COAST VALLEYS. 29 



points. And all these are not needed in the same locality ; 

 in fact some localities need none of them except the mois- 

 ture retention which is universal. 



V 

 LOCAL VARIATIONS IN CLIMATE. 



Although it is possible to grow almost all vegetables 

 everywhere in the State by intelligent selecting the proper 

 time of the year for each, as shown in other chapters, and 

 although few localities have climates so uniform and 

 equable that by providing proper moisture conditions 

 nearly all vegetables can be grown all the year, it is still 

 possible to define regions with somewhat distinctive cli- 

 matic characters bearing upon garden and field growth of 

 edible plants. 



Coast Valleys A considerable volume of vegetable 

 products of California is grown in the coast valleys. This 

 term includes both well-defined valleys of greater or less 

 breadth, and stretches of rather flat or gently sloping 

 land, open to ocean influences. It is a region extending 

 the whole length of the State and lying between the high- 

 est elevation of the Coast Range and the ocean. In the 

 upper half of the State it is composed chiefly of well- 

 defined valleys somewhat parallel to the coast, but pro- 

 tected by low ranges which modify and mollify ocean in- 

 fluences, insuring higher temperature and more gentle 

 winds than are found directly on the coast. In the south- 

 ern part of the State the region chiefly consists of broad 

 areas quite open to the ocean but needing no barriers from 

 it because, owing to the trend of the coast, the lower lati- 

 tude and the greater distance south from the source of 

 the prevailing air currents, the ocean influences are them- 

 selves modified before they reach the lands. In all this 

 vast region, then, similar conditions prevail, locally modi- 

 fied, however, enough to create some marked differences 

 in degree, which have been well utilized as the basis of 

 special production. The difference in degree may be speci- 

 fied in this way : Temperature rises and rainfall decreases 



