262 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



With irrigation, crop after crop can be obtained in varied suc- 

 cession, so that you may find anything you desire at any season. 

 The early vegetaljles begin to come in during the month of 

 February. Asparagus is cut from February to June. One 

 grower informed us he had six acres. The product was about 

 five tons to the acre, and was contracted for at nine cents per 

 pound. Tbe size to which vegetables attain is almost incredible. 

 We were told of pumpkins weighing 250 pounds ; squashes, 150 

 pounds ; beets, 100 pounds ; and carrots, 30 pounds. Astonish- 

 ing as these facts may seem, it is easy to understand how such 

 results are obtained where growth never ceases. The mean 

 temperature of the coldest month, December, at San Francisco 

 is said to be fifty-five degrees ; in the interior it is probably 

 lower. 



Although our attention was mainly given to the orchard, 

 vineyard and garden, our numerous journeys through the in- 

 terior of the State afforded us opportunities of learning its agri- 

 cultural character. We were everywhere impressed with the 

 immense extent of the fields and farms, and flocks of cattle and 

 sheep. One gentleman in Sacramento informed us that his 

 farm embraced 13,000 acres of land, and that last year he sold 

 $40,000 worth of wheat. We visited one dairy farm, containing 

 3,500 acres, with GOO cows, only an hour by rail from San Fran- 

 cisco on the San Jose railroad ; and were told of another farmer 

 who had 2,300 head of milch cows. In one of the small, very 

 rich valleys, celebrated for stock raising, we were informed by a 

 friend of ours, that in favorable seasons 20,000 to 30,000 cattle 

 might be seen on the plains, and often so thick that they could 

 not be counted. We met in our travels flocks of sheej) on their 

 way to the mountains, of 3,000 to 5,000 head, for fresh pasture. 

 One firm from Maine, who crossed the mountains in 1852 with 

 2,000 sheep, now shear over 100,000, and own 150,000 acres of 

 land. Another farmer, who went from Roxbury in this State, 

 with whom we were formerly* acquainted, now owns 32,000 

 acres of land and has 7,000 sheep. His neighbor owns an island 

 devoted to sheep husbandry and has 115,000 sheep. This island 

 is green with verdure thronghoiit the year, and it is said that 

 in Los Angelos County one may travel on the road for twenty- 

 seven miles through the farms and islands of one })roprictor. 

 While lands in the interior of most excellent quality are to be 



