84 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



number of hours recorded was quite 50 per cent, above the average 



for September. The fall of rain was very small nearly everywhere, 



and the exceptions to this rule were almost all due to heavy downpours 



accompanying thunderstorms. At Wisley rain was measured only 



on seven days, and the total was less than half the average amount. 



Night-frosts were occasionally rather severe, and in the Gardens at 



Wisley Rhododendrons, Camellias, and other shrubs suffered damage 



in consequence. 



The Wisley results are as follows : — 



Mean temperature of the air in shade . . . .56-9° 



Highest „ „ „ „ .... 81 0 on the 7th 



Lowest „ „ „„.... 30 0 „ 30th 



Lowest ,, on the grass . . . . .21° ,, 30th 



Number of nights of ground frost ........ 9 



At depth of 

 I ft. 2 ft. 4 ft. 



Mean temperature of the soil at 9 a.m. . . . 58"4° 59'5° 5&'9° 

 Highest „ „ „ „ 65 0 63 0 6o° 



Lowest „ „ „ 52° 56° 56 0 



Mean relative humidity of the air at 9 a.m. (complete saturation being repre- 

 sented by 100), 77 per cent. 



Rain fell on 7 days to the total depth of 0*71 in. (equivalent to about 3! gallons 

 of water to the square yard). Heaviest fall on any day 0*29 in., on the 10th. 



The winds were variable in direction. 



The average velocity of the wind was 5 miles an hour. 



There were 213 hours of bright sunshine, equal to 57 per cent, of the greatest 

 possible amount. 



There were no days on which sunshine was not recorded. 



October. — The warm, dry weather with which September closed 

 continued until tov/ards the end of October, by which time rain had 

 become much needed. The temperature during the month was gener- 

 ally a little above the average, and maxima of over 60 degrees were 

 frequent during the first half, whilst at Wisley the thermometer in the 

 screen, four feet above the ground, only once fell so low as the freezing- 

 point. But night-frosts occurred upon the ground several times, 

 without, however, doing much harm, the principal trouble in gardens 

 everywhere arising from the drought, which was general all over the 

 kingdom. At Wisley only seven-hundredths of an inch of rain fell 

 during thirty days, from the middle of September to the middle of 

 October, and although the rain which fell subsequently was very bene- 

 ficial to various autumn-flowering plants, yet deeper-rooted things still 

 suffered from want of water. There were no gales, and as a rule very 

 little wind anywhere. The weather was, however, dull, and curiously 

 the latter part of the month, which was the wettest, was also the 

 brightest ; a few favoured spots had more than the average amount 

 of sunshine, but more generally the total recorded did not amount to 

 three-fourths of the normal, and at Wisley only one quarter of the 

 possible amount was recorded. 



The Wisley records give the following results :— 



Mean temperature of the air in shade . . . .50-9° 

 Highest ,, ,, „,,.... 68° on the 1st 



Lowest „ „ „„.... 29 0 „ 12th 



Lo .vest ,, on the grass .... 24 0 28th 



Number of nights of ground frost . . . . . . .11 



