iS 7 a] NOTES OF THE MONTH. 485 



to an end. This — in so far as relates to the London district, and 

 others similarly affected. A drought, almost unexampled in its 

 intensity and duration, had settled down on the land like a spell, and 

 fields became as dry and barren as if a fire had passed over their sur- 

 face, robbing them of their verdure. It is seldom that anxious aspira- 

 tions for rain have expression given to them as late in the year as 

 October ; but it has been so, and hedgerows have looked as parched 

 as they usually do in the hottest July weather. On the morning of 

 the 10th of October, the neighbourhood round London, and for many 

 miles in every direction, was visited with a white frost; on the 

 following morning this was continued with some severity ; and then 

 the wind changed to a southerly point, and the sky became overcast ; 

 then getting more westerly, the wind freshened into a severe gale, and 

 for some eighteen hours a hurricane swept the face of the country, 

 uprooting trees, or tearing limbs from their strong sturdy trunks, and 

 wresting from them the leaves, already becoming sear and yellow ; then, 

 softening to a southerly breeze, the rain came — and now a glorious and 

 much-needed fall is taking place. And so there comes to a close a 

 season of drought many grey-headed men have asserted to be unpre- 

 cedented in their past experience. 



Probably the unusual swarms of insect life that have prevailed 

 during the past few weeks are simply one of the results of the drought. 

 Many districts have suffered from a kind of plague of small flies, so 

 numerous that the ground was literally covered with them, and the air 

 filled with them also. When the sun was shining brightest, then did 

 these visitants swarm in myriads : in some instances they settled on the 

 fruit-trees and devoured the leaves ; healthy young Peach-trees were so 

 infested with them that the weight actually broke off the leaves ; trees 

 that were healthy and clean a few days previously became covered 

 with green-fly in consequence of the visitation, and fell into a very bad 

 condition ; and the green crops suffered severely from their ravages. 

 This unpleasant experience appears to have been spread over a 

 considerable tract of country. Those who were partridge-shooting 

 after the frosty nights of the 12th and 13th of September were 

 struck with the failure of the young Turnips, and saw myriads of in- 

 sects similar to American blight devastating the leaves. In this 

 instance it was supposed these insects were the production of the 

 frosty nights ; that the cold nights tended to put a stop to the rapid 

 growth of vegetation ; the hot sun, shining forth with an intensity more 

 befitting June than September, had a putrefying action on the plants — 

 and in consequence insect life burst forth instant* r, and hence the 

 swarms seen as described. Perhaps this theory of production is more 

 ingenious than correct, but it is given as a theory. In relation to the 



