JNEW ENGLAND FAliMER. 



PUBLISHKI) BY WILLIAM NICHOLS, ROGERS' liUll.DlNG.S, CXJXCiRESsVfi^KiTTFl^TH DOoKTK^i^c 



Vol. If. 



BOSTON, SATURDAY, JULY 17, 1024. 



STATK STREET.) 



Corrrsfontrcncr. 



No. .OJ. 



NOTES 0.\ THE SEASON.— MAL\E.. 

 fo Ike Editor of the yew England Farmer, 

 Sir, — In compliance wilh the request of Wr. 



^reston, of Stockport, Pa. published in the 47;hj "'em in such a manner that the mercury falls 

 Vo. of tlie second volume of the New England 1 ^'o'^" 'o 0. Here an excessive degree of cold 

 "armer that " the subscribers in diiferent parts 'S Pi'oduced, and jet we are assured that the 

 vouid generally communicate their obseivations ^"^*'""ces contain the very same quantity of 

 ID the seasons," &c. and in conformity to his heat they did before : nay, although they seem 

 yish to linow whether the frost (an accouDf of lo contain a vast degree of cold, they, in fact, con- 

 Fhich he communicated as occurring on ilie '^'n "luch more heat than they did originally; 

 6th day of May ult. at his residence N. L. | f""" fhey absorb it from all bodies around them 



of each of these substances be separately reduc- 1 with the latter placeTu.at there can be nrfmit 

 i*^.!".."'.^ ''S''' °'^ -«.♦» 3^ Fahrenheit's .her- 1 raised there ; b^ut it i's w'l/known that the fruit 



IS not so frequently cut oil by the frost in Maine 

 as in Massachusetts— perhaps one cause mav be 

 that it is not so forward. 



mometer, on mixing them together, the heal 

 which would have raised the thermometer 

 lo Ihe degree above mentioned now enters into 



1 deg. 50 min.) was generally so severe *s was 

 acre experienced, I make the following obser- 



itions. The writer resides in the stale of 

 ne, not far from 44 deg. N. L. and experi- 



cted no injury from the above said frost. And 



r««pects the frost mentioned by " A Rosbu- 

 " Fnrmer," which killed corn, asparagus, pola- 

 •es, &.C. it had no such effect at the last men- 

 oned place. Perhaps many lower situations 



the state of Maine may have felt its int]u«nce. 



It is known that water and other substances 

 le capabJe of containing the element of fire or 

 eat in two very different states. In the one 

 le heat or caloric eludes all the methods by 

 hich we are accustomed to observe it, either 



the sensation of feeling, or by the thermo- 



•Jler; in the other it manifests itself, obvicus- 



1 to our senses either by the touch, tlie tlier- 



nmeter, or the emission of light.* In ihe 



«5l of these states we are apt to call the ti/.)y 

 rf, and to say that this coldness is occasioned 

 I the absence of heat. Perhaps this is impro 

 |r; for even those bodies, which appear the 

 < dest to the touch contain much heat. Thus 

 ipour, which is cf/der to the touch than the 

 « ter from which it was r.Tised contains great 

 ^mtities of Ji^at; some say more than su/fi- 

 C nt to heat -v red hot. The like may be said 

 • common jalt and snow, or ice. If a quantity 



From what has been said we may learn the 

 :ause of frost's being so much harder in one 



place than in another, viz. The atmosphere 

 absorbs a greater degree of heat from the sur- 

 face ot the earth and substances thereon; or 

 there may be a greater quantity of vapour and 

 moisture in and on vegetables.* Admitting the 

 above to be the proximate cause, some think that 

 powerlul agent, electricity, to be the remote 

 cause, Ly operating On the air and vegetation. M. 

 rru ru .a r , , i Buffo"! ^.v his various observations proved that 



„..!" """" '^'"T. °".'" ^°^y^ °'' any parti the lateral ..ranches of trees were much more 



and if a small bottle of water be put in the mid- 

 dle of such a mixture, it will, in a short time be I ca 

 full of ice. 



KOTJis BY THE EDITOR. The following passao-f; 

 ft 1 rarkes' " Cliemical Essays," vol. i, page 64, gives 

 • :ar and concise explanation of the subject. — " It 

 ^ formerly presumed that caloric [or what in common 

 ;uage is called heat] in whatever state it may Ik 

 Id always be measured by the thermometer. But 

 important experiments of Ur. Black and others 

 e shown, that besides the caloric, which acts upon, 

 is appreciable by the thermometer, there are othe 

 ions ^vluch are in such close union with most bo- 

 , as to occasion no sensible variation in their tem- 

 iture. That is caloric may be so combined with a 

 y, as to have lost all power of affecting the most de- 

 le instrument ; yet when this latent heat is set at li- 

 y, and converted to free caloric, as it is called, this 

 1 be as active, and as energetic as though it had 

 ;r been confined. A single example will be suffi- 

 t to adduce, by the repetition of which any one may 

 ify himself of the truth and propriety of this dis- 

 tion. 



Put about half an ounce of cold water into a small 

 d, and add to it very gradvally, about an equal 

 ntity of oil of vitriol, gently, shaking the phial after 

 •y addition of the acid. The consequence of this 

 be that the water will immediately begin to give 

 its latent caloric ; and when so much oil of vitriol 

 Med as is equal to double the measure of the wa- 

 thc mixture will assume a degree ef he.M superior 

 aat of boiling water." 



into any substance actually in contact with it, 

 the sensation of cold is excited, and we call 

 that substance cold ; but if it flows from anv 

 substance into our body the sensation of heat is 

 excited, and we call that body hot, without re- 

 gard to the absolute quantity in either case. 



Of all known substances the atmosphere either 

 absorbs or throws out heat with the most re- 

 markable facility ;* and in one or other of these 

 states it is always in respect to the surface of 

 the earth, and such bodies as are placed on or 

 near it. Of course when the atmosphere has 

 been for a long time absorbing heat from ter- 

 restrial bodies, there must of course be a frost. 

 And this may be provincial and local, conse 

 quently the frost will be the same. The air 

 being rendy to absorb heat from i-jvery thin" 

 that comes in contact with it, does of course 

 absorb heat from the vapour it contains. Tho' 

 vapour is capable of being much colder than 

 water before it is frozen yet by continual emis- 

 sion it loses its sensible heat and becomes ice. 



In the polar regions, where we might sup- 

 pose the frost would increase beyond measure, 

 there are natural means to prevent it, viz. the 

 vapour from more temperate regions, mixing 

 with that of the polar regions; for it is well 

 known that aqueous vapour always flies from a 

 cold to a warm place. 



Probably this may be the cause of frosts be- 

 ing more severe, and doing more damage in 

 Rlassachusetls and farther southward, as they 

 frequently do, than in the state of Maine. It is 

 thought by many persons who are unacquainted 



sut-ect to the injury of spring frosts than the 

 others. This rather favours the idea of elec- 

 tricity, as all substances standing erect and per- 

 pendicular attract the electric fluid, and elec- 

 tricity is the most powerful agent known in the 

 physical world. A SUBSCRIBER. 



* Our correspondent is not altogether correct on this 

 point. Air is -a. bad conductor af heat, or in other words 

 it " absorbs or throws out heat" slowly. It is a very 

 fortunate circumstance that air is a slow conductor of 

 heat, as it tends to preserve the heat of the body in 

 cold weather, softens the inclemencies of the seasons, 

 and renders almost all climates habitable to man 

 " The passage of caloric through bodies that are 

 good conductors is much more rapid than through those 

 that are bad conductors, and the former both give 

 aud receive it more quickly, and therefore, ?n a 

 given time more abundantly than bad conductors, 

 which makes them feel either hotter or colder, though 

 they may be in fact of the same temperature."— Con- 

 versaiiuns on Chemistry. 



Water, though said by Count Rumford not to be a 

 conductor of heat in the same manner as solid bodies 

 yet gives and receives caloric with more facility than 

 air. Were it otherwise you might cool a hot iron as 

 quick in fold air as iu water of the same temperature. 



' Many other causes may operate to produce this ef- 

 fect. Nothing can be more enoneous than an opinion, 

 which would seem plausible on a superficiat view of 

 the subject, that difference of climate is caused soltly 

 hy distance from the equator, or the relative situation 

 or diflcrent countries as respects Ihe apparent path of 

 tit sun through the heavens. The temperature of any 

 climate, although it should seem to depend in a great 

 degree on latitude, or disl nee from the equator, and 

 th< consequent more vertical, or more oblique incidence 

 of tUe rays of the sun, is nevertheless very materially 

 tflcctij by a variety of collateral circumstances, such 

 as the situation, whether high or low, moist or dry, the 

 vicinity of mountains, forests, &c. " In the spring 

 months (says a writer in Rees' Cyclopedia, Art. Cli- 

 mate) the damp or low grounds are sometimes con- 

 gealed by cold, where there is no such appearance on 

 the hills, and thereby some of the young shoots of the 

 more tender shrubs and plants are destroyed, when no 

 injury happens to those in the latter situation." This, 

 we believe, is generally the case, unless the low grounds 

 are protected by fogs, or mists. The cause of this ef- 

 lect we believe may be found in the greater density of 

 the air on low than on high ground, and the more dense 

 the atmosphere, the faster it imbibes or attracts the ca- 

 loric from the earth. The soil of Maine likewise, hav- 

 ing been less cultivated probably contains more carbo- 

 naceous or coaly matter, (which is a slow conductor of 

 heat,) than that of Massachusetts. The mould whifh 

 is formed by the decomposition rof animal or vegeta- 

 ble matter covers the earih as it were with a carpet, 

 and prevents the escape of its caloric. .Sir Humphry 

 Davy says. " 1 have ascertained by experiment that the' 

 darkest coloured dry soil (that which contains abi«i- 

 daoce of animal and vegetable matter; substances 

 which most facilitate the diminution of temperature,) 

 when heated to the same degree, provided it be within 

 tht common limits of the effect of solar heat, will cool 

 more slowly than a wet pale soil, entirely composed of 

 earthy matter." 



Besides the sun in the spring and summer seasons, is 

 longer above the horizon in high than in low latitudes. 

 Oar correspondent on the 26th of May in 44° N. lat. en- 

 joyed nearly half an hour more of sun-shine than Mr. 

 Preston, in 41" 50. It is owing to the almost constant 

 sim-shine which takes place after vegetation commen- 

 ces, that its progress i.s more rapid in Siberia than in Ita- 

 ly. From the same cause the days in midsummer are 

 olten hotter as well as longer in Bergen than in Rome, 

 in Quebec than in New Orleans. The seasons are 

 more uniform (though the extremes of heat and cold 

 are greater) in high latitudes than in those which com- 

 prise what is called the temperate zone. 



