MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW. JANUARY, 191 1 THE DROUGHT OF 19lU IN THE PRIKCIPAL SPRING-WHEAT GROWING STATES. By P. C. DAY, Chief Ulimntologicsl Division, U. S. Weather Bureau. The veiir 1910. as it whole, nnd consiclering thc entire co~titry, WAS marked 1)y :in uiiusutil cleficiencjr in pre- cipitntioii. Save in siiinll ~)ortioiis o f t h e lower Oliio nntl iiiitltlle lli+si+sippi Valleys :tilt1 over it few smdl :ireas in ot,lier widrly scattc~ret! tlistricats, tlw totwl f:ilI for tlie rear, inclutliiig rniii niitl melted snow, W ?I ~ PI-erywhere jess tIinn tJie noriiin~, ant1 in ~i i r ~e iireiis tlie t~eficiency mi s g e :i t er than e ver he f ( )re Iin ( nm. One o f tlie districts iiiost persistently clry, aut1 e s p - cinlly so tluring the priiici1)~tI period of crop gruytli, u t lie great spring-wheitt region, inclotling tlie entire Stttte o f North Dakota and large pirts of I\Iinnesot&, \\ iscoii- sin, northern Iowa, nortiierii Xcl)r:iska, Soiitli Dakot:). cas t ern R I( )ii t :ilia, ii ii( 1 t lie tic 1 j ( )i ni 11 1’‘ )r t ion- i )f t he C‘aiintlinii north\\ est. Over iiiuch of this regiou the ~~r t ~i p i t n t i o n tlicl not equal 50 per cent of tlie ii+unl niiuunl fnll, niitl t h e clefi- vieacy tluring the perio(1 of sl)ring-wlie:it growth was we11 grenrer in proportion. Fortunntely, the latter p i r t of I!)()\) wits ci~iiil~~irtiti~-ely wet with ti genernl tmvess of snow over niucl~ o f the (lis- trict, which ac*cumulntetl to t u 1 unusual depth tis the winter nclr:tncecl, reniniiiing on the grountl large1~- uiimelte(! uiitil the end of the first ilec-ntle o f Illnrcli. Xs n result of this snow v(weriiiy the groii~id wns not tleel)ly frozen zit tiny perio(1 of the winter m t l there was I)rohrihly little or no frost in tlie g o u i i (l wlien tlie siion finally iiielte(1, eiiat)Iiiig tlie nccuiiiulatecl iiioisture of the winter iiioiitliq to reticlily enter the soil imtler the most f ttvc )rti hle c ( )ndi t i ( )lis. Tlie unusually ~i i r i i i wenther tluring RIurcli m t l tlie first half of April eiinl)letl the etirlj- cv)iiipletioii o f tlie spring seeding, i m l the Iieitvj- mows during the lilt t r r half o f -1pril mldetl still further, iinrl in tlie iiioqt fnror- nhle iii:iiiiier, to the iiioistiire content of 1)otli tlie siirfnce :w c l sul)soil. ‘It is reported further that t!ir beyere col(l of the latter p r t (Jf April while tletriiiiental to tlir snitill grains. destroyed many o f the wee(ls coiiiiiioii t o tlie w h i t , ant1 oats fieltls of tlitit region, which liatl I)eeii uii(1uly ntlvancetl iii growtli by tlie wttriii weentlier pre- cetliiig. thereby conserving for tlie iise o f tlir grain c r o l ~ more t h i n tlie iisunl nmount o f the nioi>ture ol tlie suit- boil. Begiiiiiiiig with Fehriiary. nn(1 in soiiie Iocalitie:, eve11 in Jniiuary, there was ii continrictl tlekiciency in the montlily niiiouiits of precipitntioii which iwr+i+te(I iii soiiie locnlities tlirouglioiit the entire >-ear z i n c I resultwl in one o f tlic tlrie+t s e :i ~i i s , OII the :~reraqe. in the recv)r(le(! history o f thiit district. In Sortli Dakota n i i t l to R less degree in portioiis of the siirro~in(liiig States the nee(1 of more nioist lire 1 )e ~u i to I)e seriously felt in ?tliiy, although tlic cool weather ])re- vailiiig during the genter part o f tlint Inoiith ])revente(l excessive evaportttion from the soil, aiitl the lack of rain- fall \$-:is not so sex-erely felt ns woiilcl hiire lwei1 the case hac1 nornial or higher teml)rrature.: prevtiilecl. C’old venther continued in this district during tlie first half of June and with general luck of moisture hit little vegetable growth was uossible. Beeinning near the mid- dle of June there w~is i~ change to nbnoriiially w~iriii wetither, wliicli (.oiitinuecl without mat eritil interruption till the early part of .July. The intense heat with con- tinued lnck of rain i i l i t l tlie frequent occurrence of (lrying wintls clririiig tliis periotl were tlie culmintition of :t series o f iicl\-erse weather conditions wliich Iiatl prevailed pre- rioii:,ly during the -etison. The coltl weather during the eiirlp part of tlle growing se:Lsoii hntl miterially ail’ected till vegetation, ant1 its vitdity wtis generally thought insuficieiit to successfully witIi+taiicl tlie inteiisc lieat ancl lack of iiioisture during the find weeks uf growth niirl maturity. Hot thy nenther continued with occwhional light, shorn- ers tlirou~liout tlie reiiiaiiitler of the se~soii of priiicild crol) growth, and in 1)arts of tlie clistrict, the yield of the princild stiiples w >is reduced to the ln~reqt, point in their a~ricultural history. Despite the enornious cleficiency in tlie season’s rain- fall, the unusual coltl of tlie early 1)art of the season, and the :il)iiormnl lient of the close. only the State of North Diikot:i :IS ii whole sult’eretl niarl\ecl tliniinution in tlre :IT erage yieltl o f the stal’le crops. -lcc(or(liiig to the t:tldes funii~lietl hy the Bureau of Statistics, Uniteti States Deprirtiiieiit of Bgriculture, the yield of spring wheat in North Dnkots was 1)ut 5 bushels 1)er acre, I\ herens tlie :tveriige yieltl for the period 1SOO t o I!)()<, inclusive. is 1 3 .i hishels. Large sections in tlie ocljoiniiig States suffered also, hut good yiel(l\ in otlier I)ortions 1)rouglit the. averzige up to w a r the iioriiinl. I n the 1)mductioii of fli1xs;eetl the arernge for North Dnkottt wi.: h i t 3.6 bushcls per acre, hirely one-tliircl tli:tt of the 1)recetliiig >-ear, nncl South Dakota ant1 Miiine- +eta nlso sliowed iiiarketl tleficiencies. The total produc- tion o f this staple in 1 C )l O for the entire United States was 1)ut little more t l i n i i one-hwlf the uhual miount, the I’rice increasing from t t i i ttvernge of $1 .Os per l>ushel for the eiglit yearu I!)()? to I!H)!~, inclri+ive, t o :in avemge of $2.31 in 1!110. Oats, lmrley, nncl other siiinll grains were likewise injure(l, tlie average yieltl ])er acre of oats for North Dalrotn lwiiig but 7 hshels, tlie lowest average in the history of the St:tte, wliile h d e y yieltletl but 5 bushels. Other farm products o f iirttrly all kiutls showed similz~r re(1uctioiih t t i i t l especially tlie forage crops. through out^ the region of greatest crop failure there were occasioil:tl fields or eve11 ccnisitlerrtble areas with fair crops a s the result of timely local rains 01’ improved metliocls o f culture. The atlvnntrtges o f the latter are clearly set forth in the following notes from the Weather Bureriu ohservers at 1)oiiits in that reqion: The ol>serrcr at Rnvre, RIont., reports as follows: With others I visited the agricultural experiment farm a t (‘hester, Mont., last summer. This farm consists of 40 acres on which wheat, oats, barley, etc., had been grown during the season under the scientific farming system, or what is generally known as the “dry farming sys- tem,” and while no more rain fell at Chester than a t Havre this 40-acre patch located on the hi h bench land looked like an oasis in the desert; all around it dry, garc%ed, barren conditions prevailed in the vegeta- til e line. This w ole 40 acre8 looked green and luxuriant. Y ” ” u JANUARY, 1911. MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW. 143 The observer a t Moorliead, Minn., states: During the past seabun suiiie exceptiunally good J ielclh of n heat w'eie reported, l ~u t they werp qeiielally iroiii iielclh t h t hail qrowu :z culti- x nted crup the prex iouh yem OI had been hiiniinei fallvrrd, tlieirlby ha1 inq the largest quantity tii water *toiecl fiuiii the iainf,ill cif 1009 Tlie observer at Duluth, hlinu., stittes: If liile the clruught of tlie p ~n i i i g S ~A W I ~ vf 1910 r ' i b the Iuost hexere in 40 years, the rewlt\ c1e:irl o x ecl locally that tliore wliu ultix,itwl tlieii crops uiure or le5s ahYldUOllb1) obtained Iery satirhc t u i j , (1 1 :tt lrmt :iliiiost iilJriiial, yields. On the otlier hand, there were thousttnds of acres of grain too short to harvest and other tliousi~nd3 that were plowed under or cut for feed. In addition to the crop loss on :iccoiiiit of lack of rain, the mnter SUlqJ1y was ccirrespoudinglg low, water traiis- portation was citrried on under great dificulties wid entirely suspended in iiinny localities, and iiiiich iwon- venience WLS experienced 11s tlie fnriiirrs iii obtaining :L sup d y for stock niid otlier purposes. '11liere litive been otlier clrc iuglits o f cc insidera1Jle serer- ity in this region, but for length of time during which precipitation continued so largely deficient', and the enor- iiious extent of the deficiency, the past year far esceetlecl any previous record in tlie history of a large pitrt of the section under discussion. The following clmrts aiicl diagrniiis iiiclicnte the distri- bution of the ritinfnll for the severd nioiitlis of tlie year in the district itad t t coiiipitrison with the :Iveriige fall. Fig- ure 1 shows tlie outline of the district, u p i i n-liivli linve been placed the figures showing tlie deprture of the p e - ci )itation from tlie nuriiid, while figure 2 ShO\VS grnphic- tive iiiontlis, determined frcmi long records nncl for sev- ern1 stations in the 1-iciiiity, :tnd the actual fnll for the An esaiiilriaticm of tlir chnrts shows that tlie area of greatest deficiency in precipitation does n( i t coincide identically with tlie area of greatest, loss to crops. I n central niicl eastern RliiiiieSotlt, where the raiiifnll deficiency was greatest, a go(i(1 crop of wheat wns grown and other crops made f:ur returns, wlierens in Nortli a1 i y the relation between the avernge fall for the respec- section, obtained also froiii tlie sniiie set of st. '1 t ' lolls. L):iko tit, while the deficiency in precipitation on the whole was not nearly so greiit, crops were to a large extentnearly totd failures. This was due in soiiie measure to the fact t liiLt there is noriiially considerably more rainfdl in the enstern portioii of tlie district tliaii iu tlie western, so that while the deficiency was greater, tlie actual rainfdl was still sufficient for fair crop growth. The priiiie cause (~f the severe crop failure in North Da- kota wts prnl~n1,ly clue to tlie intense heat over the latter State froni al>out~ the middle to nenr the end of June. At nuiiierous points in t1i:Lt Stiite and also in western hliime- stbtit the teniprrature for tliis period was unprecedented. Day after cliiy it withering heat of $IO@ to Ic)O@ or iiiore snpped tlie nioisture froiii ground itlid plztnt alike, fitirly 1)tiriiing vegetation in tlie iieltl and rendering h i t growth alniost iiiipossilde. Ex1)erienced fariiiers \lave stated that hncl norninl t einperatures heen experienced during this critical period fair crc) )s would have been harvested soutliern portioiis of the district liigli temperatures were less persistent, niicl the claiiiage to crops wits not so greait. It is frequently stated tliat after a year or other period of clrought uncl sliort crops. heavy crops iiiay be expected to follow, :rnd f:iriiiers hiring this in mind, and desiring to recoup from the losses of a dry year, frequently plant iiiore extensively in years following drought than otlier- \\ i