( XII  ) 
The  following  Report  on  the  Hay -harvest  forecasts  of  1882  has 
been  received  from  the  Meteorological  Office  : — 
“ Sir, 
“ I beg  to  submit  herewith  a Report  on  the  Hay  Harvest 
Forecasts  for  1882. 
“ The  issue  of  these  forecasts  commenced  with  those  for  ‘ England 
N.E.,  E.,  Midland  Counties,  England  S.  and  S.W.’  on  the  12th  of 
June;  as  the  season  advanced,  those  for  the  other  districts  were 
added,  and  the  issue  terminated  generally  on  August  12th  with 
* Scotland  N.’  Most  of  the  districts  received  the  telegrams  daily 
(except  on  Sundays)  for  a space  of  about  five  weeks,  hut  in  the 
case  of  ‘ England  S.W.’  they  were  continued  for  an  additional 
fortnight  by  a special  request  of  the  observers.  In  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Knutsford  the  forecasts  were  so  fully  appreciated  that  they 
were  continued  at  the  expense  of  the  Hon.  P.  Egerton  for  an 
additional  period  of  four  weeks. 
“ The  result  of  the  checking  shows  that  the  total  percentage  of 
success  (87)  is  much  larger  than  in  either  of  the  preceding  years 
during  which  the  hay -harvest  forecasts  have  been  issued,  and  also 
that  the  proportion  of  completely  successful  forecasts  is  decidedly 
greater  than  it  has  hitherto  been.  The  largest  total  percentages 
of  success  were  reached  in  ‘ England  N.W.  ’ and  * Ireland  S.,’  for 
which  districts  the  value  was  92,  while  the  smallest  proportion  (80) 
was  in  ‘ England  E.’  and  ‘ Ireland  N.’ 
“ The  following  is  a brief  resume  of  the  larger  table  on 
pp.  XIV.  and  XV. 
