FRUIT GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 
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here to state that we have room for a million people, but only 
want the best. Of our seasons it may be said we have but two, 
“wet” and “dry,” though the terms are misleading and convey 
impressions foreign to the facts. The following “ pen picture ” 
of our procession of the seasons, written by the late Judge 
Belden, is so true and terse that I think I may be pardoned if I 
present it here entire. 
“Beginning with the month of October, the signs of a 
coming change are apparent. The winds, no longer constant 
from one quarter, become variable both as to direction and force, 
or wholly cease. Sudden blasts raise miniature whirlwinds of 
dust and leaves which troop over the fields, and the stillness of 
the night is broken by fitful gusts and the sudden wail of the 
trees, as the breath of the coming winter sweeps through them. 
These are the recognised precursors of the season’s change, and 
are usually followed in the first ten days of October by an inch 
or more of rain, and this, usually, by weeks of the finest 
weather. The effect of these first rains is magical. The dust is 
washed from the foliage, and is laid on the roads and fields. 
The air has a fresh sparkle and life. The skies are of a deeper 
azure, and the soft brown hills seem nearer and fairer than 
before. It is the Indian summer of the East; but, instead of 
the soft lassitude of the dying year, here it comes with all the 
freshness and vigour of the new-born spring. If in this and the 
succeeding months there are further showers, the grass grows 
up on every hand, and the self-sown grain in all the fields. 
The hills change their sober russet for a lively green. Wild 
flowers appear in every sheltered nook. Hyacinths and crocuses 
bloom in the gardens, and the perfume of the violet is every¬ 
where in the air. In the latter part of November the rainy 
season is fully established. A coming storm is now heralded 
by a strong, steady wind, blowing for a day or two from the 
south-east, usually followed by several days of rain, and these 
are succeeded by days or weeks without a cloud—and thus 
alternating between occasional storms and frequent sunshine is 
the weather from October to April—the rainy season in Cali¬ 
fornia. The amount of rain that falls varies materially with 
the locality. In San Jose it is from 15 in. to 20 in., while in 
places not ten miles distant twice that amount is recorded. 
During this period there are from thirty to forty days on which 
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