BAIN-FALL AT VISALIA. 



429 



1870. 



Inches. 



November 26 0.50 



November 27 0.21 



November 28 .44 



December 17 0.10 



December 18 0.12 



December 19 0.33 



December 20 0.06 



December 21 0.28 



December 22 O.G8 



December 23 0.15 



December 27 0.20 



December 28 0.98 



December 29 0.62 



December 31.. ..0.40 



1871. 



Inches. 



January 9 1.05 



February 4 0.30 



February 5 0.16 



February 9 0. 17 



February 22 .0.45 



February 23 0.50 



February 24 0.38 



February 27 0.40 



March 28 0.91 



March 29 0.05 



April 13 0.08 



April 16 0.48 



April]? 0.07 



April 27 0.13 



April 28 ;. . . .0.11 



Making a total of 10.34 inches. 



Throughout the southern sections of California, crops have been 

 secured when 12 inches of rain have fallen in the wet season, but the 

 precipitation is not so reliably uniform as farther north. Farmers 

 and stockmen claim good crops with 15 inches. Owing to the ex 

 cessive heat of summer, the temperature reaching 130 in the sun at 

 Bakersfield, every particle of moisture is evaporated during the dry 

 season, and the land cannot be plowed until considerable rain has 

 fallen. 



The average yearly rain-fall over the whole of the Great Basin, 

 from the Sierra Nevada to the crest line of the Coast Kange is not less 

 than 20 inches, as is shown by the statistics of the Smithsonian pub 

 lications, and other evidence. 



At Fort Crook, on the upper Sacramento river, at an elevation of 

 three thousand three hundred and ninety feet, in eight years, from 

 January, 1858, to October, 1867, there has been an average of 23.7 

 inches of rain-fall. 



At Fort Reading, on the Sacramento river, near Reading, in three 

 and three quarter years, from April, 1852, to march, 1856, 29.1 

 inches. 



At Clear Lake, head of Cache Creek, in six years, from 1867 to 

 1873, 34.4 inches. 



At Sacramento, in twenty-four years, from September, 1849, to 

 August, 1872, 19.6 inches. 



At Benicia, in thirteen and a half years, from November, 1849, to 

 December, 1864, 15.1 inches. 



At Stockton, in three and one half years, from January, 1854, to 

 December, 1857, 13.7 inches. 



At Millerton, on the San Joaquin river, in six and three quarter 

 years, from July, 1851, to June, 1858, 19 inches. 



From the mouth of the bacramento southward along the west side 

 of the valley, to its extremity, there are no records by which we can 

 approximate the rain-fall. The average yearly rain-fall north of the 

 mouth of the Sacramento river equals 23 inches; south of the same, 

 16 inches, including that at Fort Tejon, in the mountains. In the 

 southern part of the valley the estimate is that not more than two 

 crops in five years can be raised. Taking all the estimates, there 



