}6 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM 



temperatures are quite like those of the valley, but the fainfall in- 

 creases about one inch for each hundred feet of elevation. There 

 are, however, in the foothills, places where early spring heat and 

 freedom from frost give very early ripening fruits, and other places 

 at the same elevation where winter temperature drops below the 

 valley minimum, and where late frosts also prevail. This is gov- 

 erned by local topography. In many of the small valleys among the 

 foothills, both of the Sierra Nevada and the Coast ranges, frosts are 

 more severe than on the hills adjacent or in the broader valleys to 

 which they are tributary. These small "protected valleys" are 

 apparently warm and cozy for early blooming deciduous and citrus 

 fruits, but they are really very dangerous. They frequently have 

 such narrow and obstructed openings that cold air is dammed up 

 over their lower lands and frosts are more severe and later than in 

 valleys which have ample and free outlets and seem less protected. 

 Of course the disposition of cold air to settle in low places and 

 to flow down canyons and creek-beds while the warm air rises and 

 bathes the adjacent hillsides, has much to do with the frost in the 

 hollow and the freedom from it on the hills. The constant motion 

 of the air on the slopes is also a preventive of frost, providing the 

 general temperature is not too low. It is not uncommon to find in 

 deeper valleys, protected against the western wind, flakes of snow 

 and a wintry chill, with dormant vegetation, while one thousand feet 

 higher up the foliage is fast developing. 



MOUNTAIN CLIMATE 



Above an elevation of two thousand five hundred to three thou- 

 sand feet, conditions gradually intrude which resemble those of 

 wintry climates. The tender fruits, the apricot, peach, etc., become 

 liable to winter injury and give irregular returns, or as greater 

 elevation is attained, become wholly untrustworthy. Early bloom- 

 ing of these fruits during warm spells which are followed by severe 

 frosts, renders the trees unfruitful. At four thousand to four thou- 

 sand five hundred feet the hardy apple and pear flourish, ripening 

 late, and winter varieties possessing excellent keeping qualities. 

 Here, however, winter killing of trees begins and locations even for 

 hardy fruits have to be chosen with circumspection. 



There are elevated tracts of large extent among the Sierras where 

 the common wild plum, choke-cherry, gooseberry, and California 

 chestnut are produced abundantly. April frosts have killed the fruit 

 of those same plums, transplanted to lower ground, while those left 

 in their natural situation were quite unharmed. It has been ob- 

 served that these plum trees with other fruits and nuts in their 

 original positions, invariably occupy the broad tops of the great 

 ridges instead of the sides and bottoms of ravines or narrow, pent-up 

 valleys. Follow nature in the choice of orchard sites (with due 

 regard to a supply of moisture in the soil, either natural or artificial) 

 and little hazard attends the culture of the hardier fruits among 

 the highlands of the State. The beauty and quality of these moun- 

 tain fruits are proverbial. 



