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VI. 
REPORT ON PHENOLOGICAL PHENOMENA OBSERVED IN 
HERTFORDSHIRE DURING THE YEAR 1900. 
By Edward Mawley, Sec. R. Met. Soc., E.R.H.S. 
Read at Watford , 23 rd April, 1901. 
With the exception of a new station at Watford there has been 
no change in the list of observing stations since the last report was 
issued. The distribution of the stations continues satisfactory, 
the only part of the county altogether unrepresented being the 
ft neighbourhood of Buntingford in the north-east. 
The following table gives the list of observers, the districts 
they represent, and the approximate height of the stations above 
sea-level. The sequence is from south to north. 
Station. 
Height above 
Sea-level. 
Observer. 
Wealdstone . 
180 feet. 
G. E. Eland. 
Watford (The Platts) . 
240 ,, 
Mrs. G. E. Bishop. 
Watford (Weetwood) . 
270 „ 
Mrs. J. Hopkinson. 
Chesham (Cannon Mill Cottage) . 
300 ,, 
Miss G. Keating. 
Broxbourne .. 
120 ,, 
Rev. H. P. Waller. 
St. Albans (Worley Road) . 
300 ,, 
H. Lewis. 
Berkhamsted (Rosebank). 
400 „ 
Mrs. E. Mawley. 
Hatfield (Symonds Hyde) . 
300 ,, 
T. Brown. 
Hertford . 
140 ,, 
W. Graveson. 
Sawbridgeworth . 
240 ,, 
H. S. Rivers. 
Harpenden (Hecla Villa). 
370 ,, 
J. J. Willis. 
Hitchin. 
230 ,, 
A. W. Dawson, M.A. 
Ashwell (Odsey) . 
260 ,, 
H. G. Fordham. 
The Winter oe 1899-1900. 
There occurred two very cold periods during this winter, one in 
December and the other in Eebruary, each lasting about a fortnight; 
but throughout the rest of the season the weather remained as 
a rule unusually mild. On the coldest night in December a ther¬ 
mometer exposed on the surface of the snow at Berkhamsted 
registered 27 degrees of frost, and on the coldest night in February 
28 degrees of frost. There were comparatively few days when no 
rain or snow fell, and the total rainfall was much in excess of the 
average. The sun shone at Berkhamsted for altogether 132 hours, 
which is a small record for the quarter. 
The dry weather in December enabled the farmer to proceed 
with the cultivation of the land without any serious interruption, 
but the frequent and heavy falls of rain and snow in January and 
February so saturated the ground as to render the sowing of spring 
corn during those two months impracticable. The frosts in December 
and February served to give a timely check to the growth of the 
