EXPERIMENTS ON THE MIXED HERBAGE OF PERMANENT MEADOW. 403 
in March and April, a great deficiency in May, and a still greater in| June. The degree 
of humidity of the atmosphere was also below the average in each of the six months, 
January to June inclusive. 
With the excess of rain in January, the fair amounts in February, March, and April, 
and the unusual warmth of those early spring months, vegetation became active very 
early, and was very forward before the dry, and very hot, weather of May and June set 
in. The result was, as Table XXXI. shows, that with liberal manuring there were very 
heavy crops, which fully matured, and were cut very early ; whilst, without manure, or 
with only mineral manure, the herbage suffered greatly from the heat and drought of 
May and June. 
Thus, the season second in order of productiveness was characterised by unusually 
high temperatures throughout the whole period of growth, with a sufficiency of rain up 
to the end of April—conditions which brought the herbage very early forward, and 
rendered it comparatively independent of the extreme heat and drought of the months 
of May and June, which would otherwise have been fatal at that period, and which 
were, in fact, very injurious where the conditions of manuring had not been such as to 
bring the vegetation sufficiently forward previously. 
We have, it may be observed, the curious result of the lowest produce of the 20 
years in the year of 1870, which was the one of the most extreme heat and drought of 
the series, and of the highest produce but one in 1868, which was only second to J 870 
in heat and drought of the growing period. But there was this difference between 
the two seasons: the winter and early spring of 1870 had been very adverse, the 
herbage was in a very backward state, and the heat and drought commenced a month 
earlier; whereas, from the commencement of 1868, for a period of nearly four months, 
the conditions both as to heat and moisture were favourable, and it was not until May 
—that is, a month later than in 1870, and when with high manuring the herbage was 
already very luxuriant—that the heat and drought succeeded, then serving to elaborate 
and mature, rather than materially to check, vegetation in such condition of luxuriance 
and forwardness. 
Let us now call attention to the characters of the season of 1874, the second of the 
20 in order of unproductiveness. The preceding season (1873) had been one of less 
than average productiveness of first crops, but of fairly luxuriant second growth, which 
was cut twdce—namely, about the middle of August, and after the middle of October— 
and the produce was, in each case, spread on the respective plots to decay. 
In every month, from September, 1873, to June, 1874, inclusive, excepting in Feb¬ 
ruary and April (when the excess was only slight), there was more or less defect of 
rain compared with the average of the 20 years, and in December, January, March, 
May, and June, the deficiency was very considerable. With this marked deficiency of 
rain almost throughout both the earlier and the later periods of the grass season, the 
months of November, December, and January, and again of March and April, were 
upon the whole warmer than usual, both day and night; whilst February, May, and 
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