OBSERVED IX HERTFORDSHIRE IN 1904. 
239 
The Spring. 
This was a fairly genial Spring. As regards temperature it was 
chiefly remarkable for the absence of any very unusual cold or heat. 
For instance, at no time did the thermometer exposed on the lawn at 
Berkhamsted show more than 13 degrees of frost in March, or more 
than 5 degrees of frost in either April or May. The rainfall was 
only moderate, but the falls were so evenly distributed over the 
quarter as not to allow the ground to become at any time in¬ 
juriously dry. The record of bright sunshine at Berkhamsted fell 
short of the average by very nearly three-quarters of an hour a day. 
During the last two months of the season there was a striking 
absence of easterly winds. 
After the heavy rains in February, the frost which set in at the 
end of that month and lasted about ten days proved of much 
service in improving, at all events, the surface of the soil, hut, as 
the land still remained tough and wet at a few inches deep, it was 
only with much labour and difficulty that anything like a good 
tilth was obtainable for the sowing of spring corn. As the season 
advanced the condition of the ground improved, so that, when the 
last sowing took place in the middle of April, the land was in a 
more workable state than at any time during the Autumn or Winter. 
From that time all went well, and the preparation of the ground 
for the planting of potatoes and the sowing of mangolds, turnips, 
and swedes, was carried out with little interruption, with the 
result that an excellent seed-bed was ultimately obtained for them. 
During the greater part of the season the grass in the meadows 
made hut little growth. But with warmer nights and a welcome 
rainfall in the latter half of May good progress was made, so that 
at the end of the Spring there was every prospect of an excellent 
crop of hay. The ohange to warmer and moister weather, which 
took place at that time, also improved the appearance of the 
pastures, as well as that of the corn and other crops.. 
By the middle of March the soil in the garden had so far 
recovered from the effect of the previous heavy rains that the 
planting of trees, shrubs, etc., could be carried out under more 
favourable conditions than at any time since the Autumn, while the 
absence of frost favoured the green vegetables, of which there was 
an unusually good supply throughout the season. The fruit-trees 
flowered late, but in most cases very abundantly, and the unusually 
fine blossoms fortunately escaped all iDjury from frost or cold 
winds. Towards the end of the season seeds germinated quickly 
and regularly, assisted by the light but frequent rains, and the 
warmer nights. 
Mr. Henry Lewis, writing from St. Albans, stated that the hay 
crop in that district appeared likely to prove a heavy one, with 
unusually good undergrowth; while our Chesham observer directs 
attention to the profusion and fineness of the apple blossom in the 
middle of May. 
