Concord (Farm)
Ther [Thermometer] Tuesday, Oct. 13, 1914 [October 13, 1914] Wea [Weather]
Fair
  Sunny & cloudy by turns. Densely
hazy at times with smoke of forest
fires, drifting low on fields & delightfully
aromatic. It came with a north wind
in forenoon & from eastward in P.M.
No fire visible from our place.
  Spent most of the day with the
men who hauled loam from field
front of house & regraded the slope
where the driveway to road has
been washing out for many a year
& of late has been no better than
a stony gutter. We sodded it partly
& intend doing so completely later.
  Had a delightful stroll with Tim
& my 20 gauge gun as companions
in late P.M. Went first to Ritchie place
whence I saw 2 cock Pheasants fly
from Mr. Howe's grass field across his run
& next to Birch Field when 3
Partridges rose wild & were not shot
at. Heard one drumming in run
earlier in afternoon. Few little birds
save Yellow rumps [Yellow-rumped Warbler] & White throats [White-throated Sparrow] &
these not numerous.
Concord (Farm)
Ther [Thermometer] Wednesday, Oct. 12, 1914 [October 12, 1914] Wea [Weather]
Severe drought continues. Fine
Shooting season suspended.
  Clear & cool with light easterly winds.
Heavy white frost last night. Birches
and maples mostly leafless. Evidences of
extreme severity of drought multiply daily.
All shallow rooted vegetation looks as if it
had perished utterly. We find absolutely no
moisture anywhere in the ground down
to a depth of 4 or 5 feet, even in meadow
land. The roads a ankle deep in dust.
The roadside foliage plastered with it.
The air is hazy with the smoke of forest
fires. Because of them Gov. Walch [Governor David I. Walsh] has
suspended the shooting season - by special
proclamation in this mornings papers
which states that these fires increased
500 per-cent on Oct. 12, the opening day.
  I spent the whole of today in
Cedar Park where the men were grading
the new roads with earth taken from
drainage ditch at base of slope front of house.
Not many birds. About 15 Robins & 2 juv. [juvenile]
Cedar birds & 2 Purple Finches (one [male] ad. [adult])
eating cedar berries. Several Yellow-rumps [Yellow-rumped Warbler],
one Black poll [Blackpoll Warbler], about 6 Peabody birds
one Ruby crowned Kinglet.