CLIMATIC CHARACTER OF THE SEASON OF 19U0. 25 



timber, and can onl}' with difficulty be driven through it. Even for 

 the usual noonday rest they uniformly prefer to lie in the open field 

 exposed to the sun. 



CLIMATIC CHARACTER OF THE SEASON OF 1900. 



The season of 1900 in Montana was unusually early and unusually 

 dry. During the previous winter the fall of snow was remarkably 

 light, except for the unexpectedly severe storm of October, 1899. 

 During the greater pai't of the winter there was no snow either on the 

 mountains or on the plains. At the beginning of May vegetation was 

 from two weeks to one month in advance of the average season. Over 

 a considerable portion of the State, moreover, the rains which are 

 expected during the months of May and June did not occur. As a 

 I'osult of this failure, the grasses and other plants of the range were 

 checked in their growth and matured veiy rapidly. This condition of 

 atl'airs prevailed generally over that part of the State which lies east 

 of the mountains. In some localities westward heavy rainstorms 

 occurred at intervals during May and June, but here practicalh' no 

 rain fell during these two months. This was especially true from 

 P)illings east along the line of the Northern Paciiic Railroad, and from 

 Havre east along the Great Northern Railroad. In this tract of coun- 

 try the range became so exceedingly dry that prairie tires occurred in 

 several localities during the month of May. These tires assumed dan- 

 gerous proportions, and a number of sheep were burned to death in 

 them. In the vicinity of Wibaux the danger from prairie tires was 

 increased by the fact that the grass had attained an unusual height 

 during th(» preceding year and was still standing on the range in a dry 

 condition. The grass of the present season did not oUer sufficient 

 green material to prevent the fire from spreading in the old grass. 

 During the month of April the rainfall had been unusuall}' large, and 

 the ranges in consequence were in excellent condition at the beginning 

 of May. It might naturally be supposed that with the grass in spe- 

 cialh- good condition sheep would be less likely to eat poisonous plants 

 than during seasons when the grass was more backward. Such, how- 

 ever, was not the case. The early spring losses from poisonous plants 

 were fully as serious during the season as they ordinarily are. Dur- 

 ing flune and the first half of July an exceptionally large number of 

 sheep were killed by eating poisonous plants, but this might have been 

 reasonably expected from the fact that the ranges, as already indicated, 

 had become largely dried up at this time. West of the Rocky Moiin- 

 tains, where an abundanci' of rain fell during the spring and early 

 summer months, which was particularly the case in Flathead. Bitter- 

 root, and Deerlodge valleys, some stock poisoning occurred in early 

 spring, but very little during midsummer. 



Such dry seasons as that of 1900 seem not to be so disastrous to the 

 stock industry as might be expectiMl. The short, dry grass produced 



