History of Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin, Part 70

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899. [from old catalog]; Union publishing company, Springfield, Ill., pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Springfield, Ill., Union publishing company
Number of Pages: 1298

USA > Wisconsin > Richland County > History of Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin > Part 70
USA > Wisconsin > Crawford County > History of Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin > Part 70

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CLIMATOLOGY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

The climate of a country, or that peculiar state of the atmosphere in regard to heat and moisture which prevails in any given place, and which directly affects the growth of plants and animals, is determined by the following causes: Ist, distance from the equator; 2d, distance from the sea; 3d, height above the sea; 4th, prevailing winds; and 5th, local influences, such as soil, vegetation and proximity to lakes and mountains:

Of these eanses, the first, distance from the equator, is by far the most important. The warmest climates are necessarily those of tropi-

cal regions where the sun's rays are vertical. But in proceeding from the equator toward the poles, less and less heat continues to be received by the same extent of surface, because the rays fall more and more obliquely, and the same amount of heat-rays therefore spread over an increasing breadth of surface; while, however, with the increase of obliquity, more and more heat is absorbed by the atmosphere, as the amount of air to be penetrated is greater. If the earth's surface were either wholly land or water, and its atmosphere motionless, the grad- uations of climate would run parallel with the latitudes from the equator to the poles. But owing to the irregular distribution of land and water and the prevailing winds, such an arrange- ment is impossible, and the determination of the real climate of a given region, and its causes, is one of the most difficult problems of science.

On the second of these canses, distance from the sea, depends the difference between oceanic and continental climates. Water is more slow- ly heated and cooled than land; the climates of the sea and the adjacent land are therefore much more equal and moist than those of the interior.

A decrease of temperature is noticeable in ascending high mountains. The rate at which the temperature falls with the height above the sea is a very variable quantity, and is influenced by a variety of causes, such as latitude, situation, moisture, or dryness, hour of the day and season of the year. As a rough approximation, how- ever, the fall of 1 deg. of the thermometer for every 300 feet is usually adopted.

Air in contact with any part of the earth's surface, tends to acquire the temperature of that surface. Hence, winds from the north are cold; those from the south are warm. Winds from the sea are moist, and winds from the land are usually dry. Prevailing winds are the re- sult of the relative distribution of atmospheric pressure blowing from places where the pres- sure is highest, toward places where it is lowest. As elimate practically depends on the tempera-

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

ture and moisture of the air, and as these again depend on the prevailing winds which come charged with the temperature and moisture of the regions they have traversed, it is evident that charts showing the mean pressure of the atmosphere give us the key to the climates of the different regions of the world. The effect of prevailing winds is seen in the moist and equable climate of western Europe, especially Great Britain, owing to the warm and moist southwest winds; and in the extremes of the eastern part of North America, due to the warm and moist winds prevailing in summer and the Arctic blasts of winter.

Among local influences which modify climate, the nature of the soil is one of the most im- portant. As water absorbs much heat, wet, marshy ground usually lowers the mean tem- perature. A sandy waste presents the greatest extremes. The extremes of temperature are also modified by extensive forests, which pre- vent the soil from being as much warmed and cooled as it would be if bare. Evaporation goes on more slowly under the trees, since the soil is screened from the sun. And as the air among the trees is little agitated by the wind, the vapor is left to accumulate, and hence the humidity of the air is increased. Climate is modified in a similar manner by lakes and other large surfaces of water. Dur- ing summer the water cools the air and reduces the temperature of the locality. In winter, on the other hand, the opposite effect is produced.

The surface water which is cooled sinks to lower levels; the warmer water rising to the surface, radiates heat into the air and thus raises the temperature of the neighboring region. This infinenee is well illustrated, on a great scale, in our own State by Lake Michigan.

It is, lastly, of importance whether a given traet of country is diversified by hills, valleys and mountains. Winds with their warm vapor strike the sides of the mountains and are forced up into higher levels of the atmosphere, where the vapor is condensed into clouds. Air com- 1

ing into contact. during the night or in winter, with the cooled declivities of hills and rising grounds becomes cooled, and consequently denser and sinks to the low-lying grounds, dis- placing the warmer and lighter air. Ilence, frosts often occur at these places, when no traces of them can be found at higher levels. For the same reason the cold of winter is gen- erally more intense in ravines and valleys than on hill tops and high grounds, the valleys being a receptacle for the cold-air currents, which descend from all sides. These currents give rise to gusts and blasts of cold wind, which are simply the ont-rush of cold air from such basins. This is a subject of great practical importance to fruit-growers.

In order to understand the principal features of the climate of Crawford county, and the con- ditions on which these depend, it is necessrry to consider the general climatology of Wiseon- sin, particularly the western portion of the State, of which Crawford county is a part; and from this, the reader can readily deduce the character of the climate in the county.

The remarkable manner in which so large a . body of water as Lake Michigan modifies the temperature has been carefully determined, so far as it relates to Wisconsin, by the late Dr. Lapham, of Milwaukee. It is seen by the map that the average summer temperature of Racine is the same as that of St. Paul. The weather map for July, 1875, in the signal service report for 1876, shows that the mean temperature for July was the same in Rock county, in the south- ern part of the State, as that of Breckinridge, Minn., north of St. Paul. The moderating effect of the lake during hot weather is felt in the adjacent region during both day and night.

Countries in the higher latitudes, having an extreme summer temperature, are usually charae- terized by a small amount of rain-fall. The Mississippi valley, however, is directly exposed in spring and summer to the warm and moist winds from the south, and as these winds con- dense their moisture by coming in contact with

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colder upper currents from the north and west, it has a profusion of rain which deprives the climate largely of its continental features. As already stated, the average amount of rain-fall in Wisconsin is about thirty inches annually. Of this amount, about one-eight is precipitated in winter, three-eights in summer, and the rest is equally distributed between spring and autumn -in other words, rain is abundant at the time of the year when it is most needed. In Wis- consin the rainfall is greatest in the south- western part of the State; the least, on and along the shore of Lake Michigan. This shows that the humidity of the air of a given area can be greater, and the rainfall less than that of some other.

In comparison with western Europe, even where the mean temperature is higher than in the Mississippi valley, the most striking fact in the climatie conditions of the United States is the great range of plants of tropical or sub- tropical origin, such as Indian corn, tobacco, etc. The conditions on which the character of the vegetation depends are temperature and moisture, and the mechanical and chemical com- position of the soil.

The basis of this great capacity (the great range of plants) is the high curve of heat and moisture for the summer, and the fact that the measure of heat and rain are almost or quite tropical for a period in duration from one to five months, in the range from Quebec to the coast of the gulf. Indian corn attains its full perfection between the summer isotherms 72 deg. and 77 deg., in Illinois, Iowa, Missouri aud Kansas; but it may be grown up to the line of 65 degs., which includes the whole of Wiscon- sin. The successful cultivation of this impor- tant staple is due to the intense heat of summer and a virgin soil rich in nitrogen.

While Milwaukee and central Wisconsin have a mean annual temperature of 45 deg., that of southern Ireland and central England is 50 deg .; the line of 72 deg., the average temperature for

July, runs from Walworth county to St. Paul, while during the same month Ireland and En- gland have a mean temperature of only 60 deg. In Wisconsin, the thermometer rises as high as 90 deg. and above, while the range above the mean in England is very small. It is the trop- ical element of our summers, then, that causes the grape, the corn, etc., to ripen, while Eng- land, with a higher mean temperature, is unable to mature them successfully. Ireland, where southern plants may remain out-doors, unfrosted the whole winter, cannot mature these fruits and grasses which ripen in Wisconsin. In England a depression of 2 deg. below the mean of 60 deg. will greatly reduce the quantity, or prevent the ripening of wheat altogether, 60 deg. being essential to a good erop. Wheat re- quiring a lower temperature than corn, is better adapted to the climate of Wisconsin. This grain may be grown as far north as Hudson bay.

Autumn, including September, October and November, is of a short duration in Wisconsin. North of the 42d parallel, or the southern boundary line of the State, November belongs properly to the winter months, its mean tem- perature being about 32 deg. The decrease of heat from August to September is generally from 8 deg. to 9 deg., 11 deg. from September to October, and 14 deg. from October to Novem- ber. The average temperature for these three months is about 45 deg. A beautiful season, commonly known as Indian summer, frequently occurs in the latter part of October and in No- vember. This period is characterized by a mild temperature and a hazy, calm atmosphere. According to Loomis, this appears to be due to "an uncommonly tranquil condition of the at- mosphere, during which the air becomes filled

with dust and smoke arising from numerous fires, by which its transpareney is greatly im- paired." This phenomenon extends as far north as Lake Superior, but it is more conspicuous and protracted in Kansas and Missouri, and is not observed in the southern States.

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

Destructive frosts generally occur in Septem- ber, and sometimes in August. "A temperature of 36 deg. to 40 deg.at sunrise is usually attended with frosts destructive to vegetation, the posi- tion of the thermometer being usually such as to represent less than the actual refrigeration at the open surface." In 1875, during October, at Milwaukee, the mercury fell seven times be- low the freezing point, and twice below zero in November, the lowest being 14 deg.

The winters are generally long and severe, but occasionally mild and almost without snow, The mean winter temperature varies between 23 deg. in the southeastern part of the State, and 16 deg. at Ashland, in the northern. For this season the extremes are great. The line of 20 deg. is of importance, as it marks the average temperature which is fatal to the growth of all the tender trees, such as the pear and the peach. In the winter of 1875-'76, the mean temperature for December, January and Feb- ruary, in the upper lake region, was abont + deg. above the average mean for many years, while during the previous winter the average temperature for January and February was about 12 deg. below the mean for many years, showing a great difference between cold and mild winters. In the same winter, 1875-76, at Milwaukee, the thermometer fell only six times below zero, the lowest being 12 deg., while during the preceding winter the mercury sank thirty-six times below zero, the lowest being 23 deg. In the northern and northwestern part of the State the temperature sometimes falls to the freezing point of mercury. During the exceptionally cold winter of 1872-3, at La Crosse, the thermometer sank nearly fifty times below zero; on December 24, it indicated 37 deg. below, and on January 18, 43 deg. below zero, averaging about 12 deg. below the usual mean for those months. The moderating effect of Lake Michigan can be seen by observing how the lines indicating the mean winter tem- perature curve northward as they approach the lake. Milwaukee, Sheboygan, Manitowoc, Two

Rivers and the Grand Traverse region of Michi- gan, have the same average winter temperature. The same is true regarding Galena, Ill., Beloit and Kewaunee. A similar influence is noticed in all parts of the State. Dr. Lapham concludes that this is not wholly due to the presence of Lake Michigan, but that the mountain range which extends from a little west of Lake Superior to the coast of Labrador (from 1,100 to 2,240 feet high) protects the lake region in no inconsiderable degree from the excessive cold of winter.

According to the same authority, the time at which the Milwaukee river was closed with ice, for a period of nine years, varied between November 15 and December 1; the time at which it became free from ice, between March 3 and April 13. In the lake district, snow and rain are interspersed through all the winter months, rain being sometimes as profuse as at any other season. In the north western part the winter is more rigid and dry. Northern New York and the New England States usually have snow lying on the ground the whole winter, but in the southern lake district it rarely remains so long. In 1842 and 1843, however, sleighing commenced about the middle of November, and lasted till about the same time in April-five months.

The average temperature for the three months of spring, March, April and May, from Wal- worth county to St. Paul, is about 45 deg. In central Wisconsin the mean for March is about 27 deg., which is an increase of nearly 7 deg. from February. The lowest temperature of this month in 1876 was 40 deg. above zero. April shows an average increase of about 9 deg. over March. In 1876 the line of 45 deg. for this month passed from La Crosse to Evans- ton, Ill., touching Lake Erie at Toledo, show- ing that the interior west of Lake Michigan is warmer than the lake region. The change from winter to spring is more sudden in the interior than in the vicinity of the lakes. "In the town of Lisbon, fifteen miles from Lake

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Michigan," says Dr. Lapham, "early spring flowers show themselves about ten days earlier than on the lake. In spring, vegetation in places remote from the lakes, shoots up in a very short time, and flowers show their petals, while on the lake shore the cool air retards them and brings them more gradually into ex- istence." The increase from April to May is about fifteen degrees. In May, 1876, Pembina and Milwaukee had nearly the same mean tem- perature, about 55 degrees.

The extremes of our climate and the sudden changes of temperature no doubt have a marked influence, both physically and mentally, on the American people. And though a more equable elimate may be more conducive to perfeet health, the great range of our climate from arctic to tropical, and the consequent variety and abundance of vegetable products, combine to make the Mississippi valley, perhaps, one of the most favorable areas in the world for the development of a strong and wealthy Nation.

During the months of summer, in the interior of the castern United States, at least three fourths of the rainfall is in showers usually ac- companied by electrical discharges and limited to small areas. But in autumn, winter and spring, nearly the whole precipitation takes place in general storms extending over areas of 300, 500 and sometimes over 1,000 miles in diameter, and generally lasting two or three days. An area of low atmospheric pressure causes the wind to blow toward that arca from all sides, and when the depression is sudden and great, it is accompanied by much rain or snow On account of the earth's rotation, the wind blowing toward this region of low pressure is deflected to the right, causing the air to circulate around the center with a motion spirally inward. In our latitude the storm commences with cast winds. When the storm center, or area of low- est barometer, is to the south of us, the wind gradually veers, as the storm passes from west to east with the upper current, round to the northwest by the north point. On the south

side of the storm center the winds veer from southeast to southwest by the south point. The phenomena attending such a storm, when we are in or near the part of its center, are usually as follows: After the sky has become overcast with clouds, the wind from the northeast gen- erally begins to raise and blow in the opposing direction of the march of the storm. The clouds which are now moving over us discharge rain or snow according to circumstances. The bar- ometer continues to fall, and the rain or snow is brought obliquely down from the northern quar- ter by the prevailing wind. After a while the wind changes slightly in direction and then ceases. The thermometer rises and the baron- eter has reached its lowest point. This is the center of the storm. After the calm the wind has changed from its direction to northwest or west. The wind blows again, usually more violently than before, accompanied by rain or snow which is now generally of short duration. The sky clears, and the storm is suddenly succeeded by a temperature 10 or 20 degrees be- low the mean. Most of the rain and snow falls with the east winds, or before the center passes a given point. The path of these storms is from west to east, or nearly so, and only seldom in other directions. These autumn, winter and spring rains are gen- erally first noticed on the western plains, but may originate at any point along their path, and move eastward with an average velocity of about twenty miles an hour in summer and thir- ty miles in winter, but some times attaining a velocity of over fifty miles, doing great damage 'on the lakes. In predicting these storms, the sig- nal service of the army is of incalculable practical benefit, as well as in collecting data for scien- tifie conclusions.

A subject of the greatest importance to every inhabitant of Wisconsin is the influence of forests on climate and the effects of disrobing a country of its trees. The general influence of forests in modifying the extremes of tempera- ture, retarding evaporation and the increased

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humidity of the air, has already been mentioned. That clearing the land of trees increases the temperature of the ground in summer, is so readily noticed that it is scarcely necessary to mention it; while in winter the sensible cold is never so extreme in woods as on the open sur- face exposed to the full force of the winds. The lumbermen in Canada' and the northern United States labor in the woods without incon- venience when the mercury stands many degrees below zero, while in the open grounds, with only a moderate breeze, the same temperature is almost insupportable. In the State of Michi- gan it has been found that the winters have greatly increased in severity within the last forty years, and that this increased severity seems to move along even-paced with the des- truction of the forest. Thirty years ago the peach was one of the most abundant fruits of that State; at that time frost, injurious to corn at any time from May to October, was a thing unknown. Now the peach is an uncertain erop, and frost often injures the corn. The precise influence of forests on temperature may not at present admit of definite solution, yet the me- chanical screen which they furnish to the soil, often far off to the leeward of them is suffi- ciently established, and this alone is enough to encourage extensive planting wherever this pro- tetcion is wanting.

With regard to the quantity of rain-fall, we cannot positively affirm that the total annual quantity of rain is even locally diminished or increased by the destruction of the woods, though both theoretical considerations and the balance of testimony strongly favor the opinion- that more rain falls in wooded than in open countries. One important conclusion, at least, upon the meteorological influence of forests is certain and undisputed; the proposition, namely, that, within their own limits, and near their own borders, they maintain a more uniform degree of humidity in the asmosphere than is observed in cleared grounds. Scarcely less can it be questioned that they tend to promote the

frequency of showers, and, if they do not aug- ment the amount of precipitation, they prob- ably equalize its distribution through the differ- ent seasons.

There is abundant and undoubted evidence that the amount of water existing on the surface in lakes and rivers, in many parts of the world, is constantly diminishing. In Germany, obser- vations of the Rhine, Oder, Danube and the Elbe, in the latter case going back for a period of 142 years, demonstrate beyond doubt that each of these rivers has much decreased in vol- ume, and there is reason to fear that they will gradually disappear from the list of navigable rivers.

The Blue-Grass region of Kentneky, once the pride of the west, has now districts of such bar- ren and arid nature, that thair stock farmers are moving toward the Cumberland mountains, because the creeks and old springs dried up, and their wells became too low to furnish water for their cattle. In our own State "such has been the change in the flow of the Milwaukee river, even while the area from which it receives its supply is but partially cleared, that the proprie- tors of most of the mills and factories have found it necessary to resort to to the use of steam, at a largely increased yearly cost, to sup- ply the deficiency of water-power in dry seasons of the year. What has happened to the Mil- waukee river has happened to all the other water- courses in the State from whose banks the for- est has been removed; and many farmers who selected land upon which there was a living brook of clear, pure water, now find these brooks dried up during a considerable portion of the year.

Districts stripped of their forest are said to be more exposed than before to loss of harvests, droughts and frost. Hurricanes, before un- known, sweep unopposed over the regions thus denuded, carrying terror and devastation in their track. Parts of Asia Minor, north Africa and other countries bordering on the Mediter- ranean, now almost deserts, were once densely

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

populated and the granaries of the world. And there is good reason to believe that it is the destruction of the forests which has produced this devastation. From such facts Wisconsin, already largely robbed of its forests, should take warning before it is too late.

"I HAVE DISSOLVED THE PARTNERSHIP."

[From the Prairie du Chien Union, July 1, 1864.]

DISSOLUTION NOTICE .- The patrons of the National Broad Ax, published at Boscobel, and Standard Bearer, published at Prairie du Chien, and others to whom it may concern, are hereby notified that I have, on the 30th day of June, 1864, dissolved the partnership heretofore exist- ing between L. R. Train and myself, under the name and style of L. R. Train and N. B. Moody, as editors, publishers and proprietors of the above named papers and printing business thereunto attached. * * * I am completing arrangements to continue publishing said papers, so that subscribers will suffer no loss, and trust that our patrons will be better pleased with our new arrangements than with the old.

N. B. MOODY.

PRAIRIE DU CHIEN, June 30, 1864.

IN MEMORIAM.

[From the Prairie du Chien Union, April 15, 1864.]

BAR MEETING .- At a meeting of the bar of Crawford Co., Wis., held April 12. 1864, con- sequent upon the death of Lorenzo Barney, E-q., the sheriff of Crawford County. Ed. D. Lowry was appointed chairman, and L. F. S. Viele, secretary.

On motion of B. W. Brisbois, Ira B. Brunson, William Dutcher and Benjamin Bull were ap- pointed a committee to draft resolutions for the consideration of the meeting.

Mr. Dutcher, chairman of said committee, re- ported the following resolutions, which were unanimously adopted:

WHEREAS, It has pleased Divine Providence to remove from our midst, Lorenzo Barney, Esq., one of our most distinguished citizens and prominent and efficient county officers, by the hand of death; therefore,

Resolred-That in his decease the community has lost a valuable, energetic and useful citizen, and the county an efficient, honest, capable and humane officer, and his family a kind and affec- tionate husband and father.

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History of Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin, Part 70

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899. [from old catalog]; Union publishing company, Springfield, Ill., pub. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Springfield, Ill., Union publishing company Number of Pages: 1298

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899. [from old catalog]; Union publishing company, Springfield, Ill., pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Springfield, Ill., Union publishing company
Number of Pages: 1298