THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



251 



respect they arc in a normal state, I'roin which they can 

 never be galvanized by the Government; and nothing 

 less than a complete alteration of the law of inherit- 

 ance will produce that change. 



Under present circumstances, therefore, the Eng- 

 lish has nothing to fear from the competition of 

 the French farmer. Both countries were blessed last 

 season with a productive harvest, and low prices are 

 the consequence, aggravated by other and temporary 

 circumstances, which can hardly occur again in a 

 simultaneous combination. 



It is a great alleviation to the present state of the 

 corn-trado that meat and all animal produce continue 

 at rea\unerating prices. In this, neither France nor 



any other country can injure us. It is true, by the 

 system pursued by the French Government in its inter- 

 ference with the several trades, and the butchers 

 amongst the rest, the retail price of meat is kept down 

 to a certain standard, like that of bread; but the con- 

 sequent increased consumption has raised the price to 

 the butcher beyond what would pny a profit upon an 

 export-trade to England ; so that our graziers have 

 the market pretty well to themselves. We much ques- 

 tion also whether, with our improved system of a^;ri- 

 culture and the use of machinery, we cannot compete 

 with any corn-growing country in the world, when the 

 expences of transit, commission, &c., are taken into the 

 account. 



USES OF THE SNOW. 



Pleasant as is the revolution of the seasons, with the mani- 

 fold aspects they present, one can hardly observe the approach 

 of winter without feelings of regret and sadness. This is the 

 case especially with thoae who delight ia the observation and 

 study of Nature, or are devoted to the pursuits of agriculture. 

 The tourist finds little pleasure in excursions amid beautiful 

 scenery, if meanwhile he is frost-bitteu ; the landscape painter 

 must fold up his sketches with benumbed fingers, and hasten 

 homeward ; the botanist — where are the flowers be loved so 

 well ? — the geologist, entomologist, and indeed the student in 

 almost every department in natural science, finds his sphere 

 of observation reduced to very narrow bounds ; the gardener 

 must ceaae his delightful labours, and the farmer can no longer 

 sow and reap, and gather into barns, but must witness for 

 many months an exhausting drain upon his stores without any 

 replenishing streams. 



But is there no bright side to this picture ? While our 

 gardens and fields are buried in snow, and our roads are blocked 

 up by drifts, are there no benefits in this winter covering which 

 make up a partial compensation for its admitted evils and dis- 

 comforts? We think there are; and such as most concern 

 the man (the farmer) who seems most to suffer from it. It is 

 this aspect of winter we now propose briefly to consider. 



The old proverb that " snow is the poor man's manure," is 

 believed to have its basis in scientific fact. Chemists tell us 

 that analysis reveals a larger per-ceutage of ammonia in snow 

 than in rain. This, at least, is true, that snow is a powerful 

 absorbent, purifying the air, and returning thoae impurities as 

 fertilizers to the soil. Melt in a clean vessel a mass of snow 

 which has lain a short time on the ground, and the taste will 

 detect foreign elements in the water. This is most manifest 

 in the neghbourhood of large towns. The harshness and dry- 

 ness produced in the mouth by drinking snow water, and the 

 unpleasant effects on the skin by washing in it, are ascribed to 

 the impurities it contains. The disease called goitre, prevailing 

 in Alpine regions, is also attributed by some to the use of snow 

 water. A certain writer illustrates the absorbent power of 

 snow thus : " Take a lump of snow (crust answers well), of 

 three or four inches in length, and hold it in the flame of a 

 lamp ; not a drop of water will fall from the snow, but the 

 water as fast aa formed will penetrate or be drawn up into the 

 snow by capillary attraction. It is by virtue of tliis power that 

 it purifies the atmosphere, by absorbing and retaining its noxi- 

 ous and noisome gases and odours." 



Furthermore, it prevents exhalations from the earth, and 

 having absorbed them, returns their fertilizing properties to 

 the soil. Hence, marshes and stagnant pools become inodor- 

 ous in winter, and the unwholesome etfluvia of vegetable 

 matter everywhere decaying, is retained, and with the melting 

 of the snow in spring, is takeu up by the soil, So much as 

 this, at least, we fully believe— that "the poor man's manure" 

 is as good as some of the " patent" fcrtihzcra of the day. 



Snow helps the springs and mill-streams in winter. Were the 

 ground n rtked froui fall to spring, and frozen meanwhile several 

 feet deep, the spriugs would give out, and water-wheels of all 

 descriptions staud idle. As it is, however, the snow prevents 

 the frost from penetrating to a great depth — especially in the 

 wooded hUls, the fountain heads of springs and streams — and 



by their gradual melting keep up a supply of water for man 

 and beast. 



Not the least important use of snow is the protection it af- 

 fords to tender vegetation. Even in northern latitudes, there 

 is a multitude of tender and half-tender indigenous plants, 

 which require more or less protection in winter. Nature pro- 

 vides for them most wisely. She hangs over them the branches 

 of neighbouring trees and bushes, gathers about their roots a 

 many-folded blanket of dry leaves, and last of all, spreads over 

 them a fleecy mantle of snow. With this covering they pass 

 through the severest winter safely ; but were they transplanted 

 to exposed situations, they would die at once. But besides, 

 our gardens and fields are stocked with plants and grains which 

 are the natives of warmer climates, and need protection still 

 more. Sweep off the snow from our wheat fields and meadows, 

 and at least a portion of the crop would be winter-killed. 

 Some of the choicest herbaceous plants in our gardens, brought 

 from milder regions, will pass unharmed through our coldest 

 winters, if only they are covered with snow. So of many 

 tender shrubs. With their branches fastened to the ground 

 so as to be covered with snow, they hybernate in Canada about 

 as well as at the tropics. We have seen the English yew, 

 several feet high, come out in spring well browned above the 

 snoiv-line, while all below was green as emerald. The Japan 

 quince, by no means a tender shrub, thedeutzias, Sjurea pruni- 

 foUa, Forsythia viridissima, the scarlet-flowering currants, &c., 

 &c., frequently lose their flower-buds, if not their branches, 

 above the snow, while all underneath is unharmed. The buds 

 of peach-trees are often killed in severe winters ; but if a few 

 branches happen to get bent under the snow, they produce a 

 splendid show of fruit. Scientific travellers in Siberia have re- 

 corded instances in which, with the temperature of the air above 

 the snow at 72 degs. below zero, that below was 29 degs. above 

 zero, showing a ditference of 100 degs. Dr. Kane, in hia 

 "Arctic Expedition," mentions finding underneath the snow, at 

 lat. 78 degs., " the andromeda in full flower, and saxifrages and 

 carices green under the dried tufts of last year. Here, too, the 

 silene and cerathrium, as well aa the characteristic flower- 

 growths of later summer, the poppy and sorrel, were aheady 

 recognizable." * * * "Few of us at home," he con- 

 tinues, " can realize the protecting value of this warm coverlet 

 of snow. No eider-down in the cradle of au infant is tucked 

 in more kindly than the sleeping dress of winter about this 

 feeble flower-life." 



When the «now falls early in winter, and remains until 

 spring, the ground is seldom frozen at all. And if it becomes 

 frozen a few inches deep before the snow falls, the heat of the 

 subsoil thaws out the frost above it, and the superincumbent 

 snow prevents another freezing, so that in early sprmg the 

 ground is soft and ready for the plough and spade. 



The aid which the snow renders the farmers in clearing up 

 swamps and getting out muck in winter, and in hauling wood 

 and lumber to market ; the peculiar brilliancy of the snowy 

 landscape when lighted up by the sun ; the sport of sliding 

 down hill for the boys, and of sleigh-riding for children of 

 larger growth, are considerations not to be omitted iu number- 

 ing up the usea of snow.— CountrylGentleman. 



