62 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



on the iith and 67° on the 2nd, but there were several readings above 

 60° quite at the close of the month. There were also very few ground 

 frosts at night, and none of them severe. With such genial weather it 

 was not surprising to hear from all parts of the kingdom of the persistence 

 in bloom of various herbaceous plants and of roses, of second crops of 

 plums and raspberries, and also of the blooming of lilac, primroses, and 

 other spring flowers. There were a good many severe thunderstorms, 

 and heavy falls of rain in various parts of the kingdom, the downpour 

 being in some instances phenomenally heavy — ^between 2 and 3 inches in 

 the course of the day and night. Wisley had rain on 15 days, but in 

 some districts scarcely a day passed without rain — ^much or Httle. 

 Notwithstanding the heavy rainfall, the amount of bright sunshine 

 was very generally in excess of the average, and nowhere was it much 

 below the normal ; at Wisley it averaged three hours and a quarter 

 per diem. A meteorological phenomenon which deserves mention 

 was the tornado which visited South Wales at the close of the 27th, 

 and in its course destroyed a considerable amount of property besides 

 several lives. 



The records at Wisley give the following results : 



Mean temperature of the air in shade 



. 52-8° 



Highest „ „ „ „ . . 



67° on the 2nd 



Lowest „ „ „ „ . . 



• 35° „ 25th 



Lowest on the grass 



. 27° „ 24th 



Number of nights of ground frost . 



7 





At depth of 





I ft. 2 ft. 4 ft. 



Mean temperature of the soil at 9 a.m. 



• 53-7° 54-8° 55-3° 



Highest 



. 59° 59° 57° 



Lowest „ „ » » 



. 49° 52° 53° 



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

 sented by 100), 89 per cent. 



Rain fell on 15 days, to the total depth of 3-51 in. (equivalent to about i6| 

 gallons of water to the square yard) . 



Heaviest fall on any day o"7i in., on the 26th. 



The prevailing winds were from south-east to south-west. 



The average velocity of the wind was 4 miles an hour. 



There were 104 hours of bright sunshine, equal to 32 per cent, of the greatest 

 possible amount. 



There were 5 days on which no sunshine was recorded. 



November.' — ^The outstanding feature of the weather throughout this 

 month was its remarkable mildness, due to the persistent southerly 

 winds, which occasionally attained considerable force, but were 

 invariably warm for the season. Snow was entirely absent, but rain 

 was somewhat frequent, although not heavy ; and in many districts 

 night frosts were never experienced. At Wisley on calm nights the 

 thermometer exposed upon the grass occasionally fell below 32°, and once 

 to 20°, but few districts had a similar experience, and at Wisley the day 

 temperature rose to above 50° nearly every day throughout the month. 

 Everywhere, therefore, the mean temperature exceeded the normal, 

 and^ again a remarkable prolongation of activity in plant life was 



