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late chill. He used the same wellknown technique of spraying the fruit with water to prevent it from freezing which is used by citrus growers in Florida during freak cold snaps. In spite of the use of the irrigators, he estimated that he may have lost “as much as 50 percent of the strawberry crop.”
In contrast to Mr. Call’s plight, Eddie Jenkins, who manages Clifford Miller’s farm in Sperryville, said that he expects to “about double” the yield from his first cutting of alfalfa compared to last year. He said that despite the recent drought, “we had good rains earlier in the year — after we had fertilized. My orchardgrass and clover is up over the knee.”
Mr. Jenkins added, however, that most of the other farmers he has talked with said that they expected to get about half their usual crop.
Asked about the outlook if the drought continues, Mr. Jenkins replied, “The season will be short.”
Elaborating on Mr. Jenkins’s observations about earlier rains, Mr. Wingfield said that “January, March and May have been on the dry side. In February we had 3.26 inches of rain, and 3.86 in April — both are a bit above normal.”
But Mr. Wingfield has recorded only .62 inches of precipitation in the last 27 days. Last year’s rainfall in May totalled 4.89 inches.
“Figure an average of three to four inches per month for spring and early summer,” the amateur meteorologist continued. So far for the year he has recorded 10.66 inches of precipitation, “compared to a yearly average of 14 to 15 inches.”
He noted also that average tern
95.8%