STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY 



379 



i- 92 tin- lowest 42 . The result would have been materially the same if 

 San Diego, Long Beach, or Santa Monica had been taken as an example. 

 The following table shows the mean temperature of the principal locali- 

 ties of Southern California for a period covering tour years. There would 

 have been no material difference had the period been extended to ten 

 years: 



Station. 



Mean Temp., 

 June, Julj . 



and August. 



Mi-.m Temp, 

 Dec., Jan., 

 and Feb. 



Santa Barbara 65.5 



Los Angeles iiii.1 



San Diego ! 66.3 



San Bernardino I (lii.il 



Yuma S7.1 



57.6 



;,i i.i i 



53.1 

 49.0 

 54.8 



At Los Angeles, during the year 1880, the thermometer rose as high as 

 90° only fourteen times, while at San Diego this temperature was recorded 

 only six times. 



East of the divide which separates the Great Basin from the Pacific 

 Slope, the heat of Summer becomes exceedingly tierce. A temperature of 

 135° has been recorded in the Colorado Desert, and one of 120° is by no 

 means uncommon. At Yuma, during the year 1880, there were one hun- 

 dred and eighteen days in which the temperature exceeded 100°, and 

 twenty -eight days in which it exceeded 110°. At Indio and Dos Palmas, 

 two stations on the Southern Pacific Railroad, the heat has been even more 

 severe. 



It is worthy of remark, however, that in this region such high tempera- 

 ture is by no means intolerable. Because of the dryness of the atmosphere 

 there is no greater discomfort with the thermometer at 120° than in New 

 York or in Chicago at 95°. Sunstroke is almost unknown, and people who 

 live in this locality remain out of doors unconcernedly, the thermometer 

 meanwhile indicating a temperature which, in a region of Summer rains, 

 would almost depopulate it by sunstroke. 



In the western part of Southern California frosts are rare, and are con- 

 fined to the river bottoms and the high mountain altitudes. There are 

 extensive belts of land where they never occur. Tropical fruits and exotic 

 plants may suffer from drought, but not from cold. 



It is also worthy of remark that, although the Summer days may be 

 unpleasantly warm, the nights are invariably cool. Flannel may and 

 should always be worn next the skin throughout the year, and there are 

 not half a dozen days in the year when light woolen outer garments are 

 uncomfortable. 



