HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE 97 



increased values, already fabulous, by seizing seeds 

 for planting that came in by ship for food. They 

 planted such large areas of some vegetables that the 

 very first crop produced an over-supply., and a part 

 would not sell for enough to meet the cost of taking 

 it from the ground. On the whole, however, food 

 production was exceedingly profitable. 



The achievements of the first few years in nearly 

 all lines of production were very striking and inter- 

 esting, but are beyond enumeration in this connec- 

 tion. Some may be recalled later in the discussion 

 of special products, where they may seem particularly 

 significant. A single contrast will suffice to show the 

 general advancement. From 1849 to 1854 inclusive 

 there were imported, chiefly from Atlantic states and 

 Chile, flour and wheat to the value of five or six mil- 

 lions of dollars annually. In 1856 California pro- 

 duced wheat enough for her own consumption and 

 some to spare, which sixteen of the oldest settled states 

 on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts and the Mississippi 

 River did not do. 



What was done with wheat was also accomplished 

 with many other products. The most significant 

 thing was not the accomplishment itself but the 

 spirit and purpose to build a great state which it 

 engendered. At the State Fair of 1856 the orator 

 made this declaration : 



"An experience of eight years, during which we 

 have dug and shipped so enormous an amount of 

 gold, out of which we have saved so little, ought to 

 convince us that we shall never get rich by this 



