54 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 1. 



he knew to be true, as much as, by a continuous I the winds rushing over such an extent of congeal- 



voltaic stream fronn silica of potass, he himself 

 produced living animalcute. He also exhibited 

 some insects oblamed fi'om hard polished stone, 

 and which were now, like those of JMr. Crosse, 

 enjo3'ing life alter a transition [from a sleep?] oi' 

 many thousand years. — [A\ Y. Star. 



From the Genesee Farmer. 

 CLIMATE OF THE WEST. 



We believe that the opinion is generally enter- 

 tained in this and the eastern states, that the cli- 

 mate, in proceeding from east to west on the same 

 parallel of laiitutle, grows more mild as we recede 

 ironi the Atlantic until we reach the PaciMc ; and 

 the instances are not unfrequent in which individ- 

 uals and families leave pleasant homes in the At- 

 lantic states, and emigrate to those of the west, 

 under the expectation of finding a country ii'ee 

 from the cutting blasts of the eastern winter wind. 

 This opinion of a mild and more equal tempera- 

 ture in the Mississippi valley than in the Atlantic 

 states is an error, which the experience ol' the 

 present winter will go far to dissipate. 



Long continued observations made at the mili- 

 tary posts, and in other positions both of the east 

 and west, prove beyond a doubt, that on any given 

 parallel of latitude, the climate is both hotter and 

 colder in the course of the years m the western 

 -country, than it is on the Atlantic. In the sum- 

 mer, the country west of the Alleghanies is hotter 

 than it is east of these mountains, as it is shut out 

 irom the effect of the sea winds that have an ef- 

 lect on the eastern side far into the interior, and in 

 the winter the cold north winds from the Arctic 

 sea, or the west ones from the snowy ranges of 

 the Rocky Mountains, sweep over the immense 

 plains and (i"ozen earth without meetinij any cause 

 to raise iheir temperature, or diminish their vio- 

 lence. In the Atlantic states the influence of these 

 causes is rarely felt, or it they are, the intensity of 

 the cold is diminished by the open sea, and the 

 vast column of warm water flowing constantly 

 Jrora the tropics, in the gulf stream, along our 

 shorts. Experience and observation has also 

 shown that the thermometrical range is greater 

 on the Mississippi than on the sea coast, and it is 

 well known that vicissitudes of weather are al- 

 ways lelt in exact proportion to their suddenness 

 and extent. 



From letters and from papers which describe 

 the suflerings of the citizens, principally the new 

 settlers, on the western prairies of Indiana, Illinois 

 and other places, it is evident the season there has 

 been one of unusual severity. The degree of cold 

 has tar exceeded any thini; felt in the coldest sec- 

 tions of western New York, unattended by the 

 causes which have here mitigated its violence or 

 limited its duration. Rochester and Chicago may 

 be selected as two points of observation, and it 

 will be found that the average temperature lor the 

 month of January, is at least fifteen or twenty 

 degrees lower at the latter than at the former place. 

 It is believed that more deaths from freezing, and 

 more cases of suffering from fi-ozen limbs, have 

 ocurred the present winter, from Wisconsin to 

 Arkansas, than has occurred in the whole east for 

 three years past. There has been less snow than 

 with UP, it is true, but the earth has been frozen to 

 the depth oi" two feet; and the piercing nature of 



ed surface, unchecked by mountains and unbroken 

 bv forests, "must be felt in order to be a| pprecia- 

 ted." 



The effect of this state of temperature at the 

 west will be easily understood, so far as it regards 

 the interests of the farmer, or its influence on the 

 valetudinarian. There can be no doubt that on 

 the same parallel the western region is better for 

 corn than the eastern one ; and the same rule will 

 hold good for all annual plants and vegetables 

 that require a high temperature in the summer 

 months to bring them to perliiction. Potatoes, 

 however, will not do so well in the west as the 

 east, and Maine or Nova Scotia will produce roots 

 of a finer quality, and in as great quantity, as the 

 lar richer prairies of the west. The moister air 

 and equalizing tein|)erature of the sea in the east, 

 and the liability to drought in the west, suthcient- 

 ly explain this. Wheat will grow in either sec- 

 tion ; it remains to be seen whether, as the soil is 

 more culiivated at the west, the liability to freeze 

 out will increase, as it evidently does in many 

 sections of the country east of the Alleghanies. 

 Perennial plants which require a high tempera- 

 ture through the year, will survive our winters in 

 the open air much further north on the sea coast, 

 than on the Mississippi. For instance the passion 

 flower, Spanish turnip flower, and some of the. 

 palms, will flourish at Noifolk in Virginia, in ll e 

 open air, several degrees further north than they 

 can be found west of the mountains. 



We think, therefijre, that those who expect to 

 find perpetual sunmier in the great valley, will be 

 sorely tlisappointed ; that those who wish to raise 

 large quantities of corn with certainty and com- 

 parative ease will there be gratified ; that potatoes 

 and similar esculent roots are b( t er here than 

 there; and that wheat can at present be grown 

 there as wed, or in greater quantities than with 

 us ; though whether the liicility of production 

 will eventually compensate the distance from mar- 

 ket remains yet to be seen. 



From tlie Genesee Farmer. 

 HEDGES — OSAGE ORANGE. 



The publication of a late number of the Genesee 

 Farmer, making inquiry on the subject of hedges, 

 and signed by "A Young Farmer," seems to offer 

 a suitable occasion for auain bringing to notice a 

 plant which is but little known, though eminently 

 adapted to that purpose. I allude to the madura 

 or Osage orange. During the past year or two, I 

 have several times attempted to introduce it to the 

 consideration of those who contemplate the con- 

 struction of live fences; and from my own experi- 

 ence, I have recommended it as perfectly hardy. 

 In a late number of the Cultivator, however, I was 

 surprised to find a character given to it by the edi- 

 tor of that paper, which is entirely at variance 

 with all the knowledge I possess, or have been 

 able to collect, concerning it. In the climate of 

 Albany it is represented as being very tender, 

 ''even more tender than the morus multicaulis, as 

 it had been there killed to the ground every win- 

 ter." 



To account for such an effect, I felt certain there 

 must have existed some local cause; but my infor- 

 mation did not enable me to point it out. The 



