17 



This wus chiofly duo to the light snowfall, which in 1S89 was only 1.5 

 inches in January, Fehruary, and March, and in 1!»()0 o.'24: inches dur- 

 ing five of the winter months. The years of heavy precipitation were 

 1.S80 and 1S92. In 1880 9.5 inches fell during the winter months of 

 January, February, March, Noveml)er, and L)eceml)er, and in 1892 

 8.5 inches in the same time. The yearly fluctuation of the fall of rain 

 and snow from 188(» to 1!»()1 is shown by figure 1. 



In the monthly distribution of the precipitation, (xallatin Valley, 

 and in fact the entire State, is highly favored. The greatest precipi- 

 tation occurs (luring the months following seedtime (fig. 2). April, 



/fffiff a/ ~5i~~53 ^ <?S ta S^ &3 Ss "90 aT 9^ 93 94 9S '96 ^ '90 '99 /900 '0/ 

 Fig. 1.— Totrtl annual precipitatinii, Bozuman, Mont., ISSO to 1901. 



May, and June are the wettest months of the year. For the past 

 twenty-two years the average precipitation for these months has been 

 1.99, 2.40, and 2.94 inches, respectively, or 7i inches in all. This 

 quantity of moisture, which falls either as rain or soft snow, is nearly 

 all absorbed by the properly tilled soil and supplies moisture not only 

 to bring the plant well above the surface but to bring it well along 

 toward maturity. August is the. driest month, averaging 0.67 inch. 

 The average for July is 1.1 inches. This midsummer period of dry, 

 sunshiny weather enables the farmer to harvest his crops in good con- 

 dition and at the least expense. 



