“ Geology tells us what strata and masses must, at one time, have existed; but physiography shows how all this material has been carried away by the action of the frost, wind, and rain, which constitute prominent features of the climate. ”

“ With reference to the growth or importation of tender plants, the agriculturist needs to know the mean dates of the last frost of spring and the first frost of the autumn, the difference between which is ordinarily called the growing season. Since the establishment of the fact that the germination of seed, the growth of the plant, and the ripening of the harvest requires a certain amount of heat or molecular energy, efforts have been made to determine the thermal constants for many plants, and for each phase in growth. ”

“ This ‘thermal constant’ is usually expressed as the sum total of the average daily temperatures when such temperatures are above 42° F. There is also a ‘rainfall constant’ peculiar to each species of plant, the nature of which has been investigated by Linsser, who has shown that plants are able, by gradual evolution, to change their own thermal and aqueous constants, and eventually adapt themselves to a change in climate. Linsser's laws serve as a guide to those who would transplant a species from one part of the world to another of different climate. ”

“ The relation of climate to physiography has been essentially a relation of cause and effect. The surface features of the land, as we now know them, present to us hills and valleys which we may easily recognize as the result of erosion by wind and water, continued for many ages, and assisted by frost and the varying hardness of the different kinds of rock and soil. ”

“ The wind, rain, and temperature are so distributed around a storm-centre that, when its location is known, the distribution of all the others can be closely estimated. In general, in the Northern Hemisphere, the regions that lie to the south of the paths of the storm-centres have prevailing warm, moist, southerly winds followed by occasional sudden changes to cool, dry, westerly winds. ”

“ Thus, it is an error to say that the climate of Great Britain and western Europe is affected by the Gulf Stream, or that the climate of California and British Columbia is controlled by the Japan Current; in both these cases it is the moist ocean wind that brings cloud and rain, and the amount of this latter is not influenced in the slightest degree by the Gulf Stream or the Kuro Siwo. Another important consideration in climatology is the relation of the wind to the mountain ranges. Thus, on the windward side of a range, there is ascending air which causes damp weather with cloud or rain ”

“ The influence of climate on crops is a matter of continued investigation in the various agricultural experiment stations throughout the civilized globe, and the reader may refer to the Experiment Station Record, published regularly by the United States Department of Agriculture, for the latest information on the subject. ”

“ A summary of this work has led some authorities to the conclusion that cereal crops are raised successfully only by means of careful special cultivation, so that the resulting crop is not so much an evidence of the influence of climate as of the influence of human skill and husbandry in modifying and assisting climate. ”

“ To these changes in the continents and the climates, we may plausibly attribute the development of a great variety of flora and fauna, the migratory habits of birds, the traditions of the early history of the human race, and the extinct plants and animals of paleontology. ”

“ Professor Hinrichs introduced the idea of a climatic distinction based upon the law governing the number of light and heavy rains that had fallen within a given space in a year's time. As the largest falls occurred least frequently, and so also the smallest falls, there is some intermediate rainfall that is most likely to happen. ”