OCR Text |
Show EMIG RAr T'S GUIDE. .Annona tri loba, Pawpaw, Robinia psenc.l -acacin, Black locmt, Gledtchia tric c nthus, Honey locust, Magnoli'3. a uminat:-~, Columbia tree, Liriodcndron tulipifcra, Poplar, )for us rubra, Red berried rriul berry, Pinus abie~, Hemlock spruce, Fagus syln:strig, Beecb, Fagus ca~tan ea, Chestnut, Carpinus americana, Hornueam, Carpinus ostrya, I ron wood, Betula nigra, ]Jlac.k birch, tblix migra, Black willow, J unipenus virginiana, Red cedar, Celtis crassifolia, Hackberry, Diogpiros Ti rginianl, Persimon, Nyssa sylvaticli, Black gum, Fraxinos american!, White ash, Fraxinus aquatica, Swamp ash, Fraxinus quadrangularis, Blue ash , Ulmas americana, Slippery elm, Ulmus rubra, !leu elm . The most dense forests in the state of Ohio are on its south and outhwest borders, near the Ohio river. Perhaps no part of the earth ever produced more timber, upon an equ~l space , than does many places ncar the margin of the lat.ter river, and upon the banks of most of its confluent ~treams ncar the1r mouths. It has been observed that the timber of the valley of Ohio yields more easily to rot, than does that upon the enst side of the Aleghany mountains. The fact is first dou btful, and if it exists, the ditrerence must be in the same species, and not in the aggregate bo<.ly of ti rn ber trees. In the states of Lou Liana and Missi:3sippi, oak, pine, and hickory, rots sooner than <.loes tbe wood of the same genera in the eastern states ; but to counterb::dancc this defect in part of the southern trees, the wood of the cypress, Llack ]ocust, and catalpa, support the action of air and water equal to t!J8 timber of any trees in North America. The state of Ohio, in addition to the forest trees, possesses :t. very rich shrubbery ; in its fore sts are found many species of plums, haws, wild grape vines, whortleberry, spice woQd, hazle, alde r, blackberry' raspberry ' anu dew berry ; with many others. 'I' he herbaceous vege ta bl es are extremely numerous ; many of them are valu· able as medical plants, some as food, and many afford an ornament to the woods by their flowers . It does not comport with the design f this treatise to enter into any detail upon the general botllnJ flf any part of the country described. The names and local positio11 of the f mber trees are given, from their indispensable importance in the most necessary arts, practised by man. The difference between the climates, east and west of the Alegh: my mountains, is a subject upon wh ich has existed a sin~uJa l' difie rence of opinion. l t is also one that involves an inquiry of thg. first importance, as far as agr~l:Ilture is concerned. The author of this treatise has lonf; since been led tfi consider, contrary to common Ei\IIGRANT'S GUIDZ. received opinion, that upon the same line o~ Jatit?~e. m r~ ~oJ,i wa~ experienced west than east of the mountams. l_h•s de_viat ron fro:n general belief was not formed fwm theory 1 bu~ an m_ductwn from h1.s own experience. Facts have Leen adJuccd rn Yanous parts of tlu~ work to show the very low temperature of the ~ riuters in the .lVIis ! issippi va ley, even upon. the border o~ the Gulf of NI xi co. Many causes mRy be g1ven why an 1uea, tbough etroneous, should be adopted, that the climate of the Mi~sissippi ba::in was warmer than the Atlantic slope, but one wil l perhaps suffice ; the stream of emicrration has he•;u . outhwest. lVfcn from the N cw England statci whebn removed into the Ohio valley, actn81.y found themselves in a more 'temperate c1imate than 1 hat on<" frorn w h!ch thc:y bad cmigra_te_u ; this circumstance very naturally led them to exaggerate the dt.ffe r" ence. The follow ina- notices of tbe climate and se<l ·ems, are in cons ide· rl!b le part foun(led upon the facts adduced in Dr. Drake's Cincinnati, a work much too I ittle known. From the florcal calendar given in the above cited work,* we have taken the liberty to make the following quotation: " these observations were made on plants growing in the valley of Ohio, and on ~he dec) ivity of the adjoining hills, where the devt!lopcmcflt of vegetatiOn is four or five da .. 11s earlier than at a distance of even a few 11nles north. In the interior of the Miami country, th is di fference is so great as to attract the attention of all travellers, who in spring or autumn jour· ney in tbat direction from Cincinnati. Between the valleys of l\'L ,:J. river and tbe Ohio, it is supp1 sed to equal ten or fifteen day s. The causes of the remarkable backwardness in the forn1er si tu ation, appears to be, in part, its higher latitude, great~r elevation, and damper soil,"-and it might have been added, greater exposure to the north winds.t It appears, from the same calendar, that peach-trees bloorneJ_ at Cinci nnati the first week of April, that on the 12th of .May ma1ze was planted ; June 4th, cherries began to ripen ; July 4th, rye harvest commenced; lOth, wheat; 12tb, black berries ripe; August 5th, peaches in market ; Sept ,mber 20th, forest becoming variegated ; October 25th, maize gathered ; and at the end of the latter month, the deciduous trees lea fless. If this cbain of facts had been collected from the ordinary course' of the seasons near Pittsburg, the in duc tions would not be more ap· plicable to that city, than they a-re as drawn from a place more tb ~Hl a degree of latitude farther south. It is a subject worthy of remark, that vegetables are by far the most certain thermometer; and th at inductions drawn from the effect& of heat and cold upon tenllcr plants, are tbe most satisfactory conclusions that can be made upon tl.1c phenomena of climate. Nothing hut actual experiment can enable the human mind to form any rea· sonable opinion of the temperature of any given place. Amongst the •eceptive apparent analogies between two or more given situationi, *Page 88. t See pa~o 251 ~7, 21, 1671 172, and sequel of this Treati~e. ... |