8 



Week ending July 20. — New England. Boston : Light 

 showers first part of week beneficial to grain ; dry, with 

 average sunshine, daring rest of week ; rain needed ; some 

 barley has matured, a week early; pastures drying. 



Week ending July 27. — New England. Boston: The 

 high temperature and abundant rains have advanced crops 

 very fast ; some damage to fruit trees and standing crops by 

 high wind on the 16th ; pastures excellent in south portion 

 and improving in north ; cloudy weather has delayed hay 

 and grain harvest in south portion. 



Massachusetts Weather for July, 1896. 



Along the coast the mean temperature for the month was 

 at or slightly below the normal, and the temperature range 

 was small. At Woods Holl, Mass., the highest temperature 

 was 80° and the lowest 58°, making a monthly range of only 

 22°, which is very small for even that place of slight changes. 

 In the interior and western sections the thermometers reached 

 several deo^rees above 90 on the 12th to 14th. At Fitchburs: 

 and Springfield the mean temperature was 0.6° warmer than 

 is usual for the month. 



The rainfall was slightly below the normal along the coast, 

 but was in excess in the interior. At Springfield one and 

 one-fourth inches came in excess of the usual July fall. At 

 Fitchburg the excess amounted to but three-fourths inch, 

 while at Boston and along the southern coast the deficiency 

 was about one-half inch. There w^as a good deal of cloudy 

 and foggy weather and the number of rainy days was more 

 than usual. The consequence has been a poor month to har- 

 vest hay and grain, but splendid for the growth of corn, 

 tobacco, and in fact all field crops. Grass grew very fast on 

 low lands during all the first part of the month ; the amount 

 on some fields being doubled during that time. 



During the passage of a severe thunder-storm on the 5th, 

 1.30 inches of rain fell in 17 minutes, and 1.69 inches in 60 

 minutes, at Fall River, Mass. The high wind on the 16th 

 did some damage to corn, grain and fruit in western counties. 

 The weather has been favorable for fruit generally, and the 

 outlook for most varieties is very flattering. 



