EFFECT OF WINTER KAINFALL 



months almost wholly in developing its system of roots. 

 Should the weather be wet and the soil in a saturated condition 

 the root-system will be restricted, both because of the deficient 

 aeration and because the roots need not extend far in order to 

 obtain the water necessary for its growth. From the indifferent 

 development of roots which thus results, the plant seems 

 never able to recover, so that a wet winter is almost invariably 

 followed by a poor wheat crop at harvest. This fact is illus- 

 trated by Table XXIII., in which a comparison is made 

 between the average wheat crop on three of the plots (6, 7, 

 and 8) following the ten wettest and the ten driest winters 

 respectively during the period 1852-1902, as measured by the 

 rainfall in the four months N ovember to February inclusive. 



TABLE XXIII. Broadbalk Wheat. Comparison of 10 Wettest and 

 10 Driest Winters (1852-1902). 



The ten dry winters with ah average rainfall of 579 inches 

 were followed by an average wheat crop of 34'9 bushels per 

 acre on the plots selected for comparison. The ten wet winters 

 with a corresponding rainfall of 13 inches were followed by an 

 average wheat crop on the same plots of only 26*2 bushels. 



Making the comparison in another 'way and dividing the 

 thirty-four seasons 1870-1904 into two groups according to 

 whether the percolation during the winter months, November 



