Durango semi-weekly herald., 1906-01-15
SAN JUAN COUNTY WEATHER
OF 1905. BLOOMFIELD eTATiOI

tn1s SiutlOn 1Or l5rJ WAS DC uestees' |
the warmest month being August,
with a mean of 75.2 degrees. the cold
est December Yith mean tempera-
ture of 81 degrees. The maximum
temperature of the year was 81 de-
grees. which occurred on six different
dates. the first on June 8 and the last |
on August %. The minimum temper |
ature OF the year occurred on Decem- |
Der 30, when zero was registered, al !
though the mercury stood one-third OF |
4 degree above that. point. so the
zero mark was not actually reached |
Turing the whole year.
The greatest daily range or change
in ga hours was IS degrees on octo-
Der IL. this being the greatest range
recorded in New Mexico for October.
| The least range Of the year was de-
grees on January IS
Precipitation for the year was 1l.46
| inches. April being the wettest month
with 3.07 inches and October the dry
est without drop TO its credit. The
greatest fail in "a hours was so of
an inch on Nov. 81. The number of
| laws with .0l or more inches of pre-
cipitation was 81. The total snowfall
was 1920 inches. We had SIS days
with snow on the ground but the
ground was only covered five days:
the balance Of the time the snow lay
in spots.
Clear days 1872, partly cloudy l4I.
cloudy ". According to the weather
bureau rules a day with the sky more
than Z obscured is counted a cloudy
day.
The last killing frost of the spring
occurred on May II: the first one of
fall on Sept, l9. As these dates prac-
tically mark the growing season for
corn. beans, melons and other tender
plants, We may say the growing sea-
son for tender plants lasted l31 days.
slight frost occurred on May 20,
)ui the conditions were such that it
; lid not seem to injure the tenderest
If plants. The dates of the last
spring and first killing frost of fall
are doubtless the most important from
farm standpoint, as they mark the
limits OF the most important growing
season. The extremes have greater
influence on farm affairs than have
! the mean temperatures. For instance,
, "A zero temperature might prove fatai
TO plant which could thrive where
, the minimum was but 10 degrees. al
though the yearly mean might be as
low or lower than at the former place
Soil. moisture and vigor of plant has
\ much to do with determining how
much cold plant can stand. but still
g there is a fatal minimum for all
= classes of plants. The fatal minimum
y for cucumbers, etc, is doubtless about
:, so degrees. The killing frosts of the
: year both occurred at temperatures OF
a "a degrees, but the frost of May %
b | with a Temperature of 33 degrees. be
s. cause of other conditions, did not in
# jure plants.
J. Tne lack OF extremes in the climate
e of San Juan county may be judged by
J. the fact that snow lay on the GROUND
e S5 days of the year but only covered
2 the ground but five The yearly rain
/ fall of amost twelve inches would
e doubtless he sufficient to mature @
n crop by the Campbell system of dry
O farming, but is doubtless much above
e the annual average for this place. II
h might he of interest to know that oul
d rainfall of l1.46 inches for 1905 was
r equivalent to 9,S79 barrels. or 1,296.t
tons for each acre of land-enousn in
weight to furnish loads for 43 of oui
standard gauge box cars. The rain
=, that fell on IA single section was g..
322. $50 barrels, or s29,s24 tons.
When we come to consider that oui
rainfall is only one-third that of ths
worlds average and that the sun fur
nishes the power to pump that grea,
quantity OF water into the air, we gel
some idea of the big job "old Sol has
on his hands. Still he labors on 36s
days out of year for the Just and
:. the unjust. the unionist and the non
" unionist, and has not shown any signs
of adopting the closed shop system.
Prof. King, in mis- work on irriga
: ton. gives the following figures based
. on experiments, as the amount of wat
= er absorbed by different plants to pro
duce one pound of dry product: Dent
corn 800 pounds flint corn 233; bar
:, ley, 392; oats, 552; field peas, ATT;
:. potatoes, 422, and rye. 1853. Assuming
that the amount of dry matter in the
tops of crop of potatoes will equa
:. that of the tubers. the water falling
= on one acre of our ground in 1905
would have been sufficient to produce
over 5000 bushels of "spuds." II
some system of culture could have
been used that would have conserved
and made available for the use of the
plant but one-twentietn of the mois
ture that fell, 1t would have been
= enough to have produced crop twice
as large as New Mexico's yearly av
:, erage.
How much moisture that could be
conserved is another question. and We
know that there is vast difference
between theory and actual results
still the subject is one worth con
4 si6pra hIp thpupht