OBSERVED IN HERTFORDSHIRE IN 1901. 
137 
progress was made. For the other crops the change was too 
complete, for before the end of the quarter rain was becoming 
urgently needed for the grass, and also for the germination of 
the seeds of turnips and other roots. 
In the gardens the conditions were equally unpropitious as regards 
the cultivation of the ground and seed-sowing. On the other hand, 
the absence of any unusually keen frosts was a welcome feature 
of this spring. The apple-trees flowered very irregularly, but in 
most parts of the county the show of blossom was very sparse. 
The blossom on the pears, plums, and cherries appears to have been 
fairly abundant. This irregularity in the blossoming of flowering 
trees and shrubs was rather a feature of the season. For instance, 
at Berkhamsted the lilacs have seldom flowered so profusely, while 
there was but a scanty show of blossom as a rule on the hawthorns. 
Nearly all the spring flowers were behind their mean dates, but 
after the blackthorn the departures from the average were not 
nearly so great. The coltsfoot was fourteen days late, the wood- 
anemone twenty-four days late, the blackthorn sixteen days late, 
the garlic hedge-mustard seven days late, the horse-chestnut one 
day early, the hawthorn eight days late, and the white ox-eye 
four days late. 
As had been the case in the two previous years, the spring 
migrants arrived somewhat later than usual. The swallow was 
three days late, the cuckoo six days late, the nightingale two days 
late, while the flycatcher (taking its average date for the eight 
years for which observations are available) was one day early. 
The wasp made its appearance fourteen days late, while the 
small white butterfly and the orange-tip butterfly were both nine 
days late. Only two observers sent in dates for the meadow-brown 
butterfly. 
The Summer. 
This was a very warm, dry, and exceptionally bright season. 
July proved exceptionally warm, the highest temperature in shade 
on as many as ten days exceeding 80 degrees. The rainfall was 
not only much below the average, hut also very unequally distributed 
over the season. In fact, if the last week in August be omitted, 
there were only four days, and those widely separated, when 
a quarter of an inch of rain or more was deposited. The average 
daily duration of bright sunshine at Berkhamsted exceeded the 
mean for the quarter by as much as one hour and a half a day. 
From the above description of the weather it will have been 
gathered that the summer of 1901 was by no means a favourable 
one for farm- and garden-crops. Owing to the want of rain, the 
grass made scarcely any growth, and consequently the yield of 
hay was one of the lightest on record. The crop was, however, 
quickly harvested, and in excellent condition. From this time 
throughout the summer there was very little grass in the pastures, 
except where the situation is low and moist. The wheat withstood 
the drought well, especially that sown in the autumn, hut barley 
10 
VOL. XI.—PART IV. 
