186 



MASSACHUSETTS. 



season. Excessive cold of short continuance generally occurs during the month of February. 

 The heat in summer is at times excessive, although like the cold in winter, such intensity 

 commonly terminates after a few days, and is not felt more than two or three times in a sea- 

 son. The nights are seldom otherwise than cool and refreshing. About the first of March 

 the ice in the rivers breaks up ; but snow-storms often occur after that period, though the ground 

 is generally clear of snow in the cou»se of the month. During March and April, northeast 

 winds are sure to prevail, commonly accompanied with rain, but always damp, cold, and disa- 

 greeable. This is decidedly the most unpleasant part of the year ; but in May the weather 

 becomes settled, and, after the first thunder-showers, south and west winds blow, the heavens 

 are clear, and a warm sun gives the first eflectual impulse to vegetation. In general the spring 

 *s about a week earlier than in New Hampshire. Potatoes and pease may be planted by the 

 22d of March ; the peach-tree Is in bloom, April 15th ; the apricot, April 25th ; cherry, May 

 10th; apple, May 15th; maize is planted May 15th; ripe apples are in market early in 

 AugHst. 



The finest weather is in June, August, and September. In the first of these months, im- 

 mediately after the cessation of the spring rains, the sky becomes serene, and a rapid vegeta- 

 tion covers the earth with a luxuriant mantle of verdure. In July the weather is hot and 

 clear, with the exception of thunder-storms. It the early part of August, it is very sultry, 

 but towards the end of that month and throughout the following, the air is temperate, clear, and 

 elastic, the nights cool and serene, and the weather in every respect delightful. Frosts occur 

 in October, but it is rare that snow falls in that month. Heavy rains fall in October, and No- 

 vember ; snow-storms are sometimes experienced in the latter month, but the winter cannot be 

 considered as fairly set in till December. Snow which remains for any length of time, does 

 not commonly fall before the middle of this month. All the rivers are frozen for two or three 

 months, and sometimes, though not often, the harbors on the coast for a week or a fortnight, 

 are closed by the ice. 



9. JVatural Productions. The latitude, elevation, and geological character of Massachu- 

 setts, differ so slightly from those of the States already described, that we cannot expect any 

 great diversity in the products of the soil. Most, if not all of the forest-trees already enume- 

 rated, are natives of Massachusetts. Though this was settled before any other New England 

 State, the forests still occupy a large portion of its surface. These have a remarkably fresh 

 and healthy look ; the clean and smooth bark of the walnut, maple, beech, birch, and others, 

 show no traces of the mossy covering, which a humid air engenders in a European wood. 

 Of oaks we have 30 or 40 distinct varieties ; the stately white pine and hemlock exceed in 

 height those of the old w'orld. The most noble and majestic of our trees, and that which in 

 form, color, and size, the most strikingly surpasses its European rival, is the American elm, 

 which is planted in our cities and towns for ornament. The great elm in the middle of the 

 Common in Boston, has long been celebrated for its height and elegance ; but the largest in 

 the country is near Newburyport, about a mile from the centre of the town. This noble 

 tree is one 'third larger in cubic extent and 25 feet higher than the Boston elm. It is now 

 growing with the rapidity of a young sapling, and at two feet from the ground, measures 21 

 feet In circumference. Its droppings extend 96 feet ; it is of a perfectly regular shape, and 

 covered w-Ith the richest foliage. It was ])lanted in 1713. 



10. Soil. In the southeastern part of the State, the soil is light and sandy, with occasional 

 fertile tracts. The middle and western parts have a strong, rich soil, excellent for all purpos- 

 es of agriculture ; in the northern portion on the seacoast, the land is not naturally very fertile, 

 but by skilful culture is highly productive. Salt marshes are numerous in all the maritime 

 parts. 



11. Geology. The rocks of the New England States are almost entirely primary. In 

 Massachusetts, there Is a strip of transition or older secondary formation covering part of the 

 primary, and extending from Boston southwesterly to Rhode Island, from 10 to 15 miles in 

 width. Bed sandstone forms the bed of the Connecticut in Massachusetts and Connecticut, 

 and is In parts covered with ridges of greenstone trap. The mountains toward the west of 

 the State consist of mica slate, clay slate, hornblende, limestone, granite, gneiss, quartz, and 

 other siliceous rocks. In the east, sienite, porphyry, pudding-stone, serpentine, &.c. occur, 

 [n the northern part the primary rocks are washed by the sea. 



12. Minerals., Quarries, &c. The finest building-stone is abundant in Massachusetts ; 

 quarries of excellent granite, sienltC; and gneiss are found in all parts of the State. The most 



