ECONOMICAL GEOLOGY. 89 



and long-lived ; in others, two or three crops of fruit are 

 all that can be expected from a tree. The native fox- 

 grape grows luxuriantly in the woods and on the beaches. 

 It is said that a white grape is found on Five-mile Beach 

 which is of superior quality. It is thought to be a foreign 

 grape, the seeds of which have been thrown up here from 

 some wreck.* 



§ Good crops of clover are raised ; but, as is commonly 

 the case in warm climates and on light soils, upland grass 

 does not thrive. When sown on good ground it soons runs 

 out ; and the open fields, when left, do not become covered 

 with a spontaneous growth of rich, soft grass, such as is 

 everywhere to be seen in the northern part of the State. 

 It is partly on this account, and partly because of the 

 worrying of flies and musquitos, that a larger amount of 

 stock is not kept. From the tables it will be seen that 



* Climate. — It is to be regretted that there are so few records of the climate of this 

 county. There have been no meteorological registers kept, for any length of time. In 

 addition to the facts in regard to the seasons, in the jpreceding section, I may add the fol- 

 lowing note from Dr. S. S. Marcy, of Cape Island : " Our winters embrace every variety 

 of cold and temperate weather. Ice is rarely obtained in this neighborhood more than 

 four inches thick, and frequently but three inches ; often it is but a short time that it can 

 be obtained of this thickness. It is cut from still water in artificial ponds, which are only 

 one or two feet deep. So great is the uncertainty of obtaining a supply of ice, that we 

 commence filling our ice-houses with ice from two and a half to three inches thickj and 

 every team within a distance of six miles is put in requisition for that purpose, with re- 

 taining fee, some weeks before the appearance of ice. 



" The lowest temperature observed here for the last thirty years was 2° above zero. 

 This was on the 9th of January, 1856. On the 10th, it was 4°; and for several days the 

 thermometer was as low as 8° or 10°. This will long be remembered as the cold winter 

 of 1855-6. In our winters generally, the thermometer does not fall below 14° to 18°, 

 though it has been known as low as 8° above. Up to last winter, the latter was thought 

 to be the extreme of cold weather here. 



" The mildness of our winters admit of large numbers of cattle being wintered on Seven, 

 Five, and Two-mile Beaches, without any provision being made for them by their owners. 

 In cold weather, the cattle find shelter in the thickets on the beach." 



