Our Climate and our Wheat-Crops. 
181 
was, therefore, ffrown in a season warmer than usual almost 
throughout, but especially in the winter and in the spring-, 
excepting April ; and, after an excess of rain in the winter, 
there was a considerable deficiency for four months, to the end 
of May,again a deficiency in June, but afterwards heavy rains, 
though with high temperatures. 
1835. — The mean temperatures were higher than the average 
in every month from November to September inclusive, except- 
ing in March, which was close upon the average. There was a 
considerable excess of rain in February, March, May, and June, 
but a considerable deficiency in October, November, December, 
January, April, July, and August. Tooke and Newmarch 
observe that the winter was as open, and as much marked by 
an absence of snow and frost as the three preceding winters ; that 
the spring was upon the whole favourable to the wheat-crops ; 
the summer brilliantly fine till the last week in June, and the 
wheat of extraordinary bulk and luxuriance. At the close of 
June heavy rains and high winds laid the crops ; but bright 
breezy weather in July stayed the damage, though much did 
not ripen well. The rest of the season was fine. The wheat- 
crops were got in in excellent order ; but, though bulky, they 
Avere decidedly inferior in both yield and quality to those ot 
1834. 
To sum up in regard to these four consecutive seasons of 
abundant wheat-crops : it is seen that they were characterised by 
mild and open winters, upon the whole mild springs, and average 
or warmer than average summers — especially the last two of 
the four. In each season there were individual months of con- 
siderably more than average fall of rain, sometimes earlier, and 
sometimes later, and accordingly influencing the bulk of the 
crop. But each season was characterised by less than the ave- 
rage fall of rain during several months of the growing period, 
and this was particularly the case in the season of 1834, the one 
of the most extraordinary productiveness. 
We now come to those of the seasons selected for illustration 
which have occurred since the commencement of the Rothamsted 
experiments, and the characters of which are, therefore, more 
within our own knowledge and observation. Of these we will 
take first the seasons of high productiveness, and take them in 
chronological order. 
1854. — November (1853) was about, but December consider- 
ably below, the average as to temperature, indeed very severe ; 
and portions of January and February were also severe, with heavy 
snow in January ; but still the four months, January to April 
inclusive, each showed higher than the average mean temperature. 
In October (1853) there had been a great excess of rain, but 
during each of the six months from seed-time to the end of 
