400 THE CEKEAL AND OTHER CROPS OF SCOTLAND FOR 1880, 



the rest of the Moray Firth and in Aberdeenshire colder and 

 wetter ; in Strathmore warmer and drier ; and over the whole of 

 the south of the country drier and colder than usual. 



July. — In this month the area of higher temperature is seen 

 to have contracted into much smaller dimensions, including now 

 only Strathmore, the north-east of Fife, and western districts 

 from Eothesay north to North Uist and Skye. In the north of 

 Orkney and the south of Shetland temperature was also above 

 the average. Nowhere, however, except at Monach, west of the 

 Hebrides, did the excess exceed 1°. In all other parts of Scot- 

 land temperature was below the average, the greatest deficiency, 

 about 2\ occurring in the districts indicated by the following 

 stations, ^dz., Lairg, Nairn, Gordon Castle, New Pitsligo, Brae- 

 mar, Aberdeen, Stronvar, Pentland Hills, Milne-Graden, and 

 Wolfelee. This is now the fourth month that the temperature 

 in Strathmore has been above the average, and the temperature 

 of Mid-Lothian and districts to southward under the average. 

 If a line be drawn through the east side of the Minch to Mull, 

 thence east to Balloch Castle, south to Loch Eyan, and thence 

 curving round by Drumlanrig, Wanlockhead, and Milne-Graden, 

 it will divide Scotland into two parts, the division to the west 

 and south having a rainfall under the average, and that to the 

 east and north above it. Another peculiarity of the rainfall of 

 July was the strongly-pronounced local character of its distri- 

 bution. Thus while it was 124 per cent, at Culloden, and 112 

 at Grantown above the average, it was only 20 at Nairn ; while 

 it was 133 per cent, at Thirlestane Castle, and 111 at Galashiels 

 above the average, it was 14 below it at Milne-Graden ; and 

 while at Stornoway it was 41 per cent, under the average, at 

 Scourie on the opposite side of the Minch it was 91 per cent, 

 above it. 



August. — This was one of the finest Augusts of recent years. 

 The temperature over the whole country was above the average, 

 and very considerably so. The excess rose near to, or slightly ex- 

 ceeded 4° in three diflerent joarts of the country, viz., Strathmore, 

 Argyllshire, and the extreme north-west of Scotland, including 

 the Outer Hebrides. On the other hand, in Berwickshire, the 

 Cheviots, and across into Cumberland, the excess above the 

 average scarcely amounted to 2°. In other districts the excess 

 was generally about 3°. This high temperature was accompanied 

 with a singularly small rainfall, the deficiency in many places 

 coming close up to or exceeding 90 per cent, of the usual August 

 rainfall. At none of the stations was the deficiency less than 

 50 per cent. 



September. — The mean temperature for September was every- 

 where above the mean, the excess being from 3° to 4° from Barra- 

 head to North Uist, and on the eastern seaboard from Gordon 



