DROUGHT IN AMERICA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19170, 9 November 1925, Page 9

DROUGHT IN AMERICA.

SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES. j ! WATER SHORTAGE ACUTE. A, and N.Z. NEW YORK. Nov. 6. Tho United States is now suffering 1 from a second year of drought. Although it has touched certain parts of the country j lightly, it has done, and is continuing to j do, serious damage. There is a stringent deficiency of moisture over most parts of the country. It had been expected that rain last winter would bring the desired relief, but no rain eventuated. Spring, summer and i the present autumn have also proved dir.- J appointing, with tho exception of some J recent rain, which afforded much relief. I The area which has suffered the worst is a belt extending southwards from Missouri to Texas, and eastward through southern Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Virginia, thence southward to Florida and the Gulf of Mexico. The only sections which have had a normal rainfall are New England, California, Idaho, Montana and Utah. One observer describes the conditions as follows: —"The situation in many parts of the drought-stricken regions can only be called sensational. Lack of water with which to supply the power companies has made it necessary to restrict tho operations of cotton mills. In some parts of the Southern States the shortage of water for livestock has been extreme, and the municipalities have been obliged to put into effect rigid restrictions on the use of water for domestic purposes." In many places the problem of securing drinking water has reached a point which involves genuine hardship. Disastrous consequences to the maize crops have been prevented only by a singularly fortunate distribution of light rainfall over the maize-growing area, but nevertheless the official forerasts show a serious diminu- I tion in the crop.