468 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



MARCH. 



March opened cold with temperatures of zero or lower in all but the 

 southeastern counties on the 4th and 5th, the lowest being -13 degrees at 

 Lake Park on the 4th. Excepting a warm period, 9th-llth, it continued 

 rather cold till the 19th when a warm period set in that continued till 

 the close of the month. At Des Moines the ground was frozen to a maxi- 

 mum depth of about 4 feet on March 6, but by the 26th, practically all 

 frost had disappeared. In the southern portion of the state the average 

 daily excess in temperature was about 2.5 degrees, while in the northern 

 portion there was a slight deiiciency. 



Precipitation, as in the two preceding months, was above normal in 

 the northern, normal In the central, and below normal in the southern 

 divisions. The principal periods with precipitation were, 7th, 12th-13th, 

 and 16th. During the latter two periods, there was considerable glaze, 

 sleet and snow, particularly in the north and central divisions. Over an 

 area extending from Fort Dodge to Des Moines and east to the Missis- 

 sippi River the mist and light rain beginning on the 12th froze to all 

 exposed surfaces, giving them a heavy coating of ice that in many places 

 measured an inch in thickness. On the 13th a considerable increase in 

 the wind force, acting upon the overburdened telephone wires, caused 

 great damage. More than 1,600 poles were snapped off and 10,000 breaks 

 occurred in long distance wires alone. The damage is estimated at 

 $175,000, besides the loss of business for nearly a week. Railway and 

 telegraph wires seem to have suffered less. On the 16th, heavy snows, 

 accompanied by shifting gales, occurred in the northern portion of the 

 state, interrupting railway traffic for a few days. 



There was no appreciable snow covering over the southeast one-third 

 of the state or anywhere in the southern tier of counties, but in the 

 western counties near the Minnesota line, the snow did not disappear till 

 the closing days of the month. 



By the close of the month grass was starting and field work was pro- 

 gressing rapidly in the southern division; seeding oats and spring wheat 

 had been completed in a few southeastern counties; potato planting was 

 reported well north in the central division; and sod plowing was being 

 done as far north as Lyon county in the extreme northwest. "Winter 

 wheat, timothy, alfalfa, and clover both old and new, were seriously 

 winter-killed, except that clover was favorably reported from some locali- 

 ties in the northern division, where it is most too early to form con- 

 ■slusions. The winter-killing in the southern division probably resulted 

 from the prolonged drought that began last fall and continued through 

 the winter, together with deficient snow covering and considerable ex- 

 tremes of temperature. In the central division, smothering seems to have 

 occurred from a dense ice covering part of the winter. In the northern 

 division the snow covering was deeper, continuous and more porous. 



Live stock wintered well and ample feed remains. 



Pressure. — The mean pressure (reduced to sea level) for the state 

 was 30.02 inches. The highest recorded was 30.75 inchs, at Sioux City, 

 on the 3d; and the lowest was 29.26 inches, at Omaha, Neb., on the 16th, 

 The monthly range was 1.49 inches. 



