(h-Q-di as are Llie financial bcndits ilerivcd from an ijiU'lligenL iisc of 

 weather predictions, they appear insignificant when compared with 

 the great saving of human life resulting from the system of storm 

 warnings at lake and ocean ports. 



October 8-14, 1883, a hurricane crossed Cuba, causing the loss of 

 thousands of houses and cattle; 40 persons were killed. Its passage 

 along the Atlantic coast was marked by violent gales and great dam- 

 age to shipping, but urgent and timely storm warnings detained most 

 vessels in port until the hurricane passed. Fifteen steamers and over 

 200 sailing vessels, representing a property value of from eight to ten 

 million dollars, were held in New York harbor alone by timely notice 

 of the violent storm. On the Labrador coast over 70 vessels were lost 

 and about 100 men perished. 



II. 



CLIMATE ANI) CROPS. 



The production of materials used for food and clothing employs 

 I lie energies of the greater part of the earth's population. In no 

 field of human activity is the influence of climate of such vital impor- 

 tance as in this. Not only do certain great groups of products require 

 certain well-known conditions of climate, but in the zones adapted to 

 the cultivation of these groups, what may appear to be only a slight 

 departure from the average conditions may cause a disastrous failure 

 of the most important crops, often accompanied by famine and pesti- 

 lence in addition to the enormous financial losses. Such calamities 

 are often viewed as dispensations of providence and thus beyond our 

 control. Yet much may be done to reduce the ill effects of these visi- 

 tations. If the last killing frost of spring be ten days later, or the 

 first killing frost of the aiitumn be ten days earlier than the average, 

 it may cause the loss of many millions of dollars. 



A desert is bare not because it is infertile, but because of a lack of 

 water. Some of the most productive lands in the world are portions 

 of deserts to which water has been supplied by irrigation systems. 



Drouth is the great cause of crop failure. In 1885 Indiana pro- 

 duced 45,000,000 more bushels of corn than in 1887, although more 

 acres were planted in 1887. What was the cause of the enormous 

 difference? During the months of June, July and August, 1885, 

 10.85 inches of rain fell; during the same months of 1887 7.30 inches 

 fell, an average difference of less than one and a quarter inch per 

 month for these three months, yet it made a difference in the value 

 of a single crop of over $12,000,000. 

 *13 



