44 JOURNAL OF THE EOYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



westerly points predominated. The temperature was very generally below 

 the normal, whilst the rainfall was everywhere in excess, and hail and 

 snow were not infrequent. The amount of bright sunshine was with few 

 exceptions less than the average, and the weather of the month may be 

 summed up as cold, wet, and windy, and generally unfavourable for all 

 farm and garden work. Occasionally sharp frosts were experienced, and 

 on the night of the 15th the screened thermometer at Wisley fell to 

 23°*3, and the thermometer exposed upon the grass to 16 0, 8, whilst 

 another grass thermometer exposed in a lower part of the garden fell a 

 degree and a half lower. But throughout the month there was an absence 

 of really warm days, the highest temperature reached being only 56°'3 

 on the 24th, when a westerly wind blew and the sun shone brightly 

 throughout the greater part of the day. It was to this absence of spring- 

 like warmth rather than to the occasional occurrence of somewhat low 

 temperatures that the low average temperature and the general back- 

 wardness of vegetation were due, the month being one of the coldest 

 Marchs on record. 



Observations made at Wisley : 



Mean temperature of the air in shade ... 40 o, 2 



Highest „ „ „ ... 56°-3 on the 24th 



Lowest „ „ „ 23°-3 „ 15th 



Lowest „ on the grass 16 0, 8 „ 15th 



At l ft. At 2 ft. At 4 ft. 

 deep. deep. deep. 



Mean temperature of the soil at 9 a.m 40°-2 41°-9 42°-4 



Highest „ „ „ ... 44°-2 44°-3 43°-3 



Lowest „ „ „ 37°-6 40 c -3 41°-9 



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



represented by 100) 85% 



Rain fell on 20 days to the total depth of ... ... ... ... 3*06 in. 



(Equivalent to nearly 14| gallons of water to the square yard.) 



Heaviest fall on any day 0-54 in. on the 5th 



The prevailing winds were from between south and north-west. 

 The average velocity of the wind was 7| miles an hour. 



There were 111 hours of bright sunshine, equal to 30 per cent, of the greatest 

 possible amount. There were but 3 days on which no sunshine was recorded. 



April. — The weather of April was in some respects very remarkable, 

 the persistent cold winds from northerly quarters keeping the temperature 

 so low that the month ranks as the coldest April experienced for nearly 

 forty years. The coldest snap was on the 8th and 9th, when the un- 

 screened thermometer at the gardens fell to 17° ; but from the 13th to 

 the 15th, and again from the 18th to the 25th, although the cold was 

 less severe, the thermometer on the grass fell several degrees below the 

 freezing point nearly every night. In some parts of the kingdom, however, 

 the low readings at Wisley were greatly surpassed, a temperature of 4° 

 having been obtained on the ground at Balmoral, 9 2 at Huddersfield, and 

 less than 15° at many places. During the last ten days of the month 

 there were frequent snowstorms, the worst occurring on the 25th with a 

 severe gale, the snow falling to such a depth that railway traffic became 

 disorganized, road traffic was completely stopped in many districts, and 

 much damage was done to trees and shrubs. The rainfall over the 

 greater part of England and Ireland was above the average, but in 



