Ch.VI] COLD TEMPERATE WOODLAND AND GRASSLAND 353 



AVERAGE NUMBER OF RAINY DAYS IN THE LOWLAND OF THE 



HUNGARIAN PLAIN. 

 (After Hunfalvy, op. cit., p. 293.) 



Concerning the general climatic characters the following is gleaned from 

 the same work: — 



The course of temperature, as is usually the case in an inland 

 country remote from oceanic influence, is very fluctuating, the changes 

 being rapid and extreme. Winter is usually severe, but very variable. 

 Up to the middle of May warm days usually alternate with windy 

 raw days ; night frosts last till April and May. On the ivhole, dry 

 hot summers are commoner than moist cool ones. In these hot summers, 

 the thermometer in the shade frequently remains for weeks at 22-30° C. 

 The sweltering heat commences even at about 7-8 a.m. and lasts till 

 6-7 p.m. The air is extraordinarily dry ; not a drop of dew refreshes the 

 vegetation. 



Almost every morning a wind springs up, which bloivs steadily till the 

 evening. Days and weeks pass in this way. The leaves of trees and 

 shrubs wither in consequence of the great heat, drought, and evaporation, 

 the crops turn yellow prematurely, grass completely dries up in the 

 meadows. Winds blow frequently in the lowland, and are often per- 

 sistent and strong. In summer they increase the drought, for they favour 

 evaporation. This is specially true for the easterly, north-easterly, and 

 south-easterly winds. 



This description, in which the most important passages are italicized, 

 represents a true grassland climate, and at the same time a climate 

 unfavourable to tree-growth. As in South Russia and North America, it is 

 characterized as a grassland climate by the dry winter ; moist early summer, 

 moderate rainfall, frequent showers, as well as by the mild temperature 

 during the vegetative season of the grasses. Moreover, the moderate 

 rainfall, the dry cold -winter, the dry hot late summer, the strong winds, 

 and the prevalent great dryness of the air, are unfavourable to tree- 

 growth. 



5. COLD TEMPERATE EASTERN ASIA. 



North temperate Japan has an abundant supply of rain falling at all 

 seasons of the year, but especially in autumn and early winter. The 

 climate is a forest climate, and the character of its vegetation corresponds. 

 Saghalin agrees with North Japan, although its maximum rainfall is 

 decidedly autumnal. North-East China and the basin of the Amur have 



