The weekly mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado County, Calif.) 1861-1862, 1862-03-01


VI iGUi,@s. Es9, .S''ciety adjourned sine die.
THOS. J. OREGON, Sec'y.
Annual Report OF the Secretary of
the lei Dor ado Agricultural Society.
2; ttsN'SQksf & s.. &: ~ ~. -,;a.nt sSyei-
cultural .SOciety.
GSNTLENEs :. " presepAS-- a,N with nv 9es.
port of the standing and condition Of the Snci-
ETY. up To the present time. and review ing what
has been accomplished by IL during the past
year, certain prominent suggestions occur Ia
my mind and hoping they may benefit the
Society, present them fur yuur consideration
promising, by saying that do not believe, in an
Institution where the executive power is annu-
ally changed t"o much light can be given BY
retiring officers Ia those who succeed them,
thereby enabling them to profit by the expert
ence Of their predecessors. NV own experience
giving me abundant evidence Of that fact and
in order that the present members If the S"Ci
ETY. almost, it not quite half Of whom have be-
come such within the past six monthsj NAV
form their views correctly of the necessities or
rcqurementS Of the Society for the future,
review "f its rise aud progress NAV be imp0r.
tant. l know OF no more CORRECT rule than to
Judge Of the future by the past"
Having been recently called on by the Cor
responding Secretary Of the State S"cietv, for
record at the efforts put forth BY us. and the
aims we have in view, | drew up as well as
could a statement of the same, To be published
with their annual publication. IA PARTON If the
MSS Of which will answer "nr Present purpose;
At the first settlement # this County, it
was considered only IN the light 81 nhn.ral
county, IN c"ntradIStin non L. the Z" cnW c"uu-
ties, rs indeed, il Is vet but We all must al
low at the present day that though the mining
interest IL, and viii be Tor many wears, uu" 81
the must PROMINENT Vet II is not n, paramount
one. Great changes have been Sulug on wi,h
time. Acres "f'Gruund that Years aIo blrr
nnthing but the devastating waste CAUSED by
the PICK and shovel aud the miiar,g sluicc, UrW,
under the skIlliul and rccuTerat'ES labor 1T thr
husbandmln, bars an Abundance OF the clOi-
Cest fruits aud Hrwrrs, and the very water
which by It's practical use. once in the hHn,i>
1T The miner. caused THIS seeming devastation,
now, in the hands OF his successor, Is made the
source Of fruitful irrigation.
The surface diggIngS' being to great cx-
tent worked nut aud given over to Cinnamon,
leaves more land every >n' crrdlng year tor III,
use Of The Agricultural; and the vast area Is in
creaSing to such an extent that even pow u
very large number OF those " hu are yet termed
miners are half agrcutirs,s also, while the
hume trade. 10 term II. Of the old towns
throughout che county, IaE DC considered
manly derived from the ranches and the trbu,
taries connected ihrreWih.
C"luma, the wurld renowned, having the
honor ut hr>t producing the rrecrus metal by
the discovery If Marshall aud WrimIr in the
I'D mlli.racei, from her peculiar location and
aluvIal soil, became the gnrjcn-si"t o! thus
county at an early day, and II Wae frr long
time supposed Ia be the only spot III thus re-
gion where it would pay Ia make auy serious
attempt AT agriculture; but as our county be-
came settled up BY families, requiring houses
at superior accommodations to our usual M
ners cabins, and when built were usually en-
CLOSED frum the commons aud highway, anAle-
~ S-ratJSr- general 10 ornament tksS: i,:tte en-
closures with trees, evcrgreens. Nc., and it
soon became apparent that fruits and flowers
r"uih he grown with proper attention in what
had beret'4iure seemed most unpromiSlug To-
calItIcs, aud more extended operations to"k
place in that line until land IN the vicinity of
towns was taken up and cultivated to Such an
extent that Columa found herself with rivals
all over the county.
During this progress, however great wants
were found of theoretical, : well as practical,
knowledge Of the cultivation Of our soil, a
change Ot locality frequently varying the pro-
ductiun in quality and fruitfulness, and the
same kind Of culture in one locality not prndu-
cling like results in another, while u radical
difference was perceptiGIe in the results Of
cultivation hitherto successful in the Atlantic
States and in Europe as for example, men " ho
the grape in Europe, and considered them
sell es perfect in their art, found to their Sor-
row after three ar four years of attentive aud
arduous labor, that they knew as vet but little
ar nothing Of the peculiar cultivation suited la
this climate, and that the knowledge could only
be acquired by experiments Theoretically con.
Quoted either by themselves OF others.
Hence this want of a series of experiments
necessary Ia arrive at such knowledge soon be.
anna nnI ..1I a
tile IN expedencv, than instItuling a Society
which should make it its peculiar aim, to foster
and encourage competition IN the vaTioUS
braRcheso~t SSrecSsS<SI7e, aud thus develop the
resources Of our soil and climate, in the region
Of the foot hills. and whenever u superior pro-
ductOn was exhibited at our Annual Fair, the
grower by stating bis mode of culture, soil.
location, &c, could thereby impart information
to the Society, which might be Of great benefit
to IT'S members.
Such were some OF the necessities which
called INTO existence the active eXerti0nS If
few public spirited individuals. which resulted
in the es Establishment of our Society.
In the first year of its existence, 1882 the
Annual Exhibition at Coloma, was very graft
tying to its projectors, and great expectations
were doubtless formed for the Second Exhibit
ton, (alsO at Colonial, but unfortunately from
various causes, apparently local IN their char
acter, the attendance was rather meagre. The
Exhibition itself was not as credtable to the
products Of the county a. had been anticipated
at the close Of the first one. The membership,
instead Of increasing, had declined. Many of
those who had previously been Jealous in their
encouragement, now became lukewarm and
seemed to fear its dissolution was ut hand.
As before stated, this was the result of va
rlous causes, mostly, however. connected with
the business operations of the Society, some
what, perhaps, too, BY the loss by death of one
OF its ablest and warmest supporters. alude
to the decease Of the Hon. ThOs Robertson,
the first President Of the Society However,
in its third year, 1851, the members still re-
naming, prOttiug by past experience and
knowing the necessity Of keeping up the insti-
tuition, again put forth their energies, with re-
newed vigor, kept the subject constantly before
the public, through the medium Of the county
press, laii of whom kindly and gratuitously
gave US the use of their columns for such pur-
pOses,) and by the fundamentally Of its Board
of Managers, operating through our Senators
and Representatives, obtained an appropriation
of four hundred dollars from the Legislature
for premiums This was considered something
tangible, and as warrantIng an outlay by the
Board for schedule Of premiums, amounting
TO $500, in silver gobiets, medals, agricultural
books, aud diplomas, which should excite a
spirit OF competition in our producers, so as to
make the third annual exhibition useful and
gratifying, not only to those practically enga-
ged in the pursuit of agriculture, but also to
the people at large, and the result, am happy.
to say, fully Justified-indeed, l may say, ex.
eeeded the hopes Of its most ssnguine friends
and has apparently Stamped the County SOcie-
ty as permanent institution, and one that can
only become failure upder the grossest mis-
management.
Its membership, as may be seen in the state