prominent in these localities and constitutes some of the highest peaks. The elevation of the Coast Range took place at the close of the Miocene period, while the Sierras were formed largely by an uplift that occurred near the end of the Jurassic period. Carboniferous strata occupy a large area in the central part of the State, but they inclose no coal-seams of economic importance.

MINING. California is rich in mineral deposits, particularly gold, which is found in over thirty counties, and the rapid settlement and development of the State were due to this fact. Gold was obtained by washing as early as 1841, near San Fernando mission; but it was the discovery at Sutter's Mill, near Coloma, in 1848, that made evident the abundance of the metal and attracted the excited throngs of adventurers. Many of these engaged in river mining-i.e. washing in sheet-iron pans or wooden ‘rockers' the gold from the sands or gravels from or near river channels; others dug the gold 'dry' from veins in the rocks. About 1851 sluices were introduced, by means of which the gravels or sands were run over the bottom of a wooden box provided with blocks of wood or round stones to catch the gold as it sank. Digging soon extended from the rivers and the gulches to the higher ground, where the difficulty of washing was increased; but in 1852 the hydraulic system was brought in. In this, continuous powerful streams of water are directed through nozzles upon a gold-bearing bank or deposit. This was so successful that whole hills were reduced and swept away, but this practice was soon forbidden by law, as the detritus threatened to choke the rivers and seriously damage the agricultural interests in the valleys below. Nearly all the mines are on the western slope and in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in a belt of country about 220 miles long by 40 wide, extending into Oregon. The gold is found in a metallic condition, but is usually mixed with silver or other metals. stream or alluvial deposits ('placers') it occurs as fine scales or coarse grains. In rocks, it is found in quartz veins, and costly machinery must be used to crush the ore, from which the gold is extracted by amalgamation with quicksilver. Where, as often is the case, the goldbearing gravels underlie volcanic rock several hundred feet thick, drift or tunnel mining combined with sluicing is necessary. The chief gravelmining region extends from Mariposa County into Plumas County, or between parallels 37° and 41°, and includes some quartz veins. Most of the gold is now obtained from the quartz mines, especially in Calaveras, Kern, Trinity, El Dorado, Nevada, and Sierra counties. Goldmining is to-day greatly facilitated by the application of electrical power, which the mountain streams are made to generate. The great prominence and significance of gold in the early years of the State are evident from the great size of the output, the annual average for the decade between 1850 and 1859 inclusive being estimated at over $55,000,000, and constituting nearly the entire product of the United States. Following this period there was a constant decline in the output, which reached the minimum ($12,000,000) in 1892; it then revived, and for the last half-decade of the century averaged over $15,000,000 annually. The State continued to hold first place until 1897, when it was surpassed by Colorado. The total output of the State to the

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end of 1900 was about $1,350,000,000. While rich silver ores are found, there are no mines which produce silver exclusively. The $700,000 of silver mined in 1900, an increase over former years, was a by-product from gold, lead, or copper mining. Copper-mining has recently made rapid progress, and the State ranks fourth in the production of copper ore, the yield having increased from 6300 tons in 1897 to 13,200 tons in 1900. This ore, which is found principally in Shasta County, is partly shipped out of the State for smelting.

The State produces almost the whole of the quicksilver output of the United States, its mines rivaling those of Spain in productiveness. From 1875 to 1882 the output averaged 64,000 flasks annually, but since that period the annual average has been only 30,000 flasks; the value of the product ranged from $1,000,000 to $1,500,000. Fifty per cent. of the product is secured from Santa Clara County. The fuel products of the State include petroleum, bituminous coal, and natural gas, of which the first is the most important. The oil is found in the southern coast region, particularly Los Angeles, Kern, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties. It is refined to some extent, but its most important use is as a fuel. Its production is steadily increasing, the output having grown from 300,000 barrels in 1890 to 4,250,000 barrels in 1900. Bituminous coal is mined in Monte Diablo and the neighboring hills. For several years the output fluctuated around $200,000 in value, but for a few years now the annual output has doubled that amount. Natural gas is found in the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys. The State ranks second in the production of mineral water, the product for 1899 having been estimated at $698,000. Salt is obtained by the evaporation of seawater. Building-stone is abundant, and includes hydraulic limestone, rhyolite, bluish and lightbrown sandstones from San Francisco Bay, and from San José a light-brown variety, which is almost pure silica, cuts easily, and stands fire well. San Bernardino County yields marbles of many shades; El Dorado County, fine white marble, streaked with blue; and in Inyo County some of the foothills are composed of white marble equal to Italian. Freestone, buhrstone, granite, and basalt suitable for pavements and buildings are also found in abundance, while the granite output averaged in value about $1,000,000 annually during the last decade of the century. Brick clays occur in some localities. Asphalt is obtained in varying quantities and constitutes the greater part of the output of the United States, the largest annual product, that for 1898, exceeding $600,000 in value.

FISHERIES. California rivals Oregon in the extent of her salmon fisheries, the annual exports of salmon alone exceeding $2,000,000 in value. The supply of this and other varieties of fish has been increased through the activity of the State Government in enforcing protective laws and establishing hatcheries. The annual exports of shell-fish fall a little under $200,000 in value. The total value of the exports of fish from San Francisco during 1895-97 exceeded $2,500,000. There is a large local consumption of salt fishflounder, sole, and tomcod-the supply of which is secured by drag-net fishing along the mud banks extending from Point Reyes south to Mon

terey. The State ranks next to Massachusetts in whale-fishing.

AGRICULTURE. California has no equal among the States, and, indeed, scarcely among the countries of the world, in natural agricultural possibilities. In no other part of the world is so great a variety of crops brought to so high a stage of development. Over the greater portion of the agricultural area the crops of both the temperate and the sub-tropical zones can be grown at will, with equal success. Since 1850 the agricultural section of the population has increased more rapidly than any other. During the decade 1890-1900, the number of owners and tenants increased much more rapidly than did the total rural population, being contrary to the tendency shown in the two decades preceding. This is indicative of the movement now in process by which the large estates, under the influence of increased irrigation and intensive cultivation, are passing into the hands of smaller landowners. These large estates were partly the result of easy acquisition of land and partly of confirmation by

the United States Government of Mexican land grants to private individuals. The holders of these estates were at first opposed to subdividing them, and only recently have settlers been able to obtain desirable farms on them. Still the average size of the farms in 1900-397.4 acres-was quite large, and there were 4753 farms which contained 1000 acres and over, constituting 62.8 per cent. of the total farm acreage. The income per acre from the farms is in inverse ratio to their total area; the farms under three acres in size having an average income of $253.89 per acre, while the farms of 1000 acres and over averaged but $2.02 per acre. The smaller farms are devoted to city dairying, and to floriculture, and to the more valuable and intensively cultivated crops, while the larger are generally unirrigated stock or grain farms.

The earlier agricultural period was characterized by the great predominance of wheat-raising. Many of the large holdings were almost exclusively devoted to this industry, giving rise to the large ranch or bonanza farms of world-wide fame. Thus the production of wheat became enormous, at one time exceeding that of any other State. This was accomplished for the most part without irrigation. The Defiance and the White Australian varieties were grown for milling, and Sonora wheat for shipping, the dryness of the atmosphere resulting in a superior quality of grain which was in special demand in the London markets. The maximum acreage under wheat (2,875,000) was reached in 1893, since when the State has lost in relative importance as a wheat-producing State. The central valley is the great wheat district of the State. Owing to the level formation of the surface and the freedom from any kind of obstruction, the most expensive and complicated farm machinery invented is more extensively used here than anywhere else in the world. The same machine plows the ground, prepares the soil, and sows the seed, and probably two-thirds of the crop is gathered with a combined reaper and thresher. Steam power is largely used. Barley is the only other cereal which is extensively grown, and the only crop which has been rotated with wheat. The conditions are very favorable to its growth, and there is a tendency to substitute it for corn as a stock-food. About 1,000,

000 acres are devoted to its cultivation-or nearly one-third of the total acreage under that crop in the United States. Both wheat and barley are extensively used for hay, being cut down while green. Corn matures later and requires irrigation, and inasmuch as the irrigated land is more profitable when devoted to the more valuable crops, and barley can be substituted for corn, but little of the latter is cultivated. Oats likewise is little grown except for use as hay. The total, in 1900, for all grains cut green for use as forage was 1,506,000 acres, or considerably more than twice the amount of all other hay and forage crops. The acreage for hay and forage crops was 56.4 greater in 1900 than in 1890. The abundance of alfalfa and other foodplants of the bee has encouraged the keeping of bees, and honey is a considerable product.

The native grasses, oats, and clover dry without cutting, but constant pasturage has almost exterminated them, and alfalfa in moist regions, and Texas mesquit grass on dry hills and plains, are taking their place. Alfalfa yields three to four crops a season. The cultivation of hops is rapidly becoming an important industry.

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IRRIGATION. The aridity of the climate of California is not so extreme as is generally sup posed, nor is it without its advantages. most parts the rainfall of the spring months is sufficient for the development of the early-maturing crops, while the numerous mountain streams supply a source of irrigation for the production of the more valuable or the latermaturing crops. In nearly every county some farming is done without the aid of irrigation. The irrigated area, however, is being constantly and rapidly extended, and is exceeded only by that in Colorado, although the value per acre of the products of the irrigated land is much greater than that of Colorado or any other State. In 1900 the advantages of irrigation were afforded to 35.4 per cent. of the total number of farms, and to 12.1 per cent. of the total improved acreage, or 1,446,000 acres of land. The irrigated farms averaged only 57 acres in area. The average cost, per acre irrigated, of the construction of works for irrigation was $10.30 for the State, but in certain districts, and particularly in the southern counties, the cost is much higher, reaching $42.57 in San Diego County. There are 152,500 acres irrigated from wells and tunnels, but the greater portion receives its supply from streams and other surface sources.

As a result of the growing irrigation facilities, the horticultural products are becoming especially prominent. Many varieties of horticultural plants, difficult or impossible to raise in other States, and for a supply of which the country was formerly dependent upon imports from abroad, are now produced with great success in California. This is especially true of the regions where the rainfall is lightest, and the necessity and consequent advantages of irrigation are greatest-i.e. on the southern Pacific coast and in the valley of the San Joaquin. But more recently the development of fruit-growing in the Sacramento Valley has made irrigation prominent in that region, the application of the system being greatly facilitated by the utilization of abandoned ditches, originally used as water-conduits in connection with hydraulic mining. In the central and northern coast regions the natural rainfall, unaided by irrigation,