Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1893-07-28
ICELAND.
A COUNTRY WHICH Is BETTER
THAN IT'S NAME.
The Climate is Remarkably Equablc
Little Grain is Crown
The Stock Industry
Thrives There.
7 CELAND is not by any means so

7 CELAND is not by any means so
forbidding a country as its name
J. implies 1t is no more p land Of
ice than Greenland is land Of
verdure. 1t is not nearly SO cold rs
many places in the United States, not
TO mention the Canadian Dominion.
The fifty and sixty degrees below zero
registered every winter in the North
west Territory and Assiniboia, and
even the thirty-fve and forty below,
experienced in Montana and Northern
Dakota. are unheard of IN Iceland.
Neither is the other extreme felt, OF
great heat, such as these very regions OF
North America endure. No Icelander
knows what q temperature of hun
dred in the shade is. There are no
sudden fluctuations or great changes.
A variation of thirty degrees in
month is probably not on re-
cord in the island. The eli
mate IS due, of course, to the same
cause that produces a similar effect IN
the British Isles, namely, the Gull
Stream. This great ocean current
washes the southern and western
shores Of Iceland, and secures IT
mild winter and a balmy summer.
There are glaciers in the island, OF
course. but they form no icebergs.
The sea around the island Is never
frozen, nor indeed is any floating ice,
in foes or bergs, ever seen, save on
rare occasions on the northern coast.
Now and then, in summer prolonged
storms will carry floating ice across
from the Greenland coast, and drive 1t
upon the northern shore of Iceland,
together with cold fog and rain. In
this way polar bears are also sometimes
landed on the island. On the other
hand. the winters are 50 mild that
thunderstorms often occur i'll them.
In fact. most of the thunderstorms III
Iceland are in the winter months
Agriculturally, however, the climate
of Iceland is less favorable than that
of Manitoba. The summer is cooler,
and vegetation therefore natures less
rapidly. For that reason 1t Is lmpos-
sible to grow any grain there, save
species of oats. Corn, wheat and rye
are out of the question. The contents
of the vegetable garden are0lso limited.
Tomatoes and pumpkins, for example,
cannot be grown; nor are fruit trees
and grape vines TO be seen. The chief
garden products are potatoes, cab
bages. carrots and turnips, all Of which /
grow in great luXuriance, and are ol /
excellent quality. The only tree isthe
birch, which only reaches height Of /
ten or twelve feet. But the chief crop /
is grass. The moist climate fayors its
growth, and the island is thus abund-
antly supplied with both pasture and
meadow lands These sustain great
focks of horned sheep and herds Of
cattle and ponies, of all Of which great
are annually exported to Scot
land and elsewhere. Fish, wool, tai
low, feathers, sulphur. elder down and
shark oil are also important items Of
foreign trade.
Iceland has always been n land of
learned men, and to this day erudite
Icelanders may be found in almost
every university of Europe. In no
is scholar held in so high
esteem. The tourist is conscious that
the respect Of his farmer host rises
perceptibly when he learns that the
stranger is student, and, ifhe only
stays long enough, the 'pastor' will
be sent for to discourse with, and
possibly sample the quality of, the
'Englander" who is known to be a
Cambridge doctor, or n professor i'll
hat ancient university which has
given n home to one of the hosts
earned countrymen. Even the "poll-
nan and the 'passman' find, for the
irst time, their undistinguished de-
yrees held in some esteem. Danish
g, of course, known to most of the
,etter educated Icelanders, and both.
ierman and English are growing more
general among people all of whom
en- read and write.-New York Tri-
,une.
How Many Stars in The Flagl