xliv INTRODUCTION. 



tastes were more in demand and received a higher compensation than those who furnished the mere 

 necessaries of life. The war will, in the end, make us poorer and more economical, and the time must 

 sooner or later arrive when we shall have less to spend in mere luxuries ; and those who furnish the 

 necessaries of life will receive a higher consideration and better compensation. The importance of 

 agriculture will be realized, and will attract the best minds of the country, and vast improvements 

 rapidly follow, succeeded by enlarged production. This great change, however, will not be brought 

 about at once. It will require time to introduce an improved system of agriculture and to materially 

 increase the productiveness of our farms. 



In the mean time, it is highly probable that our exportation of breadstuffs to Europe will be 

 materially lessened, unless a European war should greatly enhance prices. It is, however, to an 

 increased home consumption that we look for those higher prices that will give that stimulus to American 

 agriculture it has hitherto needed. As long as we continue to export wheat, no matter to how small 

 an extent, the price in Europe will regulate the price in this country. 



The price obtained in England for the 295,241 bushels of wheat which we exported in 1859 

 determined the price of our whole crop of over 173,000,000 of bushels raised that year. The price of 

 the one and three-fourths bushel exported fixed the price of the thousand bushels consumed at home. 

 If, for a few years, the price of grain in this country is determined not by what it will bring when 

 shipped to Europe, but by the price at which Europe can furnish it to us here, and if we are compelled 

 to forego some of the European luxuries which have of late years absorbed such a large proportion of 

 our wealth, it will be no great misfortune to us as a people. 



For the following remarks on wheat culture in California we are indebted to ex-Governor Downey 

 to whom we are under great obligations for other important statements : 



&quot; Tims far in our history the wheat crop is next in importance to our product of the precious metals ; yielding an abundant 

 supply for home consumption, and a large surplus for exportation. All of our valleys north of the Salinas plains, in Monterey 

 county, are admirably adapted to the production of this great staple, yielding from 30 to 60 bushels to the acre, and generally 

 exempt from all diseases that affect and annoy the farmer in the Atlantic and Mississippi States. Our virgin soil as yet requires 

 neither fallowing nor manuring, but year after year yields from the same field its heaps of golden grain. From the bay of 

 Monterey to the head of Kussian river, an extent of 250 miles, is one vast wheat field. Barley and oats are produced in great 

 abundance, but their export demand is limited. The wild oats, which is fully as luxuriant as the cultivated, is one of our most 

 important grasses, and, cut while the grain is in its lactescent condition, is considered the best hay in the world. From the 10th 

 of May until the 1st of November the farmer expects no rain. He therefore cuts, threshes, and sacks on the same field, and 

 houses in a sound and perfect condition, rendering it perfectly safe for the mill or the longest voyage.&quot; 



THE QUALITY OF OUR WHEAT. 



High quality in wheat can only be obtained where there is sufficient heat in summer for its per 

 fect elaboration. There is nothing that will take the place of sunshine. In this respect the climate 

 of the United States is far better for the production of wheat of high quality, than that of Great Britain. 



The best wheat years in England are the dryest and hottest. The year 1863, with its great heat, 

 was the best wheat season ever known in England. The crop was never before so large, or the quality 

 so good. The heat of the summer months approximated closely to that of this country. With &quot; high 

 farming &quot; there is nothing which the English wheat-grower dreads so much as a cold, moist summer. 

 Could he be always sure of an American summer he could calculate on obtaining an average yield of 

 not less than forty bushels per acre, and of the highest quality. But should he make his land rich enough 

 to produce a heavy crop in a dry season, and a cool, moist summer should ensue, his wheat would be all 

 laid and not yield half a crop. So far as the summer climate is concerned, therefore, the American 

 wheat-grower has everything that he can desire. Ours is the climate for &quot; high farming.&quot; 



The severity of the winters, and cold, late, wet springs, followed suddenly by dry, hot summers, are 

 the chief drawbacks to our American climate ; but their injurious effects can easily be guarded against. 

 All that we need is good farming. The land must be drained, well cultivated, properly enriched, and 

 sown with a variety that matures early, and the result will be all that can be desired. In moist lands, 



