"If we adopt the estimate of those well acquainted with the demand, of half a beef, on an average, to each inhabitant, it appears there will be a consumption, in 1850, of 60,000 head; in 1851, of 110,000; in 1852, of 160,000; in 1853, of 210,000; in 1854, of 260,000—making an aggregate of 800,000, which would absorb all the present stock, with its natural increase.
"This is a very important matter, as connected with the amount of supply which that country will ultimately require from the Atlantic States of the Union. There is no other country on earth which has, or will ever possess, the means of supplying so great a demand.
"It is now a well-established fact among the immigrants to California, that oxen possess greater powers of endurance than mules or horses; that they will perform the distance with loaded wagons in less time, and come in at the end of the journey in better condition.
"Cows are now driven in considerable numbers from Missouri, and the time cannot be far distant when cattle from the Western States will be driven annually by tens of thousands to supply this new market.
"If California increases in population as fast as the most moderate estimate would lead us to believe, it will not be five years before she will require more than one hundred thousand head of beef cattle per annum, from some quarter, to supply the wants of her people.
"It must not be supposed that salt provisions may supply this vast demand. Those who have attempted to live on such food, during the dry season, have been attacked with scurvy and other cutaneous diseases, of which many have died.
"There is no climate in the world where fresh meat and vegetables are more essential to human health. In fact, they are indispensable.
"It must not be inferred that cattle driven across the plains and mountains, from the Western States, will be fit for beef on their arrival in California. But one winter and spring, on the luxuriant pastures of that country, will put them in a condition which would render them acceptable in any Atlantic market.
"These grazing grounds are extensive enough to support five times as many cattle as may be annually required; therefore, there will be no scarcity of food for them.
"I am acquainted with a drover who left California in December last, with the intention of bringing in ten thousand sheep from New Mexico. This shows that the flocks and herds east of the Rocky Mountains are looked to already as the source from which the markets on the Pacific are to be supplied.