OBSERVED I1ST HERTFORDSHIRE IN 1900. 
57 
my percolation-gauge on which short grass is growing, and less 
than a quarter of a gallon through the uncropped gauge. Both 
gauges are a yard square and have a depth of 2£ feet of soil. 
The redeeming feature of this otherwise unfavourable season, so 
far as garden crops were concerned, was the absence of any killing 
frost. For, although there occurred, even in May, several frosty 
nights, yet at no time did the temperature fall sufficiently low 
to inflict any serious injuries on the young growths. At 
Wealdstone the almond flowered on April 4th, and a swift was 
seen on May 8th. Two days earlier the first swift was observed 
at St. Albans. 
All the spring flowers were behind their mean dates in coming 
into blossom, and especially was this the case before the short spell 
of hot weather set in in April. For instance, the coltsfoot was 
sixteen days late, the wood-anemone twenty-two days late, and the 
blackthorn fifteen days late, whereas the garlic hedge-mustard, 
the horse-chestnut, and the hawthorn were respectively only two, 
four, and five days late. On the other hand, the white ox-eye, 
no doubt owing to the cold period in the middle of May, was as 
much as eleven days late. 
As was the case in the previous year, all the spring migrants 
arrived behind their usual time, the swallow being six days late, 
the cuckoo eight days late, and the nightingale seven days late. 
The wasp made its appearance sixteen days late, the small white 
butterfly fourteen days late, the orange-tip butterfly four days late, 
and the meadow-brown butterfly (if we may judge from the two 
very different dates given by the only observers mentioning it) 
three days late. 
The Summer. 
There have been few summers in recent years so warm as that 
of 1900, and yet but for the great heat which prevailed during the 
last three weeks in July the mean temperature would have come 
out in no way exceptional, for June was only moderately warm, 
and August of about a seasonable temperature. Taking the three 
months together, this was if anything rather a wet season. The 
sun shone on an average at Berkhamsted for If hours a day longer 
than usual. 
After the cold weather in May, the change to more genial 
conditions in June was welcomed by the grass, but unfortunately 
it came too late to save the hay-crop, which proved almost every¬ 
where an unusually light one. The fact is that the ground had 
previously become so dry that the roots of the grass were unable 
to take anything like full advantage of this welcome change. The 
dry state of the soil also affected the corn-crops, hut not nearly to 
the same extent. The three weeks of hot weather in July caused 
the corn to ripen so rapidly that the harvest, which at one time 
promised to he a very late one, proved after all rather early than 
otherwise. The first ten days in August were very stormy, hut 
after this the ingathering of the corn was carried on with but few 
