8 Climate. 



in a cold and backward climate, not only ought the nature of 

 the soil to be attended to, but the utmost care should be paid, 

 to the early sowing of the earliest varieties of seed. Even 

 the species of stock to be bred or kept on a farm, should in a 

 great measure be regulated by the climate. Hence, this is a 

 subject, which the diligent farmer will invariably study with 

 the greatest solicitude (*). 



In considering the climate of a country, the following points 

 are of peculiar importance : Its general character, and the 

 means of its improvement ; The degree of local heat ; The 

 amount of light ; The quantity of moisture ; The prevailing 

 winds ; The position of the place, whether maritime or in- 

 land ; The regularity of the seasons ; The more remark- 

 able natural phenomena in the country; The productions 

 best suited to the climate ; The expenses it may occasion in 

 cultivation ; The introduction of exotic plants, and animals 

 from other climates ; and The means of ascertaining the real 

 nature of a climate, since registering its variations, in the dif- 

 ferent seasons of the year, would be attended with much ad- 

 vantage. 



1. General Character. This not only depends on the posi- 

 tion, or latitude, but likewise on the elevation of a country 

 above the level of the sea ; its general aspect ; the vicinity of 

 mountains, forests, bogs, marshes, lakes and seas ; the nature 

 of the soil and subsoil, and the power which the former pos- 

 sesses of retaining heat and moisture ; the direction of the 

 winds ; the length of time the sun continues above the hori- 

 zon ; the difference of temperature between the day and the 

 night ; and the extent of dry earth in the neighbourhood. 

 The result of these particulars combined, forms, what may be 

 called, " The general character of a climate." 



Some of the causes of an unfavourable climate cannot be re- 

 medied by any human effort ; but in many cases, it may be 

 improved by various modes, and by the following in particular : 



A district covered with wood is moister, and has a greater 

 range of the thermometer between the extremes of heat and 

 cold, than a country cleared of woods, though in the same la- 

 titude. Thick woods exclude the rays of the sun, and pre- 

 vent the ground from being dried by evaporation. Hence 

 the summers, (at least during a part of the day), are warmer, 

 but the winters are colder. By cutting down a great part of 

 these woods, and leaving only what is necessary for shelter, 

 a more equal temperature may be obtained. 



An immense accumulation of cold, inert, and spongy peat 

 earth, in bogs or mosses, produces exhalations, which chill the 



