ELEVENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART I >1 



the 9th, and as there was practically no frost in the ground the soil dried 

 rapidly, and farmers were in the field early in the month gathering the 

 remainder of last year's corn crop, plowing and seeding small grain. The 

 greater portion of the corn was gathered by the 15th, and by the end of 

 the month nearly all of the wheat and nearly 50 per cent of the oats had 

 been seeded and considerable ground had been prepared for corn. The 

 season at the close of the month was about 4 weeks in advance of the nor- 

 mal and from 5 to 6 weeks ahead of last year. Spring flowers were in 

 bloom; elms, soft maples, and box elders were green or becoming so, even 

 in the extreme northern part the state. Plum, cherry and apple trees 

 were in bloom in the southern counties. Pastures and meadows were 

 green, and some of the early sown grain was up before the end of the 

 month. Fall grain, clover and alfalfa were generally in good condition, 

 but there had been considerable damage by winter killing in western 

 and southern districts. 



The first half of April, like the whole of March, was dry and generally 

 warm, but the latter half was very changeable and erratic; the tempera- 

 tures fluctuating from one extreme to another, and the precipitation 

 from rain to snow. A cold spell set in on the evening of the 14th, at- 

 tended by moderate showers which changed to snow on the 15th and con- 

 tinued until the 18th, over the larger part of the state; the minimum tem- 

 peratures on the 16th, 17th and 18th being from 3° to 12° below the freez- 

 ing point in all districts, and the amounts of snowfall ranged from a 

 trace in the southern to over 5 inches at some stations in the northeastern 

 cornties. The freezing temperatures severely damaged fruit, as apple, 

 cherry and plum trees were in full bloom in the northern part of the 

 state by the 10th of the month. The damage done, however, was small 

 as compared with the damage resulting from the freeze of the 23d and 

 24th, when the minimum temperatures were 10° to 12° below the freezing 

 point in the southern counties. The ground froze hard on the morning 

 of the 23d and the 24th, and ice one inch thick formed in tubs of water. 

 Pew trees or shrubs escaped injury, and the foliage and new growth on 

 some varieties, such as soft maples, box elders, wisteria, Virginia creeper, 

 etc, were frozen and at the close of the month the dead leaves were 

 falling off. After the 24th the temperature rose rapidly and the highest 

 temperature ever recorded in the state during April was noted on the 

 28th, when the maximum temperatures ranged from 90° to 99° in the 

 western counties. Practically all small grain was seeded and some corn 

 planted before the middle of the month. 



May was abnormally cold, and except over the extreme southern coun- 

 ties was unusually dry. Freezing temperatures occurred on one or more 

 days in nearly all parts of the state, but as practically all the fruit was 

 killed during April, there was little damage done. The rainfall was 

 light and below the normal. Owing to poor seed (account of severe 

 freezing weather on October 12th and 13th, 1909) and continuous cold 

 weather, much of the corn failed to germinte and, notwithstanding the 

 fact that many fields were re-planted the second and some the third time, 

 the stand of corn was poor. The cold weather retarded the growth of 

 vegetation and the drouthy conditions reduced the prospects of a hay 



