LESSON XLIII.
1. Climate.—The Sierra Nevada and the Cascade ranges divide this section into two portions, which have very different climates. To the eastward very little rain falls, and the climate is very dry.
Making raisins in California. The grapes are spread out on large trays and dried in the sun.
Westward there is more moisture. Oregon and Washington have a climate like that of Maryland. In California there is a wet season and a dry season. For six months (from November to May) there is abundance of rain; for six months again (from May to November) there is hardly any rain.
2. Irrigation.—In many parts of this section no crops can be raised unless the fields are watered. The farmers, therefore, dig ditches to conduct water from the rivers to their farms, so that they can flood the fields. Some of these ditches are miles in length. Watering land in this way is called irrigation.
3. Products.—In the states bordering the Pacific there is a rich agricultural region. The finest wheat, barley, hops, and oats are raised. In California fruits and vegetables grow to a wonderful size. Oranges, lemons, grapes, prunes, and pears are produced in great abundance. This state is famed for its wines and raisins.
4. Stock-raising is a leading occupation in many parts of this section. Colorado and Wyoming are noted particularly for their cattle. California is a great sheep-raising region. Its wool is famous for fineness and excellence.
A cattle ranch in Colorado.
5. Mining is another leading industry. The mines are chiefly among the mountains. Gold, silver, quicksilver, copper, and lead are mined. California is noted for its oil wells.
Quicksilver is a curious metal that runs like water. We see it in the bulbs of most thermometers. The mine of New Almaden, in California, is one of the richest known.
Hydraulic mining in California. A powerful stream of water is directed against the banks of gravel containing gold. In this way the banks are washed down
and the gold is afterwards sorted out.
6. In Oregon and Washington lumbering and salmon-fishing are valuable industries; in Alaska salmon and seal-fishing are important industries.
Timber and canned salmon are shipped from these places to all parts of the world.
