Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1885-09-19
ANNUAL ADDRESS
DELIVERED BEFORE THE STATE
AGRICULTURAL SO IETY
By Hon. VI. NJ. Estec-Reyieys of Cal
ifornia in the Past-Her Pos
sibiIities in Future.

ifornia in the Past-Her Pos
sibiIities in Future.
Following is the address of Hon Morris
n. Estee, delivered at the Pavilion Thurs
day evening, September II, 1885, as the
annual address before the State Agri.
cultural Society:
Kr President aud Et5Z0tecai-tus. The mos,
remarkable feature OF this State Fair Is thai
although held at time when an apparent de
preston IN business prevails throughout the
country. and When the harvest has been unusual
~ ligh: yet this exhibition IS the most successful
one within my recollection. There can be nc
doubt 0ut that III California there has been q
great inpro -ement in farming during the past
f;w years. The cause is apparent. II has only
been short time since we first learned how
necessary Il wss not to pat ell our eggs in one
basket By taiS ! mean we have ceased 10 raise
wheat as our only crop and have planted or
chaTds and win yards, and are practieiup 4
varied culture IN every branch OF farming We
congratulate ourselves also upon the fact that
owing - the Restriction Let a ueW population 4,
co aing among q, Who are capable of being
eltlzens. and al part-i petlng IL the affairs OF
the Government.
MANUFACTURER
Manufacturing has kert I'D an even stride
with the progress Of the State IN other resr,ecty
manufactured goods have been made In San
Francisco alone, and IN this beautiful civ
manufacturing has more than doubled within !
decade We may indeed be parGOned for tho
pride we feel in our present success
LooS!ng back up0n the year that has passed
with It's rewards which have been many. and
ITS disappointments, which have beea few, we
can certainly profit by the lesson It teaches.
LEsoNs OF TIE PAST
VIC are here. my friends, 90 inquire what these
~Fro
map OF the WoEid IS a most peculiar one We
I'VE upon the border lie of Western civiliza
Ton; our market N our own country is inland.
lnere are no great water highways from the
West 10 the East except around Cane Horn.
halfway tran p0gtetion is our only means Tor
reaching market for many of our products.
AND although living on the western shore Of a
great Continent, We are YET so isolated from the
rest Of the business world that our influence is
only ielt when we crowd Others out OF the
market hy producing what is better than they
can produce.
COMMERCE OF CALIFORNIA.
California is thus left to fight her commercial
ana business battles alone. Unlike many Of the
Eastesn states OF Tie Union, We are not sur
rounded BY rich and pOpulCUs communities
with similar industries ard q community of in
terests While Nevada Joins u on the east that
State Is separated from Us BY the Sierra Nevada
mountains with only one line OF approach Ore
gon Oh the north is also separated from us by
hlgh range az mountains which is not yet ira
Yersed by rail, and by a dangerous and tenn
pest0us sea California must therefore RELY
wholly upon herself No borrowed ENTERPRISE
or neighborly influence can build up our indus
tries. Our market to-day. and for all time. win
be a distant one. And while this Is entirely
true, yet California is the pivotal state of the
Pacific slope: her intimate business Dolitical
ard social reisti0ns with ali the Pacific States
ana Territories, renders rapid, easy and cheap
communication with men a necesSity Of ali
things now necessary 10 be done TO advance the
commercial position of our State the compile
ton OF line Of railroad 10 OREGON Is the most
important
This wonld open new channel for our
trsinc, and II would give Us direct communica.
ton with Oregon, Washington Territory Mon
tana. Idaho and Dakota. The fact is that the
great NORTH east and west will be the principal
market for our fruits and vegetables, but, to
succeed, we must have something to sell ana
the best to sell. We should pattern after the
older and better experiences of the Eastern
states. and be traders as well as producers
Our success does not depend upon our capabili
ties tor production but rather upon what we
DO produce, and the price we sell il for The
time has long since passed when we can live
upon Drag and grow rich upon soil and eli
mate. In this day the farmer who despiseS
small gains, or looks with contempt upon small
farms and small farmers, Is lighting agAins inc.
fltable destiny Successful farming means sue
cheap transportation, we must produce the
best or the cheapest or the most of All article
or we will fail.
In the battle of life every man is an athlete
et4ttL lOI ihCt, anu W II
the prize. The farmer who succeeds will de-
serve success. He is ike the horse thai sweeps
around your course, in the excite
luent of the race with every nerve
strained and every muscle distended. doing a
little better at each etfOrt-the last race gives
him greater powers for the next. In the past
we have talked 50 much and done so little that
the business world is holding The watch unon
US now.
RECORD or CALIFORNIA PRODUCTION
We are making record: let it BE- a splendid
one The truth is good enough. We must con
vince people by our acts rs TO what we can do
We must show them By Sampletbat we can raise
til x other people cannot raise and
do something that other people cauuot do. But
tho sample must be al honest one il must be
true to label. Cur canned fruits must not de-
ceive the man who buys them rhestampupon
our wine must tell the whole truth. Il should
be made a felony TO put French ab=ls on Cali
fOsn.a wines. If our wine is us good as the
French vine, then this is q fund upon rs il il
Is not. it IS q fTaud upon them. Il i s wicked
suite fuge thGt haIfers the vanity Of foolish men
VINO prefer Whist is foreign because it is foreign
not because it IS BEST. With our facilities to
produce. and % produce the hest of everything
for sale is more necessary than anythirg else
thai can be done or sill bF us TO secure q per
Inanent success. a business lie DESTROYS the
very business il would build up.
WHEAT.
am not unaware that il is the usual express.
sion. OF Caiilorniaus that the resources of this
STATE are as hCuHdlCSs rs the great ocean which
washes our shores, and that the variety of our
products is unparalleled in any other country
And yet, strange rs 1t may APPEAR until within
a CONF aratively few years We have produced
for export hut the one staple commodity. name
ly, wheat. According TO the census of 1880, only
twenty-one per cent. OF our who population
was engaged in agricultural pursuits. In 1880
we produced about thirty bushels Of wheat 10
each individual, old and young, in Jhis state
while throughout the whole Union less than ten
glg rails n nnp in fNuf -
though IN m9ny States as high rs fifty 10 sixty
per cent. CT the entire population were engaged
IN agriculture.
In Europe the average amount OF wheat raised
is about three bushels 70 each inhGbitRnt. In
Russia, which hitherto has been our chief COM
petitor III the whost markets of the world. only
two bushels Of wheat 10 each individual are
produced. There they eat rye and sell their
wheat. The production Of wheat in California
has possibly reached its higli-water mark. This
m8y be true, first, because wheat is low i'll
Europe, and it is more than probable that in the
future IL viii continue low, and We may nave
to look for another market; second, because our
people are commencing to produce other things,
and 10 produce them in large md abundant
quantity, and the wheat lands are thus being
used for other purposes and, third, because In
dia can raise wheat for the European market in
vast quantities. and il is claimed can do il
CHEAPER than we can.
From 4 report made by ]. 4. Leonard, Consui-
General 81 Calcutta as late February y. 1SSj.
Il appears that for the years 1888 India export
co over 30030lQ1 bushels Of wheat annual y,
while last year the whole of Europe only re-
uuired 80 900 900 centalS lhOre than it raised In
this report Mr.. Leonard says: " The question
as TO what extent wheatgrowing will increase
Ia India is one that cannot be answered accu-
rately and definitely Ii is certain that the
wheat area IN India has increased, ana there
caa be no doubt but that the wheat fields of
lndiG VIII yield abunGanty Wheat Is and will
be raised cheaper in India than in America.
Our improved machinery cannot compete with
labor Jhat works for seven to ten cents per day"
This report is official, and WIS made by Sir
Leonard to his Government to warn the people
of this country ct the certain competition OF In
dit IN this particular branch OF industry II
this repcri Is correct. apd wheat can be more
cheaply raised in india than il can be in Cali
f0rnia, and II IL Can he raised there in great
and can be tganspor ed through the
Sucz canal TO Liverpool as chcaply a. we can
transport il from SAN Francisco to Liverpool
toe waeet-raisers of California will either nave
l. seek another market or raise something else
fng in the future we VIII have to compete with
very large home market for California wheat
and there viii always be Il very large amount
OF wheat raised in California for some foreign
market; set il is exceedingly doubtful whether
there Will be a continuous good market At prices
hitherto paid, and especially If We should con
time 20 raise. for the next ten years. The same
amount Of wheat We have rGiseG the las teu.
HWoWd seem, then, TO be 4 matter OF Ordi
nary business prudence io7 the great wheat
growers OF California 10 gradually introduce
other predictions as well us wheat, and that
they may do this successfully they shonld IN
cure as 20 what is the most profitable use 10
N.liTh lhey eau apply their and. This is . sub
Je'' propose very briefly to address you upon.
HOPSr- u %, -yrr.rN,-