January 11,1894. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
29 
- Gardening Appointment. —We are informed that Mr. Rust, 
who for many years has had charge of Bridge Castle Gardens, having 
resigned through ill heath, has been succeeded by Mr; Arthur Wilson, 
until now foreman at the establishment. We are pleased to hear also 
that Mr. Rust has been granted a handsome pension by the Marquess 
of Abergavenny. 
- Rainfall at the Friary, Old Windsor, Berks, for 
1893.—Mr. J. Williams sends us a tabulated record of the rainfall at 
the Friary Gardens during the past year. From this we learn that the 
greatest fall for any month was during October, this being 7'20 inches, 
2 78 falling on the 10th. In February 3-33 inches of rain fell, 2-16 
November, and 2 62 December. The total for the year amounted to 
23 64 inches, falling on 135 days. 
- December Weather in Hertfordshire. —Mr. E. Wallis, 
The Gardens, Hamels Park, Buntingford, Herts, writes :—The weather 
during the past month has been of a very mild and open nature, most 
suitable to any operations connected with horticulture. Rain has fallen 
upon twelve days during the past month. Maximum in any twenty-four 
hours 0‘45 on the 14th; minimum, 0 05 on the 12th; total during the 
month, 2'28, against 1’73 of 1892. During the past year I have registered 
20-94 of rainfall. During the year 1892 I registered 26-28, or in other 
words, 640 tons of water less per acre fell during 1893 than during the 
year 1892. 
- The total Rainfall at Abbot’s Leigh, Haywards 
Heath, Sussex, for the past month was 2-18 inches, being 0-56 inch 
below the average. The heaviest fall was 0 38 inch on the 20th. Rain 
fell on fourteen days. The total for the twelvemonth was 24-60, which 
is 5-92 inches below the average. The total for 1884 was 24 05 inches, 
80 that 1893 has not been the driest year on record after all. The 
maximum temperature in the shade was 55° on the 13th, the minimum 
21° on the 31st. Mean maximum 44-24°; mean minimum 33-26°. 
Mean temperature 38*75°, slightly below the average. Snow fell for 
several hours on the afternoon of the 2nd, clearing out to frost in the 
evening.—R. I. 
- Frost in the Isle of Wight. —Mr. C. Orchard, Bembridge 
observes :—“ The weather here last week was very severe. On Thursday 
January 4tfa, the north-east wind was very piercing, blowing half a gale, 
with about 6° of frost all the day. On Thursday night some snow fell, and 
the wind kept up, while the thermometer registered 17° of frost, which 
penetrated dwelling houses and stores, as well as glass structures, 
freezing in places that have never been known before by the oldest 
inhabitant; in fact it seemed a perfect blizzard. The damage to plants 
and roots, such as Potatoes, in stores cannot yet be estimated. Fires, 
lamps, and stoves entirely failed to keep the frost from the greengrocers’ 
shops and stores in Ryde and the other towns in the island, the contents 
in most cases being frozen quite hard.” 
- Weather at Swanmore, Hants. —Mr. E. Molyneux says :— 
The weather has undergone a decided change since December 25th, 
which was considered to be the warmest Christmas Day for the last 
fifty-two years experienced here. On Wednesday the thermometer 
registered 12° frost, accompanied with a blinding snowstorm, similar to 
that experienced in 1881, but not quite so severe ; 14° frost were 
registered on the 4th. On Friday the thermometer at 5 A.M. went down 
to 8°, or 24° frost. During the sixteen years that I have been here this 
is the hardest frost we have had. At no hour of the day did the 
thermometer rise above 12°, and the wind being bitterly cold. Saturday 
the 6 th, 21° frost was registered. At the time I now write, the 8 th, a 
alow thaw has set in, the wind being in the south. 
- The Weather Last Month. —Mr. W. H. Divers, Ketton 
Hall Gardens, Stamford, writes :—December was showery, with gales on 
8th and 13th. It was remarkable for a very high reading of barometer 
—viz., 30 73 inches at 9 A.M. on 30th ; for an extremely low reading, 
28-62 inches at 3 P.M. on 20th ; and for a rapid rise from 28-98 inches at 
6 P.M. on 13th to 29-99 inches at 5 p.m. on 14th. Total rainfall was 
1*34 inches, which fell on nineteen days, the greatest daily fall being 
0 25 inches on the 12th ; the total is 1-00 inch below the average for the 
month. Highest shade temperature, 56° on 13th ; lowest, 18° on 3rd. 
Mean daily maximum, 45-70°; mean daily minimum, 3212°. Mean 
temperature of the month, 39 80°. Lowest on grass, 13° on 3rd ; mean 
minimum on grass, 27-61°. Wind was in a westerly direction twenty-six 
days. The garden spring ran 3| gallons per minute on Slst, which is 
the lowest quantity during the six years in which measurements have 
been taken. 
- Weather in Devonshire. —We have had very sharp frosts 
in South Devon with biting east winds. On Saturday morning the 
thermometer registered 19° of frost, on Sunday morning it registered 
22°. Snow fell on Friday night to the depth of 15 inches.— 
J. M., Tojjsham, 
- Severe Weather in Sussex.— “R. I.” writes During 
the 5th inst. about 6 inches of snow fell, but fortunately without any 
wind to blow in drifts. The following are the lowest readings of the 
thermometer in the shade On the 4th, 22° ; 5th, 10°; 6th, 16°; 7th, 
8°; 8th, 13°. To-day, 8th, the wind is S.E., and it is much milder. 
-The Weather in Scotland During December.—M r. 
G. McDougall, Ravenna Cottage, Stirling, says :—The past month has been 
a very wet one. Total rainfall, 6-906 inches, which fell on twenty-four 
days, of that 3 391 inches fell the first nine days ; on two days the fall 
exceeded an inch — the 8th, 1-140 inch; and the 24th, 1-156 inch. 
Frost was registered on ten nights. The warmest day was the 16th, 
with 53-9° ; the warmest night was the 4th, with 46 5° ; the coldest day 
was the let, with 33 2° ; the coldest night was the 2nd, with 15-2°. Mean 
maximum, 46-2° ; mean minimum, 341°. 
- Summary of Meteorological Observations at Hod- 
sock Priory, Worksop, Notts, December 1893.—Mean temperature 
of month, 39-6°. Maximum on the 13th, 54-7°; minimum on the 2ad, 
19-0°. Maximum in sun on the 16th, 87*8° ; minimum on grass on the 
3rd, 11-0°. Mean temperature of air at 9 A.M., 38-8°. Mean temperature 
of soil 1 foot deep, 39-8°. Nights below 32°, in shade, ten ; on grass, 
twenty-four. Total duration of sunshine in month, thirty-nine hours, 
or 17 per cent, of possible duration. We had sixteen sunless days. 
Total rainfall, 2-84 inches ; rain fell on twenty days. Wind average 
velocity, 12-6 miles per hour. Velocity exceeded 400 miles on twelve 
days, and fell short of 100 miles on four days. Approximate averages 
for December.—Mean temperature, 37-1°. Sunshine, thirty-two hours. 
Rainfall, 1-97 inch. A mild and stormy month with very little frost 
and a fair amount of rain. During the last seventeen years three 
Decembers only have been warmer.—J. Mallender. 
- The Recent Severe Weather. —During the past week 
exceptionally severe weather was experienced in all parts of the 
country. The temperatures recorded over England were as low, and 
in some respects even lower, than any observed for very many years 
past. During Wednesday night or early Thursday morning the 
thermometer in the screen fell to a minimum of 16° at Jersey, 15° at 
Oxford and the North Foreland, and 13° at Dungeness, the readings 
being from 19° to 23° below the average for the time of year. In 
the metropolitan area also some very severe weather occurred, the 
minimum reading being 12° at Tulse Hill and Wandsworth Common, 
but 13° at Greenwich and 14° at Brixton. Equally low temperatures 
were observed at Brixton both in December, 1890, and in January, 
1891, but a keener frost has not been experienced in that locality 
since January 21st, 1891, when the sheltered thermometer fell to 12°. 
Over the Continent the weather has been very severe, the lowest 
temperatures being — 3° Fahrenheit at Munich, zero at Berlin, 5° 
at Cuxhaven, 7° at Paris, and 8° at Brussels. At ShornclifEe on 
Friday night the thermometer went down to zero. The temperature 
officially taken at Dover on the same day was 23° below freezing. 
The lowest reading reported to the Meteorological Office on Saturday 
morning was 5°, or 27° below the freezing point, at Loughborough, 
in Leicestershire. At Parsonstown, in King’s County, Ireland, the 
thermometer in the screen registered 6°, at York 10°, at Oxford and 
Ca-mbridge 11°, and at Shields 12°. The frost was continuous 
throughout Saturday in many parts of the kingdom, and at York the 
thermometer did not rise above 21°. On Sunday the frost was again 
very severe, and a thick fog occurred in many parts of the kingdom. 
The weather in Scotland has been excessively cold. In Dundee on 
Sunday 14° of frost were registered. At Invergowrie, four miles west, 
there were 24°, and at Coupar Angus it registered 11° below zero. 
Snowstorms are also reported from all parts of the kingdom. From 
authentic records received on Tuesday it is quite clear that the recent 
frost was of unusual severity in all parts of the kingdom. At Bawtry, in 
Nottinghamshire, the thermometer went as low as zero. The lowesc 
reading, with the exception of Coupar Angus, taken by carefully verified 
instruments, correctly exposed, was at Braemar and at Worksop, where 
the thermometer fell to 4° below zero. The mean temperature for last 
week was from 10° to 12° below the average over nearly the whole of 
England, as well as in the south of Ireland. The Rev. Page-Roberts 
reports that at Scole Rectory, Norfolk, the thermometer fell to 1^° 
below zero. 
