The new enterprise. (Madison, Fla.) 1901-1908, 1907-07-25
THE WEATHER BUREAU.
Its Immense Value to Farmers and
Manifestation It WOrkS...""....."
sy FREDERICK j. HASKIN

err Bureau 100000 Alne:L.-l farm
ers are placed in telephone communi-
cation every day with hundreds OF
trained observers in the ends or the
earth, whose combined knowledge
and experience enable them to tell
these farmers how to care for their
crops. Through the same agency the
mariners of the United States are
warned Of the dangers Of approaching
storms. Through the same agency
the jewellers in great river valleys
are cautioned when there is food
descending upon them.
The Associated Press is looked
upon as being the greatest inIorma-
ton collecting agency in the world.
But does the Associated Press hear
each day from Seydisfjord, Iceland?
The Weather Bureau does Also from
St. Petersburg in Russia, from
IrkutslI in Siberia, from the Azores
Islands, from the Bermudas, from the
British Isles, from nearly every coun-
try in Europe, from the West Indies,
from dozens of places in Mexico, from
scores Ill ldUdud anu lIOlu HiOIt IMAM
200 cities in the United States.
The information which comes to
the central Office of the Weather
Bureau in Washington from all these
places enables the forecaster to VEN
ture a prediction about what the
weather will be for the next thirty
six or forty-eight hours. Sometimes
the forecaster does not hit IT, and
there is a pretty general disposition
among readers of newspapers in cities
to sneer at odd Prob" The fruit
grower of Florida, the cranberry
grower of New Jersey, the mariner
Of the Great Lakes, the tobacco
planter of the Middle South-these
and many other classes of Americans
remember how many millions OF dol
lars the Weather Bureau predictions
have saved them. They do not sheer.
Those persons who have been induced
to move back from the banks of the
Ohio and Mississippi Rivers because
OF a Weather Bureau flood warning
and have seen the height of the
foods crest predicted to within a
few inches day and even weeks in
advanc e-thsy do not sheer.
Every daily newspaper in the
United States prints each day the
official weather forecast. If it is left
cut by accident the subscribers are
sure 10 register n kick The forecast
cards are sent torhousands and thou
sands of persons, to whom they will
get in time to be of benefit, and are
posted in every postofflce which can
be reached by them. Little cards
with the forecast stamped on them
are sent out from central postoftices
along every rural Tree delivery route
in the country where the carrier
leaves late enough in the day to carry
that days forecast. Through the
medium of the newspapers, the flags
and lanterns displayed and the cards
posted, every city dweller in the
United States may have the benefit
of the weather forecast without any
particular effort or expense.
But the farmer is the man who
needs the information most, and it
is to reach the farmer that Professor
Willis l.. Moore and his assistants
are striving. The. telephone has
solved the problem in the Middle
West and along the Atlantic Coast.
lbs rapid extension through rural dis
tricrs makes IL Of increasing i'm
portance each day. Telephone COM
maniac are raouastad IN aid tho hu-
reau in the dissemination OF this
useful information. Most of them
gladly accedc. Some of them refuse
and want money. Those who go in
for cooperation advertise the con-
nection with the weather service as a.
feature 10 induce farmers to become
telephone subscribers. The telephone
service is managed in this fashion.
The nearest official weather office tel
ephones to the central Office OF the
telephone system the forecast. 1t is
then distributed to each central ex-
change in the system, and central"
ever obliging, will be delighted to tell
any inquirer over the phone what
the weather outlook may be. In the
case OF q hurricane or cold wave
warning, there is a general call and
each subscriber is informed so that
he may have ample time to protect
himself. his stock and his crops.
If it is a cold wave warning, the
citrus fruit grower in Florida or Cali
fornia, who fears the calamity of a
frost, will protect his orange and