ENGLAND'S DRY SPRING

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23504, 19 May 1938, Page 20

ENGLAND'S DRY SPRING

LAND THIRSTING FOR RAIN . (From Our Own Correspondent) (By Air Mail) LONDON, Apl. 27. England is having the dryest spring recorded since meteorological records were begun 50 years ago, and indeed it is said that for rainlessness the months of February, March, and April have not been matched for 150 years. Two-thirds of an inch of rain is all that has fallen in those three months. In Scotland two years ago that amount tell in five minutes. Farmers in most parts of the country are anxiously watching the skies for rain. If the drought, which has now lasted for more than 20 days, continues much longer the damage to crops will be very serious. The lack of warm sunshine, the night frosts, and the frigid winds have made matters worse. Farmers need rain; fruitgrowers dread the frost. From the point of view of farm and orchard, conditions at present are as bad as they can be—yet only three "weeks ago the spring seemed likely to be one of the most benign and genial within memory. Apart from local showers along the east coast, between Kent and the Humber, and in parts of East Sussex, this exceptional drought has remained unbroken in England and Wales since the first days of Aprils Ploughs cannot be used in most parts of Britain. They turn up clods of earth like concrete, useless to the farmer. Farmers cannot plant their sugar beet, turnips, or mangels in the hard, parched earth; paslures are brown, grass will not grow, wells and streams are drying up, spring corn is losing its colour, and unless there is rain soon hay is bound to be injured. In the west of England, the other night, there were fitful showers, though hardly enough to darken the soil. In London, too, there was a faint sprinkling for a minute or two. but nothing measurable. At present, although prayers for rain are being offered in many village churches, there is no general shortage of drinking water, though country housewives have to carry water a mile in some parts. It is apparent that continuance of the drought must soon cause hardship. London's water supply is ample at the moment. The Metropolitan Water Board reports that storage is nearly full and that it is still possible to draw from the river. . The frosts that have accompanied the drought have completely destroyed fruit crops in some districts. Plums and cherries in Herefordshire are completely wiped out. Nine-tenths of the apple crop and all the early strawberries are ruined. Gooseberries, black and red currants will also have bad crops.