The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1892-04-23
Al GREAT CLIMATE.
AN ENGLlSHMAN GIVES HIS OPINION
OF CALIFORNIA.

Some Features OF q Western state Com
pared to England-Good Advice for
Those Who Think Of Making Their
Home In That Marvellous Country.
/ am writing oD Jan. ID. 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 is
large-twice the size of England, l
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
freacherous 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 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 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 1900 feet elevation,
but seven 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
In 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. l must say for a
person coming from cool climate, like
that of England, this is anything but
agreeable. But then 112 degs up in the
mountains feels nothing like that heat
in the valley, where no air may blow at
the time. Hot spells last usually from
three to five days, and then again we
record 90 degs. to 90 dogs, or even s.
dogs. Fair, for weeks at time. By
the time a 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 abiding to
the fact that, while the grape never
ripens at San Francisco, ten miles from
1t, 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 countrymen, and all the
advantages which city life offers. But
the most acceptable openings are in the
pie who are least afraid of anything, and
If they cannot get a 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 in every part. The grape
will grow and ripen, rich in alcohol or
sour like Riesling, just as you choose
TO pick your location. The orange is at
home south and north up to 1 800 feet,
snd, wonderful to note, the apple will
ripen side by side with this subtropical
fruit. Olives seem destined to shade
every hillside which now gives ground
to pines and underbrush, and peaches
and apricots bring such wonderful re-
turns that it is not surprising that Eng
hsh capital seeks investment by the
million.
GOOD ADVICE.
! )If only the ground is kept cultivated
II needs no irrigation, and shoots Of ten,
swielve or even fifteen feet in length on
t1o-year-old trees are something a per
kbn may see from the railroad car while
tSraveling through our glorious state.
The population Of California is still
email. One million and quarter is all
this states census gave as the number
of inhabitants. There will be homes fol-
Just as 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 return will make
the people too lazy. The young genera
ton springing up at the present Is moi
as energetic as their forefathers, from
whatever country they came. Times
have been too easy for the old folks-i
they did not make any money through
labor they did SO in trading, and as
last and most important resource the,
can fall back upon their real estate ant
turn into money what the emigrants ar
willing to buy. The estates are to-
large altogether at present, and tn