. Cyclopedia of American horticulture, comprising suggestions for cultivation of horticultural plants, descriptions of the species of fruits, vegetables, flowers, and ornamental plants sold in the United States and Canada, together with geographical and biographical sketches. Gardening. 216 CALIFORNIA of Coast Range and Sierra, hardly as yet one-tenth oc- cupied, comprise fully 25,000,000 acres; in timber and fine grazing lands, capable of perpetual renewals, are 12,000,000 acres; high mountains cover some 13,000,000 acres; arid lands, often yielding enormously under irri- gation, or slowly co
. Cyclopedia of American horticulture, comprising suggestions for cultivation of horticultural plants, descriptions of the species of fruits, vegetables, flowers, and ornamental plants sold in the United States and Canada, together with geographical and biographical sketches. Gardening. 216 CALIFORNIA of Coast Range and Sierra, hardly as yet one-tenth oc- cupied, comprise fully 25,000,000 acres; in timber and fine grazing lands, capable of perpetual renewals, are 12,000,000 acres; high mountains cover some 13,000,000 acres; arid lands, often yielding enormously under irri- gation, or slowly conquered by neutralizing their super- abundant alkali, occupy about 10,000,000 acres. Over these great areas every wind current, every mountain spur, every alteration in slope or altitude, helps to make a local climate. The complicated geological develop- ment of California has produced soils almost as varied as its local climates. Still, the state can be conveniently divided into live characteristic climate-zones: in the high Sierras the mean annual temperature is from 30° to 44°; in the lower Sierras it is from 44° to 52°; near the Pacific ocean it is from 52° to 67°; in the central valleys of Sacramento and San Joaquin it is from 60° to 68°, and in the southern counties from 68° to 72°. But every part of California shows very sharp horticultural contrasts upon farms not a mile apart. Local climate is the key-note of California life. Placer county, for in- stance, extends from the center of the Sacramento val- ley east to the summit of the Sierras. It has upland Canadian valleys, pines and snow-blockades at one end; groves of oranges and lemons in the Sierra foothills, and rich alfalfa fields along the "bottoms " of the Sacramento valley rivers. See Fig. 317. Statistics are apt to be dull reading, but the horticul- ture of California can be shown only by some of its re- sults in recent years. Let us glance at a few of the records. Take the well-known indust
Size: 1467px × 1704px
Photo credit: © Central Historic Books / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthor, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectgardening
