Year: 1876




It is difficult to fairly represent
Southern California to those who have
not visited the Pacific Coast. 1t is an
anomaly in every respect, and the dis
tant reader is but too apt to regard
the most rigid statement of facts as
the emanations CT romantic brain.
Men judge of other lands by the one
in which they happen to reside, and
generally refuse credence to what is
outside of ordinary experience. That
no rain falls upon our soil from April
to December, and yet that the sum.
mers are delightful, and the nights so
cool that no matter how thick blooded
one may be he cannot sleep without q
blanket during all this period, are APP
parently antagonistic statements; yet
they are both equally true. That up
on the descent of the first Fall rains,
about December, vegetation should
begin the same developement it starts
upon in April and May in the States,
and that while all the rest of the coun-
try is bare, in this section the hill sides
are covered with verdure that would
defy the artists skill to depict, and the
plains are filled with waving grass,
sounds like the statement of mad.
man to one living in the East. South
ern California labors under the disad-
vantage therefore of being so highly
and peculiarly favored that the bare
mention of her charms seems to bor-
der upon the fabulous. Yet there are
thousands who have believed and
come, and finding that where Nature
had bestowed such an excellent eli.
mate she had fitted the soil to produce
every cereal, root, fruit and vegetable
that is known, and so bounteously as
to border upon the wonderful, they
their relatives and friends to join
them. Cities are springing up; towns
and villages are the creations of a few
months, beautiful settlements are
opening here and there; and the most
obtuse cannot fail to see the great des-
tiny the near future has in store for
us. Where man is freed from the ter
rors of winter; relieved of the death
dealing heat of summer; can labor
out of doors three hundred days in the
year; has from five TO seven months
time to plant "a crop; can readily sell
all he can produce at good prices;
where his home may be surrounded
with the most luscious fruits and beau
tiful flowers nearly every month in
the year; where he can gather green
corn, tomatoes, green peas and all 9TH
er vegetables from his garden from
May to December, he can make some
approach to terrestrial happiness.


The science of meteOrology is yet in
its infancy SO that it is impossible to
declare with certainty the causes of
the


PECULIAR CLIMATE


of this section. The main elements
of the problem may be briefly stated.
The Southern counties are spread
along the Pacific Coast and protected
by mountain ranges running parallel
tothe sea, while beyond these far away
into the interior spreads dry and al
most barren region. The breezes from
the Pacific blow steadily to the land
during the summer; as the light clouds
float over us they absorb the dry heat,
rise higher and higher, flying across
to the Mississippi water shed before
depositing their moisture. When the
sun passes South of the equator the
North winds come down the interior
valleys with such force as to oppose
the Eastern air current, and cause the
clouds coming in from the ocean to
drop their moisture, which constitutes
our winter rains. Winter then is
properly speaking our summer time
though it is the period of lowest tenn
perature. To appreciate a Southern
California winter requires actual pres
ence. No word description can con-
vey an accurate idea of the season.
The whole earth is covered with ver-
dure. The orange groves show their
golden fruit upon every bough, the air
is balmy and refreshing, the plow and
the harrow are at work every day
breaking up the rich soil and covering
the grain. The summer is no less pc
culiar than the winter. A steady tenn
perature is maintained throughout, so
that we are freed from the intense
heat of July and August experienced
in the States. Delightful and never
ceasing breezes from the ocean cool
the land, and at night the air becomes
so fresh that a blanket is indispensi-
BILE. Its effect upon vegetation is no
less remarkable. From March to No
vember is seeding time, and any root,
fruit, vegetable or grain planted DUR
ing this interval will germinate and
grow rapidly. There is therefore no
regular planting season. For months
the farmer may go on planting and
reaping alternately. The Irish pota-