-64 



Crop Prospects Abroad. 



[APRIL, 



The weather during the month of March was less genial and favourable 

 than the weather in February. During the first week of the month 

 the general condition was cold and unsettled 

 _ T . j with frequent showers of snow and hail in the 



Notes on the Weather i * ^ ~ 



north of ralij or sleet m t j ie sout ] 1- Tem- 



in March. perature was as a rule below the average. The 



rainfall was " heavy " in every part of the eastern 

 part of the British Isles, " very heavy " in England E. and N.E. At 

 Marlborough on one day the snow lay 9 inches deep and yielded 1-12 im 

 of water. It is perhaps hardly necessary to add that bright sunshine was 

 -in many places " scanty " and in no place above the average in England. 

 In Scotland, however, it exceeded the normal slightly. During the secoad 

 week the weather was unsettled in all parts of the kingdom, but fine intervals 

 were more frequent in the eastern, south-eastern and central counties of 

 England than elsewhere and the falls of rain less heavy. Warmth was 

 " moderate " everywhere except in Scotland W., where it was deficient. 

 Rainfall and sunshine showed very little variation from the average. At 

 this time, although the rainfall during the month was above the average, 

 it was still below the normal for the year for most parts of England. During 

 the third week the weather remained cold and generally cloudy with rather 

 frequent falls of rain or snow during the earlier half. Warmth was every- 

 where "deficient" (Scotland E. "very deficient"), the defect ranging 

 from above 6° in most parts of England and 5-J 0 in Scotland to 2 0 in 

 Ireland. Rainfall and sunshine were both defective in most places. 

 During the fourth week the weather continued very changeable with 

 heavy falls of rain in most districts, especially in the middle of the 

 week. The temperature was little if any above the average, but the ther- 

 mometer rose to 61 0 in England E. In most districts rainfall was largely 

 'in excess, being " heavy " throughout Great Britain and " very heavy " 

 in Scotland E. and W., England N.W. and Midlands. Sunshine was generally 

 less than usual, but in England S.W. it was " abundant." In Scotland E., 

 England N.E. and Midlands it was "scanty"; in Scotland W. "very 

 scanty." The season was now markedly backward. The number of accu- 

 mulated day's-degrees above 42 0 was in every district considerably below 

 the average, while the number of such degrees below 42 0 in excess not only 

 for the season, i.e., ist-25th March, but also for the year 29th December, 

 1907, to 28th March, 1908. This condition is remarked by all the Board's 

 correspondents. In Kent the season is said to be about 10 days late ; in 

 Berkshire, where floods were also reported, all growth is said to have been 

 stopped, the consumption of hay being heavy. The land is described as 

 much sodden with wet and the trees as hardly showing a trace of life. 



In North Lancashire the weather has not been favourable for lambing and 

 farmers have been having an anxious time. Little corn was sown, and it has 

 not been possible to get on with the work on the land. The last remark is 

 also applicable in Kent, where lambing is said to have been satisfactory. 

 Wheat did not look well. 



Argentina. — The official estimate of the ma^ze crop published by the 

 Ministry of Agriculture on 6th March amounted to 3,456,000 tons {Dornbusch, 

 7th March). 



Notes Oil Crop India. — The second general memorandum on 



the Indian wheat crop for the season 1907-08 

 Prospects Abroad. [I n dian Trade Journal, 12th March, 1908) covers 

 the provinces which contain on an average 99-7 

 per cent, of the total reported area under wheat in India. The area sown 



