Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1881-01-21
Agricultural.
INC CoId Nveather nnd one Snow,

The Cold weather and the snow.
The long-continued severe cold weather of
the present winter is not without its compen-
sations. 1t has been season of general
health. The steady cold that has prevailed
for moro than two months is perhaps moro
favorable to health than the alternate freezing
and thawing which occurs in our mildor win
mates. We have seen fewer people suffering
from colds or influenza than usual. Farmers
have had q favorable time for drawing wood,
logs or lumber. Such work will be mostly
done, probably, before the eleven feet of
snow predicted by Vennor accumulates. II
not, we can afford to postpone it for such
generous supply of poor mans manure This
familiar name, given to the snow, though not
as poetical as that in the famous song, is,
nevertheless, not meaningless Joke, as some
may suppose. It is true that the snow alb
serbs ammonia from the atmosphere and,
melting, carries an appreciable quantity of
This valuable fertilizer into the soil. The
rain also absorbs ammonia, and brings it in
contact with the plant but snow is said to
be the better absorbent. In an article which
We quote from the Indiana Farmer, we find
this theory ably treated:
Every farmer understands the value of
snow as protection to winter crops and per-
ennial roots, but above this il has q real ma
nurial value that but few comprehend.
supply of ammonia is one of the conditions
of vigorous plant growth This compound
of nitrogen and hydrogen, in its uncombined
state, is gas, lighter than air, invisible, and
of pungent odor. When combined with
carbonic acid, it forms the white, solid sub
stance known as smelling salts. Water alb
serbs 1t in large quantities when cold but
parts with it as the temperature rises When
dissolved in water it is known as "hartshorn"
in common language-the 'aqua ammonia"
of the druggists.
ammonia is formed, in greater or less
quantities, in the decomposition of all organ
ic substances, but most abundantly in the
putrefacton of animal matter. When thus
formed it passes into the air as q gas The
atmosphere generally contains an appreciable
mixture of ammonia. In cold climates, after
heavy winter rains, or after the ground has
been covered with snow for weeks, and the
cold has suspended the decomposition of or
ganic matter, ammonia cannot be detected in
the atmosphere. Rain or snow, falling thro'
the air, takes up its ammonia and carries it to
the earth, where it is absorbed il the ground
be loose and porous. But snow, being cold
and porous is one of the best absorbents of
ammonia. On thawing, it carries its fertiliz-
ing store into the soil. A Scotch proverb
says, Snow is the poor mans manure"
d. j. Brown, author of "The American
Muck Book, says that one of the chief uses
of snow is to screen the plants and heritage
from the chilling blasts of winter. The great
scene of Natures operations, during the win
ter, is below the surface of the ground, where
she is preparing the germs and roots about to
shoot forth, celebrating juices and consolidat-
ing parts previous to the active vegetation of
spring. Were the ground to be left bare in
cold climates, II would be hard frozen to a
considerable depth; vegetable life would eth
or be suspended or destroyed, and the spring
would be far advanced before the earth would
be thawed. Hence, to prevent these i'll effects,
soft and warm covering of snow has been
provided to prevent the internal warmth of
the earth from being dissipated-the offspring
of the very cold which is to be guarded against,
thereby making the evil work its own remedy.
The plants, being thus sheltered, shoot forth
with renewed vigor in the spring, and, cher
ished by the genial warmth of the sun, put
forth with increased luxuriance
Notwithstanding the extreme cold, Wind
ham county has been so well protected by its
covering of snow that the ground is found to
be unfrozen in the woods and beneath the
grass in meadows. If it remains till April,
vegetation will be benefited rather than injur-
ed by its long continuance. Some of our
readers may remember the spring of 1862,
when in some if not all parts of the county
the snow covered the ground to the depth of
four feet up to the 18th day of April. On
the 18th day of April, horses were driven on
the crust over fences, or in any direction
that pleased the rider, sleighing being better
out of the road than in it. The ground was
bare of snow before the end of the month,
and a very productive season followed.