AGRICULTURE, 225 



certain, they pay well, and there is little competition. Most 

 of the flour now exported to the West Indian Islands and the 

 Maylasian Archipelago, is of the Gallego and Haxall brands, 

 which, because of their dryness and strength, are worth from 

 twenty to fifty per cent, more in the market than other flour. 

 California may not be able to supply the West Indian Islands, 

 but she certainly lias peculiar advantages for supplying the 

 tropical islands and shores of the Pacific. The ilintiness of 

 our wheat is undoubtedly owing to the dryness of the cli- 

 mate, and it is about the same in all the wheat-growing dis- 

 tricts of the State. There is no noteworthy difference in this 

 respect between that of the Sacramento Valley and that 

 grown on the immediate coast. It is all so dry as to keep 

 well in any climate. Millers in New York and Liverpool 

 make some objections to our wheat that it is too hard for 

 their millstones ; but this is their misfortune, not our fault. 

 The difficulty is remedied by moistening the wheat before 

 grinding. 



Most of the wheat of this State is white, but it is not 

 equal in whiteness to that of the Genesee Valley, Oregon, 

 Washington, and some other districts of the United States ; 

 yet is superior to the wheat of England and of most Euro- 

 pean countries. The fogs give a dark color to the wheat 

 grown at Half-Moon Bay, in the Pajaro and Petaluma 

 Valleys, and on the Santa Rosa plain; but in the other 

 districts a uniform whiteness prevails. 



Our wheat generally has a thin skin, and does not make 

 much bran ; but in the districts where the skin is darkened 

 by the fogs, there also it is thick. 



Most of the Californian wheat is not well cleaned. It is 

 sent to the market containing oats, barley, chess, alfalfa- 

 seed, and dirt ; and when shipped to New York must often 

 be cleaned there before it can be ground. Our farmers, 

 however, are gradually becoming more careful in cleaning 

 their wheat. 

 15 



