WEATHER AND OTHER NOTES. 227 
Rainfall, 3.51 inches, as compared with 1.76 in. in 
1916. Temperature normal. 
OCTOBER. 
Early winter weather came with this month. On the 
6th Queensberry and other distant hills had a covering of 
snow. We had a light covering on the mornings of the 
27th and 29th. During the whole month the weather was 
cold and wintry, unsettled and unseasonable, with heavy 
gales of wind and floods. On the 25th a number of trees in 
the neighbourhood were blown down, and roads _ blocked. 
On the evening of the 21st about half-an-hour after sunset 
there was rather a striking phenomenon: the whole of the 
sky had a greyish covering of cloud, which in a short time 
changed to a light purple. This abnormal colour, which 
continued for about five minutes, was reflected on the 
ground, when everything was tinted with red. Very stormy 
weather followed for several days. At the beginning of tlie 
month a considerable quantity of oats in the district was un- 
secured and a good deal remained in the fields at the end. 
Potato lifting was considerably hindered by bad weather. 
This crop turned out very satisfactory as to bulk, and almost 
free from disease. 
The rainfall of the month, 6.35 inches, was exceeded on 
only five occasions during the last twenty-five years. The 
daily mean temperature was 5 deg. below normal. 
Burns speaks of ** chill November’s surly blast ’? making 
‘“ fields and forests bare,’’ but the frosts and blasts of this 
October, to a great extent, denuded the woods of their 
beautiful autumn foliage. 
NOVEMBER. 
With the exception of a rather high wind on several 
days and a cold stormy snap from the 24th till the 27th, the 
weather of this month was very mild, and had a number of 
very fine autumn days. <A wintry October is often followed 
by a mild November, and not infrequently a mild winter. 
The fields kept fresh till the end, and on most days cattle 
went out grazing for a few hours. The daily mean tem- 
