142 Report of Experiments on the Growth of Barley, 
trary, was several degrees colder than the average, with about, or 
less than, the average amount of rain. Early in April warm 
weather set in, and lasted till nearly the end of the month, the 
temperature during this period being several degrees higher than 
the average, whilst the fall of rain was generally under the 
average. May and June were, with few exceptions, of short 
duration, very much colder than the average. Towards the end 
of May the cold was very extreme for the season, and the greater 
part of June was very unusually cold, both day and night ; 
and in May there was a considerable excess, though in June a 
deficiency, of rain. Early in July there was again a change to 
warm weather, which lasted till the end of the month, during 
which there was very little rain. The first three weeks of 
August were very unseasonably cold and showery, though the 
total amount of rain was comparatively small ; but the con- 
cluding week of the month was very bright and hot. Then 
came a short period of cold weather, but the remainder of Sep- 
tember was warm but stormy, with a good deal of rain. In 
April, May, and June, the degree of humidity of the air ranged 
high, especially in May ; in July it was about the average, but in 
August and September it was below it. 
To sum up the characters of the season : The heat and drought 
of the spring and summer of 1868 were followed by a warm 
and dry September, but cold and dry October and Novem- 
ber, providing a good autumn seed-time. The three winter 
months were very warm, and, December and January espe- 
cially, very wet, ^ bringing autumn-sown crops very rapidly 
forward, and providing an unusual amount of winter grazing, 
which greatly compensated for the previous deficiency. But, 
owing to the condition of the land, spring sowing was re- 
tarded. The weather in March was dry and cold, much 
checking vegetation ; which, however, recovered rapidly under 
the influence of very warm, though somewhat dry, weather in 
April ; but the remainder of the spring was very cold, and also 
wet; June, again, for the most part cold ; July warm, most of 
August cold, the conclusion, and September, hot; whilst the 
summer was comparatively dry, though the harvest-time some- 
what unsettled. 
With a season characterised by alternate periods of forcing 
and checking weather, with more of the latter than of the former 
during the time of most active growth, and with a changeable 
ripening and harvest period, favourable or unfavourable for the 
crops according to their forwardness at the time, the reports of 
the crops of the country generally were very conflicting. The 
wheat-crop, though very variable, was reported to be, in the 
aggregate, somewhat below an average, both in quantity and 
