THE TRUTH ABOUT CALIFORNIA 



quoted prunes as bringing from twenty to twenty-two 

 cents at wholesale at San Francisco, "and even as high as 

 thirty cents for best quality." Prunes now bring from 

 three to eight cents, and pay well at four and a half. 

 Figs were then selling at from five to ten cents per pound, 

 and the author thought they would be .very profitable. 

 The result has proved that while figs bear most prolific 

 crops they are not profitable, as Calif ornians have not 

 yet been able to cure and pack them successfully. There 

 are exceptions to the rule, but this is true as a general 

 statement, and the fig is not a profitable article of com- 

 merce in California. In much the same way tobacco- 

 culture failed and disappointed the hopes which had 

 been built upon that industry. 



These are instances of many particulars in which even 

 the most painstaking of works on California require re- 

 vision in the light of experience. So, too, the public 

 opinion which they helped to make must be revised. 

 Mr. Nordhoff described California as it looked and as 

 it seemed to promise in 1873. While his methods were 

 conscientious, his tone was one of intense enthusiasm. 

 His vision extended as far as any one's could do at that 

 time. The fact is that at that stage of its history Cali- 

 fornia had not begun to develop its real and enduring 

 economic traits as it has done during the past few years. 

 It had recently emerged from an era of wild speculation. 

 It stood upon the verge of another, in which railroads 

 and agriculture, rather than gold, were to be the prin- 

 cipal factors. It is from the calm sea-level of these quiet 

 days that the State may best take its bearings. Thus the 

 time is ripe for a new study of what in many respects is 

 the most wonderful of American States. 



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