REPORT ON METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS, WISLEY, 191 7. 32I 
four degrees below the average for March. But in addition to being 
cold the weather throughout was also everywhere dull and unsettled ; 
and although in most districts the actual amounts of snow and rain 
recorded were somewhat below the average, yet the dampness of the 
air, combined with the extreme cold, made the weather exceedingly 
" raw " and unpleasant. Over the northern half of the kingdom, 
and also in the higher and more exposed portions of the English 
Midlands, the temperature fell occasionally to points in the near 
neighbourhood of zero, and here and there temperatures below zero 
were recorded. Of course, with such weather conditions all garden 
and agricultural work was still further hindered, and by common 
JanFeb Mar AprMay Jum JulAug SepOctNqvDeg 
Fig. 53. — Mean Temperature, Mean Maximum and Mean Minimum Tem- 
peratures of Air and Mean Minimum Temperatures on Grass for 
each Month of 191 7 at Wisley. 
consent the season was reported as having been, all over the kingdom, 
the most backward experienced for a long series of years. At Wisley 
scarcely any Spring flowers were to be seen, a few Crocuses being the 
only things of the kind in bloom, and all gardening operations were 
much hindered. Ground frosts were registered in the Gardens on 
twenty-seven out of the thirty-one nights of the month, and on only 
two occasions did the thermometer rise, at any part of the day or 
night, so high as 50 °. Bright sunshine was deficient everywhere, 
with the exception of one or two favoured districts, and in many 
districts the deficiency was large. It only remains to add that the 
month maintained its reputation for windiness, a feature which, 
combined with those already mentioned, helped to make it (in the 
