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LI MATE. The influence of weather upon crops is far 

 greater than the influence of manure. If to the pos- 

 session of the previous characteristics of a good soil we 

 can add a good climate, we shall have all the necessary 

 conditions of fertility. The importance of climate can- 

 not be overrated, for it is the immediate cause of the 

 vast difference in productive power between a Tropical 

 and an Arctic region. The term climate expresses 

 three conditions, each of which is essential to the vege- 

 tative process namely, light, heat, and moisture. These three conditions 

 are all due to that energy which is constantly emanating from the sun, 

 and hence vegetable life becomes more and more intensely active as the 

 power of the sun increases, whether it be towards the equator, or towards 

 that period of the year when the sun's action is most direct and long 

 continued. 



It is perhaps scarcely necessary to remind the student that the general 

 character of the climate varies chiefly with latitude. If climate steadily 

 improved as we travelled southward, and steadily became colder as we 

 travelled north, the subject would have but little interest for agriculturists. 

 This 'is, however, far from the case, for the climate of a country or locality 

 is always considerably affected by various other circumstances besides that 

 of latitude. To such an extent is this the case, that probably every farm, 

 and even field, boasts a particular climate, and practical farmers take cli- 

 mate into account when they are weighing the advantages or disadvan- 

 tages of particular farms. 



England lies in the same latitude as Moscow, and considerably higher 

 than Newfoundland. The favourable climate which, despite adverse crit- 

 icisms, England enjoys, is due to its insular position and the Gulf Stream, 

 and, interesting as the subject is, we cannot further enlarge upon it here. 

 Besides latitude, climate varies under the following circumstances: Alti- 

 tude, longitude, proximity to the sea, lakes, rivers, or marshes, aspect, char- 

 acter of the soil, and situation, as affected by shelter, slope, or inclination 

 of the ground, etc. Each of these circumstances exerts a marked effect 

 upon the climate of a farm, and therefore upon its productive power. 



