LESSONS FRO.M TIIK GREAT DROUGHT (»K 1898. 
127 
LESSONS FROM THE GEEAT DROUGHT OF 1898. 
By Mr. Ed. Mawley, Past President Royal Meteorological Society. 
[Read September 12, 1899.] 
I THINK you will allow, after I have given you a few particulars as to the 
position of my own garden and the character of its soil and subsoil, that 
it is not naturally calculated to withstand successfully anything like a 
prolonged drought. In the first place, it is situated on the side of a hill 
facing south, and about 00 feet above the bottom of the Berkhamsted 
valley, the rise in the ground being an unbroken gradient of 1 in 8. 
The soil is composed of disintegrated clay and numerous flints to the 
depth of about \) inches, then comes yellow clay and flints to the depth of 
about another 9 inches, and beneath this a hard pan resting on chalk 
of an unusually firm and close texture. It should be further stated, in 
order to show the complete nature of the drainage of this garden, that at 
a few yards beyond the bottom of it is a deep railway cutting. The flints 
in the soil vary greatly in size, and are so plentiful as to almost hide the 
surface of the beds if left exposed for any length of time. 
In cultivating such a garden a spade can seldom be used, while a hoe 
is of no service whatever. Consequently, all the digging and loosening 
of the soil has to be done with a fork. Although so stony, the surface 
soon becomes caked after rain. I mention these particulars at the outset, 
in order to show that although I may not be able to suggest any new 
methods of contending against dry seasons, I at all events have had good 
cause in recent years to put in practice most of those that have been 
already recommended. 
The climate of England is generally regarded as a rainy and humid 
one, and so it may be, even from a horticultural point of view, during 
the winter half of the year, when evaporation is languid. But I fancy 
most gardeners wdll agree with me that, even under average conditions, 
there is none too much rain for the requirements of the majority of the 
plants under their care during the summer half of the year. Of course, 
deep and retentive soils suffer much less than light and porous ones 
when the rainfall during the latter period happens to be to any 
extent deficient ; but, taking the country as a w^hole, there are compara- 
tively few localities where garden produce does not begin to suffer to a 
greater or less extent, unless special cultural precautions be taken to 
prevent it, after a few weeks of unusually dry weather. It may be 
interesting if I state here what may be regarded as a seasonable quantity 
of rain in different parts of the British Isles for each week in the 
growing or summer half of the year. Such quantities are usually given 
in inches or parts of an inch, or in tons or gallons per acre ; but for 
gardening purposes my meaning will, I think, be more readily under- 
stood if throughout this lecture I substitute for such measurements as 
these the average number of gallons of rain deposited on each square 
yard of surface per week. It should, however, be clearly understood that 
as I have only given the quantities to the nearest quarter of a gallon, and 
