260 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



distress, then the gold began to glisten in the streams of Cali- 

 fornia ; when the forests became denuded of wood, then came 

 the discovery of coal and the working of the mines ; when the 

 whale was being exterminated for the production of oil, then 

 came the discovery of oil in the bowels of the earth instead of 

 .the bowels of the sea ; and when the fertility of our great wheat 

 fields, moving continually west, began to decline, California 

 comes to the rescue with the golden harvest of her immense 

 valleys, rivalling in importance the treasures of her golden 

 mines. 



Wheat is the great crop of Ciilifornia. More than one-fourth 

 of the cultivated land is devoted to it ; and so fertile is the soil 

 that frequently the grain which is dropped in harvesting pro- 

 duces another crop without sowing or tillage. This is called a 

 " volunteer crop ; " and although it often yields fifteen bushels 

 to the acre, it cannot be considered a judicious method of farm- 

 ing. Barley and oats are raised to considerable extent, but 

 Indian corn was seldom seen in our travels. The annual grain 

 crop of California is about thirty-two millions of bushels, two- 

 thirds of which is wheat. In favorable seasons the average 

 yield of wheat is about twenty five bushels to the acre. In- 

 stances, however, are not uncommon where in new and very 

 fertile locations it has reached fifty, and even sixty and seventy 

 bushels per acre. The seed is large, plump, white, and so well 

 ripened by the high temperature, that it may be stored in bulk 

 for months without danger of sweating or injury, and in fact 

 often requires moistening before it is ground. 



The quality of the California wheat is world-wide renowned 

 for its weight, strength and whiteness. Some of the districts, 

 such as Alameda, Santa Clara and San Mateo, produce the 

 finest wheat in the world ; and the quality of the whole State 

 averages better than that of the States this side of the Nevadas. 

 As there is no rain in the summer, the grain crops are left 

 standing in the fields for weeks after they are ripe. Much of 

 the grain is harvested by a machine called the header, which 

 passes through the field cutting a swath fifteen feet wide, tak- 

 ing off the heads eight inches long, throwing them into a wagon 

 by its side at the rate of an acre in less than an hour. The 

 crops are generally threshed by a steam machine brought into 

 the field. This machine requires two horses, two men and 



