FIFTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART II. 149 



55.5°; average monthly minimum -8.8'. Greatest daily range 57% at 

 Maquoketa; average of greatest daily ranges, 36.8°. Average precipitation 

 for the State, as shown by records of 119 stations, 1.44 inches, which is .15 

 of an inch above normal. The averages by sections were as follows: 

 Northern section, 1.19 inches, which is .16 of an inch below normal; central 

 section, 1.66 inches, which is .32 of an inch above normal; southern section, 

 1.48 inches, which .32 of an inch above normal. The largest amount re- 

 ported was 3.68 inches at Newton; least amount reported, .06 of an inch at 

 Storm Lake. The greatest daily rainfall reported was 2.53 inches at Newton 

 on the 27th. Average number of days on which .01 of an inch or more was 

 reported, 5. Prevailing direction of the wind, northwest; highest velocity 

 reported, 57 miles per hour, from the northwest, at Sioux City, on the 

 27th. Average number of clear days, 12; partly cloudy, 7; cloudy, 12. 



REVIEW OF THE CROP SEASON, 1904. 



The year 1904 was cooler than usual, the mean temperature being 46.3', 

 which is 0.4'' below normal. The average precipitation was 28.74 inches, 

 which is 2.68° below normal. 



The winter was colder than usual. In January the average daily tem- 

 perature was 14% which is 4.2° below the State normal. The lowest tem- 

 perature recorded was 32'^ below zero, on January 27th, at Elkader and 

 Fayette. In February the mean temperature was 4.8' below normal, and 

 the lowest was 26" below zero on the 1st. The soil was frozen to an unusual 

 depth. March brought moderate temperature, but the prevalence of cloudi- 

 ness prevented rapid thawing of the soil, and the ground was generally too 

 wet for seeding operations. 



April was abnormally cold, the records of 115 stations showing a daily defi- 

 ciency of 5.2° in temperature. The average rainfall was 3.63 inches, which 

 is an excess of .74 of an inch above the April average. There were some 

 dry periods, however, with sufficient sunshine to afford ample opportunity 

 for seeding and preparing the ground for planting corn. Seeding of spring 

 wheat, oats and barley begun generally from the 1st to the 4th, and that 

 work was practically completed in the larger part of the State about the 

 20th or 23d. Germination of seed was unusually slow, but at the close of 

 April there were indications of a good stand, except on low, wet fields. 

 Fruit buds appeared healthy and promising, but there were only a few blos- 

 soms visible prior to the 1st of May. The pastures and meadows wer 

 unusually late in starting, and there was but little grass for stock at the end 

 of the month. On the whole, though the growth of vegetation was much 

 belated, the month was more favorable than the corresponding month in 

 1903. 



May was nearly normal, the daily mean temperature showing a deficiency 

 of only .8". The average rainfall, 3.78 inches, was .35 of an inch below the 

 May normal. In portions of the west central district, and in some of the 

 southern counties, there was some heavy downpours, which caused much 

 delay in planting, the great excess of moisture being due in large part to 



