Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1847-08-20

small aocks, venture TO predict that, with all The
carr md attention which the sheep scM receive,
The MISERABLE animals, eaten while yet alive by
msoools-and fostering in loahscmr roltenness,
will rerish in muliitudes-by whole focks.
Another objection 10 pasluIns in common,
would arise in The difficulty, il not impractical
bIlity. OF establishing and enforcing an equitable
system OF joint occupancy, over or around large
marie. so As 10 compel each farmer 10 regulate
Inc pumber of his hocks and herds BY The amount
ol cultivated pasture possessed by him.
Gut il we concede all the preceding difficulties
10 he removable. or even removed; if we suppose
,be srea, northwestern plains 10 be amply sup
niicJ with materials Tor building fences and fuel;
ih,rc are Two other difficulties in the way of their
becoming The best class Of shecp-walks, when,
rom their nature. are fixed. and, in The main, I'M
chargeable. alIude 10 The scarcity oil water,
and The climate. IN
On The "ary and rolling prairies"-1hose
claimed TO possess the greatest advantages LOT
Sheep misunderstanding water IS scarce, re
quenIly extremely so. Tie occasional streams
are shallow and sluggish. Washing wool on 'ne
back of the sheep csnduces think 10 The health
OF he animal. Ii causesl the sheep 10 shear much
more easiy-brnes The wool into better mar
ke,abe condition, and diminishes transportation.
Streams OF considerable depth and rapidly
(where. what is better, falling sheets oil wafer
over mill dams. &c, cannot be iound,) are almost
indispensable 10 an e1ectual performance OF ms
process. Sheer, also, in many periods OF wea-
iber. reocire wa,er for drink. When they are
confined 10 div iced, il is indispensable, IN The ab.
sence of thai snow which is often, in The Eastern
States. made substitute for waller. Neither are
aiainable during considerable periods each WIN
ter on the praries, without resort 10 prmp-a
sorry-and, Gncluding The time OF working IL
10 ho m n
s:ye and troublesome substitute for running wa
ter.
Finally, The climate ofthe Western and North
western States is more rafiatls-eXhibils more
sndd,a and greater eIi,ezaes, than the climates oil
New York and New England. The weak and
easily pTusiraicd muscular and vascular system
OF the sheep, will better endure great extremes OF
continuous heat or cold, than rapid and marked
variations in temperature. Subjected % The Ial-
Ter, catarrh not violent enough TO kill in lis IN
famma,ory Stage, but assuming chronic form
and followed bv slow and wasting debility,
frequently attacks flncks. Sometimes il assumes
an epzootic and malignant character las dur
ing the past winter and sweeps away thousands
OF sheep.
The isohermal lire Tor line Of equal mean
heat does not vary particularly between The same
ai,udes in New York or Wiscunsin-or between
Virginia ami Missouri. BuI as We leave he
ocean and oher large bodies Of waller, The isoihe-
raj and sochemal lines are found 10 divergc
more and more from The iso;hermal one -and the
range OF The thermometer Che extremes OF heat
and cold indicated by ) rapidly increases. The
following Table OF temperatures, KEEP. by officers
in The Army, for series Of niue years. is from
DR.. Forry's excellent work on The "Climae oi
the Unied States, 6c"' /, s'rikngY illustrates
The TACT asserted. The four points specified are
in about The same latitude:
Highest. Lowest. Ann. Range.
Fort Walcou, New
MIR, R IS 2aboye Zero SO
For, Trumbu, New
London, Conn, 81 10
Foll Armstrong, X.
Island, III, 90 10 below luo
Council Bluffs, near
the confluence Of
The Plate q Mis-
souri,, lUi 10 iSo
Doctor Forty states that the mean annual
range oflhe thermometer al the following places
is as follows a; Fort Sullivan Passport Mc.) ii
is lOl degrees, while al Forts Smelling Confluence
of The ST. Peters ana Mississippi in lowa) and
Howard, Green Bay, Wisconsin, IN about The
same latitude, it is respectively i9 degrees, anc
l23 degrees.
Al Fort Preble portland, Me.) Fort Niagara
(ncar The mouth OF the Niagara River N. ~
Fort Constitution Portsmouth, N. ~ il 10 SO
degrees, 90 degrees, and 81 degrees; al For Craw-
lold, Confluence Of The Wisconsin and Missis
srpi Rivers 10 wisconsin, on The same parallel
it is leo degrees.
The above instances are no, isolated ones. The
same law is ound-olher things being equal 10
generally prevail throughout our own, and per-
haps all other conntriest
While the cold Of The Northern, and paricu-
larry the Northwestern States, so greatly exceeds
thai oil the Southern States, few would he pre-
pared for The proposition tha, The extremes OF
heat in the former. oi:nn roach points unknown
many degrees farther South Yet such is the
iac
Font Smelling, in latitude IA degrees 81 min
a.cs, and occupying central position in that Us,
territory lying between The Great Lakes and he
Mi.suuIi, and between The 4 is, and 18Th parallels
OF latitude and which may therefore be- pre-
sumcd, 10 certain extent, 10 Afford type oil the
climate Of iha, whole reeion-ieels maximum
summer heat Of SO degrees-lhe same with that
oi Washington city, in latitude 50 degrees 53
minutes and Old Point Comfort, Virginia, in
latitude 81 degrees minutes. At Fort John
sion. on The Coast Of North Carolina, in latitude
"a degrees, tic maximum heal is but 30 degrees;
al Fort Moullrie, in Charleston Haroor, in lai-
lude 80 degrees d2 minutes, il is also 80 degrees;
at Fort Marion, ST. Augustine, Florida, in laii-
,udc % degrees SO minutes, il is % degrees; at
For, Brooke, Tampa Bay, Florida, in latitude
27 degrees 81 minutes, il is 81 degrees; and al
Key West, The most Southern possession Of The
United States, il is SO degrees.
II will thus be seen That The summer heat rises
higher al Fort Smelling than al points On The sea-
board more than 20 deg. farther South
Now lie, US compare their winter temperature.
The minimum temperature Of Fort Smelling is
26 deg. below Zero. That al Washington is
dee. 'above Zerc Old Point Comfor 20 deg. above
Zero; For, Johnson % deg. above Zero; Fort
Noultrie 81 deg. above Zero; 81. Augustine SO
Kew West So deg above Zero. So the greatest
cold Of Fort Smelling is 50 deg. below that OF
Wasbinctou-lhe most northern and by far the
coolest OF these posls-and j! is actually IS deg.
below that of post, Key Wesl,) which lis sum-
mer heat exceeds br f0ur deereesl
A, Fort Howard, latitude ia deg. 40 mn the
seasons are even more violently contfasled. lis
maximum heat is SO deg, its minimum % deg.
below Zero. At Rock Island, H., latitude
deg. % min. we have already seen that The maxi
mum is 90 deg, the minimum 10 deg. below Zs-
70; and at Council Bluffs, latitude II deg. As min,
The maximum l0l deg. the minimum 1t deg. be-
low Zero! Al Petite Quoquille, near New Or.
leans, The maximum is but "a deg the minimum
80 deg above Zero
And IN examination OF the monthly variations
in temperature, al our northwestern posts, will
show that these are excessive, in proportion, as
those of the year-and their sudtenness can
scarcely be credited BY an inha bi'an' Of southern
regions-more particularly those bordering On
the Atlantic and Gull Of Mexco!:
Il cannot be said that Fort Smelling, or Rock
Island, or Council Bluffs, have The summers OF
ltay or The South OF France-for the weather is
much hotter at intervals and is subject 10 far
more frequent abrupt and violent changes than
in The laier: nor have these pests winters as
mild rs lhuse OF Europe, many degrees farther
north, And their winter exhibits the same sud-
lien AMI violent changes which characterize the
summer climate.
These acts, 10 my judgment, fully explain The
remarkable mortality 10 The hocks which nave
been carried on The pralrcs and which is usual
~ attributed TO uvcr.drivIng, poisoning, &c. The
climate ilsei, though not always rapid, will
prove one OF The suresl Of poisons, unl:ss great