17 



the iinoqualcd Avine properties of the grape, and not till then, 

 it would be found in the market for sale and consumption. 



The immediate ett'ects of this chaniz;o in the manai^ement of 

 our wino interests would be a certain and reliable increased de- 

 mand for the grape and must, and a proportional increased pro- 

 duction. The mere grape juice, of from four to six months of 

 age, made by those professing but very little skill in its manu- 

 facture, and possessing perhaps less, would (lisapjjear from among 

 us, and our home and foreign demands would be supplied with 

 the various kinds of wines, equal, if not superior, to the most 

 excellent and high-priced foreign brands. 



A very large })ortion of the sugar consumed in the southern 

 countries of Europe is now manufactured in France from the 

 common Avhite sugar beet. It is a demonstrated fact that this 

 •article can be pi-oduced in rich alluvial soil of our valleys and 

 tule land in greater quantities per acre, and with less labor, thtin 

 in any other portion of the civilized world. By chemical analy- 

 sis, science assures us that, owing to the peculiarly favorable 

 properties of our soil, the California production possesses a 

 greater quantity of saccharine matter than the same article pro- 

 duced in an}' part of France. Taken in connection with the 

 .present and prospective high ruling prices of sugar, Ave have 

 here another branch of industry promising a liberal compensa- 

 tion for skilled labor and a munificent return fur the investment 

 of capital, managed and directed by the lights of science and 

 practical experience. 



The cultivation of silk also, by the experience of competent 

 judges, for some ten years, in our State has proved to be a per- 

 fect success. The mulberry tree flourishes here with a luxuri- 

 ance knoAvn in no other country. The absence of moisture and 

 explosive electricity in the atmosphere, during the season of 

 feeding and hatching the Avornis and securing the cocoons, are 

 circumstances which render our State more favorable for the 

 prosecution of this pleasant and important branch of industry 

 than any other country in Avhich silk is produced. 



It is a historical fact that the seasons in the principal silk- 

 producing countries in the south of Eui-ope have for years past 

 ])een growing more cold and moist, and hence less favorable to 

 the production of silk. These arc significant facts, Avhich may 

 very profitably be taken into account by those Avho are to con- 

 trol the future matin-ial destiny of our State. It may not be 

 improper here to state that J . Morenhuut, Consul of France at 

 Los Angeles, lately sent five samples of cotton produced in that 

 county by as many different persons, to the Minister of Agri- 

 culture and Commerce in France, Avho, after having the same 

 carefully examined by competent judges, returned in his official 

 report that the samples Avore all identical in quality, and would 

 command then about the same price as the short silk cotton of 



