1160 
Journal of Agricultural Research 
Vol. XXX, No. 12 
This indicates a degree of freedom from 
prolonged periods of cloudy, showery 
weather and fogs, quite exceptional for 
spring and summer at Vineland. 
This statement of the crop condi¬ 
tions for the two years preceding the 
beginning of the chemical studies may 
serve as a background for that work 
and assist in the interpretation of the 
data obtained in subsequent years. 
Climatic Record for 1919 
The outstanding features of the year 
1919 are the mildness of the winter, the 
consistently above normal mean tem¬ 
peratures from January to June and 
from October to the end of the year 
(fig. 4), the large excess of precipitation 
(12.61 inches) over the average, and 
the occurrence of almost one-fourth of 
of the normal, and the low sunshine for 
the whole period was unfavorable to the 
crop. Ripening of the earlier varieties 
was considerably retarded by cool, 
cloudy weather, with light showers 
during the first half of September, after 
which warm dry weather, which ex¬ 
tended with increasingly abnormal high 
temperature through October re¬ 
sulted in rather rapid ripening. No¬ 
vember was dry and warm, the first 
killing frost occurring on the 9th, and 
December was unusually cold, with 
more than the usual amount of snow. 
To sum up the climatic conditions 
for 1919 as they are related to the pro¬ 
duction of the crop, the deficiency in 
soil moisture carried over from 1918 
was continued until July, when the 
crop was well advanced, and was not 
wholly made up until the middle of 
/* / 
/ y .' */ Monthly Temperatures 
AT 
Vinelnnd, Mew Jersey 
for 
19 19 
Jan. Teb. Mar- Apr, May June. July Aug. Sept. Ocrr Mov. Dec. 
Fig. 4. —Maximum, minimum, and mean temperatures in 1919 at Vineland, N. J., with 50-year average 
mean for comparison 
the total rainfall in July and August 
(fig. 5). 
Rainfall was slightly below normal 
for the winter and spring months but 
was excessive in May, which had three 
weeks of almost constantly cloudy, 
warm weather with rain on 13 days, 
3.47 inches being recorded on the 10th. 
June was normal in temperature and 
sunshine but deficient in rainfall. July 
and August were marked by almost 
continuous cloudiness. From July 6 
to 24 there were 14 days when it rained. 
August had 11 days rain. A heavy 
gale of wind, accompanied by 5.61 
inches of rain, on August 14 did con¬ 
siderable damage to vines and fruit. 
The total rainfall for the two months, 
13.97 inches, was 4.59 inches in excess 
August. The period June to September 
was one of practically normal mean 
temperatures and normal percentages 
of possible sunshine, while the early 
spring months and the ripening period 
had a slight excess of both temperature 
and sunshine. As the vines bore a 
slightly smaller crop than usual, it 
would be a justifiable presumption that 
the fruit would show no marked de¬ 
partures from normal in its composi¬ 
tion. The data for clear, partly 
cloudy, and cloudy days presented in 
Figure 5 show that the whole period of 
development and maturity of the crop 
was characterized by a predominance 
of clear, sunshiny days, varying in 
number from 18 to 22 per month. In 
number of clear days during these 
