22 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM 



Again, referring to the grape, for in connection with the growth 

 of this fruit the most careful researches have been made, Humboldt 

 wrote : "If to give a potable wine the vine shuns the islands and 

 nearly all seacoasts, even those of the West, the cause is not only 

 in the moderate heat of summer upon the seashore, but it exists 

 more in the difference which there is between direct and diffused 

 light; between a clear sky, and one veiled with clouds. " 



Normal cloudiness at California and Eastern points 



j. for 



CALIFORNIA March 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 at 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 twice as great as in the regions of California 

 where most fruit is grown. 



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

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

 tical form in the successful ripening of a second and sometimes 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 

 produce 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 

 perhaps 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. 



Cosmos, t. I, p. 349. 



