HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE 89 



together. Even the product of beef, which was the 

 largest the new State afforded, quickly became inade- 

 quate and large herds of cattle were driven in from 

 New Mexico and Texas to supply the imperative 

 demand. Perhaps there never was a capable agricul- 

 tural country with local markets so empty of sup- 

 plies and ready to pay such fabulous prices for them 

 as California in 1850 and a few following years. 

 Had it not been for the great demand for large and 

 immediate production of food, agriculture would 

 probably have advanced slowly, during a gradual 

 settlement by Americans, as an expansion and modifi- 

 cation of Spanish methods and purposes. 



The mining industry did more than merely gen- 

 erate farming as a business. It endowed the latter 

 with much of its own spirit, its greatness of industrial 

 conception and its insistent demand for speed. 

 Almost from the very beginning there was a readiness 

 to pursue new ideals in agricultural production or to 

 pursue old ends in new ways. 



There were, however, more tangible and concrete 

 contributions from mining to farming at the very 

 beginning. One of these was furnishing capital with 

 which the earliest farming adventures were entered 

 on before their outcome could be clearly foreseen. 

 The prices of all food products were so high that 

 temptation to have a try at farming was almost irre- 

 sistible and fluctuation of prices resulting from 

 plunges into over-production soon afterward demon- 

 strated that farming was quite as much of a gamble 

 as mining. Thus it came about that many who had 



