Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1884-09-27

may be successfully grown at many points
practically covering the whole of the great
Sacramento valley, in part of the foothill
lands of Shasta, on part of Napa county
lands, and to the southwark in all the agri-
cultural portion of the southern region.
But the bay region and the seward valleys
of the entire coast range must be excluded
from the cotton growing area, because of
the cool summers, the trade-winds and the
fogs. On deep soils in the Sacramento
valley it may be grown withou. irrigation,
but in the San joaquin valley irrigation
must be resorted to. Thus testimony is
again borne to the climatic and soil ad-
vantages Of the Sacramento valley.
inadequacy OF the home and the distance
of the worlds markets alone have retarded
cotton-growing in California, competition
with the Atlantic cotton States and India
being a doubtful quantity. But so far as
the home demand is concerned the prices
realized have been good, and California
cotton abroad has rated high in comparison
with the product of the Gulf States
The equalization of labor prices seems to
be the chief obstacle to expansion of the
industry for the facilities of crmmunica-
ton are now such as to remove very largely
the other impediment, while our means of
reaching the Asiatic market are superior to
most Others The essayist fayors increased
cultivation Of cotton in California, because
the greater the variety of our crops the less
the liability 90 crop failures. Universal
and rcpctitivc " hcat-growing in California
Is exhaustive Of the soil, and while it en-
riches the few of the present is of
" YER doubtful benefit to the coun-
ny" The question of substitution for
whea', he insists is already upon us in the
older agricultural sections, as Indicated by
the steady decline of the average yield per
acre and the man who grows fifteen bush
els per acre cannot long compete with those
of the fresh lands of other settlements who
grow double that amount Cotton may be
grown in fair soil for scores Of years with
out thought of other manure than its own
send, and it takes no more from the soil
" than the chafl of the wheat would "
were it merchantabIe, with the grain and
straw returned to manure the soil.
Cotton-growing is exhaustive of the soil
when the seed is ~emoyed, rs /, the practice
on the Atlantic and the Gulf, bu; it is the
least exhaustive when seed and stalk are
returned 10 the soil 1t is the better crop,
wher5 irrigation is required for wheat pro-
duetiou, since that process in alkaline soils
induces the rise of the alllali and crust
ing Of the surface. Eptton is the best sub
stituJe, therefore, because it is a " hoed
crop" planted III drills. ana capable of be-
ing cultivated at all times and is deep
and tap-ropt crop. Italso fills up the period
of comparative idlencss between harvest
and seed tine, as it spreads the work of
cultivation over the year and thus cncour-
ages a steady laboring class.
The cXiscncies Of space do not afford us
opportunity to consider at this time the
important questions that arise in the dis
cussiou ii This subject, such as nominees
sity of replanting in California each year,
the plant standing in many parts of the
State two and three years; the utilization
of water-power for manufacturing, as that
Of the American river; the question of cost
Of labor and the application Of new ma
chinery, and kindred topics. All these
must be postponed. Our present purpose
IS to invite reading of Professor Hilgard's
elaborate paper, and where it is possible for
those feeling an interest in the matter it
Will be found extremely profitable to exam
Inc the full volumes (V. and Vi of the
Census Reports, which embody all of Pro
lessor Hilsard's papers on cotton-culture.