400 



BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



Society, show pretty accurately the average amount of rain- 

 fall for the summer months : — 



* Omitted in averaging. 



From these records it will be seen that the average rain- 

 fall during thirteen seasons for June is only 2.68 inches, for 

 July (omitting two years of excessive rainfall) it is 3.65 

 inches, and for August practically 4 inches. The interest- 

 ing point to be considered is that the month of June, during 

 which most of the small fruits and many vegetables make a 

 large part of their growth, is generally deficient in rainfall. 



There are very few seasons during some part of which a 

 drought of more or less severity does not occur. TVith 

 crops like strawberries, raspberries, early potatoes and 

 onions, a lack of rain for two or three weeks may lessen the 

 crop one-half or more. A striking illustration of the injury 

 caused by short droughts was seen in the season of 1895 on 

 one of the farms in Connecticut where irrigation was being 

 put into operation for the first time. A field of strawber- 

 ries that had been set out in the spring of 1894 was on 

 ground too high to be reached by water conducted from the 

 storage pond. A field of the same size on another part of 

 the farm was sprinkled from pipes laid on the surface. The 



