The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1892-06-04
A GREAT CLIMATE.
AN ENGLiSHMAN GIVES HIS OPINION
OF CALIFORNIA.

Some Features of a Western State Com
pared to Engiand-Good Advice for
Those who Think of Making Their
Home i'm That Marvellous Country.
l am writing on Jan. IA. Over in the
mild climate Of England my fellow gar
deners are protecting their plants from
frost and sheltering carefully all those
potted plants which they are going to
force for the market. California il
~large-twice the size of England, |
should say. But if you want to find a
place here where you would have to do
the like in your profession you would
have to hunt the cool and somewhat
~treacherous bay surroundings of our me-
%tropolis, or you would have to climb the
peaks of our Sierras, and then you would
have to reach an elevation of 5000 feet
before finding places with a real winter.
We have no winter here, and what is
generally called winter is understood to
be the rainy season. This season is very
mild, and we work at our places here in
the foothills of the Sierras in shirt
sleeves today and call it a most beauti-
full day.
Our foothills rival the valley: we have
the high mountains at the back of us
protecting us from the dry winds of the
plains east of them and giving us the
benefit Of the warm reflection Of the sun,
which shines here almost every day.
Our grapes ripen at 1000 feet elevation,
but sever days later than those from
the Fresno region; while our climate is
not SO hot, being easier reached by the
winds which blow every day from the
ocean. We can dry raisins in the sun
i'll spite of the occasional early rains
which set in once in awhile in the hay
ing season, at the end of July.
The highest temperature | have re-
corded for four years was 112 dogs.
Fair. in the shade. | must say for q
person coming from Il cool climate, like
that Of England, this is anything but
agreeable. But then III degs. up in the
mountains feels nothing like that heat
i'll the valley, where 10 air may blow at
the time. Hot spells last usually from
three to five days, and then again we
record 80 dogs. to 95 degs., or even s.
dogs. Fair, for weeks at Il time. By
the time IL person has been living here
for say five years he gets pretty well
used to it and lives through it just like
everybody else.
A HEALTHY CLIMATE.
1t is healthy here. The air is Won
derfully pure, and the fogs which visit
us from the ocean are quite pleasant.
pure and refreshing. The Coast range
is different altogether. 1t is affected by
the evaporation of the ocean, and conse-
quently cooler and temperate. The
Coast range cuts the valley sharply
from the ocean border, and its peculiar
ity is best demonstrated by alluding to
the fact that. while the grape never
ripens at San Francisco, ten miles from
it. just behind the Coast range there
lies the land which supplies the city
nearly all the year round with the most
delicious Strawberries.
Most people who come to California
usually stop and stay at San Francisco.
The climate is more agreeable, and there
are more fellow c%ountrymen, and all the
advantages which city life offers. But
the most acceptable openings are in the
interior. Gardeners. as a rule, are peo-
pie who are least afraid of anything. and
if they cannot get Il job at their own
trade. very well, they try another.
Fruit growing is at its very best in
California, and its climate is adapted to
every kind i'll every part. The grape
will grow and ripen, rich in alcohol or
sour like Il Riesling, just as You choose
to pick your location. Tho orange is at
home south and north up to 800 feet,
and, wonderful to note, the apple will
rtpen side by side with this subtropical
fruit. Olives seem destined to shade
every hillside which now gives ground
to pine, and underbrush, and peaches
and apricots bring such wonderful re-
turns that it is not surprising that Eng
fish capital seeks investment by the
million.
GOOD ADVICE.
If only the ground is kept cultivated
it needs no irrigation, and shoots Of ten,
twelve or even fifteen feet i'll length On
t~wo-year-old trees are something a per
| son may see from the railroad car while
travelling through our glorious state.
The population of California is still
small. One million and Il quarter is all
| this states ems gave AS the number
of inhabitants. There will be homes for
just rs many AS may choose to come and
work their way. The great danger is
that the warm climate and the ease with
which the soil gives a return will make
the people too lazy. The young genera
ton springing up at the present is not
as energetic rs their forefathers, from
whatever country they came. Times
have been too easy for the old fOlks-if
they did not make any money through
labor they did SO in trading, and as IL
last and most important they
can fall back upon their real estate and
turn into money what the emigrants are
willing to buy. The estates are too
large altogether at present, and the
more they are cut up the better it