62 MISSOURI AGKICULTURAL REPORT. 



the month. Owing- to the cool, dry weather, grasses were generally back- 

 ward, especially in the central and northern sections, where pastures af- 

 forded but little grazing, and stock water continued very scarce in some 

 of the northern counties. Gardens were also backward, as a rule. 

 Cherry, pear and plum trees bloomed profusely in most sections, and 

 apples also gave promise of a fair to good crop, except in some of the 

 southern counties. In some of the extreme southern counties a good 

 peach crop was promised. 



May. — The mean temperature of May, for the State, was 69.4 de- 

 grees, or 4.3 degrees above the normal. From the 26th to the 30th the 

 weather was quite cool, light frosts occurring in some localities on the 

 28th, but during the remainder of the month the temperature w^as almost 

 continuously above the normal. The highest local monthly mean, 74.1 

 degrees, occurred at Poplar Bluff, and the lowest, 65.0 degrees, at Mary- 

 ville. The highest temperature recorded was 98 degrees, at Poplar Bluff 

 on the 25th, and the lowest, 39 degrees, at Ironton and Potosi«on the 28th, 

 Over the greater portion of the northwest and a considerable portion of 

 the southwest section the precipitation of the month exceeded the normal 

 b} from I to over 4 inches, a number of stations in those sections report- 

 ing a total fall of from 6 to over 9 inches, while over the greater part of 

 the central and eastern sections there was a deficiency, portions of the 

 southeast section receiving less than half the- usual amount. The aver- 

 age precipitation for the State was 5 . 03 inches, which is practically nor- 

 mal. The greatest local monthly fall was 9.93 inches, at Wheatland, 

 and the least, i .64 inches, at Marble Hill. Except in a few^ of the north- 

 ern and eastern counties, where the deficiency in precipitation retarded 

 the growth of oats, pastures and meadows, the weather conditions dur- 

 ing May, were, on the whole, very favorable to the farmer. Excessive 

 rains in some localities washed out considerable corn and flooded bottom 

 lands along the smaller streams, but the loss was insignificant compared 

 with the incalculable benefits resulting from the Increase of moisture in 

 the soil and filling of ponds and streams. The temperature was gen- 

 erally favorable for plant growth, and, except in the few localities where 

 the rainfall was markedly deficient, all crops made rapid progress. Light 

 frost occurred in some localities in the northern sections on the 7th and 

 28th, but did no damage. While there was some loss by hailstorms in a 

 few counties, destructive local storms were less frequent than usual. 

 Corn came up to good stands and made good progress, though in some of 

 the central and western counties cultivation was retarded by rains during 

 the latter part of the month and many fields became quite weedy. In 

 many of the northern counties cut worms were destructive, especially nn 

 sod ground, necessitating considerable replanting. Cotton, in the south- 



