R K P o n T 
 
 F T 11 E 
 
 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE 
 
 TO T H K 
 
 CALIFORNIA STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY, 
 
 A T T II K 
 
 ANNUAIj MEETJN(^, 
 
 January 26, 1865, 
 
 WTll A -iVNOl-^r-^ 111" THE l'ROCKKDIN(iS OV THE ANNUAL AlKETTXf: 
 \\I) A MKKTINi; nv TTTK TIOARK. 
 
 vS A C II AMEN T O : 
 
 1!^ rUOCKKll fc CO., nUNTERS, 1)2 J STRKET,
 
 REPORT 
 
 Of TOE 
 
 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE 
 
 TO T H B 
 
 CALIFORMIA STATE AGRICULTORAL SOCIETY, 
 
 iT TH 
 
 ANNUAL MEETING, 
 
 January 26, 1865, 
 
 WTH A SYNOPSIS OP THE PROCEEDINQS OP THE ANNUAL MEETING, 
 AND A MEETING OP THE BOARD. 
 
 SACl^AMENTO: 
 
 II. 8. CROCKER & CO., PRINTERS, 92 J STREET, 
 
 18(35.
 
 STATE BOAEB OF AGEICULTUEE, FOR 18G5. 
 
 President, 
 C. F. REED Grafton, Yolo County 
 
 Direetors, 
 C. T. "Wheeler Sacramento 
 
 John H. Carroll Sacramento 
 
 ElfGAR Mills Sacramento 
 
 B. R. Crocker Sacramento 
 
 T. L. Chamberlain ..Placer 
 
 "W. P. Coleman Sacramento 
 
 A. G. Richardson Sacramento 
 
 Robert Beck Sacramento 
 
 E. J. Walsh Colusa 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE BOARD 
 
 Secretary, 
 I. N. H.OAG Yolo — P. 0. Sacramento 
 
 Treasurer, 
 R. T. Brown Sacramento 
 
 Chemist and Metallurgist, 
 Dr. R. Oxland, F. C. S San Francisco 
 
 Geologist, 
 Prof. J. D. "Whitney San Francisco 
 
 Meteorologist, 
 T. M. Logan, M. D Sacramento 
 
 Zoologist, 
 J. G. Cooper, M.D San Francisco 
 
 Entomologist, 
 H. Behr, M. D San Francisco 
 
 Botanists, 
 
 A. Kellogg, M. D San Francisco 
 
 Prof. H. isT. Borlander San Francisco 
 
 Annual Address for 1865, by 
 JOHN F. MORSE, M. D ^. San Francisco 
 
 
 • • •• • • 
 
 ■ • * C 4 
 
 * t* « ,©••••♦• •• • • •• 
 
 i u • c ••••••«••• /.,. 
 
 •• ••• • ' ••• !•• • * 
 
 t • r ••* • • . •
 
 to 
 
 era 
 
 >- 
 
 '* ^l{ 
 
 ,< 
 
 f 
 
 REPORT 
 
 Gentlemen: — This being tlie year in which no report to tlie 
 Governor is required by hiw, the Board will reserve a more de- 
 tailed report of the year's transactions until the proper time shall 
 an-ive, and proceed to give to the members of the Society a brief 
 account of their stewardship, and to make such suggestions and 
 recommendations as their experience and the condition of the 
 Society and the State seem to demand. 
 
 One year ago, when we assumed charge of the affairs of the 
 Society, it was at the close of a year of prosperity to all classes 
 of indUjStr}^ in the State. The agriculturist had been blessed 
 with a plentiful harvest, which had enabled and induced him to 
 ^ prepare for an extensive field of operations, with bright hopes 
 ~ that his renewed efforts would again be crowned with success. 
 The miner, in addition to extracting from the placer deposits 
 and quartz ledges the usual quantities of the precious metals, had 
 '^' extended his discoveries and developed new regions of unusual 
 r . richness, and was confident in the prospect of a year of unequaled 
 ~; prosperity. The mechanic, the manufacturer, and all other 
 If- classes of the community dependent on the two former for en- 
 [ couragement and support, had received a corresponding iin]iulsc 
 and were looking forward lo the new year cheered with confi- 
 dence and hope. 
 
 Undtr the judicious and economical management of our imme- 
 diate predecessors, the financial cojidition of the Society had 
 been much improved. A portion of a large debt which had been 
 allowed to accumulate against the Society during a series of 
 previous years had been canceled. A change of administration 
 had, to a certain extent, checked the increasing dissatisfaction 
 and want of confidence, so prevalent in the community toward 
 the Society and its management. Under these circumstances, 
 and with reliant expectation of material aid from the State, 
 the Board met on the 9th of February, and by unanimous vote 
 resolved to hold a general Fair of every Department of Industry 
 of the State in the Ibllowing September. 
 
 The Legislature, then in session, contrary to our expectations, 
 and, as we think, acting upon a very short-sighted policy, with- 
 held the usual appropriation for the payment of premiums. Tho 
 
 370559
 
 much lioped-for rains, -wliicli liad been deferred during the ^Vin- 
 ter, failed to fall in the Spring, and it soon become very evident 
 that all the industrial interests of the State, which had but a 
 short time before seemed so promising, must suffer materially, if 
 not prove to a great extent a failure. \_JChe Board, therefore, 
 rather than risk a general Fair, with so poor a prospect of a cred- 
 itable exhibition, and with almost a certainty of a financial dis- 
 aster, reconsidered its former action, and determined to conform 
 its operations strictly and rigidly to the circumstances in which 
 the State and the Society were placed. The law, however, es- 
 tablishing the Society and creating the Board of Agriculture and 
 defining its duties, as well as the tenui'e by which the Society 
 holds some of its most valuable p)roperty, required that a Fair of 
 some description should be held. In an ordinary season, to select 
 one branch of industry, however attractive or imporfantT-anti be- 
 stow upon it the patronage and encouragement of the Society, to 
 the neglect of all others, would be as unwise on the part pf the 
 Board, as it would be unjust to those branches neglected. The 
 effects of the drought, however, tipon the cereals, and all the 
 various crops of the husbandman ; the scarcity of grazing for 
 stock, comyjelling the owiiers of cattle and sheep to drive their 
 herds and flocks to distant portions of the State and out of the 
 State for subsistence ; the empty treasury of the Society and the 
 general scarcity of inoney among the peoj^le, admonishing the 
 Board of the propriety of a light bill of expenses, all plainly in- 
 dicated the character the Fair should assume in order to render 
 it, even in one department, a success. 
 
 It was evident that no other course than the one pursued 
 could, with safety to the existence and future prosperity of the 
 Society, be adopted, and even as to this, the Board was in doubt. 
 
 At this period of affairs, the citizens of Sacramento, with a lib- 
 erality equaled only by their enterprise and perseverance, came 
 forward and, by subscription, placed at the disposal of the Board 
 over five thousand dollars, to be awarded as purses and premi- 
 ums for a horse show. 
 
 The sum of six thousand nine hundred and thii'ty dollars were 
 offered in premiums and purses, so distributed as to render the 
 exhibition a feature of atti-action and a lesson of usefulness to the 
 admirers of all classes of horses, from the sturdy draught, to the 
 fleet and beautiful tlioroughbred. All preparations were careful- 
 ly, economically and well completed, and the Fair was held. It 
 proved a success in every respect beyond the most sanguine ex- 
 pectations of the Board. The maxim that " whatever is worth 
 doing at all, is worth doing well," having been adopted in the 
 beginning, it was strictly adhered to in every particular. The 
 very liberality of the purses, and premiums offered, gave tone 
 and character to the exhibition. The high value of the stakes 
 to be lost or won gave cvciybod}* the impression that tlie Fair
 
 must be a ijrand sncceisis, and no one went away disappointed or -.^^ 
 dissatisfied. The superior grade an<l quality of the stock on , 
 exhil»iti(»u, indicates the certain a)id positive iin|n'Oveinent we ai'o 
 )iiakiiig in this ver}' iin])oi"taiil imuich of agriculture. The game 
 and speed exhibited by the California-bred contestants for purses, 
 both in trotting and running i-jices, places Califtrnia jjroudly 
 upon the turf record, by the side of, if not in advance of any 
 other State in the Union. Indeed, we think we may be pcrmii- 
 ted to say that the Fair of the State Agricultural Society of \ 
 lSt»4, taking all things into consideration, has formed oneoi'tho 
 brightest pages in the history of the turf, and very prominently 
 foreshadows n^any brighter ones for our State and the Society I 
 in the future. - 
 
 While we congratulate the members of the Society npon the 
 many happy and useful lessons of the Fair as an exhibition, we 
 are also glad to bo able to inform them that, notwithstanding the 
 extreme unfavorableness of the season, it has proved an unprece- 
 dented financial success. Every premium and purse were 
 promptly paid as soon as awarded or won, and even more than 
 were ottered. Every item of expense made and audited by the 
 Board has been promptly and satisfactorily canceled. The hand- 
 some sum of $8,412 72 of the old in<lebtedness of the Society has 
 been discharged, leaving the present indebtedness, including 
 interest to January 13th, S11.384 Go, against S2(),478 5G on the 
 12th day of March, 18G3, when the Board of Agriculture was or- 
 ganized and the affairs of the Society were placed in its hands. 
 
 AVhen we take into consideration the embarrassing circum- 
 stances, both pecuniarily and otherwise, in which the Society 
 was found to be at that time, and the difficulties it has encoun- 
 tered and overcome since, and that it has still been able to work 
 out, in less than two yeai'S, this substantial financial result, and 
 retrain to so large an extent the confidence and y;ood will of the 
 community, we are forced to the conviction that, with the enor- 
 merous recei])ts of former j^ears, the Society should to-day liave 
 occupied a very different position among the useful institutions 
 of the State, from the one in which we find it. Instead of being 
 poor and its enei-gies crippled Avith the incumbrance of a large 
 debt, it should have been in the enjoj'ment of such means jind 
 facilities as would have enabled it to exert a powerful intluenco 
 in the direction and development of all the material interests of 
 the State. 
 
 The mineral cabinet of the Society has not received so great 
 accessions during the last, as during the preceding year, owing 
 to the general depression of the mining interest, following the 
 unheallliy excitement of 1802 and 18G3. However, many valu- 
 altle specimens have been added to the collection. The Amador 
 County Agricultural Society has donated a cabinet of over two 
 thousand specimens, mostly from the valuable copper mines of
 
 that county. And Amador claims, and is entitled to the dis- 
 tinction of being the banner county of the State, as regards con- 
 tributions to the State Society's Cabinet. 
 
 Most of the newspapers and periodicals of the State, with a liber- 
 ality not shown by the press in any other part of the world, have 
 continued to furnish theSocicty.with theirregularissues. All these 
 have been carefully filed away and preserved, and when bound 
 will constitute an invaluable portion of the Society's library. It 
 will contain a most complete general and local history of the 
 State and its interests. The contributors arc entitled to the 
 thanks of the Board and the Society. And here we would also 
 say that the California Steam Navigation Company, Wells, Far- 
 go & Co., and the various stage and railroad companies in the 
 State, have, by their uniform liberality, placed the Society under 
 lasting obligations. Valuable contributions of statistical reports 
 of various departments of the CTcneral Government have been 
 received from our Senator, John Conness, and Eepresentatives 
 Hi'gby, Cole and Shannon. The Society has also been the medi- 
 um of the above named parties and Isaac Newton, Commissioner 
 of Agriculture at Washington, for the distribution of a large 
 number of the annual and bi-monthly reports of the Agricultural 
 Department, as also of many varieties of new^ and valuable seeds. 
 The latter have been given out to parties who have promised to 
 exhibit the jiroducts, by sample, at the succeeding Fair; but 
 owing to the drought, very few of those distributed last Spring 
 have been heard from. No seeds, except a few packages of 
 wheat, have been received yet this season. Vegetable seeds are 
 usually received too late for use the same year, and hence many 
 varieties are damaged by age. The attention of the Department 
 has been called to this fact. 
 
 We are under obligations to B. B. Eedding, Secretary of State, 
 for Statutes of 1863-4; to W. C. Stratton, State Librarian, for 
 Journals and Appendix of the Assembly and Senate ; and to C. 
 W. Wyraan, of Massachusetts, for six volumes of the Transac- 
 tions of the Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture — a valua- 
 able contribution. 
 
 The Society's reports for 1863 have be.en published and 
 distributed throughout our own State, and many copies mailed 
 to leading journals and agricultural and other industrial societies 
 in the Atlantic States and Europe. Correspondence has also been 
 opened with these institutions, with direct reference to increas- 
 ing the size and usefulness of our library, and the Board confi- 
 dently anticipates satisfactory results. 
 
 The Constitution of the Society has not been amended since 
 the passage of the law creating the Board of Agriculture. To 
 make it conform to the change in the management of the Socie- 
 ty, some alteration will be necessary, and perhaps no time more 
 appropriate for making such alterations will be found than the
 
 present meeting of the members. If the Society should conclude 
 to make such jilterations, the Board will sug^-est some additional 
 ones, which, we think, will tend to enlarge tlie sphere of its use- 
 fulness, unci to render its published transactions more practical, 
 and give them a more reliable and authentic character. It has 
 formerly been the custom of the Directors of the Society to ap- 
 point Visiting Committees, who have traveled at gi-eat expense 
 to the Society, on exploring expeditions, the scope of their 
 observations embracing every department of industry through 
 the whole length and breadth of the State, and even into 
 adjoining States. These Committees have reported to the Board, 
 for embodying in the published Transactions, with tiresome 
 minuteness, wliere and how they went, and all they saw. 
 
 It is doubtful whether the benefits derived from such a custom 
 are equal to the necessarily great outlay. It is believed that 
 the objects for which the practice was instituted may be attained 
 in a much more reliable and authentic manner, and with com- 
 parativel}' little expense. There are men of ability and practical 
 experience in each particular branch of industry, in ever}^ part 
 of the State, who would, no doubt, if requested, be willing to act 
 as officers or Committees of the Board, in collecting and report- 
 ing to them, annually, fticts and useful and reliable information 
 in the particular department for which they are qualified and for 
 which they should be appointed. 
 
 We have geologists of high character and standing among us, 
 whose business calls them to a constant investigation of the 
 geological structure and advancing development of our mining 
 regions, and whose opinions have great weight, both ui home 
 and abroad. Let the Board appoint some one of these as the 
 geologist of the Society, and ask of him a practical report of the 
 character of our dirterent mineral sections, and the progress and 
 im])rovemcnt annually nuule in mining. Such reports would be, 
 of course, brief and adapted to the general reader, and being 
 published in the annual transactions of the Society, would reach 
 a class of readers who would never see the elaborate reports of 
 the State Geologist, now in process of publication. And here 
 we think it not impi-oper to remark, that while the General 
 Government is directing its inquiries and investigations to deter- 
 mine in what manner to manage or dispose of the public domain 
 embraced within that portion of our State usually denominated 
 minei-al lands, so as at once to produce the greatest revenue to 
 her treasury, and be of the most benefit to the occupants of 
 the same, perhaps it might be well to inquire what the effect upon 
 the future wealth and iiulustry of the State Avould be wore those 
 lands to be disposed of in such a manner as to invite and induce 
 the permanent occupancy and cultivation in vineyards, of those 
 millions of acres located on the hill and mountain sides, and in 
 the countless valleys, which, from actual experience and by the
 
 8 
 
 chemical analysis of the soil and the favorable atmospherical 
 phenomena are proved capable of producing wines and raisins 
 equal, if not superior, to the most excellent productions of the 
 most favored wine-producing countries, not excepting the cele- 
 brated wines of the Johannisberg and delicious raisins of Malaga. 
 Under our present system of mining regulations andjaws, veiy 
 few of these acres will be thus cultivated until the title to the 
 same is vested in the cultivator. Their management or sale be- 
 comes a serious question of State as well as national policy. It 
 is the interest as well as the duty of the people of the State to 
 indicate to the General Government the proper policy to be 
 adopted in regard to them. It is better to take time by the 
 forelock and control and direct that policy for our own interests 
 and the best interests of the Government, than, when too late, 
 to condemn a policy which may be to the detriment of both. 
 Every de^^artment of industry is equally interested in the ques- 
 tion, for when you touch the mines with the hand of oppression 
 you oppress every other interest, and when you encourage and 
 stimulate the devolopment of the mines, you encourage and 
 stimulate every other pursuit. In this respect, if not in the ac- 
 tual investment of money, we are all miners and all cultivators 
 of the soil. A Convention, embracing all the States and Terri- 
 tories on this side of the continent, called during the ensuing 
 Summer, for the discussion of this subject, might lead to good 
 results. 
 
 Our wine-making interest is becoming one of the greatest 
 industrial interests of the State. It excels that of any other 
 State in the Union. Yet there is not perhaps another branch of 
 industry, in regard to the practical operations of which, there is 
 so much ignorance among our people as this. The varieties of 
 grapes best adapted to wine-making in our State, or in the 
 different localities of itj the chemical properties of the soil 
 required for superior wines; the atmospherical influences of 
 different localities; the manner of planting the vine and tilling 
 the vineyard; the gathering and pressing the grape, and fer- 
 menting and after-treatment of the juice or must until it is con- 
 verted into wine — are all subjects about which our people have 
 but very little practical or satisfactory information, and upon 
 which there is prevailing, in all our agricultural communities, 
 the most lively interest and intense desire for knowledge. 
 
 If the Board Avere to appoint some competent person as a 
 chemist to the Society, who would, under its sanction and in his 
 official character, receive and analyze for a fair compensation, to 
 be paid by the applicant, the soils of different localities, and the 
 juice of grapes grown in the different wine-growing districts, and 
 keep a careful record of his operations, to be reported to the 
 Board, and if at the same time they were to enlist in their service, 
 as Committeemen, intelligent and practical cultivators of the
 
 vine and wine manufacturers in the different localities, who 
 Hhould also report their observations, cx|)ei'if7K'e and opinions to 
 tlio Board, all lo be embodied in the piiblisiied transactiuns, they 
 might perhaps be able to form some well defined landmarks, 
 whieh ma}' serve as incentives to enterj)rise, and guides in the 
 jH'osecution and development of tiiis i:;reat resource of wealth and 
 prosperity. If successful in tlie accomplishment of this object, the 
 •Society would have rendered a service to the people and the State 
 greater and more lasting than if, by some sujiernatural power, they 
 were to convert the whole bulk oi']\Iount J)iabit> intogokl dollars 
 and distribute them equally between every man, woman and 
 child within her borders. 
 
 Tlie present anomalous condition of the general stock-raising 
 interest of our State may well attract the serious apprehension 
 of and engage the attention of the political economists and the best 
 business minds among us. The annual record of death l)y starv- 
 ation of a large percentage of the stock of our State, has become 
 almost as much a matter of course as the pei-iodical return of our 
 rainy seasons. During the unusually dry season of the past 
 Summer, a great nuniber of stock were driven to the mountains 
 of the Sierra Nevada and Coast Eange, where they found an 
 abundance of food to carry them safely through the dr}^ season, 
 but to return to the valley ranges to enrich the soil with their 
 decaying carcnisses. Many others were driven to the low land 
 suri'ounding the confluence of our large rivers, where sufficient 
 feed for the subsistence of nearlv half of the stock in the State, 
 during the Summer seasons, has for years past been allowed to 
 go to waste annualh^; but, when forced from these luxuriant 
 fields, by the sudden rise of the waters, the san\e destructive fate 
 awaited them as did those from the mountains. The last was an 
 extraordinary season, it is true, but if the owners of large herds 
 of stock would pursue the same course in ordinary seasons that 
 they did the last they would nuika a great improvement over the 
 usual custom t)f pasturing them on the same ranges tluring the 
 Summer on which they are compelled to keej) them during the 
 following Winter. 
 
 But to reform and correct the evils and drawbacks at- 
 tending stock raising seems to require a pretty thorough 
 revolution in the whole farming system. The owners of large 
 hei-ds and flocks will be compelled to reduce them to such a 
 number as they can provide Winter food for; and the farmers 
 who have heretofore turned their attention almost exclusively 
 to grain raising, will find it much more profitable to raise a 
 greater variety of crops, and include in their annual sales of 
 the products of the farm, a few young horses, fat cattle, sheep 
 and hogs. The statement of two or three facts, will serve to 
 illustrate the extraordinary and disastrous condition of this 
 branch of industry, as it is now seen. During tlie last Summer
 
 10 
 
 when it became evident that the hay crop in a large portion of 
 the State must prove a failure, and consequently command a high 
 price, many persons resorted to the tule lands at the mouths of 
 the San Joaquin, Sacramento and Cosumnes rivers, in search of 
 the desii-ed article. Here they found thousands of acres of nat- 
 ural meadows, upon which were cut and secured, according to 
 statistics collected by the Secretary of this Board, and careful 
 estimates made by men of good judgment engaged in the busi- 
 ness, not less than fifty thousand tons of a very fair quality of 
 hay. According to the same estimates, there were left standing 
 uncut at least an equal amount. Yet within sight of these 
 extensive meadows, much of them unclaimed and unappropria- 
 ted by anybody, large flocks of sheep and herds of cattle have 
 been reduced by starvation since the rainy season commenced 
 from twenty-five to fifty per cent, in numbers, and probably 
 thirty-three per cent, in the weight of those yet ahve. Again, 
 when this hay was cut and freighted to localities where princi- 
 cipally demanded for use, the expense upon it per ton, as a gen- 
 eral thing, amounted to more than an ordinary stock cow or 
 bullock would sell for, and consequently to Winter such an 
 animal upon it, would cost more money than the animal would 
 sell for when wintered. 
 
 These are extraordinary cases in an extraordinary season, but 
 to a certain extent they occur every year, and to the full extent 
 may occur again. To prevent such recurrence, and to bring 
 about a healthy change in the management of this branch of 
 agriculture, are objects worthy the attention of those who may 
 hereafter control the transactions of this Society and the econo- 
 mies of the great interests of the State. 
 
 The vast amount of staging on this coast, and the transporta- 
 tion of goods and machinerj^ from navigation to the various 
 mining localities in this State, Nevada and the surrounding Ter- 
 ritories will, until such times as railroads shall supersede these 
 modes of conveyance, continue to create a great demand for 
 valuable horses and mules, and large quantities of grain for their 
 subsistence. To raise a horse or a field of grain ma}' not gener- 
 ally require a greater degree of skill than is possessed by any 
 ordinary farmer. But to raise and prepare for market a large 
 number of good horses with profit to the owner, and well adap- 
 ted to the business for which they were intended, requires a good 
 degree of knowledge of the principles of breeding, the economies 
 of feeding such animals, and the judgment to apply such jsrinci- 
 ples and economies for the attainment of the end in view. 
 
 To make a given number of acres of land produce the largest 
 amount of grain and other food that it is capable of producing, 
 without deterioration of the soil, for a series of years, requires a 
 much greater degree of skill and scientific knowledge than is 
 usually exercised, at least by the generality of farmers iu this 
 country.
 
 11 
 
 The truth of this latter statement will bo apparent when it is 
 proved, as it has been, by statistics collected by our Secretary 
 during the past year from reliable sources, that most of the ^;raiii 
 land in California will, when Summer-iallowed, produce eig-ht- 
 tenths more grain per acre than when plowed and sown after the 
 rain}' season sets in. Yet not one-twentieth of the land devoted 
 to grain raising for years past has been Summer-fallowed. 
 
 It is proper to remark, however, that great improvement in 
 the nmnner of preparing the soil and putting in the seed this 
 season over past years is manifest in every part of the State. 
 The efforts of this Board, through its Secretary, in calling the 
 attention of farmers to the importance of this subject, and the 
 drought of the past season, have both contributed to this change. 
 It is hoped that hereafter grain raising Avill be conducted with 
 greater econoni}'' and upoii principles which guarantee greater 
 and more certain success. As another good effect of the drought 
 may be mentioned the interest it has awakened in many parts of 
 the State upon the subject of irrigation. The experience of those 
 who have practiced irrigation for a number of years past, proves 
 that most any of our lands situated back from the river bottoms 
 proper, and which have heretofore been considered capable of 
 producing only small grains, and these only in favorable seasons, 
 may, by the judicious use of water, be made to produce in abund- 
 ance and with almost absolute certainty, most an}- crop embi'accd 
 in the husbandman's vocabulary in any climate or country. 
 This experience has also estsblished another important fact that 
 the best and only time necessary to use this water is during the 
 Winter season, when all our creeks and rivers are full and capa- 
 ble of supplying almost any quantity desired. A thorough sat- 
 uration of the soil at this time serves to mature any crop, or 
 two or three different kinds of crops, in a season, Avithout fur- 
 ther irrigation. The people of the counties of San Joaquin, Los 
 Angeles and Yolo have been the first to avail themselves of 
 these important lessons upon an extensive scale. 
 
 C. M. AVeber of San Jotiquin county, has, during the last sea- 
 son, introduced water over his OAvn land, and that of some of his 
 neighbors, with the most gratifA'ing results. 
 
 The particulars as to length of canal or amount of land that 
 may be irrigated have not been received, though written for 
 some time since * 
 
 *NoT8. — Tlic Secretary received on tlie day after the annual meeting, from 
 Dr. Holden of Stockton, a letter, of which the following is an extract, and 
 which supplies the information written for : 
 
 " I have ascertained' some interesting facts in regard to the profitable results 
 by irrigation from t'aptaiii Weber's ditches, which are supplied by water from 
 the Calaveras until June, the month the river usually dries up. The several 
 ditches run about five miles and irrigate about two tliousand acres, or tea 
 farms, small sections of which were last year cultivated to wheat ; the bal- 
 ance produced oat hay, and a superior article. The estimated value of crops
 
 12 
 
 By meaas of a ditch and reservoir, eleven miles in length, 
 tapping the San Gabriel river, in Los Angeles county, forty 
 thousand acres of land which has been hitherto used only for 
 grazing purposes, is now being irrigated and converted into one 
 of the most fertile portions of that county, already so justly cel- 
 ebrated for the variety and excellence of its prodiactions. 
 
 In Yolo county there are five main ditches, tapping Cache 
 creek in as many different places, with an aggregate length of 
 twonty-tive miles, besides a great number of branches, all capa- 
 ble of irrigating at least one hundred thousand acres of as good 
 land as the State contains. jS^icholas W^^coff, the engineer, who 
 located most of the ditches in Yolo county, and the engineer of 
 Swamp Land District No. 18, lying mostly in that county, says, 
 in a letter to the Secretary, <' the day is not far distant when the 
 waters of Cache and Fatah creeks, in ordinary seasons, will be 
 used upon the land, and not be suffered to pass into the tules, 
 except at high floods — thus assisting to reclaim those valuable 
 lands. 
 
 The people of Colusa county are also moving in this matter. 
 They propose Jo take the waters from the Sacramento river, at 
 any point above low water mark, so as not to interfere with 
 navigation, and turn it through a canal which, including one 
 main branch, will be one hundred and twenty miles in length, 
 over an area of some three hundred thousand acres of black val- 
 lej land in that and the northern part of Yolo county. The 
 scheme is pronounced entirely practical by competent engineers 
 who have made the j^i'diminary surveys, and tlie people are de- 
 termined to accomplish the enterprise and reap its benefits. In 
 view of these facts, and the probability of other similar enter- 
 jDrises, may we not look forward to the time when most of the 
 surplus waters of our creeks and rivers during the rainy seasons 
 will be used to irrigate and render imineusely productive all the 
 higher lands of our valleys? As a secondary though very im- 
 jjortant result of the accomplishment of such a system of irri- 
 gation, great assistance would be rendered in permanently re- 
 claiming the tule lands, and the improvements of our farmers, 
 and the towns and cities on the immediate banks of the rivers 
 would be thus relieved, to a great extent, from danger by over- 
 flows. 
 
 The mechanical and manufacturing industries of the State, 
 though partaking of the general depression of the past year, 
 and suffering somewhat from the state of the currency, which 
 
 on the two thousand acres is $25,000, and without irrigation the crops would 
 have been an entire failure. The above is the only system of ditches for irri- 
 gation in this county. The result of this first attempt of irrigating on a 
 large scale has been so profitable and sure, many other enterprises of the 
 kind will be undertaken in this county. Californians will find out in time 
 that water is not only quite necessary, but the cheapest fertilizer."
 
 13 
 
 lias encourat>;o(l importalions, liavo, notwillistimdinir, oontiinifd 
 to enlist in tiieir prosecution a gi-atifying increase ol' capital, and 
 to extend their enterjn'isos and scope to a invent variety of the 
 articles necessarily used in" carrying on the various industrial 
 ])ursuits, and in supplying the necessities and luxuries of every 
 de]»artiiicnt of life. 
 
 Leather of the various kinds, boots and shoes, harness, sad- 
 dles, -whips, every description of cordage, building materials, 
 granite, marble, lime, plaster, cement, wagons an(l carriages, 
 railroad, passenger and freight cars ; woolen goods, such as 
 blankets of all kinds, flannels of ever}'- description, cloths and 
 cassimeres, carpets; hats, caps and various kinds of clothing; 
 glue, asphaltum, gunpowder, matches, tar, ])itch, resin, mineral 
 ])aint, 8])irits of turpentine, salt, soap, yeast powders, starch, 
 vinegar, pickles, every variety of preserved fruits, jams, i-aisins, 
 ligs, maccaroni and vei-micelli, castor oil, petroleum, wines, bran- 
 dies and the various kinds of spiritous and malt liquors ; paper 
 of every variety ; glass bottles of all kinds demanded, eartlien 
 and stone ware; wood, tin and wire ware; miniufr, mill and 
 steamboat machinery, and machinery of every kind in use; 
 agricultural implements and various other articles are manufac- 
 tured in the State with greater or less success. Very many, in 
 sutKcient quantities to supply the home demand and keep up a very 
 good and remunerative export trade, while othei's are strufjgling 
 against the persevering competition of importation. 
 
 Preparations, upon extensive scales, are now being made to 
 add to this li;-.t, railroad locomotives, shot, and lead pipe. The 
 experiment of smelting copper has already proved so much of a 
 success as to wlirrant the confident expectation that all our cop- 
 per ores will soon be smelted within our State, and thus])roducea 
 complete revolution in our copper mininginterest. The experience 
 of nations proves that no classes of industries aid moi'e in en- 
 riching and rendering a State independent than mechanics and 
 inanutactures. Calitbrnia has greater natural facilities for be- 
 coming an extensive manufacturing State than any other in the 
 Union, and her isolated position furnishes a strong reason for 
 fostering and encouraging them. 
 
 For the advancement and improvement of all these objects, 
 and, indeed, all the industries of the State, was this Society in- 
 stituted. While the holding of annual Fairs, at which the pro- 
 ducts and improvements of every department of industry are 
 exhibited for comparison and instruction, and to stimulate emu- 
 lation and enterprise, is calculated to do great good, and should 
 theretbre be continued; yd, for the tinancial success of the So- 
 ciety, the Fairs should be made to assume such a character as 
 will prove at once the most attractive and least expensive. It 
 should be no ground of complaint should the Board atlopt this 
 policy.
 
 14 
 
 There are other and less superficial mediums through which, 
 in addition to the one just named, the Society may render i'self 
 equally beneficial to our present population and their material 
 interests, and enhirge and extend its sphere of usefulness, so as 
 to enhance more perceptibly and certainly the State's future 
 prosperity. 
 
 Among these may be mentioned a means already adverted to, 
 the appointment of competent Committees to investigate and 
 report upon the present condition and best means of improve- 
 ment in each branch of industry. These reports should assume 
 the character of short, practical, and to some extent scientific, 
 treatises, wholly Californian in their character and application. 
 The Society should also own an experimental farm, with all the 
 facilities and appliances for practically teaching and illustrating 
 agriculture, in all its branches, as adapted to the peculiarities of 
 our soil and climate. It should possess an extensive mineral, 
 mechanical and agricultural museum for illustrating our natural 
 history, our mineral riches, and our advancement in the useful 
 arts and sciences. It should enjoy the advantages of a philo- 
 sophical and chemical laboratory and an extensive library of 
 useful and practical knowledge, for exemplifying and explaining 
 the truths of science as applicable to the various industrial pur- 
 suits of life. 
 
 Add to these, by authority of law, the facilities of collecting 
 agricultural and other important statistics, in an authoritative 
 and authentic manner ; and the Society would then occupy that 
 position of usefulness for which it was originally organized, but 
 to which few such societies attain for want of some definite aim 
 and some constant and steady hand to guide them. 
 
 The official management of the Agricultural Societies of New 
 York and Massachusetts have respectively been under the con- 
 trol of B. P. Johnson and C. L. Flint almost since their first or- 
 ganization. These Societies, either of them, are an honor to 
 any country or nation, to say nothing of the States in which 
 they are located. 
 
 The importance of reliable agricultural and other statistics to 
 the successful and intelligent conduct of a Government, and to 
 the advantageous direction and development of the resources of 
 a State, arc too obvious to require an argument ; and particular- 
 ly so in a new State, with resources so diversified as ours — and 
 yet we regret to record the fact that Ave have not now, as a 
 .State, and never had any 83'stem by which such statistics have 
 been or can be collected. In older and more thickly settled 
 communities, with their superior facilities for communication, it 
 has been found practical to collect such statistics, through volun- 
 tary agents, who, without compensation, excey^t the conscious- 
 ness of serving their countrj^, devote their time and energies to 
 the subject, and, under a system of reports to one common head ,
 
 15 
 
 produce a result sufficiently correct for all practical purposes. 
 But ill a State where tlie facilities for travel, except on general 
 routes to a few im])ortant localities, are so limited and expensive 
 as in ours, and where so few of our farmers have become so per- 
 manently fixed and devoted to their occupation as to inspire 
 that interest in the cause necessary for such an undertaking, and 
 80 few are able to afford the time and means for its faithful exe- 
 cution, such a system will be found, as it has already been found 
 by the last two years' efforts of this Board, almost totally inop- 
 erative. The present sj^stem of reports by the County and Dis- 
 trict Assessors to the Surveyor Greneral has proved to be equal- 
 ly unreliable and uncertain. Only from one-half to two-thirds 
 of the counties in the State being rei)Orted at all, and these re- 
 ports in many instances beinj^ mere rouiijh estimates instead of 
 actual and careful counts. Statistics thus partial and unrelia- 
 ble, in the opinion of the Board, tend rather to depreciate the 
 value and magnitude of our industrial resources, and to injure 
 and prejudice the importance and standing of our State, both 
 among our own people and abroad, than otherwise. 
 
 Witliout narrating the history of the efforts of this Board, 
 during the session of the last Legislature, advised as they were 
 by our immediate ])redecessors, and seconded by every District 
 and County Agricultural Society in the State, to rectify these 
 evils, and to obtain the passage of a law w^iich would in our 
 opinion have provided an efficient and effective system by which 
 reliable statistics relating to all our industries and productions 
 would have been obtained, we will venture to expi'css the hope 
 that our next Legislature will take a more practical and com- 
 prehensive view of the material wants of the State, and will 
 comprehend and supply the necessity of a system by which 
 through the proper channels, we may possess. ourselves of a full 
 sheet exhibiting all our productions and our pi-esent and future 
 capacities. One short Statute that would effectually accomplish 
 this object, would be of a more real and lasting benefit to our 
 State than a whole volume of such laws as usually emanate from 
 each session of our Legislatui-e. Upon this subject and the ne- 
 cessity of State aid to Agricultural Societies, Dr. E. S. llolden, 
 President of the San Joaquin District Agricultural Society, than 
 •whom no man in the State understands the State's necessities 
 better, holds the following languaire in his last annual address 
 before that Society : 
 
 "Last year this Society, together with several other similar 
 associations, petitioned our Legislature to apjiropriate a few 
 thousantl dollars for premium money, but our Solons failed to 
 see the benefit of such appropriations; they failed to see that 
 three-fourths of their constituents were ])roducing by the sweat 
 of their brows their vexy existence, their biead and butter. 
 But there was one thing they could easily comprehend, and that
 
 16 
 
 ^vas the value of bribe money to create and aid a host of rascal- 
 ly franchises, yearly springing up from San Diego to Siskiyou, 
 from the Sierra to the Pacific. 
 
 *' Farmers and mechanics, protect your own interests — those 
 interests which contribute so largely to the wealth and inde- 
 pendence of nations. Elect, as it is in your power to do, legis- 
 lators who can comprehend the interests of Agriculture and 
 Manufactures, and who will honestly protect them." 
 
 With all these appliances and facilities for usefulness, well 
 managed, the published reports of the transactions of the So- 
 ciety would become most interesting and authentic exponents 
 of the agricultural capacities, the mineral wealth, the manufac- 
 turing enterprise and the general resources of the State. Dis- 
 tributed among our own people, they would furnish constant in- 
 centives and valuable guides to improvement. Distributed in 
 the Atlantic States and in the rich and populous countries of 
 the eastern continent, they would serve as the most economical 
 and effective agents to attract immigration to our State that 
 could possibly be employed. Teach the skilled cultivator of the 
 vine and the experienced manufacturer of wine, in the agricul- 
 tural portions of Germany, France, Italy and otherold wine-grow- 
 ing countries, that the wine crop has never proved a failure in 
 California since its first introduction by the priests, 150 years 
 ago — that owing to the peculiar adaptation of the soil and cli- 
 mate of our State to the growth of the vine, and the average 
 annual product per acre, here, under good cultivation, is six 
 hundred gallons, while that of the German States and France is 
 not over one hundred and seventy-five, and that of Italy— the 
 best wine-producing country in the world outside of California 
 — is less than lour hundred and fifty gallons. Teach them that 
 there is in California over twenty millions of acres of the very 
 best of land for vineyards, and that each head of a family can 
 become tlie owner of one hundred and sixty acres of the same, 
 by coming here and settling upon and improving it — and will 
 not such information, rendered authentic by our oflicial reports, 
 turn their heads towards California ? Will they remain longer 
 than necessity compels them in their own country, where but 
 fiew of them have any interest in the soil and can obtain but a 
 poor subsistence as the reward of their daily labors ? Teach 
 these facts to foreign capitalists, and enterprising and skillful 
 manufacturers, and they, also, will seek our shores for the profit- 
 able investment of their means, and a more adequate return for 
 their enterprise and skill. We should soon have springing up 
 in the various favorable localities in our State extensive wine- 
 cellars, the owners of which would purchase the grape or must 
 from the producer, and after subjecting it to careful and skillful 
 treatment for the proper length of time necessary to convert in- 
 to an article of that sujperior quality rendered susceptible by
 
 17 
 
 the iinoqualcd Avine properties of the grape, and not till then, 
 it would be found in the market for sale and consumption. 
 
 The immediate ett'ects of this chaniz;o in the manai^ement of 
 our wino interests would be a certain and reliable increased de- 
 mand for the grape and must, and a proportional increased pro- 
 duction. The mere grape juice, of from four to six months of 
 age, made by those professing but very little skill in its manu- 
 facture, and possessing perhaps less, would (lisapjjear from among 
 us, and our home and foreign demands would be supplied with 
 the various kinds of wines, equal, if not superior, to the most 
 excellent and high-priced foreign brands. 
 
 A very large })ortion of the sugar consumed in the southern 
 countries of Europe is now manufactured in France from the 
 common Avhite sugar beet. It is a demonstrated fact that this 
 •article can be pi-oduced in rich alluvial soil of our valleys and 
 tule land in greater quantities per acre, and with less labor, thtin 
 in any other portion of the civilized world. By chemical analy- 
 sis, science assures us that, owing to the peculiarly favorable 
 properties of our soil, the California production possesses a 
 greater quantity of saccharine matter than the same article pro- 
 duced in an}' part of France. Taken in connection with the 
 .present and prospective high ruling prices of sugar, Ave have 
 here another branch of industry promising a liberal compensa- 
 tion for skilled labor and a munificent return fur the investment 
 of capital, managed and directed by the lights of science and 
 practical experience. 
 
 The cultivation of silk also, by the experience of competent 
 judges, for some ten years, in our State has proved to be a per- 
 fect success. The mulberry tree flourishes here with a luxuri- 
 ance knoAvn in no other country. The absence of moisture and 
 explosive electricity in the atmosphere, during the season of 
 feeding and hatching the Avornis and securing the cocoons, are 
 circumstances which render our State more favorable for the 
 prosecution of this pleasant and important branch of industry 
 than any other country in Avhich silk is produced. 
 
 It is a historical fact that the seasons in the principal silk- 
 producing countries in the south of Eui-ope have for years past 
 ])een growing more cold and moist, and hence less favorable to 
 the production of silk. These arc significant facts, Avhich may 
 very profitably be taken into account by those Avho are to con- 
 trol the future matin-ial destiny of our State. It may not be 
 improper here to state that J . Morenhuut, Consul of France at 
 Los Angeles, lately sent five samples of cotton produced in that 
 county by as many different persons, to the Minister of Agri- 
 culture and Commerce in France, Avho, after having the same 
 carefully examined by competent judges, returned in his official 
 report that the samples Avore all identical in quality, and would 
 command then about the same price as the short silk cotton of
 
 18 
 
 the Southern States, from §62 to $63 per one hundred pounds. 
 The experiment will be thoroughly tested in that county this 
 year. By experiments extending through a series of years in va- 
 rious parts of our State, it is conclusively proved that raisins, 
 figs, almonds, prunes, olives, all articles of commerce, and con- 
 sequently not liable to overstock any market, can be produced 
 here in equal perfection and greater abundance than in any 
 other part of the world. In a word, to sum up the foregoing 
 statements, we may say we know we have within our borders 
 the elements of greatness and prosperity equal, if not superior, 
 to those of any other State in the Union. Then, what do we 
 lack ? what do we need ? The answer most emphatically is, la- 
 bor and capital. We cannot attain mi^erial greatness or jjros- 
 per well without these — without both ; and capital for invest- 
 ment in our material resources will not, for obvious reasons, 
 23rAcede labor, it would follow. Then labor is the first great ne- 
 cessity. And how shall Ave obtain it ? The General G-overn- 
 nient, through agents and the distribution ot favorable informa- 
 tion, is wiselv and successfullv exerting her means and energies 
 to induce emigration to the United States. According to the re- 
 port of the ]SJ^ew York Commissioners of Immigration, the num- 
 ber of immigrants that arrived at that port during the eleven 
 months ending the 30th of ^S^ovember, 1863, was 146,519, against 
 76,306 during 1862 — showing an increase in one year of nearly 
 fifty per cent, from extra exertion. But does the Pacific coast 
 or California receive any portion of that immigration, or any 
 immediate benefit from it ? Yeiy little, if any at all. The mo- 
 ment the new comer sets foot on shore at i^ew York or any 
 other eastern port he is hurried off to Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, 
 or some other new State east of the Eocky Mountains, but never 
 to California ; hence, those States, with far less natural advan- 
 tages, except as to convenient location for immigration, outstrip 
 us in the race to wealth and general prosperit}'. The Pacific 
 Eailroad will, when finished, to a certain extent remove this bar- 
 rier which now isolates us from the great center of our country's 
 population. But till that time California must work out the 
 problem of increasing her labor and capital, and of developing 
 her own resources herself Let California bestir herself, if she 
 would not fall back from her present relative position among 
 her sister States. Let her make independent and extra exer- 
 tions to induce a tide of immigration to set in toward her shores 
 before that great field for enterprise and improvement is opened 
 up in the Southern States, to attract and hold the tide from her. 
 Let her send out, through the Golden Gate, such a flood of reli- 
 able information in regard to her unequaled productions, her in- 
 exhaustible resources and capacities, to those great beehives of 
 industr}' in the Old World as will cause a Hvely swarming out 
 of their families of workers, so intent upon securing the uu-
 
 19 
 
 equaled benefits within their grasp hero, that no half-way port 
 will attract them from their destination. 
 
 Why slioiild not the route from the various emigratinf' ports 
 of the Old World to San Francisco, by way of Panama, uecome 
 the line of attraction and travel to those who are seeking an 
 asylum and a home in America? Bring this about, and our 
 inarch is onward, our destiny certain. 
 
 To assist in the conveyance of this information, and accom- 
 plishing these objects, what channel so appropriate, what means 
 80 ettective as the State Agricultural Society, when it shall occu- 
 py the position and enjo}^ the facilities we claim for it ? 
 
 To place the Society in this position, and in command of these 
 facilities, liberal State aid will be required. The front door of 
 the State treasurj^ will have to be opened by the command of 
 the people, and some of their money used for the accomplish- 
 ment of these objects. And why not? Facts and statistics arc 
 at hand to prove that no people ever became permanently pros- 
 perous, or State rich and powerful, until this policy was adopted 
 and adhered to ; and that no people or State ever adopted this 
 policy, aud continued it judiciously, without becoming intelli- 
 gent and happy, and rising high in the scale of individual and 
 national greatness. 
 
 England annually appropriates millions to auxiliary societies, 
 similar to ours, for the encouragement of her agricultural and 
 manufacturing interests, and the world paj's tribute to her en- 
 terprise and prosperity. France, following her example, has 
 become a power upon the earth. German}', by earl}- adopting 
 this policy, has made herself an empire of knowledge and a uni- 
 versity to the world. 
 
 Among our family of States, XcAV York and Massachusetts 
 are noble examples of an enlightimed liberality. Then let Cali- 
 fornia profit by good examples and be wise, as she would bo 
 great. 
 
 We did intend to discuss another important question to Cali- 
 fornia — the establishment of an Agricultural College. But the 
 space allowable in a report embracing so many objects is not 
 equal to the importance of the subject. We, therefore, recom- 
 mend the ap])ointment of a Committee by our successors to 
 take this subject under consideration and report at some future 
 time previous to the meeting of the next Legislature. 
 
 All of which is respectfully submitted. 
 
 CnAllLES F. EEED, President. 
 
 I. N. IIoAG, Secretary.
 
 SYJS'OPSIS OF FINAXCIAL EEPOETS FOE 1864. 
 
 Amount of cash received from all sources (no appro- 
 priation from the State) $13,053 00 
 
 Current expenses §10,591 03 
 
 Paid for warrants on General Fund 2,461 97 
 
 813,053 00 
 
 §13,053 00 
 
 INDEBTEDNESS OP SOCIETY. 
 
 Amount of -warrants outstanding against the General Fund, Janu- 
 ary 13, 1864 $18,526 55 
 
 Interest on the same from date of registry to January 13, 1865 1,220 82 
 
 Indebtedness at last date $19, 747 37 
 
 Warrants redeemed in 1864 8,412 72 
 
 Present indebtedness $11,334 65 
 
 The Financial Eeport having been referred to a committee, was found cor- 
 rect, and adopted by the Society. 
 
 ELECTION. 
 
 The terms of office of the President, C. F. Reed, and of Directors Richardson, 
 
 Beck and Walsh having expired, by limitation of law. the same parties were 
 re-elected — the President for one year, and the Directors for three. 
 
 At a meeting of the Board, held immediately after the adjournment of the 
 annual meeting, I. N. Hoag was unanimously re-elected Secretary of the 
 Board, and R. T. Brown was elected Treasurer, Vice Coleman, resigned. 
 
 CONSTITUTION. 
 
 The Constitution of the Society was materially amended at the annua] 
 meeting. The more important changes will be found in the following extracts. 
 
 ARTICLE III.— Member ships. 
 
 Section 1. Any person who has during the year 1865, or who shall here- 
 after pay to the Funds of this Society, the sum of Five Dollars, may become a 
 member of the same; such membership to expire on the 31st day of the 
 following December. 
 
 ARTICLE lY.— Officers. 
 
 Section 1. The Officers of the Society shall consist of a President and 
 nine Directors, who shall constiute a State Board of Agriculture — five of 
 whom shall constitute a quorum. They shall elect a Treasurer and Secreta- 
 ry, not members of the Board. They may also appoint annually as Officers of 
 the Board, a Chemist, a Botanist, a Geologist, a Metallurgist, a Meteorologist, 
 a Zoologist and an Entomologist, and define the duties of each. They 
 may appoint such Committees on the various departments of Agriculture, 
 Mining and Manufactures, either generally, or for specific purposes, as they 
 may deem important for the best interests of the State, and require such 
 committees to report the result of their observations and investigations to the 
 Board, at such times as may be named by them.
 
 21 
 IMPORTANT BUSINESSS OF THE BOARD. 
 
 At a meeting of the State Board of Agriculture, held at the Secretary's 
 Office, on the 22d day of February, 1865, it was detorniined to iill by apjxjint- 
 iiient, the offices named in the Section of the Constitution last above quoted, 
 and the Secretary was authorized and empowered to select proper persons 
 and make such appointments, and also to appoint Committeemen ia the sev- 
 eral Departments named. 
 
 The following llules were adopted, declaring the objects of such offices, 
 and defining the duties of the appointees. 
 
 RULE I. 
 
 The objects of the office of Chemist to the Board, shall be the 
 advancement of Agricultural knowledge, by the application of chemical 
 science to the qualitative and quantitative analysis of Agricultural materials, 
 such as soils, grains, fruits, manures, etc.; all chemical investigations of such 
 officer for the Society shall be to this end, and shall be the property of the 
 Society. 
 
 It shall be the duty of the Chemist to give upon application, his written 
 opinion to the Board, upon the adaptation of any soil to any particular kind of 
 production, and vice vcrsUj or upon any subject pertaining to Agricultural 
 Chemistry, as embraced in the duties of his office. He shall keep a complete 
 record of all his official transactions and opinions, and shall each year report 
 the same to the Board, together with such suggestions and observations, as 
 his experience may dictate for the advancement of the Agriculture of Cali- 
 fornia. 
 
 RULE n. — OF BOTANIST. 
 
 To obtain for record in the transactions of the Society, a full and popular 
 description of the botanical productions of the State, both native and import- 
 ed. To investigate and illustrate the physiology of plants and trees, and the 
 adaptation of the most useful, particularly the varieties of forage plants, to our 
 diff'erent localities and soils. To discuss and teach the importance and means 
 of preserving the forests of our mountain districts, and to induce the cultiva- 
 tion of woodlands by the agriculturalists, about their homes on our rich plains 
 and prairies. 
 
 It shall be the dut}- of the Botanist to labor for the accomplishment of these 
 objects, to assist in the collection of an herbarium at the Society's rooms, and 
 to report annually a lull account of his official transactions, including such 
 suggestions as he may deem proper to make upon this branch of the State's 
 natural history. 
 
 RULE IIL — OP GEOLOGIST. 
 
 To obtain for publication a description of the general and Agricultural Geolo- 
 gy of the State, with particular reference to the mineral and agricultural 
 advantages, in language and style adapted to the general reader. The col- 
 lection, classification and preservation, at the Rooms of the Society of speci- 
 mens of the diff'erent kinds of rocks, minerals, fossils and soils. 
 
 The Geologist shall report annually to the Board, the progress of his work, 
 and make such recommendations as the interests of this department may 
 require. 
 
 RULE IV. — OP METALLURGIST. 
 
 To keep for annual publication a correct and official record of the various 
 modes of mining in this State, and of reducing and separating the diff'erent 
 kinds of metals from their ores, and other matters. To note the improvements 
 made iu the processes of such reduction and separation, and also tiie improve- 
 ments in the machinery used for mining purposes. To collect and place in
 
 22 
 
 the Society's cabinet, specimens of all kinds of ores, and of the metals in the 
 different stages of reduction. 
 
 The Metallurgist shall keep the record and perform the duties above indi- 
 cated, and report annually to the Board the work performed, and give a. general 
 revieie of the progress of mining in this State, and such statistics as he may 
 be able to collect, pertaining to the same, with such observations for the gen- 
 eral advancement of this branch of industry as he may deem important. 
 
 KULE V. — OP METEOROLIGIST. 
 
 To keep a record of the various meteorological phenomena, such as the 
 pressure, the temperature, and moisture of the atmosphere; also, the quantity 
 of the rain at as manj' localities in the State as practicable. 
 
 The Meteorologist shall keep or superintend these records and report them 
 to the Board annually, accompanied by such practical observation of their 
 application to agricultural operations as may be suggested by his experience. 
 
 RULE VI. OF ZOOLOGIST. 
 
 To obtain a description of the animals and birds of the State, and their 
 habits, particularly those that are detrimental or beneficial to agriculture 
 and horticulture. The collection, classification and preservation, in the 
 Society's Museum, of stufFed specimens of all the native varieties of birds 
 and of such animals as may be deemed important. 
 
 The Zoologist shall prosecute the above objects and make to the Board 
 an annual report of the progress of the work, including any recommendations 
 for the preservation of the useful, or destruction of the injurious, as may be 
 called for. 
 
 RULE VII. — OF ENTOMOLOGIST. 
 
 To describe the Insects of the State, their habits and peculiarities, particu- 
 larly those varieties destructive to vegetation. To collect, classify, and pre- 
 serve, at the Society's Rooms, specimens of the different varieties, and report 
 annually to the Board any observations or suggestions upon their relations 
 to agricultural economy, and the means of preventing their ravages by their 
 des^uction or otherwise. 
 
 All reports indicated above, and also all Reports from the Committees that 
 may be appointed to report upon the several branches of industry indicated 
 in the section of the Constitution above quoted, to be made in writing to the 
 Secretary of the Board, on or before the first day of December of each year, 
 so that they may be properly arranged in the transactions of the Society, to 
 be reported to the Governor by the first of January. 
 
 STATISTICS FOR 1865. 
 
 The Secretary has carefully prepared blanks for the collection and report of 
 Statistics of all the more important Agricultural productions of the State, and 
 sent them out to all the County and District Assessors, accompanied by the 
 following circular. He has already received answers from a large number of 
 the Assessors, saying they will clieerfnlly comply with the request, and the 
 Board entertain a confident hope that they will thus be able to obtain a full 
 and accurate table of the productions of the year. They call on the Press 
 and the public generally, for their co-operation in the premises. 
 
 [circular.] 
 Rooms of the State Agricultural Society, ") 
 Sacramexto, February 7, 1865. j 
 
 To the Assessor of : 
 
 Dear Sir: — The State Board of Agriculture are very desirous 'Of obtaining 
 through some reliable channel full and correct Agricultural Statistics of the 
 State for 1865. 
 
 They believe there is no other way in which a citizen can render so valuable
 
 23 
 
 a service to tlie State ns in aiding them in the nccomplisliment of this object. 
 They also bclicvo that the Assessors of tlie several districts and counties, from 
 the nature. of tlieir duties, jjosscss greater facilities for collecting such statis- 
 tics than any other persons; and that the correct business habits necessarily 
 jjosscssed by a person to whom his fellow citizens have entrusted so import- 
 ant duties as those of Assessor, will give to statistics collected tiy him tho 
 stanij) of character and reliability. For the above reasons the Hoard have in- 
 structed me to request you to aid them in this undertaking. Believing that 
 you will cheerfully consent to do so, I have carefully prepared the accom- 
 panying blanks for the collection of such statistics as are indicated in them, 
 and tiiuse on the opj)Ositc side of this sheet for j'our return of the same in a 
 condensed form, to this oflice. None but the most important and easiest ob- 
 tained are called for. The number of acres sown of the different kinds of 
 crops, the number of trees planted of the diilerent varieties, and so on, you 
 can obtain very easily by fastening the collecting blanks in your assessing 
 book which you carry wtth you, and questioning parties as you assess them. 
 
 The amount of the productions for ISOo you can not obtain for the reason 
 that you will have finished your canvass before most of them will be matured 
 and gathered. But as you are canvassing you can notice the appearance of 
 the crops and by conversation with farmers generally you can obtain such in- 
 formation as will enable you to make a very correct estimate of the average 
 bushels of the different crops per acre, and, having obtained by canvass tho 
 number of acres sown to each, you can easily estimate the whole product of 
 your district or county. Hence the blank return sheets, in addition to the 
 number of acres sown, call for the estimated products of 18<l5. It has been 
 customarj; with those who have given any attention to this matter heretofore, 
 to gather the joro^wr^s of the year /)/-<'c«//;i^ the one in Avhich the number of 
 acres sown or jdanted, was gathered. We believe tliis custom has destroyed 
 to a great extent the value of the tables thus formed, by apparently depreci- 
 ating the productiveness of our soil. The aggregate products of such an ex- 
 hibit, being less compared to the whole number of acres cultivated than the 
 facts would show. Our plan will correct this error, and by continuing it we 
 can arrive at an almost positive certainty, as ne.\t year the assessor can gather 
 the actual products of this, and thus test the correctness of your estimates. 
 
 The return sheet has also a place for the estimate of unenumerated 
 productions. Your District or County may produce articles not enumerated, 
 which you may deem important to make a record of. If so, you will enumer- 
 ate and return them. There arc many items, however, which we can otitain 
 from the United States Assessors and shall do so. We would like to have 
 you also give a concise statement of the general resources and advantages of 
 your County, whether agricultural, mineral or manufacturing. All the facts 
 thus furnished will be embodied in the reports of our transactions to the next 
 Legislature. 
 
 Now, as to the compensation for the services we ask of you : Tiie Board of- 
 fer a )ireminm nf Fifty Dollars fi)r the best statistical and descriptive report, 
 and Twenty-five Dollars for the second best — the Board to be, or to select the 
 Judges, and the money to be paiil as soon as the reports are received and ex- 
 amined. In addition to this, each Assessor who shall make a report to the 
 Board as requested, will be voted a member of the State Agricultural Socie- 
 ty, and shall receive free all publications of the Society, and copies of such as 
 are received of the (icncral (lovernmcnt for distribution. 
 
 The Board will also endeavor to obtain from the next Legislature, and they 
 have no doubt they will be successful, an appropriation to pay you for the 
 services you may perform this year, and an annual appropriation for the con- 
 tinuance of such services in the future. 
 
 Please acknowledge tlie receipt of this immediately, and say whether vou 
 will perform the duties requested, and whether you liave received a copy of 
 our transactions for 18G3, which we mailed for you. 
 
 37()r»59
 
 24 
 
 If you need more blanks at any time write for them. You will find postage 
 stamps and envelopes for your correspondence and returns enclosed. 
 
 We shall want your reuurns, and we presume you can make them, by the 1st 
 or 15th of September. By order of the Board. 
 
 Very respectfully your obedient servant, 
 
 I. N. HOAG, Secretary State Board of Agriculture. 
 
 TO THE I'EOI^LE OF <O.A.X^XFOT11STXJ>^. 
 
 The State Agricultural Society, by the organization of a corps of eminent 
 scientific gentlemen, is now prepared to take the lead and give aim and direc- 
 tion to the development of all the various resources of the State, by the ex- 
 perimental and scientific investigation of every subject pertaining to the 
 agricultural, manufacturing and mining interests. 
 
 Also, to contribute in an authentic and official manner, to every branch of 
 the natural history of the State, by the collection, classification and preser- 
 vation of facts and phenomena in the meteorological world, and of specimens 
 from our geological, botanical and animal kingdoms. 
 
 By enlisting the co-operation of the county and district assessors of the 
 State — the assessors of internal revenue, and business men generally, it is 
 proposed to collect and preserve a full and complete record of the productions 
 of all our industrial pursuits. 
 
 Our Chemist and Metallurgist, Dr. R. Oxland, Professor of chemistry in the 
 Toland Medical College at San Francisco, is prepared to make correct assays 
 of the different metals, as gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, etc. Also, to analyse 
 difter<^nt kinds of manures and soils, and petroleum, asphaltum, bituinen, etc. 
 He has had a large experience in the manufacture of sugar from beets, and 
 refining the same, and in agricultural and manufacturing chemistry generally, 
 and is prepared to give instruction in all these departments. For any work 
 done in any branch of his department, members of the Society will be allowed 
 twenty per. cent discount from the usual prices. 
 
 Dr. Kellogg and Prof. Borlander will analyse and classify any specimens of 
 vegetable productions forwarded to them. Prof Borlander has given much 
 time to the study of the grasses, and Dr. Kellogg to the floral department of 
 Botany. 
 
 Dr. Behr may be consulted upon the insects, and Dr. Cooper upon the ani- 
 mals, birds and reptiles of the State — both having given these specialties 
 much time and attention, are prepared to give correct information. 
 
 Dr. Logan will investigate any atmospherical phenomena, or climatic changes, 
 to which his attention is called. Records and observations heretofore 
 pulilished by him testify the soundness pf his knowledge. 
 
 The above gentlemen have all been consulted personally by the Secretary, 
 and have each accepted the position to which he has been appointed. 
 
 Prof. Whitney is not in the State, but his friends give assurance that he 
 will accept the position, and give his eminent abilities to the success of the 
 enterprise. 
 
 Committees in all the departments of agriculture will be appointed as soon 
 as the right men can be secured. A premium list for the Fair of 18G5, em- 
 bracing every industry in the State, will be published as soon as it can be 
 completed. 
 
 The Board call upon the people and the press of every county in the State, 
 for their earnest a,nd practical co-operation and support — and they doubt not 
 they will receive it. Geological, metallurgical, botanical, zoological, and en- 
 tomological specimens, and curiosities of every kind, are solicited for the cab- 
 inet and museum, and may be forwarded to the Secretary through Wells, Far- 
 go & Co.'s Express, free of charge. By Order. I. N. HOAG, Secretary.
 
 ^
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 AA 000 552 336 o 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 Los Angeles 
 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 
 
 ^Ir^ X @ 
 
 
 DISCH 
 
 lARGE 
 
 URL 
 
 OCT 3 Qf^SiS^ 
 
 Form L9-116ot-8,'62(D1237s8)444 
 
 UNlVKkHiTt erf (jJ^AA^^HiitiiA 
 LOS aSGKLES