Dutchess County 



261 



The average dates for the last killing frost iu spring and the 

 first in fall are April 28 and October 10, respectively, giving a 

 growing season of 165 days. 



In the following table the records cover the period of 1893 to 

 1918: 



Records of Temperature and Precipitation at Wappingers Falls 





Temperature 





Precipitation 







Aver- 

 age 



Highest 



maximum 



Lowest 

 minimum 



Average 

 inches 



Amount in 2-1 

 hours 



Snow, 





Degree 



Year 



Degrees 



Year 



Greatest 



record. 



inches 



Year 



depth 

 in inches 



January 



February 



March 



April 



25.6 

 23.8 

 35.6 

 48.3 

 60.0 

 67.9 

 73.0 

 70.4 

 63.4 

 52 4 

 40.2 

 28.6 



49.1 



63 

 60 

 80 

 94 

 98 

 97 

 101 

 106 

 99 

 88 

 11 

 66 



106 



1906 



1916* 



1910 



1915 



1914 



1899* 



1918* 



1918* 



1914 



1914 



1896 



1908 



1918* 



—34 



—27 



—12 



14 



28 



40 



44 



42 



2S 



22 



2 



—23 



—34 



1904 



1914 



1916 



1898 



1907 



1918* 



1918 



1896* 



1914 



1904* 



1914 



1917 



1904 



3.79 

 3.98 

 3.91 

 3.71 

 4.42 

 4.15 

 4.76 

 4.75 

 3.69 

 4.06 

 3.03 

 3.86 



48.11 



1.80 



2.05 

 2.20 

 2.62 

 3.74 

 8.16 

 4.32 

 3.78 

 4.90 

 6.12 

 5.74 

 2.46 



8.1G 



1905 



1896 

 1893 

 1901 

 1903 

 1903 

 1908 

 1901 

 1899 

 1903 

 1898 

 1915 



1903 



14.2 



16.6 



11.0 



3.8 



May 



June 



Julv 



T. 



August 



September. . . . 



October 



November. . . . 

 December 



Year 



T. 



3.8 



13.9 



63.3 



* Also earlier years. 



TOPOGRAPHY AND N'ATURAL CHARACTERISTICS 

 From the Hudson River the banks rise rather abruptly, some 

 places being rocky precipices, to a terrace marked by rocky or 

 stony knolls and ridges ranging from 25 to 300 feet high. 

 This terrace forms a belt along the entire course of the river. 

 It is broadest in the town of Red Hook, where it is four or 

 five, miles wide, tapering to a point in the extreme southern 

 part of the county. To the east of this terrace the hills or ridges 

 rise 300 feet or more, increasing to a- mean elevation of 500 feet, 

 with occasiorial "higher hills. 



From the towns of La Grange, Pleasant Valley, and Hyde 

 Park a broad belt of rough, broken country, with occasional well- 

 rounded hills, extends north through the central part of the 

 county to the county line and beyond. 



The mountainous part of the county lies along the southern 

 and eastern boundaries. The Fishkill Mountains, which are the 



