84 



NEW ENGLAND FARIMER. 



Feb. 



cloudy, seven much so, and ten tolerably clear. 

 In November, seven clear days, six cloudy, nine 

 tolerably clear, and eight in. which clouds -were 

 very prevalent. 



The tciiid was from the north-icest thirty-six 

 days, or forty per cent of the time ; from the 

 south-west, twenty-five days ; from the north-east, 

 twelve ; from the south, eight ; from the north, two 

 and a half; from the south-east, one and a half; 

 and there were six days in which the air was calm, 

 or without a regular current. Total number of 

 days of wind from a northerly quarter, fifty and 

 one-half; same from a southerly quarter, forty 

 and one-half, distributed as follows : In Septem- 

 ber, 1 i from the north-west, 6 from the north-east, 

 9 from the south-west, 1 from tlie south, and 3 of 

 calm ; in October, lo from the north-west, 3 from 

 the north-east, 1 from the north, 10 from the south- 

 west, 1 from the south, and 1 of calm ; in Novem- 

 ber, 10 from the north-west, 3 from the north- 

 east, \h from the north, G from the south, 6 from 

 the south-west, 1.^ of south-east, and 2 of calm. 



Among the miscellaneous phenomena, I ob- 

 served eight haloes, five of which were solar and 

 three lunar. 



I also observed eleven auroras. Five occurred 

 in September — on the 1st, 2d, 24th, 27th and 

 28th — the two first of which were very bril- 

 liant disphiys of ])olar light, and exceedingly in- 

 teresting. Five exhibitions of the aurora borea- 

 lis were also observed in October — on the 2d, 

 18th, 20th, 21st and 29th— mostly quite feeble, 

 however, as Avas the one on the 14th of November, 

 and attracted but little notice. In a period of a 

 little more than two months, ending with October, 

 there were fourteen or more auroras seen ; an 

 unusually large number to be visible in so short 

 a space of time in this latitude. And doubtless 

 many others occurred that were rendered invisible, 

 either by clouds or bright moon-light. Such grand 

 auroral displays as were witnessed on the nights 

 of the ist and 2d of September, and also on the 

 28th of August, are worthy of more than a passing 

 notice. Their powerful electrical influence, as 

 manifested in the working of the telegraph Hues 

 during these magnetic storms, has already been 

 spoken of at length by the newspapers, and need 

 not be commented on here. The whole sky was 

 strongly illumined in every quarter during the 

 last part of the night of the 1st, with crimson and 

 various prismatic hues, auroral clouds appearing 

 in various quarters, with splendid, ever-changing 

 streamers, shooting up towards a point near the 

 zenith. From the electrical disturbances in the 

 working of the telegraph wires, it was evident 

 that the same auroral storm continued during the 

 forenoon of-^the following day, being rendered in- 

 visible by the shining of the sun, and probably 

 continued through the day with varying degrees 

 of intensity, becoming visible again on the even- 

 ing of the 2d, as soon as the twilight would per- 

 mit, and continued till a little past midnight. 

 Though this display was less in intensity and viv- 

 idness, and variety of colors, than that on the 

 night preceding, it was still hardly less interest- 

 ing. Soon after sunset, it appeared as a faint blaze 

 of light a little above the northern horizon, in- 

 creasing and fluctuating as the evening advanced, 

 and before eight o'clock became an imposing spec- 

 tacle.^ The dark segment Avas quite characteristic, 

 bounded above by the bright, luminous arch, from 



which proceeded the brilliant streamers. At eleven 

 o'clock, I particularly noticed flashes of yellow 

 light constantly darting upward from the arch 

 near the horizon, chiefly from the north, north- 

 east, and a point east by north-east, leaping and 

 flickering like tongues of fire, towards a point a 

 little south of the zenith. At times there were 

 arches of light arranged like curtains, from which 

 the streamers darted in rapid, constant flashes, or 

 coruscations which seemed to be but a few yards 

 above the tree-tops. Certainly I never saw auro- 

 ral light apparently so near the earth. 



A low temperature occurred generally during 

 these displays of polar light, frosts occurring even 

 in August and the first part of September ; and 

 according to the popular notion, that cold weath- 

 er is indicated by auroras, a cold winter may well 

 be anticipated. 



The fall migration of the birds generally occurred 

 from one to two weeks earlier than usual. The 

 snow-birds came down from the north about the 

 middle of October, in company with other north- 

 ern sparrows. The blue birds and robins depart- 

 ed during the last days of the same month. Wild 

 geese passed over on their southward journey 

 about the 12th of November. On the 12th, I ob- 

 served ten flocks in about three hours, passing in 

 a breadth of two miles, in the aggregate there 

 must have been 700 individuals — a remarkably 

 large number to be seen here in so short a space 

 of time. 



Errata. — In my remai-ks upon the weather of 

 the summer months, (p. 482 and 483 of monthly 

 Fanner, vol. 11,) the types caused me to say that 

 July, 1859, was 42° colder than July, 18^8, in- 

 stead of 4.2° as intended. Also that the summer 

 of 1859 was 16° warmer than the summer of 1857, 

 instead of 0.1G°. J. A. A. 



Springfield, Dec. 2, 1859. 



Influence of Agricultural Papers. — The 

 Rev. Mr. Choules, in an address delivered some 

 years since, before the American Institute, said : 



"He once undertook to tell, in passing through 

 a town, what farmers took agricultural papers, 

 from the appearance of their farms, and missed 

 but once in thirteen times. 



"I was lately in the company of a son of a bank 

 president — a young man accomplished in his way 

 — who inquired what neat cattle meant, and how 

 many years it took wheat to come to maturity. I 

 earnestly believe that agricultural papers, gener- 

 ally circulated in our cities, would be productive 

 of the greatest benefit." 



Ten Thousand Dollars made in a Year 

 FROM Eighteen Swarms of Bees. — We have, 

 from reliable authority, the following account of 

 rcmai'kable success (pecuniarily) in raising bees 

 in this State. A gentleman in one of the valleys 

 near the Bay, last year purchased eighteen hives 

 of bees, for which he paid eighteen hundred dol- 

 lars. From these eighteen hives he had one hun- 

 dred and one swarms, and he has sold one hun- 

 dred of the swarms for one hundred dollars each, 

 thus realizing the snug sum of ten thousand dol- 

 lars in one year. He still has on hand nineteen 

 swarms, one more than he commenced with ! So 

 much for bees. — California Farmer. 



