178 E. MAWLEY — PHENOLOGICAL PHENOMENA 



many moisture -loving plants and shrubs could be kept alive. It 

 was not only the heat combined with the diy condition of the soil 

 that rendered this summer so trying to vegetation, but likewise the 

 harsh and dry nature of the air. To give some idea as to the 

 character of this summer drought, I may mention that between 

 the middle of July and the middle of August no rain-water at 

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

 uncropped percolation -gauges. 



There was a singular absence of greenfly. Indeed, seldom have 

 I known a spring and summer in which my roses have been less 

 troubled by this annual pest. On the other hand, both the large 

 and small white butterflies were unusually numerous. 



The following are a few extracts from the observers' notes. 

 Haymaking began at Wealdstone on June 10th. At Harpenden 

 the first wheat-ear was out of its sheath on June 12th, or four 

 days later than its average date in the previous seven years. At 

 Wealdstone oats were first cut on July 22nd. At Watford apples 

 and medlars were dropping from the trees in August, owing to the 

 drought, while the pastures and lawns were brown and chied up. 

 From Hatfield it is reported that the oaks had been during the 

 summer almost entirely free from caterpillars, and that this was 

 the first time for several years that the foliage has not been, to 

 a great extent, destroyed by them. The apple crop is stated to 

 have been there a complete failure, whereas for the previous seven 

 years at least the yield of this fruit had been invariably good. Our 

 observer at Hitchin, referring to the di-ought, says that the spring 

 at Wellhead, the source of the Hiz, about a mile south-west of 

 Hitchin, was dry for some months in the summer, as was also the 

 case in 1898. This, he adds, so far as he can ascertain, has not 

 occurred before within living memory. 



It is rather sui-prising, when we consider what a warm season 

 this was, that each of the four summer flowering plants on the list 

 should have been behind its average date in coming into blossom, 

 and yet such was the case ; the dog-rose being two days late, the 

 black knapweed fourteen days late, the harebell five days late, and 

 the greater bindweed six days late. 



The Autumn. 



Taken as a whole this was another warm season, but the 

 weather as regards temperature varied greatly. For instance, 

 during the first three weeks in October there occurred but one 

 unseasonably warm night, whereas in November there were 

 scarcely any cold days or nights. In the same way the dry and 

 wet periods were very unequally distributed over the quarter, 

 while the total rainfall was about the average. The mean daily 

 duration of sunshine amounted to 3f hours a day, which is an 

 unusually good record for the season. 



So early did the harvest begin, and so soon was it over, that 

 little com was to be seen in the fields, except perhaps in the 

 colder districts, when the autumn was entered upon. In most 



