586 

 It 



"Another field which these institutious could piobablj' occupy is that 

 of the collection of data when no great haste is requii ed and the mails 

 fill the need. This is the case for general meteorologic phenomena, 

 where the material is to be used for study, not for immediate prediction. 

 Thunderstorms have been long studied in this way and with excellent 

 results. The same method may be pursued for ice storms, hailstorms, 

 tornadoes, and for secondary storms generally. To be successful a 

 special meteorologic ser\ice for the season must be formed by corre- 

 spondence. If the area selected is small enough the observers can be 

 so thickly scattered that no phenomenon of importance will escape 

 them, and yet the volume of data collected will not be too large to be 

 digested and discussed bj' the meteorologist of the station or college. 

 This is a matter of great importance, and experience abroad has shown 

 that a country like Bavaria can be covered with so close a network of 

 vohmtary observers that practically no local storm escapes them. This 

 country sliould be thorouglily covered by such local and special serv- 

 ices, especially during the warm season, when secondary storms are most 

 common and most distinctive. The necessary expense involved is that 

 of corresi»ondence, jiostage. and clerk hire, and that of i)roviding at 

 least a few of the correspondents m ith instruments. 



"The investigations mentioned so far can be better carried on from 

 agricultural institutions than elsewhere: there remains a class which 

 contains problems (jften of the highest agricultural interest, but which 

 can be conducteil by any competent i)erson who has the necessary data 

 at his command. These are the ]>roblems of climatology, whether geo- 

 gia]>hic, as of Stat«'s, cities, or natural topugrai)liic ar«'as; or of produc- 

 tions, as of the cotton or corn area: or of special clinnitological features, 

 as of drouths or special winds, (lenerally the data necessary are in the 

 possession of the National Weather Bureau, oi\ through its publications, 

 in public libraries or in the hands of private meteorologists, (ien- 

 erally, too, tliey are in the libraries of the agricultural colleges. Where 

 the necessary meaus exist there is no more promising tiehl of study, and 

 it artbrds the advantage of ])resenting c(»llected data instead of requir- 

 ing years of jtreliminary work in gathering them." 



Some of the colleges and stations are already carrying on work on 

 some of tin* topics suggested in this bulletin. It is hoped that these 

 institutions will soon be able to devote more attenti»»n to this subject 

 and that many others will in the near future find it pra<ticable to begin 

 investigations in one or more of these lines. I>y thus raising the grade 

 of their meteorological work and bringing it into direct relation with 

 their other researches in the sciences on which agriculturedepeiids.it is 

 believed that these institutions can make this branch of their work of 

 great value to their several localities and at the same time «ontribute 

 to the advancement of scientific and practical meteorology^ by which 

 the interests of all classes of our people are promoted. 



