The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1875-08-21

years the rainfall was somewhere between
iorty and fifty inches in the other fifteen, il
was either below forty or above fifty. The
extremes were in 1926, when il was twenty.
nine inches and six-tenths f29.6) as the min
imum for fifty years and in 1867, the maxi
mum year. when it was sixty.one inches aud
otenths t6l.2.) More than one.fourth Of
the aforementioned amount fell in the single
month OF August, OF that year. And our rain
fall Is distributed with considerable approach
TO eyenness through al the months Of the
year. The average for the mouth Ct Febru-
AIRY, for fifty years, is the smallest Of the year,
being n very small fraction over three inches
t3.Oli,) while the month Of August for the
the same period gives us the highest average
being slightly over four inches and six
tenths l1.G.) All the other months of the
year show averages between these two.
But this moderateness and approach to
eyenness in the average distribution of the
rainfall in our vicinity is something quite diff
terent from what prevails in other quarters Of
the earth. As sarule, the greatest evaporation
and the heaviest precipitation Of moisture
occurs near the equator, over a region which
shifts about with the sun as it moves 10 the
north or south. Equally, as a rule, the rain
fall decreases in going northward or south.
ward from the equator towards the poles.
But there are exceptions to both rules, caused
by the prevalence Of certain winds at certain
seasons, and by the topography Of the earth.
Thus 1t is on record that in some regions near
the tropics the aggregate rainfall Of year has
amounted to three hundred inches-twenty-
five feet--while in others, equally near the
tropics, there is either no rainfall at all, or il
is phenomenon Of very rare occurrence.
On the eastern Himalayas GOO inches--ffty
feet-haye fallen in year. There is one al.
most rainless belt that nearly encirees the
globe. This embraces Northern Africa Tex
cept Tunis and Algeria, parts of Syria and
Northern Arabia, and thence northeastward
with some interruptions) through Thibet and
Upper Tartary into Mongolia. Il crosses the
the American continent to the southwark of
the United States, but is a narrower belt than
in Africa and Asia. On our continent it be.
gins on the Pacific coast, near the Gulf Of
California, passes thence around the point Of
the Sierra Madre and across Mexico to the
Guli, between latitude "a and 20 degrees
north. There is a similar almost rainless belt
crossing South America and Southern Africa.
The earth under these rainless belts is mostly
desert, and in some extensive areas, as Saba.
ra, absolutely so. As already mentioned, the
heaviest precipitation of rain is, as rule,
near the equator, lessening in an irregular
for the whole earth being so inches, il is In
some equatorial regions 300 inches, and in
others nothing In our part Of the north tenn
perate zone It is about 45 inches, while the
average for the whole north temperate zone
IS but 81 inches. In Europe the average is
AZ inches for the mountainous districts and
20 inches for the lowlands, differing somewhat
by nearness or distance from the sea- AtSt
Petersburg il is but II inches. and at Ulea.
borg but IL inches.
Our local rainfall, as we have seen, is dis
| tributed throughout all Of the months Of the
year, but in some other parts Of our country,
and in other countries, they have their 'rainy
seasons and their dry seasons Thus, on
the coast OF California and for considerable
distance inland it is a rare thing for rain to
fall between May and October, while from
November until April the showers are very
frequent and copious. This makes California
dry and parched in summer, except in the
mountains or where the land is arti6eially
irrigated, and beautifully green, fresh and
pleasant in the winter months. And some
times they have fierce downfalls of rain in the
winter. There was a series in the Sacramento
Valley in December and January 1923, in
which i5 inches Of rain fell in thirty days
equal to the whole Of our average rainfall for
year. Twelve inches of that rain fell in
forty-eight hours, and the valleys Of the Sac.
ramento and San Joaquin were swept ont just
as those of the Scioto and the Wabash have
just been Philadelphia Ledger
An lScn OF RAIN. Rain is caught and
measured in such way as to give what would
have been the actual depth Of water ON the
surface If it had not soaked in or run of. An
inch OF rain is Of more consequence than
would be generally supposed. On an acre
ofground itamounts to 4, ,272, GAO cubic inches.
This gives 22,622.5 gallons of water, which
would hllA cistern capable of holding 800
hogsheads. Reducing It to weight, it would
amount to over llS tons. A trough l2I feet
long, 10 feet high, and feet vide, inside
measurement, would just contain on inch of
rain from an acre Of ground.