SUMMARY OF THE FOUR YEARS ' WORK. 



67 



and ."> per cent loss than in 1906. The Crosby corn, however, has 

 only slightly less su^ar in 1908 than in 1907, and it is of interest -far 

 note that this variety had practically matured before the two heavy 

 rainfalls ment ioned while the Stowell Evergreen was two weeks 

 younger. The 1906 data are more favorable in this case, the rains 

 not bt'inu r excessive as at the other stations, but on the contrary only 

 two rains are recorded during the latter part of the growing period, 

 amounting to only 0.2 inch, the more important rainfalls occurring 

 during the iirst two weeks after tasseling. 



The yea i- 1907 is again marked by a rather small rainfall, but it 

 is not so well distributed as at the other stations, there being only 

 t\v. rains during the first two weeks, followed by rather frequent 

 though moderate rains up to the time of harvest. While these data 

 are hardly t be called contradictory, the effect of the distribution 



S 

 /V 



CO&/V. 



<0.4 



20SCQ 



(S) 



25 k 



TASSfL/MG 



2 MO. WEK. 



4-TH. WEEK. 



pemoo oroevEL OPMEMT ore**. 



ED/BLE 

 STAGE. 



CROSBY. 



1 1. Daily distribution of rainfall by periods for 1906 and 1908 at the Maine station. 



of rainfall is n,t M -trikinu r in this case except in so far as the 1908 

 crop i< concerned, the 1906 crop remaining low in sugar despite the 

 more favorable rainfall conditions. 



The Maine station (fig. 11) shows a low rainfall for both 1906 and 

 penally the latter year, when only four rains with an aggre- 

 gate of 0.08 inch fell after the period of tasseling, evidently not a suffi- 

 cient .-supply e\en in a colder climate where less moisture is necessary. 

 There i> also a better distribution of rain for 1906 and the analyses 

 show more sugar for this year, exceeding 1908 by nearly 3 per cent. 



While tlu problem is too complicated for its solution to rest with 

 anv one factor, the data for the several stations indicate that within 

 onable limits, and when none of the other conditions are extremely 

 untoward, it is on the even distribution of a very moderate rainfall 

 more than any other one factor that the sugar content depends. 

 Excessive rainfalls at any time, and particularly during the latter 

 part of the growing season, tend to decrease the sugar content. 



