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Show Keeping Up WitJSciene By dccnto zervcc Si'icncc Sorvio. WNU Soivico. Groat Heat Hurts Corn More Than Lack of Moisture Meteorologist Explains How Drouth Cuts Crop Detroit. Excessive heat in drouth years is a more potent po-tent cause of corn crop failure fail-ure than lack of water, Senior Meteorologist Charles D. Reed of the United States weather bureau station at Des Moines, Iowa, told the third Dearborn conference of agriculture, industry and science session here. In support of his thesis, Mr. Reed cited recent drouth history in his own state: "In 1934. summer precipitation averaged 2. OS inches greater than in 1933 in Iowa, yet there was a bumper bump-er crop in 1933 and nearly a corn failure in the southern counties in 1934. because of the excessive and prolonged heat, with an average of 19.7 days with temperatures 100 degrees de-grees or higher, the greatest of record rec-ord up to that time. This cut the 1934 corn yield to 21.6 bushels as compared with 14 in 1S94. Lost 235 Million Bushels. " "Then came the calamitous summer sum-mer of 1936. The heat of July and August averaged 81.3 degrees, surpassing sur-passing by 3.2 degrees the record hot July and August, 1901, with an average of 25.6 days 100 degrees or higher. "During the last half of July. 1936. the Iowa corn crop was reduced 235.000.000 bushels to an average yield per acre of about 17 bushels. . . In small areas the destruction was even more complete than in 1S94. Whole townships in the south part of Plymouth and the central part of Woodbury counties, report only two or three wagon loads of corn. "We used to say, 'It can't happen in Iowa," but like the Californians, we must reluctantly admit that we had some unusual weather." Deprecates "Cycle" Theory. Discussing the much - debated question of weather cycles, Mr. Eeed found some difficulties, but also offered sweltering humanity promise of some relief: "Considerable has been said about precipitation cycles but since precipitation precip-itation is a resultant of many complex com-plex factors of which temperature is the major one, the search for precipitation cycles is not likely to be very fruitfuL There is, however, a rough rhythm to the temperature graph for the state of Iowa which can, with a little imagination, be divided into cycles or periods after eliminating volcanic and other influences. in-fluences. "There is little doubt that we have just passed a historic peak in the temperature cycle that must be followed fol-lowed by a summer in 1937 much cooler than recent summers and probably averaging near or slightly below the long time summer average. aver-age. And the cycles that have gone before lead one to believe that there will be a tendency for the next 2 or 3 summers to grow cooler." |