1837.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



603 



II" the productions of one country, resemble 

 another, we may infer, that they enjoy the same 

 climate — and vice versa, if a similarity of cHmate 

 be established between two countries, we may in- 

 fer, that the productions of one, may be raised in 

 the other. Latitude is an uncertain criterion, for 

 in South America, the traveller finds summer at 

 the base, and winter on the summit of the Aiide.s. 



Can any reader of the Register, retiir us to the 

 best maps j,"climaie — charts of vegetable produc- 

 tion? And here 1 will sugixest the propriety of 

 establishing a botanical garden in Virginia — an 

 institution worthy of the attention of the state. 



Alter the last quoted passage, the essayist con- 

 liuues : 



" On the otiier hand, a due attention to the efFect of 

 our climate on some plants broiight from Europe, 

 mijht, perhaps, induce us to abandon the cultivation of 

 them in the more southern districts of the United 

 States. The common oat is a g^rain little suited to a 

 warm climate ; accordingly it is hardly known as an ob- 

 ject of husbandry in the more southern countries of 

 Europe. In America, while the northern states and 

 the mountainous districts of the south, yield a grain 

 that well repays the labor of the husbandman, that 

 which is produced in the flat country of the southern 

 states, as has been remarked by an intelligent English 

 traveller,* is so light, that.it hardly seeius to possess 

 the principle of vegetation ; yet still, for the want of a 

 proper substitute, it is cultivated throughout that range 

 of country, whether to advantage or not, is at least 

 doubtful. In a country destitute of meadows, an oat 

 crop may serve as a substitute for hay. 



"These instances are put by way of example. An 

 •examination of this subject in detail, would be foreign 

 from the object of this inquiry ; but I hope these un- 

 connected hints may induce persons of more ability, 

 and better means of information, to go more largely 

 into it. 



" Agriculture, like other arts, must depend for its ad- 

 vancement on experiments ; but when these experi- 

 ments are conducted on just principles, and in con- 

 formity to a correct theory, the road to improvement 

 may be much shortened, and the labor and expense of 

 attempts that cannot be expected to succeed, will fre- 

 quently be avoided. 



" By a due attention to the rules I have mentioned, 

 and others that will readily occur to a reflecting mind, 

 I am persuaded there is hardfy a tree or a plant which 

 belongs to any part of the old continent within the 

 temperate zones, that might not be naturalized in some 

 parts of the United States, and that without the waste 

 of time or labor in a succession of fruitless expeii- 

 ments. 



" It may be thought, that as our climate is subject to 

 greater extremes than that of Europe, the country is 

 not capable of producing some plants that flourish 

 there. This, no doubt, is true, as to a large portion of 

 the United States, with respect to some trees and pe- 

 rennial plants ; but those vegetables that are useful to 

 man, are, the greater part of them, annual, and, for 

 their production, I am inclined to think our climate 

 has the advantage of the more temperate one of Eu- 

 rope. Indian corn, a grain second in utility only to 

 wheat, if it be second, requires a degree of warmth, 

 that in Europe is only found in the more southern re- 

 gions. In every part of the United States, from north 

 to soutb, it is cultivated with success. 



" Cotton, a plant of such extensive use, which flour- 

 ishes to so great a degree throughout nearly or quite 

 one-half the extent of our country, is only known as 

 an object of cultivation in some small districts in the 

 southern parts of Europe. 



* iVIr. Strickland's communication to the Board of 

 Agriculture. 



"The near resemblance between the climate of the 

 United States and China has been already mentioned ; 

 perhaps no two countries on the face of the globe are 

 more alike in this respect. That climate certainly 

 cannot be thought a bad one, which of all others has 

 been found most favorable to human life, and the rich- 

 est in vegetable productions." — pp. 34 — 36. 



The respective advantages of climate of our At- 

 lantic states, and western Europe, are summed up 

 and compared in the following impressive manner : 



" Unfavorable comparisons of the climate of the 

 United States v/ith that of the western countries of 

 Europe, in regard to the greater extremes of heat and 

 cold, and more frequent and sudden varieties of weath- 

 er in the former, are often made by Europeans, and, in 

 some respects, perhai)s not wholly without foundation; 

 but I doubt vvliether the balance of advantages, if it be 

 really in favor of Europe, is so in any very considera- 

 ble degree. Some countries in Europe itself are much 

 more subject to these extremes than others, and yet 

 the inhabitants of the former are not inferior to those 

 of the latter in health, bodily strength, or longevity. 

 As has been observed in this essaj', the thermometer 

 has a much wider range in the eastern parts of France 

 than the western, yet I believe tliat the native inhabi- 

 tants of Brittany and Poitou, have never been thought 

 superior in corporeal or mental qualities to those of 

 Burgundy and Champaigne. The winters of the south 

 of Germany, especially the more eastern part, are 

 much more severe, and the heat of the summer greater 

 than on the Atlantic coast in the same latitudes, yet 

 the inhabitants of the former are as robust and long- 

 lived as those of other countries in Europe. The 

 changes of temperature to which our climate is subject, 

 are seldom, if ever so sudden, as most persons engaged 

 in active life go through daily, without injury, in win- 

 ter and summer, in exchanging the temperate warmth 

 of an apartment, for the open air. Our domestic ani- 

 mals average fairl}^ with those of Europe. With re- 

 spect to vegetable life, it is true, that the greater cold 

 of winter deprives us of various useful trees and peren- 

 nial plants that flourish in more northern latitudes in 

 Europe ; but, on the other hand, the greater heat of 

 summer enables us to cultivate with success many 

 valuable annuals, thai cannot be brought to maturity 

 in the north or middle of Europe. The cotlon plant 

 and Indian corn, both of inestimable value, are culti- 

 vated on a large scale, and are an abundant source of 

 wealth and comfort, the former throughout an exten- 

 sive region, comprehending the greater part of the 

 southern states, and the latter in the whole extent of 

 our country. 



" In one point of comparison, I think our climate has 

 the advantage of that of the more northern and west- 

 ern parts of Europe. The westerly winds, which 

 carry with them the mild temperature of the Atlantic, 

 a-re loaded with its vapors; and while we enjoy bright 

 skies, and a clear, elastic air, for the greater part of 

 the year, those countries, for much longer and more 

 frequent periods, are enveloped in fogs, or obscured by 

 clouds. This state of v.eather is not wholly without 

 its advantages, but, on the whole, the balance seems to 

 me, in this respect, in our favor. 



" There is, however, one aspect in which the climate 

 of a considerable portion of the territory of the United 

 States may, perhaps, appear less favorable to Euro- 

 peans, than that of any very great extent of country in 

 the more temperate parts of Europe. Flat countries, 

 intersected with stagnant waters, or sluggish streams, 

 in hot or temperate climates, are almost uniformly less 

 healthy than high lands, through which the water- 

 courses pass with greater rapidity; and the comparative 

 unhealthiness goes on increasing, with the distance 

 from the poles. The southern coasts of Europe, from 

 the Pyrenees along the Atlantic shores of Sjiain and 

 Portugal to Gibraltar, and from Gibraltar to the Bos- 

 phorus, are generally mountainous, wliile the more 



