CEREALS ON THE BELLE FOURCHE EXPERIMENT FARM. 
difficulty of eradicating it in cultivated fields. This plant commonly 
is called gumbo weed in this locality because it is found usually on the 
more impervious soils of the Pierre clay type. 
CLIMATIC CONDITIONS. 
PRECIPITATION. 
The precipitation at Newell is very similar to that of most of the 
northern and western portion of the Great Plains, and especially 
western North Dakota and South Dakota. Within the Black Hills 
region the climate is more mild and moist than on the Plains, and 
/*/?£C/P/T/9T/OA/ /A/ /A/CHES^ 
\S /O /& 20 
2& 
Fig. 2. — Diagram showing the annual and seasonal precipitation at the Belle Fourche 
Experiment Farm for the 12-year period from 1908 to 1919, inclusive. The solid 
portion of each bar shows the seasonal precipitation, while the total .length of the 
bar shows the annual precipitation. 
the average annual precipitation ranges from 18 to 22 inches. The 
Black Hills modify the climate of the immediately surrounding 
country to a great extent, mainly by increasing the precipitation. 
This effect extends several miles beyond the outlying foothills. The 
Belle Fourche Experiment Farm is situated about 25 miles from the 
foothills and, so far as known, is not influenced to any extent by 
proximity to the Black Hills. 
The total annual precipitation at Newell varied from 6.64 inches 
in 1911 to 21.02 inches in 1915. The average annual precipitation 
during the 12 years from 1908 to 1919, inclusive, was 14.31 inches. 
This is believed to be about the normal for the region around Newell. 
An average of 8.57 inches, or nearly 60 per cent of the total, occurred 
during the five months from March to July, inclusive. This is ap- 
