STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



421 



The mean temperature of the month was 53.85°, that of the warmest 

 day, 57.5°, and of the coldest, 49°. Frost occurred on 3 nights. The high- 

 est temperature was 72°, on the twenty-second, and the lowest 40°, on the 

 night of the fourth. The mean daily range was 16.2°, the least, 5°, on the 

 sixteenth, and the greatest, 29°, on the twenty-second. There were 17 clear 

 days in the month, 2 fair, and 10 cloudy or foggy ones. Rain fell on 4 

 days, and the rainfall for the month was 1.30 inches, and for the season. 

 17.69 inches. The average rainfall for twenty years in February, is 3.88 

 inches. The extremes are 11.73 inches in 1878, and none in 1877. 



Average Precipitation in Santa Barbara County. 



SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY. 



The climate of the county is as varied as are its physical features. The 

 valley, owing to its inland position, possesses a climate differing from the 

 seaboard towns, the dryness of its atmosphere constituting a marked differ- 

 ence. The spring and fall months are the most enjoyable, the weather 

 then being all perfection. The temperature is steady, the nights cool, the 

 days cloudless, and a pleasant sea breeze which reaches the valley every 

 day from eleven to two o'clock and continuing until sunset, greatly mod- 

 ifies the heat, even of midsummer. In midsummer the days are hotter 

 than in the coast towns, the thermometer ranging from 95° to 105°. The 

 heat, however, is dry and not at all enervating or oppressive, and work can 

 be carried on in the sun with more pleasure than when the thermometer 

 records 75° to 80° in the East. Sunstroke is a thing utterly unknown in 

 this valley. The regular sea breeze which reaches the valley daily, while 

 it does not affect the thermometer, greatly modifies the heat which would 

 otherwise be oppressive. The nights are always cool, and a pair of blankets 

 will be found desirable almost every night through the summer months. 



One of the great advantages enjoyed by San Bernardino is its abundance 

 of water. Almost surrounded by mountains, numerous streams pour into 

 it from all directions, while artesian water can be obtained almost any- 

 where in the valley by sinking from 30 to 300 feet. There are now several 

 hundred flowing wells in the valley, affording pure water for the house- 

 hold, as well as for purposes of irrigation. Owing to this abundance of 

 water the farmers have less dread of a dry season than is experienced in 

 other parts of the south, while a failure of crops is a thing wholly unknown. 



In resources, this county can boast as great variety as it can of climate 

 and physical features. The principal ones are agricultural products, semi- 

 tropical and deciduous fruits, lumber, wool, cattle, gold, silver, lead, and 

 honey. The staple cereal is barley, which is a winter crop, and in ordi- 

 narily good seasons yields very heavily. After the barley is harvested, on 

 damp or irrigable lands, it is succeeded by a crop of corn; alfalfa, which 

 is the principal hay crop, yields very heavily, and is cut from four to seven 

 times in the season. 



