TRANSACTIONS OF GALESBURG HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 231 



In the first place I shall give the means of our meteorological phe- 

 nomena for the ten years which I have specified, in the order in which 

 the observations have been taken. 



I. The Themometric Conditions of our Climate. — Our average temper- 

 ature may be regarded as 48°. 58 Fah. The highest average was in 1874, 

 being 52°; and the lowest in 1873, being 45°. 50. Taking the winter 

 months from October to March, the mean was t^2)° j ^"d the summer 

 months from April to September, it was 64°. 64. The lowest winter tem- 

 perature was in 1872-3, when the mean was only 28°. 60; the highest 

 winter temperature was in 1873-4, being 35°. 60. In no other instance 

 during that time did the mean temperature fall below 31°. The lowest 

 summer thermometer was that of 1866, being 62°. 83 ; and the highest 

 was 1S70, being 69°. 04. The averages are taken from the three daily 

 observations at seven, two and nine o'clock. From six years of maxima 

 and minima observations — 1861 to '66 and 1873-4 — it further appears 

 that during these years the lowest annual minimum was 35°, in 1866; and 

 the highest was 42°, in 1874. The lowest maximum of these six years 

 was 56°, in 1873; ^^^ the highest 63°. 40, in 1873. The lowest winter 

 minimum was 18°. 10, in 1873, ^"^ ^^e highest 27°. 10, in 1874. The 

 lowest winter maximum was 37°. 27, in 1873; ^.nd the highest 50°. 63, in 

 1861. The lowest summer minimum was 48°. 48, in 1866 ; and the high- 

 est 53°.o5, in 1873. The lowest summer maximum was 72°. 45, in 1862; 

 and the highest was 75°. 56, in 1873. ^^e lowest temperature for the 

 ten years was 28°, on January 29, 1873, and the highest was 101°, on Sep- 

 tember I, of the same year, July is decidedly our warmest month, and 

 January our coldest. 



The range of the temperature is coming to be regarded as an import- 

 ant feature in climate, and as having some influence on both animals and 

 plants. For the six years referred to of maxima and minima observa- 

 tions our highest monthly range was that of March, which gives a mean 

 of 64^.66, and the lowest was that of August, giving a mean of 43°. 83, 

 The range of the winter months from October to March does not vary 

 much from year to year, and amounts to 61^.46. The mean summer 

 range is 49°. 75, making a difference of ii°.75 in favor of summer. 

 The mean of both seasons is 55°,6i. The highest observed range occurred 

 in February, 1866, and was 82° ; the lowest in August, 1862, and was 35°. 

 This is probably the worst feature of our climate. We are not, however, 

 so badly off as the people in Kansas, where the range at Manhattan, for 

 1874, was from 110° to — 6°, or 116°. With us the average range varies very 

 little from year to year, and may be regarded as constant at the mean 

 of 55°. At Washington, D. C, the mean range is 53°. 5 ; Rochester, 

 N. Y., 48°; New York, 43°; Key West, 26°; Keokuk, 56°; Cincinnati, 

 51°; Chicago, 57°; Boston, 48°; Breckenridge, Minn., 60°; Mobile, 39°; 

 Montreal, 46°; Denver, Col., 62°. The range thus diminishes to the east, 

 and especially to the south, and increases toward the north and west. 



A final point in regard to temperature is our late and early frosts. 

 These can be given from the maxima and minima observations, which 

 however extend only to six years. In five of the six years we had frosts 



