Effects of the Winter of 1878-9, by James Hardy. 149 



instances, been destroyed. Vegetable life has also suffered. A portion of 

 autumn wheat on cold clay soils perished, and the crop in spring presented a 

 very unpromising appearance, while grass left, and intended for winter feed, 

 was cut down by the frost. Turnips not stored, and intended for sheep 

 feeding, before long rotted, and the value of the crop was considerably 

 diminished. 

 August Wth. 



ton, Cramlington. By the Rev. Ambrose Jones. 



With regard to the damage done by the late severe winter, in this neigh- 

 bourhood, I have little to record of interest. The road in front of Stannitig- 

 ton Vicarage is marked on the Ordnance Maps as 202 feet above the sea. 

 The house faces due south. One large Gloire de Dijon Eose, on that side, 

 was entirely destroyed, while another of equal size on the wall facing xvest 

 escaped all injury. Two fine specimens of Cotoneaster, planted ten years ago 

 on the south wall, suffered much, and some younger ones were killed. Some 

 young Lombardy Poplars met the same fate. The Eoses planted in the 

 open were a good deal injured by the frost, especially those budded on briars. 

 They have now pretty well recovered, and are in better bloom than I have 

 seen them for years. One shrub, the Escallonia rubra suffered in some de- 

 gree. 



"With regard to the diminution of birds— robins, blackbirds, and thrushes 

 — bf which we used to have great numbers, have almost entirely disappeared. 

 Sundry robins took refuge in the greenhouse, and were able to go in and out 

 through a hole, which I purposely kept open for them. They were regularly 

 fed, but after a time died or disappeared. The house-sparrows weathered 

 the storm, and are as plentiful as ever. There are also many chaffinches and 

 bullfinches. On December 13th the thermometer stood 3 degrees below zero. 



August Ith, 1879. 



By Eev. J. F. Bigge. 



Towards the end of the year 1878, all the starlings disappeared, and so did 

 the song thrushes. The wild ducks, which frequent the Whittle Dean reser- 

 voirs for the supply of Newcastle, usually in a frost are to be found in the 

 streams in the neighbourhood, but I have for long remarked that when the 

 storm is going to be severe and last a long time, they go away, probably to 

 such places as Seaton Slake, at the mouth of the Tees. Last winter, after a 

 few days frost, they all disappeared. The greenfinch also went away ; I 

 heard of 13 being picked up after a very severe frost under some stacks at 

 Nellburn, Ovingham, on the Tyne. The only birds we had here during the 

 storm were titmice, sparrows, chaffinches, hedge-sparrows, blackbirds, robins, 

 wrens, and rooks. The robins have been sadly thinned ; they came into 

 houses, and got so tame that they were pounced on by the cats, and I know 

 of many that were killed in this way. 



As regards shrubs, the frost which was at zero two consecutive nights has 

 done much havoc. 



