No. 4.] REPORT OF SECRETARY. xi 



On the extreme coa-st only a trace to one inch of snow 

 came, but in most sections the amount was from two to 

 twelve inches. The ground was well covered, and no dam- 

 age is expected from the cold weather. A great deal of fruit 

 and garden truck was caught out in the storm of the 5th-6th, 

 much of it remaining until the warm spell after the 14th. 



December was slightly colder than usual in vicinity of 

 Fitchburg and on southern coast near New Bedford, but gen- 

 erally the month may be pronounced mild, with the frost 

 mostly out of the ground in places during the middle of the 

 month. The last few days of the month were very cold in 

 all sections. 



In the north-western part of the State the precipitation was 

 very nearly normal or slightly below, but in south-eastern 

 districts there was a marked excess. The storm of the 

 26th-27th was responsible for this excess in precipitation, 

 as it gave unusually heavy rain over most of the south-east- 

 ern part of the State. Over a narrow area running from 

 New Bedford to Plymouth the fall of snow and rain in 

 this storm was over three inches, while it was over two 

 inches throughout Barnstable, Nantucket, Dukes, Plymouth, 

 Bristol, Norfolk, Suffolk and eastern Worcester, Middlesex 

 and Essex counties. The wind accompanying the storm 

 was of almost hurricane force. 



The snowfall amounted to from two to twenty-one inches. 

 Little more than a trace of this was on the ground on the 

 15th, but at the end of the month the snow covering 

 amounted to four to eight inches, except along the immediate 

 coast. The ground was well protected by snow throughout 

 all the coldest weather. 



The following summary of the weather of 1894 is furnished 

 by the Hatch Experiment Station, Amherst, Mass. : — 



