140 PHYSICAL GEOGEAPHY. 



regard the observations as taken at one point and used them 

 accordingly. 



The instruments nsed are a barometer, thermometers, 

 psychometer, wind-vane, plnviameter, (rain gauge,) all of 

 the best quality, and manufactured by James Green, of New 

 York. Accompanying these observations are records of the 

 frost; flowering of fruit trees; times of the opening and 

 closing of the Mississippi river, etc., etc., presenting facts in 

 regard to the seasons of great value to the farmer, stock and 

 fruit raiser, as well as shipper. 



The observations were made at the hours of 7 A. M., 2 P. 

 M., and 9 P. M. In their collection and reduction, I have, in 

 order to make them of comprehension to the unscientific 

 reader and observer, avoided as far as possible the use of 

 either scientific terms or formula. 



The array of facts here presented will, it is hoped, prove of 

 interest not only for the residents of this State and the Missis- 

 sippi valley, but also for the dwellers upon the sea-board, as 

 furnishing data from which a comparison may be drawn as 

 to the difference in the temperature, amount of rain-fall, the 

 source thereof, &c, &c, as also their distribution through the 

 several seasons of the year. Eastern meteorologists have 

 been greatly surprised at the large amount of precipitation of 

 vapor in the valley, overlooking the fact that there the rain 

 winds are W.E., here, S.W. The amount precipitated has 

 not diminished since the first settlement of the country, and 

 probably will not, as the area covered by timber has not 

 decreased with the settlements of the State and is not likely 

 to in the future; on the contrary, is increasing and will con- 

 tinue to increase with the growth of settlements, in age and 

 extent. The peculiarities of our soil and climate are such 

 that the past three decades have demonstrated that our State 

 can endure an extreme of drought or rain with as little or 

 less loss than any other cultivated region of our country. 



]STo use has been made in this report of the barometrical 

 observations taken in connection with the others used, nor of 

 the relative humidity, &c, deduced from the observations of 



