hubert howe bancroft - Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History ...

88 CEREALS AND OTHER PRODUCTS.
freedom from summer rains and heavy dews and fogs,
which produce the destructive blights and wash away
the strength of the flower. The result is surer and
superior crops, as well as safer and easier means for
curing them, than in the eastern states. The cultivation
has developed since the fifties, yielding by
1880 a million and a half of pounds, with the prospect
of a large increase. 12
Several materials have been tested for sugar-making,
among them grapes and melons, which proved as
unsuccessful, from an economic point of view, as the
sugar-cane, of which only a small quantity is raised
in the south for chewing; sorghum is reserved for
fodder. Sugar-beet has alone been found to answer,
and sufficiently so to encourage a larger cultivation of
it, with a marked increase in sweetness that places it
far above European beets. 18
12 By low trailing the roots are sheltered from excessive heat, and three
years suffice for attaining the maturity elsewhere requiring five or six. An
extraordinary proportion of the valued lupuline is here obtained, and the
fresh green color is well preserved. A St Helena crop took the premium at
the Centennial Exposition in 1876. Napa Co. Hist., 11. The total yield in
1879 was 1,444,000 lbs. from 1,119 acres. Sacramento leading with 684,500
lbs. from 402 acres, followed by Mendocino with 229,600 lbs. from 279 acres,
and Napa, S. Joaquin, and Alameda with from 99,000 to 73,000 lbs. The census
of 1870 reported 625,000 lbs., and that of 1860 only 80 lbs., showing a rapid
increase. For reports on development and methods, see Pac Rural Press, M ay
8, 1875; Jan. 6, June 2, 1877; July 6, 1878; Napa Reg., July 10-13, 1878;
AnaJieim Qaz., March 10, June 9, July 14, 1877; Merced Argus, Oct. 12, 1878;
Sac. Union of Dec. 11, 1855, Jan. 1, 1884, records attempts; also July 11,
Nov. 14, 1863; S. F. Herald, Sept. 15, 1859; 8. F. Times, Teb. 12, June 30,
1868; Aug. 12, 1369; 8. F. Coil, June 6, Sept. 22, 1871; Aug. 17,1874; March
15, 1882; St Helena Star, Sept. 29, 1876; Aug. 3, 1877; 8. F. Bulletin, Apr.
16, 1884.
13 Chinese sugar-cane has been cultivated in Los Angeles since 1854, and
syrup made, but not successfully enough. The U. 8. Census mentions, however,
for 1879, 2,459 gallons of sorghum molasses, mostly in Kern and Tnlare.
Suiter Co. Hist., 84—culture abandoned lately. Sugar-beet has alone answered.
During the greater part of the last decade the only mill in operation
for the manufacture of beet sugar was at Alvarado. Besides paying $4.50
a ton for beets, it offered premiums for beet culture. In 1887 a large refinery
was built at Watsonville, and has thus far met with fair success. See, further,
under manufactures; Los Ang. Co. Hist., 62; Com. and Ind., 540; Cal,
Agric. Soc, Trans., 1868-9, 272-302; 1873, 323-444; Sac. Union, March 25,
Oct. 16, 1857; Dec. 31, 1870; Kern Co. Cal, Jan. 8, 1880; 8. F. Call, Dec. 23,
1868; Jan. 21, 1870; 8. F. Chron., Dec. 29, 1889.
As one who has done much to develop the agricultural and other interest*
of Los Angeles co. and of southern California should be mentioned James BOOK