•Climate
,»nd-»Sea-
:. SOtWi V
Face o f the
Country.
Soil and -
Ag riculture,
C H A P T E R I V .
N A T t J R A L G e O -G R A P « Y .
CUmate and Seafom.— Face o f the Country.—rSoil and Agricutture.-^dRi'vers. ■—»
Lakes. —Mountains.—Fore/is. —> Botany.—-Zophgy.—Mineralogy,—* M ineral
- Waters .— ISatiaral Curio/ities.
THE climate o f Raffia in Europe, as? may be expected in fuch a di-
. verfity o f latitudes, prefents almoft every variety from that. ,of
Lapland, to that o f Italy i for the newly acquired province of Taurida
may be compared with Italy in climate-and" foil. But winter maintains
the .chief fway at Peterfburg, the capital, and the Net^Wjnnually
frozen from November to March, or April* Euler has .even pbferved
that at Peterfburg only two months in, the year may be^e^cpedted to, be
free-from fnoW: and the climate around thep frozen, ocean, ,an®dhé laffc
European ifle upon the N. E. that o f Nbvaya Zemlia; or. the New
Land, is p f noted feverity, the northern fide being enmmpfTe.dVwifrh
mountains óf ice, and the fun not vifible from the middle^ofj October,
till February ; while it never fets during June and July. Taurida prel
fents, on the contrary, all the luxuriance o f the fouthern year, -yvhile
•the middle regions are feleft with the mild feafons o f Germany and
England.
In fo wide an empire the face o f the country muft alfo be extremely-
various; but the-chief feature o f European, Ruffia confifts- in plains of
a prodigious extent, rivalling in that refpeft the vaft defarts pf Afia and
Africa. In the fouth are fome extenfive Stepper, or dry and elevated
plains, fuch as that above the fea o f Azof, ia length about 400 Englifh
miles. The numerous and nlajeftic rivers alfo conftitute a difUiiguifhing
feature of this empire*
The foil is o f courfe alfo extremely diverfe, from the chilling marfhes
which border the White and Frozen feas, to the rich and fertile plains
*4 oir
on the Volga. The mofl,fertile is that between the Don and the Volga,
lf*0 bm Vqrönctz- to Simbirfk, cphfïftihg of a »-Madt móuld, ftrongly im-
Mpregnutécf with falfpetfé; 'that 'i^'a'foil fortned from fucceffive layers
o f vegetable' f i e r d M r i s i * ’g^êl'i' extent* of arable land might be
much■ encrealed- if'&tduftry were- inore -diffufed.*' In Livonia, and
Efrhonia -the- medal re-titfms ó f harveft ate eight.or'teja-fo'ld'; 'and thé
latter is generally the produce of the rich* »plfins near the, Don, where
'the fields.-arb* never manured’;»1 feut-jön tfte eóntraiy are apt t©; fweff the
corn'. inteil'too mueh h^xOriano’et*»;' Taftfifage is fo. abundant that the
meadows are fitt-Pe regarded, and the artificial produ&ion of grades is
ffcareely known. Some of the meadows ate watered.,, and produce large
eibps- o f hay, the' dry paftures • :(fometi.me3 opened for grairf) yield a
fhort, but nutritions »produce; i® a few of the fteppes.the! girafs- will*
attain ihd height of a naan, and Nfêübm mown* In the'; ,fyIvan age
, tfïeanmfcib burning o f this graft, as pra&ifed by favages, may hav®
produced the rich black mould fo abundant in fome large regions ó f
the empire; -
- Agriculture is hardly known iri-the northern parts o f the govern-'
and Archangel; but in the central parts of the' empire;
has been purfoed from time inimemoriak,? TJhe Ruffian plough, is; light
and fimple^. and fcareely pierces the ground to the depth of t-jypi inches->-
but in. the fouthern provinces a heavier kind.' is ta-fedy refe-mbling; the
GttSaaiïr In what; isf..called the iltma&er field thecomhia fown and
reaped- in the fame year ; while in the» winter field the -corn is fown
k f afifêufMr, and the-produce reaped Jn-tfiey eafuipg fommer.’ ,Th$,
former yields' what is called fummer wheat, and rye, barley, mi'!^^v
beck-wheat, flax, hemp, peafe, &c, the latter only wheat, ©r aye: and
the Winteirfield is commonly left fallow the-following fprinig. , Ini
general-agrkulmre isfffeated with great negligence^ yet thefiarvefts are
abundant: even in tfie neighbourhood of, peterfburg, there are large
marfhes which blight be eafily drained, and converted into fertile land-
In tbemsrtihv rye is m ofl1 generally cultivated; but in. the middle and;
the fouthern regions wheat in: the government of Ekat-arinoflaf the
<Arnautih yrheat is beautiful, the flour yellowifh, the, return commonly,
* Tooide*, i. 67,. .
fifteen.
S oil and
A gricul t
u r e .