384 
THE WEATHER DURING THE 
AGRICULTURAL YEAR, 1907-1908. 
A MILD autumn in 1907, with an excess of rain in most southern 
districts, was followed by a long spell of very changeable 
weather, lasting, with few important interruptions, beyond the 
middle of the following spring. The winter was, as a rule, cold, 
though seldom very severe, and the conditions remained un- 
favourable for the active growth of vegetation throughout 
nearly the whole of March and April, the frosts and snowstorms 
experienced towards the close of the latter month being of 
unusual intensity for so late a period in the season. In May a 
decided improvement took place, and throughout the summer 
the conditions were upon the whole fine and genial, with, how- 
ever, a somewhat remarkable absence of anything in the way 
of extreme warmth. A fortnight of very wet weather was 
experienced in the early part of July, while a spell of broken 
weather in the latter half of August served in many places 
to prolong the harvest beyond its ordinary limits. The succeed- 
ing autumn proved warm and dry, and allowed of the almost 
uninterrupted progress of farm operations, so that the agricul- 
tural season of 1908-1909 opened under the most favourable 
auspices. 
The Winter of 1907-1908. 
The winter season was marked by very changeable weather, 
in which almost every climatic element succeeded at one time 
or another in forcing itself into prominent notice. The ther- 
mometer was, as a rule, above the average winter level, but the 
generally open character of the season was occasionally inter- 
rupted by brief spells of severe frost and one or two heavy 
snowstorms. In most districts the sharpest frost occurred at 
the close of December or the beginning of January, another 
touch of cold being experienced between January 10 and 13 ; 
in February the thermometer scarcely ever fell more than five 
or six degrees below the freezing point. 
December was for the most part mild and open, the warmest 
weather occurring round the 8th and the 19th. O 11 each of 
those occasions the thermometer rose above 55° in many 
places. On the 8th a reading of 59° was reached at Epsom and 
Eastbourne, while on the 19th a reading of 58° was recorded a 
Rhyl, Geldeston (near Beccles), Maidenhead, and Jersey. Be- 
tween 1 in. and in. of rain fell in south Wales and the 
south-west of England on the 4th, and similarly large amounts 
