ri: \i.i;i> I LTURAL BOCIETY. 279 



be postponed until we can accumulate facts, for theories withoul facts only 

 confuse. 



CHARACTERISTICS OF THE NORTHERS. 



First — The northers are cool in the Winter and early Spring; hoi and 

 dry during the Summer and Fall; a very wet Winter, however, postpones 

 the high temperature until about the mi. Idle of June. 



- cond — The speed of movement is sometimes very great, approximating 

 the rapidity of a gale. 



Third — The evaporating power is very considerable at all seasons, though 

 greatest in the Summer and Fall. 



According to my own observation the north wind will sometimes evap- 

 orate from a glass "goblet a full inch of water in twenty-four hours, while a 

 south wind of equal force will not evaporate to an appreciable extent. 



Fourth — The atmosphere during the prevalence of a Summer and Fall 

 north wind is usually free from clouds, though now and then a very few 

 thin streaks of cirrus clouds are visible. The presence of distinct clouds 

 in any quarter is always prophetic of a subsidence of the northers. 



1'IIE BAD EFFECTS OF THE NORTH WIND. 



I desire to put upon record a brief statement of some of the evil effects 

 of the north wind, hoping that subsequent and more careful investigation 

 may enable me to modify these statements. 



First — The effect of prevailing northers upon the vegetable economy. 

 These evil effects are more noticeable in Spring time when everything is 

 tender and full of sap, and less observable in the Fall when the fibers have 

 become tough. A heavy Winter rainfall which saturates the earth suffi- 

 ciently to postpone complete evaporation, protects vegetation until it is 

 strong enough to defend itself, for water seems to neutralize the wind's evil 

 power. After a dry "Winter the north wind becomes extremely prejudicial 

 to some forms of vegetation. These evil results are, however, modified by 

 protecting houses, hills, fences, and trees. 



Dr. Harkness reports that the officers of the United States Army, at the 

 Presidio, succeeded in protecting their gardens by very simple fences; a 

 defense which would prove insufficient further north, away from water. 

 Yet it happens that the side of a tree next to the wind is injured, while the 

 opposite side remains unharmed. But I prefer to give the language of 

 practical observers, remarking that the facts now to be mentioned occurred 

 only during the severest blasts. 



Mr. Hoagland — Apples are sometimes baked or burnt on the trees before 

 they ripen, on the side toward the wind. This spot becomes hard, and a 

 dry rot sets in. The rest of the apple ripens, but this spot remains hard 

 and woody. 



Josiah Johnson — In April, 1859, twenty miles south of Sacramento, near 

 the confluence of the Cosumnes and Sacramento Rivers, the north wind 

 continued nine days. Young rose and sycamore leaves were blackened and 

 charred, curling up like burnt paper. A few days ago, and during a north 

 wind, I plucked from my yard some flowers usually very fragrant, and 

 found them to be void of their usual perfume. I took them into the house 

 away from the wind, and their fragrance returned at once. This experi- 

 ment has been frequently repeated, with the same uniform result, The 

 leaves of the acacia tree, which close up only at night, close up soon after 

 the beginning of a north wind. 



Thomas Sayles, for twenty-five years a practical nurseryman, twelve 



