REPORT ON METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS, WISLEY, 1918. 93 



the rainfall was large, but at Wisley it was only moderate in amount, 

 and came chiefly in the first ten days of the month. In most dis- 

 tricts less than the normal amount of bright sunshine was experi- 

 enced, "but at the Gardens the deficiency was not very great, the 

 average daily amount being two and a half hours. As the general 

 result of these favourable climatic conditions all early flowering bulbs, 

 and also trees and shrubs, began to move rapidly, and reports were 

 received from several districts that apples, plums, and cherries were 

 already " looking very promising." 



March. — Throughout the greater part of this month the weather 

 was of the quiet type which usually accompanies what are known 

 to meteorologists as " anticy clonic conditions." Occasionally there 

 were strong winds, but they usually occurred in districts of limited 

 area — such as a portion of the south-east coast where they caused 

 some damage in exposed gardens — but they were by no means of 

 general occurrence. It was a decidedly dry month, and a deficiency 

 of rain was experienced over the kingdom generally. Temperature 

 was high for the season, and especially so towards the close of the 

 month, when at some favoured spots the thermometer rose to between 

 6o° and 70 0 in the shade. With such conditions vegetation made 

 rapid progress everywhere, and the general report from all parts of 

 the country was of satisfactory progress in all garden and farm work, 

 and in growth. At Wisley all early flowering plants made great 

 strides and all arrears in growth were very soon overtaken, and normal 

 conditions established, notwithstanding that as a set-off to the warm 

 days there were many cold nights with frequent frosts of some severity. 

 At Wisley seven degrees of frost was the lowest reading recorded in 

 the screen, four feet above the ground ; but on the ground itself the 

 thermometer fully exposed to the effect of radiation — as of course 

 are all plants under normal conditions — registered nineteen degrees 

 below the freezing-point on the night of the 16th. 



April was a month of abnormal weather, the winds being persist- 

 ently northerly and easterly, and the weather in consequence cold, 

 and by no means spring-like, until quite near the close of the month. 

 At Wisley the rainfall was excessive ; and in many parts of the south- 

 east of England, with longer records of rainfall than Wisley has as 

 yet, the record of rain was larger than had been recorded in any 

 preceding April. With this, of course, overcast skies were the rule, 

 with a lack of sunshine ; and the reports of the weather generally 

 spoke of it as wet and cold, with vegetation in a backward condition, 

 and much retarded by the cold easterly winds. All over the kingdom 

 the temperature was below the normal. Snow and sleet occurred 

 in many districts ; and in some places hail fell with sufficient force 

 to do much harm to the budding fruit trees. The wettest districts 

 were the south and east of England, where at several places larger 

 falls of rain were recorded than in any previous April for many years, 

 with much mist and haze, and with very little sunshine. 



May. — The cold and inclement weather of April continued into 



