/ INTRODUCTION. 9 
(6) An annual rainfall of about 20 to 35 inches, the average being 
about 30 inches, so distributed through the year that it suffices for 
range purposes, but periodically is not quite enough for the best 
results in farming. 
(7) A temperature ranging from 90° to 102° down to —6° F. 
(8) A rich alluvial soil in most of the valleys, while on the uplands 
there are loams generally containing a large admixture of calcareous 
marls, varying in color from a light gray through all the intermediate 
colors—chocolate, mulatto, red, brown—to black; all productive and 
susceptible of high cultivation, and especially rich in all the essentials 
for the production of cereals and grasses. 
(9) A great variety of forage plants and rich grasses. 
Stonewall, Nolan, Mitchell, McCulloch, Coke, San Saba, and Taylor 
counties, by their mountains, level plains, and rolling prairies, present 
a greater diversity of surface than the others. In Taylor County 
there are elevations of considerable altitude, one mountain range 
extending through it from southeast to northwest, the highest point 
being 519 feet above the surrounding plains. In Throckmorton, 
Stephens, Shackelford, Callahan, Runnels, Coleman, and Tom Green 
counties there are some broken areas. In the other ten counties 
named there are comparatively few hills and practically no mountains, 
the prevailing characteristic topography being the rolling or undulat- 
ing prairies. In all of these counties where there are neither moun- 
tains nor hills the general surface is gently undulating, except in the 
immediate vicinity of the streams, where it is rough and sometimes 
~ cut up by canyons.. 
To the end that a proper understanding may be had of the weather 
conditions that prevailed here during the three years’ work mentioned, 
the following monthly condensed data are given from the figures 
specially prepared for this report. They indicate the highest, lowest, 
and mean temperature, and the total and mean precipitation, in inches, 
during each month of the three years above mentioned: 
Temperature. Total 
Maxi- | Mini- | yrean, | “tation. 
1898. OF OR OH Inches. 
SANT) Tse ness heated as a hy Pu CU tear MeV a 92 34 65 115 743 
AMI yeire rae ote let het roeters ais aera cteooelala rinia Toisas migrasiolels 101 43 73 2. 60 
AND OYE Gee ess cies egal tay aie aa ne Auer EC aE 98 61 78 4.55 
TVR ey ome ee ge Mee ye LL ap te MOAI ME Se eu Ned! 102 62 81 1. 46 
PAI SUIS tis eeya ale te era eee ee eiaie mic eee ielelominegaie 98 61 81 1.94 
SLE] ON ED 001] OXI Ca es a rere NU ese RA SR ere 100 46 75 3. 44 
OCOD eres nas ee serie See ore Semen 94 30 66 | Trace. 
INO@VeEIMD CLs teers eae ae ciceb shania 81 24 51 98 
December ....:..... Uiavare lavdlereiaicioiaiere wialateleleicaiaicie 78 aL 39 2.14 
