The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1915-02-17
THE HAsK1N IL TTER
The Weather Bureau and the Farmer

Uncle SANS weather bureau Il
Egiying the farmer more and more
specific service as the years pass,
Primatil, It Il reaching further and
further into the country with the
daily weather forecasts. ana fur
nishing more and more material
about thar fayorite topic Of ,conyer-
satton and dominant influence in the
well-being Of crops. But It Is add
ing to this information that Is much
more specific and personal.
JUST AT this time, for instance.
there Is an intense interest in tina
prospective wheat crop Of the ma
ton. The farmers i1sI,s JUST mar
keted the greatest wheat crop they
have over produced. Already Iilay
have planted an ACREAGE that ia Il
per cent greater than was ever be-
fore seeded at this time Of year. TIE
prices are about twice those that ara
normal. and there is q prospect Of
such profits as have never before
come to American farmers. There
~. therefore, an Intense interest In
the weather condition In so far al
they affect the coming wheat pro-
duction.
The weather bureau in It's daily
wheat region bulletins is furnishing
service that fits directly into this
interest. There are nine cities that
are the ,centers of as many wheat
regions and each OF these becomes
concentration point for weather in
formation for the surrounding coun.
try. These centers are Columbus,
Louisville. Indianapolis, Chicago, st.
Louis, Des Mpines, Minneapolis.
Kansas City and Omaha. Each day
each city gets reports from the OBJ
servers throughout the region It COW
ers. These reports state maximum
and minimum Temperatures, amount
of rainfall and the general condi-
ton Of the weather, which informa-
ton is compiled into . bulletin. To
ut is added the summary Of the con-
ditions at the other centers. The
whole gives at glance the complete
weather condition for the day
Throughout the principal wheat pro
ducing area. 6
The success OF the wheat crop IA
absolutely. dependent upon the wea-
Their conditions, and these bulletins
are therefore OF very great impor-
lance to all those directly or indi-
rectly interested in wheat. There
Is, for instance, the Great Plains
area. where there is no more than
enough moisture TO make wheat
crop even when conditions are fav-
orable. There the farmers prepare
their lands in such way that every
drop that falls will be stored in the
soil. instead Of being allowed to run
off. Their success depends upon
their ability to hold this moisture. II
a rain falls over the great plains to-
day that is sufficient to insure crop,
it means that hundreds Of millions
of bushels should enter the esti-
mates that would otherwise be ex-
cluded. II there is too much rain
in other sections, as Iowa, at certain
seasons. It means that the wheat will
"smut" or trust" and that deduc-
tions should be made.
The farmer Is given this infor.
nation just as completely and d.
rectly as the broker in the Chicago
pit. Any farmer in all the wheat
belt may get his bulletin every day
by simply writing to the weather
bureau and asking that II be sent
10 him. With this before him, he
may study the conditions Of the de-
veloping seasons and draw his owr
conclusions MS to the probabilities
CT large or small crop; may intel
ligent1y decrease or increase his
acreage. hold or sell his grain.
These facts are also obtainable for
corn and for nanny other staple
crops. An interesting publication
OF this class is the Cattle Region
Bulletin. One OF these is issued ev-
cry day, at Amarillo. Tex 1t reports
Temperatures and rainfall through.
out that big stretch of country that
makes up the open range region Of
West Texas. New Mexico and Colo
RADIO. 1t indicates the presence o.
clouds over the great prairies thai
surround Abilene where the big
hated cowboy is still monarch OF tn,
plains. 1t tells Of the register Of
the thermometer at Del Rio. where
Mexican meets American by the lone
some Rio gGrande. It reveals the
weather conditions at Fort Morgan
where the plains Of Colorado breai
into the shadows OF the towering
rockies In addition. it sets forth
! in footnotes the general conditions
Of the range in all that stretch Of
country to which America still looks
for much Of the meat that comes to
1t table.
But there are services performed
for the farmer that are even mort
specific and personal than these
There are, for instance the fruit
growers of the Rogue River Valley
in Oregon, and scores Of other com
munities which get an identical serv.
ice. In the spring. after the buds
have appeared on the trees, the mir
of Jack Frost means the loss Of an
entire crop and may amount to thou.
sands Of dollars to individual farm
ers. When temperatures are play.
ing dangerously near the frost line
the weather men become unusually
lvigilant. The central office In such
No. ~ fA., IA .