76 



August, though not wetter than the normal, was showery 

 and sunless ; ripening of the cereals was slow and uneven and 

 cutting was later than usual. Wheat continued to improve, but 

 weeds got ahead and filled up the bottom of the crop. September 

 did nothing to improve what promised to be a difficult harvest; 

 the rainfall of 3.42in. was nearly lin. in excess of the average 

 and there was little sunshine or drying weather. The bulk of 

 the harvest was secured during the month, but much was in 

 bad condition for early threshing. October, with 4.28in. of rain, 

 had more than the normal rainfall by 1.14in., and with the 

 shortening days and damp misty weather the labour involved in 

 securing the remainder of the harvest was excessive. Cutting 

 finished on October 17th. 



Although wheat and barley were not much below the average 

 in yield, the quality was poor and much of the barley was fit 

 only for feeding purposes. Winter oats had lost much plant in 

 the severe weather; tHey became very foul in summer and yielded 

 badly. 



Swedes and potatoes promised big yields, and in spite of 

 the dull weather, the mangolds on Barn field were up to the 

 average. The digging of potatoes and the lifting of the roots 

 was in no way helped by the weather, for both November and 

 December were considerably wetter than the average. On the 

 other hand the absence of serious frosts enabled the roots to 

 be got in without loss. Swedes with complete artificials yielded 

 26 tons per acre, second only to the excellent crop of 1922. 

 Potatoes yielded 9| tons with dung and complete artificials, the 

 crop being practically free from disease, although a rather large 

 proportion of the produce was of seed size. 



It was commonly complained that the year was sunless, but 

 in this respect it was over its full course no worse than usual : 

 for the whole of the calendar year the deficiency from the average 

 was only 50 hours. The unfortunate character of the season was 

 its persistent wetness. From July 17th to the end of the year 

 there were only two occasions (August 10th and 11th) when the 

 state of the ground at 9 a.m. was recorded as dry; on all other 

 mornings it was wet or damp. The previous year was by no 

 means sunny, yet the ground was recorded as dry on 24 occasions 

 in the three months beginning on July 17th. 



