510 



NOTES OX TUK VALLEY OF LAKE ClIAMPLAIN- 



towns on its banks, while in many jtlaces, 

 the niountain range extends qniie to its 

 shores, presenting a varied and pictnresque 

 appearance, for one-half its length, when it 

 ceases, and the land between the lake and 

 river St. Lawrence is level — and to the out- 

 let of Lake Ontario, rolling. 



The prevailing rock on the cast side is 

 black slate, sand and limestone. On the 

 west side, gneiss and other primary rocks, 

 hypersthene, sand and limestone, while in 

 many places the immense mountains and 

 beds of iron ore (compared with which the 

 iron mountains in Missouri are insignificant) 

 extend (]uite to its shores, and great quan- 

 tities of black or iron sand are thrown on its 

 beach, which is collected in casks and sent 

 to New- York in quantities to supply all de- 

 mands for it. 



This valley contains every variety of soil, 

 from stiff clay to a sandy plain. On the 

 eastern or Vermont side, to the base of the 

 mountain range, a gravelh^ or clayey loam 

 predominates. There is some sandy and 

 some clayey portions — with a large amount 

 of intervale or bottom lands. Springs and 

 small streams are very abundant, and for 

 agricultural purposes it is the best tract of 

 land, of like extent, in N. England. On 

 the west side, where unbroken, the soil is 

 much like the east, but the streams are 

 generally rapid, with steep banks, while 

 there are some exceptions, and a few valua- 

 ble tracts of intervale or bottom lands. 



Climate. — The average mean tempera- 

 ture, for the last nine years, has been for 



January, .. 20° 4' 



February,. 20° 2' 



March, ... 30° 3' 



April, .... 44° 4' 



May, 54° 7' 



June, 64° 9' 



July, 69° 2' 



August,... 69° 



September, 60° 1' 



October, . . 47° 2' 



November,. 35° 2' 



December,. 22° 8' 



44" 10' 



Greatest heat, July, 1^11, and August, 



1845 and 1846, 96° 



Greatest cold. January 2-8, 1^14, —24° 



Greatest range, 120° 



Average annual range, 1 10° 



The thermometer rarely falls to — 20° ; 

 — IS*^ was the lowest, in the winters of 

 1845 and 1846, and — 14'^ the past winter. 

 The lake opposite Burlington is sometimes 

 open during the winter, but is usually closed 

 about the last week in January, or first 

 week in February, and the time of opening 

 averages about 10th April. 



Rain and Snow. — Average quantity of 

 rain for the last nine years : 



Inches. 



January, ... 1.81 



February, . . 1.71 



March, 2.21 



April, 2.12 



May, 2.96 



June, 3.63 



Average, 29 . 57 



Least quantit}' of rain, 27.58 inches — 1844. 



Greatest quantity of rain, 37.28 inches — 1840. 



The average quantity of snow has been 

 72 inches. The time for "good sleighing" 

 averages about two months. In the winter 

 of 1845 and 1846, snow came on the first 

 day of December and remained for so long 

 as to give us uninterrupted sleighing 103 

 days, unknown before to that respectable 

 old gentleman, the "oldest inhabitant." 



Average time of appearing of robins, March 22. 



" " " sparrows, " 25. 



" " swallows. April 27. 



Average time of currants in full bloom, May 7. 



" " plum and cherry " '' 14. 



" " apple " " "22. 



For the foregoing extracts from tables, I 



* [We find, on examining our record of the progress of ihe 

 spring for the last ten j-^ears, that in Newburgli the average 

 time of the blossoming of currants is April 14. 

 " " cherry and plum, " 20, 



" '• apple " 28, 



which makes the opening of the season nearly a mouth earlier 

 here than at Burlington.— Ed.] 



