“2. They must be made strictly to consumers and to no other persons.
“3. The tobacco must be of the growth and raising of the farmer or producer who makes the sales.
“4. The sales must be of leaf tobacco in the form and condition of leaf as it is ordinarily dried and cured for the market. If the tobacco is ‘twisted by hand or reduced into a condition to be consumed, or in any manner other than the ordinary mode of drying and curing prepared for sale or consumption, even if prepared without the use of any machine or instrument and without being pressed or sweetened,’ it is liable to a tax of 8 cents a pound. (See section 14, act of March 1, 1879).
“5. If the farmer or producer sells ordinary leaf at retail directly to consumers, as hereinbefore stated, to an amount exceeding $100 annually, he becomes liable to pay a special tax as retail dealer in leaf tobacco. He also becomes liable if he violates any of the conditions of the said proviso, as herein stated.”
RAIN-GAUGE AND TEMPERATURE.
Osborne City, Kan.
1. How should a rain-gauge be set in order to register rainfall correctly? 2. At what hours per day are the observations of thermometer taken to get a mean temperature?
S. B. F.
Answer.—There are different kinds of rain-gauges, and instructions for using accompany each instrument. As a rule the mouth of a rain-gauge is larger than the graduated chamber which measures the fall. For special observations different forms of gauges are used, horizontal, inclined, or vertical. For ordinary observations the mouth of the instrument should be horizontal. Instructions of the United States Signal Service direct observers to set the rain-gauge “whenever practicable, with the top of the funnel-shaped collector twelve inches above the surface of the ground, firmly fixed in a vertical position. When a position at the level of the ground cannot be found with a sufficiently clear exposure, the gauge will be placed on the top of the instrument-room or roof of the building occupied by the observer, who will measure the height above the ground and report it to the Chief Signal Officer. The measuring-rod is graduated in inches and tenths of an inch, and the proportion between the cylinder and funnel is as ten to one, so that ten inches upon the rod correspond to one inch of actual rainfall.” “Snow will be melted and measured, and reported in the same manner as rain. If for any reason it cannot be melted, the depth will be measured, and ten inches of snow reported as one inch of rainfall.” There is a great difference in measure of rain at several elevations above the ground, not wholly explainable. Professor Phillips found the fall of rain at York, England, for the year 1833-34 to be 14.16 inches at 213 feet from the ground; 19.85 inches at 44 feet; and 25.71 on the ground. Daily mean relative humidity observations, according to the United States Signal Service, are obtained by dividing 7 a. m., 2 p. m., and 9 p. m. observations by three; the monthly means by dividing the sum of the daily means by the number of the days in the month. 2. The daily mean temperature is obtained by dividing the sum of the 7 a. m., 2 p. m., and twice the 9 p. m. observations by four.