CLIMATE. 



CLIMATE. 



their bane, in the southern climates, is harsh ' 

 and brittle. A warm climate forces these j 

 plants so rapidly into maturity, that the lint 

 does not acquire either consistency or tenacity. 

 We must go far north in Europe, even to the 

 Baltic, to find these plants in perfection, and 

 their products very merchantable. Ireland is 

 rather an exception as to latitude ; but the in- 

 fluence of the sun is so effectually counteracted 

 there by moisture and exposure to the sea air, 

 that it is always cool : hence, the flax and po- 

 tato arrive at such perfection in that region. 



"It holds equally true in the farinaceous 

 plants. Rice is a tropical plant ; yet Carolina 

 and Georgia grow the finest in the world; 

 heavier grained, better filled, and more mer- 

 chantable, than any imported into Europe from 

 the Indies. The inhabitants of the East Indies 

 derive their subsistence almost exclusively 

 from rice ; they must be supposed, therefore, 

 to cultivate it with all skill and care, and the 

 best contrivances for irrigation. Such is, how- 

 ever, the forcing nature of their climate, that 

 the plant grows too rapidly, and dries away 

 before the grain be properlv filled. Indian 

 corn, or maize, if not a tropical plant, was ori- 

 ginally found near the tropics ; and although it 

 now occupies a wide range, it produces the 

 heaviest crops near the northern limit of its 

 range. In the West Indies it rises thirty feet 

 in height; but with all that gigantic size, it 

 produces only a few grains on the bottom of a 

 spongy cob, and is counted on only as rough 

 provender. In the southern part of the United 

 States, it reaches a height of fifteen feet, and 

 will produce thirty bushels to.the acre ; in the 

 rich lands of Kentucky and the Middle States 

 it produces fifty or sixty bushels to the acre ; 

 but in New York and New England, agricul- 

 tural societies have actually awarded pre- 

 miums for one hundred and fifty bushels to the 

 acre, collected from stalks only seven feet 

 high. ^The heats of a southern sun develope 

 the juices of this plant too quickly. They run 

 into culm and blade, to the neglect of the seed, 

 and dry away before fructification becomes 

 complete. 



"Wheat is a more certain crop in New 

 York, the northern part of Pennsylvania, and 

 Ohio, and in the Baltic regions of Europe, than 

 in the south either of Europe or America. In 

 the north, snows accumulate, and not only 

 project it from the winter colds, but from the 

 weevil, Hessian fly, and other insects that in- 

 vade it ; and in the spring it is not forced too 

 rapidly into head, without time to mature fully, 

 and concoct its farina. 



" A cold climate also aids the manufacturing 

 of flour, preserving it from acidity, and ena- 

 bles us to keep it long, either for a good mar- 

 ket, or to meet scarcities and emergencies. 

 Oats -rrow in almost every country ; but it is in 

 northern regions only, or very moist or ele- 

 vated tracts, that they fill with farina suitable 

 for human sustenance Rye, barley, buck- 

 wheat, millet, and other culmiferous plants, 

 might be adduced to illustrate the above prin- 

 ciple; for all their habits require a more 

 northern latitude than is necessary to their 

 .nere growth. 



"The grasses an 1 proverbially in perfection 

 336 



only in northern and cool regions, although 

 they will grow everywhere. It is in the north 

 alone that we raise animals from meadows, 

 and are enabled to keep them fat, and in good 

 condition, from hay and grass alone, without 

 grain. It is there the grasses acquire a succu- 

 lence and consistency enough, not only to ma- 

 ture animals, but to make the richest butter 

 and cheese, that contribute so much to the 

 tables of the luxurious. The grasses which 

 do, often, in the south, grow large enough, are 

 without richness and nutriment ; in hay, they 

 have no substance ; and when green, are too 

 washy to fatten animals ; the consequence is, 

 most animals in those latitudes browse from 

 necessity, and are poor, and v ithout size or 

 beauty. It is the same hot sun which forces 

 them to a rapid fructification, before they have 

 had time to concoct their juices. The sugar- 

 cane produces, perhaps, better where it never 

 seeds, than in the tropics ; for the juices will 

 never ripen so as to granulate, until checked 

 by frost or fructification. In the tropics, the 

 cane grows twenty months before the juices 

 ripen ; and then the culm has contracted a 

 woody, fibrous quality, to such a degree as to 

 resist the pressure of the mills, and" yields but 

 littl-e juice, and that to an increased effort. In 

 Louisiana we succeed well with the sugar 

 culture ; because, while the culm is succulent 

 and tender, a white frost checks the growth, 

 ripens the juices, and in five months gives us 

 a culm, tender, full of juice, easy to press, and 

 yielding much grain of sugar. When Louisi- 

 ana, therefore, acquires all the necessary skill, 

 she will most probably grow this article 

 cheaper than the West Indies. 



"Tobacco is a southern plant, but there it is 

 always light and chaffy; and although often 

 well-flavoured, it never gains that strong 

 narcotic quality which is its only peculiar 

 property, unless you grow it as far north as 

 Virginia. In the south, the heat unfolds its 

 bud or gem too soon, forces into full expansion 

 the leaf, and drives it to seed before the narco- 

 tic quality can be properly elaborated. We 

 may assert a general rule applicable to all 

 annual plants, that neither the root, nor the 

 leaf, acquires any further size or substance 

 after fructification. 



"The tuberose, bulbous, and other roots, 

 cultivated for human and animal subsistence, 

 are similarly affected by climate, and manifest 

 habits in corroboration of the above principle. 

 The Irish potato, although from or near the 

 tropics, will not come to perfection but in 

 northern or cool countries, or in moist, insular 

 situations, as Ireland. It is in such climates 

 alone, that its roots acquire a farinaceous con- 

 sistence, and have size, flavour, and nutriment 

 enough to support, in the eminent way jn 

 which they are susceptible, animal life. In 

 the south, a forcing sun brings the potato to 

 fructification before the roots have had time to 

 attain their proper size, or ripen into the pro- 

 per qualities for nourishment. In Ireland the 

 ' plant grows slow, through a long and cool 

 season, giving time for its juices to be elabo- 

 rated and properly digested ; hence that fine 

 farina and flavour which characterizes them. 

 The sweet potato produces larger, better fla- 



