latitude corresponds in temperature with
about three hundred feet of elevation.
Ihus, mountains having an elevation from
2500 feet to 3000 ibet, in Savoy, have a
mean temperature, equal to the plains on
the eastern side of England.
The following table ofthe height at which
different vegetables and trees are cultivated,
or will grow, may serve as an index of the
temperature of the Haut Vallois and of Sa-
^^7* The two countries adjoin; a great part
of both are in the same parallel of latitude,
and they are both bounded on the south by
the central chain of the Alps. In the Vallois
the line of vegetation has been attentively
examined, and is given below, in English
feet. It must be observed, that where
the extreme height is given at which plants
and trees can grow, it should be understood
to imply in situations exposed to the southern
and western sun, and sheltered from
the Bise, or north-east wind, as the extreme
line of vegetation in the same latitude
varies with the aspect very much in
an alpine country.
English feet above the level of the
sea. Lat. 45\ to
Vines will grow _ 2380
Vlaize - - _ 277*^
English feet above the level of the
sea. Lat. 45i to 46^
The oak - 3518
The walnut tree - 3620
The yew tree - 3740
Barley - 4180
The cherry tree - 4270
Potatoes - 4450
The nut tree - 4500
The beech tree - 4800
The mountain maple - 5100
The silver birch tree 5500
The larch tree - 6000
The fir le sapin - 6300
Pinus cembra - 6600
The Roclodendron - 7400
The line of trees extends to the height
of 6700 feet above the level of the sea,
and the line of shrubs to 8500 feet. Some
plants, on ^granitic soil, grow at the height
of 10,600, above which are a few lichens ;
and vegetation ceases entirely at the height
of 11,000 feet. In the garden of the inn,
kept in summer at the Schwarrenbach, on
the passage of the Gemmi, carrots, spinnage,
and onions are cultivated at the height of
6900 feet.
In the southern part of Savoy we may
estimate the height at which vines will
grow at 2600 feet, but near this elevation
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