60 REPORT 4, UNITED STATES ENTOMOLOGICAL COMMISSION. 
sippi and Southwest Alabama, whence it divides, running with 56 inches 
northeastward to Florence, Alabama, and northwestward up the Eed 
Eiver to the lower part of Arkansas. 
The annual precipitation over the rest of the cotton States is between 
44 and 56 inches, with the following exceptions: 
(1.) In Texas the rainfall is much less, varying between 28 and 44 
inches in the cotton-producing portion of the State, and falling as low 
as 20 inches or less towards the west. The Indian Territory presents 
nearly the same characters. 
(2.) Through Western North Carolina and East Tennessee, and extend- 
ing down through Georgia . and Southeastern Alabama into Florida, 
there is an area in which the precipitation is between 40 and 44 inches. 
A narrow strip along the coasts of North and South Carolina exhibits 
similar conditions. 
(3.) In the extreme south of Florida (outside of the cotton region) 
there is a rainfall of 56 to 60 inches. 
Of great importance to the growth of the cotton plant is the distri- 
bution of the rainfall over the different seasons ; and we find the maxi 
mum of precipitation during the months of June, July, and August, oi 
18 inches and above, (1) in the delta region of the Mississippi, and ex- 
tending in a narrow band up the Mobile Eiver, into the fork of the Toin- 
bigbee and Alabama Eivers; and in a second narrow band northwest- 
ward almost to Little Eock, Ark. (2) Eastern South Carolina and 
Georgia, and the whole of the peninsula of Florida, show similar condi- 
tions, the summer rainfall in Southwestern Florida reaching 28 inches. 
The rest of the cotton-producing area has a summer precipitation 
varying between 10 and 18 inches, excepting parts of Texas and the 
Indian Territory, where it is less. 
As regards the winter rainfall, we find, as in summer, the densest 
area about the Mississippi delta, 12 to 18 inches, whence it spreads north- 
ward in three bands — one through Central Alabama and Georgia and 
along the eastern slope of the Appalachian chain ; the second, passing 
through Northwest Alabama and Northeast Mississippi, crosses Central 
Tennessee and Kentucky in the direction of Cincinnati ; the third passes 
up the Mississippi Eiver, mainly to the west of that stream, to the lati- 
tude of Cairo. 
A second area, of above 12 inches, is seen in Texas, passing through 
Indianola and Austin, and a third in Middle Florida, east of Appa- 
lachee Bay. 
The rest of the cotton-producing area has a winter rainfall varying 
between 8 and 12 inches, excepting the western part of Arkansas, most 
of the Indian Territory, a good part of Texas, and a portion of the eastern 
part of the Florida peninsula. 
It is impossible to trace any very close relation between the rainfall 
and the percentage of area planted in cotton, but it may be noted that 
