296 
E. MAWLET-PHENOLOGTCAL PHENOMENA 
during June, but afterwards mostly behind their average dates, 
the dog-rose being one day early and the black knapweed eleven 
days early ; on the other hand, the harebell was seven days late, 
while the greater bindweed flowered at its average date. 
The Autumn. 
Regarded as a whole this autumn was dry and remarkably 
cold and sunless. September proved the driest month of the 
whole phenological year. In October there were very few cold 
days, and only one cold night. In November, on the other 
hand, there occurred only three warm days and three warm 
nights. 
After the cold, wet, and sunless summer, and just when the 
harvest had become general all over the county, the advent of 
a virtually rainless September was heartily welcomed by the 
farmers, and thus favoured the remainder of their corn crops 
was in most places soon gathered in and in excellent order. 
The dry weather in September rather checked the growth of the 
root crops generally, and the mangolds would have done better 
with a little more warmth, but with a change to more genial and 
moister weather in October they continued to make splendid 
progress until checked by the repeated night frosts in November. 
Notwithstanding the rainless weather in September the pastures 
remained green throughout the season. No sooner had the 
ingathering of the harvest been completed than the ploughing 
of the stubbles began, and good progress was made towards the 
preparation of the land for winter corn, but owing to the 
occasional hardness of the ground at the end of September and 
the beginning of October, and more particularly to the heavy 
rainfall in November, the work was often interrupted. 
As was the case in 1909, the greatest growth of the year in 
the garden was made in October, under the combined influence 
of continued warmth and an evenly distributed rainfall, and as 
in that year the green vegetables were of unusual size. During 
September and October the flower gardens were singularly gay 
with flowers for the time of year. 
The foliage on the forest and other trees was exceptionally 
luxuriant, and the trees held their leaves longer than usual, 
while the autumn tints were as a rule poor. 
According to the ‘ Returns of Produce of Crops in G-reat 
Britain for 1910 ’ issued by the Board of Agriculture, the 
departures in yield per acre from the average for the last ten 
years in Hertfordshire were estimated to be as follows:—Wheat 
11 per cent, below, barley 11 per cent, below, oats average, 
beans 3 per cent, above, peas 1 per cent, below, potatoes 2 per 
cent, below, turnips 15 per cent, above, mangolds 9 per cent, 
below, hay (permanent pasture) 16 per cent, below, and hay 
(clover, etc.) 11 per cent, below. 
The fruit crops, according to the returns sent in to the 
* Hardeners’ Chronicle,’ come out as follows :—The yield of 
