MR. A. W. PRESTON’S METEOROLOGICAL NOTES. QI 
when, on the 28th, a sudden and rapid fall set in, the mercury 
falling over an inch in 36 hours. There was but little snow. 
The east winds in the third week assisted in drying the surface 
of the soil, which had been in an exceedingly wet and sloppy 
state for a long time previous, owing to the frequent rains 
of the winter. Vegetation started about a month later than 
in the previous year. Thunder occurred on the 8th and 
29th. 
April. 
This was one of the finest and most beautiful Aprils ex- 
perienced for many years past. Mean temperature was as 
much as 3 degrees above the average (being 6 degrees higher 
than in the previous April), and on no day throughout the 
month did the thermometer fail to touch 50 degrees, a circum- 
stance which, as far as can be ascertained, had not happened 
since the very warm April of 1865. Rainfall was only half 
the average, and the absence of rain was not unwelcome 
after the many months of downpour and dampness which 
had previously prevailed. There was but little easterly wind, 
and the show of fruit blossom was most abundant. 
May. 
The barometer was generally at a fairly high elevation, 
and there were no depressions of note. The weather was, 
on many days, very bright and cheering, and, on the whole, 
it was a much better May than usual. Mean temperature 
was 1.6 above the average, and the amount of rain about 
normal. There was but little east wind, and the blossoming 
pf the orchards proceeded almost without a check. 
June. 
Although there was no great heat, this was a very fine 
month, with many pleasant summer days. There was con- 
siderable keenness in the air on some of the earlier days of 
the month. The total rainfall was only *68 ins., and, following 
a dry April and May, the want of moisture by the end of 
