April 27, 1893. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
329 
“ I^ORTY-THREE days without a drop of rain” is Mr. E. 
J] Molyneux’s record of the weather at Swanmore, a fact, he 
goes on to say, “ unprecedented in the memory of the oldest 
inhabitant at this season of the year,” It is indeed remarkable, 
and it would be interesting to know of records, if any, of still 
longer terms during which not a drop of rain was found in the 
gauge. This abnormal period of drought is causing many persons 
to exercise their memories in finding parallels to ic in past times. 
I have no recollection of forty-three consecutive rainless days, 
but I have a very vivid recollection indeed of what may be termed 
a fight with drought more serious than Mr. Molyneux has 
experienced this year. 
Memory takes me back twenty-five years, perhaps about the 
time when your correspondent was learning to spell “ Chrys¬ 
anthemums ” preparatory to making cuttings and growing the 
plants—an art of which he is now a past master. The drought 
in 1868 that was so exhausting was in summer, and the brunt 
of it was borne on the limestone ridges in the eastern counties. 
I have been asked if the spring of that year was a dry one. It 
was not a wet one by any means. The whole year was dry, the 
rainfall only being about 16| inches, and from the middle of 
February to the middle of August we had not, speaking from 
memory, 6 inches of rain. Gardens were, generally speaking, 
destitute of vegetables, pastures were “ burnt up,” trees drooping 
and shedding their leaves, flocks and herds languishing, the harvest 
completed in July, large tracts of country like a desert, and the 
“ hill tribes ” wended their way to the valleys for miles with water 
carts, which traversed the roads “ boot deep ” in white dust night 
and day. Gardeners, farmers, and others who went through 
the ordeal of that exhausting time will be ardent in their hope 
that the present abnormal drought is not the precursor of a 
summer like 1868. 
Not having access to my weather records, carefully entered at 
the time, I have examined those in the Journal of Horticulture 
respecting the London rainfall during the spring of the year 
named. I find the amounts for February, March, and to the 21st 
of April 0 81 inch, 0 54 insh, and 0 57 inch respectively, or a total 
for the three months of 1 92 inch. During that period rain fell on 
eighteen days, and there was no measurable quantity (less than 
O'Ol) on sixty-two days. How does this compare with the results 
at Swanmore and elsewhere from February 1st to April 21st this 
year ? 
Passing onwards in 1868, let us see what followed the above 
total of less than 2 inches, from February 1st to April 21st. In 
the last week of April nearly half an inch fell—0‘48 inch. In May 
the quantity measured was 105 inch, June 0 33 inch, and July 
1-32 inch—a total for those three months of 2-70 inches. This 
fell on sixteen days, no rain falling on seventy-five days. What 
may be described as the drought term of 1868 commenced on 
February Ist and ended on August 10th, and from the beginning 
of the year to that date the rainfall was only 5'63 inches, and it 
would be loss rather than more along the east coast. During the 
whole of that time there were on'y three good showers—namely, 
of 0‘70 inch the third week in January, 0‘90 inch the last week in 
May, and 0 98 inch the second week in July, and only on one 
other occasion did the rainfall equal 0 50 inch. During the whole 
No. 670.—VoL. XXVI., Third Skhiks. 
period of 223 days rain only fell, mostly in very small quantities, 
on forty-nine days. This collation may be interesting for com¬ 
parison, and may perhaps induce meteorological observers to look 
over their records for notable periods of drought, and the eifect 
on vegetation. 
In 1868 no serious difficulty was experienced till May. Then 
it was the earth appeared to be exhausted of its moisture by trees 
and crops. In my case fortunately two courses had been adopted, 
and both were found beneficial under the circumstances. Having 
in view the generally light rainfall of the district and non- 
retentive soil, all garden crops to which the practice was applicable 
were sown and planted in hollows, so that water could be con¬ 
ducted to the roots. Heavy supplies were given once a week, 
mulching being also resorted to. Crops on the level could not be 
usefully watered, and those in the trenches were kept growing 
by the applications. The great affinity of salt for moisture wag 
also recognised, in fact demonstrated. In the garden it had been 
the custom to salt the Asparagus beds freely for years, and the 
soil was so impregnated with the mineral that weeds could not 
grow in the beds, but Asparagus did famously. The beds were 
isolated—that is, at the least 10 yards apart, and other crops 
grown between them. In the hot weather the salted soil wag 
moist when the spaces between the beds were as dry as' a desert. 
It was also observed that a portion of salt having been unwittingly 
cast beyond the beds in its application to them had a distinctly 
beneficial eifect on the rows of intercrops nearest the beds. 
This led to the use of salt generally, and it was applied freely, 
almost lavishly, in garden, park, and fields, during two years prior 
to the “ big ” drought. The land was well charged when this 
set in, and made the best of what little rain there was, as well as 
the dew when there was any. The result was very striking— 
a green park, fields, and garden long after all the land around wag 
parched. Deep culture was the rule where practicable, and hoes 
by hand and horse kept at work to produce a dusty surface and 
prevent fissures where mulching could not be done. An inch or 
two of dust acts like a blanket in arresting evaporation from the 
earth. By such methods the losses resulting from drought in a 
memorable year were minimised, and gait played an important 
part in the work. 
The heat during the spring of 1868 did not equal that of the 
present year, when the maximum readings of the thermometer have 
been abnormally high, exceeding 82° in the shade in several places 
during the past week. As a result of the high temperature. Horse 
Chestnuts, Laburnums, "Wistarias, Lilacs, and even Hawthorns are 
in full bloom in the southern suburbs of London. The expansion 
of the latter in April is a rare occurrence, and the blossoming is 
more often deferred till June. Weather prophets are apprising us 
of wet weather in July, August, and September, but their pre¬ 
science is somewhat discounted by their having omitted to inform 
us of the present extraordinary heat and drought. Speaking of 
weather forecasts, I have come across the following narrative in 
a daily paper, the “ Morning,” of how they are made 
“ In a lofty building in Victoria Street, Loudon, where not only 
does the clerk of the weather exist in the flesh, but the weather 
itself can be seen in all stages of development. Here is what Mr. 
Gaster, the head of the Forecast and Report Department, had to 
say concerning the methods by which details regarding the weather 
are compiled and sent broadcast for the public benefit : — 
“ All barometrical returns (many of them made from the tops 
of mountains or very high observatories) are corrected to 32° Fahr. 
and the mean sea level. This system holds good throughout the 
world, and works very well. The barometer is the most suscep¬ 
tible of instruments, and the most infinitesimal variations in the 
density of the air will send the mercury “up” or “ down.” The 
thermometer is also an important factor in considering weather 
reports. The Fahrenheit thermometer, which is in use throughout 
the United Kingdom, is discounted in its usefulness by the 
meaningless method of counting the degrees. It is purely arbi¬ 
trary to make 32° stand for freezing point and 212° for boiling 
No. 2326.—VoL. LXXXVIIL, Old Seriks. 
