March 24. 
THE COTTAGE GAKDENEK. 
487 
spring succeeded; there was a dry, cold May, and then one 
of the coldest and wettest summers followed, nearly similar 
to tliat of 1791). The harve.st was not half got in ; in Scot¬ 
land tlie corn ripened only on the finest and warmest soils, 
and was damaged to a great extent. 
The year 1817 hrought another wet summer, hut not so 
bad as did 1819. In 1818 we had a splendid summer; in 
: imi) a showery wet summer. In .January and February, 
I 1800 , most severe frosts for a montli or six weeks, ami 
heavy falls of snow; 1820-01 and 1821-22 were very mild 
winters. In 1822 was the most plentiful harvest known for 
very m.ony years. The winter of 1822-2:3 was very severe, 
and great falls of snow in February. Eathcr mild winters 
for two or ttiroo years followed; nothing material in the 
alternations of weather. 1820 had a dry spring, which was 
succeeded by one of the hottest summers I ever remember; 
in June and July the temperature was ecpial to that of 
Naples, viz., from 80'’ to 90° in the shade for six weeks. 
In 1820-27 there was no frost until February, when the 
I whole month was frosty. 1827 had a cloudy, calm summer, 
I neither wet nor dry ; the winter of 1827 -28 was mild, and a 
fine spring followed. On the 18th of May, 1828, a thunder¬ 
storm occurred and broke up the weather. We had this 
year one of the wettest summers on record, but a high tem¬ 
perature ; there were summer floods all over the low lands 
in the West of England, and a wretched harvest. It was 
followed by an early and severe winter; frost commenced 
the third week in November; and a great deal of frost in 
.lanuary, 1829. May and June, 1829, were very fine; but at 
the end of June the weather broke up, and a wet July and 
August followed. In the winter of 1829-30 we had severe 
frost. The end of this winter brought one of the greatest 
changes ever witnessed for half a century at least. The 
last three days of March were very warm ; the thermometer 
being 04° and 00° in the shade ; in the afternoon of the 31st 
the sky was overcast, and thunder came on, and then the 
wind shifted suddenly to the N.E., snow fell, and at day¬ 
light, on the 1st of Apiril, the thermometer was at 24°— 
being a fall of 40° in fourteen hovu-s. The snow remained j 
for a week, from the 1st to the 8th of April. A wet sura- 1 
mer followed this. 1830-31 and 1831-32 were mild winters 
and moderately warm summers. 
The winters of 1833-4, and 1835-0, were very mild, with 
little frost. The summers of 1835 and 1830 were remark¬ 
ably fine and hot, but not to excess. The winter of 1830-7 
was very open, and one of the most remaikable seasons on 
record ; there was no frost until the lOt/i March , 1837, the 
wind then shifted to the N.E., and continued to blow from 
that quarter for 10 weeks; severe frosts continued all through 
April, and on the 20th of this month the thermometer was 
14 degrees below the freezing point. On the lUth of May ! 
it snowed nearly all day, and on the 17th great pai’t of the , 
day. There was no grass until the beginning of June, and | 
the spring and summer came together, as in Canada. A 
tolerable summer followed this extraordinary spring, neither 
wet nor dry. 1838 brought nine weeks’ frost, commencing 
the 7th January; this is known as “ Murphy's year.” A 
Mr. Murphy predicted m an Almanac that the 20th of 
January would be the coldest day. It was so; the ther¬ 
mometer falling to 30° below the freezing point! A 
very backward spring, followed with a cold May; a cool 
summer, and the winter mild, 1839 had a di 7 spring, and 
extremely dry May—a very wet summer followed, and 
wetness was the characteristic until March, 1840, had 
a moderate cool summer. In February 1841 there was 
about 10 days’ severe frost, and a showery wet summer and 
harvest followed. 1841-2 was a very mild winter—the 
summer was a most splendid one. 1842-3 was a mild 
winter ; l\Iay 1843 had twenty-five wet days out of thirty-one. 
1843- 4 was a mild winter; 1844 was one of the driest sum¬ 
mers for 20 years or more, but the heat was not excessive. 
1844- 5 was a mild winter—nevertheless, in March 1845, 
there were 18 days of most severe frost, and a showery 
summer followed. 1845-0 was a mild winter, followed by a 
line summer, with a fortnight of excessive heat in July. In 
January 1847, severe frosts; and on the 8th of February snow 
fell to the depth of 14 inches. The summer was fine. 1847-8 
was a mild winter; 1848 a showery summer. 1848-9 a mild 
winter ; 1849 a cool summer, but not wet. There was a bad 
frost m December, 1849, for 14 days; and also in January 
and March, 1850. 1851-2 was a mild winter, and a fine j 
summer; 1802-3,* a mild winter until the 7th of February, j 
1853, when came three weeks’ severe frost. j 
“ Wo should never halloo till we are out of the train; ” for 
never do we know, in the llritish Isles, when winter is to j 
commence—frequently not until March and April! I 
From the foregoing it will be seen that throe winters 
frequently pass with little or no frost, but seldom four or , 
five ; that once in seven years, at least, we are visited with i 
severe weather, and with very severe about once in fifteen ; 
years. There is little doubt that the extensive under-ground 
draining has a considerable cfl'ect on the coldness of our 
winters. It is observed in Canada, that the climate is not 
so severe in those districts which arc drained, or cleared of 
the immense woods and forests. 
Mr. Gilbert White, in his History of Selbourne, gives a 
programme of about twenty seasons, about the middle of ' 
last century. This is worth referring to by those who are i 
ciuious in matters of the climate. He says, that severe 
winters generally are preceded by wet summers; and so it ' 
has been the case, with few exceptions, during the last j 
forty years. I have noticed that most of the wet summers 
are preceded by “a dry month of Sfay, with north-easterly 
winds.” This was particularly the case in the wettest on i 
record, 4802, 4819, and 1839. During the winter months, i 
should severe weather be near, those sweet songsters, the 
thrushes, invariably cease singing. 
POULTRY ON SHIPBOARD 
In No. 232 of The Cottage Gardener, under this title, 
your correspondent, “ D. C.,” complains of the great loss of 
poultry at sea; and, in a note attached, information on the 
subject is solicited. Having myself recently been applied 
to on the same subject, I think I cannot do better than 
describe the plan I adopted for the purpose of keeping a 
quantity of fowls on board ship in a healthy and, conse¬ 
quently, wholesome condition. 
Being at sea one day, on board a yacht, in company with 
the owner, a gentleman farmer, the conversation turned 
upon the great loss of life amongst poulti-y when packed in 
coops and taken to sea. During the conversation, we ap¬ 
proached the place where the coops were stow-ed, or rather 
crammed away. Upon one of the sailors pokhig up the 
birds, we discovered about one-third of the lot in such a 
sickly and diseased state, that the only way “ to save their 
lives would be to kill them.” This being done, the que.stion 
was—How could the remainder be preserved ? I suggested 
the following plan, and as it has been found to answer well, 
perhaps it may prove useful to others. 
At the bows of the vessel a place was partitioned off, 
eleven feet long by three feet wide, and four-and-a-half feet 
deep; the back, top, and sides boarded, and made water¬ 
tight ; the front covered with a piece of old fishing-net; 
the roosts fixed fourteen inches from the roof. This was 
! all the room that could be spared, and was intended to hold 
i twenty-five birds—rather close quarters, it must be con¬ 
fessed. The accommodation being completed, the next 
thing was how to manage the fowls. To the party in 
charge I gave the following directions :—When purchasing 
fowls, mind that they are young birds, and fresh from | 
the farm-yards or runs, not birds that, perhaps, have been 
cooped up for a month in some cellar. Feed the birds 
on good sound barley— not oats, wliich are apt to scour 
them. Give every other day sprouted barley, which may 
be produced by placing the grain in a vessel, and damp¬ 
ing it daily until it begins to grow; this, w'hen green 
food cannot be procured, will be found a good substi¬ 
tute. In one corner of the enclosure, place a box (large 
enough for the birds to dust in) containing broken oyster- 
shells, old lime-rubbish, and small gravel; and in another | 
corner a good supply of sweet, fresh water, and manage | 
by placing a board partly over the vessel, that the birds ' 
do not make it filthy. The flooring should be washed 
oiit every morning, ns nothing produces disease so much 
as a dirty, fetid atmosphere. Should any of the feathers 
♦ 10.^2 will be long remembered for the great floods ; rain commenced 
the 21 St October, and were nearly daily until the 20th January. i 
