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TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



30 to 35 inches. As we come south, the average gradually diminishes 

 until we find the average for the Sacramento Valley, proper, to be from 15 

 to 20 inches. This quantity of rain is generally about equally divided 

 between the fall, winter, and spring months. The rainy season is what 

 may be termed an open one; no extremes of cold, no ice, no snow, no 

 frozen grounds. Seldom a day so unpleasant but that laborers can pursue 

 their usual occupations dressed in ordinary apparel, coats and gloves being 

 unnecessary as far as climate and comfort are concerned. The same is 

 true of all California. As you extend your researches further south into 

 the San Joaquin Valley, the rainfall continues to lessen, until in many 

 sections irrigation becomes an absolute necessity. In the Coast Range 

 and in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the rainfall is large, probably averag- 

 ing 30 inches. This furnishes abundance for the streams, which, when 

 necessary, can be utilized for irrigating. Fortunately, however, Yolo 

 County, though well adapted for being irrigated, requires but little such 

 assistance, and that only for special crops, such as berries and alfalfa. 

 Below we append a table of the monthly rainfall at Woodland, since 

 1873, taken from J. B. Elston's record, which is the standard gauge for 

 Yolo County: 



* Up to March 1, 1888. 



