CLEAR SUNSHINE PERFECTS FRUITS 21 



Normal Cloudiness at California and Eastern Points 



Avsr. for 

 California Mar. April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. 9 mo. 



It is noticeable that at the California coast points the average 

 cloudiness is almost twice that of the interior valleys, while in the 

 East the interior fruit regions of Western New York, Ohio, and 

 Michigan, have a greater average cloudiness than the Hudson 

 River, New Jersey, and Delaware regions near the Atlantic sea- 

 board. The average cloudiness in the Eastern fruit regions is rather 

 more than twive as grat as in the regions of California where most 

 fruit is grown. 



This excess of advantage, as it may be trmed, in connection 

 with the high and protracted heat already mentioned, takes practi- 

 cal form in the successful ripening of a second and simetimes a 

 third crop of these grapes in a season, from later bloom on younger 

 cane growth. This behavior is of more value as a demonstration of 

 climatic conditions than otherwise, for it is generally better to pro- 

 duce the main crop alone than to undertake later ones. 



Another indication of excess of advantage in the interior valley 

 is found in the development of high sugar contents, which is of 

 direct value in raisin production. The same tendency, though per- 

 haps of less commercial value, is seen in the fact that some grapes 

 which yield a good claret wine nearer the coast develop too much 

 alcohol when grown in the interior. 



RELATION OF ATMO&HERIC HUMIDITY TO THE 

 GROWTH OF TREES 



There is another important condition of the climate of California 

 which is. intimately related to those which have been considered, 

 and which is to be credited with no small influence in the perfection 

 of our fruits, and that is the low percentage of humidity which our 

 atmosphere contains. In California the percentage of humidity is 

 high in the winter and low in the summer ; in the East the condi- 

 tion is just reversed. For this reason summer heat is far more op- 

 pressive in the East than in California, and for the same reason cer- 

 tain serious fungoid diseases, which prevail at the East, though 

 found here in less injurious degree directly on the coast, may be 



