Then with respect
to winds, we find those from the west most prevalent over what Mr
Henfrey distinguishes as the north European plain, as is the case in
our country. 'The west wind blows more frequently in England than in
Denmark, more there than in Russia. The predominance is most marked in
summer; in the winter, the easterly winds are almost as frequent as
the westerly upon the continent, which is not true of the British
isles.' Sometimes, however, the south-westerly winds, which bring our
genial April showers, continue to arrive with their watery burden
until late in the summer, to the detriment or destruction of
grain-crops; and yet this same wind, losing its excessive moisture as
it sweeps onward over the continent, is highly favourable to the
husbandman in Southern Russia. The years 1816 and 1817 were cases in
point.
The meteorology of Russia affords some striking contrasts: the yearly
rain-fall in St Petersburg is 21 inches, 'and the westerly winds are
most prevalent, although not to the same extent as in Western Europe;
they are also predominant in Moscow and Kasan. In the southern
steppes, it is stated that the average of four years has given only 6
inches fall of rain, occurring in 47 days of the year; but the
irregularity is so great, that single years gave 59, 35, 39, and 53
rainy days. In 1832-3, twenty months elapsed without rain, and in some
years the quantity is only one-tenth of that which falls in wet years.
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