



w 



D3VOTSD TO AGRIOULTURB AND ITS KINDRBD ARTS AND SOIENGBS. 



VOL. IX. 



BOSTON, JANUARY, 1857. 



NO. 1, 



JOEL NOIjKSE, Propkietop.. 

 Of?ice....Quikct Hall. 



SIMON BHOWIf, EDITOR. 



FIIEC'K HOLEROOK, : 

 HENRY F. KKENCH, ' 



asscciatb 

 Editohs. 



TEE USES OF SHOW. 



ANUARY, and the 

 Snow, both contri- 

 bute to the fertility 

 of the soil, and eacli 

 has its distinct mis- 

 sion in the produc- 

 tion of future crops. 

 Let us consider the 

 usts of the latter 

 with a little care. 



la this comnauni- 

 tj'j where the peo- 

 ple are t|pped to 

 believe tlm there 

 is a wise purpose to 

 be accomplished by 

 all the phenomena 

 nature — the religious 

 as well as the philosophi- 

 _ cal mind is curious to search out the 

 advantages to be derived from them. 

 The beneficent influence of rain, by giving mois- 

 ture to the earth and purifying the atmosphere* 

 is apparent to all. But the uses of snoio are less 

 obvious, though it truly is one of the greatest 

 blessings of Providence. Our readers will recollect 

 the unprecedented quantities of snow that fell 

 during the last winter ; let us carefully note some 

 of the phenomena that attended it. Through this 

 deep and uniform mass of snow, which fell simulta- 

 neously over the whole North American continent 

 above the latitude of 36°, the heat of the earth's 

 surface could not escape, being confined as by a 

 thick blanket. Hence a nearly uniform degree of 

 cold suddenly pervaded all this large extent of ter- 

 ritory, because the atmosphere was no longer 

 warmed by the radiation of heat from the earth's 

 surface. The principal sources of heat were from 

 the region south of the snow-clad territory, and 

 from the ocean ; but the currents from the north, 

 containing a dense and heavier atmosphere, were 



sufficient to overpower any current that might press 

 against them from any other direction. Henc» 

 snow-storm followed upon snow-storm, until tho 

 winds from the ocean were reduced to nearly the 

 same temperature with the overland atmnspherr?, 

 and were exhausted of their superfluous m-oisturev 

 By this time such a mass of snow covered the wholg 

 continent, as to make it evident that the power of 

 the sun's rays in the spring must be present, be Fore 

 it could be melted away. 



The first apparent consequence of this heavy bodj 

 of snovf was the uniform cold temperature of tha 

 weather that prevailed. There were no sudden 

 changes, as usual, from thawing mildness to ex- 

 treme cold. One unchangeable temperature but a 

 few degrees above zero prevailed throughout the 

 winter. The wisdom of physicians and the com- 

 mon sense of mankind agree in considering this uni- 

 formity of temperature as highly f5*>orable to 

 health. Colds, fevers and consumptions are al- 

 ways the most prevalent in a changeable climate, 

 and during a chargeable season. Hence it has 

 been lately thought by some physicians that con- 

 sumptive patients would do better to spend theis 

 winters in Canada than in Georgia. Last winter 

 was healthy, because the weather, though severely 

 cold, was even ; and this evenness was the effect 

 of the universal covering of snow. The heat that 

 would have ascended from the earth was shut inj 

 and the rays of the sun could not produce an ex- 

 traordinary amount of heat, because they acted only 

 upon a white reflecting surface. Thus it is evident 

 that a general covering of snov/ is favorable to 

 health by promoting an evenness of temperature. 



Let us look still deeper for other advantages. 

 Let us consider whether its action is favorable or 

 unfavorable to vegetation, during the following 

 seedtime and harvest. It is evident that the sur- 

 face of the earth can not well be robbed of so 

 much heat as escapes from it in open winters. Thia 

 could be made clear by a process of reasoning en 

 chemical principles, as we will soon attempt to prove 

 in the language of Count Rumford, who took a 



