, like those of Chicago, drain their water pipes.
Gasoline engines are drained. Street railway companies are supposed to
turn more heat into their cars. Natural gas companies are required to
put on a greater pressure. Dredging of sand and gravel is suspended.
Piles of iron ore, lying on wharves, are placed in the holds of vessels
to keep the ore from freezing solid.

"Take ordinary questions of trade, which we all know well. Wholesalers
distribute stocks of cold-weather goods to retailers when a cold spell
is forecast, and wideawake retailers make special provisions for it.
Advertising managers of big department stores, who prepare their
advertisements for the daily papers, the day before, study weather
reports very carefully. You can go into an ad-writer's office, with the
sun shining in at his window, and find that he is writing display of
umbrellas and rubbers. The explanation is the Weather Map, which is
lying on his desk. Everywhere you go, you'll find that the really big
business organizations study the Weather Reports as closely as a
stock-broker studies the Wall Street reports."

The farmer stared at the Forecaster.

"Why," he said, in astonishment, "I never had any idea that the Weather
Forecast was so important. I just thought people read it to know whether
it was going to rain, whether they should take an umbrella or not."

"Rain forecasts," the weather expert rejoined, "may be useful for one's
personal comfort, but their importance is nation-wide. Until a few years
ago, one-eighth of the value of the entire raisin crop was lost every
year by occasional showers while the fruit was drying. The Weather
Bureau established a special service to take care of this region and for
five years there has not been a single non-avoidable loss. Berries are
picked before rain. Vegetables which are dug before rain, stand shipment
better than those dug afterwards. In the alfalfa region, rain forecasts
are all-important, since the hay can be baled in the field when it is
dry but not when it is wet.

"Every kind of brick, cement, and lime manufacture has got to be
protected from the rain, and twenty-four hours' notice enables all such
factories to protect their product. Contractors for outdoor work make
their estimates and contracts on the basis of weather forecasts,
railroad companies provide against washouts, and irrigation companies
control their output of water according to the expected rainfall."

"This is great stuff