VALE. 5Uti8tician California State nini>e Bnrean 



IN view of the fact that others better qualified will doubtless write up 

 descriptions of the various petroleum fields of the State in this issue 

 of "For California," and that all the occurrences will be duly noted, it is 

 intended in what follows to show merely the gradual progress in pro- 

 duction, and that in as brief a manner as may be. California has now 

 risen to first place among the other States of the Union in the produc- 

 tion of mineral oils, as far as the annual output in number of barrels is 

 concerned, but in total value and average value received per barrel it does 

 not hold that rank unfortunately. The limitations of this article preclude a 

 discussion on the causes of this latter condition. 



While gold is still the leading product in point of value in the mineral 

 industry of the State, petroleum is now the second; but gold has been 

 mined here since 1848, and it is only within the past few years that the 

 petroleum interests of the State have been recognized as important. It 

 was not until 1895 that there was over a million barrels of oil produced in 

 any one year. In 1894 — the last year of which we have complete data — 

 the output was 29,736,003 barrels, valued at $8,317,809, as compared 

 with 24,340,839 barrels in 1903 valued at $7,313,271. This shows an 

 increased output in one year of 5,395,164 barrels, with an increase in value 

 of about a million dollars. 



The oil wen, however, have still much ahead of them in trying to catch 

 up with the gold miners, because California's output of gold in 1904 was 

 $19,109,600, which was an increase of about three million dollars over the 

 yield of the previous year. For a long time copper kept second place in the 

 list of producing minerals, but the petroleum yield is now valued at more 

 than double that of the copper mines in this State. 



In order to show the gradual progress in the development of the oil indus- 

 try of California the appended tables have been prepared. In that giving 

 the entire output of the State by years, the figures of the United States 

 Geological Survey have been taken up to 1894, but from that year on, the 

 figures of the California State Mining Bureau. It was not until 1894 that 

 the Bureau began the compilation of annual statistics of mineral output, 

 and it is for this reason that the tables of product for each county are given 

 no further back than eleven years, they being obtained from Mining Bureau 

 records. This is the first time as far as the writer knows that an attempt 

 has been made to segregate the oil production in this State by county over 

 a series of years, and it is hoped that the following tables will be found 

 of service as a matter of reference. The amount accredited to "unappor- 

 tioned" was so placed to conceal the operations of single companies which 



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