i8 7 o.] NOTES OF THE MONTH. 293 



return falls short of what might reasonably have been expected to accrue 

 to their exchequer. In the provinces, as an almost invariable rule, 

 excepting when the weather is very unpropitious, the receipts are in 

 excess of the outlay, and a handsome surplus is the result. These 

 shows, probably because more localised, attach to themselves a very 

 great amount of popular support among those who go to flower-shows 

 to see the flowers and plants more than to see each other — an element 

 the great London exhibitions do not attract. The masses of the people 

 in London — those who represent and correspond to the operative and 

 artizan classes in Manchester and Leeds, for instance, and who contribute 

 so much to the financial prosperity of their horticultural exhibitions — 

 never come to a large metropolitan show ; no attempt is made to attract 

 them ; perhaps they are not wanted. A great London show means a 

 fashionable lounging-place and promenade, with the popular element 

 kept outside. At Manchester, the total receipts were £1650; of this 

 sum, £1 100 was received in shillings. So much for enlisting the popu- 

 lar element on the side of flower-shows. 



The excessive drought, now so seriously affecting the southern, 

 western, eastern, and a portion of the northern, midland districts 

 of England, is one of an almost unexampled character, commencing, 

 as it did, so early in the year. In the London district, hot, bright, 

 sunny days, having the appearance of set-fair weather, alternate with 

 days quite cloudy, and even cold, the clouds appearing to be charged 

 with vapour, but none falls ; and notwithstanding a steady fall in the 

 barometer, the long-looked-for rain appears as remote as ever. There 

 is a prevalence of cold north-westerly winds, occasionally varied with 

 short periods of warm southerly breezes, and again by north-easterly 

 winds ; and notwithstanding the frequent bright appearance of the 

 weather, the evenings are often chilly, and the nights cold. Observa- 

 tion points to the presence of cold currents of air that seem to cross 

 each other in contrary directions ; and when the wind has been in the 

 south-west, masses of clouds, driven somewhat rapidly across the hori- 

 zon, had come from the north-west. Garden crops, though showing 

 signs of distress, are yet looking better than might be expected. Peas, 

 Beans, Potatoes, and suchlike, want rain badly; and if it does not soon 

 come, the crops of the former must be very small. The grass crops 

 are very thin, especially on gravel and strong clay soils ; in many cases 

 they will not be worth cutting, and they are so dried up as to be of 

 little avail for cattle-food. Spring-sown cereals are giving out rapidly ; 

 autumn-sown look much better, but must soon show signs of suffering. 

 Where there is a scarcity of water, the deterioration of the crops is 

 much more apparent. Since the above was written, a heavy thunder- 

 storm has visited the London district, and the country generally, but 



