The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1901-09-20
Do NOT WORRY NOW.
Good Crops Always Fellow Extremely
Dry Years.

come, and who seem to enjoy looking
on the dark side of things predict that
"next wear will be dryer than this"
Now have been in Kansas thirty
years and have been close observer
of the climatic conditions of the state
besides | have kept a record of much
of that time.
Born near the great lakes, for ten
years sailor on them, l have per-
haps been closer observer of the
weather, and the law that seems to
govern our atmospheric condition
than | would under different circum-
stances.
The following are some of the re-
suits of these observations:
First, that weather disturbances in
the air occur at regular I or nearly so }
intervals of from five to seven days
apart. OF course in great eXcesses of
drought or wet weather these periods
are not so marked. Any one taking
this rule as a guide can go to work
and predict the probable weather for
any length of time, and hit it part of
the time, and that is all any OF them
do, is to guess right once in awhile.
Any one ought to be able to hit it
some time in a territory three thous-
and miles long by that wide.
A good many people get all their
weather by and through the moon,
they say it is IA wet moon or it is dry
moon: some say when it turns down
sits wet one' while others equally
as knowing, say sits dry moon, J"
then other, when it lays on it's back its
wet and others dry. We have often
advised the climates" to get together
and agree on which was wet or dry.
They have never seemed to observe
that the changes of the moon are seven
days apart, so they seem to think that
the changes in the atmosphere that
occur with great regularity once in
five to seven days is caused by the
moon, while the truth is the moon has
just as much effect on our weather as
great cheese would up there 240, 900
miles from the earth and no more.
Why these changes in our atmos-
phere occur at nearly reguler periods
from five to seven days | have never
heard explained, unless it is one of
those wise provisions of nature to
prevent the air from becoming stag.
mated, the same as the ocean is kept
in motions by winds, tides and cur
rents.
Now about the periodical dry years,
and we might almost say wet ones,
though a wet year is not considered
as great II calamity as dry one, and
vet 1885 seemed TO be as much of a
detriment to farming as a dry one.
Why God in the economy of nature
should have so arranged is more than
one can tell or explain that | know of,
of course | am speaking of countries
that depend upon rain for agricul'
tural purposes.
These periodical dry years are not
confined to any one part of our land,
or to the world for that matter. Eng
land expects to have famine in some
part of India once in about three
years. The eastern states have the
sames cycles of dry years as we do
west. | lived at the foot of lake
Ontario in York state and such was
the difference of precipitation ecch
seven that we could see the difference
in the height of the water in the lake.
here would be seven years. when the
lake would rise then with less rain the
next seven il would fall.
| The same rule seems to hold here
have thought some time, when the
period from one dry year to the next
it would alternate being quite q
change in the rainfall, and alterna'
ting, one rather excessive and next six
years rather less.
The excessive dry years in Kansas
have for the last thirty years beer
proceeded by rather dry year, like
last year 1900 still we raise fail
crop of corn and most other Things.
The first dry year in Kansas wa'
1860, 1867 was the next, 1874 the next
1878 was pretty dry, all who were herr
will remember 1874, the country wal
new, the people nearly all poor, w
had the advantage, then we could &C
onto the prairie and cut all the gras
we wanted. Many lived for the mex
year from the sale of the hay they pu
up that year. 1t did not rain to tn
writer's recollection from about th
first of June until the second of Janu
airy, but we could let our cattle rang
at will, and that helped good man.