No. 4.] REPORT OF SECRETARY. xi 



On the 13th much damage was done by hail in Hampshire 

 and Worcester counties. On the 9th 4.13 inches of rain 

 fell at Fitchburg in three and one-fourth hours. In one and 

 three-fourths hours 3.37 inches of the amount was recorded. 

 Dr. Jabez Fisher, who reported the fall, stated that it was 

 unprecedented in his thirty-one years of observation. 



Generally the weather during August was very favorable 

 for vegetation and for farm work. Unusually low minimum 

 temperatures were recorded, and the maximum was not so 

 high as is usually experienced, xlt the Weather Bureau 

 Office in Boston the temperature was below the normal on 

 the lst-3d, 12th, 13th, 20th-22d and on the 30th, and was 

 above on all the other days. The warmest spells were from 

 the 4th to 11th and from the 23d to 28th. The lowest tem- 

 perature was on the 22d, when light frosts were general in 

 low lands all over the State. There was plenty of sunshine, 

 few severe thunder-storms or heavy damaging rains and a 

 rainfall slightly below the usual amount at most places. 1 At 

 Boston the deficiency amounted to about one and one-fourth 

 inches, but at Springfield to only three-fourths inch. At the 

 former station only three thunder-storms were noted. 



September was warmer than usual, with less precipitation 

 and clouds and with generally pleasant weather favorable 

 for ripening crops and harvesting. At Boston the mean 

 temperature for the month was about 3.6° a day warmer 

 than the normal. At Somerset the daily excess was about 

 the same, and at Fitchburg it averaged 2° a day. The 

 warmest spell of weather for the month, and at many places 

 the warmest for the season, was on September 21-23. The 

 maximum temperature was generally between 95° and 100°. 

 The coldest spell was on the 14th to 16th at most places, 

 when the mercury fell below 40° at many places and light 

 frosts occurred in valleys. The precipitation was compara- 

 tively light in all sections, and at the end of the month water 

 supplies were unusually low. No crops suffered seriously 

 for want of water, although newly seeded land had not done 

 so well as one would wish for and some late garden crops 

 ripened prematurely. At Boston the rainfall was 1.64 

 inches less than the normal amount, and at Somerset the 



