88 
THE WEATHER OF 1845. 
only twice in June, while it occurred five times 
in August, twice in July, and once in May 
(1841). The week in which this maximum 
occurred was, it will be remembered, the only 
hot week, the only approach to summer, we 
had during the past year ; and the mean tem- 
perature of the month shows that subsequent 
to that month we had no increase in heat. In 
other j'ears the mean temperature of both 
July and August is considerably above that 
of June. The mean temperature of the year, 
viz. 46 degrees, is a degree higher than that 
of 1844, and is the same as that of 1836 and 
1838. It is lower than any other of the ten 
preceding years. The following Table will 
show the mean temperature of 1845, and of 
each of the preceding five years : — 
1815. 1844. 1843, 1842. 1841. 1840. 
Deg. Deg. Deg. Deg. Deg. Deg. 
Jan. 36.0 38.1 37.6 33.2 34.0 39.6 
Feb. 32.6 33.5 35.2 40.1 3S 2 38.5 
Mar. 34.7 3S.3 42.6 44.0 46.3 41.7 
April 48.9 46 9 44.9 47.6 46.2 50.9 
May 48.6 49.9 47.2 54.3 53.9 52.1 
June 58.1 54.2 51.5 58.5 56.9 56.9 
July 58.2 55.6 56.9 57.0 57.4 56.6 
Aug. 56.1 58.1 60.2 61.5 58.7 60.6 
Sept. 53.7 55.8 57.6 57.5 56.0 52.3 
Oct. 49.6 47.1 44.2 44.5 44.1 47.0 
Nov. 40.0 40.8 41.0 39.6 37.5 43.0 
Dec. 369 31.8 45.2 44.6 39.3 37.S 
The number of nights on which the tempe- 
rature has fallen to or below -the freezing 
point, during the past year, is very great, 
namely, 133. In 1844, there were 95 such 
nights; in 1843, 61; in 1842, 58; in 1841, 
70; and in 1840, only 49. Thus in 1845, 
there were 38 more frosty nights than in 1844, 
which again has a greater number than any of 
the four preceding years. The increase of 
frosty nights is easily accounted for, when we 
remember that there were 23 such nights in 
the month of March last, and 25 in the month 
of February. Indeed it is a remarkable fact 
that between the 29th of November, 1844, 
and the 21st day of March, 1845 (a period of 
112 days), there were only 18 days not frosty. 
As this is an important feature of the weather, 
as respects the gardener, it will be well to give 
a detailed Table of Frosty Nights : — 
Frosty Nights; 
Jan. Every night except 5th, <5th, 7th, 8th, 
11th, 14th, 18th, and 22d to 26th. . 19 
Feb. Every night except the 3d, 13th, & 16th 25 
Mar. Every night except the 3d, 10th, 22d, 
23d, 27th, 28th, 29th, and 31st . . 23 
Apr. On the 2d to 7th, 9th to 13th, 16th, 
17th, 20th, 21st, 23d, 24th, & 25th . 18 
May On the 5th, 6th, 9th, 11th, 14th, ISth, 
20th, 30th, and 31st 9 
June None 
July None 
Aug. None 
Sept. On the 2d, 23d, 24th, and 25th . '. '. 4 
Oct. On the 5th, 6th, and 26th 3 
Frosty Nights. 
Nov. On the 1st, 2d, 3d, 5th, 11th to 15th, 
21st to 25th, and 30th 15 
Dec. On the 3d, 4lh, 7th, 8th, 10th, 12th, 
13th, 14th, 18thto22d, 24th, 27th, 
29th, and 31st 17 
So much, however, depends upon locality 
for these indications of frost, that the above 
table can be said to represent little more than 
the temperature of a particular part of my 
garden ; as I have frequently known the dif- 
ference between a thermometer placed at the 
foot of the garden wall, and one hung against 
the house, to be as much as 10 degs. in severe 
weather. It must be noted, also, that out of 
the 17 frosty nights in December, scarcely 
more than two or three produced ice, so mo- 
mentary had been the fall of temperature, 
during most of the nights. December was, 
perhaps, one of the coldest months to the 
feeling that we have experienced for some 
time, although the mean temperature, as exhi- 
bited by the thermometer, is not much lower 
than usual. The effects of the low tempera- 
ture, in January, February, and March, will 
be long remembered ; for, from the almost 
total absence of snow to protect the plants, 
and the very great difference between the 
temperature of the nights and that of the days, 
(in the sun, frequently as much as 39 or 40 
degs.,) such a trying season for vegetables and 
shrubs has scarcely been known. Such a 
scarcity of vegetables, as there was in the 
London markets, iias not been experienced for 
the last nine years. 
With respect to such other details of the 
weather as are of interest to the gardener, the 
following table will exhibit the results in 
figures : — 
Clear 
Cloudy 
Wet 
Ra 
IN. 
days. 
days. 
days. 
IS4S. 
1844. 
January . . 
— 
12 
19 
1.414 
2.234 
February . 
2 
14 
12 
0.981 
1.414 
March. . . 
3 
7 
21 
1.SS2 
3.152 
April . . . 
11 
7 
12 
1.042 
1.664 
May. . . . 
— 
14 
17 
1.068 
0.3G9 
June . . . 
3 
10 
17 
2.982 
2.70S 
July .... 
— 
11 
20 
2.191 
4.180 
August . . 
1 
12 
IS 
4.254 
3-647 
September. 
— 
14 
16 
3.180 
4 693 
October . . 
— 
10 
20 
5.691 
2.583 
November. 
— 
13 
17 
2 602 
1.356 
December. 
— 
10 
21 
3.993 
0.234 
Total, 1845 
21 
21 
134 
147 
210 
198 
31.280 
28.234 
Total, 1844 
And we find from this table that the wet 
days of 1845, are 12 more than those of 1844. 
The clear days are the same in number. The 
quantity of rain in 1845 exceeds that in 1844, 
by three inches, but is only the tenth of an 
inch more than the average of the preceding 
10 years. Nearly 22 incites fell in the last 
six months of the year, leaving only 9 inches 
