PUBLISHED BY J. B. RUSSELL, AT NO. 52 NORTH MARKET STREET, (at the Aokicultural Wakehouse.)— T. G. FEtJSENDE.N, EDITOR. 



VOL,. X. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, AUGUST 3, 1831. 



NO. 3, 



ii © a a-^ w a a w uj :39 



nal of Geology mid Kalu- 

 ) 



INFLUENCE OF CLIM.\TE ON THE FRUIT- 

 FULNESS OF PLANTS. 

 Tlie ciilt'u'utcd plants yield the greatest products 

 near the northerniiiost limit in which they will 

 grow. 



I have been forcibly impressed with this fact, 

 from oliserviiij); the productions nf the various 

 plants, which are cultivated for food and clothing 

 in the United States. The following instances 

 will go far to establish the principle, viz. 



The cotton, which is a tropical plant, yields the 

 best stajile, and surest product, in the temperate 

 latitudes. The southern parts of the United States 

 liave taken the cotton market from the East and 

 West Indies, both as regards quantity and quality. 

 This is jiartly owing to tiie prevalence of insects 

 within tlie tropics, but principally to the forcing na- 

 ture of a vertical sun. Such a degree of heat de- 

 velopes the plant too rapidly — runs it into wood and 

 foliage, which becomes injuriously lu.xuriant ; the 

 consequence is, tiicre are but few seed pods, and 

 these covered with a iliin harsh coat of wool. Tho 

 cotton wool, like the fur of animals, is, perhaps de- 

 signed for protection : and will be thick ajul fine in 

 proportion as the climate is warm or cold. Anoth- 

 er reason is to be foimd in the providence of the 

 deity, who aims to preserve races rather than indi- 

 viduals, and multiplies the seeds and eyes of (ilants 

 exactly as there is danger of their being ilesiroyed 

 by the severity ot the climate, or otiier causes. 

 When, therefore, tho cares and labors of man 

 couutcract the destructive tendency of the cHniate 

 and guaranty their preservation, they are, of 

 course, more available and abundant. 



The lint plants, lla.x, hemp, &c, are culavated 

 through a great extent of latitude ; but their bark, 

 in the southern climates, is harsh and brittle. A 

 warm climate forces these plants so rajiidly into 

 maturity, that the lint does not acquire either con- 

 sistency or tenacity. We must go far nortli in 

 Europe, even to the Baltic, to find these (ilants in 

 perfection, and their products very mercliantable. I 

 Ireland is rather an exception as to latitude; but 

 the influence of the sun is so eft'ectually counter- 

 acted there by moisture and exposure to the sea ' 

 air, that it is ahvays cool : hence the flax and potato I 

 arji\S at such perfection in that region. 



It holds equally true in the farinaceous plants, j 

 Rice is a tropical plant ; yet Carolina and Georgia | 

 grow the finest in the world, heavier grained, bet- i 

 ter filled, and more merchantable, than any import- , 

 ed into Europe from the Indies. The inhabitants, 

 of the East Indies derive their subsistence almost j 

 exclusively from rice: they must bo supposed, 

 therefore, to cultivate it with all skill and care, and 

 the best contrivance for irrigation. Such is, liow- ! 

 ever, tho forcing nature of their climate, that the; 

 lilant grows too rapidly, and dries away before the , 

 grain be properly filled. Indian corn, or maize, if 

 not a tropical |ilant, was originally 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 30. 

 feot 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 pro- 

 vender. In the southern part of the United States, 

 it reaches a height of 15 feet, and will jiroduce 30 

 bushels to the acre ; in the rich lands of Kentucky 

 and the middle states it produces 50 or 60 bushels 

 to the acre, but in New York and New England, 

 agricultural societies have actually awardeil premi- 

 ums for 150 to the acre, collected from stalks only 

 seven feet high. The heats of a southern sun de- 

 veldpe 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 com- 

 plete. 



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 luotect it from the winter 

 colds, but from the weevil, Hessian fly, and other 

 insects that invade 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 maufacturing of flour, 

 preserving it from acidity, and enables us to keep 

 it long, either for a good miirket, or to meet scar- 

 cities and emergencies. Oats grow in almost every 

 country, but it is in northern regions only, or very 

 moist or elevated tracts, that they fill with farina 

 suitable for human sustenance. Rye, barley, buck- 

 wheat, millet, and oilier culmiferous plants, might 

 be adduced to illustrate the above principle ; fir all 

 their habits reijuire a more northern latitude than is 

 necessary to their mere growth. 



The grasses are proverbially in |)erfection only 

 in northern and cool regions, alihough they wjjl 

 grow evei'y where. 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 succulence, and consistency enough 

 not only to mature animals, but to make tho richest 

 butter and cheese, that contribute so much to tho 

 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 sub- 

 stance ; and when green, are too washy to fatten 

 animals ; the consequence is, most animals in those 

 latitudes brojvse from necessity, and are poor, and 

 without 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 jiroduces, perhaps, better where it never 

 seeds, than in the tropics; for the juices will never 

 ripenso as to grannlale,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 yield but little 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 tho 

 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 Louisiana, 

 therefore, acquires all the necessary skill, she will 



most probably grow this article cheaper than the 

 West Iiiilies. 



Tobacco is a southern plant, but there it is 

 always liglit and chafty ; and allhongh ollen well 

 flavored, it tiever 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 germ too soon, forces into 

 full expansion the leaf, and drives it to seed before 

 the narcotic quality can be |iioperly elaborated. 

 We may assert a general rule applicable to all 

 annual plants, that neither the root, nor the leaf, ac- 

 quires any further size or substance alter fructifi- 

 cation. 



The tuberose, bulbous, and other roots, culti- 

 vated for human and animal subsistence, are sim- 

 ilarly 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 far- 

 inaceous consistence, and have size, flavor, and 

 nutriment enough to supjiort, in the eminent way 

 in which they are susceptible, animal life. In the 

 south, a forcing sun brings the potato to fructifica- 

 tion before the roots have had time to attain their 

 pro|ier size, or ripen into the proper qualities for 

 nourishment. In Ireland the plant "grows slow, 

 through a long and cool season, giving lime for its 

 juices to be elaborated, and properly digested ; 

 hence that fine fiirina and flavor which charac- 

 terize them. The sweet potato produces larger, 

 better flavored, and more numerous roots in Caroli- 

 na, where it never flowers, than in the West Indies. 

 In the latter place this plant runs wild, covers tho 

 whole facej.of the earth with its vines ; and is so 

 taken up iji»»,-*J\ing foliage, that the roots become 

 neglected, anil is^ittall and woody. In order to 

 have the onion in perfection, it must grow through 

 two years, swelling all the time its bulbs. In the 

 south, however, it seeds in 8ne year, and before it 

 has made much bulb. Beets, carrots, parsnips, 

 turnips, radishes and other roots, are equally affect 

 ed by a hot sun, and scarcely worth cultivating far 

 to the south. They all fructify before they have 

 formed perfect roots and make foliage at the ex- 

 pense of their bulbs ; hence they will idways be 

 articles of commerce; the south will have to de- 

 pend upon the nnnh for them. 



The salad plants are in like manner affected by 

 the climate, and give further proofs of our assump- 

 tion. Calviages, lettuces, endive, celery, spinage, 

 plants whose leaves are only eaten, to protect their 

 germs froii) cold, (through a kind of instinct,) wrap 

 them up in leaves, which form heads, and render 

 many of llicir other parts tender and crisp for use. 

 These leaves, thus protected, are not only tender, 

 but more nutritious, because their growth has been 

 slow, and their juices well digested. In tho south, 

 a relaxing' sun lays open the very buds of such 

 plants, gires a toughness and thinness to the leaves, 

 and they are too unsubstantial for animal support, 

 because of such quick and rapid develo|)ment. 



The diilicious and pulpy fruits are, in a still more 

 striking way, illustrative of our principle. The 

 peach, nectarine, plum, apple, cherry, currant, 

 gooseberry, apricot, and many other such faiuihes,. 



