"It can be of no practical use to speculate on the causes which have denuded so large an extent of country, further than to ascertain whether the soil is or is not favorable to the growth of forest trees.
"When the dry season sets in, the entire surface is covered with a luxuriant growth of grass and oats, which, as the summer advances, become perfectly dry. The remains of all dead trees and shrubs also become dry. These materials, therefore, are very combustible, and usually take fire in the latter part of summer and beginning of autumn, which commonly passes over the whole country, destroying, in its course, the young shrubs and trees. In fact, it seems to be the same process which has destroyed or prevented the growth of forest trees on the prairies of the Western States, and not any quality in the soil unfriendly to their growth.
"The absence of timber and the continuance of the dry season are apt to be regarded by farmers, on first going into the country, as irremediable defects, and as presenting obstacles, almost insurmountable, to the successful progress of agriculture. A little experience will modify these opinions.
"It is soon ascertained that the soil will produce abundantly without manure; that flocks and herds sustain themselves through the winter without being fed at the farm-yard, and, consequently, no labor is necessary to provide forage for them; that ditches are easily dug, which present very good barriers for the protection of crops, until live fences can be planted, and have time to grow. Forest trees may be planted with little labor, and in very few years attain a sufficient size for building and fencing purposes. Time may be usefully employed in sowing various grain and root crops during the wet or winter season. There is no weather cold enough to destroy root crops, and, therefore, it is not necessary to gather them. They can be used or sold from the field where they grow. The labor, therefore, required in most of the old States to fell the forests, clear the land of rubbish, and prepare it for seed, may here be applied to other objects.
"All these things, together with the perfect security of all crops in harvest time, from injury by wet weather, are probably sufficient to meet any expense which may be incurred in irrigation, or caused, for a time, by a scanty supply of timber.
"In the northern part of the territory, above latitude 39°, and on the hills which rise from the great plain of the Sacramento and San Joaquin to the foot of the Sierra Nevada, the forests of timber are beautiful and extensive, and would, if brought into use, be sufficiently productive to supply the wants of the southern and western portions of the State."
It is not to be expected that the labor and attention necessary for the improvement of the soil will be given to that object, so long as the continued discovery of gold and other metals promise an easy road to wealth. Many who were prosperously engaged in agricultural employments, in the most fertile regions, have abandoned it, lured by the golden bait, and shouldered the pick and shovel to try their luck or perseverance at gold digging. The gardens and the vineyards of Los Angeles have been deserted for the barren hills and ravines where the precious dust abounds. In this state of things, California must become an extensive market for the products of the Atlantic States of the Union.
The extent and value of the public domain, and the validity of the titles to various tracts of land in California, will, doubtless, be the cause of much litigation and disturbance, as the country becomes more thickly settled. The relation in which the claimants of land granted to them under the Mexican government, stand towards the government of the United States, is clearly and fully set forth by Mr. King, in his California report. He says—
"It is not known whether the Jesuits who founded the mission, or their successors the Franciscans, ever did, or do now, hold any title from the Spanish crown to the lands which they occupied. Nor has any investigation been made to ascertain how far those titles, if they ever existed, have been invalidated by the acts of the priests, or the decrees of the Mexican government.
"A superficial view of the matter would be very apt to lead to the supposition that the Jesuits, so celebrated for wisdom and cunning, would not fail to secure that which, at that time, would probably have been obtained by merely asking for it—a royal decree, granting to them all the lands they might require in that remote country for ecclesiastical purposes. There have been some intimations to that effect, but nothing is distinctly known. These missions embrace within their limits some of the most valuable lands in the Territory, and it is very important that it should be ascertained whether they belong to the Government, or may be justly claimed by individuals.