"It is quite true that _this auxiliary_ was extensively employed at the missions, and undoubtedly increased the product of all crops to which it was applied, as it will in any country on earth if skilfully used. This does not prove, however, that it was _essentially necessary_ to the production of an ample reward to the husbandman. The experience of all the old inhabitants is sufficient evidence of this. If their imperfect mode of culture secured satisfactory returns, it is reasonable to presume that a more perfect system would produce much greater results. There is abundant evidence to prove that, in the rich alluvial valleys, wheat and barley have produced from forty to sixty bushels from one bushel of seed, _without irrigation_.
"Irish potatoes, turnips, onions, in fact all the edible roots known and cultivated in the Atlantic States, are produced in great perfection. In all the valleys east of the coast range of hills, the climate is sufficiently warm to mature crops of Indian corn, rice, and probably tobacco.
"The cultivation of the grape has attracted much attention at the missions, among the residents of towns, and the rural population, and been attended with much success, wherever it has been attempted. The dry season secures the fruit from those diseases which are so fatal in the Atlantic States, and it attains very great perfection.
"The wine made from it is of excellent quality, very palatable, and can be produced in any quantity. The grapes are delicious, and produced with very little labor. When taken from the vines in bunches, and suspended in a dry room by the stems, they become partially dry, retain their flavor, and remain several weeks, perhaps months, without decay.
"Apples, pears, and peaches are cultivated with facility, and there is no reason to doubt that all the fruits of the Atlantic States can be produced in great plenty and perfection.
"The grasses are very luxuriant and nutritious, affording excellent pasture. The oats, which spring up the whole length of the sea-coast, and from forty to sixty miles inland, render the cultivation of that crop entirely unnecessary, and yield a very great quantity of nutritious food for horses, cattle, and sheep. The dry season matures, and I may say cures, these grasses and oats, so that they remain in an excellent state of preservation during the summer and autumn, and afford an ample supply of forage. While the whole surface of the country appears parched, and vegetation destroyed, the numerous flocks and herds which roam over it continue in excellent condition.