| A YEAR OF WEATHER AND TRADE IN THE UNITED STATES. |
By Professor ROBERT DeC. WARD,
HARVARD UNIVERSITY.
THAT weather conditions affect trade and industry has long been known, but few studies of these relations have yet been made.[1] The hope of being able to determine, in a somewhat critical way, the dependence of trade and industry in the United States upon the general weather conditions from week to week, has induced the writer to give some attention to this subject for a year past. The sources of information have been the Climate and Crop Bulletins, and the Monthly Weather Review, of the Weather Bureau, and the well-known trade journals, Bradstreet's and R. G. Dun and Co.'s Review. The Weather Bureau publications emphasize the meteorological side alone; the two journals last named aim to present a true statement of trade conditions without any special prejudice in favor of meteorological controls.
The first summer month of 1901[2] began with decidedly cool weather east of the Mississippi River, and heavy rains in many eastern districts. This unseasonable weather was the key of the trade situation. Retail trade throughout the east was interfered with by the 'lack of sunny weather '; the growth of crops was retarded, and cotton and cereals were high. Manufacturers of umbrellas, rain clothing, rubbers and heavy footwear alone reported 'an exceptional demand.'
The second week of June was, on the whole, more favorable. In the east, where the temperatures were more nearly normal, there was an improved retail demand for summer wearing apparel, and this was also true of the northwest, where needed rains had 'quieted apprehensions as to the spring-wheat outlook.' The stimulation in trade in summer goods led to increased orders for fall merchandise. Dairy and garden products fell in price, as production increased with warmer weather. On the Pacific coast, the third week of June averaged decidedly cool, and trade was retarded in consequence. At a number of cities situated in a district where the average daily temperature excess was 3°-6°, the 'warmer weather created a demand for summer goods,'
