Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-01-15

Continued From First Page.l
sufacient, Whether there is likelihood
Of heavy rains in February and early
March the Weather Bureau cannot
predict.
Winter Wheat Is Index.
A present index Of conditions, Mr..
Kincer pointed out Is furnished by
Winter wheat. Last fall the extreme
dryness of the bop-soil was relieved by
light rains which gave the wheat seed
a chance to terminate. The tiny
sprouts needed little water. When farm
ers in November saw their fields turn
ing green and new grass covering the
pastures as in Spring they felt that
their worst troubles were over.
But as the wheat and pasture grass
shoots grew larger they required more
moisture than could be supplied by the
thin layer of topsoil. Ordinarily this
would be supplied by capillary action
drawing on the reserve Of water in the
sub-sofl Early this Winter there was
no such reserve and reports TO the
Weather Bureau in December showed
that the wheat already was suffering
severely. Then it went to sleep" for
the Winter to waken again in late Feb
ruary. If the rains have not come by
then, Weather Bureau experts point out,
it will have a painful awakening.
Snow More Valuable.
One of the worst conditions to date,
Mr.. Kincer points out is that over the
affected area most of the Winter pre-
cipitation has been rain and not snow.
The latter, popularity called the poor
mans fertilizer" is much more val
liable, especially If it lays on the fields
and naelts slowly because then all the
water is absorbed into the sub-soil in
stead of running of into streams, where
1t does the crops little good.
One crop probably irreparably dam
aged, it is pointed out Is the great
Cumberland Valleys, which lie in the
heart of the region where the drought
is unbroken. Ordinarily next years
apples would come on buds sprouted
last Summer.
The drought so affected the trees that
the normal supply of these buds did not
sprotlt or did not have a chance nor
mally to develop. Furthermore, the roots
of the apple tree penetrate very deeply
into the soil for moisture. This is es-
sential for their vigor when they awake
from their Winter sleep. This year there
will be very little SubSoil moisture to
draw on, unless there are exceptionally
heavy rains before Winter is done.
Cold Weather Needed.
Previous statistical studies by the
Weather Bureau show that the apple
crop has a very close relationship with
the temperatures through February and
early March If this period is warm
there is a poor crop. The Winter to
date has been rather warm, but, Mr..
Kincer points out, the latter half may
experience a favorable swing downward
which will benefit the crop.
Actually, Mr.. Kincer says, the sun
broken drought" area has been greatly
reduced so that the agricultural outlook
is rather favorable for the country as a
a whole. The region affected still is one
of small farms interpreted with indus
try. In the Great Plains area between
the Mississippi and the Rockies, where
the Summer was exceptionally dry so
that the amount of stock feed available
for Winter was reduced, heavy rains
came in time to restore the paSturage
and cold weather has held off so that
the stock could continue grazing. In
the Great Basin region, on the other
hand, there was normal growth OF
stock feed during the Summer. but the
Winter has been very cold, so that the
cattle had to be brought in. Thus q
NORMAN pdldnCS HAS DSSh SSO@DAASAAS@'
South Gets Relief.
In the Southern drought belt, where
some of the worst suffering is being ex-
perienced, heavy rains last Fall brought
up the amount Of precipitation to nor
NAL for the year. This means that the
subsoil water was restored and that
Spring crops should have no difficulty
in getting started.
The drought area, according to Mr..
Kincer's charts, now is confined es-
sentially to the northeast quarter of
the United States, east of the Missis-
sippi and north of the Carolinas, ex-
tending into New England. Through
all this region the precipitation for IL
months still ranges from IS to rs per
cent of normal. Virginia, West Virginia,
Maryland and Kentucky are in the
worst condition.