578 
The Summer of 1804 . 
(near Emsworth). The rainfalls of J une 4 and August 2 and 9 were 
restricted mainly to the northern parts of the country, and were as 
a rule less heavy than those in the south. On August 9, however, 
more than two and a half inches are said to have fallen in the 
neighbourhood of Carlisle. In nearly all cases the torrential rains 
were accompanied by thunderstorms, and in many instances by hail, 
the destructive effect of the latter upon the crops being often very 
serious. 
Bright Sunshine . — A deficiency in the amount of bright sun- 
shine was reported throughout nearly the entire summer, the only 
times in which any excess was shown being the end of June 
and the beginning of July, when fine weather prevailed over the 
entire country, and the last week in August, when the southern dis- 
tricts were alone favoured. Taking the season as a whole, we see 
from the table that the duration of sunshine was below the average 
in all districts, the deficiency being comparatively small in the 
north, but exceedingly large in the south. Over our southern 
counties the mean daily amount was about three-quarters of an hour 
less than the average, and in the south-western counties about an 
hour and a quarter less ; while in the Channel Islands the deficiency 
was as much as an hour and a half. Although any comparison with 
so abnormally fine a summer as that of 1893 may seem a little un- 
fair, the subjoined facts are of some value in furnishing a proof of 
the extreme variability of our climate and the wide vicissitudes to 
which the English farmer is exposed. Over the midland, eastern, 
and southern counties the aggregate duration of bright sunshine in 
the summer of 1894 was about 150 hours less than in that of 1893, 
the mean daily amount showing a deficiency of nearly an hour and 
three-quarters. In the south-western counties the aggregate dura- 
tion this year was about 230 hours less than in 1893, the mean daily 
amount showing a deficiency of about two hours and a half. This 
difference, however, large though it undoubtedly was, sinks into 
insignificance when compared with the state of things existing in 
the Channel Islands, where the amount of sunshine last summer was 
nearly 320 hours smaller than in the fine season of 1893. Last year 
the mean daily amount of sunshine in that locality was as much as 
nine hours and a half ; this year the amount was only six hours — 
a deficiency for the entire summer of no less than three hours and a 
half per day. The Channel Islands, usually one of the most favoured 
spots in the British area, seem, in fact, this year to have ex- 
perienced more rain and a greater deficiency of bright sunshine than 
any other part of the country. 
