186 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 1. 



square of cloth, and measure it, it would result 

 in an immense land area, the greatest in the 

 Union, according to the government measure- 

 ments. However, from the tops of our moun- 

 tains we shall have to give the palm, as to size, 

 to Texas, and content ourselves with other 

 great features that can be found only in this 

 State. 



The climate of California, and its varieties, 

 have been the subject upon which many writers 

 have expatiated; and although we have many 

 varieties of this commodity, the seasons are re- 

 duced to two — the vvet and the dry, or the sum- 

 mer and winter; and these are so near akin 

 that our winter would pass for a very fair sum- 

 mer in some of our Eastern States, while spring 

 and fall are unknown. 



The causes that are constantly at work to pro- 

 duce an agreeable state of the atmosphere are, 

 our mountains on one hand and the warm cur- 

 rents of the Pacific Ocean on the other. 



If we look at the map we find that the vari- 

 ous shadings represent the various mean tem- 

 peratures that are found in the State. P'irst, 

 the dark shadings in the lower portion repre- 

 sent that part of the State that has the least 

 rainfall and the greatest heat, and embraces 

 the Mojave (Mohave) and Colorado Deserts; 

 and when we speak of deserts, do not think of 

 them as a dead-level plain, for it is not. Sand 

 dunes, hills, and even respectable mountains, 

 are in this hot country. The figures 68 to 72 

 convey but a small idea of this country; for in 

 the hot season it is full of terrors, and not a sea- 

 son passes but' parties led on by the alluring 

 idea of finding gold-mines in this forbidding 

 region suffer terrible hardships, and many leave 

 their bones to bleach on the arid sands. The 

 terrors of this region culminate in Death Val- 

 ley. Still, there is a redeeming ray of hope 

 for much of this region. If water can be intro- 

 duced to it, the desert will be made to blossom 

 in beauty. 



Within the speckled portion of the map we 

 find the great fruit and grain producing region. 

 In the southern portion is the citrus belt, sup- 

 plemented by similar belts in the extreme north- 

 ern portion. The long speckled portion repre- 

 sents the interior basin of the State, including 

 the San Joaquin and Sacramento Valleys. It 

 is in these valleys that the immense amount of 

 grain is produced; and the rancher, instead of 

 watching the skies, as does his eastern brother, 

 in fear that an untimely shower may ruin his 

 grain, piles it up in sacks like so much cord- 

 wood, where it remains for months uninjured. 



While citrus fruits are predominant in the 

 southern speckled portion, deciduous fruits and 

 grapes are the main products in the fruit line 

 in the interior basin. It is in this portion, also, 

 thai we find the greater portion of bee-ranches; 

 for it is here, and in the portion marked with 

 horizontal lines, that the sages grow the most 

 luxuriantly, and the thousands of other fiovvers 



for which California is noted. In this interior 

 basin the temperature sometimes rises to 115° 

 in the shade; but, owing to the dryness of the 

 atmosphere, this temperatureisnotfelt so acute- 

 ly as 90° in the East. In proof of ii, sunstroke 

 is almost unknown on this coast. In this speck- 

 led portion the temperature also registers at 

 times a few degrees below the freezing-point. 

 It is then the orange-grower gets anxious about 

 his tender product and investigates his dam- 

 ages. 



The portion of map marked with straight 

 lines is that portion having the least variation 

 in its climate, and includes nearly the whole 

 sea-coast, and it is termed the frostless belt, as 

 well as escaping the extreme heat of summer. 

 It will also be observed that a narrow line of 

 this shading surrounds the central basin. This 

 line might be indefinitely extended around 

 every mountain and foot-hill in California. It 

 is in many portions of this line that tomatoes 

 are grown the year round, and those portions 

 that boast of raising strawberries and kindred 

 fruits all the year round is in this belt. In this 

 portion are found the hot and mineral springs, 

 and it is here the health-seeker finds a home 

 and a prolonged life. In this portion, as well 

 as in the speckled portion, the nights are near- 

 ly always cool; and, however fatigued a person 

 may become with the toils of the day, he can 

 retire to refreshing sleep; and the more refresh- 

 ing it is if taken under the blue dome of heaven. 



There is not the least doubt that, if persons 

 having pulmonary troubles will come to this 

 State at an early stage of the disease they will 

 find health and a long span added to their lives; 

 while it is equally without a doubt that, if such 

 persons delay until one foot is already in the 

 grave, the other foot will soon follow upon their 

 arrival here. A person coming to this State for 

 health, and not finding it, should study this cli- 

 matic map, and change his location from time 

 to time to a higher or lower altitude, and soon 

 the suitable point will be found, and improve- 

 ment will be first manifested in an elevation of 

 the previously depressed spirits, and, finally, 

 more endurance, and a desire to be out in the 

 pure air; and here there is ample opportunity 

 to indulge in this desire, or, during three-quar- 

 ters of the year, the skies are cloudless. 



The next belt marked with diagonal lines in- 

 cludes the higher foot-hills and the most of the 

 Coast Range, and quite a large area in the 

 northeastern portion of the State. Some snow 

 falls in this poition, and the temperature gets 

 down to a biting degree. Still, it has many lo- 

 calities in which it is desirable to live. It is 

 said, by those who have investigated the north- 

 east portion, that it has an abundant honey 

 flora, and it will be only a question of time 

 when this portion will also be dotted with min- 

 iature cities of bee-hives. It would be well, 

 perhaps, for those who are seeking new honey- 

 fields to deflect their course into this region. 



