untry, are heavily
seeded, and, when ripe, are as fattening to stock as the grains which
we feed to our beef, horses, and hogs. Hence it is unnecessary to the
sustenance or fattening of stock to raise corn for their consumption.

Agriculture is in its rudest state. The farming implements which have
been used by the Californians, with few exceptions, are the same as
were used three hundred years ago, when Mexico was conquered by Cortez.
A description of them would be tedious. The plough, however, which
merely scratches the ground, is the fork of a small tree. It is the
same pattern as the Roman plough, two thousand years ago. Other
agricultural implements are of the same description. The Americans, and
other foreigners, are, however, introducing the American plough, and
other American farming tools, the consequence of which has already
been, to some extent, to produce a revolution in agriculture. The crops
of wheat and barley, which I saw about the 1st of June, while passing
through the country on my journey to the United States, exceeded in
promise any which I have seen in the United States. It was reported to
me that Captain Sutter's crop of wheat, for 1847, would amount to
75,000 bushels.

The natural vegetable productions of California have been sufficiently
noticed in the course of this work, for the reader to form a correct
estimate of the capabilities of the soil and climate. It is supposed by
some, that cotton, sugar, and rice, could be produced here. I do not
doubt but there are portions of the country where these crops would
thrive; but I question whether, generally, they could be cultivated to
advantage. Nearly all the fruits of the temperate and tropical climates
are produced in perfection in California, as has before been stated.

The principal product of the country has been its cattle and horses.
The cattle are, I think, the largest and finest I ever saw, and the
beef is more delicious. There are immense herds of these, to which I
have previously referred; and their hides and tallow, when slaughtered,
have hitherto composed the principal exports from the country. If I
were to hazard an estimate of the number of hides annually exported, it
would be conjectural, and not worth much. I would suppose, however, at
this time (1847), that the number would not fall much short of 150,000,
and a corresponding number of arrobas (25 pounds) of tallow. The
average value of cattle is about five dollars per head.

The