Weekly Calaveras chronicle., 1867-04-20
Prospects.

led energy and perseverance to increase their
facilities for producing, and, in consequence,
nearly every foot of arabic land in the county
has been sown to cereals. The fear which
for years past has harassed the minds of the
tillers of the soil, and deferred them from
cultivating as much as they would otherwise
have done, that if the product of the State
was too great the market would be over
stocked and they could not find a sale for
their grain, has ceased to exist. With the
whole world for market there is no danger
of its becoming glutted, and as California
wheat rules higher, and is more eagerly
sought for, both in Europe and the Atlantic
States, than that of any other country our
farmers need entertain no fears but what they
will meet ready sale and obtain remunera-
tive prices for all they can raise. The season,
thus far, has been highly favorable for agri-
cultural purposes, and judging from appear
ances in this section, and what We can learn
from other portions of the county, the crops
will be at least twenty per cent. heavier this
year than ever before. Although the rain
during the Winter has beer almost continu-
Gus, still it has, as a general thing, fallen
more slowly than usual, saturating the ground
to great depth. while the recent showers
we have experienced will serve to keep the
earth moist until the grain takes root and
grows sufficiently to shade the surface and
keep it from baking. The weather at present
is delightfully."- warm and pleasant, and under
the genial rays of the sun, the grain which
covers the fields with its emerald colored
mantle, is springing rapidly up, cheering the
hearts and giving promise of abundant har-
vests to those who are engaged in agricultur-
al pursuits. Another interest which we pos
sess, and one which appears to be generally
overlooked in calculating our resources, is
that of wine-growing. Our soil appears to
be admirably adapted to the growth of the
vine, and nowhere does it flourish more lux
uriantly, or bear its fruit in greater profusion
than on the hillsides and IN the valleys of
Calaveras. A person who has not travelled
number and extent of the vineyards. Every
little nook, gulch. and spot of ground which
could not easily be rendered available for the
cultivation Of less hardy crops, has been
planted with vines, and there is scarcely
farmer but who manufactures wine sufficient
for his own consumption, while many engage
in it as means of obtaining livelihood
10000 gallons were produced in Calaveras
during the past year. and this season the
quantity will be nearly doubled. Wine is
rapidly becoming one of our staple articles
of export and is much preferred. in the
Eastern market, to the pernicious stuff i'm
ported from Europe. Not many years will
elapse before it will be as universally drank
by the inhabitants of this country as it is in
France and along the Rhine.
Our mining interests are looking up. As
Spring advances and the weather becomes
settled, labor is being resumed on the various
quartz leads which dot the county in every
direction, with vigor and determination not
heretofore noticeable. Fully aware that we
possess mineral resources second to no local
ity in the State, and awake to the import
ance of developing the wealth which lies hid
den in our midst, our citizens are applying
themselves to the task with an energy and
perseverance which merit and certainly will
meet with success. From all portions of the
county, the intelligence we receive in relation
to quartz mining, is cheering. At Angels
Camp several large mills are employed, day
and night, in crushing rock which pays the
lucky owners handsome dividends, and which
in addition to furnishing labor for great
number of men, are daily adding to the ma
terial wealth and prosperity of the county.
At Carsons, three mills are nearly completed
and as the leads in that vicinity are among
the richest yet discovered, large returns may
be expected when they are ready to commence
operations. At West Point and Railroad
Flat the utmost activity prevails, and more
bullion will be shipped from those localities,
this season, than any previous year. At
West Point the greatest obstacle in the way
of successfully working the mines, has been
the quantity of water encountered at a GER
tain depth. On several of the more import
ant CLAIMS machinery is being erected to OBJ
| viate this difficulty, and we have no doubt
but what the leads will rrove richer, below,
than above the water level. In this imme-
diate vicinity, labor is being vigorously pros
ecuted on the different leads, and all classes
of our citizens are exhibiting an interest in
the development of our mineral resources
which cannot fail to prove beneficial to the
community at large. The attention Of capi-
talists is being attracted to the superiority of
orr mines, mills are springing up, and the
indications are that we shall soon commence
to reap the reward for the years of toll spent
| in prospecting. Since the roads have be-
come passable, business of every description
is improving and assuming healthier aspect
and the "signs of the times" are unmistaka-
BILE that the future of Calaveras will be a
most prosperous one.
THE long talked of prize fight between
"Dooney Harris" of England. and Tommy
Chandler, of San Francisco, came off at
Point Isabel, Contra Costa county, on the
18th inst. The California boy knocked tie
cockney into ''eocked hat," broke his jaw