Mountain Home bulletin. (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1888-1889, 1888-09-15
SiBERiA'S CLIMATE.
a Comparatively Unknown Country Whicl
Is by No Means An Arctic Waste.

A Comparatively Unknown Country which
Is by No Means An Arctic Waste.
It is hardly necessary to say that a
country which has an area Of five and
a half million square miles, and which
southern extremity OF Greenland to the
island of Cuba, must present great d.
versities OF climate, topography and
vegetation. and can not be everywhere
barren arctic waste. A mere glance
at map is sufficient to show that a
considerable part OF Western Siberia
lies farther south than Nice, Venice
or Milan, and that the suburban bound.
airy of the Siberian province Of Semir-
echinsk is nearer the equator than Ma
Piles. In country which thus stretches
from the latitude of Italy to the lati-
tude of Central Greenland one would
naturally expect to find, and as a mat
ter OF fact one does find, many varie-
ties of climate and scenery. In some
parts of the province of Yakutsk the
mean temperature of the month of JAN
uary is more than so degrees below
zero, Fahrenheit. while in the province
Of Semipalatinsk the mean temperature
of the month of July is ~ degrees
above; and such maximum tempera-
lures as 95 and 100 degrees in the shade
are comparatively common. On the
Taimyr peninsula, east of the Gulf OF
OBJ, the permanently frozen ground
thaws out in summer to depth Of only
few inches, and supports but scanty
vegetation Of berry bushes and moss,
while in the southern part OF Western
Siberia watermelons and cantaloupes
are profitable crop, tobacco is grown
upon thousands Of plantations, and the
peasants harvest annually more thar
5O,0OO,OOO bushels Of grain. The fact
which l desire especially to impress
upon the mind of the reader is that 81
IBERIA is not everywhere uniform and no
mogeneous. The northern part of the
country differs from the southern par
quite as much as the Hudson Bay terri
tory differs from Kentucky; and it is a
great mistake to attribute the colt
and barrenness of the Lena delta to tn,
whole of Siberia as it would be to at
tribute the cold and barrenness of Kins
William Land to the whole OF Nortl
America.
To the traveller who crosses tn,
Urals for the first time in June nothin.
is more surprising than the ferven
heat of Siberian sunshine and the ex
traordinary beauty and prOfusion Q
Siberian flowers. Although we ha
been partly prepared by our voyage u
the Kama for the experience whic
awaited us on the other side Of tn
mountains, we were fairly astonishe
upon the threshold of Western Siberi
by the scenery, the weather and tn
fora. In the fertile. blossoming coun
try presented to us as we rode swift
eastward into the province OF Tobolsh
} there was absolutely nothing even re
} motely to suggest an arctic region.
, we had been blindfOlded and trans
ported to it suddenly in the middle of
sunny afternoon, we could never hay
guessed to what part of the world W
= had been taken. The sky was as clea
and blue and the air as soft as the SIX
r and air 81 California; the trees wei
all in full leaf; birds were singing ovt
> the flowery meadows and in the cluml
: of birches by the roadside; there wei
drowsy hum of bees and faint fr
b GRANGE of flowers and verdure in Il
air; and the sunshine was as warm al
a bright as that Of June afternoon
I; the most favored part OF the tempera
+ George Kennan. in Century.