STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 227 



is extremely rare, particularly at San Francisco. The extreme of heat 

 experienced" at San Francisco, was on the tenth and eleventh oi Septem- 

 ber, eighteen hundred and fifty-two, when the thermometer reached 

 ninety-seven degrees and ninety-eight degrees, on the two days respect- 

 ively. This, however, was altogether exceptional. In Sacramento the 

 temperature frequently rises as high during the summer months, and on 

 four different dates it reached as high as one hundred degrees, and once, 

 in July, to one hundred and one degrees. 



As is well known, the proper adaptation of agricultural operations to 

 the seasons — the periodical rains — contributes more to the success of the 

 farmer in California than any other, I might say every other, circum- 

 stance. For this reason the rain tables are particularly worthy of stud}'. 

 They are arranged according to the seasons, commencing with Septem- 

 ber and ending with August. The climate is thus seen to have seven 

 months in which it always rains, more or less, viz : From November 

 to May, inclusive, with only one single exception; and five in which it 

 seldom rains, and then for the most part very lightly. June, July and 

 August are the driest, as well as the hottest months, except in San 

 Francisco. The heavy rain in July, eighteen hundred and sixty, when 

 over half an inch fell at Sacramento, and the third of an inch on the 

 same da} 7 at San Francisco, is a rare exception to the general rule. 

 September and October may be regarded as intermediate between the 

 dry and hot and rainy and cold months. In September, eighteen hun- 

 dred and fifty-one, one inch of rain fell ; and the mean monthly rain for 

 the last twenty years, amounting to .071 inches at Sacramento, shows 

 the tendency in this month to aqueous precipitation. In October, 

 eighteen hundred and fifty-eight, three inches fell, and the mean monthly 

 rain is nearly half an inch. December furnishes more than any other 

 month; January next; then February, March, November, April and 

 May, in the order named. The rain of September, eighteen hundred 

 and fifty-one, and July, eighteen hundred and sixty, present the greatest 

 deviation from the rule. The greatest amount of water that ever fell 

 in any one month was in January, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, and 

 the next greatest in December, eighteen hundred and fifty-two. One 

 half of the supply for the season falls before the last of January, and 

 the other half after that date. There is generally an interim of dry 

 weather between these dates, of four to six weeks' duration. The spring 

 rains are quite as constant as those of the previous period, observing 

 generally the same tendency. If they fall sparingly in the earlier half 

 of the season, they will continue to do so in the latter half. From these 

 results it is evident that, to secure good crops, the seed must be sown at 

 such time, and the ground must be prepared in such manner, as to secure 

 the full benefit of such rains. 



This is the view taken and the point insisted upon in the meteorological 

 report published in the transactions of this society in eighteen hundred 

 and sixty-three, and time only strengthens the position. With scarcely 

 an exception in the last twenty years, as shown by our tables, the 

 ground has received a sufficiency of moisture to germinate the seed and 

 bring forward the grain during the earlier rains. At this earlier period 

 the ground is still warm, and the weather is as favorable for the rapid 

 growth of both top and roots of the young grain as in the spring 

 months. With a just regard for these facts, there is no reason why the 

 rains, even when deficient, cannot be made conducive to the interests of 

 the farmer, provided the ground be put, in due season, in a condition 

 most favorable for receiving and retaining moisture. To enforce the 



