No. 4.] REPORT OF SECRETARY. ix 



in any respect, though it was slightly cooler and drier than 

 March generally gives in some places. The storms were not 

 so severe as are many times experienced, and the snow gave 

 a good covering on the fields and pastures, except along the 

 immediate coast, until near the end of the month. 



April departed very little from the normal in temperature, 

 although it was slightly warmer in central counties ; but an 

 •excess of rain came, except in the extreme south-east. The 

 storms of the 8th-9th and 13th-15th filled the ground and 

 reservoirs ; and the intervales on rivers rising in the north 

 were badly waohed by the floods that came from the melting 

 snow and extremely heavy rainfalls which fell there. In the 

 Berkshire hills the highways were badly blocked by snow- 

 drifts till after the 15th of the month. 



May was much warmer than is usual ; the temperature 

 range for the month was great, and the daily changes large 

 and rapid. A sharp frost occurred in eastern sections on the 

 morning of the 2d, the temperature falling several degrees 

 below freezing. General and heavy frosts occurred on the 

 14th and 17th and local frosts on the 19th and 22d. Snow 

 was seen on the tops of the Berkshire hills on the loth. 

 The precipitation was considerably below the normal, except 

 in the south-eastern counties, and was generally insufficient 

 for the proper nourishment of crops. The rainfall was fairly 

 well distributed throughout the month, and amounted to 

 from one and one-half to two and one-half inches in all 

 north-eastern, central and western counties, and from three 

 and one-half to nearly five inches on the Cape and the Island 

 of Nantucket. In western towns the springs and streams 

 were reported to be the lowest for the season for many years. 

 There was more than the usual amount of sunshine, and a 

 marked absence of heavy rain and wind storms. Dr. Jabez 

 Fisher of Fitchburg reported apple bloom on the 12th, — 

 three days later than in 1894, but eleven days earlier than 

 the average for thirty-nine years. 



In northern counties occasional showers fell during the 

 month of June, and the top of the ground was moist enough 

 for most purposes ; but in all central and southern districts 

 not more than a trace of rain came from the <ith to the 25th, 



