AGRICULTURE. 161 
in their proportion to the total 14,470,000 bushels, we find that 
arley forms 39 per cent., wheat 34 per cent., oats 10 per cent., 
potatoes 10 per cent., maize 3 per cent., and peas, beans, sweet 
potatoes, buckwheat, and rye, about one-half of one per cent. 
each. This proportion will be found to differ greatly from 
that of any other country. Compare our state with Ohio, 
which may fairly be considered as a representative of the free 
agricultural states of the Union. Ohio has 10,000,000 acres 
under cultivation—that is, ten times as much as California— 
and, accordipg to the census of 1850, in the previous year pro- 
duced 92,644,000 bushels of the above-mentioned articles, six 
times as much as California. The population of Ohio was then 
1,980,000; so the yield was an average of forty-six bushels to 
the person. Coming down to particulars, we find that in 1849 
Ohio produced 59,000,000 bushels (or 63 per cent.) of maize; 
14,000,000 bushels (15 per cent.) of wheat; 13,000,000 bushels 
(14 per cent.) of oats; 5,000,000 bushels (5 per cent.) of pota- 
toes; 638,000 bushels (one-half of 1 per cent.) of buckwheat; 
425,000 bushels of rye, 354,000 of barley, 187,000 of sweet 
potatoes, and 60,000 of peas and beans. Comparing the pro- 
portion of the several items to the total of the crops, we find 
that California grows eighty times as much barley as Ohio, 
twice as much wheat and potatoes, twelve times as much peas 
and beans, and only one-twentieth as much maize. The pro. 
portion of oats, buckwheat, and rye, is about the same in the 
two states. 
§ 131. Rotation of Crops.—Rotation of crops, as the phrase 
is understood in the Atlantic states and Europe, receives very 
little attention from the farmers of California, and indeed is im- 
possible on the greater part of the land, because its dryness 
will not permit the growth of roots or common grasses. The 
soil is too dry for corn, potatoes, turnips, clover, and timothy 
or herd’s grass. Peas and beans yield well in only a few lo- 
calities. Alfalfa or lucerne will thrive, but it needs several 
years to get deep root and make a thick sod. Horses and 
cattle find food in the open plains and hills throughout the 
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