WEATHKR AND CROPS. 59 



February. — The month of February averaged decidedly colder than 

 usual throughout the State, the deficiency in temperature ranging from 

 5 degrees in the northwest section to 7 degrees in llie central and south- 

 west sections. The coldest period was from the 2(1 to the 5th, when the 

 daily mean temperatures ranged from 18 to 25 degrees below the normal. 

 The mean temperature of the month for the State was 24.0 degrees, 5.9 

 degrees below the normal. The highest local monthly mean, 31.6 degrees, 

 occurred at Gayoso, and the lowest, 18.6 degrees, at Maryville. The high- 

 est temperature recorded during the month was 72 degrees, at Gayoso, on 

 the 28th, and the lowest, 17 degrees below zero, at Fulton, on the 3d, and 

 Montreal on the 15th. The average number of days with minimum tem- 

 perature below 32 degrees was 25. Over the greater part of the south- 

 west section and the southern counties of the southeast section the precipi- 

 tation of the month ranged from 2 to over 3 inches, exceeding the normal 

 over a considerable portion of the southwest section, but over the north- 

 ern portion of the State it was unusually light, most of the northern 

 counties receiving less than i inch. The average precipitation for the 

 State was 1.50 inches, or 0.72 inch below the normal. The greatest local 

 monthly precipitation was 3.17 inches, at Mt. Vernon, and the least, .14 

 inch, at St. Joseph. Over the northern portion of the State the snowfall 

 was also unusually light, few stations reporting a total of more than 3 

 inches, but over nearly all of the southwest section and the southern coun- 

 ties of the southeast section it was exceptionally heavy, the total for the 

 month ranging from 8 to 15 inches. Over the larger portion of the State 

 the ground was well covered with snow until the 22d, and in some sec- 

 tions during the entire month, affording ample protection to winter wheat, 

 which was generally reported in good condition, except in some of the 

 southern counties and in a few localities in the northeast section. The 

 melting snows, together with the moderately heavy rains which fell in the 

 southern and eastern sections on the 27th and- 28th, materially increased 

 tiie supply of stock water in those sections, and in some counties streams 

 and ponds were filled to overflowing. 



March. — The mean temperature of March, for the State, was 45.3 

 degrees, or 3.5 degrees above the normal. Unseasonably cold weather 

 prevailed on the 17th and i8th, the temperature falling to near zero in por- 

 tions of the central and northern sections, but during the greater part of 

 the month the weather was quite mild. The highest local monthly mean, 

 50.8 degrees, occurred at Gayoso, and the lowest, 40.0 degrees, at Mary- 

 ville. The highest temperature recorded was 85 degrees, at DeSoto on 

 the loth, and the lowest, i degree, at Maryville and Conception on the 

 17th. The average nu'mber of days with minimum^ temperature below 32 

 degrees was 10. Over many of the northern counties, and also over the 



