132 
JOUEXAL OF THE E< )YAL HORTICULTUEAL SOCIETY. 
as compared with several moderate rains equally distributed over the 
period under examination. 
That prolonged droughts during the four months ending August, 
when vegetation is most active, are more serious in England than 
continued wet periods at the same time of year, is clearly shown by the 
following short tables : — 
Table I. — Prolonged Droughts during the Spring and Summer at 
Greenwich since 1'S15 : — * 
Year 
Period 
Length of 
drouglit 
Rainy days 
Total 
Bainfall 
In gallons per square 
yard per week 
Dars 
Inche? 
1818 
May 19 to September 1 
106 
13 
1-36 
Less than ^ gal. 
1825 
May 29 to August 2 . 
66 
4 
0-84 
1 
?! 2 " 
1834 
April 3 to June 3 
62 
12 
101 
l gal. 
1814 
March 15 to June 23 . 
101 
11 
0-53 
Less than ^ „ 
1854 
February 24 to April 27 
63 
9 
0-69 
i 
1870 
March 27 to June 30 • 
96 
15 
1-14 
X 
1887 
June 4 TO August 15 . 
73 
11 
1-37 
.. j .. 
1893 
March 6 to July 3 
120 
24 
1-59 
1895 
April 28 to JulV Hj . 
80 
19 
1-08 
The above may be regarded as the nine memorable spring and summer 
droughts that have occurred in the neighbourhood of London during the 
past eighty-four years. The average interval separating them has been 
about nine years, but the last two have taken place in the seven years 
ending 1899, and ^^ithin two years of each other : while the first of 
these, that of 1893, was the longest of the series. Neither the drought 
of 1898 nor that of the present year was sufficiently severe at Greenwich 
during the spring and summer months to allow of its inclusion in this 
select table. The drought of 1898 was, however, a very exceptional one. 
Treated in the same way as the droughts in the table it lasted sixty- 
eight days (August 8 to October 11), during which rain fell on seventeen 
days to the total depth of 0'82 inches, or less than \ gall, per week 
on each square yard. The most remarkable feature of this drought, 
considering its severity, was the late period of the year at which it 
occurred. 
During the present year, ls99, there have been at Greenwich three 
distinct droughts. The first of these lasted from February 20 to 
March 20, or for twenty-nine days, during which the rainfall amounted 
to less than ^ gaU. per week on each square yard of surface. The 
second from May 25 to June 17, or for twenty-four days, when no rain 
at all fell. The third from July 25 to August 27, or for thirty-four 
days, when the rate of fall was less than ^ gall, for each S'juare yard 
per week. 
* Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society. Vol. 24. page 70. 
