Final answer:
Mechanization led to increased agricultural productivity and overproduction, causing prices to drop in California's late 19th-century agricultural economy.
Meanwhile, immigration provided essential low-wage labor for labor-intensive farming, contributing to the success of large-scale operations but exacerbating the struggles of smaller farms.
Step-by-step explanation:
The introduction of industrial farming equipment such as gasoline-powered tractors, seed drills, and combine harvesters increased productivity and allowed for the cultivation of large fields of a single crop. This shift toward industrial agriculture led to overproduction and falling prices for crops.
At the same time, the influx of immigrants provided a ready source of low-wage labor, critical to the labor-intensive style of fruit and vegetable farming in California. Immigrant farmworkers, taking on jobs that few American citizens were willing to accept at prevailing wages, became an integral part of the agricultural workforce.
This period saw the birth of economies of scale in farming, with large farms leveraging mechanization and immigrant labor to succeed, while smaller farms often struggled to stay afloat.
Ultimately, mechanization reduced the demand for farm labor, which, alongside other factors, contributed to the westward migration of landless or struggling farmers seeking opportunities.
Many turned to migrant farm work in California's Central Valley. These changes fundamentally altered California's economy and society, integrating new cultural and economic dimensions.