STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 395 



regarded as sources of heat during winter, and places situated near their 

 outlet are little exposed to cold gusts of wind, while places on their shores 

 are free from the severe frosts which are peculiar to other low lying situa- 

 tions. The frosts of winter are most severely felt in those localities where 

 the slopes ahove them are destitute of vegetation, and Consists only of bare 

 rock and soil, or of snow. If, however, the slopes be covered with trees, 

 the temperature is warmer at the base and up the sides of the mountain, 

 the beneficial influences of forests consisting in the obstacles they offer to 

 the descending currents of cold air, and in distributing the cold produced by 

 terrestrial radiation through a stratum of the atmosphere equaling in thick- 

 ness the height of the trees. Hence as regards strictly local climates, the 

 intelligent knowledge of which is of great practical value, it follows that 

 the best security against the severity of cold in winter is afforded where the 

 dwellings are situated on a gentle acclivity a little above the plain or valley 

 from which it rises with an exposure to the south, and where the ground 

 above is planted with trees. * * * Extensive forests tend to mitigate 

 the extremes of temperature and distribute its daily changes more equably 

 over the twenty-four hours. 



ITALIAN CLIMATE. 



The following article was taken from the work of Dr. J. Henry Bennett, 

 entitled " Winter and Spring on the Shores of the Mediterranean, or the 

 Riviera of Italy." The description is of the climate of Mentone, as that 

 is a good sample in general of the great Riviera of Northern Italy. It 

 will be found in many particulars to resemble the various climates of Cal- 

 ifornia, and as a health resort resembles very much the winter climate of 

 Santa Barbara, with the balance in favor of our own State: 



The characteristics of the Mentone winter climate are: Absence of frost, 

 prevalence of northerly winds, moderate dryness of the atmosphere, com- 

 plete absence of fog, paucity of rainy days, clearness and blueness of sky, 

 general heat and brilliancy of the sun, cool night temperature, and a brac- 

 ing coolness of the atmosphere generally. 



Careful observation, during ten winters, of the meteorological conditions 

 which reign on the Genoese Riviera, and at Mentone, has gradually enlarged 

 my experience, and led me to form a clear idea of their nature and of their 

 influence over the climate. 



As we have seen, the Mentonian district, which has been the principal 

 seat of my observation and study, is a small amphitheater, situated on the 

 coast line or undercliff of the mountains of Southern Europe, as they reach 

 the Mediterranean. To the northeast, north, and northwest, are the high- 

 est mountain chains of Europe, extending hundreds of miles. 



Further still to the northeast lies the table land of Europe, which reaches 

 to the Arctic regions. As a necessary result of this geographical position, 

 the northern winds — especially the north and northeast, must be very dry 

 winds. 



Firstly, they have been dried by traveling over a great continent. 



Secondly, they have had nearly all the remaining moisture wrung out 

 of them by the extreme cold of the high regions, which they have to pass 

 over when crossing Alpine chains, before they reach the Mediterranean. 

 The physical evidences of the extreme dryness of the atmosphere, when 



