Niagara County: Its Agriculture and Its Farm Bureau 2083 



improving farm home conditions and toward increasing social opportu- 

 nities in the county. 



conditions that limit agriculture 

 Climate, topography, and soil are the three important factors in de- 

 termining crop adaptation. The proper fitting of crops to them opens 

 the way to successful farming. 



Climate 



The annual precipitation is a little over thirty-two inches, one-half of 

 which falls in the five months from May to September, inclusive. 



The average date of the last killing frost in spring is in the last four 

 days in April, and the first killing frost in the fall occurs about the six- 

 teenth of October. This gives a growing season of over one hundred and 

 seventy days. 



Fig. I. — Niagara County, showing the physical features of the land and 

 the Erie Canal. The Ontario Plain is devoted chiefly to fruit growing, 

 while the Erie Plain is given up to hay and grain raising 



The mean temperature in Niagara County is about 47.5° F. The 

 maximum temperature recorded is 99° F., and the minimum is — 16° F., 

 recorded at Lockport in the winter of 1914. Southwest, west, northwest, 

 north, and northeast winds pass over water before reaching this county, 

 thus modifying the temperature and checking frosts. 



Topography and soils 



Niagara County is divided by nature into two plains, the Ontario 

 Plain and the Erie Plain. The Ontario, or lower, Plain is the northern 

 two-thirds of the county. It slopes gradually toward Lake Ontario from 

 the abrupt escarpment that divides the two plains and that passes through 

 Lockport. The elevation of the Ontario Plain at Appleton, two miles 

 from Lake Ontario, is 340 feet above sea level and 80 feet above the level 



