The Spring of 1894. 
397 
the thermometer exceeded 70° were the eastern and southern; in 
the north-east and north-west of England the thermometer did not 
exceed 65°, and in the last-mentioned district it did not even reach 
that point. The minimum temperatures, given in the second column 
of the Table, were recorded on various dates in March, but readings 
very slightly higher were observed during the week ending May 26. 
In the screen the thermometer at the latter advanced season of the 
year fell to 26° in the midlands, to 27° in the south-western counties, 
and to 29° in all other districts excepting the Channel Islands. On the 
surface of the ground the frost was of course more severe, the lowest 
points reached by exposed thermometers being 18° at Worksop, 19° 
at Stoke-on-Trent, and 23° at Loughborough. 
Rainfall . — The rainfall over the country generally was very 
irregularly distributed throughout the quarter, but upon the whole 
it was short of the average during the earlier half of the period, and 
in excess during the latter half. The total amount for the season did 
not differ much from the normal, excepting in the midland counties, 
where there was a deficiency of about 19 per cent. In the eastern 
and north-western counties and in the Channel Islands there was for 
the entire quarter a slight excess, while in the north-eastern and 
southern counties there was an equally slight deficit. The number 
of days with rain also agreed fairly well with the average, excepting 
in the north-eastern and north-western counties, where the falls were 
more frequent than usual. The absolute drought which set in over 
the country generally about the middle of March continued in many 
places for three weeks or more, and in several isolated portions of our 
eastern, central, and southern counties it lasted for as many as 25 or 
26 days. In some few places situated in the same districts a partial 
drought prevailed for upwards of six weeks. Snow or sleet fell at 
many of the western and northern stations between May 19 and 22. 
Bright Sunshine was largely in excess of the average in March 
and the early part of April, but for the remainder of the quarter it 
was almost continuously deficient, the only sunny week being that 
ending with May 26. Taking the season as a whole, there was a 
decided excess, the finest district of all being the north-eastern 
counties, where the sun shone upon an average for nearly an hour 
per day in excess of the usual duration. In the southern counties 
the daily excess did not amount to quite half an hour, while in the 
Channel Islands it was little more than a quarter of an hour. 
OUR IMPORTS OF HAY. 
A noteworthy result of the disastrous drought which prevailed 
over most of England in the summer of 1893 has been the enormous 
increase in our imports of hay consequent on the meagre crop of the 
home-grown product. To such an extent have the imports gone up 
that for the past year particulars have been supplied, month by 
month, to the Board of Trade by Her Majesty’s Customs, showing 
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