OBSERVED IN HERTFOKDSHIKE IN 1906. 247 



took place in October than the vegetables in the kitchen-garden, 

 which had made such poor growth during the summer and early 

 autumn. Except in the case of hard- wooded plants and shrubs 

 the same magical effect on vegetation was to be seen in the flower- 

 garden, which, notwithstanding the frequent and heavy rain, 

 remained unusually gay until the end of the season. 



In order to show the persistency of the summer drought, 

 I may state that previous to the middle of September no rain- 

 water at all came through the two and a half feet of soil in my 

 bare soil percolation-gauge for seven weeks. 



Timber and other trees, for some reason, which I can only 

 explain by the mildness of the autumn, and the exceptionally 

 heavy rainfall in October and November, retained their leaves 

 unchanged in colour until an unusually late date. 



At St. Albans (New Farm) the blackberries are stated to have 

 been unusually fine and plentiful, while there was a fair crop of 

 hazel-nuts. Mr. H. Gr. Fordham contributes the following 

 interesting notes as to the persistent character of the foliage of 

 the autumn, taking as an illustration the common elm. 

 " November 4th : The common elms remain as green and full 

 of leaf as in June. November lOth : The leaves are changing 

 in colour, but have not begun to fall. November 19th : The 

 trees still retain most of their leaves, which are now yellow. 

 November 25th : Common elms alone now retain their leaves, of 

 which one half remain on sheltered trees. November 29th : The 

 leaves have fallen owing to the wet and wind, and all trees are 

 practically bare." 



According to the returns of farm-produce in Hertfordshire in 

 1906, piiblished by the Board of Agriculture, the yield of wheat 

 was 13 per cent, above the average for the previous ten years, 

 barley 8 per cent, above, beans 15 per cent, above, peas 15 per 

 cent, above, potatoes 11 per cent, above, and mangolds 1 per 

 cent, above, while oats were 1 per cent, below, turnips 2 per cent, 

 below, hay (clover, etc.) 19 per cent, below, and hay (permanent 

 pasture) 11 per cent, below their respective averages for the 

 same ten years. 



The fruit-crops, according to the returns sent in to the 

 ' Gardeners' Chronicle,' were as follows. The yield of apples, 

 gooseberries, raspberries, currants, and strawberries was about 

 average, while that of pears and plums proved very scanty. 



The last plant on the list, the ivy, taking the county as 

 a whole, came into flower three days in advance of its usual time. 



The swallow took its departure four days earlier than its mean 

 date for the previous fifteen years. 



In making out the variations from the mean for thirty years 

 of the different plants in the foregoing report, I was struck with 

 the fact that many of those variations differed in a marked 

 degree from ^h& variations of the same plants when the whole 

 of the Midland Counties, instead of Hertfordshire alone, were 

 taken together, and when the mean for the last sixteen years 



