8 BULLETIN 726, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
and dry and are in poor condition in the spring unless irrigated 
thoroughly during the late f all or early winter. 
The Greeley district lies close to the mountain range and the mean 
annual temperature there is 47° as compared with 51° at Fort 
Morgan. The range between extremes is wide, 100° being frequently 
reached in the summer season. The nights, however, are cool. 
The summer temperatures for the Rocky Ford district are somewhat 
higher than those recorded for the other districts included in this 
survey. Throughout the entire territory cloudy days are the 
exception. 
Irrigation canal No. 2 in the Greeley district. 
High winds are a characteristic feature of the region, and they 
usually blow with greatest persistence in the spring, when the fields 
are without vegetation. Thus it is a common occurrence for loose 
soil to be picked up and carried along with each strong current of air. 
If the young beet plants are still small and tender when the winds 
are high, considerable damage may be done to the crop by the moving 
soil. It is sometimes necessary to reseed large areas, owing to the 
fact that the plants from the first seeding have been destroyed by a 
wind storm. Only in some of the older districts has this difficulty 
been reduced by the growing of windbreaks. 
