1748
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
[No. 54

METEOROLOGICAL SUMMARY FOR MAY, 1909.

THE sequence of the weather during the summer and autumn has been remarkable for its irregularity. December and January were very damp and cool for summer months; February was hot and dry; March warm, but very wet on the east coast, and very dry on all the western coast and the southernmost parts of the Dominion; and April was very wet again on all the eastern coast south of East Cape; but the northern parts of both Islands were visited with less than the normal quantity of rainfall.

The weather on the whole was exceptionally mild and pleasant for the month of May, which is generally regarded as the last month of Autumn in New Zealand. The rainfall in most parts of the country was also about 40 per cent. below the average for the month from the records of previous years. Southland was very dry, and Balclutha recorded a minimum for May in twenty years; Otekaike. in North Otago, only 12 points on one day. The northern part of the South Island was almost the only district with more than the normal rainfall. The number of rainy days was, however, up to the average over the North Island.

The mean of barometric pressure was above the average for the month in previous years, and the disturbances were neither of great intensity nor duration. Until the 12th the weather was very unsettled, humid, and mild. High pressure, with rather raw and hazy weather by day and cool and frosty nights, prevailed until the 21st, when a cyclonic disturbance threatened the northern districts. This movement caused some high winds, considerably higher than the gradients would account for, and the low pressure was evidently filling up or decreasing in energy. It apparently united with a low pressure which followed on the 23rd. The South Island was principally affected with the latter, and the barometer rose an inch in about thirty-six hours between the evening of the 23rd and the morning of the 25th. High pressure continued over the North Island until the close of the month, but a very short and sharp disturbance of westerly low pressure passed smartly over the South Island on the night of the 29th and the morning of the 30th.

D. C. BATES.

Meteorological Office, Wellington.

"The Statistics Act, 1908."—Actual Yields in Corn-crops, Grasses, &c., 1908-9.—Notice No. 1296.

Department of Agriculture, Wellington, 26th June, 1909.

IN the New Zealand Gazette of the 18th March, 1909, there appeared a return showing the estimated yield per acre of wheat, oats, and barley for the Dominion, viz.: Wheat, 33 bushels; oats, 42 bushels; and barley, 34 bushels. The actual yields now to hand are as follows:—

Wheat .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 34·75 bushels per acre.
Oats .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 46·46 "
Barley .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 39·67 "

WHEAT.

The area for threshing was 252,391 acres, and the total yield is computed at .. 8,772,790 bushels.
Amount of wheat and flour returned on hand, 31st October, 1908 (as per returns) .. 1,761,534 "
Amount of wheat and flour imported from 1st November, 1908, to 28th February, 1909 191,242 "
————————
10,725,566 "
Wheat and flour exported from 1st November, 1908, to 28th February, 1909 .. .. .. 6,143 bushels.
Consumption for same period for population of 968,000, at the rate of 6 bushels per head per annum .. .. .. 1,936,000 "
————————
1,942,143 "
Leaving available for all purposes as at 28th February, 1909 .. .. .. 8,783,423 "

THOS. MACKENZIE,
Minister of Agriculture.