CHAPTER II 



WHY THE CALIFORNIA CLIMATE FAVORS THE 

 GROWTH OF FRUIT 



It is pointed out by the earliest students of meteorology, as 

 related to horticulture, that perfect development of fruits depends 

 upon certain atmospheric conditions, which are included in the term 

 climate : First, temperature ; second, light ; third, humidity or at- 

 mospheric moisture, considered wholly apart from soil moisture. 

 It was also shown that temperature and humidity should be equable, 

 or as free as possible from excessive extremes or rapid changes. 



Obviously, the chief characteristics of the California climate are : 

 First, freedom from extremes of low temperature ; second, an abun- 

 dance of sunshine ; and third, atmosphere with a low percentage of 

 humidity. It will be interesting to introduce enough statistics to 

 demonstrate these claims, and to cite reasons why these conditions 

 are of special value to the fruit grower.* 



THE OFFICE OF HEAT IN FRUIT PRODUCTION 



Temperature conditions may preclude the success of a fruit tree 

 either by destroying it outright, by dwarfing it, or by preventing it 

 from setting or ripening its fruit. Extremes of temperature accom- 

 plish the death of plants, and insufficient or excessive mean temper- 

 atures may prevent fruition without killing the plant. The first 

 quality of the California climate to arrest the attention of fruit 

 growers in the states east of the Rocky Mountains is the freedom 

 from the effects of the extremely low winter temperature, to which 

 is due the deplorable failure, in the eastern and western states, of 

 many of the fruit varieties from the west of Europe, and to escape 

 which such zealous efforts are now being so successfully put forth to 

 secure hardy varieites of native and foreign origin. 



How slight is the injury from low temperatures in all parts of 

 the State where fruit is largely grown may be seen from the follow- 

 ing compilation of extreme low temperatures at different points 

 approximately at the same latitude on the coast, in the interior 

 valleys, and on the foot-hills. 



Lowest Temperature at Several California Points 



Coast and Coast Deg. above Deg. above Deg. above 



Valleys zero. Interior Valleys zero. Foothills zero. 



Eureka 20 Redding 18 



Ukiah 12 Red Bluff 18 Oroville 15 



Cloverdale 17 Oroville 15 Nevada City 4 



Napa 18 Marysville 19 Colfax 8 



San Francisco 28 Sacramento 19 Auburn 12 



San Jose 18 Merced 16 Jackson 10 



Gilroy 20 Fresno 20 



*Other horticultural aspects of California climates are presented in the author's other 

 books, viz.: "California Vegetables" and "California Garden Flowers." 



