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f r ) , . DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS 207 , '1-- I make their heaviest draft on the soil moisture and where there is no reserve supply of water in the soil these drought periods are dis- astrous for the small grain crops. It is generally during this period that the corn is planted. An unfavorable germination is liable to ob- tain unless there is reserve moisture in the soil. 3. July 1 to August 21. High temperatures can he expected dur- ing this period. Hot winds which usually occur' only during penods of drought may do serious damage to corn when it is tasseling or silking, unless there is sufficient reserve moisture so that the crop can obtain water rapidly. At such times corn is making its greatest growth and the demand for water is large. A good growth of corn _ will use a quarter of an inch of water a day during its periods of. maximum demand. A dry period at this time may ruin the corn crop unless the soil has sufficient water stored in. it to carry the' crop Lhru. 4. August 21 to October 2. During the first part of this Iieriod the land is being prepared for winter wheat. Dry weather may seriously interfere with such preparations, _ generally resulting in de- laying the work and frequently having a poor seed bed for the wheat. Where the soil has been thoroly dried out it is often neces- sary to postpone all preparations and consequently delay the seeding beyond . the proper time. Furthermore, it is important that there be sufficient water in the soil to give a fairly good fall growth and to carry the wheat crop during the winter. It is generally during the dry winters that winter-killing of wheat is serious. During any ot'the four periods mentioned above, an interval of thirty days or more during which little or no rain falls may be disasterous unless the soil be well filled with water to a depth of several feet. . . . In this al:ea periods of thirty days or more coming between April 1 and October 31, during which no rain at all falls, are not common but thirty day periods where no effective rain falls occur in about one year in two. As mention,ed above, an isolated shower or small rains of less than a half inch, falling on a dry surface, will hardly penetrate - irJto the soil deeply enough to be used by the crop. During a dry period of weather such a rain would not lie sufficient to l'E!lieve the crop. In this section periods of thirty days or more during which there is less than one inch of effective rainfall are frequent. In fact there has not been a single year in tlle last .twenty years 'at either Hastings, Minde"; or Holdredge, in which such dry periods have not occurred from one to four time between April '1 and .October- 31."" Tables 2, 3, and 4 have been prepared to show the frequency of such dry periods at Hustings, Min~en and Holdrege. In the preparation of these tables a dry period is considered as being a period of thirty ;. I I. , . " . ~., f f