DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



valuable scientific account of the climate of San 

 Francisco by Dr. Gibbons, we extract the fol- 

 lowing, as giving more precise information than 

 any usually obtained, and as calculated to ex- 

 plain the reason why the new evergreens from 

 from California are not so hardy in the middle 

 states as those from China and the Iliniraalaj-as: 



" The most striking peculiarity in the climate 

 of San Francisco, is its uniform temperature. 

 There are no extremes of heat or cold. There 

 was only one day in the three summer months 

 (the 18th of August, 1851) when the thermome- 

 ter rose to 79'', (at Philadelphia it reaches this 

 puint 60 to 80 days in the year.) Only on^-e in 

 tlie year did the thermometer sink to the freez- 

 ing point, and it was below 40° only on twenty 

 mornings. 



In the summer months there is scarcely any 

 change of temperature in the night. It is in 

 early morning, sometimes clear, sometimes 

 cloudy, and always calm. A few hours after 

 sunrise, the clouds break away, and the sun 

 shines full cheerfully and brightly. Towards 

 noon, or most frequently about one o'clock, 

 the sea breeze sets in and the weather is com- 

 pletely changed. From 60° to 65° the mercury 

 drops forthwith to near 50°, long before sunset, 

 and remains almost motionless till next morn- 

 ing. The sudden fluctuations of temperature 

 incident to the climate of the Atlantic states, 

 are unknown here. "We have none of those 

 angry outbreaks from the northwest, which 

 change summer to winter in a few hours. 



As regards the infiuence of the seasons on 

 vegetation, the common order is reversed. The 

 entire absence of rain in the summer months 

 parches the soil and reduces it to the barrenness 

 of a northern winter. The cold sea winds of 

 the afternoons of the summer solstice, defj' the 

 vertical sun and call for flannels and overcoats. 

 When the winds cease, as they do in Septem- 

 ber and October, comes a delightful Indian sum- 

 mer. In November or December the early 

 rains fall, and the temi)erature being moderate, 

 vegetation starts forth, and mid winter finds tlie 

 earth clad in lively green and s[)angled with 

 countless flowers. The spring opens with genial 

 warmth, but just as the April sun begins to 

 ive promise of summer heat, its rays are shorn 

 of their power by the winds and mists of the 

 Pacific 



These remarks apply to only a small part of 

 the state of California. Beyond the influence 

 of the bay of San Francisco and its outlet, the 

 sea winds are scarcely perceptible even near the 

 ocean." 



Str.4wberry Beds. — Sir; I followed your 

 directions last year in making strawberry beds, 

 and with such extraordinary success, that I am 

 induced to recur to the subject for the benefit 

 of those who like myself would " take pains to 

 excel as good cultivators" if they knew liow. 

 I began by collecting a dozen loads of good 

 stable manure, rejecting all the litter. I then 

 marked out the ground to be devoted to straw- 

 berries, and commencing on one side opened a 

 trench three feet wide, by wheeling all the top 

 soil, for six inches deep, to the opposite side of 

 the intended strawberry plat. 



I then spread a coat of the stable manure 4 

 inches tliick, over the lower layer of soil, laid 

 bare in the trench, and turned it under, mixing 

 it well with this soil. Then I threw the top soil 

 of the next space of three feet upon the bottom 

 soil in the trench already manured. This left 

 a new space or trench 3 feet wide, which was 

 manured and trenched like the other, and this 

 was rei)eated till the wliolc plat was worked 

 over. I then dug over and levelled the top soil 

 again, mixing some decomposed manure with 

 the surface of the beds on making them. 

 Through these beds I set two rows of plants, 

 the rows 14 incites apart — the jilants 10 inches 

 apart in the rows. I removed the plants early 

 in August — young runners M-ith little balls of 

 earth attached. I directly covered the beds 

 with tan-bark, 2 inches deep. This kept the 

 plants cool and moist, so that they struck root 

 immediately, and made such extraordinarily fine 

 plants, that I have liad a fine crop this season, 

 many of the berries measuring 3 to 4 inches. 

 I planted 8 sorts, and after trial prefer the fol- 

 lowing. Burr's New Pine, Hovey's Seedling, 

 Swainstone Seedling, Early Scarlet. Yours, 

 A Philadelphia Subscriber. July 14, '52. 



Soap Si:ds and Poultry Manure tor 

 Grapes. — A "Horticulturist on a very small 

 scale, having only 4 pear trees and six grape- 

 vines," (dating at Pittsburgh,) writes us an ac- 

 count of his mode of fteding a large Catawba 

 grapevine, which may interest some of our 

 burban readers. He firms a large basin 



