AGRICULTURE. 161 



in their proportion to the total 14,470,000 bushels, we find that 

 arley forms 39 per cent., wheat 34 per cent., oats 10 per cent., 

 potatoes 10 per cent., maize 3 per cent., and peas, beans, sweet 

 potatoes, buckwheat, and rye, about one-half of one per cent, 

 each. This proportion will be found to differ greatly from 

 that of any other country. Compare our state with Ohio, 

 which may fairly be considered as a representative of the free 

 agricultural states of the Union. Ohio has 10,000,000 acres 

 under cultivation — that is, ten times as much as California — 

 and, according to the census of 1850, in the previous year pro- 

 duced 92,644,000 bushels of the above-mentioned articles, six 

 times as much as California. The population of Ohio was then 

 1,980,000 ; so the yield was an average of forty-six bushels to 

 the person. Coming down to particulars, we find that in 1849 

 Ohio produced 59,000,000 bushels (or 63 per cent.) of maize; 

 14,000,000 bushels (15 percent.) of u'heat ; 13,000,000 bushels 

 (14 per cent.) of oats; 5,000,000 bushels (5 per cent.) of pota- 

 toes; 638,000 bushels (one-half of 1 per cent.) of buckwheat; 

 425,000 bushels of rye, 354,000 of barley, 187,000 of sweet 

 potatoes, and 60,000 of peas and beans. Comparing the pro- 

 portion of the several items to the total of the crops, we find 

 that California grows eighty times as much barley as Ohio, 

 twice as much wheat and potatoes, tw^elve times as much peas 

 and beans, and only one-twentieth as much maize. The pro- 

 portion of oats, buckwheat, and rye, is about the same in the 

 two states. 



§ 131. Rotation of Crops. — Rotation of crops, as the phrase 

 is understood in the Atlantic states and Europe, receives very 

 little attention from the farmers of California, and indeed is im- 

 possible on the greater part of the land, because its dryness 

 will not permit the growth of roots or common grasses. The 

 soil is too dry for corn, potatoes, turnips, clover, and timothy 

 or herd's grass. Peas and beans yield well in only a few lo- 

 calities. Alfalfa or lucerne will thrive, but it needs several 

 years to get deep root and make a thick sod. Horses and 

 cattle find food in the open plains and hills throughout the 



