EIGHTEENTH ANNUAL YEARi BOOK— PART IX 499 



Cool weather prevailed during the first two decades of July, 

 after which it was warm, with abnormally hot weather the last 

 four daj^s. Precipitation was deficient but mostly well distrib- 

 uted till the last week when the drought accompanied by high 

 temperature and hot winds damaged pastures, potatoes and gar- 

 den truck. The season was generally favorable for small grain 

 which, by the close of the month, Avas mostly harvested and some 

 threshed, showing large yields and good quality. Corn was be- 

 ginning to tassel in all sections on the 31st. 



Droughty conditions that prevailed at the close of July were 

 relieved by frequent and quite general showers during the first 

 12 days of August, followed by a nearly rainless week, after 

 which only occasional local rains occurred. After the 4th, tem- 

 peratures, especially at night, were generally so low that corn 

 made slow progress and only the earliest fields had reached the 

 roasting ear stage by the close of the month. Late potatoes and 

 truck crops suffered somewhat from lack of moisture and very 

 little fall plowing could be done. 



Heavy to killing frost occurred on the 11th of September, in 

 the northern and eastern sections which did considerable damage 

 to corn, potatoes and other late crops. Corn made its best prog- 

 ress between the 13th and 18th, but during most of the month 

 the deficient temperature and sunshine made its progress very 

 slow. At the close of the month less than two-thirds of the crop 

 was safe from any ordinary killing frost, and part of that was 

 susceptible to serious damage by freezing temperatures. 



October was 3.1° colder than October, 1895, which has here- 

 tofore been the coldest since state-wide records began in 1890. 

 Killing frost occurred in some sections on the 1st, all but the 

 southwest portion on the 6th and in all sections on the 8th. Dur- 

 ing a cold wave on the 28-30th, the temperature fell nearly to 

 zero in the northern and western counties, the lowest being just 

 zero at Galva. Precipitation was deficient except in a few north- 

 eastern and east-central counties, but a general snowstorm on 

 the 28th-29th was remarkably heavy for the season in the north- 

 eastern counties. Corn was seriously damaged by the unfavor- 

 able conditions; very little of it was cribbed at the close of the 

 month, and that which was cribbed heated so that it had to be 

 dried and sorted; much soft corn in the fields molded. 



