Los Angeles daily herald., 1876-01-01

and is an early and prolific bearer. In
some instances the vineyards of this
variety Of grape, have yielded half a
crop the second year from the cuttings.
The raisins are now worth 8 to 10c. per
pound when properly cured and pack
ed; three pounds of grapes yielding
one pound of raisins. A vineyard
therefore in full bearing furnishing
say 1900 to 5000 pounds of grapes,
will return gross income of $500 to
$500 per acre. The method of curing
now generally adopted is to lay the
grapes upon brick floor in light
building, the roof of which is made
of glass, the drying being accomplish
ed solely by the heat of the sun. The
cultivation of the raisin grape is being
rapidly extended, and this product will
ere long, figure prominently in our
annual exports. AS to the disposal of
his surplus products, the producer
need have no apprehensions. In the
past the supply of no one article has
ever been for any length of time in
excess of the demand, and as new av-
enues of transportation are opened up
we are furnished with new markets..
Selarge proportion of the population
of the State is-engaged in other pur-
suits than tilling the soil, tffatthere
is an excellent home market for very
large proportion of the productions.
The demand for many articles which
are usually difficult of sale in the
States is so great that the country
keeps constantly drained of them.
Poultry, eggs and dairy products, for
example, command very high prices
on account of scarcity. The usual
prices for chickens in the Los Angeles
market is SIS to 81 per dozen, for eggs,
fifty cents per dozen, and for butter,
fifty cents per pound. These are all
produced largely, but the demand for
them is so great that the foregoing
prices are steadily maintained. Many
other instances might be adduced to
show that despite the productiveness
of the soil and the rapid increase in
the number of farms, the margin of
profits is by no means limited.
THE CLIMATE
of Los Angeles Valley has to be ex-
perienced in order to be appreciated.
1t is certainly not excelled by any
part of the New World, and equaled
by few localities in the Old. The
mean annual temperature is $40 Far
enheit, with mean range above and
below this of 10' or 12o both Winter
and Summer. The Fall and Winter
mean temperature is 80 to $40, and for
the half year of Spring and Summer
"a to 75o. The freezing point is rarely
reached in Winter, and if the ther-
mometer does sometimes get into the
nineties in Summer, yet we never
feel the sunstroke heat of the Atlantic
States. Nor is there single night
during the Summer when a blanket
can be dispensed with, so that there
can be no accumulation of heat.
Throughout the Summer, too, the
trade winds set in from the Pacific
ocean every day with the regularity
of clock work, and continue during
the warmest portion of the day. This
breeze takes off any excessive heat of
the body, so that there is scarcely a
day during the dry season when out
door labor is oppressive. December is
the cOldest month in the year, the
thermometer sometimes standing as
low as 33 or $40. At this time the rain
set in, and continue till April, the
heaviest fall being in March. From
January lst to April the weather is
delightful in the extreme, somewhat
resembling Mid-Spring in the lati-
tudes of Virginia and Kentucky. In
the latitude of San Francisco, on this
coast, the Summer breezes which
blow from the ocean bear with them
heavy fOgs, which hang over the land
absorbing its heat. The Summer sea-
son is therefore severe one, for while
the temperature is not very low, the
damp air chills the whole system and
operates disastrOusly upon the lungs.
Along the Southern coast the fogs or
incipient clouds obtain sufficient heat
to lift them small distance above the
earth's surface, so that as they roll in
upon the land they are sufficiently ele.
waited not to create fog, and yet not SO
high but they absorb the surplus heat
and bear it away to the interior. Our
ocean breeze is therefore a welcome
visitor every day, rendering the Sum-
mer months pleasant if not attractive,
and saving us from the accumulation
of heat, which in many portion of the
States, often becomes so destructive of
human life. In Summer, Los Ange-
les has the sea breeze without fogs,
and in Winter she has the North and
Northwest winds, broken by her
mountain barriers and tempered by
the passage over warm deserts or heat
ed valleys above or to the West of us.
The following table shows the mean
temperature of January and July in
various portions of California, and
other States and countries, taken from
reliable sources:
Place Jan. July. Differ Lati-
deg deg. deg. dig. min.
San Francisco....... 40 81 s y74S