10 



south-eastern parts. The actual precipitation in interior and 

 western Massachusetts was from 5 to 8 inches, some of the 

 amounts officially reported being as follows : New Salem, 

 8.01 inches; Leeds, 6.39; Winchendon, 6.00; Fitchburg, 

 4.94. At Concord the fall was but 1.07; at Boston little 

 more than one-fourth inch fell, and in the Cape Cod district 

 the rain was also light. The gale which attended the storm 

 was of great violence. The wind attained a velocity of fifty 

 miles at Boston on the morning of the 14th, and for one 

 minute it blew at the rate of sixty miles per hour. The 

 resulting damage by the storm was large, although it is 

 probable that most of the direct money loss can be charged 

 to bridges, highways, etc., rather than to crops. The latter 

 were damaged rather less than might have been expected, 

 and nearly all growing crops, particularly corn and potatoes, 

 righted themselves. Hay was the most seriously hurt of all 

 crops, especially on meadows and intervales. The weather 

 for several days immediately follow^ing the storm w^as all that 

 could be desired and growing crops rapidly recovered. 



The week ending with the 26th was, however, unfavor- 

 able. It was damp and unsettled, with hardly a single fine, 

 clear day. Meadows and lowlands continued too wet for 

 cultivation and much mown hay was caught by rains and 

 spoiled. Heavy thunderstorms passed across the State on 

 the 23d and 24th, damaging crops to some extent. At 

 Fitchburo; more than three inches of rain fell in a thunder- 

 storm, and a general rain storm on the 2 2d gave large 

 amounts of water. 



The month was brought to a close with heavy rains on the 

 29th, w^hen a coast storm was central off Nantucket. 



It will be necessary to scan the records for many years 

 back to find a parallel July, especially with reference to 

 precipitation. 



In the circular to correspondents returnable July 23, the 

 following questions were asked : — 



1. What insects are proving most troublesome in your 

 locality ? 



2. What is the condition of Indian corn, and what pro- 

 portion of the crop will be put into the silo? 



