AN
*<
*%
ESSAY
r°*.r
'' **«*
ON THE
Climate of the United States
AN INQUIRY INTO THE CAUSES OF THE DIFFERENCE IN
 CLIMATE BETWEEN THE EASTERN SIDE OF THE CON-
     TINENT OF NORTH AMERICA AND EUROPE.
Practical Remarks on the Influence of Climate on Agriculture,
        and particularly the cultivation of the Vine.
Rerum qognoscere causas.—Virc
       PHILADELPHIA:
PUBLISHED BY HOPKINS AND EARLE
     Fry and Kammerer, Printers.
            1809.
 
      Garrard  Wnivevieiuy.


LIBRARY OF THE MASS. MEB. COLLEGE,

           Huhs <md Jicguliltintl*.
 1. Students attending any of the Lectures in
the Massachusetts Medical College may take
books from the Library during the  course, by
depositing Five Dollars  with  the Dean;  and
the students of any of the  Medical  Professors
mav have the same privilege on the same terms
throughout the year.
 •1. The Library shall be open on the afternoon
of every Saturday,  from 3 to 5 o'clock, for the
delivery and return of books.
 :;. Three volumes may be taken at a time, and
kept four weeks, or returned sooner if desired.
Twenty-live cents a week  will be charged  for
each volume that is kept, beyond that time; and
when a line is  incurred, it must be paid before
an\ more books can be  taken out.
 4. All the books must be returned on or before
the last Wednesday in February, and on or be-
fore the first Wednesday  in  August,  prepara-
tory  to the semi-annual  examinations  of the
Library.
 5. If a volume be lost, or injured, the price of
the book, or the amount necessary to repair the
injury, as the case may be, will be deducted from
the sum deposited; otherwise the whole amount
will  be  returned  to the  depositor,  when he
ceases to use the Library. 
ADVERTISEMENT.
    HE who communicates to the public his thoughts
on  topics of a general  nature, is presumed to do  it
under a belief that they will convey pleasure or instruc-
tion.  Of these two objects, the writer of the following
sheets can only have the latter in view; and though not
very sanguine in his expectations of attaining it,  he  is
not without hope that they may be the means of excit-
ing the  attention of others, who have mote leisure and
are better qualified for such disquisitions than himself,
to a subject which  appears not to have received the
consideration which it merits.
  Engaged in the pursuits of active life, he has had
little inclination, and less leisure for speculative inqui-
ries ;  but having for a number of years past devoted a
portion of his time to the practice of agriculture, he was
led to a comparison of the modes of cultivation follow-
ed in this country with those of Europe,  as detailed by
different writers: this naturally led  to a consideration
of the influence of climate. On this subject it seemed
to him that writers, otherwise of undoubted merit, had
taken up opinions  in some respects  erroneous;  and
being accustomed to commit  to paper such ideas as
occurred to him from time to time, on this, as well as
other topics connected with the art of husbandry, he
 
                        4
found, on reviewing his notes, that with very little la-
bour they might be thrown into their present form.
Had his  leisure permitted, his local  situation  would
not have enabled him  to consult many books  on the
subject:  among  those  that have  fallen  in his way,
Young's  Travels through France,  Kirwan's Essay on
the Temperature of different Latitudes,  and Volney's
View of the Climate and Soil of the United States, are
those from which he has derived the most information.
If he has added any thing to the stock  of useful  know-
ledge, it will afford him satisfaction to have contributed
his mite to the public good; and if not, he will con-
sole himself in the reflection that this will  be attended
with no other evil consequence than that of adding one
to the number of useless publications; and that, if he
does not  merit praise,  he is not obnoxious to any se-
verity of censure. 
AN ESSAY, &c.
     1 HAT the eastern coast of North America is
subject to greater extremes of heat and cold than the
opposite shores of Europe, is a fact that has long since
been ascertained, and it may perhaps have been account-
ed for; but I am inclined to believe that the true cause
of this difference, if it has been assigned,  is not  well
understood among those who are most conversant with
subjects of this nature.
  It is a generally received opinion that the climate of
Europe has been rendered more mild by the progress
of cultivation, and from hence it  is very naturally in-
ferred that the same cause will produce  the same effect
in America;  and that in proportion as the  forests dis-
appear and give place to cultivated fields, the winter's
cold,  if not the heat of summer, will become less in-
tense.
  This reasoning,  however,  is not conclusive:  the
same cause, when combined with other circumstances,
may produce a different, or even a contrary effect; and
if the conjectures which have occurred to me are found-
ed on truth, the woods of America may be cleared, and 
()
 the country brought to the highest  state of improve-
 ment, and the climate yet remain unaltered.
   While it is admitted that the countries of Europe in
 general enjoy a more temperate climate than that of the
 United States or the British colonies in North America
 in the same parallels of latitude, it is equally certain that
 the eastern parts of the old continent bear in this re-
 spect a striking resemblance to those of the new.  The
 city of Pekin, which is nearly in the  latitude of Phila-
 delphia, is no less subject to extremes of heat and cold,
 perhaps more so, than the latter city, and  the cold of
 Kamschatka rivals that of Hudson's  Bay.
   The western parts of North America are not so well
 known;  but, from  the accounts of voyagers,  the cli-
 mate of those regions (except perhaps the most northern
 which approach very near the coast of Asia) much more
 nearly resembles that of Europe, than that  of the United
 States and the British American provinces.
   From this remarkable coincidence in both instances,
 we may fairly infer  that there is no reasonable ground
 to expect any great change of climate from the  pro-
 gress  of cultivation. If it is to produce such art effect
 on the eastern coast of the new continent, how has it
 happened that China, which occupies so great a portion
 of the eastern side of the old, which was cleared of its
 forests and brought to the highest state of improvement
 while  Europe was covered with woods, and which has
always continued to maintain its superiority both in
population and the art of husbandry, should after the
lapse of thousands of years be subject ?n as great ey 
                        7
tremes of heat and cold as the forests of North Ameri-
ca? And to what cause is it owing, that the uncultiva-
ted wilds on  the western side of North America, bear
so great a resemblance, in point of  climate, to the
highly improved countries of Europe?
   This similarity of climate between the eastern parts
of the old and the new continent as well as the western,
must be attributed to some cause of a general and per-
manent nature, nearly uniform in its operations,  and
one that in all probability may be expected to produce
the same effects, so long as the present constitution of
our globe exists.
   In an inquiry into this cause, the difference of cli-
mate between the sea and land naturally presents itself
to our  consideration. The temperature of the air on
the main ocean, has been observed to be much more
equable than that of either continent, in the same paral-
lels of latitude.
   Islands surrounded by the sea partake of its tempe-
rature, and accordingly the British islands enjoy a much
more temperate climate than  the neighbouring parts
of the continent of Europe.
   Paris is about 160 geographical miles south of Lon-
don, yet it has been found,  by a long series of observa-
tions, to be subject to greater extremes of cold as well
as heat.
   The reason which has been assigned for this diver-
sity, and which seems sufficiently to account for it, is
the difference between the surface of the land and that
of the  water; the former being always the same, be- 
                        8
comes more and more heated  by the sun in summer,
and cooled by the frosts in winter, and communicates
its temperature to the surrounding atmosphere;  while
the ocean being in perpetual motion, its surface is con-
tinually changing, and it imparts coolness to the air in
summer, and warmth in winter.
  If the globe were wholly covered with water, the
extremes of heat and cold  would generally be much
less than at present.
  The temperature of the air being affected by the
warmth or coolness of the surface it passes over, a cur-
rent of air passing over the sea will generally be warm-
er in winter and cooler in summer, than another current
passing over the land in the same latitude. Bodies once
heated require some time to become cool, and vice
versa: the air follows this  general law of nature, and
accordingly a sea breeze in summer imparts coolness,
and a wind from the same quarter generally brings
ivarmth  in winter.
  These reasons account sufficiently for the superior
mildness of climate generally experienced in  those
countries that border on t](e sea coast, but not for the
difference  in this respect between the  climate of Eu-
rope and that of the eastern coasts of Asia  and Ame-
rica in the same latitudes.
  The geographical  position of the countries of Eu-
rope, deeply, indented by seas, no doubt contributes in
some degree to this difference; but I think  cannot be
considered as the sole, probably not the principal cause.
The island of Newfoundland lies further  south than 
9
England, yet it is without comparison colder in winter,
and perhaps warmer  in summer:  besides, how shall
we account for the superior mildness of climate of the
western coasts of America, not so deeply indented with
bays of the sea as the eastern, yet certainly enjoying a
climate much more temperate.
   If, on the eastern coasts of both the new and the old
continent, the winds should be found to blow generally
from the land, and on the western coasts from the sea,
this circumstance would of itself be sufficient to ac-
 count for this difference.
   The sea air  would  impart warmth in  winter and
 coolness in summer to the western parts of both con-
 tinents; while, on the eastern shores of both, the sum-
 mer's  heat as  well  as the cold of winter would be
 greatly increased by the land winds  passing over a
 heated surface in the one season and a frozen surface
 in the other.
    That  such is the  fact  I cannot take upon  me posi-
 tively to assert, not having had an opportunity of con.
 suiting a sufficient number of journals of the weather
 to  speak with certainty  on  the subject;  but  several
 writers, who have collected the results of those journals,
  concur in stating, that both  on the eastern side of the
  North American continent and on the coasts of Europe
  westerly winds predominate. The air in these regions
  of America, passing most generally over a surface fro-
  zen in winter, and heated in summer to a high degree,
  necessarily partakes of these extremes, and hence the
                                   B 
                         10
 excessive cold of our winters and the intensity of our
 summers' heat.
  In the countries on the coasts of Europe the same cause
 produces an  opposite effect;  the  same winds, passing
 over the surface of the Atlantic,  bring with them the
 temperature communicated by the waters of the ocean.
   Assuming this prevalence of the western winds as a
 fact established, let us proceed one step further in this
 inquiry,  and endeavour to ascertain its cause. I think
 it mav be found in the trade winds.
   Between the tropics these winds are known to blow
 with great uniformity across the  Atlantic and Pacific
 oceans from  east to west. If this current of air met
 with no interruption in its course, but swept round the
 whole circumference of the globe, it would feed itself;
 and the same particles  of air  would pursue their
 course to the west until they arrived at the point from
 whence they were  first  put in motion.  But this is
 known not to  be the fact; the current that begins at
 no  great distance from the western coast of America,
 after passing over the  Pacific ocean,  is checked in its
course by  the continent  of  Asia and  its numerous
and extensive islands, and finally arrested  by the east-
ern coast of Africa.
  That which  passes over the Atlantic begins at no
great distance from the western shores of Africa, and,
sweeping across the whole breadth of the Atlantic into
the bay of Mexico, its further progress is stopped by
the American continent.
  Several reasons have been given why the trade winds, 
11
which so  uniformly prevail on the ocean, should he
checked in their course by the continent:  the fact be-
ing certain, the cause is of no importance in the pre-
sent inquiry.
  Btit to whatever cause they may be attributed, they
must receive a constant supply at the points near the west-
ern shores of Africa and America, where they respec-
tively begin their course; and as the air cannot constant-
ly accumulate at its termination, it must pass off in some
other direction. The current  of  air which begins on
the western coast of Africa, for instance, must receive
a constant supply from some quarter; it cannot come
from  the west,  because  it moves in that direction; it
does not come  regularly and uniformly from the east,
and therefore must receive its supply from currents of
air  whose general tendency is from the north and south,
as well as from the east.
   When this body of air reaches the termination of its
course on the eastern coast of America, it cannot perpe-
tually accumulate; it does not continue to move in the
same regular direction across the continent of America;
it must therefore move off occasionally, if not uniformly,
in other directions. Now, as it must be constantly fed
with  fresh  supplies at  its commencement, and as it
must either take a new direction,  or accumulate at its
termination, in  order to keep up the equilibrium, a part
of it,  at least, will find its way back, if there is no ob-
stacle interposed; it cannot return directly, and there-
fore its course  must be circuitous; and as it will meet
with various impediments its  motion will be irregular. 
                        12
but still  its general tendency will  be to return to the
quarter from whence its motion across  the  Atlantic
originated. As  to the general direction in which this
eddy current  moves, we can only state as a  matter of
certainty, that in the United States the most general
course of the winds is  from the westward.  It seems
probable, reasoning from analogy, that the portion of it
that moves off tow aid the north,  must, for a  consider-
able distance, follow the course of the mountains that
separate  the waters which fall into the Pacific ocean
from those that empty themselves into the bay of Mex-
ico, thence gradually take an eastern direction, and
finally tend towards the south.  If this conjecture be
right, southerly winds will be found to prevail from
the bottom of  the bay  of Mexico along  the  eastern
range of  mountains that divides the rivers which fall
into the  Pacific ocean from  those that empty them-
selves into that gulf; and these winds,  after having
taken an  eastern direction in their course over the east-
ern side  of North America and the Atlantic ocean,
will, after they reach the coast of Europe,  gradually
take a southerly direction until they fall again into the
course of the  trade winds, from whence they will pur-
sue the same round.
  This  supposition is much strengthened,  when we
reflect on the immense supply of air which must be
necessary to feed these two  currents that move uni-
formly and with considerable velocity across the Pacific
and Atlantic oceans,  occupying a breadth of  about
forty-six degrees of latitude, and embracing more than
half the broadest circumference of the globe. 
13
  It may be objected that this body of air  might be
more naturally supposed to move in a westerly direc-
tion across the continent of America, and then the
accumulation  in the gulf of Mexico would feed the
other great current that takes its course across the Pa-
cific ocean.  But to this it has already been answered,
that we know it to be a fact, that the trade winds do
not  blow across the continent of America. No doubt
there are irregularities in the movements of this current,
and eddies that take different directions,  and I do not
pretend to  carry my conjectures farther than as to the
general course and tendency of the winds.
  An argument as well as an illustration may be drawn
from the direction of the currents of the ocean which
are occasioned by the trade winds.
  The gulf stream, which we have reason to believe
is occasioned  by the accumulation of the waters of the
ocean in the gulf of Mexico, ranges  along the coast
of America, and taking gradually an eastern direction,
may be distinctly traced as far, and  sometimes farther,
east than the  banks of Newfoundland; and there can
be little doubt that a part of the waters that form this
current finally find their way again  within the tropics,
are again hurried  on by the trade winds to  the  gulf
of Mexico, and again go the same round.
  The fact assumed in the position that I have been
endeavouring  to  maintain,  that the difference in cli-
mate between Europe  and America is owing to the
prevalence of the westerly winds, is, I believe, unques-
tionable, so far as it relates to the eastern coasts of the 
                       14
continent of America and the western shores of Europe.
Reasoning from analogy, I am led to conclude that the
same winds prevail on the eastern side of the old, and
the western part  of  the new continent. They  who
think these speculations worth perusing, and have a
better opportunity than  is afforded me of consulting
books of voyages and travels, and journals of the wea-
ther in those regions, may probably ascertain w ith to-
lerable accuracy whether these conjectures are right.
   I have fewer data in support of the conjecture, that
this general tendency of the winds from west to east
within the temperate  zones, is occasioned by the trade
winds from east  to west within the tropics; yet  per-
haps its correctness  may be  more easily ascertained
than that of the other. The numerous accounts of voy-
ages that have been published, containing journals of
the weather, in which the direction of the winds is no-
ticed, when compared together, will furnish  facts from
which conclusions may be drawn with certainty.
   It has long been ascertained that voyages are per-
formed  in less time from North America to Europe,
than in the contrary direction; and though this  is in
part owing to the current of the gulf stream, it  may
also in part be ascribed to the prevalence of the wester-
ly winds.
   Do the winds generally blow in  the same direction
between China and the western coast of America? The
many voyages that have of late years been  performed
by vessels engaged in the fur trade between these two
countries, a number  of which have been published, if 
15
consulted would probably put this matter out of doubt.
The same  inquiry might be pursued with a  greater
prospect of certainty with regard to the general tenden-
cy of the winds in the southern hemisphere within the
temperate zones.
  What is their general course between the continent
of South America and the Cape of Good Hope? From
thence to New Holland, New Zealand, and to the west-
ern shores of South America?  If it should be found
to be from west to east, both these conjectures may be
considered as established truths.*
   To  this theory may be opposed  the  fact which is
commonly taken for granted,  that the climate of Eu-
rope has become  more temperate as the forests have
been cleared, from which it is inferred that the same
cause will produce the same effect in this country.
   To  prove that the  European countries enjoy a cli-
mate now much more temperate than formerly, the
testimonies of ancient  wxiters are resorted to.  A num-
ber may be found in Hume's  Essay on the Populous-
ness of Ancient Nations. Mr.  Hume, who was himself
of this opinion, having  quoted them as collected by
the Abbe du Bos, in support of it.
   That there has been some change is very probable,
but I think by no means so great a one as Mr. Hume
and others of the same opinion have supposed. It is a

   * It is not improbable, however,  that the course of the winds
within the southern hemisphere may be influenced in a consi-
 derable  degree by the monsoons that blow across the Indian
 Ocean in opposite directions at different seasons. 
16
 very just remark of the Abbe du Bos, as quoted by
 Mr. Hume, that we should have more certainty with
 regard to this point if the ancients had known the use
 of thermometers; yet the temperature of a climate may
 be ascertained with tolerable accuracy by its vegetable
 productions. If trees or plants, incapable of withstand-
 ing hard frosts, are indigenous in a country, we may
 be sure that its climate is not a severe one.
   The olive certainly will not stand the winter of any
 part of the United States, except on the sea coast of
 Georgia  and South Carolina, and perhaps the banks of
 the Mississippi near our southern boundary; and even
 in France it is only to be found in a small district of
 the country lying open to the  Mediterranean on the
 south, and sheltered by the mountains of the Cevennes
 on the north.
   Now we have even- reason to  believe that it was
 known, and very extensively cultivated  both in Greece
 and  Italy,  at a time long anterior to the commence-
 ment of regular history.  In the fabulous account of the
 foundation of Athens the production of the horse  is as-
 cribed to Neptune, and that of the olive at the  same
time to  Minerva,  a certain proof that the olive was
known in that part of Greece in the earliest ages, and
before the period of regular tradition.
   With respect to Italy, neither history nor tradition
go back to so remote a period; but we find the  olive
frequently noticed in the Eneid,  as being common in
that country when Eneas is supposed to have arrived
there. Had there been even a traditionary account  of its 
17
introduction at a later date, it is not probable that Vir-
gil, who to a poetical genius of the first order added a
great knowledge of natural history, would have men-
tioned it in his poem.
   Had the winters of Italy been so severe as is inferred
from a passage in Juvenal, quoted by Mr. Hume, we
know that the olive could not have withstood them;
this, and other such passages as may be selected from
the Latin poets, must be considered as poetical exag-
gerations, and I am inclined to belive as many quota-
tions might be made to prove the contrary. Virgil, in
his beautiful description of Italy, says,
     " Hie ver assiduum, atque alienis mensibus aestas.
     "Bis gravidae pecudes; bis pomis utilis arbos."*
However, it is not surprising that frequent mention of
ice and  snow should be made by the ancient classics.
In those mountainous regions, while perpetual spring
reigns in the valleys,  the mountains are subject to all
the severity of a northern winter;  and at this day we
are told  that the use of ice is so general, that it is con-
sidered as one of the necessaries of life.
   Still it is not improbable that the climate of various
parts of Europe has become not only warmer in winter,
but cooler in summer than formerly. By clearing the
woods a more free passage is given to the winds, and
if, as is supposed, they most commonly blow from the
westward, they bring with them the milder temperature
of the Atlantic ocean. There are several circumstan-
                  * Geor. lib. ii. 149.
                                  C 
                        18
ces which induce a belief that the summers in England
have grown cooler than formerly; I will barely mention
the well authenticated fact that vineyards once were not
uncommon in a considerable district of that country.*
  But it has been stated as an unquestionable fact, by
several respectable writers, that the climate of the Uni-
ted States has already undergone a change, and is much
more temperate than formerly; and as no other reason
has occurred than die clearing of our forests, it is very
naturally ascribed to that cause. The shorter duration
of die snows, and the setting in of the winter at a later
period,  are urged  as indubitable proofs that our cli-
mate has become more mild.
  That snows do not lie so long on the ground as for-
merly, is, I believe, true; but this, instead of demon-
strating that the winters  are milder, only proves that
they are more variable. The forests being cleared, the
country is exposed to the winds from the land as well
as the sea; the latter,  if of any duration, commonly
bring on a thaw, and it remains to be ascertained whe-
ther the former are not accompanied with a proportion-
ate increase of cold.
  The more tardy approach  of winter, which seems
equally well ascertained,  would add so much to the
length of our summers,  were  not the springs more
backward than formerly; but it is generally agreed that
in proportion as the autumns have grown warmer, the
springs have become cool.  This,  I apprehend, instead
  * See Miller's Gardener's Dictionary, Martyn's edition, art,
VITIS. 
19
of demonstrating that the general temperature of ouf
climate has become more mild, rather leads to a con-
trary conclusion.
  If the westerly winds are most prevalent in this coun-
try; and if, blowing over a heated surface in summer,
and a frozen one in winter, they add to the inclemency
of both seasons; will not the country, becoming more
exposed to their influence as the forests are cleared, be
subject to greater extremes of heat and cold?
  It is true that by the same means free access is given
to the more temperate winds from the sea, which render
the climate" more variable, and for the time more mild;
but still as the land winds predominate, it would seem
that the general  effect  ought to  be an  increase in the
severity of both winter and summer.
  That this has  happened, or is likely to happen, in
any great degree, I am not inclined to suppose; but ra-
ther believe that to a certain extent such an effect has
been already produced.
   The principal fact on which this opinion is  founded
is the increased backwardness of our springs, and the
correspondent lateness of our autumns.
  If heat were only produced directly by the rays of
the sun, the summer  solstice would not only be the
season of greatest heat, but would divide the  summer
equally, and we  should not have reason to expect  a
greater proportion of warm weather  after that period
than before; but every year's experience proves that
on the twenty-second day of June, when the days be-
gin to shorten,  the  summer  is  not  nearly half over. 
                 i
                        26
Although the  rays of the sun become  less and less
direct, and the time of its continuance above the hori-
zon becomes shorter, the temperature of the air does
not correspond; but the heat continues equal, and fre-
quently increases for a long time after this period.
  The rays of the sun are as direct and the days are as
long at the vernal as at the autumnal equinox; yet at
the former season in this climate  the  frosts are never
over, and at  the latter they have never begun.
  This no doubt is owing to reflected or accumulated
heat: the earth being heated by the rays of the sun,
not only retains its warmth for a considerable length
of time,  but communicates it to the atmosphere, and
thus the summer's heat is continued for a much longer
period than it would be, if it proceeded only from the
direct rays of the sun.
  Upon the  same principle the  increase of cold after
the winter solstice, is accounted for. In the  former
case the heated surface of the earth communicates  its
warmth to the air, and in the latter being frozen, or at
least relatively colder, it deprives  the atmosphere of a
part of its warmth.
  It is owing to the same cause, that in the hottest days
of summer the heat generally goes on increasing some
time after the  sun has passed the  meridian, and in the
winter nights  the most intense cold is generally after
midnight.
  Now, as the surface of the sea is perpetually chang-
ing, and is never so much heated  in summer or cooled
in winter as  that of the earth, it would seem to follow, 
21
that on the main ocean both the summer and the win-
ter, at the same time  that they are more temperate,
would set in earlier than in the same parallels of latitude
on the land, and that the greatest heat of the summer
days would not continue much beyond the time when
the sun passes the meridian.
   I may be mistaken in the fact, but believe nautical
men of experience and observation will confirm it.
   If the true cause has been assigned for the difference
of climate between this country and Europe, and if this
reasoning be correct, we ought to find that the seasons
commence earlier in Europe than in the same latitudes
in this country. Whether the fact be so, may be easily
ascertained by those who have an opportunity of  con-
sulting and comparing a sufficient number of thermo-
metrical observations in both countries;  if it be, we
may conclude that the increased lateness of our springs
and autumns is rather a proof that our climate is grow-
ing less temperate than that it is becoming milder.
   But another circumstance has been relied on in sup-
port of the opposite opinion, and as it has been verified
by experiment, it only remains to inquire whether the
inference deduced from it be just.  The surface of the
earth it  is said becomes warmer as the forests are
cleared and cultivation extended, and from thence it is
inferred that the  increased warmth of the earth  pro-
duces a correspondent effect on the climate. Doctor
Williams, the  ingenious  historian of Vermont,  has
published a set of experiments, by which it was ascer-
tained that in summer the thermometer rose higher 
22
when sunk in the earth of an open field, than when the
same experiment was tried in a wood.  Late in the au-
tumn there was little or no difference, and in the win-
ter no experiments appear to have been made.
  The fact, it is presumed, cannot be questioned, and
it might have been taken for granted without the ex-
periment, as it only proves that bodies exposed to the
summer's sun acquire a greater degree of heat than
those that are in the shade;  but the substance or body
that  affords the shade itself receives the heat, which,
were it not interposed, would be communicated to the
earth, and the quantum of heat remain the same,  with
this single difference, that  it is communicated to one
body instead of another.
  It is said also, that as new countries are cleared and
cultivated, the marshes are drained, and the  surface of
the earth is exposed to the drying influence of the sun
and winds, and that the climate becoming more dry, of
course, becomes more temperate.  Admitting the fact,
the  conclusion by no  means follows; fluid  bodies  as
well  as solid ones are susceptible of heat. It has been
ascertained, that the climate of Europe  is more moist
than ours, as indeed we might expect; the winds there
most commonly blowing from the sea,  ours from the
land: and yet the climate of Europe is certainly more
temperate than ours. A country covered with morasses
surely cannot be more moist than the sea  itself; yet
the seasons on the  main ocean are more mild than on
the land: it therefore does not  follow that the air be-
comes temperate in proportion as it becomes more dry. 
23
  A circumstance is supposed to exist, with respect to
the climate of the United States, that may be thought
to bear upon the hypothesis I have been endeavouring
to support. It has been asserted by writers, whose opi-
nions are entitled to respect, and who no doubt made
the assertion  on what they thought good authority,
that the climate of that part of the United States which
lies west of the Allegany is much warmer than that of
the country on the eastern side of those mountains; and
Mr. Volney, in his View of the Climate and Soil of the
United States, with his usual sagacity has endeavoured
to account  for it. He ascribes it to the trade winds,
which, accumulating in the gulf of Mexico, and being-
stopped in  their course, pass oft*  laterally,  and as  he
supposes, take a direction up the bason of the Missis-
sippi. This hypothesis I believe to be correct in prin-
ciple; but the fact to which it is applied, from the best
information  I  can obtain, is by no means  so certain.
The first emigrants  to the country  of  Kentucky, not
content  with  describing  the fertility of  soil  which
it undoubtedly possesses,  went further, and with that
proneness to exaggeration which is  natural to persons
thus circumstanced, enlarged on the advantages of the
climate, which they represented as much more mild
than that of the district from which  most of them had
emigrated,  and from whence they expected followers;
 but I do not understand that this  opinion is at present
 generally entertained by the inhabitants of that country,
 and cannot learn that there are any facts which warrant
 it. The cold no doubt  is greatest in the mountainous 
24
regions that separate these two tracts of country, and
the climate becomes more temperate  as  we descend
from them, whether in a western or eastern direction.
   It has been already observed, that the vegetable pro-
ductions of a country are a good standard by which its
temperature may be ascertained; there is one on which
experiments are constantly making, in which, as they
are directed by interest, there is little reason to suppose
a want of  care or accuracy.  The cotton plant  is an
object of such importance, and the culture of it so ge-
nerally practised and so well understood in those dis-
tricts of the western country where it can be brought
to maturity, that in travelling through that country
from south to north, and finding it by degrees less and
less general, and finally not attempted, and this with-
out any material change in the soil,  or the character
and habits of the people, we may be certain We have
passed the northern limits of the climate fitted for  its
growth. Now,  unless I am greatly misinformed, it is
cultivated to a considerable extent, at least for domestic
use,  as far, and indeed  farther north on  the eastern
than on the western side of the Allegany.
   Thermometrical  observations  would  furnish the
most conclusive evidence on  the subject, but  none
have fallen within my observation, except those that
have been  published by Mr.  Ellicott  in his Journal
(Appendix, page 1 to 12), and from them it appears
that the cold during his  stay at the confluence of the
Mississippi and Ohio, in December 1796 and January
• ~'7, was at least as intense as is usual at  that season 
                        25
en the eastern side of the mountains in the same lati-
tude.
  Another traveller, an intelligent and apparently an
exact observer, Charlevoix, who passed down the Mis-
sisippi about the year 1720, gives an account of the
cold he experienced in his passage from the Kaskas-
kias, in the month of November, which exceeds what
is commonly felt at that season in the same parallel of
latitude to the eastward.
  Whether the climate of the northwestern part of the
state of New-York, is, as Mr. Volney supposes, more
mild than that of the New-England states, in the same
latitude, I am unable to say; but supposing him not to
be mistaken, is the cause which he assigns for this dif-
ference a true one? May not the neighbourhood of the
unfrozen lakes render the northern and western winds,
to a certain degree, more temperate;  and may not the
winds further eastward blow generally somewhat more
from the north?
   As to the  prevalence of the southerly winds in the
valley of the Ohio and the Missisippi, it yet remains
to be ascertained, by  a course of registered observa-
tions, whether it is greater in that part of the United
States,  than  on  the eastern side of the Allegany.
   Mr.  Volney's conjecture, that the trade-winds as-
cend the  Missisippi, corresponds  with  the theory
which I have endeavoured to demonstrate; but in the
application of it  to facts, he seems not to  have reflected
sufficiently.  The  supposition that  they are diverted
from their course by the mountains of Darien,  at a 
2(3
great distance, not less than eight degrees of longitude
to the east of that isthmus, seems not probable; and
the face of the country through  which the Missisippi
flows is such, that it cannot be said to form a bason or
valley of any considerable extent. Indeed at its entrance
into the gulf of Mexico, the river rather presents  an
obstacle, than a passage for such a current of air; the
Delta, which no doubt  is the gift of the Missisippi,
projecting many miles into the gulf, and the river itself
meandering through the vast and level plains of Loui-
siana, unattended by parallel  ranges of mountains,  or
any  inequalities in the  surface  of the country,  that
should give the winds that particular direction. In fact,
the w hole extent of the coast between Cape Florida
and Mexico is one level plain, very little elevated above
the sea, and opposes no  barrier to the passage of the
winds, which being checked in  their course by the
isthmus of Darien, most probably do take a direction
to the north; but  for the reasons already assigned, I
should think much further to the west than Mr. Vol-
ney supposes.
  No doubt local circumstances may have an effect on
the climate of particular districts, and perhaps of whole
countries, indifferent ways, which are not referable  to
the cause I have assigned; the monsoons, for instance,
which blow regularly across the Indian ocean  in oppo-
site directions at different seasons of the year, probably
influence the  course of the winds for a considerable
extent beyond their limits: but  in what manner,  and
with what effect on the climate of New-Holland to the 
27
south, or the shores of Asia and Africa on the north,
the means of information I possess do not enable me to
say; and, with respect to the subject of the present in-
quiry, it is useless to conjecture:  it may be proper,
however,  to  notice more  particularly the  winds that
prevail in summer on the coasts of the United States,
more especially the southern parts, and which tare said
to extend further up  the country with the  progress of
cultivation.
   These winds, blowing from the ocean, and general-
ly setting in after the meridian of a hot day, and ceasing
in the course of the evening, have all the characters of
what is  called the sea-breeze in the tropical  climates,
and it may be presumed are owing to the same cause,
the heat and consequent rarefaction of the air on the
coasts;  which, according to the laws of gravity, occa-
sions a  motion of the cooler and more dense air of the
neighbouring sea to fill the vacuum.
   That these winds temper the heat of summer on the
coast; and that in proportion as they extend further up
the country they produce the same effect on a larger
scale, seems unquestionable; and so far the climate of
that portion of the country to which they now extend,
and which has been brought within their influence by
clearing the  forests,  may have been in some degree
rendered more temperate in summer. The effect, how-
ever, corresponds with its cause, which operates within
narrow  limits and short periods of time. The general
course of the winds, and the general temperature of the
Climate, are but little  affected by the one or the other, 
                       28
  Before we drop this inquiry,  other circumstances
mav require some consideration. While the climate of
the  United  States and the British colonies in North
America is subject to greater extremes of heat as well
as cold than the countries of Europe in the same lati-
tudes, cold is more  generally prevalent in America,
and the medium temperature of the weather is lower
than under the same parallel in Europe. The general
temperature at Quebec, for instance, is  lower than at
Paris, which is more than two degrees further north,
though probably there are some days in summer much
warmer at the former place than at the latter.
  Whether this difference does not lessen as we advance
farther south I am not so certain, but rather believe it
does, and that very considerably.  It may be asked how
this prevalence of cold on the eastern coast of America
is accounted for, on the hypothesis I have been endea-
vouring to prove.
  Admitting the fact, and that  no sufficient reason can
be assigned for it, it does not necessarily contradict the
opinion I have advanced, that the cause of our climate
being subject to greater extremes of heat and cold than
that of Europe, is the prevalence of the westerly winds
in both. Two countries may, in the  medium tempera-
ture of their climate,  exactly agree  with each other,
and yet the extremes of heat and cold in each be widely
dissimilar;  one may enjoy an exemption equally from
intense heat and cold, and the other be subjected to
both in the greatest degree. So, in the same country,
the  medium temperature of the climate  may proceed 
29
from one cause; the extremes to which that country is
subject, to another.
   There is, however, a remarkable coincidence in the
climate of the northern part of the eastern sides of both
continents, not only as they are alike subject to great
extremes of heat and cold, but with respect to the great-
er prevalence of cold, when compared with that of Eu-
rope and probably the western coast of America.
   This coincidence, I'think, most probably proceeds
from a cause operating alike on both, and perhaps the
same that occasions the extremes of heat and cold to
be greater on the eastern than on the western  sides of
both continents.
   li, as I have supposed, the trade-winds  (or at least
a portion of  them), after their  course to the  west  is
obstructed by the continents of Asia and America, take
a circuitous course, first northwardly, then gradually to
the east and  south, till they reach the points of depar-
ture on the western coasts of America and Asia;  may
not that part of the current which makes a wider cir-
cuit, passing furthest to the north, take rather a south-
ern direction before it leaves the continent?  If such
should be the fact, the northeastern parts of both con-
tinents would not only be subjected to greater extremes
of heat and cold by the winds blowing from the west-
ward,  but  in proportion .as  these winds should come
from a region to the north of west, they would bring
with them an increase of cold from that climate. If,
therefore, from this cause,  or from any other, it shall
be found that the  northwesterly winds are more  pre- 
30
valent on  the  northeastern coasts of both continents,
than on their western shores, this circumstance alone
would be sufficient  to account  for the greater preva-
lence of cold  in those regions. This  conjecture  ap-
pears more probable than any other that has occurred
to me; whether the  fact on which it rests really exists,
remains to be  ascertained.
   Having endeavoured to prove that the severitv of our
climate and that of the eastern shores of Asia is owing
to the prevalence of the westerly winds, and  that the
same cause produces an opposite effect on the western
coasts of both continents;  and having attempted to ac-
count for it by the currents of air  which constantly
move across  the Atlantic and  Pacific oceans, from
east to west within the  tropics; I  should here con-
clude this essay, were I not desirous that these specu-
lations might  be the means of inducing persons of
better information and more leisure to pursue the in-
quiry,  and  were I  not  persuaded,  that  conclusions
might be drawn from these positions which would lead
to useful results.
   Whether the physical or intellectual powers of the
human  race are affected by climate,  has frequently
been the subject of discussion among those who have
directed their attention to questions of this nature; and
whether our climate, being liable to greater extremes
of heat and cold than that of Europe, operates favoura-
bly or otherwise on our faculties, are questions with
which I do not pretend to be conversant, and  which to
any practical purpose it seems unnecessary to discuss. 
                         31
  The United States, lying within the temperate zone;
,  their climate, subject as it is to great variations, must
  on the whole be classed among the temperate; and men
  of great endowments, both mental and corporeal, have
  been born and reared in countries  that are subject to
  greater cold, and in others where the heat is more in-
  tense.
    What effect our climate has on animals, as compar-
  ed with that  of Europe; and how far our modes and
  arts of life, especially the most generally practised and
  most important of all arts, that of  husbandry, are in-
  fluenced by climate, how far by habit; which of these,
  brought by our ancestors from Europe and still fol-
  lowed by their posterity, ought to be abandoned as
  not suited to the vicissitudes of our seasons; and what
  benefits would accrue from adopting others  at present
  unknown  or  little practised among us;  are topics of
  no little moment, and which hitherto have not been
  much attended to. Practical men seldom apply their
  thoughts to such subjects, and more  seldom commu-
  nicate them to the public; and it has happened, rather
  unfortunately perhaps, that some eminent European wri-
  ters, having erroneously taken it for granted that our
 ' climate  was not only colder but more moist than that
  of Europe, and having drawn conclusions  from that
  supposed fact unfavourable  to this country, some of
  our most distinguished citizens, eager to detect error
  and  zealous for the honour of their country, not con-
  tent with refuting these positions,  have gone into the
  opposite extreme, and have contended that our climate 
                         32
  was equally temperate with that of Europe in the same
  latitudes; or if not so now*, that it would gradually ap-
  proach the same standard, as our forests  should be
  cleared and cultivation extended over the face of the
  country.  Had  it been admitted that our climate was
  less temperate, and the difference been traced to a
  permanent cause; instead of controverting an unques-
 tionable fact, or looking for changes which are never
 to happen, I cannot but believe that many new  im-
 provements would  have been struck out,  and that
 various important branches of agriculture would have
 been established among us, that are at present  un-
 known; of these perhaps the most  important is the
 culture of the vine.  Could we substitute for our beve-
 rage the pure and wholesome juice of the  grape, in-
 stead of the liquid poisons obtained by distillation, so
 fatal to the health and morals of the laborious  part of
 the community, what a change would be effected in
 the face our country? How many industrious families
 would be  saved from ruin!  The habit of drinking fer-
 mented liquors  has  prevailed  from the earliest ages
 among the race of men from which we are descended;
 and though the  abuse of them, like that of every other
 good,  no  doubt has been productive of evil,  it can
 hardly be questioned that they have  added more to
 the stock  of human enjoyment than the) have taken
 from it. The use of ardent spirits, which was unknown
among the  ancients, has  produced  fewer benefits
 and incalculably greater mischiefs. Drunkenness is a
 much more prevalent vice, and is much more fata! 
                        33
among those who are addicted to the use of distilled
liquors, than those accustomed,to the use  of wine or
beer.
  No one, at all acquainted with human nature, will
ever expect that the people of this country, any more
than the present inhabitants of Europe, will ever aban-
don the use of intoxicating drinks; and ardent spirits
will be in general use among the mass of the commu-
nity until a substitute is found.  That  wine would in
a great measure supplant them,  need not be doubted,
if it could be produced in our country (for it is idle to
expect it from abroad) in sufficient plenty  for general
use.
  It is  much to be regretted that the efforts made at
different periods, and in various parts of the country
to  attain  this  object, have hitherto been  so unsuc-
cessful  as to induce a very general belief that there
is something in our soil or  climate so  unfriendly to
the vine, that it can  never be cultivated here with sue*
cess. As to the former, we know that the finest wines
of Europe are the produce of soils of various descrip-
tions, extremely different from each other,  and it can-
not be doubted that we have the same varieties here.
The difficulty,  if there be one, independent  of our
want of experience, must I think be referred to climate.
Possibly  it is  insurmountable  in some parts of the
country; but I am persuaded that there are large dis-
tricts within the United States, in  which the grape
would find as  genial a climate as  in Europe.  The
want of success that has hitherto been experienced, I
                                 E 
                        34
 tliink may have happened by the selection of kinds not
 suited to  our climate. The vine, as w ell as other fruits
 which have been long cultivated, runs into innumerable
 varieties;  and every wine country in Europe has those
 which have been found suited to its climate, or in a
 succession of ages have become accommodated to it.
 In selecting varieties, two leading circumstances would
 seem to require attention:  the first, that they should
 be able to stand the  severity of our winter; and the se-
 cond, that the grape should ripen at that season of the
 year best  suited to the making of wine. If the vintage
 take place during the summer heats,  the wine  must
 become acid by excessive fermentation; and on  the
 other hand, a grape that does not attain its maturity
 some time before the usual period of the setting in of
 the frost, might often be overtaken by  the winter, and
 a year's labour lost. Indeed, if in a climate more tem-
 perate than our own we should find a grape that united
 these two  requisites, it might still  fail,  when removed
 to a climate different in other respects from its own.
 Various kinds of wheat from the Mediterranean have
 been  occasionally sown in this country; and though
 they resist the cold  of our winter, and ripen at the
 same time with the  ordinary kinds, they have very ge-
nerally, if not always, yielded an imperfect grain. We
ought, therefore,  in  choosing  varieties of grapes, to
look for them in those countries whose climate most
nearly approaches that of the district where the expe-
riment is  intended to be made.  In Italy, Spain, and
Portugal,  and perhaps the south of France, we should 
35
doubtless find  grapes of different  kinds that would
not ripen too early in the season;  but being  none
of them accustomed to the severity of a winter like
ours, it is highly probable that from this cause, most if
not all of them would fail here. The vines of Burgundy
and Champagne cannot be expected to succeed, both
on account of the severity of our winters, and because
the grapes would ripen too early in the autumn;* and
yet perhaps all the  varieties of grapes on which expe-
riments have been  made,  have come from these coun-
tries. If we ever succeed, I think it must be by bring-
ing our vines from the interior of Germany, from Hun-
gary,  or perhaps from Switzerland, countries remote
from the sea,  and whose climate is not much unlike
that of many parts of our own.
   It is a known fact, that as we advance from the sea-
coast into the interior of the continent of Europe, from
east to west, the winters grow colder and the summers
warmer; and in consequence of  this difference of cli-
mate,  the vine is found to succeed  in the more eastern
and less temperate regions, much further to the north
than on the seacoast. The neighbourhood of Nantz,
for instance, a little to the north  of latitude 47 , is the
 northern limit of the wine district of France, on the
 western coast; but as we go  to the eastward, the cul-
 tivation of  the vine extends further and further to the

   * See Legaux's Table of Vegetation in Pennsylvania, com-
 pared  with that of some of the  most famous wine countries
 in  Europe. M'Mahon's Gardener's Calendar, p. 480, extracted
 I believe from some periodical work. 
36
north, and on the banks of the Rhine excellent wines
are produced, at least three degrees further north, and
where the severity of the winter is much greater.*
   In Germany the line extends still further north, into
Saxony; and  in Hungary the vintage of Tokay, the
richest perhaps in the world, is gathered considerably
to the north of latitude  48°. Were our vines brought
from these countries to those parts of the United States
most like them  in  climate, it seems highly probable
that many of them would succeed, f
   With regard to the degrees of heat, a pretty accurate
judgment might be  formed by a comparison of ther-
mometrical observations that have been made in both
countries;  and the period when the grapes would at-
tain maturity here might be calculated from the periods
of harvest, and the fall of the leaf from deciduous trees
that are common to both countries. If in any two dis-
tricts,  the one in Europe,  the other  in America, the
wheat harvest is at  the same season of the year, the
fall of the leaf at the  same period, and the extremes of
cold and heat are nearly alike, it can be hardly doubted,
that if wine is made in one of those countries, it might
be produced from the same grape in the other.
  These rules are capable of very extensive applica-

  *  See Young's Travels in France, and his map of the climate
of France, annexed to that work.
  t  Since the above was prepared for the press, I have seen in
the National Intelligencer an account of some attempts to cul-
tivate Hungarian vines in Maryland, near Hager's Town, whicli
are said to have succeeded.  "" 
37
tion; and if they are correct, we might, without wasting
years in uncertain experiments, calculate in the first
instance, with a great degree of accuracy, whether any
particular grape would be suited to our climate^or not.
Perhaps in the more southern parts of the United States
it would be difficult to apply them, as it  may happen
that in all the wine countries of Europe whose winters
are equally severe,  the  harvest  is gathered  at a later
period, and the autumn comes on sooner. Such, I am
inclined to believe,  is the case; indeed I am persuaded
that the great warmth of our summers is much more
unfavourable to the cultivation of the vine than the
winter's cold;  and of  course that  some  of the more
northerly  districts  are much more suited  to it than
those furthest south. Wine, I believe, is never made
within the tropics.  In Europe Indian corn is found to
require a warmer climate than the vine,* and there are
few, if any districts in this  country, where some of the
 varieties of that grain will not come to perfection.
 Most probably the winter of a large portion of the
 eastern states  would be found too severe for most
 kinds of the vine. Were I, upon conjecture, to fix upon
 a spot for an experiment, I should look for it in those
 parts of the United States least subject to the extremes
 of heat as well as cold. The country south of the lakes

   * Young's map of the climate of France, in whicji the north-.
 em limit of the climate fit for the cultivation of  maize is placed
 about two degrees further south than that of vines; both of them
 extending from the coast to the interior in a northeasterly di-
  rectiipn. 
38
Erie and  Ontario, and the  mountainous district that
separates  the eastern  waters from those that fall into
the Missisippi, in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia,
and perhaps the Carolinas, probably would be found to
offer the most favourable situations for this purpose;
but this can be determined by experience alone.  Per-
haps the experiment has already been made, under the
circumstances I  have ventured to recommend, and
without success;  but  I cannot learn that  it has ever
been done: and if,  in the first instance it should fail,
it ought not to be given up as hopeless, until a great
number of trials are made with different kinds of vines,
such as are most esteemed in the countries from which
they are brought, and are most likely to suit our cli-
mate.*
  It may be supposed that the improvement of our na-
tive grape would  be a shorter and  more certain  pro-
cess;  but all the kinds I have met with  have  such
harsh and crude juices, that I apprehend they cannot
be improved, so as to become equal to the cultivated
grape, for ages. The wild crab-apple is understood to
be the original stock  of all the fine varieties of that
fruit of which we are  now in possession. Cultivation
no doubt has done much  in the course of thousands
of years, but most probably the greatest improvement
has been effected by  repeated  selections of the  best
accidental varieties from seed,  until they  have  been
  * Nullum genus vitium conserendum est nisi fama nullum
diutius  conservandum nisi experimento probatum. Columella,
1. xvi. iLi. Sec. 2. 
                        39
brought to their present improved state. In  as long a
course of time, possibly sooner, the native grape might
be brought to the same state of perfection;  but as all
our cultivated apples are from European stocks, and no
improvement of the native crab has hitherto been ef-
fected, it seems reasonable to expect that if we look
for equal  success with the vine, we must pursue the
same course.
   Among other objects of cultivation that  might be
introduced or extended  among us, we may perhaps
reckon rice.  This most valuable grain, which yields a
greater supply of fo&d from a given extent of ground
than any other, is found, like Indian corn, to require a
«Teater degree and longer duration of heat than is af-
forded by the climate of the more northern parts of
Europe;  and, unlike that plant, it does not run freely
into varieties, or readily accommodate itself to short
summers. On the sunken  grounds of the Chesapeak
and  its tributary streams, and perhaps the  Delaware,
are large tracts, that in soil and situation are well fitted
to the cultivation of this plant.  That the heat of sum-
mer is sufficiently great, there can be no question; the
 only doubt is,  whether its duration is long enough.
 The kind that is cultivated  in Carolina  is found not
 to ripen sufficiently early; it is, however,  far from im-
 probable, that in other parts of the globe varieties of this
 erain might be found that would attain maturity sooner.
 Rice is said to be cultivated extensively  on the banks
 of the Po, at no great distance from its source:  a cli-
 mate, the medium temperature of which I should think 
40
jk* materially different from that of the lower country
of Virginia and Maryland.  It is also said to have been
lately introduced into Hungary* the climate of which
probably approaches still nearer to that of those parts
of the United States. Whether it is cultivated so far to
the north in China, I have not learnt: if it be, it can
hardly be doubted that it would succeed equally well
in the same parallels of latitude in the maritime parts
of the United States.
   The similarity of climate between the United States
and those parts of China that are in the same latitudes,
has long since been  remarked; and there is certainly
no part of Europe whose climate so nearly  resembles
our own. Unfortunately our intercourse with that coun-
try is limited to a single port, and that further south
than  any part of the United States. If a free commu-
nication is ever established between our country and
the more northern districts of China,  it may probably
be the means of introducing among us many plants of
great utility, and which,  being  transplanted from a
climate so like our own, wrould at once become natu-
ralized to it.
   On the other hand, a due attention to the effect of our
climate on some plants brought from Europe, might
perhaps induce us to abandon the cultivation of them
 in the  more southern districts of the United States.
 The common oat is a  grain little suited to a warm cli-
 mate, accordingly it is hardly known as an object of

   * Miller's Gardener's Dictioaary, Martin's edit, art, Oryza. 
41
husbandry in the more southern countries of Europe.
In America, while the northern states and the moun-
tainous districts of the south yield a  grain that  well
repays the labour of the  husbandman, that which is
produced in the flat country  of the southern states, as
has been remarked by an intelligent English traveller,*
is so light that it hardly seems to possess the principle
of vegetation: yet still, for the want of a proper  sub-
stitute, it is cultivated throughout that range of coun-
try, whether to advantage or not, is at least doubtful.
  These instances are put by  way of example.  An
examination of this subject in detail, would be foreign
from the object of this inquiry; but I hope these un-
connected hints may induce persons  of more  ability
and better means of information, to  go more largely
into it.
  Agriculture,  like other arts,  must depend  for its
advancement on experiments; but when these experi-
ments are conducted on just principles and in confor-
mity to a correct theory, the  road to improvement may
be  much shortened, and the  labour and expense of at-
tempts that cannot be expected to succeed, will fre-
quently be avoided.
  By a  due  attention to  the rules I have mentioned,
and others that will readily occur to a reflecting mind,
I am persuaded there is hardly a tree  or a plant which
belongs to any part of the  old continent within the  tem-
perate zones,  that might  not be naturalized in some
  * Mr. Strickland's communications to the board of agricul
ture.                             _ 
                        42
part of the United States, and that without the waste
of time or labour in a succession of fruitless experi-
ments.
  It ma}- be thought, that as our climate is subject to
preater extremes than that of Europe,  the  country is
not capable of producing  some  plants  that flourish
there. This no doubt is true, as to a large portion of
the United States,  with respect to some trees and pe-
rennial plants; but those vegetables that are useful to
man are, the greater part of them, annual, and for their
production I am inclined to think our climate has the
advantage of the more temperate one of Europe. Indian
corn, a grain  second in utility only to wheat, if it be
second, requires a degree of warmth that in Europe is
only found in the more southern regions. In every part
of the United States, from north to south, it is culti-
vated with success.
   Cotton, a plant of such  extensive use, which flou-
rishes to so great a degree  throughout  nearly or quite
one half the extent of our country, is only known as an
object  of cultivation in some  small districts in the
southern parts of Europe.
   The near resemblance between the  climate of the
United States and China has been already mentioned:
perhaps no two  countries on the face of the globe are
 more alike in  this respect.  That climate certainly can-
 not be thought a bad one,  which of all others has been
 found most favourable to human life,  and the richest
 in vegetable productions.
n 
fl
rv