OBSERVED IN HEltTFORDSniRE IN 1897. 65 



draiuage year, the total ruiufall for the previous six mouths was 

 as much as 3^ inches in excess of the mean quantity for that 

 period. This excess of moisture in the soil, together with the 

 trecpient rains in ^March, caused that month to he one of the vrorst 

 known for many years for sowing spring corn. Moreover, the 

 conditions were not greatly improved during the dry period which 

 followed, owing to the surface soil having run together during the 

 wet weather and become hard, and difHiult to work when after- 

 wards exposed to the heat of the sun and drying winds. 



For the grass lands this was on the whole a very favourable 

 season, the ground remaining for the most part fairly warm and 

 moist. In the gardens also the crops generally made good progress, 

 and owing to the comparative freedom from spring frosts, tender 

 plants passed through this quarter in most places with less check 

 or injury than iisual. 



The cold spell in May appears to have been much more keenly 

 felt in some parts of the county than in others. For instance, 

 Mrs. G. E. Bishop reports that on the nights of the 11th and 

 1 2 th of May not only were potatoes damaged in the open ground, 

 but dahlias placed in cold frames were also cut by frost. Again, 

 on the morning of the 12th of the same month one of our observers 

 at St. Albans noticed on a pond near that city ice the thickness 

 of a penny piece. At Berkhamsted the abundant flowering of wild 

 violets and dandelions was worthy of note ; and, on the other hand, 

 so was the paucity of blossom on both the blackthorn and hawthorn 

 bushes, many of which had no flowers on them at all. 



Taking the spring quarter as a whole, the plants on the list came 

 into flower somewhat in advance of their average dates. The mean 

 records come out as follows : — The wood-anemone one day late, the 

 blackthorn three days early, the garlic hedge-mustard flve days 

 early, the horse-chestnut three days early, the hawthorn four days 

 early, and the white ox-eye two days late. 



The spring migrants for which we have average dates made their 

 appearance later than usual — the swallow arriving six days late, 

 the cuckoo eight days late, and the nightingale six days late. 



Turning now to the insects, the wasp was one day early, the 

 small white butterfly more than three weeks late, and the orange- 

 tip butterfly eleven days late. 



The Summer. 



The three summer months were all unseasonably warm, and on 

 nine days the shade temperature rose above 80 degrees. During 

 June and August rather more than the average quantity of rain 

 fell, but in July the weather continued remarkably dry. June, 

 although warm, had a deficient supply of bright sunshine. There 

 were, however, capital records in the two following months, and 

 especially in July, which proved the sunniest July since 1887 — or 

 for ten years. 



The first half of this season was most propitious for all farm and 

 garden produce. The com and other field crops rapidly improved, 



VOL. X. PART 11. S 



