9 



controlling the foil of rain than in expanrling water into s?team, by heat, that it 

 may be made a motive power. A loving Creator has given to man an intellect 

 that can control tiie laws of nature for his own good; and no higher or more 

 useful achievement could it perform than to condense, at will, the vast watery 

 vapors that float above us in their transit from the equator to the poles. But 

 this is yet beyond the reach of human learning; and great as is the science of 

 the Smithsonian sai-ans, their knowledge is totally inadequate to this. But 

 such as it is, in full sympathy with the wants of the farmers, they will unfold 

 it by degrees to them in these monthly reports. At present our efforts must be 

 directed to mitigate the effects of drought by irrigation, deep ploughing, freqixent 

 cultivation, retaining the carbonaceous matter of the soil, and underdraining. 

 On all these subjects much information can be found in the annual reports of 

 this Department. 



The "weather" in the July table presents quite a contrast with that in the 

 June table. Then there was not a single "very wet" county, but now there 

 are ninety-four. There were but sixteen "wet" then; now there are thirty- 

 eight. Kansas had 5.91 inches of rain in June; in July it has but 2.31 inches. 

 Minnesota still suffers from drought. It had but 0.27 inches in June, and in 

 July but 0.63. 



The meteorology of these two months possesses a marked difference between 

 the States east of the Alleghany mountains and those west. Illinois, Indiana, 

 Iowa, and Ohio exhibit many "very dry" counties during July, whilst Con- 

 necticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsyl- 

 vania, and Vermont show many "very wet," and "favorable." The fall of 

 rain, as indicated by its measurement, sustains the returni* of our farmer cor- 

 respondents. But the general average of 5.02 inches exhibits a remarkable 

 month, for July is generally a month of drought. It makes good our remark 

 iu the report for June, that we " had assurance there would be uo July drought." 



