470 Mr Lindsay's Report on Open-Air Vegetation. 



the first half being warm and dry. Occasional heavy showers 

 occurred at inteivals during the remainder of the month, hut 

 at no time was the rainfall in excess. Tliere were twenty- 

 one dry days, and out-door operations had but little interrup- 

 tion. The first frost this season took place on the night of 

 the 21st, when the thermometer registered 29" ; other low 

 readings occurred on the 22nd, 25th, and 26th, when 32", 

 35°, and 34° were registered respectively. The lowest day 

 temperature was 55°, on the 21st ; and the highest 72'', on the 

 10th. Most kinds of herbaceous plants flowered extremely 

 well, and were at their best during this month. The earlier 

 flowering kinds ripened an abundant crop of good seeds, 

 which were secured in fine condiuion. Eoses flowered very 

 fi'eely during September, the blossoms being equal to those 

 developed earlier in the season. On the Eock Garden thirty- 

 eight plants came into flower, a few of the most interesting 

 being : — Asclepias tuhcrosa, Gladiolus Saundersii, Gentiana 

 alba, Gerbera anandria, Kniphojia nobilis, Sedum Ewersii, 

 Synthiris reniformis, Thymus striatus, &c. 



October. — The weather throughout was exceedingly vari- 

 able, with frequent rain and wind, but very little frost. 

 Tender plants, such as Dahlias, Pelargoniums, Calceolarias, 

 and Californian annuals completed their flowering season 

 without having been much injured by frost. The thermome- 

 ter was at or below the freezing point on five nights, indi- 

 cating only 2° of frost for the month ; during October 1888, 

 which was also very mild, 9° of frost was registered. The 

 lowest readings were on the 9th, 32°; 11th, 31°: 12th, 32°; 

 26th, 32° ; 29th, 31°. The lowest day temperature was 47°, 

 on the 26th; and the highest, 63°, on the 6th. Eain fell on 

 twenty days. Herbaceous plants continued to flower in fine 

 condition throughout the month, the most eflective being the 

 various species of Aster, or " Michaelmas Daisies," Helianthus, 

 JRudbecJdas, and other Compositse; also Knip)hofia, and Japanese 

 Anemones. Leaves of deciduous trees and shrubs began to 

 fall early in the month, and by the end most trees were 

 stripped bare : with few exceptions, the leaves were not well 

 coloured, and autumn tints were not so effective as usual. 

 A notable exception was Azalea pontica, which produced its 

 characteristic purple and yellow foliage in perfection. 



