G8 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
.Tunara’3’  22,  19C3. 
however,  very  unsettled  conditions  set  in  and  continued,  j 
with  the  exception  of  two  or  three  fine  days  following 
some  exceptionally  heavy  rainfalls  during  the  third  week 
of  August,  to  the  end  of  that  month.  September,  upon  the 
whole,  proved  fine  and  dry,  but  brought  no  compensation 
in  the  way  of  any  really  summerlike  weather  for  the  dis¬ 
appointing  character  of  the  immediately  preceding  months. 
October,  after  commencing  with  two  or  three  days  of 
March-like  easterly  winds,  settled  down  into  a  remarkably 
mild  month,  with  many  very  fine  autumnal  days. 
This  type  of  weather  continued  throughout  the  first  fort¬ 
night  of  the  following  month  ;  but  then  the  temperature  fell 
rapidly,  and  a  short  period  of  sharp  black  frosts  and  bitter 
easterly  winds  followed.  On  the  22nd  the  frost  broke  up, 
and  mild,  but  very  dull  and  wet  weather  characterised  the 
remainder  of  the  month.  The  concluding  month  of  the 
year,  after  commencing  with  a  wet  and  stormy  day,  settled 
down  to  some  sharp  frosty  weather,  followed  by  a  very 
gradual  thaw.  After  the  12th,  however,  very  mild  condi¬ 
tions  prevailed,  there  being  practically  no  frost  over  the 
greater  portion  of  our  islands  from  that  date  to  the  close  of 
the  year. 
Looked  at  from  an  agricultural  standpoint,  although  the 
season  as  a  whole  proved  in  some  respects  so  disappoint¬ 
ing,  in  others  it  was  very  favourable,  the  good 
points,  in  fact,  almost,  if  not  quite,  balancing  the  reverse. 
On  the  other  hand,  from  the  point  of  view  of  our  urban 
population,  the  year  contained  very  little  to  redeem  its 
bad  qualities ;  its  inclemency  being  the  more  apparent 
because  of  the  excessive  w'armth  and  sunshine  of  recent 
.summers. 
Although  in  a  short  article  of  this  description  it  is  im¬ 
possible  to  give  an  exhaustive  account  of  the  rainfall  of 
the  year,  its  general  distribution  over  our  islands  wull  be 
seen  from  the  following  table,  which  gives  the  monthly  and 
yearly  falls,  and  the  clifferences  from  the  average  at  nine 
selected  stations : — 
5 
3 
c3 
>5 
o 
o  • 
19D2. 
o 
P 
ZJ 
v: 
70 
O 
O 
t— ^ 
c3 
ZJ 
cc 
o 
(5 
O 
o  . 
Ins. 
ins. 
ins. 
ins. 
ins. 
ins. 
ins. 
ins. 
ins. 
.Tiinuary  ... 
1-59 
1-09 
2-00 
3-42 
1-31 
2-46 
1-91 
0-66 
0-64 
February. . 
1-09 
0-90 
2-17 
5-75 
1-31 
1-83 
0-95 
1-C5 
0-83 
]March . 
1-37 
0-72 
1-49 
4-65 
1-60 
2-58 
1-85 
1-20 
1-62 
April  . 
2-59 
1-17 
1-92 
3-80 
2-58 
3-32 
1-60 
1-21 
0-48 
May . 
4-33 
2-09 
3-23 
2-tO 
1-28 
3-52 
2-02 
1-53 
2-62 
June  . 
1-55 
2-41 
1-98 
4-16 
1-98 
1-93 
3-17 
1-96 
3-59 
July . 
3-71 
2-65 
2-77 
1-92 
1-51 
1-06 
1-27 
0-62 
1-75 
August  ... 
2-84 
1-72 
2-31 
4-12 
1-90 
2-85 
4-16 
2.20 
2-75 
Hepteinber 
1-40 
0-72 
0-85 
3-08 
2-38 
1-72 
2-12 
1-11 
1-57 
October^... 
1-69 
0-90 
3-04 
3-63 
3-06 
2-92 
2-56 
1-55 
1-53 
Koveinber. 
2-29 
0-51 
1-57 
8-45 
4-22 
2-68 
2-65 
2-24 
1-60 
December . 
2-89 
1-54 
2-15 
4-79 
2-19 
3-55 
3-28 
1-33 
1-39 
Total  fall.. 
27-34 
16-42 
25-48 
49-87 
25-32 
30-42 
27-54 
16-66 
20-37 
Averages]. . 
30-84 
23-35 
28-93 
55-80 
33-99 
34-18 
34-88 
25-72 
24-84 
Depart- 
ures  from  ■ 
-3-50 
-6-93 
-3-45 
-5.93 
-8-67 
-3-76 
-7-34 
-9-C6 
-4-47 
Average 
The  rainfall,  therefore,  was,  so  far  as  these  stations 
show,  deficient  over  the  whole  of  our  islands ;  the  depar¬ 
ture  from  the  average  being  greatest  over  the  midland  and 
south-western  districts,  and  least  in  the  north  of  Scotland. 
Of  the  individual  months.  May,  generally  speaking,  was  by 
far  the  wettest,  although  even  this  month  w^as  drier  than 
usual  in  the  extreme  south-west.  On  the  other  hand, 
January,  February,  July,  September,  and  October  showed 
deficiencies,  almost  without  exception,  in  all  districts. 
As  was  the  case  last  year,  mean  atmospheric  pressure 
for  the  twelve  months  was  everywhere  in  excess.  The 
monthly  means,  and  those  for  the  year,  at  the  stations  for 
which  the  rainfall  values  have  been  given,  are  as  follows  ;  — 
o 
.3 
1902. 
QJ 
+ 
OJ 
.o 
w 
r- . 
O 
OJ 
Cj 
t:- 
o 
'o 
'iO 
o 
y. 
O 
o 
<1 
+I 
+ 
r/j 
»— 1 
C 
— i 
ins. 
ins. 
ins. 
in.s. 
ins. 
ins. 
ins. 
ins. 
ins. 
.Tan.  .. 
.  29-877 
29-927 
30-088 
30-141 
30-184 
30-249 
30-168 
30-166 
30-164 
Feb.  .. 
.  29-872 
29-851-. 
29-873 
29-740 
29-759 
29-841 
29-874 
29-896 
29-884 
March 
.  29-635 
29-661 
29-792 
29  830 
29-875 
29-938 
29-863 
29-866 
29-867 
April . 
.  29-916 
29-911 
29-946 
29-877 
29-882 
29-933 
29-951 
29-969 
29-966 
May  .. 
.  29  -900 
29-929 
29-984 
30-116 
30-073 
30-059 
30-005 
29-999 
29-982 
June .. 
.  29-953 
29-938 
29-907 
29-840 
29-854 
29-939 
29-907 
29-930 
29-927 
.Tilly  .. 
..  29-940 
29-931 
30-009 
30-080 
30-072 
30-090 
30-043 
30-044 
30-040 
Aug. .. 
.  29-860 
29-866 
29-909 
29-919 
29-930 
29-982 
29-935 
29-938 
29-939 
Sept... 
.  29-983 
29-987 
30-047 
30-022 
30-019 
30-072 
30-078 
30-084 
30-071 
Oct.  .. 
.  29-888 
29-909 
29-957 
30-005 
29-970 
30-008 
29-997 
29-988 
29-978 
Nov.  .. 
.  29-830 
29-808 
29-834 
29-664 
29-711 
29-867 
29-866 
29-893 
29-898 
J)ec.  .. 
.  29-851 
29-882 
30-001 
30-019 
30-056 
30-125 
30-089 
30-060 
30-053 
Cleans.  29-872 
29-883 
2R-946 
29-938 
29-949 
30-009 
29-981 
29-986 
29-981 
29-836 
moan. 
29-856 
29-914 
29-919 
29-947 
29-977 
? 
29-955 
29-957 
I)cp. 
from  +0-036  -[-0-027  -f  0-032  +0-019  -1-0-002  -P0'032  ?■  +0-031 +0+24 
av. 
These  figures  show  a  general  excess  of  pressure  for 
January,  April,  July,  September,  October,  and  December; 
and  a  deficiency  in  February  and  March.  The  greatest 
pressure  at  8  a.m.  reported  over  our  islands  during  the 
year  was  31.05in  at  Aberdeen  on  January  31  ;  and  the  least 
28.25in  at  Wick  on  December  29 — an  extreme  range  of  2.80in. 
At  Aberdeen  on  January  31  the  barometer  by  10  p.m.  had 
risen  to  a  maximum  of  31.11in;  this  reading  being  the 
highest  ever  recorded  in  our  islands. 
The  mean  temperature  for  the  twelve  months  was 
deficient  in  the  north,  but  did  not  differ  much  froin  normal 
over  the  central  and  southern  districts.  In  the  third  table 
given,  the  mean  for  each  month,  and  also  for  the  year,'  at 
nine  stations  distributed  over  our  islands  will  be  seen 
1902. 
Aberdeei: 
Leith 
C 
P 
Valencia 
*3 
Jersey 
Bristol 
Oxford 
London 
deg. 
deg] 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
.  deg. 
.Tanuary ...... 
37-5 
40-0 
41-3 
46-6 
47-4 
45-0 
41-5 
41-0 
41-6 
February  ... 
34-3 
35-6 
34-8 
42-3 
42-6 
39-7- 
35-6 
35-3 
35-7 
March  . 
41-9 
44-2 
44-2 
47-6 
48-9 
47-0 
45-6 
45-1 
45-1 
April  . . 
43-6 
46-0 
45-8 
47-0 
49-3 
49-4 
46-0 
46-7 
47-9 
May  . 
45-0 
48-1 
48-0 
49-8 
51-1 
50-5 
49-4 
49-2 
50-0 
June  . 
51-1 
52-5 
57-1 
56-7 
56-0 
58-2 
57-6 
57  .-4 
59-5 
July . . 
54-2 
57-1 
57-6 
57-9 
60-2 
61-8 
59-7 
60-6 
62-1 
August . . 
53-3 
57-0 
57-2 
58-6 
61-1 
6-22 
59-6 
59-5 
60-9 
September . 
52-5 
55-1 
55-7 
57-1 
59-4 
60-3 
55-9 
55-9 
58-0 
October.' . 
46-6 
49-1 
49-8 
52-5 
53-8 
-  54-5 
50-3 
49-6 
50  2 
November.. 
45-4 
45-5 
44-7 
49-0 
■  50-8 
48-6 
45-3 
44-5 
■45-4 
December.. 
39-8 
40-8 
41-1 
45-5 
46-7 
44-2 
40-8 
40-6 
41-6 
Means  . 
45.5 
47-6 
48-1 
50-8 
52-4 
51-8 
48-9 
48-8 
49-8 
Av.  mean ... 
46  2 
47-7 
48-8 
51-0 
52-1 
51-9 
-  49-2 
48-8 
49-9 
Departures 
.  from 
-0-7 
-0-6 
-0  7  ' 
-0-2 
+  0-3 
-0-1 
-0-3 
4  0-0 
-0-1 
average.  ■  .  , 
These  means  are  those  of  the  maximum  and  minimum 
readings,  and  are  not  corrected  for  diurnal  range.  As  in 
1901,  February  was  an  exceedingly  cold  month,  and  tem¬ 
perature  kept  almost  continually  below  normal  from  the 
beginning  of  May  to  the  end  of  August  over  the  whole  of 
oiir  islands.  On  the  other  hand,  during  January,  March, 
and  from  October  to  the  close  of  the  year,  the  temperature 
as  a  rule  was  above  the  average ;  March  showing  the 
greatest  excess.  Over  our  islands  the  maximum  reading 
reported  was  87deg  at  London  on  July  14,  and  the  minimum 
4deg  at  Newton-Reigny  on  February  13;  an  extreme  range 
of  83deg. 
To  a  greater  or  less  extent,  thunderstorms  were  reported 
from  various  stations  during  all  months  excepting  Februa,ry, 
March,  and  November.  They  were  most  prevalent  during 
May,  June,  and  August.  On  September  10,  in  the  south¬ 
east  of  England,  some  very  violent  storms  occun-ed,  accom¬ 
panied  by  very  destructive  falls  of  hail.  Snowstorms  were 
not  much  in  evidence  during  the  year.  The  principal  falls 
