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REMINISCENCES OF CALIFORNIA.—NO. 2. 
REMINISCENCES OF CALIFORNIA.—No. 2. 
Under so intense an excitement as California 
has been suffering for the last three years, and 
from which she has just commenced recovering, 
everything like agriculture, (until quite recent¬ 
ly,) was abolished, and the spade and pickaxe 
of the miner substituted; and in order to come 
at any correct estimate of the agricultural capa¬ 
bilities of that country, we must look at it as it 
was before the discovery of gold, and at the 
few more recent attempts in the same branch of 
enterprise. 
Watered, as the country is, by so many beau¬ 
tiful running streams, and having so mild and 
short winters, it will be seen at once, that it is 
well adapted to grazing, and that its many fer¬ 
tile river bottoms, or prairie meadows, must fur¬ 
nish splendid pasturage for immense herds of 
cattle and horses. Indeed, for this purpose, it 
cannot be surpassed, if equaled, by any country 
on the Atlantic side of the continent. The soil 
is various; being, on the mountains and high 
hills, very rocky and sterile, but in the valleys, 
extremely rich and fertile. It is estimated by 
some, that the lands of two-thirds of the state 
are fit for cultivation; but, from my own obser¬ 
vation, I should think this to be an over esti¬ 
mate—perhaps the agricultural and pasturable 
lands together might make up this proportion— 
the rest is of extreme barrenness and sterility, 
little else than barren rocks. 
The climate and soil are particularly adapted 
to the growing of small grains, such as wheat, 
rye, oats, buckwheat, &c. Corn does not thrive 
so well here as in the countries bordering on 
the Atlantic, owing to coolness of the night. 
I have never passed a night in the country dur¬ 
ing a two years’ residence, when I was uncom¬ 
fortably warm with a blanket rolled snugly 
around me. Fruits, such as the apple, pear, 
peach, grape, cherry, orange, dates, figs, melons, 
&c., can be raised here successfully. 
Many of the grains grow here spontaneously, 
and it is not uncommon to see plains containing 
hundreds of acres, covered with the wild oats of 
the country, (not having quite so heavy a grain 
as our cultivated varieties,) sometimes to the 
astonishing height of ten, twelve, or even fifteen 
feet, with a stalk over half an inch in diameter— 
usually, however, about four feet high, with a 
proportionate-sized stalk. Many of the small 
plains and hill-sides are covered with a red and 
white clover, peculiar to the country, which, 
owing to the dry weather, forms, in the latter 
part of summer, a very nutritious kind of hay, 
much sought after by the various herds of ani¬ 
mals. Flax, very similar to that grown in the 
Atlantic States, is also found among the natural 
productions. 
The variety of wheat sown here, is that 
termed the “ wheat of Taos,” having three or 
four distinct heads. The average crop is about 
40 bushels to the acre. It is generally grown 
without irrigation, being sown during the months 
of November and December, arid harvested in 
the succeeding May or June. Tobacco is 
grown in the southern section with much suc¬ 
cess, and is said to yield as plentifully as in 
Cuba. 
Among the berries, strawberries and “ Man- 
sinitas,” (Spanish, meaning little apples, being a 
berry,) are, perhaps, the mosjt abundant, although 
blackberries, currants, &c., are found in some 
localities. It needs only that the gold mania 
should subside, for California to fall back upon 
her natural resources, to bring her out in her 
true colors, and with an enterprising population 
to have her stand forth in bold relief upon the 
western shores of America. 
In manufactures, California has never done 
anything, if we except a few saw-mills, and one 
or two small mills for grinding and flouring 
wheat; but when attention shall be turned to 
this subject, it must be a very prominent enter¬ 
prise of the country. Nearly all of the tributa¬ 
ries of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, 
on the eastern slope of the great valley, head in 
the Sierra-Nevada Mountains, and furnish any 
quantity of water power desirable. Every 
article, (timber and stone,) necessary to con¬ 
struct good and substantial dams across these 
streams, is obtainable upon the very banks. 
Situated as is the country, upon the same ocean 
that washes the eastern shores of the other con¬ 
tinent, and the East Indies, the market for most 
articles of manufacture must always be good 
and durable, and there is nothing in the per¬ 
spective to prevent California from becoming, 
not only an agricultural, but also a manufac¬ 
turing state. 
Notwithstanding, however, what may be the 
facilities for commerce, agriculture, or for man¬ 
ufactures, possessed by California, it will yet be 
a long time before she will, or can, recover 
from the effects of the late golden discovery in 
her territory. It has commenced, already, to 
throw off this unnatural excitement, and many 
are leaving the mines and turning their atten¬ 
tion to the different pursuits or callings which 
they followed at home. Still, as the victim of 
the intoxicating draught has been raised above 
an equilibrium, and, as of necessity, must fall 
