RESPONSE OF FRUIT PLANTS TO CONDITIONS OF SOIL 



77 



Table 36. — Showing Certain Residual Effects of Soil Moisture 



(After Whitten^^*) 



Rainfall in Inches During the Growing Season for Each of the 5 Years 



Month 



1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 



2.02 I 1.04 



4.33 6.09 



3.04 5.78 



1.20 I 4.93 



1.29 I 2.30 



7.57 I 1.48 



October 0.98 i 0.25 



April . . . 

 May . . . 

 June. . . 

 July... 

 August . 

 September . 



3.08 

 5.61 

 4.33 

 3.79 

 1.85 

 3.61 

 2.45 



4.83 

 3.19 

 6.59 

 4.28 

 1.89 

 0.51 

 0.69 



2.76 

 8.39 

 9.02 

 4.60 

 0.47 

 5.43 

 2.61 



The following quotation illustrates the point : 



"Although the records do not cover a sufficientlj^ long period to establish a 

 definite relation, it would appear that there is some connection between the size 

 of the crop and the amount of rainfall of the preceding year or years, but not 

 that of the spring preceding the ripening of the crop. Thus, the comparatively 

 heavy rainfall (3.6 inches above the normal) in 1897 doubtless had something 

 to do with the large crop of 1898, although the total rainfall of the first 5 months 

 of the latter year was less than half of the normal. Again in 1901, when the 

 crop was less than half the average of 9 years, the rainfall for the first 5 months 

 was not greatly below the normal, but that of the pre\aous year was less than half 

 the normal, and during the 3 years previous the annual rainfall was only a little 

 more than half the normal. It is noteworthy that in 1900, after 2 years of 

 rainfall much below the normal, the crop was about an average one. This was 

 probably due to the heavy rainfall of November, 1899, which was more than three 

 times the normal for that month, while the precipitation during the first 5 months 

 of the year in which the crop was made was less than 40 per cent, of the normal." 



Still further evidence is fm-nished by a report on the relation of 

 certain climatological factors to fruit production in California: 



