188 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
normal over the greater part of the country, the most noticeable 
feature being the rather high nocturnal values, brought about by 
the densely overcast skies. The mean rainfall was nearly double 
the average, very large amounts being precipitated in the counties 
of Inverness (West), Perth, and Renfrew. In Strathspey, on the 
other hand, it was slightly below the mean. Very gloomy 
weather predominated, the sunshine being little more than half 
the average. 
April 1897,—The weather of April was very changeable, and 
showed but little improvement on that of the preceding month. 
During the first half, snow and sleet fell in many places. The 
mean temperature was 2° below the normal, the deficiency being 
most marked at inland stations; at coast stations, on the other 
hand, the temperature did not vary much from the average. The 
rainfall was about the average, there being a deficiency at stations 
on the coast, more particularly those in the extreme north and 
south of the country. There was a slight excess in the counties 
of Sutherland, Ross, and Lanark. Bright sunshine was slightly 
below the average, but there was a decided excess at Stornoway, 
which was the sunniest station in the British Isles. 
May 1897.—The weather of May was characterised by change- 
able conditions at the beginning and end of the month, but in the 
middle of the month it was fair and dry. The mean temperature 
was below the average, the greatest deficiency being in the north- 
east of Aberdeenshire. Rainfall was in defect over the counties 
of Peebles, Berwick, Galloway, Fife, and the Lothians, where, on 
the mean, only half the average was recorded. There was a con- 
siderable excess over the extreme northern and north-western 
districts. Bright sunshine was very generally in excess of the 
average. 
June 1897.—The weather of June was of a most remarkable 
character, being cold, wet, and sunless to an unprecedented degree. 
The protean character of the weather was evinced by the great 
variability of temperature, the greatest, with one single exception, 
during the last fifty-seven years. The mean temperature was 
slightly under the average, there being an area of relative warmth 
over central Scotland and at Stornoway, which had three times as 
much sunshine as many stations on the east coast. Rainfall was 
more than double the average at places in the south of Scotland, 
but there was a marked deficit in the north-west, the total fall at 
Stornoway being only 15 per cent. of the normal. Very sunless 
