COMPENSATIONS. — SNOW. 257 



it may be proper to make in the analyses of grass 

 grown in a climate of less heat and less sunshine than 

 our own. It will also lead to the conclusion that our 

 own grasses, grown on low, moist lands, are neither so 

 sweet nor so nutritious as the same species grown on 

 higher and drier soils ; and it is a fact which has fallen 

 under the observation of practical farmers, that the 

 grasses on low lands do not produce so much nor so 

 good a quality of milk, nor so much fat in animals, as 

 the same species of grass grown on upland soils. 



But, though we cannot boast of so luxuriant a growth 

 of the grasses as other and more favorable climates, we 

 have, as already remarked, at least some compensations. 

 With the necessities of our rigorous northern winters 

 to provide for, the English summers, with their daily 

 and almost hourly rains, would make it extremely diffi- 

 cult to put in the proper stores of winter food for our 

 stock. 



It is a curious fact that the destruction of the grasses 

 from the colds of winter is less to be apprehended in 

 some of the higher northern latitudes than in somewhat 

 milder climates. In the northern and eastern portions 

 of Maine, for instance, the snow generally falls before 

 the frost has penetrated to any great depth ; and it 

 usually lasts, often very deep, till the spring opens; 

 and as soon as it is gone the grass is green and luxu- 

 riant, and the sod ready for the plough ; while in Wash- 

 ington the cultivated grasses are absolutely destroyed 

 both by the colds of winter and the heats of summer ; 

 and this very frequently happens, — more frequently 

 than in higher latitudes, and where the actual severity 

 of the cold is greater. It is the frequent alternation of 

 cold and warmth, rather than the low degree of temper- 

 ature, that is most injurious to vegetation. 



We have already seen that in the Middle States some 

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