NEw YoRK AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 431 
Tha daily range in temperature—The average daily range in 
temperature is an important constituent of blooming-time weather. 
When the daily range is highest the danger to blossoms is greatest. 
The most jeopardizing weather to the fruit crop, from the stand- 
point of temperature, consists of warm, sunny days, followed by still, 
cloudless, cold nights. The danger is all the greater in such stresses 
of weather because the heat of the day forces out the blossoms 
prematurely. Orchards on eastern or southern’ slopes or in sunny 
hollows are most endangered by such weather; for, in the case of 
the slopes, the early morning sun contributes to the frost injury, 
and in the case of the hollows cold air flows in from the surround- 
ing higher ground and in the quiet of the hollow the temperature 
may sink several degrees below that of the higher ground; in both 
cases blossoms open prematurely. 
Table IV shows the mean temperature for the month of May 
in New York and the maximum, minimum and greatest daily range 
of temperature for this month. All data are averages from the 
ten-year period under consideration and for the 96 weather sta- 
tions of the State. 
