TRANSACTIONS OF GALESBURG HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 233 



the year 1S74, of which we have the best remembrance and fullest record, 

 and show by it the not unusual conditions of climate under which we 

 have to sow our seeds and set out our plants. 



With this view, I will begin with the month of April, the first of our 

 spring months, and endeavor to exhibit its meteorological phenomena as 

 they bear on the interests of horticulture. In this month of 1874 we had 

 twenty-three days on which the thermometer fell during the night below 

 the freezing point. Our mean minimum for the wliole month was as low 

 as 28°. 23. In such circumstances our maximum temperatures, which 

 ranged from 42° to 75°, are of little avail. On the principle that nothing 

 is stronger than its weakest point, our attention must in spring be directed 

 to our lowest rather than to our highest temperatures. Under such 

 conditions as these, it can not be safe or any real advantage to plant in 

 ordinary undrained soil any but the hardiest of our seeds and roots. 

 Again, in that month we had six days of rain and snow. Thirteen inches 

 of snow fell, which with the rain gave us four inches of water. This 

 seems a good amount of moisture, and so it is ; but when it is considered 

 that we had twenty-four days of dry and, in a great measure, cloudless, 

 sunshiny weather, the value of at least four of the days of rain was 

 completely neutralized. The rain of these days had scarcely fallen when 

 it was licked up by the thirsty sun. Only on two, or at most three days 

 had we moisture that penetrated to the roots of jjlants. Considering 

 these things, I am sure you will be disposed to regard April as of little 

 value for actual horticultural purposes. 



Now take May, in which for 1874 there was no frost, and the 

 thermometer did not fall below 41°, and rose to 92°, standing for three 

 days at the nineties. So far as temperature is concerned, last May was, 

 on the whole, a favorable month ; but then we can not always trust May. 

 As late as the middle of it we are liable to have frost during the night. 

 Then, again, our ordinary seeds — such as peas, beans and garden seeds — 

 will not germinate at a lower temperature of the earth than 40°; cereals 

 and corn require 50° at least ; tomatoes require 60°; and cucumbers and 

 melons about 65°. Here is another difficulty: The frost is deep in the 

 ground and requires time to thaw. The soil is thus kept for a time 

 colder than the atmosphere, and than is necessary for vegetation. Hence 

 those seeds that require to be planted deep stand a poor chance for early 

 sprouting in ordinary soil. Then, further, we had only four days of rain 

 during the month, the total of rain-fall being only i.io inches, the whole 

 of which, I am certain, was licked up by the sun before it had penetrated 

 an inch below the surface of the ground. 



Now take June. On this month we had a minimum temperature 

 ranging from 46° to 70°, and a maximum from 66° to 93°. We had nine 

 rainy days, and a total rain-fall of 2.95 inches. We had besides about 

 sixty per cent, of cloudiness, and very dewy nights. This was a fine 

 month for vegetation. Anything better we could not reasonably ask. 

 Still, considering that we had twenty-one days of dry weather, neutral- 

 izing at least three of our rainy days, and evaporating more than half of 

 our moisture, there was, after all, not much in June to boast of. 



