108 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



inches. The most favorable showing in these records is the fact tliat 

 the rainfall in the crop season of 1903 was nearly 5.00 inches less than 

 in the same period in 1902, indicating a return towards normal condi- 

 tions. 



The winter of 1903 was generally about normal and favorable for 

 live stock and the usual farm operations of the season. The soil was 

 very wet, and the ponds and streams were more than usually filled with 

 water and ice. Fall wheat and rye wintered fairly well, though the 

 covering of snow was generally light. March was warmer than usual, 

 with somewhat less than the normal precipitation; but the excessive 

 cloudiness and humidity retarded farm work except in dry, sandy soil. 

 While the spring opened earlier than usual, the fields were too wet to 

 allow an early start in farm work. 



April was about normal in temperature and rainfall, but the prev- 

 alence of cloudy, misty and humid weather during the larger part of ihe 

 month retarded the necessary drying of the surface. The usual farm 

 operations were pursued under these adverse conditions, causing ma- 

 terial reduction of the acreage of spring wheat, oats and barley. Pas- 

 tures and meadows made an early start and the grain crops germinated 

 readily making a fairly good stand. A snowstorm with freezing tem- 

 perature at the close of the month checked crop growth and injured the 

 earlier varieties of apples cherries and plums. 



May was the wettest and most unfavorable month of the season. 

 The soil at the outsat was supersaturated and the average rainfall for 

 the State for the month was 8.55 inches. The distribution of this ex- 

 cessive amount of rainfall was variable ranging at local stations from 

 2.88 to 15.45 inches; but the averages of each station was above 8 inches. 

 The best conditions as to dryness of soil were in the Mississippi river 

 districts. The great interior basins v^f the Des Moines, Iowa and Cedar 

 rivers were subjected to very heavy floods ^bout the close of the month, 

 causing much delay in farming operations and damage to all crop.^. 

 From about the 3d to the 18th cotfditions were at their best, and during 

 that part of the month the plowing, planting and other farm operations 

 were in progress on the drier lands, with only occasional interruption 

 by showers. Most of the corn that was planted was put in during thai 

 period. The protracted and very heavy storms during the last decade 

 rendered field work impracticable in more than four fifths of the Sta^.e. 

 At the close of the month not more than two thirds of the usual corn 

 area had been planted. The germination was generally quick and sat- 

 is^j^clory in the stand, but the fields soon became very foul from the lack 

 of cultivation, and much more than the usual amount of replanting was 

 necessitated as a result of washing and flooding the fields. The genera' 

 condition of wheat, oats, rye. barley and meadows was better than 

 seemed to be possible during prevalence of the storms. 



June was unseasonably cool, but generally dry and more favorable 

 for field work and crops than the preceding month. The mean tem- 

 perature was about 5° below normal, and the rainfall was 1.52 inches 

 below the average. The surface dried off slowly, and the cool weather 



