140 
E. MAWLEY—PHENOLOGICAL PHENOMENA 
and oats were thin, and made but poor growth. Of the root-crops, 
the mangolds, as is usual in a dry season, suffered less from the 
absence of moisture in the ground than either turnips or swedes, 
which were able to make hut little progress, and in some cases had 
to he repeatedly resown. Mr. Willis states that at Harpenden 
“the cold drying winds, together with the drought of the month 
of June, were exceedingly trying to vegetation. In this neighbour¬ 
hood large areas of oats and barley are not more than six inches 
high.” Erom Harpenden Mr. Willis also reports that the first 
wheat-ear was observed out of its sheath on June 10th, or one day 
later than its average date in the previous nine years. 
The same adverse conditions prevailed in the gardens. Vegetables 
made hut little growth in the kitchen-garden, and in the flower- 
garden the blossoming period of most plants was much curtailed; 
added to this, roses received a severe check from a marked period 
of cold weather in the middle of June. In order to show how dry 
the ground at one time was, I may state that during the five 
consecutive weeks ended July 12 no rain-water whatever came 
through my hare soil percolation-gauge, containing two and a half feet 
of soil. At Harpenden, “on the night of June 19th, a frost occurred 
which cut down the potato haulms, and also the scarlet-runner and 
dwarf-runner beans, especially in the low-lying parts of the parish.” 
At Broxbourne, green vegetables and potatoes are stated to have 
suffered considerably from the dry weather. 
The summer flowering plants are very irregular in their dates, 
the two deep-rooting ones, the dog-rose and the greater bindweed, 
being respectively two and seven days early, while the shallow¬ 
rooting black knapweed and harebell, which were more under the 
influence of the dry weather, were respectively seven and nine 
days late. 
The Autumn. 
Although September and October were both moderately warm 
months, November was so cold that the mean temperature of the 
whole season comes out only about average. The rainfall again 
proved deficient. In fact, the total quantity was less than half the 
mean for the quarter. The record of clear sunshine at Berkhamsted 
was as nearly as possible its average duration for the quarter. 
The corn ripened rapidly, and the ingathering lasted in many parts 
of the county so short a time that the harvest may he said to have 
belonged more to the summer than to the usual harvest month— 
September. There were some interruptions through rain towards 
the end of August; otherwise the weather proved singularly fine. 
Turnips and swedes made fair progress during the cooler weather 
of this quarter, but the roots were, of course, only able to partially 
regain the ground they had lost during the summer. Mangolds 
fared better, and here and there really good crops were to be met 
with. The pastures gradually revived after the welcome October 
rains, and during the rest of the season there was plenty of keep 
in them for the sheep and cattle. After the close of the harvest, 
