STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 351 



Summer temperature are above that of Palermo, but the hitter's mean tem- 

 perature for the Fall months is slightly higher than Oroville, while Oro- 

 ville's mean temperature for the year shows an increase over Palermo for 

 the same period. Auburn has about the same average Winter temperature 

 as Genoa; Colfax the same as Pisa; Chico the same as Naples for Winter, 

 but warmer than the latter place for Spring, Summer, and Fall, and over 

 3° warmer in its average annual temperature. By the comparison of the 

 annual average temperature, we find that Marysville, Oroville, Chico, Red- 

 ding, Dunnigan, and Davisville have a higher average than Palermo, where 

 the finest lemons are grown. 



Taking the average general temperature of the entire Sacramento Val- 

 ley, from Gait to Redding, as represented by the different points on the 

 above table, and comparing them with the annual average and seasonal tem- 

 perature, as a whole, of the western coast of Italy, from Palermo to Cannes, 

 we find that that portion of the Sacramento Valley representing the citrus 

 belt of Central and Northern California is higher in its average temper- 

 ature for each season of the year, and also higher in the annual average 

 temperature than is the so called glorious climate and blue skies of sunny 

 Italy. The following data of clear days of the Central and Northern Cali- 

 fornia citrus belt of the Sacramento Valley are the average for the places 

 named. Sacramento, two hundred and forty-two; Red Bluff, two hundred 

 and twenty-six; Princeton, two hundred and forty; and Oroville, two hun- 

 dred and forty-four; which will give a fair average for the whole citrus val- 

 ley, and they amount to two hundred and thirty-eight clear, fine days, 

 with warm sunshine and blue skies, as against an average of one hundred 

 and eighty-seven clear and fine days with sunshine and blue skies of the 

 boasted sunny climes of Italy, whose average of clear and fine days are 

 taken from the records at Palermo, Naples, Mentone, and Nice: two hun- 

 dred and twenty-nine clear days at Nice, two hundred and fourteen at 

 Mentone, one hundred and forty-five at Naples, and one hundred and sixty 

 at Palermo. The above goes to prove what Dr. Bennett says regarding 

 the extravagant and poetic description of the eternal Summer climate of 

 Italy as being all imagination. The doctor says of the description of the 

 Winter climate of Italy in general, contained in most books of travel, 

 works on climate, and guide books, are mere poetic delusions. The per- 

 petual Spring, the eternal Summer, the warm, southern, balmy atmos- 

 phere, described to the reader in such glowing terms, only exist in the 

 imagination of the writers. My advice to those enthusiasts of the North- 

 ern and Central California citrus belt would be, to choose for their orange 

 and lemon groves the most sheltered portions of the valleys and foothills, 

 and those points where frosts seldom or never occur, for very cold Winters 

 in all probability will visit this belt of California and kill or injure the 

 lemon, and may be the orange, as it generally does in Italy, once in about 

 thirty years. It is well, then, to be prepared for these very exceptional 

 occasions, and be in the warm orange, lemon, and olive belt of Oroville, 

 Orland, Marysville, Chico, and other portions of the valley and foothills 

 that show a similarity of average Winter temperature. 



The following article on the climate of Mentone, on the riviera of North- 

 western Italy, will give a fair estimate of the entire riviera, which extends 

 from Genoa on the east to Cannes on the west, and is worthy of a care- 

 ful perusal. It is from the work of Dr. J. Henry Bennett, and is entitled, 

 " Winter and Spring on the Shores of the Mediterranean:" 



The exceptional warmth of the Winter climate of Mentone, even for the riviera, is proved 

 beyond all questioner doubt by the presence of groves of large healthy lemon trees, which 



