479 
November  19,  1903.  JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE 
Weather  Notes. 
Devonshire. 
I  am  in  receipt  of  a  letter  from  a  friend  at  Westward  Ho 
(Devon),  and  from  its  eontents  it  would  appear  that  even  in  that 
most  favoured  part  of  the  kingdom  the  evil  effects  of  the  past 
weather  have  been  felt.  He  .says,  “Rain,  rain  every  day,  and 
plenty  of  it.”  He  also  gives  a  graphic  account  of  the  great  gale 
in  September,  which  must  have  been  decidedly  more  severelj' 
felt  there  than  in  Scotland.  He  says  it  had  a  curious  effect  upon; 
the  foliage  of  trees.  The  leaves  afterwards  turned  almost  black, 
and  had  the  appearance  as  if  burned  by  fire,  and  after  a  few 
days  began  to  fall  off,  so  that  all  the  trees  were  practically  bare 
by  the  middle  of  October.  “  And  now,”  he  says,  “  a  good  many 
are  springing  into  bud  again,  and  we  have  a  Pear  tree  in  full 
bloom,  with  Lilac  trees  all  budding.”  My  friend  also  says  the.v, 
had  little  or  no  fruit  in  the  garden,  though  it  is  full  of  fipe 
bearing  Apple  and  Pear  trees. — D.  C. 
October  Weather  at  Belvoir  Castle. 
The  prevailing  direction  of  the  wind  was  South,  total  thirteen 
days.  The  total  rainfall  w^as  .5.6oinv  this  fell  on  tw'enty-nine 
da.ys,  and  is  2.57in  above  the  average  for  the  month.  This  is, 
the  greatest  amount  recorded  for  one  month  since  October,  1892, 
and  the  greatest  number  of  rainy  dajvs  recorded  here  for  one 
month;  details  previous  to  1877  are  mis.sing.  Barometer 
(corrected  and  reduced) :  Highe.st  reading,  30.078in  on  the  18th, 
at  9  p.m.  ;  lowest  reading,  28.947in  on  the  12th  at  9  p.m. 
Thermometer :  Highest  in  the  shade,  64deg  on  the  1st  and  3rd  ; 
lowest,  33deg  on  the  24th;  mean  of  daily  maxima,  o6.4.5deg; 
mean  of  daily  minima,  44.67deg;  mean  temperature  of  the 
month,  50.56deg;  lowmst  on  the  grass,  31deg  on  the  24th; 
highest  in  the  sun,  llGdeg  on  the  3rd;  mean  temperature  of 
the  earth  at  3ft,  .52.80deg.  All  the  mean  temperatures  are  con¬ 
siderably  above  the  average.  Total  sunshine,  92  hours  50  minutes, 
which  is  nearly  two  hours  above  the  average  for  the  month  ; 
there  were  four  sunle.ss  days.  There  has  been  no  fro.st  here  this 
autumn  to  destroy  tender  plants,  and  Dahlias,  Heliotrope,  and 
others  are  now  (November  3)  full  of  flowers  outdoors. — W.  H. 
Diveks. 
Meteorological  Observations  at  Chiswick. 
Taken  in  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society’s  Gardens  at  Chis¬ 
wick,  height  above  sea  level  24  feet. 
Date. 
Direction  of 
Wind. 
Temperature  of  the 
Air. 
Rain. 
Temperature  of 
the  Soil. 
At  9  A.M. 
Lowest 
Temperature 
1  on  Grass. 
November. 
At  9  A.M. 
Day. 
Night 
At 
1-ft, 
deep. 
At 
2-ft. 
deep. 
At 
4-ft. 
deep. 
Dry  ’ 
Bulb. 
Wet 
Bulh. 
CD 
(U 
bC 
S 
<43 
CD 
(D 
O 
J 
Sunday  ...  ] 
Monday  ...  5 
Tuesday...  3 
Wed’sday 
Thursday  5 
Friday  ...  6 
Saturday  7 
W.S.W. 
S.S.W. 
N.W. 
N.W. 
N.E. 
N.E. 
S.E. 
deg. 
521 
49-7 
51-4 
38  6 
43-9 
48-4 
37  0 
deg. 
49-8 
48-5 
48  5 
38-4 
43-5 
460 
36-4 
deg. 
58  9 
55T 
54T 
53-3 
51-6 
53-3 
48-8 
deg. 
41-7 
39  5 
48-7 
34-3 
37-0 
43  2 
31-3 
Ins. 
0-24 
deg. 
510 
51-2 
520 
50'2 
486 
48'9 
47  9 
deg. 
52-3 
526 
52  6 
52-7 
52*1 
51-5 
51-3 
deg. 
54  4 
54-2 
541 
540 
53-9 
53*8 
53-6 
deg. 
40-0 
30-5 
48-4 
26- 5 
29-2 
31 '5 
27- 2 
Means  ... 
1  45-9 
44-4 
j  53'7 
39  4 
Total. 
0-24 
50-0 
52-2 
54-0 
33-3 
Except  for  seme  rain  cn  the  2nd  inst..  the  weather  has  been  dry 
but  dull,  with  mere  or  less  fog  on  three  days. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
Ins. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
Sunday  ...  8 
S.S.E. 
45  7 
43-4 
52-3 
35-3 
0-05 
47-2 
50  7 
53-3 
26-5 
Monday  ...  9 
S.W. 
51-6 
50-8 
55-8 
32  7 
0  04 
46  9 
50  3 
53-1 
26-0 
Tuesday  ...10 
S.W. 
44-9 
43-4 
55-3 
37-8 
— 
46  9 
50’1 
52  9 
28-5 
Wed'sday  11 
W.N.W. 
51  7 
500 
53-3 
44  7 
0  02 
48-4 
500 
52-7 
41-8 
Thursday  12 
W.S.W. 
48-0 
47-1 
533 
42-3 
0-05 
490 
50-3 
52-5 
32-2 
Friday  ...13 
W.S.W. 
52-7 
51  2 
53-8 
48  0 
0-01 
49-9 
50  5 
52-3 
48  3 
Saturday  14 
S.E. 
51-7 
50-8 
55-2 
48-2 
005 
50  2 
50  8 
52-3 
38-9 
Total. 
Means  ... 
49'.5 
48-1 
54T 
41-3 
0-22 
43  4 
50-4 
52  7 
34  6 
Damp,  misty  weather  has  been  the  feature  of  the  past  eveek,  with 
small  cpiantities  of  rain  on  six  days. 
Weather,  Roses,  and  Bees  at  Newton  Mearns,  N.B. 
Since  I  wrote  a  fortnight  ago  the  weather  has  not  improved. 
The  last  week  of  October  gave  us  an  additional  figure  to  the 
month’s  rainfall.  From  figures  kindly  supplied  to  me  by  my 
AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
good  friend  Mr.  Lyon,  of  The  Gardens,  Pollok  Castle,  I  learn 
that  the  rainfall  for  October  was  lO.odjin,  which  seems  to  me  to 
be  an  extraordinary  fall.  I  also  learned  that  the  largest  falls 
were  registered  on  the  5th  (0.89),  Yth  (1.15)  15th  (0.58),  16th 
(0.50),  17th  (0.34),  25th  (0.53D,  and  28th  (0.56^in)  respectively. 
There  were  only  two  dry  days  in  the  month,  viz.,  10th  and  18th. 
With  the  approacli  of  November,  it  was  hoped  that  a  change 
would  set  in,  but  so  far  no  improvement,  sunshine  and  rain 
alternately.  The  harvest  now  is  a  word  of  the  past,  although 
there  is  yet  a  considerable  amount  of  grain  out  in  the  fields, 
but  what  is  it  like?  Rubbish.  It  will  possibly  do  for  manure. 
Although  the  farmers  here  have  felt  a  little  loss,  yet  awa.v 
farther  North  I  learn  that  losses  to  the  extent  of  thousands  of 
pounds  have  been  caused.  Not  for  many  years  has  such  a  time 
been  experienced. 
,  ■  The  gardens  and  fields  are  still  looking  fresh,  but  the  leaves 
are  now  well  off  the  trees.  The  ground,  however,  is  “  water¬ 
logged,”  and  any  alteration  to  be  made  now  will  require  to  be 
delayed.  Roses  that  were  ordered  have  arrived  from  the  nur¬ 
sery,  but  it  will  be  some  time  yet  flbfore  planting  can  be  com¬ 
menced.  There  are  still  a  good  few-  Rose  blooms  in  the  garden  : 
Hayward,  Gen.  Jacqueminot,  Helen  Keller,  and  Piganeau  are 
specially  fine ;  while  Testout,  Grant,  Grolez,  and  Antoine 
Rivoire  are  exceptionally  pretty  for  the  time  of  year.  Rivoire  is 
under  glass  globes,  which  is  the  only  way  a  good  bloom  can  be 
secured  in  damp  weather.  The  same  remarks  appl,v  to  Bessie 
Brown.  A  look  round  the  apiaiy  on  Saturday  last  satisfied  us 
that  stores  were  plentiful,  and  with  the  protection  of  rainproof 
covers  the  bees  should  winter  well.— N.  R,  November  14,  1903. 
The  Agricultural  Census  of  1901. 
We  should  perhaps,  say,  the  census  from  an  agricultural 
standpoint.  We  are  now'  in  a  position  to  know'  exactly  how 
we  stand  in  respect  to  the  numbers  of  the  employed  as 
against  this  time  fifty  years  ago.  We  have  felt  the  diffi¬ 
culties  of  the  labour  question,  and  we  have  seen  on  every 
hand  what  a  lack  there  has  been  of  suitable  workmen.  At 
the  present  time  the  labour  question  is,  to  many  of  us,  of 
vital  importance,  and  w'e  do  not  know  where  to  turn  to  find 
hands  to  get  us  through  the  press  of  work  before  the 
severe  weather  stops  all  but  the  most  urgent  work  on  the 
land.  With  the  increased  demand  come  larger  wages,  and 
just  at  a  time  when  the  farmer  can  ill  afford  an  extra 
halfpenny.  Women  are  eagerly  sought  after,  and  we  cannot 
but  think  that  2s.  for  a  day  beginning  at  9  a.m.  and  lasting 
till  4,  is  a  good  wage.  Indeed,  to-day  we  saw  women  well 
on  towards  their  homes  at  4.10.  Boys  and  girls  just  out  of 
school  ask,  and  get.  Is.  8d.  ;  and  still  at  these  wages  both 
wrmen  and  young  folks  are  scarce.  Many  Irishmen  come 
over  for  the  tw'O  harvests,  that  of  corn  and  Potatoes  ,  but 
the  season  has  been  so  delayed  that  they  will  stay  with  us 
no  longer,  and  are  off  in  flights  like  the  sw’allows. 
Mr.  Druce,  of  the  Farmers’  Club,  has  brought  together 
some  figures  that  he  finds  in  the  census  returns,  and  which 
show  dearly  how  we  stand.  He  takes  fifty  years,  and  we 
see  how  the  population,  as  a  whole,  has  increased,  and  m 
some  sections  the  increase  has  been  very  little  ,  in  otheis 
there  is  but  a  decrease  to  record.  In  1851,  out  of  a  total 
population  of  eighteen  millions,  two  millions  were  of  the 
agricultural  class.  In  1901,  out  of  a  population  of  32^ 
millions,  rather  more  than  one  million  are  agricul¬ 
turists  ;  or,  to  put  it  very  plainly,  that  all  may  comprehend 
—In  1851,  one  person  out  of  every  nine  was  employed  in 
agriculture,  as  against  one  person  in  thirty-two  in  1901. 
'.me  number  of  labourers  has  diminished  even  more,  for  in 
1851  we  find  1,250,000,  as  against  609,000  in  1901,  less  than 
half ! 
Now  this  shortage  cannot  all  be  accounted  for  by  the 
introduction  of  machinery  and  the  turning  of  arable  land  to 
grass!  From  1891  to  1901,  the  agricultural  population  has 
decreased  15A  per  cent.  The  urban  districts  have  increased 
1.5j,  and  the“rural  districts  have  increased  three  per  cent. 
