Notes and Gleanmgs. 1 65 



Fruits of Europe and America compared. — Your readers must have 

 been interested in the suggestive letter of your esteemed correspondent, Hon. 

 Joseph S. Cabot, contained in the January number of your Journal. I wish to 

 draw attention to points in his letter, which require to be rt.ce.\\&d cum grano 

 sa/is, as affecting our judgment of the comparative merits of the two continents. 

 And, first, Mr. Cabot places the products of Massachusetts in one scale, and 

 then piles into the other the successive fruits of England, of France, of Belgium, 

 and of Germany, until our good Commonwealth can do nothing less than kick 

 the beam. This can in no wise be said to be a comparison of the continents. 

 We may admire the pluck of the man whose motto is, " The Hub against the 

 Universe ; " but this, plainly, is putting the case somewhat too strongly. And I 

 submit, that we ask too much of Massachusetts in asking her to rival all the 

 countries which are named. It would be a more equal comparison to include 

 New York and all the intervening States to the south line of Virginia as an 

 equal extent of territory. Passing from the consideration of the difference in 

 soil. Mr. Cabot notices the extreme fluctuations of our climate, both in summer 

 and in winter; the excessive heat and excessive cold ; extreme dryness, followed 

 by floods of rain ; and contrasts this with the mild, equable, moist, but not wet cli- 

 mate of Europe ; and he comes to the conclusion, a priori, that \\\& producttis of 

 our '• harsh and severe " climate must be inferior. At first sight, this seems to be 

 a reasonable conclusion ; and undoubtedly there is force in this view. There can 

 be no doubt whatever that the extremes which we sometimes experience are often 

 seriously injurious to our crops. All plants best develop their normal vigor 

 upon the nearest approach to the mean temperature which they require, both 

 during the season of growth and of rest. Some plants require tropical heat, and 

 others demand a low temperature ; but there are none which are benefited, 

 except indirectly, by extreme fluctuations. We do know that the heat and 

 drought of our summers and the extreme cold of our winters oftentimes kill 

 our plants outright. Plainly this earth (and in this comprehensive embrace we 

 are willing to include Massachusetts) is not a paradise of fruits, whatever may 

 have been the original design. And yet it is by no means safe to conclude, that, 

 for the purpose of raising fruit, a country having slight climatic variations is 

 consequently superior to a country subject to changes ; for Nature makes pro- 

 vision for her necessities. Oftentimes these provisions are so ample, — as, for 

 example, in an abundance of clear sunlight, or in favoring periods for rest or for 

 maturity, — that the balance is thrown clear over to the other side. It used to 

 be said that a Northern man would suffer more in our Southern States than at 

 home during winter ; and for the simple reason, that, at the South, no provision 

 was made against the cold. The house was open, the wood was green, the fire- 

 place was smoky, and the discomfort was general. A temperature of ten or 

 twenty degrees below zero is not conducive to animal vigor ; and yet the vigor 

 of our Northern people is equal, at least, to that of any other portion of the 

 globe. We find similar facts in the vegetable kingdom. Take the fruits which 

 will endure the cold of New England, and we do not conclude that they will show 

 more vigor, and be more productive and superior, in the temperate and more 

 equable climate of Virginia. You may say that our extremes, our storms and 



