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since last September, when not rainy nearly always over- 

 cast and gloomy. Began mowing clover 20th. Hauled 

 no hay till July n. Finished haymaking August 

 15. July was wet and ungenial. A few favourable days 

 for the hay, but very catching. August was very un- 

 favourable. Pastures on clay land are as wet as in the 

 midst of winter. Grass all trodden away, and cattle sink 

 in to their knees. September was a tolerably fine month. 

 Short days for harvest work, and many showery inter- 

 vals. Great deal of corn put together in fair condition ; 

 but the quality of both wheat and barley is wretched in 

 general. Hill wheats from 8 to 12 bushels per acre, 

 weighing about 50 Ibs. per bushel. Barley from 2\ to 3 

 qrs. per acre, from 40 Ibs. to 45 Ibs. per bushel. Oats a 

 fair crop. October was a fine month. Finished wheat 

 hauling 4th. This wheat was sown October 17, 1878. 

 Ground full dry for wheat sowing. 



Began harvest September 4th; finished October i8th. 

 November was a fine month for wheat sowing, but tem- 

 perature low. December set in frosty, and the ground 

 was too hard to plough till after 25th, when it thawed, 

 and rough storms to end of year. No wheat up at end 

 of the year. Remarkably dry autumn. The most dis- 

 astrous season this century. Greatest rot amongst sheep 

 and beasts ever remembered, certainly nothing approach- 

 ing it since 1829. Corn harvested tolerably sound, but 

 much of it damp, and scarcely any in fine condition. 

 Very little wheat cut first week in September, and the 

 following winter Wiltshire hill wheats were sold at from 

 2s. to 3-r. 6d. per bushel. No corn to sell worth naming, 

 and nobody cares to buy English produce, the quality is 

 so bad. Farmers ruined in every direction (T. H. B.\ 



Highest rainfall recorded for sixty- three years. 1816 

 was colder than 1879 in summer, but not so wet. Crops 

 harvested worse in 1816. 



Very much under average crop of wheat. Exception- 



