195 



BJ.UE HILLS WEATHER REPORT. \ " 



December Notable for its Warmth— I 

 ^Ufflfflary of the Conditions During!^, 



JX'wuiibfi- \vas notiible lor its warmth, 

 the absonee of snow and of other ehar- 

 actenBtKs of winter. The mean tem- 

 perature of 34.7 degrees was 5.9 degrees 

 above the normal and the highest for 

 Beeember since 1891. Last year it was 

 2o.7 degrees. The maximum tempera- 

 ture of the montli was 06 deijrees on 

 the 12tli and this is the highest tem- 

 perature m December since December 14, 

 1881, when 68 degrees was recorded. The' 

 lowest temperature of the month was 11 

 degrees on the' 5th. The temperature 

 rose above freezing on all except four 

 days and from the 6th to tlie 14th did 

 no. fall below 34 degrees. 



The total precipitation of ;i.24 inches 

 was .56, inch less than tin; normal 



amount and nearly all 

 1-ain. Tn nceemlier. I9lf). flic (oMl' was 

 2.S9 inches. Rain fell o,i ci..|it days and 



""^ '^'^y "■'^'^ iue'hes on 

 tlie 2.3d. There were measurable kuows 

 on the J 5th and .31st and tlio total fall 

 was 5.5 inches. There was the averace 

 relative humidity, the mean for the 

 month of 74.4. j^er cent, bein^ exaetlv 

 normal. 



The total amount of sunshine of 117 

 hours was II hours less than the aver- 

 '""I flici,. was somewhat less than 

 tlic :n(.r:ivc mid tliere was somewhat 

 than usual. There was 

 little wind e,\cept during the closing 

 I days of the month, and the mean hourly 

 velocity was the lowest on record for 

 l)pcombcr. The maximum velocity was 

 07 ,„i|,,s ,„,, hour fro,„ the west on 

 the -Mth. 'J'lic prevailing wind direc- 

 tion was west. 



Abnoruially high temperatures in ,lan- 

 liary, May, .luly and December caused 

 1911 to average as a warm year al- 

 though tlie eight other montlis 'were all 

 somewliat cooler than usual. The mean 

 temperature of 47.8 degrees was 9 de- 

 grees above the average and the same 

 as in 1910. 1911 is the fourth consecu- 

 tive year to be warmer than normal. The 

 iperatures departures of May, July 



I bo 



I'l 



md December 



remarkable. May 

 I- ^^allMeKt month of the name 

 lis. duly the warmest on record 

 I (he warmest in 30 years, 

 itcd temperatures were" expe- 

 .......... in July, on six days maxima 



Ingher than before recorded being ob- 

 served, tlic hifjliest reached being 99.3 

 degrees on Jiih ;!id. I hcre were no ex- 

 tremely low tcniu iaiuivs, the minimum 

 ; for the year bciiio ,,,„■ above zero on 



February 6th. 

 I L Like the three preceding years 1911 

 was- deficient iii prcci])itatioii, but i,i a 

 less degree, the total of 44.63 inches 

 being 1.35 inches less than normal and 

 tne most for any year since 1907. June, 

 July, August and November were the' 

 only months with more than the aver- 

 age rainfall August being the wettest 

 month of the year with 6.70 inches. 

 ; May was notably dry. with a total rain- 

 faU of only .89 inch which was the 

 least for May on record. During the 

 year there were 45 inches of snow which 

 was 17 mclies less than nomal. There 

 was a marked absence of snow in Janu- 

 ary and December, only one inch fall- 

 ing 111 January and in December nearly 

 all the total fell on the 31st. There 

 was an excess of snow in April, the 

 tofnl lull of 10 inches being six inch 

 iiiori' tliMii the average. 



There was slightly more sunshine thr 

 usiiiii, lint the total amount of 33C. 

 Iionis was the least for anv year since 

 1907. 't'hore was a slight 'excess of 

 cloudiness and nearly the average rela- 

 tive humidity. There was little wind 

 throughout t)ie year, tlie mean hourly 

 velocity being the lowest on record at 

 J:ilue Hill. March was the only month 

 with a normal wind movement, 'all other 

 months having less wind than usual. 

 January, February, August and De- 

 cember had the lowest wind movement 

 on record and August had the least 

 wind of any month thus far observed at 

 Wine Hill. The maximum velocity of 

 the year was 67 miles per hour 'from 

 the west on Deo. 38th a.d there were 

 few other gales. The pre\tiiling wind 

 direction was west. L. A Well 



Blue Hill Observatory. 

 January ], 1913. 



THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



The 74th regular meeting of the society was 

 held at the Cosmos Club, Tuesday, October 10, 

 1911, at eight o'clock p.m. In the absence of the 

 Tegular officers, Dr. Albert Mann presided. 

 Twenty-five members were present. 



The following papers were read: 



The Wilting Coefficient for Different Plants and 

 its Indirect Determination : Dr. L. J. Brigos 

 and Dr. 11. L. Shantz. (Presented by Dr. 

 Shantz. ) 



The Forest of Arden, a Dream: H. C. Skeels. 



The Forest of Arden is a 300-aere tract of 

 native woodland, three miles east of Joliet, 111., 

 in the valley of Hickory Creek, and forms a part 

 of the 2,000-acre estate, Harlow-Arden, of Mr. H. 

 N. Higinbotham, of Chicago. The creek is dammed 

 in three places, with locks through the two upper 

 dams, giving a mile and a half of boating. Five 

 miles of gravel drives have been laid out, the pur- 

 pose being to display the landscape beauties of 

 mixed meadows and woods to the best advantage. 

 Along these drives, begimiing with the ferns and 

 following the accepted sequence of plant families 

 to the composites, there has been planted a botanic 

 garden of 2,000 species, room being left for as 

 many more. 



Each species is located by its place in the se- 

 quence, and by a map, cross-sectioned to square 

 100 feet on each side, accompanied by an index 

 giving the plant names and the number of the 

 square on which each will be found. There are 

 no formal beds and no labels, but the species are 

 there, to be seen by those interested. 



The eleventh annual business meeting of the 

 society was held on Tuesday, October 24, 1911. 

 Officers were elected as follows; President, W. A. 

 Orton; Vice-president, A. 8. Hitchcock; Uncording 

 Secretary, Edw. C. Johnson; Corresponding Secre- 

 tary, W. W. Stoekberger; Treasurer, F. L. Lew- 

 ton. The executive committee reported an active 

 membership of 104, there having been nineteen 

 accessions during the year. 



