34 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 



that it practically banishes winter from the list of the seasons. Such 

 conditions have favored the development of a canteloupe industry 

 which markets its product in all parts of the United States before 

 any other region can enter into competition with it. The growth of 

 winter cabbage is also largely undertaken and other early vegetables 

 and fruits are produced to the extent justified by the market demand. 

 As the season advances, however, its adaptability to the growth of 

 succulents becomes restricted to those which can endure high heat 

 and resist desiccation by desert winds which occasionally prevail. 

 Mountain Valleys. Among the mountain peaks and ridges 

 from three thousand feet upward are slopes and valleys which are 

 very productive of vegetables. As elevation increases wintry fea- 

 tures become intensified and range of winter grqwth less and less 

 until in the true "mountain valleys," which lie among the summits 

 of the Sierra Nevada, the winter is a closed season of snow and ice 

 and the garden becomes a summer affair as in the eastern states. 

 Growth, however, during the open season is very rapid and satis- 

 factory, moisture is abundant and irrigation facilities ample in the 

 abundant supplies of snow waters from above, which need however 

 to be moderated in temperature before distribution. In this region 

 gardening seasons and practices are more comparable with eastern 

 policies and methods and are not characteristically Calif ornian as 

 the term is usually understood. 



GENERAL CHARACTERS OF CALIFORNIA CLIMATE. 



The proper conclusion from the foregoing discussion is that 

 each California locality must be separately studied to determine its 

 climatic adaptations for vegetable growing and its season for the 

 best discharge of the various gardening duties. Although, as will 

 appear from time to time all through this treatise, very few general 

 prescriptions such as are popular as "gardening calendars," "work 

 for the month," etc., in regions of less climatic diversity, can be 

 given as a guide to work in this state, still there are some generaliza- 

 tions concerning leading climatic features as related to vegetable 

 growing which may be of assistance to distant readers or newcomers. 



Relative Occurrences of Cloudiness and Sunshine in California 

 Regions. Due proportion of sunlight, warmth and moisture is nec- 

 essary to produce quick and healthy vegetation. Cloudiness is also 

 an important element, since the presence of clouds screens the earth 



