RANGE AND CATTLE MANAGEMENT DURING DROUGHT, 



17 



but the precipitation occurred in a few torrential rains during the 

 latter part of July and early August, so that the moisture largely 

 ran off and did not penetrate the soil to any great extent. Although 

 vegetative growth started as a result of this precipitation, no more 

 rains followed later in August or September, and a condition of 

 drought actually existed until October over a large part of the re- 

 serve, as far as growing conditions were concerned. 



Table 4. — Monthly and annual precipitation for headquarters ranch station, 

 Jornada Range Reserve, with departure from annual and seasonal {July, 

 August, and Sei)teniber) average at State College, N. Mex.^ 



[Bold-face figures indicate amount below average. T= trace.] 



Year. 



January. 



February. 



March. 



April. 



May. 



June. 



July. 



August. 



1914 



Inches. 



0.49 

 .25 



.47 

 .78 

 .00 



Inches. 



1.12 

 .47 

 T 

 .09 

 .00 



Inches. 



0.95 

 .79 

 T 

 T 



1.50 



Inches. 



C) 



0.09 



.05 



.02 



T 



.83 



Inches. 

 (') 

 (') 

 1.45 

 .39 

 .05 

 .28 



Inches. 

 2.98 

 T 

 .00 

 .05 

 .09 

 .11 



Inches. 

 2.99 

 1.40 

 .90 

 .57 

 1.53 

 3.13 



Inches. 

 0.49 



1915 



1.91 



1916 



.96 



1917 



1.52 



1918 



2.88 



1919 



2.52 







Year. 



Septem- 

 ber. 



October. 



Novem- 

 ber. 



Decem- 

 ber. 



Total 

 annual 

 precipi- 

 tation. 



Depar- 

 ture from 

 average 

 at State 

 College. 



Total 

 seasonal 

 precipi- 

 tation. 



Depar- 

 ture from 

 seasonal 

 average 

 at State. 

 College. 



1914 



Inches. 



0.61 



1.55 



.72 



.25 



.00 



2.55 



Inches. 



0.44 

 .00 



2.63 

 .11 

 .96 

 .64 



Inches. 



0.40 

 .00 

 .47 

 .16 



1.71 

 .72 



Inches. 

 3.19 



.19 

 .00 



.67 

 .50 



Inches. 



Inches. 



Inches. 

 4.09 

 4.86 

 2.58 

 2.34 

 4.41 

 8.20 



Inches. 

 -0.66 



1915 







+ .11 



1916 



8.88 

 3.54 

 8.76 

 12.78 



4-0.30 

 -5.05 



-1- .22 

 -t-4.20 



-2.17 



1917 



-2.41 



1918 . ... 



— .34 



1919 



-f3.45 







1 Data at Jornada Range Reserve station are compared with average at State College, since sufficient 

 years' data are not available at Jornada Range Reserve for obtaining a reliable average over a period of 

 years. The State College station is only 17 miles south of the reserve station, and about 300 feet lower in 

 elevation, so that conditions are considered sufficiently similar to use the State College figures for com- 

 parison. 



2 Data lacking. 



Average annual precipitation at State College, N. Mex. (59 years records)= 8.58 inches; average seasonal 

 precipitation at State College, N. Mex. (59 years, records)=4.75 inches. 



The conditions as shown by the rainfall data at the one station on 

 the reserve are fairly representative for the reserve as a whole. 

 Some parts, however, received more rainfall during the growing 

 season and others received less. 



Unieven rainfall. — Within the territory represented by any of the 

 stations for which precipitation records are given there may be great 

 variation in the amount of precipitation on different portions of a 

 single large range unit, or on different range units in any year or 

 during the period of a drought. This variation results in a minor 

 factor of uncertainty in anticipating what forage production may 

 be expected on any given area, and necessitates a flexible general 

 74514°— 22— Bull. 1031 2 



