BARLEY. 



83 



The contrast between the produce in these two very differ- 

 ent good years, and that in the worst season, 1887, is very 

 striking ; in fact, the difference amounted in several cases to 

 more than the average crop of the country. 



For comparison with the produce of these selected years, 

 the average on each of the six plots over the forty years is 

 given. It will be seen how very much higher than the average 

 is the produce in the good years, and how very much lower 

 it is in the bad season ; indeed it is, in the bad season, gener- 

 ally only about, or less than, half as much as the average. 



It will be of interest to consider, however briefly, some of 

 the climatic characteristics of these various seasons. 



The next Table (26) shows, for each month, of each of the Tempera- 

 three seasons, reckoning from October in the preceding year ^w/wf 

 to September in the year of growth, the mean temperature, 

 and the rainfall, above or below the average. 



TABLE 26. — Character of the two best Seasons, 1854 and 1857, 



AND OP THE WORST SEASON, 1887. TEMPERATURE AND RAIN- 

 PALL + or - Average. 



It is obvious that different seasons will differ almost infin- 

 itely at each succeeding period of their advance, and that 

 with each variation the character of development of the plant 

 will also vary, tending to luxuriance or to maturation — that is, 

 to quantity, or to quality, as the case may be. Hence only a 

 very detailed consideration of climatic statistics, taken together 



