A continuous daily rainfall record provides much information for agriculturalists but initial questions are imprecise and are modified in the light of experience. In order to match this uncertainty the program 'Rainfall Statistics' is designed as a simple interactive procedure for studying quantity probabilities, dry spell frequencies and a simple soil-moisture budget The program has various functions depending upon user requirements. Use of the program is illustrated with rainfall records from northern Thailand.Information about free resources is necessary for successful agricultural development. Ways of presenting rainfall data have been discussed in the context of planning African agricultural development Kassam, 1978; Manning, 1950;Robinson and Glover, 1954), and to assist agriculture in Australia (Fitzpatrick and Nix, 1970;Hall and Barclay, 1975;Keig and McAlpine, 1974). Operational needs in agriculture have also been discussed (Manning, 1956; Walker and Rijks, 1967). General problems of matching data on resources and survey methods to administrative needs are discussed elsewhere (Hills, 1979) but an important constraint has been that data collection has been guided by technocratic approaches to planning and management.The present approach matches uncertainty in management with a flexible program for analysing rainfall. A rainfall record can provide a wealth of guiding information for agriculturalists but only if the information generated can be used in solving operational problems. Many classifications reduce the variety of information provided by rainfall data and disregard the variety and uncertainty which characterize farming. Administrators and agronomists are adaptive and pragmatic, modifying both their aims and operations in the light of experience, so that their needs change as development proceeds. The aim of this study has been to develop a simple but robust tool for analysing rainfall records in a manner which matches the pragmatism of the field agronomist. Practical requirementsMany features of local rainfall will be of interest, e.g. quantity of rainfall, length of dry periods, and level of soil-moisture. A description of the average levels of such variables throughout the year, as well as the variability about these average levels from one year to another, provides a convenient summary of the local rainfall conditions. A record of daily rainfall over a period of several 1 0014-4797/81/0000-0765 $01.00© 1981 Cambridge University Press

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Assume that motorists arrive at a stop sign and wish to merge into traffic on the main road, using the following criterion for making decisions: For each motorist there is a number, X, which is the smallest headway which the motorist will accept before merging into it. For each of these gaps presented to a particular motorist, X is the same, but X varies from motorist to motorist, and has the distribution function FX(x). Assuming the gaps are independent and identically distributed variates, and the merging motorists arrive at times independent of the traffic on the main road, consistent estimates of the moments of X are obtained, using sample values of the accepted and rejected gaps. An estimator of FX(x) is also obtained, without these assumptions. The paper concludes with a numerical analysis using data obtained from an intersection in Sydney.

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Three case studies of fractures are presented that demonstrate the potential morbidity that these injuries can cause as well as the acceptable outcomes if treated appropriately. Two of the cases are talar fracture dislocations; the third is an osteochondral fracture of the talus. The importance of early treatment with open reduction and internal fixation is demonstrated. Success following surgical intervention in a nonhealed osteochondral fracture of the talus is also demonstrated.