Note 103 — PETER KALM’s TRAVELS. (continued 3)

It is not only the clearing of woods, but cultivation, and population, that alter the climate of a country, and make it mild. The Romans looked upon the winters of Germany and England as very severe, but happily both countries have at present a much more mild climate than formerly, owing to the three above mentioned reasons. Near Petersburg, under sixty degrees north latitude, the river Neva was covered with ice 1765, in the beginning of December, and cleared of it April the 11th 1766. At Tsaritsin, which is under forty-eight degrees forty minutes north latitude, the river Volga was covered with ice the 26th of November 1765, and the ice broke in the river April the 27th 1766, (all old stile). Is it not almost incredible, that in a place very near twelve degrees more to the south, the effects of cold should be felt longer, and more severely, than in the more northern climate. And though the neighbourhood of Petersburg has a great many woods, the cold was, however, less severe, and lasting; Tsaritsin on the contrary has no woods for many hundred miles in its neighbourhood, if we except some few trees and bushes, along the Volga and its isles, and the low land along it. Wherever the eye looks to the east, there are vast plains without woods, for many hundred miles. The clearing a country of woods, cannot therefore alone contribute so much to make the climate milder. But cultivation does more. On a ploughed field the snow will always sooner melt, than on a field covered with grass. The inflammable warm perticles brought into the field, by the various kinds of manure, contribute much to soften the rigours of the climate; but the exhalations of thousands of men and cattle, in a populous country, the burning of so many combustibles, and the dispersion of so many caustic particles, through the whole atmosphere; these are things which contribute so much towards softening the rigours of a climate. In a hundred square miles near Tsaritsin, there is not so much cultivated land as there is within ten near Petersburg; it is in proportion to the number of the inhabitants of both places, and this makes the chief difference of the climate. There is still another consideration, Petersburg lies near the sea, and Tsaritsin in an inland country; and, generally speaking, countries near the sea have been observed to enjoy a milder climate. These few remarks will be, I believe, sufficient to enable every body to judge of the changes of the climate in various countries, which, no doubt, grow warmer and more temperate, as cultivation and population increase. F. ↑