American telegraph. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1851-1851, 1851-11-07

| SAN FrancfscO-PrOvisi0n and Labor.
This is the worst market on earth for inferior
or damaged articles People will buy nothing
but the best. Provisions of inferior quality are
thrown away
! The supply of fresh beef is always good, and
the best pieces can be bought for 10 cents a
pound: mutton and pork being 40 to so cents,
and salmon 25 cents.
Butter is retailed at so to rs cents. A very
small quantity is yet produced in the country.
Those who raise COWS can better sell the milk
at 5O cents quart, if they live near q market.
The native COWS are poor mixers. They are
large masculine-looking animals, and being
generally allowed to retain their calves for six
months or longer, they do not willingly submit
to the regulations of the dairy 1t requires two
or three men to milk California cow They set
to work on horseback, and first lasso her and
tumble her to the ground. They tic her head
| to a post, and then bind her feet together
tightly in pairs. One of the men does the milk
ing, while another holds the bucket, the terri
fed animal enduring the process with the same
docility as cross baby exhibits while its dirty
face is scrubbed One or two quarts of milk
are the result of the operation.
Far more valuable for dairy purposes are the
COWS from the valley of the Mississippi that
have crossed the plains On the journey they
are worked like oxen, and even here they are
harnessed to the wagon.
A loaf of bread, such as you buy in the At
lantic cities for three or four cents, here costs
you twelve and half. Potatoes retail at eight
to twelve cents. They are in demand by the
quantity at seven cents. We certainly have the
finest potatoes in the world. From one to two
pounds is a common weight and they often
weigh more. / have never seen nor heard of a
California potato being hollow or imperfect at
tho Thay ;pyo ,abl Jru II oaa1xy
A few days ago | sat down to dine with ten
others, mostly adults A large dish of pota-
toes graced the table, cut in pieces before boil
ing. Our landlady informed US that there were
two potatoes in the dish, and no more. But
there was enough and to spare. On another
dish was one-thrd of beet. Onions often ex-
ceed pound in weight. A cabbage at the
door of a restaurant near me weighs twenty
eight pounds. These vegetables are not the
result Of forced culture. The soil, in many To-
calities, can't help producing them. Very lit
| tie attention is paid to tillage, and no manure
is employed. l am informed that some Of the
gardeners in this vicinity are applying manure,
but have not seen load of that commodity
in California.
Tomatoes are plenty, at shilling pound,
which is considered cheap. Grapes are coming
in, and bring IS cents to 81 pound They
will be cheaper before long, as immense quanti-
ties are to come from San Jose and the adjoin-
ing villages, and from down the coast.
A cargo of oranges lately arrived from the
Society Islands-the first offering, / believe,
made by those islands to California
Wages continue high. Farm hands have re-
ceived from $40 to 800 q month and found.
A mere child can command twenty to forty dol
| lars a month, ''to mind the baby" Thirty
dollars was lately offered for the services of 9
little girl of twelve years, but her mother de-
clined the offer, as the girls services at home
were worth more to her than that. A laboring
man made wry face to me, and complained
that wages had fallen so that he got but four
dollars day
There are washerwomen here who make from
fifty to eighty dollars a week by the labor of
their own arms. The price of washing and
ironing is from three to four dollars dozen.
Board, with lodging, is from $40 to 500 q
week. Correspondent ~ y. Tribune.