5i8 Bulletin 316 



the surface. Mr. Seeley also found that the temperature of the air over 

 soil that had been tilled recently averaged about 2° higher than that 

 over siinilar soil that had not been cultivated for some time, and suggests 

 the advisability of thorough tillage as a measure tending to protect against 

 the effect of frost. 



Professor Cox found that poorly drained cranberry bogs were much 

 more liable to frost than those that were well drained, the average night 

 temperature over poorly drained soils being 2.4° below that over the drier 

 soils. In one instance the lack of proper drainage resulted in a total loss 

 of the crop in the wet sections of the marsh, where the temperature fell 

 to 27.3°; while in the drier sections the berries were unharmed, the lowest 

 temperature being 35.8°. The relatively low temperatures over wet soils 

 undoubtedly are due to excessive evaporation during the daytime, which 

 uses up heat that over drier ground would go to raise the temperature 

 of the soil, so that when night comes there is little heat in the soil to resist 

 the fall in temperature. 



The foregoing facts seem to show very clearly that the farmer who gives 

 attention to proper cultivation and drainage will obtain not only the 

 advantage of larger yields, but a certain immunity from frost as well. 



FROST WARNINGS ISSUED BY THE UNITED STATES WEATHER BUREAU 



It is entirely possible to forecast the occurrence of frost with a reason- 

 able degree of accuracy twelve to twenty-four hours in advance. It is 

 possible, also, to protect from frost to a limited degree. Nevertheless, 

 so far as the general farmer is concerned, unless he is prepared to protect 

 his crops when frost comes, frost warnings, however accurate, are of no 

 practical value to him. 



Modem methods of protection, while eminently practical, involve a 

 considerable outlay of time and money, and in general farming the area 

 to be protected is so large that the expense in practice is prohibitive. How- 

 ever, there are occasions when a warning of frost twenty-four hours in 

 advance can be used to considerable advantage. In the sugar districts 

 of Louisiana it is desirable that the cane remain standing as long as pos- 

 sible, because of the rapid increase of its sugar content toward the time 

 of maturity. However, it must be cut before frost or there is great loss. 

 It is the practice of the cane growers to make everything ready, and when 

 a warning that frost threatens is received large quantities of cane are cut 

 in a single day. 



The writer knows of several instances when farmers in Wisconsin made 

 a similar use of the frost warnings of the Weather Bureau and cut large 

 acreages of com, thus saving it from injury. It would seem that in a 

 State like New York, where the season is none too long to mature com 



