FARMERS' REGISTER— CLIMATE OF VIRGINIA. 



217 



plaees continvied on tlie .ground till tlje . 4th of 

 March. Early frost did much injury to- vegeta- 

 tion, vvdiile the cold was but slightly removed iroin 

 the earth until late in the ensuing summer. Tiie 

 spring of 1834 was attended by severe frosts, 

 which resembled in their destractiv^e character, 

 those which had rendered the year 181G proverbial. 

 They committed great devastations in April, and 

 on the 15th, 16lh, and 17th of ftla}-, the Indian 

 corn on' our tow lands, and the leaves ol' the gar- 



. den and forest .hees were scathed and bligiite^:! 

 to a degree precluding, in many cases^. all' hdpe ol 

 restoration. 



In Virginia the transitions from heat to cold are 

 sudden, and sometimes to v^ery extreme degrees-; 

 often in the day time the mercury wiU stand at 

 94° or 81", and will fall in the course. of u lew 

 hours to 60° and 50'^. JNIr. Jefferson informs us 

 .that the mercury has been known to descend from 

 92^ to 47° in thirteen hours. I have frequently 

 noted vicissitudes of a similar kind, and when the 

 change is accompanied by a south east vv'ind and 

 rain, the air becomes cold, raw and disagreeable. 

 We have lew summers in which a fire is not often 

 required. On the 1st of Maj', 1827, there was a 

 slight fall of snow at Gloucester Court House,* 

 "while it is not uncommon to see slight frosts in 



■August. In our winter the cold weather, though 

 severe is short, and the frequent snows of the niglT^t 

 are generally removed betbre the sunset of the 

 e/isuiug day. Water in ponds is slowly congealed, 

 and rarely makes ice thick enough for preserva- 

 tion, until it has been chilled by a fall of snow-— 

 again, its production is very rapid; rivers half of 

 a' mile in breadth, will be frozen over in the course 

 of one nigiit, sufficiently firm to bear men and 

 horses. t In the month of January, 1-827, many 

 of those short yet wide salt streams, ivhich wash 

 the shores of "Gloucester county, were frozen to 

 the extent of thirfy or forty feet from the land. 

 This rigorous cold is rarely of much duration, 

 Bustained, and principally created by north. and 

 north eastern winds, it quickly yields to the shill- 

 ing of the wind to any other point. Some of our 

 winters arc so temjierate and mild, that the cattle 

 can find a support in the woods; vegetation has 

 been observed in all the winter months, and in the 

 hitter .part of Decemlrer diminutive pears, peaches 

 and apples, fully rrjiened, have, been gathered 

 from the trees. A rose exposed hi an open garden 

 bloomed throughout the whole, winter of '28 and 

 '29; in this winter the peach tree bloomed in the 

 latter part of Januarj^, and produced in its regular 

 season a plentitul crop of fruit. INIany of our 

 coldest days are succeeded by gentle and mode- 

 rate evenings; our severest cold is about the latter 

 part of January, generally connnencing alter a 

 hard rain, and continuing on an average about six 

 days, thus realising the truth of that old Virginian 

 proverb, "that as the day lengthens the" cold 

 strengthens;" a rapid thaw, often accompanied 

 with rain and east winds, then talces .place, while 



*Dr. Rush in his essay on thoclimate of Pennsyl- 

 vania, mentions a fall of snow at Philadelphia on the 

 night between the 4th and 5th May, 1774. 



t Mr. JetFerson tells lis that in 1776 York River was 

 ffozen over at YorJ: town, and in 1780, Chesapeake 

 Bay was solid from its head to the" month of the Po- 

 lomac. The cold winters of 1784 and 1814 still live 

 in the. recollections of tradition. 



warm days and moderate nights soon reduce ita 

 severity, and open the way tijr the premature ap- 

 proach of spring. ''Halle of March" is no longer 

 winter, spring has already scattered her vivid man- 

 tle o'er the -Bcene, while the whole air is redolent 

 of life and fragrance. Yet even its brightness is 

 momentar}' — an unexpected host often, shows that 

 the frown of winter still Inig-ers on the-'land, and 

 we too frequently find a practical illustration of 

 Shakespear's metaphor, 



"The tyrannous breathings of the north, 

 Ciiecks all oux buds from blowing." 



It is now stormy, variable and cold; now calm, 

 gentle and warm, and now dry, peacefiil, and se- 

 rene. Until the middle of May our climate pre- 

 sents one incessant tumuU of rain and drouo-ht, 

 ii-ost and heat; yet a spring uniformly cold is far 

 more flivorable to our agriculture, than its usual 

 uncertain temperature for suppressing vegetation, 

 it protects it frorri the blighting frosts of March 

 and April. Often during the spring months the 

 weather is excessively damp, cloudy and hazy; 

 in March, 1833, the sun vras obscured for more 

 than thirteen days, while every thing was chilled 

 into gloomy melancholy. 



The vegetation of this season affords us a cri- 

 terion of the heat of the spring, which may be 

 received in aid of the more accurate results de- 

 rived fi-om the thermoriieter. In the course of four 

 years I have found these average periods of time 

 sustained by careful observations: 



Pcacli blooms from March 7 to March 14. 



Apple blooms from March 20 to March 29. 



Cherry blooms from March 13 to March 17. 



Plum blooms from March 26 to March 81. 



Strawberry blooms from March 24 to INIarch 31.* 



About the latter part of Ma}^ our summer has 

 commenced: the air becomes dry, warm and elastic, 

 and the verdure of the forest assumes a more deep- 

 ened hue of vivid green. The superabundant 

 moisture of the earth acquired during the winter, 

 is now thoroughly evaporated, and the tempera- 

 ture of the season in dispelling, lassitude, invio-o- 

 rates into activity; summer burns on with a bright 

 and glowing splendor, alternately relieved by gen- 

 tle showers and refreshing breezes. Occasional 

 droughts of many weeks in duration, parch the 

 luxuriance of the vegetation; they are succeeded 

 by copious and heavy showers of rain, which 

 quickly restore the withered prospect. The ap- 

 proach of autumn is marked by heavy fogs in the 

 morning and evening, which are soon dispelled, 

 leaving that calm and serene temperature, which 

 gives- to this season all the beauty of tranquU re- 

 pose. In every season there is a large and con- 

 stant exhalation from the earth in the shape of 

 vapor, ita. volume being proportioned' to the heat 

 of the day. We d^ not often observe tliis exhala- 

 tion when the heat of the atmosphere difiers in a 

 small degree from that of the earth; when the 

 temperature of the air is considerably lower, this 

 vapor so soon as it has arisen is deprived of a part 

 of its heat, while its watery pai-tieles are more 



* At the residence of R. G. Esq. near the Natural 

 Bridge in the Valley of Virginia, these fruit trees in the 

 year 1834, bloomed at the following periods: — 



Peach April 1. 



Apple March 30. 



Plum April 1. 



Sh-awberry April 15. 



