12 
BULLETIN 878, TJ. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
tlie total for the year throughout this section. As the amount of 
this seasonal rainfall has more influence on crop yields than has the 
amount of the annual precipitation, the wide variations in the former 
make wheat growing more or less hazardous. This hazard is in- 
creased by the possibility of hot winds, hail, rust, and scab, all of 
which occur occasionally in this area. The partial or complete 
failure of the spring-wheat crop in recent years in parts of this sec- 
tion, due to drought or plant diseases, has increased the demand for 
varieties whose earliness or resistance enables them to escape these 
ill effects. 
Table I. — Altitude, normal or average 'precipitation, and soil type at 11 stations in the 
northern half of the Great Plains area. 
Altitude. 
Precipitation. 
Location of station. 
Normal 
or 
average. 
Length 
of 
record. 
Type of soil. 
Willi^ton, X. Dak 
Feet. 
! . 875 
Inche-?. 
15.07 
Years. 
2.453 
1,750 
2,500 
4,228 
1,890 
2,900 
3.S00 
e;o27 
3.000 
15.64 
17.41 
13.67 
16.45 
16.75 
14.31 
14.72 
13.60 
1 v M 
Mandan, X. Dak 
Havre. Mont 
Moccasin, Mont 
Hidimore, S. Dak 
Newell. S. Dak 
Sheridan, Wyo 
a 44 Light sandy black loam. 
3S Dark medium clay loam. 
b 23 Dark clav loam, gravellv subsoil. 
26 Glacial clay loam. 
12 | Clav (gumbo) with shale subsoil. 
23 Dark clay loam, 
c 4S Medium sandy loam with some gravel. 
"^orth Platte, Xehr 
Akron, Colo. 
4,560 17.97 
16 j Sandy loam. 
a Observations made at Bismarck. X. Dak., during part of the period. 
b Observations made at IT tica, Mont., during part of the period. 
c Observations made at Cheyenne, Wyo. 
Table II gives the annual and average precipitation at each of the 
11 stations in the seven years from 1913 to 1919, 5 the period for 
which yields and other data are given in later tables. 
Table II. — Precipitation at 11 stations in the northern half of the Great Plains area in 
the 7-year period from 1913 to 1919, inclusive. 
Precipitation (inches). <* 
Location of station. 
1913 
1914 1915 
1916 
1917 
191S 1919 : Average. 
Wiiliston,N. Dak.... 
Dickinson, X. Dak. . . 
15.27 
11. 93 
IS. 47 14.79 
22. 74 19. 77 
IS. 22 
IS. 21 
15.07 
&63 
9.23 
10.31 
11.86 
16.87 
14.80 
13. 32 
10.83 
13.84 
12.36 
13.37 
S.55 
16.38 
19.46 
. 18.31 
17.26 
13. 42 14. 66 
8.35 14.66 
13.48 
19.24 
7.56 
Moccasin. Mont 
Highmore, S. Dak.... 
Newell. S. Dak 
Sheridan. Wvo 
14.96 
12. 46 
12.53 
15. 67 20. 6S 
17. 52 23. 35 
11.70 21.02 
19.87 
22.02 
13. 40 
9.90 | 16.33 
21.32 : IS. 70 
14.25 ; 14.93 
S.56 ; 
Archer. Wvo 15.88 
North Platte . Nebr ... 15. 57 
Akron, Colo ; 16.55 
11.77 IS. 32 
16. 59 34. So 
15. 53 2-5. 00 
12. 38 
15.26 
13.74 
14.26 
18.03 
17.50 
18.87 
15.94 
22.28 
12.33 ; 14. S3 
26. 56 20. 40 
15.52 18.02 
a Precipitation fieures obtained from the Biophysical Laboratory of the Bureau of Plant Industry, 
where available, otherwise from the records of the" United States Weather Bureau. 
& The normal or average precipitation at each station in the longest period for which records are available 
is shown in Table I. 
