Good and Bad Seasons. 215 



forward, and rendered it comparatively independent of the 

 extreme heat and drought of the months of May and June, 

 which would otherwise have been fatal at that period, and 

 which were, in fact, very injurious where the conditions of 

 manuring had not been such as to bring the vegetation 

 sufficiently forward previously. 



It is a curious result that the year of the lowest produce of 

 the twenty, 1870, was the one of the most extreme heat and 

 drought of the series, and that the year of the highest pro- 

 duce but one, 1868, was only second to 1870 in heat and 

 drought of the growing period. But there was this 

 difference : the winter and early spring of 1870 had been 

 very adverse, the herbage was in a very backward state, and 

 the heat and drought commenced a month earlier ; whereas, 

 from the commencement of 1868, for a period of nearly four 

 months, the conditions both as to heat and moisture were 

 favourable, and it was not until May that the heat and 

 drought set in, then serving to elaborate and mature, rather 

 than materially to check, vegetation in such condition of 

 luxuriance and forwardness. 



With regard to the season second in order of unproduc- 

 tiveness, it appears that, although the winter and early 

 spring of 1873-4 were, upon the whole, considerably warmer 

 than usual, there were periods of some severity as to 

 temperature, and the whole period was very deficient in rain ; 

 so that, instead of the warmth of the usually cold months 

 availing to bring vegetation forward, it remained very back- 

 ward when it was overtaken by the unfavourably cold days, 

 and the very unusually severe frosty nights, of the greater 

 part of May, whilst the short period of warmer weather 

 which then set in was unaccompanied by sufficient moisture, 

 and the herbage was already too much damaged to recover. 

 According to notes taken on the ground at the time, the 

 foliage of the grasses became spotted, and the earlier flower- 

 ing stems were bleached, and in many cases killed. The 

 greatest damage was done on the plots highly manured with 



