176 HENRY HILL GOODELL 



the average of six years, rain is found to fall on one hun- 

 dred and fifty days, but it most frequently occurs at night 

 or early in the morning, seldom lasting through the day, 

 thereby securing the maximum of sunshine. The mean an- 

 nual rainfall is about thirty -three inches. Under these 

 favorable conditions of temperature and moisture a flora 

 that is almost tropical prevails. Fuchsias reaching the pro- 

 portions of shrubs, rhododendrons twenty to twenty -five 

 feet in height, araucarias, — or monkey-trees, as they are 

 popularly designated, — oleanders, yuccas, palms, azaleas, 

 and camellias flourish in the open air, while climate and soil 

 appear to be particularly suitable for the cultivation of the 

 dahlia. Finer specimens I have never seen. The lauresti- 

 nus was in bloom in November, and fig trees and oranges 

 were everywhere to be seen trained against the south walls 

 of enclosures. 



It is a climatic law that in all places where the mean 

 temperature is below 62.6 degrees, the revival of nature in 

 spring takes place in that month of which the mean tem- 

 perature reaches 42.8 degrees. On the island of Jersey this 

 occurs in February. This again is a very important factor 

 in the agricultural development of the place, for the early 

 spring and the proximity of the great markets of London 

 and Paris enable the inhabitants to dispose of their produce 

 at a great profit. It is no uncommon thing for a man to 

 pay for a piece of potato land as high a rental as two to 

 three hundred dollars an acre, and to sell his crop of four or 

 five hundred bushels for $1,000 or $1,100. But this is not 

 the end, for immediately after the gathering of the first crop 

 the land is freshly manured and a second crop is planted, 

 yielding from two-thirds to three-fourths the amount of the 



