CALIFORNIA.

Tuapeka Times, Volume II, Issue 54, 20 February 1869, Page 5

CALIFORNIA.

A recent number of the " San Francisco Bulletin " gives the following interesting information : — There are forty steamers regularlytrading to the harbour of San Erancisco, and at the time the summary was made up there were 128 vessels en route to the port. The increase of population is considerable, and in advance of that of previous years. During tho first six months of the present year the increase of arrivals over departures, shows a gain of no less than 20,000 persons, and the estimate is that the result of the year will show a gain of fully 40,000. This is. partly due to the immense efforts made to draw labourers for the construction of the great railroad, but the opening up of the country by that line is very likely to cause the permanent settlement of a great many of the n,ew arrivals, The value of tlie breadstuffs exported last year is stated to be £2,000,000 ; the value of the wool about £350,000 j and the value of the quicksilver more than £250,000. These are the three j principal items of domestic export, ands of the three the market for quicksilver j is perhaps the mo&t reliable, and that for bi'eadstuffs the least. The production of gold is not quite equal to what it was some years ago ; during the first half of the present year gold dust to the value of more than £4,000,000 has been brought from the interior. The extension of the Continental railway into mountai- ' nous districts, snid to be very rich in quartz reefs, will probably increase the production. Our local manufactures number several hundred in. all, and represent an annual product to the value of at least 25,000,000 dols. The woollen fabrics ai*o yory remarkable. They came from the Pioneer, Mission, and Pacific Mills, in this city, and from the new mills at Marysville, which jointly arc able to work up about 6,000,000 pounds of wool yearly — an amount equal to two-thirds of tho whole clip of California for 1867. The goods ! from these mills are superior in quality to any similar exhibit made in the Atlantic States, and some of them attracted the highest praise at the Paris Exposition, carrying off a grand prize. An interesting exhibit is made of -the now silk industry. Every process of natural production and artificial manufacture is seen from the feeding of the worms to the weaving of tho finished silk. The cocoons are of splendid quality and come from various districts in the State, representing an area of proved adaptability to sericulture as large as New York and Massachusetts together. It is a remarkable fact that the finest cocoons come from Nevada, a mountain locality, some 3000 feet above the sea. The ultimate success of silk culture in California is now conceded by all who have examined the subject. The freedom of the California worm from disease has already created a profitable demand for eggs, which will sustain the pioneer experiments in sericulture to the point of success. The production of the staple will soon be large enough to feed the small factory that has been initiated, and that point once reached the investment of capital in the business on a large scale may bo confidently expected. Next in interest we note the lead manufactures, which have utilised our local lead ores, developed a new branch of mining industry, and created a business that employs, first and last, over a thousand qersons. The lead product of this state will yet rank as a leading feature in its domestic and foreign trade. Then we have several notable successes in glass, paper, leather, type, carpets, wood, &c. Indeed, there are few of the manufactures most essential to the comfort and convenience of modern society which are not now established here, and nearly every month' some additions to the number are announced.