STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 303 



The valley of the Sacramento is ;i garden, and Sacramento is the "urbs in horto" of it. 

 It is our first glimpse of the celestial Bower v kingdom ot the Christian world. Koscs 

 never die Rare exotics that we at the Mast cherish as if they were infants, and bend 



over like new made lathers and mothers, are distrained i'or conservatory rent and turned 

 out of doors The white dome of the State Capitol rises like a pale planet above the green 

 surges and waving banners of semi-tropic luxuriance. * * * The orange blossoms are 

 abroad and the fruit is as golden as the three pawnbroker planets, and as green as a wal- 

 nut in its first round about, all at once. They that dwell here sit under their own vine 

 and fig tree, and the palm waves over their heads. * * * Taste and wealth have con- 

 spired with nature. There is no fairer landscape between the tropics. 



The same writer also finds in Sacramento a fit theme for song, when he 

 writes the following, describing his impressions of the valley on descending 

 from the Sierras: 



We die out of winter in the flash of an eye, 



Into Eden of earth, into heaven of sky ; 



Sacramento's fair vale with its parlors of God, 



Where the souls of the flowers rise and drift all abroad, 



As if resurrection were all the year round 



And the writing of Christ sprang alive from the ground, 



When He said to the woman those words that will last 



When the globe shall grow human with the dead it has clasped. 



Live-oaks in their orchards, rare exotics run wild, 



No orphan among them, each Nature's own child. 



Oh, wonderful land where the turbulent sand 



Will hurst into bloom at the touch of a hand, 



And a desert baptized prove an Eden disguised. 



The following notes on the cold wave of January, 1888, show that no 

 such a polar current has visited this coast since 1854, which appears from 

 the meager records obtainable, to have been, if anything, somewhat colder 

 than the cold wave of January, 1888. The minimum generally in tl^e 

 Sacramento Valley was about 18°; and in the San Joaquin Valley, 12° to 

 18°. In the foothills, from 13° to 18°. South of Tehachapi, it ranged 

 from 10° to 30°. It was also the coldest in Portland, Oregon, ever known; 

 the thermometer fell to 2° below zero, Signal^ Service records. The lowest 

 before this was 3° above zero, in January, 1875. 



[ From the "Daily Evening Bee," January 14, 1888.] 



A Little Cold Weather, But None That Will do any Particular 

 Damage. — Dr. Logan's Recorded Minimum Temperature Aga in- 

 Reached. — Southern California Has None the Best of Northern. 



On Thursday the sun came out bright and warm, and the streets were 

 thronged with "pedestrians clad in summer attire. The peddlers were 

 abroad, merrily calling out: "Oranges, sweet oranges, 15 cents a dozen," 

 and every one believed that the cold weather was over. Last evening, how- 

 ever, the "cold wave" returned, carried by a north wind fresh from the 

 snow-clad Sierras. The wind was quite a vigorous one, and shutters and 

 signs swung and banged during the night. The mercury took a dive 

 toward the bottom of the thermometer, and the result was that when morn- 

 ing came there was a wintry aspect quite unusual in the northern citrus 

 belt. 



The sun came out clear and warm, however, and the frigidity ot the 

 atmosphere was soon modified, though pedestrians all during the day 

 showed a preference for the sunny side of the street. 



In the early morning there was ice on small ponds in the gutters and 

 streets, and small boys gathered about the " smooth article " and gazed in 

 wonder at the natural curiosity. 



