The gold leaf., 1893-11-30


Service to the Agricultural and Iorticul-
turaI Industries of North Carolina
BY H. b. Battle, Director y e. Agricultural
Experiment Station.
THE State Weather Service is organized as
the Meteorological Division OF the Experiment
Station.
One of the principal objects of the es-
tabIishmcnt in 1856 of Il Weather Ser
vice in North Carolina was for the ma
tcrial and immediate benefit to the agrl-
cultural and horticultural industries OF
the State 1t is true that other results
were sought and desired, such as q more
perfect knowledge Of our climate as
whole, by sections, and by separate To-
calities. For in this way, besides Civ
ing prominence to our uncxccllCli cl1-
Inate-thc cream of America the
knowledge thus gained could be utilized
in possible adaptation of field and gar
den crops from other portions Of our
own. or of far-Off countries.
With the exception of one field crop
tObaccO-therc are none of the staples
Liable to be materially hurt by sudden
and decided change of the weather.
With fruit and vegetables the case Is
quite different, especially during the
early spring when the liability Of Il bit
ing frost is great, when the tender buds,
leaves and flowers of fruit trees and
small fruits can be most easily affected,
and early vegetables Of the trucker are
likewise at its mercy: then 1t Is that a
forrknOwicdgc of the coming of cold
waves and frostS Is of the grcaScst adj
vantage. 1t is here that the State
Weather Service lends its aid to the
trucker and fruit grower, in addition to
the tobacco grower, by informing ISM
Of the likelihood Of sudden changes in
atmospheric conditions. and thus gives
fOrcwarning of their advent.
Twenty years ago it would have
seemed chimcrical to have supposed that
distant points could be told that Il fr3et
was expected there thirty-siX hours al
tcrward, yet now such is the efficiency
of the L. ;. Weather Bureau attached
to the Department of Agriculture at
Washington, and the facility and Iccu
racy with which the state of the wcat.."r
is gathered by telegraph from most dis
tant as we'll as nearer points, and such
is the knowledge of the science, and the
ability of those engaged i'll digestinG this
information. that different sections of
our common country are brought in the
focus of this investigation, and prcdic-
tions are made with almost startling
accuracy.
The weather Bureau gathers these
data and sends the predictions Stiita %
to various portions of the cOuntry-to
different states having Weather ser
vices, and these in turn transmit them
to separate stations throughout the
State. The system of collecting metc
geological data originated with the L.
:. War Department as a military neces-
SltY. BY this means meteorological
records from most diStnat points on the
frontier posts of the extreme west, at
that time connected only by telegraph
line with civilization, were secured and
invaluable knowledge gained of the rise
and progress of cold waves having their
origin in those bleak regions. As I
write now in the latter part of October
with an outside temperature of 81 de-
grees f. in Raleigh. we have knowledge
of II degrees +. in North Dakota. With
this knowledge Il frost prediction was
made for this locality two days ahead,
which prediction was subsequently am
ply fulfilled. The Signal Service of the
War Department became in this way
of such great value as an institution in
peace, especially to the agricultural OPP
erations of the country. that it WIS de-
cidcd to greatly facilitate its labors, and
to transfer it to the L. :. Department
of Agriculture, and the Weather Bureau
was then formed. The State Weather
Services cooperate with the central Bu-
reau, and are indebted to it for facilities
and the means for conducting most of
their operations.
The \. c. State Weather Service or
ganized as the Meteorological Division
of the n. C. Agricultural Experiment
Station embraces in its work:
l. The Collection of Meteorological
Data. SiXty-two voluntary observers
throughout the State cooperate in re-
cOrdlng local observations and the result
of these data is printed in a monthly
hull
make up the annual summaries for the
State. The annual means for different
stations and districts are combined COW
crlng many years. to form nOrmalS At
some of the stations. records are pre-
served running back sixty or seventy
years with few breaks The normal
pressure for the State is found TO be
30.0s inches. The normal temperature
Is 50 degrees, almost exactly that of the
Northern Hemisphere. The normal
rainfall is 53.29 degrees.
,. The issue of & Weekly Weather
Crop Bulletin. Reports are sent in from
April to October from 21O observers
representing ~ of the 96 counties show
ing the effects of the weather upon the
growing crops. These reports are en-
bodied in the weekly crop bulletin
>. Distribution of Daily Weather Fore
casts, Cold-wave and Frost Warnings
1t is under this section that the agricul-
tural and horticultural interests of the
State are mainly benefited. As was
previously Y said, the knowledge of fore
coming frOStS and cold waves is of great
value to the trucker and fruit grower
and tobacco grower. 1t enables him to
prepare for its reception, to cut his to-
bacco and protect his small fruits
and trucking crops. as we'll as his fruit
trees. The Weather Service has in this
way often saved crops in many locai-
ties. and seeks to extend further its use
fulness. Daily forecasts and special
warnings are sent daily except Sunday
by telegraph to So points. Thirty addi-
tional points receive frost warnings
only between March Is and MAY Is. and
in the Fall to November l. In order
that stations may be supplied with tele-
graphic messages, it is necessary that
the point be reached by the Western
Union telegraph, and that signals be
shown to disseminate these forecasts.
In addition to the telegraphic service,
many nearby points are reached
through the mails. and 2S1 stations are
thus supplied After reaching a station,
the information is disseminated in three
ways: first, by posting the telegram:
next. by hoisting of flags: and last. by
whistle signals. The hosting of flags
is the most common for everyday prac-
tice. Four flags by feet are used:
the white for fair weather. the blue for
rain, the black triangular for tempera-
ture. and white with black centre square
for cold wave. AT additional flag is
sometimes used. combination white
and blue for local rains The cut below
shows the appearance OF the flags.