American Lancaster gazette. [volume] (Lancaster, Ohio) 1855-1860, 1856-02-21
BENEFITS OF SNOW.

Snow is Of great impoTtauce 10 vegeta-
bic life. Its peculiarly porous structure
renders Il "a exceedingly bad conductor OF
caloric; and hence, when covering any
thing warm or cold, and differing in tenn
peraIure from the snow itself; or from the
surrounding object, it requires long peri
ol Of the time for the equilibrium 10 be re-
stored.
Ii the earth becomes early covered with
STOW. and before the ground is frozen il
will remain above freezing point during
the entire winter, even though the atmos
pheric temperature should go down many
degrees below zero. So decided is It's pro-
lection; that If the sod be penetrated with
frost to the depth Of several inches before
the fall Of snow comes on. the caloric OF the
subsoil will remove the frost. nOtwithstan
ding The atmosphere has at any time risen
much above freezing point. We were,
when boy, rsdah puzzled at this phe-
nonlenJn. Ths ground had been frozen
like stone, before the snow fell upon is,
the weather continuing many weeks below
freezing p,in:; an yet afterwards on re-
moving ths snow, the ground was found
thawei on, and easily lifted with shovel.
Of course boys reason was given for
this circumstances viz:-that the snow
was warm, and had thawed Cut the ground,
instead Of the true one, that is non-conduc-
ting properties had intercepted the raIia-
tion of the heat from the lower strata oi
the soil, and this. acting upon the upper
stratum, had removed the frost.
Alpine plants, that ou:live the seversst
winters OF mountain districts because pro
tected by snow, have perishod in the com
para,ively warm climate of England fol
want ofsucb protection. We had good
illustration of the genial influence Of snow
in oar own country last winter. The ther
mometer went down to point uDprece
dented in our history, being no less thar
twenty two degrees below zero. poin
not reached for sixty-seven years, and fol
how long poriol previously. it is impos
sibls 10 tell. OF course he peach croI
was utterly ruined, and orchards wLisi
were wont TO yield hundreds Of bushels o
splendid fruit, produced this year no;hin:
but leaves. Al our Horticultural show
however, there, were exhibited severa
magnificent, specimens of peaches, whicl
upon inquiry: were found in every inatanc
to have been produced upon limbs that b,
a fortunate accilen. had been bent down 4
covered wish snow-drift. The temper
allure in their position did not probably ia
to zero, and il they could have laid upo
the grourd. would barely have reache
freezing point. The earth at this sever
period was mantled with heavy fall, an
we trenlble at the possible consequence
which might have ensued in case th
ground had been exposed and denujet
AS it was. the frost did not penetrate 10 3
unusual depth. and the wheat fields an
the meadows coms out in the spring fres
and green from their long winter slunl
bers.
A locality that experiences abundar
falls of snow, which cover the ground uri
formly through the winter, will admi, c
the cultivation OF many things that Oannc
be grown in other places with no lowe
{ temperature. but destitute Of snow; an
many counties would be, without It's pre-
tecting influences. mere regions of was'
and DISSOLUTION. Farmer.