“Let no such vulgar tales debase thy mind;
Nor Paul, nor Swithin, rule the clouds or wind.”
Yet “Almanac days” are still in vogue to a considerable extent—such as the three first days of the year, old style—the first three of the season—the last of the season—different days of the month—of the lunation, etc., etc. And some still look to the breastbone of a goose, in the fall, to judge, by its whiteness, whether there is to be much snow during the Winter, etc.
These Almanac days should all be abandoned; they have no foundation in philosophy or truth. There is one proverb, however, in relation to Candlemas-day, which the “oldest inhabitant” will remember, and which it may be well to retain. It has a practical application for the farmer, and in relation to the length of the winter:
“Just half of your wood and half of your hay
Should be remaining on Candlemas-day.”
The months, too, have a character which must be remembered and regarded.
January is the coldest month of the year, in most localities. The atmospheric machinery reaches its extreme southern transit, for the season, during the month—usually about the middle. It remains stationary a while—usually till after the 10th of February. One or more thaws, resulting from tropical storms, occur during the month, in normal winters, but they are of brief duration. Boreas follows close upon the retreating storm with his icy breath. There is a remarkable uniformity in the progress of the depression of temperature, to the extreme attained in this month, over the entire hemisphere. It differs in degree according to latitude and magnetic intensity; but it progresses to that degree, whatever it may be, with as great uniformity in a southern as northern latitude. The table, copied from Dr. Forrey, discloses the fact, and so does the following one, taken from Mr. Blodget’s valuable paper, published in the Patent Office Report for 1853:
TABLE SHOWING THE MEAN TEMPERATURE FOR EACH MONTH AT SEVERAL PLACES, VIZ.:
| Lat. | Jan. | Feb. | March. | April. | May. | June. | July. | Aug. | Sept. | Oct. | Nov. | Dec. | |
| Quebec, Canada E. | 46° 49′ | 9.9 | 12.8 | 24.4 | 38.7 | 52.9 | 63.7 | 66.8 | 65.5 | 56.2 | 44.1 | 31.5 | 17.3 |
| New York, N. Y. | 40° 42′ | 30.2 | 30.8 | 38.5 | 49.1 | 59.6 | 69.1 | 74.9 | 73.3 | 65.9 | 54.3 | 43.5 | 33.9 |
| Albany, N. Y. | 42° 39′ | 24.5 | 24.3 | 34.8 | 47.7 | 59.8 | 68.0 | 72.2 | 70.3 | 61.4 | 49.2 | 39.4 | 28.3 |
| Rochester, N. Y. | 42° 45′ | 26.1 | 25.8 | 33.0 | 45.8 | 56.2 | 64.5 | 69.7 | 67.8 | 60.1 | 47.7 | 38.2 | 28.8 |
| Baltimore, Md. | 39° 17′ | 33.1 | 34.3 | 42.4 | 53.0 | 63.2 | 71.6 | 76.6 | 74.5 | 67.7 | 55.8 | 45.0 | 37.8 |
| Savannah, Ga. | 32° 05′ | 52.6 | 54.7 | 60.0 | 68.4 | 74.8 | 79.4 | 81.3 | 80.6 | 76.9 | 67.2 | 58.3 | 52.2 |
| Key West, Fla. | 24° 33′ | 70.0 | 70.7 | 73.8 | 76.3 | 80.2 | 82.1 | 83.3 | 83.5 | 82.5 | 79.1 | 75.6 | 72.8 |
| Mobile, Ala. | 30° 40′ | 51.3 | 53.7 | 59.4 | 67.1 | 74.1 | 77.8 | 79.8 | 79.4 | 76.1 | 65.7 | 57.0 | 52.8 |
| New Orleans, La. | 30° 00′ | 54.8 | 54.5 | 61.5 | 67.6 | 74.0 | 78.6 | 80.4 | 79.6 | 77.1 | 69.1 | 57.5 | 56.2 |
| Marietta, Ohio | 39° 25′ | 32.2 | 34.1 | 42.6 | 53.0 | 61.8 | 69.2 | 72.7 | 70.9 | 63.5 | 51.8 | 42.6 | 34.7 |
| San Antonio, Tex. | 29° 25′ | 52.7 | 57.9 | 65.5 | 69.7 | 76.4 | 80.5 | 82.3 | 83.3 | 79.9 | 72.2 | 62.2 | 52.1 |
| San Francisco, Cal. | 37° 48′ | 50.1 | 51.0 | 53.8 | 57.7 | 55.9 | 58.8 | 57.9 | 62.2 | 61.6 | 61.9 | 56.2 | 50.0 |
Snows during this month are much heavier, and more frequent, in some localities than others. The reasons why this is so have been stated. The mountainous portions of the country receive the heaviest falls. They affect condensation somewhat, and according to their elevation. They intercept the flakes before they melt, and retain them longer without change. The thaws, or tropical storms, also sometimes have a current of cold air, with snow setting under them on their northern and north-western border. Such was the case with that investigated by Professor Loomis. January is without other marked peculiarities. It shows, of course, those extremes of temperature found, to a greater or less degree, in all the months, and differs, as the others differ, in different seasons. Normally, in temperate latitudes, it is a healthy month. The digestive organs have recovered from that tendency to bilious diseases which characterizes the summer extreme northern transit, and the tendency to diseases of the respiratory organs, which characterizes the southern extreme and the commencement of its return, is not often developed till February. February, in its normal condition until after the 10th, and about the middle, is much like January. Often the first ten days of February are the coldest of the season. The average of the month is a trifle higher, in most localities, as the tables show. This results from the increasing warmth of the latter part of the month. There are localities, however, where the entire month is as cold as January. Such (as will appear from Blodget’s table) are Albany and Rochester, in the State of New York, and New Orleans, in Louisiana. At most places the difference is slight, either way. South of the latitude of 40° heavy snows are more likely to occur in the last half of January and first half of February than earlier. About the middle of the month we may expect thaws of more permanence in normal seasons. They are followed, as in January, by N. W. wind and cold weather, but it is not usually as severe. Many years since, an observing old man said to me, “Winter’s back breaks about the middle of February.” And I have observed that there is usually a yielding of the extreme weather about that period. Here, again, it is interesting and instructive to look at the tables, and see how regularly and uniformly the temperature rises in all latitudes, at the same time; as early and as rapidly at Quebec as at New Orleans or San Antonio; and subsequently rises with greatest rapidity where the descent was greatest. The elevation of temperature does not progress northwardly, a wave of heat accompanying the sun, but is a magneto-electric change, commencing about the same time over the whole country, and indeed over the hemisphere.