382  The  Weather  during  the  Agricultural  Year,  1903-1004. 
and  in  excellent  condition.  The  damage  to  the  cereals  was  by 
this  time  beyond  repair,  all  the  brightness  and  warmth  of  the 
summer  failing  to  compensate  for  the  iinfavourahle  influences 
of  the  winter  and  the  early  spring.  The  grain  crops  appeared 
in  many  j)laces  flourishing  enough,  and  the  weather  at  the 
time  of  harvest  left  little  to  be  desired,  hut  the  actual  yield 
was  disappointing,  the  verdict  “ under  the  average  ” being 
returned  from  nearly  all  parts  of  the  country.  The  autumn  of 
1904  was  fortunately  more  propitious,  so  that  at  the  time  of 
writing  the  agricxiltural  prospects  for  the  ensuing  season  were 
much  more  favourable  than  thev  were  at  the  commencement 
of  1904. 
The  rainfall  of  the  past  year  presented  a marked  conti-a.st 
with  that  of  1903.  This  will  be  seen  A’ery  clearly  by  the  table 
given  on  page  391.  In  1903  almost  every  part  of  the  country 
had  a large  excess,  the  wettest  districts  (as  compared  with  the 
average)  l)eing  the  south  of  England,  the  north  of  Ireland,  and 
the  west  of  Scotland.  Last  year  there  was  a very  general 
deficiency,  the  only  portions  of  the  kingdom  in  which  the 
rainfall  exceeded  the  average  being  the  coast  stations  in  the 
south-west,  the  west,  and  the  extreme  north,  from  the  Channel 
Islands  and  Cornwall,  round  by  the  west  of  Ireland,  to  the 
Hebrides  and  the  Shetlands. 
The  Winter  of  1903-1904. 
The  winter  of  1903-1904  was  extremely  changeable,  with 
a general  predominance  of  cold  weather,  but  with  very  little 
in  the  way  of  severe  frost.  Snow  was  rather  frequent,  but 
occurred  mainly  in  the  form  of  showers,  the  absence  of  heavy 
storms  of  this  nature  being  even  more  noticeable  than  in  many 
milder  seasons  of  recent  years. 
The  coldest  weather  of  the  whole  winter  was  experienced 
at  the  beginning  of  December  and  at  the  close  of  that  month. 
In  the  former  case  the  frost  came  with  a northerly  wind 
which  spread  over  the  country  at  the  end  of  November.  The 
lowest  temperatures  were  recorded,  as  a rule,  on  December  2 
or  3,  when  the  sheltered  thermometer  fell  to  10"  or  12"  below 
the  freezing  point  in  many  parts  of  the  country  and  to  14"  below 
it  at  Swarraton,  in  Hampshire.  On  the  3rd  a gale  from  the 
south-westward  sprang  up,  and  the  thermometer  rose  rapidly, 
the  change  being  accompanied  by  heavy  rain  in  North  Wales 
and  the  north-west  of  England.  Two  daj'S  later  a thick  fog 
was  experienced  in  many  districts,  with  a brief  touch  of  frost, 
the  thermometer  in  some  places  failing  to  rise  above  the  freezing 
point  all  day.  The  second  spell  of  cold  was  due  to  an  easterly 
wind  which  spread  over  from  the  Continent  soon  after  Christ- 
mas, the  lowest  temperatures  being  observed  as  a rule  on  or 
