PROCEEDINGS OF THE OHIO ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 268^ 



which is properly placed under the head of agricultural meteor- 

 ology. I refer to the special corn and wheat region service, the 

 cotton and rice service, its special fruit service, and its weekly 

 and monthly crop bulletins. 



But when the critical period for the various plants has 

 been discovered and the information is at hand that will appear 

 in the Agricultural Atlas, then these special activities of the 

 Weather Bureau will take on a special significance and can be 

 made of far greater value to the agricultural interests of the 

 country than they now are. 



The value of the knowledge gained from a study of agri- 

 cultural meteorology cannot be over estimated. Take the irri- 

 gated districts of the West, for example, how often one sees 

 crops or even whole fields spoiled by too much water. Grain 

 watered at the wrong time giving a great stand of straw but 

 little grain. Potatoes given too much moisture just as the tubers 

 were setting and the result being many more than the plant 

 could mature. Water used on one plant that did not need it, 

 at a time when the supply was limited, while another crop should 

 have had a maximum supply at this period of its growth. 



Even in the humid region of the central and eastern districts 

 a correct knowledge of the importance of water at the right time 

 will make men see the value of being able to supply this moisture 

 through irrigation. 



I wonder whether we have even begun to understand the 

 importance of plenty of water in our crop production scheme. 

 Surely there must be something in the old legend of the pot of 

 gold at the end of the rainbow. Only if we but know it it is 

 not necessary to follow the rainbow to its end to find the gold. 

 The gold has fallen from the clouds before the rainbow came 

 into view. 



If every summer shower should bring down to the ground 

 dimes and dollars and golden eagles, how eagerly we should 

 watch for each thunderhead as it loomed above the western 

 horizon. If a new land should be discovered where one could 

 go out after each storm and find money lying around on the 

 ground or pick it from the trees and shrubs, there would be a 



