(To our regular readers: Excuse the lengthy delay—had a long bout with Covid to which I am not completely over so future articles for a time might be sporadic)
Continued from the previous two posts regarding Mediterranean climates and because of their moderate temperatures and limited rainfall, are often the most-visited tourist destinations in the world. Both North America and South America contain numerous regions with good to tolerable climate areas, but it is not difficult to make the case that the “most choice above all other lands” are those regions with Mediterranean climates and the regions adjacent, both a little north and a little south, of the Mediterranean climate.
Planting all the seeds brought from Jerusalem
Based upon all the references of the Book of Mormon that can be related to their climatic circumstances, it would appear that the Lord led Lehi to such a land—and based upon the planting of seeds brought from Jerusalem and panted in the Land of Promise, which grew exceedingly and provided abundant crops, no other climatic lands would have been possible—since seeds do not grow just anywhere.
There are certain references that relate to climatic conditions in the Land of Promise, such as the occurrence of grapes made into wine by Noah—Mediterranean climates are most conducive to such growth—who became a wine-bibber as well as his people (Mosiah 11:15); in addition, the Lord caused “that rain should fall upon the earth, insomuch that it did bring forth her fruit in the season of her fruit. And it came to pass that it did bring forth her grain in the season of her grain (Helaman 11:17)
Grapevines thrive best in climates with long warm summers, and rainy winters—a Mediterranean Climate. Warm weather during the growing period enables grapevines to flower, fruit set, and ripen.
A singular and unambiguous clue to the location of the Land of Promise is provided in Nephi’s account of his family’s efforts to establish an agrarian base in their new land. When Lehi and his family left the Jerusalem area the records stated that “we had gathered together all manner of seeds of every kind, both of grain of every kind, and also of the seeds of fruit of every kind” (1 Nephi 8:1).
Some ten years later, when the family finally landed in their new location in the Land of promise, Nephi stated that “we did begin to till the earth, and we began to plant seeds; yea, we did put all our seeds into the earth, which we had brought from the land of Jerusalem. And it came to pass that they did grow exceedingly; wherefore, we were blessed in abundance” (1 Nephi 18:24). Note that not only the seeds “grew exceedingly,” but that “all” their seeds were planted.
There was no second chance in planting and harvesting that first Nephite crop
There was no second chance for
success if the first year’s crops failed. And later when Nephi and part of his
extended family were forced to flee from the families of Laman and Lemuel and
journey many days to another location, he records “we did sow seed, and we did reap again in abundance” (2 Ne. 5:11).
And some 400 years later Zeniff states that in the land of Lehi-Nephi they
“began to till the ground, yea, even with all manner of seeds, with seeds of
corn, and of wheat, and of barley, and with neas, and with sheum, and with
seeds of all manner of fruits; andwe did begin to
multiply and prosper in the land” (Mosiah 9:9).
The successful planting and harvesting of transported seeds provides a little-noticed but powerful and significant clue to the Nephite location. Seeds can not just be gathered in one location and then planted anywhere in the world and be expected to “grow exceedingly” and provide “abundant crops.” The seeds might have germinated in many locations, but only when the seeds were planted in an analogous location in terms of climate and soil (with climate being a major determiner of soil fertility) will they “grow exceedingly.”
Plants and seeds today are classified according to climate zones and then sold according to the buyer’s planting and climate region. Examples of this agricultural challenge can be provided from the first European settlers in New England, Australia and other world locations. These early settlers suffered famine and privation for years until they could determine by trial and error what would best grow in the climate and soil of their new land, and where best to acquire suitable seeds and plants.
Wheat cultivation was introduced into Mexico in 1521, but it did not appear in the territory that would become Canada and the United States until 1602—discovering wheats suitable for new areas was a reoccurring struggle. Farmers in eastern Canada and New England continuously experimented to find cold-tolerant and pest-resistant wheats (A. E. Slinkard and and Douglas R. Knott, Harvest of Gold: The History of Field Crop Breeding in Canada, University Extension Press, University Saskatchewan, Canada, 99).
However, the challenges were particularly acute when pioneers moved wheat cultivation westward onto the northern Prairies, Great Plains, and Pacific Coast. All these regions eventually became major wheat suppliers, but only after farmers learned to overcome climatic conditions far different from those prevailing to the East and in Western Europe. The initial attempts to grow traditional wheat cultivars frequently failed.
From the Red River Settlement to Manitoba (1812–1870). Nice land but no soil match to grow food and the lack of food supplied spelled the d of many settlers
The experiences of the Selkirk colonists who settled near Lake Winnipeg offer another example of difficulty. The winter wheat, first tried in 1811–1812, failed. Successive crops of spring wheat also succumbed to drought, freezing, and insects. To obtain sufficient seed for the 1820 crop, a band of Selkirk settlers had to trek more than 1250 miles round trip to Prairie du Chien on the upper Mississippi River during the dead of winter. After about a decade of hungry times, the colony began to sustain itself (J. Pritchett, The Red River Valley, 1811–1849: A Regional Study, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT:; 1942. pp. 113–228).
The prolonged troubles of the Selkirk colonists represented a clear case of settlers leapfrogging beyond the limits of their climatic knowledge. However, even when settlers inched west in a more orderly fashion, the challenge of adapting was daunting.
In the 1840s, attempts to grow soft winter wheat on the Wisconsin Prairie failed repeatedly, and wheat culture succeeded only after farmers switched to a new hard spring wheat cultivation, (A. L. Olmstead and P. W. Rhode, Creating Abundance: Biological Innovation and American Agricultural Development, Cambridge University Press, New York, 2008).
Initially, the Great Plains were depicted as the “Great American Desert” and were considered incapable of supporting agriculture. The first waves of settlers from the humid East and Midwest moved into the High Plains during the relatively wet years of the 1880s. These farmers, along with railroad and government officials, significantly miscalculated the climatic obstacles that had to be overcome (G. E. Libeap and Z.K. Hansen, Rain follows the plow and dryfarming doctrine: The climate information problem and homestead failure in the upper Great Plains, 1890-1925. J Econ Historical, Vol.62, 2002, pp86-120).
Success required decades of experimentation and frequently depended on knowledge and cultivars introduced by immigrants from frigid and arid locales of Eurasia.
In the early settlements, to prevent starvation, food from elsewhere was transported long distances and at great expense. Lehi’s family did not have the benefit of trial and error or imported food—“we did begin to till the earth, and we began to plant seeds; yea, we did put all our seeds into the earth, which we had brought from the land of Jerusalem. And it came to pass that they did grow exceedingly; wherefore, we were blessed in abundance.” Lehi had one chance at planting—they put all their seeds into the ground.
Their seeds either grew with the first planting or they didn’t. There was no second chance or a secondary source of food.
The Lord knew this, of course and led them to a like climate, a Mediterranean Climate, in which Lehi’s seeds grew exceedingly. This while other settlers failed in their planting attempts
(See the next post regarding the final comments regarding planning of Lehi’s seeds).
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