20 



JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



PART II. 



HORTICULTURAL INTERESTS. 



California is the greatest fruit-growing State in the Union, 

 and Santa Clara County is the most important horticultural 

 district in the State. This fact is widely known, but com- 

 paratively few are familiar with the factors which combine to 

 produce this result. 



One of the most important is the climate. Upon it successful 

 and profitable horticulture very largely depends. Climate in 

 turn depends upon the contour of the country and its relation to 

 those influences which control meteorological conditions. The 

 climate here is determined principally by the Japan current, 

 which brings the heated waters of the Indian Ocean across the 

 Pacific and sweeps our Californian shores from north to south. 

 In the same way, but with a very decided difference, the New 

 England shores are swept by cold currents from the Arctic Ocean, 

 which bring from the frozen north great icebergs, which chill 

 the waters. The Straits of Behring, on the other hand, are too 

 narrow to allow the introduction into the Pacific of any con- 

 siderable amount of water from the Arctic Circle, and there is 

 not enough current to carry icebergs very far south. The Japan 

 stream, therefore, has full sway, and currents of air from this 

 warm water flow over California, modifying both the heat of 

 summer and the cold of winter. Another factor which influences 

 the climate here is the contour of the coast and the topo- 

 graphical features of the mainland. 



The Sierra Nevada and Cascade Mountains bend like a great 

 arm around the country from Alaska to Mexico, shielding it to 

 a great extent from the cold waves from the east, and forming 

 a barrier which effectually prevents the warm air of the Japan 

 current from spreading over the plains of Nevada. This 

 reserves its full influence for California. The conditions are 

 unique, and the resulting climatic effects are not experienced 

 elsewhere. Local conditions are also peculiarly favourable. 

 The valley is protected from harsh sea winds on the west by an 

 unbroken range of mountains. The Coast Range on the east 

 protects us from the cold winds, which in winter sweep from off 



