144 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
The climate of California varies greatly from place to place. Along 
the coast in northern California it is moist and equable. Around 
San Francisco Bay a moderate rainfall is confined almost wholly to 
the winter, and the range in temperature is comparatively small. In 
parts of southern California typical desert conditions prevail. The 
great interior valley is characterized by moderate to scant winter 
rainfall and hot, dry summers. Snow rarely falls except in the high 
mountains. 
Forests cover 22 per cent of the State’s area and have been esti- 
mated to contain 200,000,000,000 feet of timber. They are notable 
for the large size of their trees, especially for the huge dimensions 
attained by two species of redwood—Sequoia washingtoniana (or 
gigantea), the well-known ‘‘big tree’? of the Sierra Nevada, and 
Sequoia sempervirens, the ‘‘big tree’’ of the Coast Ranges. Some of 
these giant trees fortunately have been preserved by the Government 
or through private generosity against the inroads of the lumberman. 
The 21 national forests in California have a total net area of 40,600 
square miles, or about one-fourth of the State’s area. The national 
parks in the State are Yosemite (1,124 square miles), Sequoia (252 
square miles), and General Grant (4 square miles). 
iculture is a large industry in California, and with the intro- 
duction of more intensive cultivation its importance is increasing 
rapidly. In 1914 the grain crops yielded nearly 63,000,000 bushels, 
of which two-thirds was barley. The value of the cultivated hay crop 
that year was over $43,000,000. In the variety and value of its fruit 
crops California has no rival in the United States, if indeed in the world. 
Its products range from dates, pineapples, and other semitropical 
fruits in the south to pears, peaches, and plums in the north, but it is 
to oranges and other citrus fruits and to wine grapes that California 
owes its horticultural supremacy. During the season from November 
1, 1913, to October 31, 1914, California produced 48,548 carloads of 
citrus fruit, 42,473,000 gallons of wine, and 12,450 tons of walnuts 
and almonds. The value of the annual crop of citrus fruits is about 
$50,000,000, and of olives $2,200,000. Wine and brandy yield to 
the grape industry $25,500,000 annually. Some other notable 
products are hops, about 20,000,000 pounds; lima beans, 1,150,000 
sacks; beet sugar, 162,000 tons; potatoes, 11,000,000 bushels; and 
butter, 54,000,000 pounds. 
Of its mineral products, petroleum ranks first in total value and 
gold next. In 1914 California’s output of petroleum was valued at 
$48,466,096, about 25 per cent of the world’s yield, and its output of 
gold at about $21,000,000. In the production of both petroleum and 
gold California leads all other States in the Union. Other mineral ; 
products are cement $10,500,000, copper $5,000,000, silver $750,000, 
mercury $750,000, and borax $1,500,000. a 
