124 THE CALIFORNIA 



favorable to the growth of the mulberry trees\ with 

 which we feed them. It thrives here in California every- 

 where, but prefers a light, loamy, and deep soil. When 

 at Sacramento, the first thing that attracted my atten- 

 tion was that very best quality of soil there ; and after 

 I had been shown some mulberry trees growing there, I 

 found that I was not mistaken. In measuring the shoots 

 of one year's growth, most of them were from ten to 

 twelve feet long, and some as long as fifteen feet. Who 

 can beat this ? It surpasses everything ever seen 

 before. I am told that there is any amount of such 

 land in the Sacramento Valley, and I suppose it ex- 

 tends up to your locality, and perhaps further.- *jf ' 

 would like very much to know it. 'Many other valleys 

 in California are probably as good. 



It is impossible to calculate the hundreds of millions 

 of dollars worth of silk that we can raise in California ; 

 the silk being such a rich product that, in a few years, 

 it will bring more to our State than all other products 

 together ; and I feel happy to see that our people 

 begin to understand it, by the numerous letters that I 

 am receiving every day on this important question. 



Mr. Wilson Flint came to see me yesterday. I 

 learned from this gentleman that he has already one 

 hundred thousand mulberry trees planted, and that 

 from cuttings and from seeds he expects to have about 

 three hundred thousand mulberry trees. He has made 

 arrangements to plant three hundred acres of his supe- 

 rior bottom lands, to begin with, and more after. He 

 intends to have not only the largest silk establishment 

 in California, but on the globe. 



