CHAPTER III. 



CALIFORNIA'S CLIMATE AS RELATED 

 TO VEGETABLE GROWING. 



It is not necessary to attempt an elaborate exposition of the 

 characters of the California climate. Such characterization has 

 been made by different authorities from various points of view.* 

 It may be claimed in a general way that our climates are as kindly 

 disposed toward vegetable growth as they are toward the develop- 

 ment of fruits or the early maturity, thrift and comfort of animals. 

 The ordinary exemption from ground-freezing at any time of the 

 year; the absence or very rare and localized occurrence of soil-shift- 

 ing winds or even of winds to prostrate tall growths ; freedom from 

 wide extremes in temperature; and only occasionally great changes 

 in atmospheric humidity; adequate heat for rapid growth with a 

 dry, but seldom desiccating air, which prevents much of the fungous 

 growth of hot, humid climates and consequently insures a grand and 

 healthy leaf-action to the plant; abundant sunshine, but seldom, and 

 then only in few localities, rising to leaf burning; ample moisture 

 either by rainfall or irrigation, or one supplementing the other all 

 these characters and others like them, constitute a climate of excep- 

 tional advantage to the vegetable grower. They reduce provisions 

 for protection to a minimum ; a cloud of smoke for the frost ; a high 

 fence or a line of trees for the wind, a lath or slight brush covering 

 or the neighborly shadow of a taller growth for the most tender 

 foliage ; frequent cultivation to retain moisture in the soil after rain 

 or irrigation, and the garden will go through the year with ample 

 protection at its weakest points. And all these are not needed in 

 the same locality; in fact, some localities need none of them except 

 the moisture retention which is universal. 



Autumnal and Vernal Springtimes. Spring is defined as "the 

 one of the four seasons when plants begin to grow," and Califor- 

 nia is fortunate in doubling the blessings of springtime which most 

 parts of the world enjoy. First there is the autumnal springtime 

 which follows the heat in the interior valleys, bringing a delicious 

 coolness to the early morning and crystal clearness to the atmos- 

 phere which reveals the distant mountain tops with a sharpness 

 which their outlines do not often reveal through the haze of sum- 

 mer. There is also the autumnal springtime in the coast regions, 

 which brings a little higher heat because the arrest of ocean winds 

 gives the declining sun opportunity to warm the earth as even the 



Consult "California Fruits and How to Grow Them," Chapters 1 and 2, "California 

 Garden Flowers," Chapter 2. 



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