Wow. This has been a very rainy season in New England. Soon after I returned from vacation last weekend, I heard reports on yet another incredible downpour received while I was away. How much rain did we get? The reports vary, so I don't really know. What I need is a rain gauge.
So, I turned to my 1869 issue of Rural Affairs and found this:
"The simplest rain gauge is a square or cylindrical vessel, open at (the) top, with a scale marked inside to show the depth of the water as the rain falls. The depth of rains may be nearly measured by simply placing out, on an open piece of ground, a tin pail with parallel sides, and then measuring the depth with a small, thin rule."
Yup. That's gotta be the simplest rain gauge ever created. One would think (I'm sure you do) that one doesn't need The Heirloom Orchardist to tell you to stick a tin pail in your back yard and measure the depth of rainwater collected to determine how much rain fell...But there you go, I've done it.
The key of course, is that the tin pail (the vessel) must be "square or cylindrical." It must have "parallel sides." Otherwise, you won't get an accurate reading. Quite simply, a rain gauge measures the amount of water that falls from the sky onto a defined area of ground. That area can be any size; one square inch, one square foot, or an acre. No matter how big your vessel is, as long as the sides of it are parallel, and the same distance apart as its opening, you should get the same water depth reading for any area.
But The Heirloom Orchardist can't leave well-enough alone. He continues to perfect his rain gauge:
"It is more common, as well as convenient and accurate, however, to make the top of the gauge somewhat in the form of a hopper, throwing the rain together down a graduated tube. The depth being thus multiplied, the amount fallen can be more perfectly measured. If, for example, the tube is one tenth the area of the hopper, a fall of one inch will show ten inches in depth; or if the tube is a hundred times smaller than the hopper, a tenth of an inch of rain will give a ten inch column." (Yeah, Yeah...we get it). "In all gauges of this kind, which multiply the depth, it is safest to have a small cylindrical vessel attached to the side of the instrument to show the fall in case of a great storm, which might more than fill the narrow tube."
"There are various modifications of rain gauges. One is made by using a funnel placed in the mouth of a jug or bottle, into which all the water immediately runs. It is then poured into a graduated tube and accurately measured. If the quantity will more than fill the tube, it may be measured by successive portions. The most convenient way of placing this gauge, is first to sink a small barrel into the ground (sink a barrel into the ground?! You're kidding, right?), cover it with a wooden board so made as to throw the rain from the centre, where a hole is made just large enough to receive the funnel. The bottle or jug for holding the water is placed in the barrel below the funnel. (Wait. I'm confused. You got a diagram of that?) In the accompanying figure 1, “a” represents the barrel, “b” the board cover, “c” the funnel, “d” the bottle, and “e” the graduated glass tube, which may be kept when not in use within the barrel." "Fig. 2 represents a modification of the gauge already spoken of, having the tube “a” attached to the funnel “b,” both of which may be made of brass or tin plate." (Hmm, well if I'm gonna put this much work into it, I'm going with brass). "A convenient mode for setting this gauge is to set a short, wooden post into the ground, projecting a few inches above it, and then bore a hole on the post the size of the funnel, an inch or two downward to receive it, and then another hole, a little smaller, deep enough to….."
Hold it. Stop. I’ve had enough. I’m just gonna put a tin pail in my backyard. Or maybe I’ll just get a fancy-shmancy frog rain gauge from MasterGardening.com .
