FARM MANAGEMENT IN THE OZARKS. 



11 



also equally favorable, the average precipitation in inches recorded 

 at these five stations for the five vital spring and summer months 

 being as follows: April, 7.41; May, 3.68; June, 4.74; July, 4.41; and 

 August, 5.75. 



The monthly precipitation records at Springfield for 40 years, 

 1877-1916, inclusive (records for the year 1881 not available), show 

 that 17 of the 40 were years which may be called drought years; 

 that is, years in which a rainfall of less than 2 inches fell in one or 

 more of the five months, April to August, inclusive, and that 1 1 

 times in the 40 years two consecutive months, of the five-month 

 period, April to August, passed with a total rainfall of less than 5 

 inches. (See fig. 8.) 



Fig. 8.— An artificial pond in the Ozark uplands. Getting water for live stock is frequently a serious 

 problem in sections of the Ozarks, and artificial ponds or reservoirs are often resorted to for furnishing 

 a supply. In periods of severe drought these frequently go dry. It then becomes necessary to drive 

 the stock long distances to a spring creek or to sink a deep well. 



Dividing this period into four 10-year periods, the frequency of 

 occurrence of these years of drought in each period follows: 



Frequency of occurrence of years of drought. 



Item. 



1877-1886 



1887-1896 



1897-1906 



1907-1916 



1877-1916 



Number of years in which less than 2 inches of rain 

 fell in one or more of the months April to August, 



2 



2 



5 

 2 



3 



3 



7 

 •1 



17 



Number of years in which less than 5 inches of rain 

 fell in 2 consecutive months during the months 



11 







It is seen that during the four periods of 10 years each for which 

 weather records are available the years in which there was a marked 

 deficiency of rainfall were much fewer in each of the three preceding 

 10-year periods than in the last 10-year period. We may therefore 

 infer that in any period of 10 years at least two and probably more 

 years may be expected in which drought conditions will obtain more 

 or less, and crop production suffer accordingly. 



