18 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. [Vol.40 



• 



at a much higher degree than on the outside, and products of various kinds 

 will dry in a shorter time than when exposed to the direct rays of the sun. 



Directions for preparing fruits and vegetables for drying, and tested recipes 

 in which dried products are employed, are given. 



Preservation of food (Agr. Col. Ext. Bui. [Ohio State Univ.'i, 1J, (1918-19), 

 No. 1. pp. 20, figs. 2). — A detailed discussion of the preservation of food by 

 storing, canning, drying, and fermentation. 



METEOROLOGY. 



Climate in relation to crop adaptation in New Mexico, C. E. Ltnney and 

 F. Garcia (New Mexico Sta. Bui. US (1918), pp. 132, figs. If).— The available 

 data for temperature and precipitation, secured in cooperation with the 

 Weather Bureau of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, are given for different 

 parts of the State, with brief accounts of the agricultural possibilities of each 

 county. 



There is great range in altitude and climatic conditions in the State. Agri- 

 culture is carried on under irrigation or by dry-fanning methods, the latter 

 being done at altitudes varying from 3,000 to 8,000 ft., under a normal pre- 

 cipitation varying from about 10 to 20 in., with a long growing season in the 

 lower altitudes and a very short one in the high altitudes. There is ■ large 

 portion of the State which can not be used for the growing of crops, but can be 

 profitably utilized in the raising of live stock. Crops adapted to dry farming 

 at any altitude are comparatively limited in number. 



"The amount of moisture and length of the growing season are two important 

 limiting factors for many crops in New Mexico. The 5,000-ft. elevation is 

 probably about the limit in altitude for many of the sorghums, which are 

 among the best crops for the dry farmers below this altitude; however, up to 

 this altitude Sudan grass, beans, Indian corn, broom corn, and wheat are also 

 dependable crops. In the higher dry-land districts short season corn, wheat, 

 barley, oats, field peas, beans, and, in some districts, Irish potatoes are among 

 the loading crops to grow. In the irrigated valleys, where the moisture factor 

 is largely under the control of the fanner, a much larger variety of crops can 

 lie successfully raised under good farm management. In addition to a large 

 variety of vegetables and fruits, practically all of the crops that can be raised 

 by dry farming can be grown in these Irrigated districts of lower altitude. 

 In the high altitude, mountainous, Irrigated districts, aside from the dry- 

 fanning crops that are grown under these conditions, alfalfa, many of the 

 cool season vegetables, and a number of fruits, principally apples, cherries, and 

 plums, are usually grown successfully, except that the late spring frOH 

 occasionally partly or wholly destroy the fruit crop." The Stale is restricted 

 to Temperate Zone crops and fruits. Tropical or even semitropical fruits can 

 not be raised there. 



Since moisture is probably the principal factor in crop production in New 

 Mexico it should he kept in mind that the lower valleys are dry. averaging from 

 6 to 10 In. annually, and that agriculture there is precarious without Irrigation, 

 Precipitation increases with altitude, and also somewhat from west to east, 

 especally east of the Rio Grande. The precipitation increases rapidly with 

 altitude, amounting to 18, 20, 25, and even 30 in. annually over the highest 

 peaks. A second controlling factor is temperature, which decreases with alti- 

 tude and thus limits the number of crops that can lie grown at the higher 



altitudes. 



Particular care should be taken to select late-blooming varieties of fruits 

 which are least susceptible to frost Injury in the spring. The data presented 



