34 On the supposed Change 



Old England, in respect to heat and cold, frost, snow^ 

 rain and wind." — " Experience teaches us, that if the 

 heat does exceed England, it is so little as must require 

 better judgments to discern it. As for the winter, I 

 rather think, if there be a diffht'ejice, it is both sharper 

 and longer in New- England, than Old ; yet the want of 

 those comforts in one, which I have enjoyed in the other, 

 may deceive my judgment also*" " The seed-time be- 

 ginneth in the midst of April, and continueth good till 

 the midst of May." This was written at Plymouth, a 

 place whose heat in summer, and cold in winter, is mod- 

 erated by the air from the sea. But the description does 

 not warrant the idea of excessively cold winters. Seed- 

 time was as early then as it is now. 



In an account of the climate, soil and produce of New- 

 England, written by the Rev, Mr^ Higgeson, of Salem, 

 in 1629, we have the following description of the sea- 

 sons. "In the summer time, in the midst of July and 

 August, it is a good deal hotter than in Old England j 

 and in winter, January and February are much colder, 

 as they say ; but the spring and autumn are of a middle 

 temper. In the winter season, for two months space, the 

 earth is commonly covered with snow, which is accom- 

 panied with sharp, biting frosts, something more sharp 

 than in Old England, and therefore we are forced to 

 make great ^res^\^^. Historical Collections, vol. i. 117.^ i\ 



This description answers well for the ordinary seasons 

 in New- England at the close of the 18th ceatury.. The 

 summers are hotter ; the winters colder than in Eng- 

 land. A winter of eight weeks or two months frost, may 

 be considered as a medium winter, between our very 

 mild and very severe winters. 



From the same narrative, it appears that maiz thrived 

 as well then, as it does now, in the plantations about Sa- 

 lem,, and produced the most abundant crops. 



In a tract written in 1642, called " New-England*s 

 First Fruits," the climate is thus represented, in answer 

 to some objections that had been made to the project of 

 settling the country. " True, it is sometimes cold, when 

 the wind blows strong at northwest ; but it holds not long 



