676 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XII. No. 305. 



" In 62 years out of 70 there was one month in the 

 growing season from April to August in which such a 

 marked deficiency occurred as to cause a serious short- 

 age of crop, and for the same period there were 39 

 years in which the deficiency extended throughout 

 two months, while in 21 years it extended through- 

 out three months, or in 30 per cent, of the years in- 

 cluded in this record there were three months during 

 the growing period in which the average rainfall was 

 deficient one inch or more. It is thus observed that 

 a wide series of crops would he likely to suffer in 

 more than one-half of the years for which the record 

 is available, while a still larger number would suiJer 

 in nearly one-third of the years, for it must be re- 

 membered that even a slight deficiency in one month 

 may result in a serious reduction in yield and conse- 

 quent loss, if it occurs at a time when the crop is 

 making its largest development." 



Some idea of the extent of the losses 

 occasioned by such periods of drought may 

 be gained from Professor Voorhees' estimate 

 that the loss to the hay crop of New Jersey 

 alone from the drought in May and early 

 June, 1899, was $1,500,000, while small 

 fruits, vegetables, and other crops were also 

 seriously affected. 



"In 1897 and 1898, years of abundant rainfall in 

 April and May, the yield of hay [at the Station] 

 averaged 2.65 tons per acre. In 1899 it was a fraction 

 over one ton, owing to the deficiency of rainfall in 

 April and May — at the low price of $10 per ton, a loss 

 for the 25 acres of over $400. The yield of crimson 

 clover forage for 1897 and 1898 was 8.5 tons per acre ; 

 in 1899 the yield was but five tons, or in a good year 

 the yield was 70 per cent, greater. The deficiency in 

 the rainfall at the critical period was alone respon- 

 sible for this difference in yield. . . . Oat and pea for- 

 age in 1897 and the early seeding of 1898 averaged 

 six tons per acre ; in 1899 the yield was but 3. 3 tons. ' ' 



In experiments at the Station with small 

 fruits the increase in yield due to irrigation 

 was as follows : Blackberries, 1,038 quarts 

 per acre, worth $93.42 ; raspberries, 329 

 quarts per acre, worth $32.90; currants, 

 311 quarts per acre, worth $31.10. The 

 results of similar experiments in other parts 

 of the State with a variety of crops con- 

 firmed those obtained at the Station. These 

 results show beyond question that supple- 



mental irrigation under such rainfall con- 

 ditions as those noted above is a profitable 

 undertaking, especially on fruits and gar- 

 den crops. Since the rainfall conditions 

 described may be considered tj^pical of the 

 whole eastern half of the United States, 

 the conclusions reached regarding the profit- 

 ableness of irrigation are believed to be 

 generally applicable to the agriculture of 

 that region. 



W. H. Beal. 



BE3IEA8UEEMENT OF THE PERUVIAN ABO* 

 In 1889 the question of the remeasure- 

 ment of the Peruvian Arc was brought be- 

 fore the International Geodetic Association 

 by the Delegate of the United States (Pro- 

 fessor George Davidson, Assistant Coast 

 and Geodetic Survey) who suggested that 

 France should have a prior right to execute 

 this work in consequence of- the first meas- 

 ure having been made by her savants, 

 members of the French Academy in 1736- 

 43. Circumstances prevented any active 

 work until 1898, when the discussion of 

 the subject was renewed in the same Asso- 

 ciation as the result of a motion offered by 

 the Delegate of the United States (Mr. E. 

 D. Preston, Assistant Coast and Geodetic 

 Survey). 



The Association voted in favor of the 

 proposition to remeasure the Arc and the 

 French Delegates undertook to bring the 

 matter to the attention of their government 

 and to have an examination made, so that 

 they could report to the next meeting of 

 the Association at Paris during the present 

 year. 



Captains Maurain and Lacombe of the 

 Geographic Service of the French Army 

 left Paris in May, 1899, and remained in 



* The information is derived from the Comptes Een- 

 dus, hebdomadaires des Seances de VAeademie des Sei- 

 cnee, No. 26, June 25, 1900 (page 1740), and the 

 Bulletin de la Societe de Geographie, No. 7, July 15, 

 1900 (page 1). 



