THE DRY FARMING CONGRESS. loo 



PRECIPITATION GREAT PLAINS AREA 



TEM 



1875 



77 



'7 



8 



81 



83 



85 



87 



89 



'91 ' 



93 



• 



95 





J7 





19 





HI 



1 



)3 





)5 





17 



■09 'II 





28 

 21; 





28 

 26 

 24 

 22 















24 



11 





























































S3H0NI 































20 S 

 X 

 « k 

























































































































































































16 













































14 

 12 

 10 



























































14 



12 



































































































































































































































































10 



4 STITIOHS 1 



6 STATIORS 





10 STl 



TiCRS 











20 



S 



Til 



KM 



S 











|3 



0$ 



TftT 







Fig. 1. 



has been 50 per cent, above the normal during the past three years. The 

 inaccuracy of this statement, so far as the Great Plains are concerned, 

 is evident from a study of the accompanying chart. The average pre- 

 cipitation for 1906 was 22.9 inches, for 1907, 17.4 inches and for 1908, 21.7 

 inches. The average for the three years is 20.7 inches which, instead of 

 being 50 per cent, above is almost identical with the normal for a period 

 of thirty-four years. The records, therefore, show that what has been ac- 

 complished in the Great Plains as a whole during the past three years, 

 has been done under normal conditions, so far as rainfall is concerned. 



Precipitation Not Changing. 



"The chart here presented shows that we have no foundation for 

 assuming that any marked change has taken place in the amount of pre- 

 cipitation in the Great Plains. This is well illustrated by the fact just 

 cited that the average precipitation for the past three years is the same 

 as the average for the past thirty-four years. Certain years can be se- 

 lected having a rainfall well above the normal like 1905. On the other 

 hand, years can be found with a rainfall decidedly below the normal 

 like 1907. During the past ten years, for example, the average rainfall 

 has been only one-tenth of an inch above the normal, based upon ob- 

 servations for thirty-four years. 



"While the above averages represent the conditions in the Great 

 Plains as a whole, they do not show the great local variations in the 

 rainfall occurring in this region. Through some strange deviation of the 

 storms from their normal paths, localities in comparatively dry regions 

 are sometimes visited two or more years in succession with bountiful 

 rains. The failure to recognize that such conditions are not normal, and 

 are not what may regularly be expected, has led to much loss and pri- 

 vation in some of these areas. The only safe criterion of the rain- 



