Abstract
IT has been said—and the statement is very generally true—that in most soils the crop yield is more affected by the weather than by manuring and cultivation. For this reason it is necessary to repeat most field trials for a number of years in order that the variations due to climate may be averaged out; and if at the same time meteorological records are taken it is possible to trace out some of the relations between weather fluctuations and the variations in yield. The infinite variety in meteorological conditions and in the factors concerned in plant growth makes statistical examination of the results essential if trustworthy information is to be obtained. The great value of long-continued experiments in this connection is clearly pointed out in the book under notice, and a large number of exceedingly interesting correlations are given between the yields of various crops and the weather characteristics—rainfall and temperature—not only over the whole year, but also over limited portions of the growing season. As more data become available it will be possible to specify the most critical periods of plant growth, and the economic value of forecasts of crop yields will be considerably increased.
Agricultural Meteorology: The Effect of Weather on Crops.
By J. Warren Smith. (The Rural Text-book Series.) Pp. xxiv + 304 + plates. (New York: The Macmillan Co.; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1920.) 13s. net.
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KEEN, B. Agricultural Meteorology: The Effect of Weather on Crops . Nature 108, 300 (1921). https://doi.org/10.1038/108300a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/108300a0