TWENTY-NINTH FRUIT-GROWERS' CONVENTION. 



13 



as it was fifty j^ears ago. A record which has been kept for fifty years at a point in east 

 central Iowa shows that there is a good foundation for this belief. The record by decades 

 is as follows : 



Average Inches. 



First decade to 1849 51.73 



Second decade to 1859 48.82 



Third decade to 1869 39.73 



Fourth decade to 1879 : 34.68 



Fifth decade to 1889 32.30 



Sixth decade to 1899 30.66 



The marked change in the volume of the water in all the rivers and lakes of the Mis- 

 sissippi Valley territory would seem to harmonize with the above record. The problem 

 in the near future would seem to be, not how to get rid of the rainfall, but how best to 

 conserve it. 



The condition of the prairie lands in the Middle West in 1849, with 

 the condition of the forests in the Northwest, would seemingly account 

 for this lessened rainfall, as well as the unprecedented floods of the past 

 summer. A lumber merchant of San Francisco, who visited sawmills 

 in Minnesota the past summer, related to me the destruction going on 

 in the lumber districts. He stated that he saw logs being cut which 

 were so small that they would square but one piece 4 by 4. Fifty years 

 ago a vast area of the Middle West was covered with prairie grass, the 

 top soil being a mass of roots, which would probably absorb and hold 

 at one time ten or more inches of rain. This rainfall would percolate 

 the soil below and leave the surface root-mass to absorb the succeeding 

 rains; and this moisture Avould be given out by means of springs and 

 evaporation, which would cause rains throughout the season. It Avould 

 be the same in the forests; the roots would absorb a great many inches 

 of rain. Farming operations have changed all this. If something is 

 not done, the floods will increase and be more and more disastrous. 



Statistics of the rainfall in southern California, from records kept 

 during a period of thirty years, and which do not include the winter of 

 1902-03, show that there was a period of six years, not including the 

 past winter, in which the rainfall was much less than the normal. 

 Dividing the thirty years into periods of six years, we find the follow- 

 ing: 



First period of six years averages over 20 inches. 

 Second period of six years averages about 21 inches. 

 Third period of six years averages about 20 inches. 

 Fourth period of six years averages over 19 inches. 

 Fifth period of six years an average of less than 14 inches. 



Showing that we were short in the last period of six years from 40 to 42 

 inches. There is more holding power, or rather more power to absorb 

 rain, in the way this section is farmed and planted than ever there was 

 when it was devoted entirely to pasturage; and hence the hope, and real 

 prospect, that our rainfall will not diminish. 



I refer this address to the consideration of the members of the 

 Convention. 



