256 1 he Weather during the Agricultural Year , 1904-1905. 
which periods of growing mildness were interspersed with 
spells of beneficial frost. The spring was also in the main a 
good one, the only untoward feature being the sharp night 
frosts which put in an appearance about the middle of April 
and at the close of the third week in May. The summer was 
less propitious than either of the two preceding seasons. A 
long spell of warm dry weather was experienced in July, but 
with this exception the conditions were unsettled throughout, 
the changeable weather in August interfering greatly with the 
progress of the harvest, and serving in some cases to reduce 
the quality of the yield of grain. The opening season of the 
ensuing agricultural year was fairly good, for while the autumn 
of 1905 was less dry than that of 1904, the heavier rains kept 
off sufficiently long to enable sowing and other field work to be 
prosecuted with a fair chance of success. 
The Winter of 1904-1905. 
The winter of 1904-1905 consisted for the most part of long 
spells of mild weather, interspersed with occasional touches of 
sharp frost. Snow or sleet was experienced rather frequently 
in the early part of December, chiefly in the western and 
northern distri cts ; more generally around the middle of January ; 
and at various times in February, the southern portions of the 
country being, however, seldom affected to any serious extent. 
The sharpest frosts put in an appearance at intervals of about a 
month — in the week preceding Christmas Day, in the third 
week in January, and in the fourth week in February. 
The season opened with wet stormy weather, a strong gale 
from south-west and west being experienced on December 4-5, 
with rain in all districts, and thunder and lightning at 
many places in the west. After this the wind for a time was 
lighter and more variable, but the weather remained extremely 
unsettled, heavy rain falling in the South of England on the 
6th, and thunder and lightning occurring in several parts of 
the country on the 7th. Between the 8th and 10th, when the 
wind blew from the eastward, and afterwards from the north, 
a keen frost was experienced over the whole country, and 
especially in the north, the sheltered thermometer at Newton 
Rigg, in Cumberland, falling on the night of the 8th to as many 
as 20° below the freezing point. After a stiff northerly gale on 
the 12th, the wind returned to a milder quarter, and for a few 
days around the middle of the month the weather was very 
open, though still unsettled, with frequent falls of rain. About 
a week before Christmas the equatorial winds gave place to 
light variable airs, the absence of any definite current being 
followed by the formation of thick fog over nearly the whole 
of England. The thermometer at the same time fell steadily, 
