8 



Week ending September 23. — Boston : Very hot and 

 dry ; fine weather for curing crops, and harvesting is pro- 

 gressing fast, but fruit is dropping badly, and newly seeded 

 fields are being damaged ; rain greatly needed ; most water 

 supplies extremely low. 



Massachusetts Weather for September, 1895. 

 September in Massachusetts has been warmer than usual, 

 with less precipitation and clouds and with generally pleas- 

 ant 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 to 23. The maximum temperature was generally be- 

 tween 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. No great 

 amount of damage was done. The precipitation was compar- 

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

 supplies were unusually low. No crops have suffered seri- 

 ously for want of water, although newly seeded land has not 

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

 have ripened prematurely. At Boston the rainfall was 1.64 

 inches less than the normal amount, and at Somerset the de- 

 ficiency was 1.55 inches. The weather for harvesting grain, 

 corn, tobacco, etc., has been excellent, and there have been 

 few seasons when crops have been gathered in better condi- 

 tion. There has been hardly moisture enough in the air for 

 the best curing of tobacco, however, and cranberries, toma- 

 toes and apples were badly scalded by the hot sun on the 

 21st to 23d. Apples ripened up fast, but the high wind of 

 the last week following the hot weather caused them to drop 

 badly in many orchards. During a thunder-storm at East 

 Foxborough on the 9th a barn was struck by lightning and 

 burned, with five horses, two cows and ten tons of hay. 



