560 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. 



homes. The great Himalayan range of mountains runs east 

 and west, separating the continent of Asia into two grand 

 divisions, one on the north, and the other on the south. By 

 means of this great natural barrier, the country lying south 

 of it is completely defended from the north winds, and sel- 

 dom experiences a severe degree of cold. The countries 

 north of the range, on the other hand, are just as effectually 

 cut off from the warming influence of the south winds. 

 The returning currents of the atmosphere, from the equator 

 to the poles, cannot freely pass over these mountains, but are 

 diverted to the outside of the chain, and return along the 

 valley of the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, and over the 

 western coast of Europe. Hence, the climate of that coun- 

 try is the most delightful in the world ; and while Persia and 

 the Indies, on the south of the Himalayan range, enjoy an 

 almost perpetual summer, Siberia, Tartary, and other coun- 

 tries on the north of it, are rendered almost uninhabitable by 

 cold. 



The character of the American continent, which is divided 

 by the Rocky Mountains, in the direction of north and south, 

 is quite the reverse of this. The northern regions feel the 

 full influence of the returning winds from the equator to the 

 poles, and the southern regions' are equally subject, in winter, 

 to the freezing winds, that meet with no barrier to intercept 

 their progress from the Arctic circle. Hence, North America 

 has the most variable climate known ; and often, while the 

 New England States in mid-winter are enjoying the mild 

 weather of the Carolinas, brought to them by a few days' 

 prevalence of the south wind, the orange trees in Florida are 

 in jeopardy from the freezing gales that pour down west of 

 the Alleghanies, directly from Labrador. 



All this difference between the climate of Asia and Ameri- 

 ca may be attributed to the different course of the great 

 ranges of mountains in these two continents. Were the 

 Rocky Mountains stretched uninterruptedly across the conti- 

 nent of America, from the coast of Labrador to that of the 

 Russian possessions on the Pacific — the Canadas would have 

 a climate as mild as that of Europe ; and Newfoundland, now 



