420 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Sept. 



begins to rise again. Facts go to show that the 

 great lakes have considerable influence on the cli- 

 mate of the surrounding country, having a cool- 

 ing influence in summer, and mitigating the cold 

 of winter. The current of westerly winds as it 

 passes over the Pacific Ocean, brings warmth to 

 the western coast, but in rising over the Rocky 

 Mountains, it loses a portion of its heat by its 

 expansion, and in passing ridge after ridge, it 

 imparts the greater portion of its heat to the soil 

 below, and when it leaves these mountain ranges, 

 it is dry and cold. When it comes to earth again, 

 it brings down the cold temperature of the upper 

 regions, whose chilling influence is felt in the 

 Mississippi valley, frequently in the cold months 

 of winter. This wind brings no rain. All the 

 rain or snow that falls in this valley is brought in 

 the under current from the Gulf of Mexico, or 

 from the Arctic Ocean. These currents are fre- 

 quently deflected eastward by the upper current, 

 carrying the waters of the gulf to feed the great 

 lakes. On the western border of this valley, near 

 the Rocky Mountains, these westerly winds drive 

 most of the gulf winds eastward, so that there ex- 

 ists a broad belt of treeless desert, so sterile that 

 it is valueless to man for purposes of agriculture. 

 The upper current frequently mingles with the 

 lower, before it reaches New England, lowering 

 its temperature, and sending its chilling rain and 

 snow upon our hills as a memento of its mighty 

 force. The under current on the Atlantic coast, 

 known as the sea breeze, in passing over the cold 

 polar oceanic current along the coast, must im- 

 part a chilling influence on the land, especially 

 through the New England States and British 

 Provinces. 



Our continent is closely connected with the po- 

 lar lands. There is no large open sea between us 

 and the pole, for oceanic currents to pass over and 

 regulate the climate. Our north and north-east 

 winds sweep over an immense territory of land, 

 which cools them down below their natural state. 

 The principal pole of greatest cold, or the mag- 

 netic pole, lies in latitude about 77°, and about 

 100° west longitude, at, or near the place where 

 Sir John Franklin is supposed to have been lost. 

 It is on Grinnell Land, a little north of the Georg- 

 ian Isles. The line of variation passes through 

 the Mississippi Valley, according to the U. S. 

 Coast Survey, about where we find the greatest 

 extremes of heat and cold. 



On the eastern continent we find the great 

 ■westerly current of air warmed up by the waters 

 of the Gulf Stream as it passes over the western 

 part of Europe, giving a climate on the coast 

 much like the climate of California. This climate 

 gi'ows colder as we pass from the coast, because 

 the land cools the westerly current of air before it 

 leaves the European soil. Southern Europe from 

 the Mediterranean Sea to the parallel of 50° north 

 latitude, appears to have undergone mighty 

 changes in ages gone by. Mountains are raised 

 in many directions, but the chief ranges lie in an 

 east and west direction, or at right angles to the 

 mountains of America. Here, amid this univei'- 

 sal "wreck of matter," rear the lofty heads of the 

 mighty Alps, far into the regions of perpetual 

 snow. On the south side lie Italy and Greece — 

 those lands celebrated for works of art and classic 

 lore, whose bright skies and green hills lend en- 

 chantment to the view. 



The air in passing over the Mediterranean, at- 

 tracts heat and moisture from its waters, which 

 makes it one of the most agreeable climates on 

 earth. North of these mountains the climate 

 gradually grows colder after leaving the coast, to 

 the eastern bounds of Europe, according to the 

 law of nature, which is based on the cooling prop- 

 erties of land. Here the westerly current passes 

 over the Ural Mountains into lands almost wholly 

 unknown to us. Here are the cold regions of Si- 

 beria — the great Steppes of Asia, hemmed in on 

 the south and east by lofty mountains, and open 

 to the Polar Sea. If there is a cold climate on 

 earth, it is here. If there is a climate unconge- 

 nial to the march of civilization, it is here. Even 

 the climate of Labrador is more genial. The on- 

 ly condition to mitigate the cold is the Polar Sea, 

 and were that sea transformed to land, the whole 

 country would be uninhabitable. Were we fa- 

 vored with such a sea at the north of our conti- 

 nent, we should enjoy a far milder climate than 

 we do now, for other conditions are far more fa- 

 vorable. The Great Altai Mountains shut out 

 that region from the influence of the Pacific 

 Ocean, and the Ural Mountains on the west, over 

 5000 feet high, act as a refrigerator on the west- 

 erly current of air. The country south of this 

 from the Great Altai Mountains in the north, to 

 the Himalayas on the south, has all the variety 

 of climate from the Arctic to the tropical, and the 

 soil has every degree of fertility, from the most 

 perfect desert to the most fruitful of all lands. It 

 is a region which indicates great geological dis- 

 turbance. These are a continuation of those 

 mighty ranges of mountains which commence at 

 the Rock of Gibraltar, and pass through Spain to 

 the Pyrenees, and through the volcanic region of 

 France to the Alps, through Turkey to the Cau- 

 casus, and through the north of Persia to the lof- 

 ty heights of the Himalayas, then through the 

 south of the Chinese Empire to the ocean. North 

 of these, the mighty forces of nature have raised 

 innumerable chains whose lofty summits are cov- 

 ered with perpetual snow. 



South of these great chain of mountains lies a 

 tropical climate extending considerably into the 

 temperate zone, while the most southerly point of 

 the continent lies north of the equator. Here 

 lies the Burman Empire, Hindostan, Persia and 

 Arabia. Here is the southern slope of Asia, with 

 a climate whose temperature is as much above 

 that due to latitude, as the climate of Siberia is 

 below. The warm winds from the Indian Ocean 

 carry an immense amount of heat and moisture 

 over the eastern portion of these fertile lands. 

 Arabia receives but little wind or moisture from 

 the ocean, but is a land of calms and conflicting 

 winds, mostly of its own raising ; from its intense 

 heat, which causes those parching winds called 

 the Sirocco, and in consequence of these condi- 

 tions, the whole country is almost an entire desert. 



The Continent of Africa is so little known, 

 that it is almost impossible to give a description 

 of its climate. Its physical geography is so ob- 

 scure, that the causes that govern the climate are 

 but partially understood. The north part, beyond 

 the influence of the Mediterranean Sea, is a com- 

 plete desert. It lies in the belt of calms and con- 

 flicting winds, and those are raised only by its 

 intense heat, and bring no rain from any quarter. 

 Even in the fertile region of Egypt, it seldom or 



