6 



as that which European observations have received at the hands of 

 the lamented Linsser. 



The very extensive problem suggested by the title of this report 

 involves, first, a general study of meteorology in its relations to 

 vegetable and animal life; second, the determination of the effect of 

 climate upon the growth and distribution of staple crops; third, the 

 determination of the climatic conditions and the localities best suited 

 to the growth of special varieties of plants and seeds; fourth, the 

 statistics of the extent of the areas best adapted to each of the more 

 important crops; fifth, the separate and the combined effects of tem- 

 perature, rainfall, and sunshine, both in their normal and abnormal 

 proportions, upon the annual yields of the staple crops. But such 

 study necessitates great labor and much time, and as the first step 

 in any such investigation consists in the critical examination of the 

 work already done by others, in order to prevent unnecessary dupli- 

 cation and avoid the troubles that others have experienced, therefore 

 the reader must consider this first report as only a brief introduction 

 to our knowledge of the relations between climates and crops. 



Three ways are generally recognized as affording our only methods 

 of advancing our knowledge of our subject, viz, physiological, experi- 

 mental, and statistical. I shall therefore endeavor to present the 

 question of climates and crops from these three points of view. 



1. The physiological studies of many botanical physiologists, under 

 the leadership of Prof. Julius von Sachs, of the Botanical Institute 

 at Wiirzburg, Germany, have given us an insight into the method 

 of growth of plants and the conditions upon which successful agri- 

 culture must depend. Their conclusions, based upon microscopic 

 examination, delicate measurements, and detailed study of all the 

 minutiae in the life of a plant, have given occasion to the development 

 of what ma}^ be called a theory of vegetable life, which, however, is 

 still fclr from having reached a perfect stage of development. Under 

 this head I have collected observations relative to the germination 

 of seeds, the flow of the sap, the action of sunlight on the leaves, the 

 absorption of moisture by the roots, the transpiration from the leaves, 

 the ripening of the seeds, the nutritious value of the crop, and the 

 acclimatization of plants. 



2. The experimental method of determining the relations of crops 

 and climates is that practiced at agricultural experiment stations 

 and also in the botanical or biological laboratories that are so plen- 

 tiful in the United States and in Europe. In these institutions 

 special seeds are sown with special care, either in the open air in small 

 plats of ground or in culture pots in rooms where the temperature, 

 moisture, and other conditions are under control. The numerous ab- 

 stracts that I have presented in this report tend to show the effect of 

 varying conditions upon the resulting crops, and I must agree heartily 



