PP THE AMERICAN MIDLAND NATURALIST 
attack. Men are now amassed in communities. ‘Tree rows temper 
the stinging gales which formerly swept, unchecked, across the 
prairie. But it is of interest to go back to those old times, to gather 
‘up fragments of the old pioneer life, to piece them together, and to 
interpret them in the light of the world of to-day. And to do this 
we must consult the old records of the people who then struggled 
in bitter opposition, against the elements. 
In seeking records of the old times, I came first of all to the 
diary which Mrs. Cairns has kept. It is a record going back for 
more than half a century. A record of climate, of fall ploughings, of 
spring sowings, of summer harvests, in fact, a life record of many 
seasons, repeating itself again and again as life always does, yet 
adding, presenting greater possibilities, making the whole richer, 
more lovely than it was at any preceding year. The exceedingly 
mild winter of 1918-19, in North-Central Iowa might well be com- 
pared with the winter of 1854-55. That winter was so very mild that 
Mrs. John Kellogg of Charles City, (then St. Charles), hatched 
and raised chickens in December. A friend of my grandfather’s, 
who had come to this part of the counrry in that year, wrote to 
him in Canada that the winters were very mild in Iowa. He said 
that he had chopped wood in his shirt sleeves all winter. The next 
spring, Mr. Brown set out for Iowa. And, in accordance with his 
friend’s description of the climate, he thought it unnecessary to 
bring his overcoat. The first winter he was here, 1855-56, it became 
so very cold that all of the thermometers of that time failed to 
register the temperature. All of them froze up. On one particular 
day no one was found in the cabin at which grandfather was staying, 
who would volunteer to go out after wood. But he, with true 
pioneer pluck, went out, alone. He had sent for his overcoat, in 
the meantime, but it had to come from McGregor by wagon, and 
on the way it was lost off the load. The owner never received it 
until sometime in January. 
In 1876 Mrs. Cairns recorded that it was cloudy on December 
25th, and that “‘roads were in a terrible condition of mud.”’ Decem- 
ber 28th of this same year found men ploughing. 
Christmas day of 1884 was a splendid day with no snow at all, 
and roads were dusty in places. On the 27th of that year there was 
considerable rain. It had been cold before these dates, however, for 
we find that on December 3rd, the roads were good, and dry. On 
December 4th, it was quite cold, snowy, and blowing. Then, on 
