354 



STATE POMO LOGICAL SOCIETY. 



For the last eight years wo have had two winters live degrees above zero the 

 coldest, two winters just zero, and four winters below that point from one to 

 nine days eacli. The aggregate nnniber of days bslow zero for the eiglit yeai*s 

 is nineteen. This subject of tiie superiority of our climate, is of the greatest 

 importance to the whole i)eople of the northwest, and especially to those 

 engaged or proi)osing to engage in tlie business of fruit growing. This being the 

 case, every available means of disseminating information should bo improved. 

 Our claims should not only bo spread before tlie pcoi)le, but the proof necessary 

 to establish their correctness. Tiiis can be accomplished most effectually by 

 defniite statements and comj)arisons. 



]5eloit, Wisconsin, is directly west of us, about Oii miles from the west shore 

 of Lake Michigan. Every winter for the past eight years it has been from IG 

 to 24: degrees colder there than it has here. I refer to that place particularly, 

 because I receive a daily record of the weather and temperature, once a week. 



I will now revert to tlie winter of 1872 and 1873, the coldest to that date, 

 but which was duplicated two years later. For convenient comparison, I will 

 place the record of the two winters, also the names of places east and west of 

 us, in juxtaposition : 



Winter 1S74-5. 



Februar}' 9tli. 



Soutli Ilavcn, for a few nionieiits, 



clear and very still -16° 



February ISth. 



Beloit, Wis ^0 



Janesville, Wis. -40 



February 9th. 



Grand Rapi (Is '. -40 



Kalamazoo, Mich -34 



Battle Creek, Mich. -34 



Sparta, Wis. -48 



St. Joseph, Mich., became disgusted, 

 considered thermometers unrelia- 

 ble. Xo report, 



January Dth. 



Chicago, 111 '. -28 



Jacksonville, 111 -24 



Winter 1872-3. 



December 24th. 



Soutli Haven -14° 



Beloit, Wis -40 



Janesville, Wis. -40 



Grand Kapi ds, Mich.. -40 



Lansing, Mich. } -33 



Self-reg. Thcr. \ -45 



Tiffin. Ohio -31 



St. Josepli, Mich -22 



St Louis, ;Mo -IG 



Centralia. Ill -22 to -27 



Chica.iro, 111 -20 



In ^liiuicsota it was believed that 

 over 100 people froze to death. 

 AVinter 1874-5. 

 January 9th. 



LaSallc, 111 .'. -28 



Springfield, 111 -24 



Southern Kansas -17 



From correspondence Prairie Farmer, 1875: 



Feb. r2th — Kane county. 111. It has been beloAV zero 34 out of 43 mornings. 

 Feb. 20th — Janesville, Wis. For 38 days the average has been -14°. 

 Feb. 17tli — Niles, Mich. It has been below zero 43 consecutive mornings. 



The above shows a remarkable uniformity, not only in the two winters, but 

 in the degrees of cold east and west of the lake, away from its influence. The 

 degrees, however, do not express the whole of tlie diirorence in effect. A very 

 sudden change has a much greater effect on man, beast, or trees, tlian a grad- 

 ual change of the same numl)or of degrees. West of the lake the changes are 

 much more sudden than they are here. Allow me to introduce one example: 



^londay niglit, Fol). r2th, 1872, at Beloit, Wis., it was 38 degrees above zero; Tues- 

 day morning, tlio 13th, (i degrees Ijolow zero was the score; a change of 44 degrees in 

 half a dozen hours. — Beloit Free Press. 



My record for the same time stands : 



February 12rli, C, v. T\r., 31] degrees; Tuesday morning, 13th, 34, with high west wind 

 getting cold very fast — 40 degrees warmer than Beloit. Noon 22 decrees; G r. Ji 

 10 degrees— being a change of 24 degrees in 12 yours against 44° at Beloit in a night 



