350 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



a climate so warm, balmy, and hospitable that all the verdure of the tem- 

 perate and semi-tropic zones find a most congenial home. This region 

 was naturally so rich and so beautiful that it extorted the most extrava- 

 gant praises from the early Jesuit fathers, from the first American ex- 

 plorers, and from the argonauts in the first days of gold hunting. 



THE CLIMATE. 



To the tourist and the home-seeker the climate of this portion of the 

 State, situated between the thirty-ninth and fortieth parallels of latitudes, 

 is unaccountable. That it is winterless, without snow or ice, is to them 

 almost impossible to believe, while the country east of the Sierra Nevadas, 

 on the same latitude, has long winters, with snow, ice, and bleak winds. 

 For the benefit of these new-comers the influences that make the climate 

 so mild and favorable are here briefly but comprehensively given. 



In all parts of the earth there are two great determining causes of cli- 

 mate — astronomical and geographical. The former of these act uniformly 

 on the same lines of latitude everywhere, while the latter are the modify- 

 ing influences. It is to these last that we must look for the marked dif- 

 ferences between our Pacific climate and that of the same latitude beyond 

 the Sierras. The first of the geographical influences is the remarkably 

 low elevation of the Sacramento Valley, which is in marked contrast to 

 most of the valleys of this continent. Chico is two hundred miles from 

 the Bay of San Francisco, and is only one thousand one hundred and 

 ninety-three feet above tide water. 



The second cause is the ocean currents that rise in the tropical regions 

 of the Indian Ocean, sweeping around the earth's great circle, wash the 

 whole of this coast, and temper the climate in the same way that the Gulf 

 Stream modifies the climate of England and France. 



The third and greatest influence, and the one that is almost entirely 

 overlooked, is the great continuous mountain wall that commences at the 

 extreme western point of the peninsula of Alaska, and runs south and 

 along the whole coast of the continent to and into Mexico. The extreme 

 starting point of this great barrier is nearly two thousand miles west of 

 San Francisco, and it diverts all the air currents which come from the 

 Arctic snow and ice fields to the east of California. It is the entire ab- 

 sence of these Arctic winds and the presence of tempered winds from the 

 heated ocean currents, that gives us a winterless climate along the fortieth 

 parallel of latitude — that gives us the orange, the lemon, the citron, olive, 

 and pomegranate, in place of the snow, ice, and freezing blasts of the 

 same latitude east of this great mountain barrier. 



A more indisputable evidence of the climate of this section is in the 

 character of the products of so many years that this production has passed 

 from the domain of experiment to that of established fact. Oranges, 

 lemons, olives, persimmons, and pomegranates have been successfully grown 

 in many places in and around Chico for the past ten years. All the tender 

 wine, table, and raisin grapes of the south of France and Italy grow to 

 perfection in Chico and the surrounding country, and in quality and quan- 

 tity of yield are surpassed nowhere in the w r orld. 



The annual rainfall in the vicinity -of Chico is about 24 inches, and the 

 larger part of this comes in the autumn and winter months. What is 

 usually called the "rainy season" generally commences in October, and 

 enough rain falls so that plowing and seeding can be done. From that 

 time to April, and sometimes till May, there is rainfall. Through all these 

 months, when the ground of the winter climate countries is covered with 



