the last crop being the heaviest. This is particularly the case on what is known as Stockton's ranch, a large tract of land on the east side of the valley, purchased by Commodore Stockton in 1847. There are other sections where the land thus continually "cropped" with wheat, on which the yield is much lighter than formerly. Some of the new land yields as high as seventy-five bushels of wheat to the acre. The wheat raised in the eastern portion of the valley, where the soil is somewhat gravelly, sells for the highest price in the San Francisco market, and makes the finest flour.

Along Los Gatos creek, about a mile from San José, there is a tract of rich bottom land which, a few years since, was covered with willows, but now contains about thirty acres of hops, which it produces luxuriantly. The crop at this place, for 1867, was estimated at thirtyfive thousand pounds. About the town of Santa Clara-the highest land in the valley-the soil is lighter and more sandy; similar land extends beyond Gilroy, thirty miles south of San José, but it is not generally cultivated, as it does not prove remunerative to haul produce to market by teams from that point. When the railroad to Watsonville is constructed, many thousands of acres in this district will be cultivated, which are now used for grazing. One reason why much of the hill and mountain land on the west side of Santa Clara valley, about Gilroy, and south of that place, is retained for grazing purposes, is, that being within the range of the fogs from the ocean, the grass is green, and affords good pasturage during the summer. Every year, large numbers of stock are driven from some of the southern and interior counties to be fed on the fresh pasturage of these hills. So valuable are some of these lands for this purpose, that their owners hold them at higher prices than the grain lands of the valleys.

The high lands bounding the valley on the east and west are admirably adapted for the cultivation of the grape, to which large tracts have been applied. The soil of these hills is a dark brown, sandy loam, quite unlike that of the valley. The common California grape, which does not ripen until September in other localities, on the hills southeast of San José, ripens in July and August. The highest ridges of the mountains are in many places densely timbered, affording a supply of good lumber and fuel. The slopes around the edge of the valley are covered with wild oats and native grasses, and afford excellent pasturage for large herds of cows. The butter and cheese made about Gilroy are famous for their richness. There are very few cattle raised in the county, it being so generally under cultivation with grain and fruit.

From San Jose to Gilroy, a distance of nearly thirty miles, the valley in the summer forms an almost unbroken wheat field. In May, June, and July, when the grain is ripening, the view of this portion of the valley is a marvel of beauty. The farmer's houses, surrounded by gardens and orchards, appear like beautiful green islands in a golden sea. A month later, the whole scene is changed; the waving grain has all been cut, and huge stacks of yellow straw and dingy grain bags are piled up in all directions, the latter waiting to be hauled to market. In the spring it presents still another aspect, when the young grain is just peeping above the black soil, and the purple and white blossoms of the apricot and peach form a striking contrast in color with the hazy neutral tint of the distant mountains.

The great extent of level land in this valley admits of the use of all descriptions of agricultural machinery; the consequence is that nearly all the work on the large farms is performed with almost incredible rapidity. A thousand acres are sometimes plowed, seeded, and cut in less time than is required on farms of one hundred acres in many parts of Europe. This advantage, together with the much larger yield per acre, compensates for the higher price of land, labor and material. Large tracts of this valley produce volunteer crops, which are cut for hay, yielding generally about two tons per acre.

There are about forty steam threshing machines, and a large number run by horse-power, in this county; also, ten first-class grist-mills capable of turning out 1,600 barrels of flour daily; and ten saw-mills, with power adequate to cut 70,000 feet of lumber per day. There are seven tanneries-three at San José, three at Santa Clara, and one near McCartysville-which, in the aggregate, make from 12,000 to 13,000 sides of leather annually.

San José, the county seat, is situated near the Guadaloupe river, about nine miles from the head of San Francisco bay, fifty miles from the city of San Francisco. It is an old Spanish pueblo, founded in 1777, the first founded by that government in this State, but presents none of the features of such an origin except a few adobe houses on the plaza, and the row of willows which form the alameda between it and Santa Clara, two miles distant. This unique grove, one of the finest drives in the State, was planted by the missionaries, in 1799, as a walk to connect the pueblo of San José with the mission church, near where it now stands, at Santa Clara. San José is the center of an important agricultural district, the development of the resources of which has been greatly augmented by the construction of the San Francisco and San José railroad, completed in 1863. Nearly one half of its prin

cipal buildings has been erected since that time, and its population, importance, and the value of real estate, have more than doubled. In 1860, it had but 1,000 inhabitants; at present, it has upwards of 7,000, including the suburbs. Land in the vicinity of the alameda, which a year or two since could have been purchased for $50 per acre, now sells at from $200 to $300 per acre. Six important stage-lines radiate from this place, in connection with the railroad; and the long line of farmers' wagons and heavy teams, the whirr of the stages, the whistling and bell-ringing of the locomotives, the rattle of machinery, the throng of people, and general activity, all tell of thrift and progress.

It contains many fine public buildings, stores and private residences, including six churches, and several colleges and public schools, a fine park planted with trees and rare plants, and has more of a metropolitan appearance than any other town in the State, except San Francisco and Sacramento. The court-house, in the northern part of the city, is the finest structure of the kind in the State. It is constructed of stone, brick, and iron, in the Corinthian style; is 100 feet in width, 140 feet in length, and 56 feet high to the top of the cornice, above which a dome, 50 feet in diameter, rises 59 feet higher. The front is an hexastyle portico, 76 feet high and 15 feet deep, reached by a flight of 13 solid granite steps. The six Corinthian columns, 4 feet in diameter and 38 feet high, support an elegant entablature 10 feet high. The exterior walls are ornamented with pillastres, to correspond with the front; the interior is fitted up with equal taste and elegance. The main court-room is 48 by 68 feet, and 38 feet high, lighted from the ceiling by 12 highly enriched panels of ground glass. The total cost of the building exceeded $150,000. At certain seasons of the year, the view from the dome of this building is one of the most charming and suggestive to be found in the State. The valley at this point, nearly fifteen miles wide, is a perfect net-work of fences; the whole of it, as far as the eye can range, being under thorough cultivation, each parcel of land differing in tint, according to the crop and the stage of its growth. For miles around the building, as a foreground, are solid masses of orchards and nursery gardens, thickly planted with fruittrees and flowering plants, for San José has always been the nursery garden of the State, where exotics are acclimatized. Here may be

seen the strange but beautiful shrubs and flowers from Japan and China, the gum and acacia trees from Australia, the geranium and fuschia from the south of Europe, the rose, box and holly from England, the blackthorn from Ireland, the lily from France, the pink and carnation from Germany, the tulip from Holland, the currant and fig

from Greece, the olive and grape from Italy and Portugal, the glorious magnolia and camelia japonica from the "sunny south," and the sturdy pine from the cold north-all blooming and growing in the genial open air, beside the cactus and palm, the cypress, cedar and sequoia, and other beautiful indigenous trees and plants of the Pacific coast, forming a variety of foliage not to be seen outside of California, and a sort of floral representation of the cosmopolitan character of the population of the State. In some of the vineyards of this place, as many as 120 varieties of grapes, from all parts of the world, are cultivated successfully. The pear grows here in extraordinary luxuriance and beauty-many of the older trees producing from 3,500 to 4,000 pounds each season. Few of these trees were planted prior to 1852. There are 5,000 cherry trees in the gardens of San José, cultivated to supply the San Francisco market, besides a large number in private orchards. The average product of seven-eighths of these trees is one hundred and fifty pounds of cherries each.

The Hon. J. E. Brown, who owns a vineyard near San José, has introduced the cultivation of the raisin-grape, (fager zagos,) which thrives remarkably well. One stem, in the summer of 1867, yielded between thirty and forty pounds of this fruit, in fine bunches, as a first crop for that year, and was loaded in November with nearly as many more. The climate of this valley is well adapted for drying all kinds of fruit. The success of Mr. Brown's experiment, has induced several other parties to cultivate the raisin-grape here; Santa Clara will consequently produce in a few years large quantities of raisins.

The first silk-worms raised in the State were hatched at this place. They were obtained from Adrianople, (Turkey,) by Messrs. Prevost & Hentsch. Several attempts were previously made to introduce the worm from Europe, but without success. More expeditious means of transportation have, however, since enabled the European worms to be introduced. There are also worms from China and other parts of the world, all of which appear to thrive. Large mulberry orchards, cultivated to feed the silk-worm, are raised here, and a factory is to be established for the manufacture of silk. The business of silk-making may yet become an important interest at this point.

A portion of the Western Pacific railroad, extending north from San José into Alameda county, has been completed a distance of twenty miles, but has not been brought into use. The proposed Southern Pacific railroad is to start at San José, and run through the entire county, southeasterly.

Santa Clara is situated on a slight eminence, about two miles

north-west from San José, to which it is united by the alameda, rapidly becoming a continuous street between the two places. The University of the Pacific is located near this alameda. Santa Clara contains five churches and several excellent schools. The old mission which gives name to the county, forms a portion of the present Jesuit college. The olive trees and vineyards of the old establishment are in an excellent state of preservation. From this place, looking north, may be seen the dim outline of the mountains beyond San Francisco, with the city, bay, and shipping, at their feet; to the east, the Monte Diablo ranges, with their shady nooks and gently sloping sides, form a border to the valley; west and south, are the mountains of the coast, and a little west of south, the extensive works of the New Almaden quicksilver mine are distinctly seen.

Gilroy, named after the first settler in the State, about thirty miles south-east from San José, is a flourishing town situated between the Coast Range and the Contra Costa mountains, in the southern part of the Santa Clara valley. It contains four churches, a school-house, and many well built stores and residences. Old Gilroy resides at San Ysedro, about three miles from the town, in the same old adobe house built forty years ago. North-east of the town, along the sloping edges of the plateau which forms the center of the great Santa Clara valley, is the grazing district of this county. Here, thousands of sleek cows find abundant pasturage, which imparts to their milk such richness as to cause the butter and cheese from this locality to be among the best that reaches the San Francisco market. The mountains six miles west afford an abundant supply of lumber and fuel. The proposed railroad from San José to Watsonville, will pass through this place.

About six miles easterly from Gilroy, is the Cañon de los Osas, (Bear's cañon,) which, a few years ago, was a favorite resort of the "grizzly." It is a wild but exquisitely beautiful gorge, through a range of high mountains, covered with live oak, sycamore, and a dense underbrush, which is still full of small game; but "bruin" has been exterminated. The red clover and bunch grass growing luxuriantly here, are the favorite food of many kinds of game. The creeks and pools are also full of fine trout.

About fourteen miles from the town, in a small rocky ravine, on the Coyote cañon, near the headwaters of that creek, where the mountains, timbered to their summits, rise several hundred feet on both sides of that creek, a Mexican shepherd, while hunting for some of his stray flock, in 1865, discovered what are now the well known Gilroy springs. The hot spring, represented as possessing remarkable medicinal qual