404 
MESSRS. J. E. LAWES AND J. H. GILBERT ON THE RESULTS OF 
June, were unseasonably cold. This was more especially the case with May, and espe¬ 
cially so far as its night temperatures were concerned. With regard to the seven 
months—December, 1873, to June, 1874, inclusive—Mr. Glaisher states that there is 
no instance on record of so small a fall of rain during those months collectively. And, 
although December, January, March, and April were, on the average, notably warmer 
than usual, February was on the average colder; the period from the 4th to the 12th 
of the month was extremely cold, as also was that from the 4 th to the 13th of March, 
when snow was general. But it was the first three weeks of May which showed the 
most unseasonable reductions of temperature, the night frosts during that period being 
exceptionally severe; and from the middle to the end of June also the weather was 
very cold ; whilst, throughout both May and June there w 7 as a great deficiency of 
rain. 
Thus, although the winter and early spring of 1873-4 were upon the whole consider¬ 
ably warmer than usual, there were periods of considerable severity as to temperature, 
and the whole period was very deficient in rain; so that, instead of the warmth of the 
usually cold months availing to bring vegetation forward, it remained very backward, 
when it was overtaken by the unfavourably cold days, and the very unusually severe 
frosty nights, of the greater part of May ; whilst the short period of warmer weather 
which then set in was unaccompanied by sufficient moisture, and the herbage was 
already too much damaged to recover. According to notes taken on the ground at 
the time, the foliage of the grasses became spotted, and the early flowering stems 
were bleached, and in many cases killed. Although a number of the grasses suffered 
considerably, the greatest damage was done on the plots highly manured with ammonia- 
salts, where Dcictylis glomerata, which was both abundant and forward, suffered very 
much. The leguminous, and several of the miscellaneous species, also suffered very 
considerably. 
The four seasons which have been selected for the purpose of attempting to trace 
the connexion between the amount of growth of the mixed herbage of grass land, and 
such meteorological conditions as we have sufficient record of, most strikingly illustrate 
the intricacy and difficulty of the subject, as referred to in our introductory remarks. 
Very dissimilar climatal conditions characterised the two seasons of highest produc¬ 
tiveness, and again very dissimilar ones those of lowest productiveness. The character 
of the produce was also very different in the two cases of the largest crops, and again 
very different in the two of the smallest crops. 
In both cases of high productiveness, the period prior to that of most active above¬ 
ground growth had brought the herbage into an unusual state of forwardness ; when, 
in the one, abundance of rain, with, upon the whole, low temperatures, gave great 
luxuriance, but comparatively leafy, succulent, and immature produce; whilst, in the 
other, the luxuriant early growth was followed by both unusual drought and unusual 
heat, yielding quantity by virtue of high development and maturation, as distinguished 
from succulence and immaturity. As in both the cases of high productiveness the 
