JUNE 



3188 



JUNE BUG 



, joon, the sixth month of the year, 

 has always been the favorite month of poets. 

 "The leafy month of June," one of them calls 

 it, and rightly, for during its long days the 

 trees and shrubs are at their freshest and best, 

 and the flowers are most plentiful and richest 

 in color. Especially, in temperate climates, it 

 is the month of roses. 



No less truly is June the month of brides. 

 This is no modern idea, but dates back to early 

 Roman days. May was a particularly unlucky 

 month for weddings, the ancients thought, but 

 June, especially that part when the moon was at 

 the full, was better than any other month. And 

 all through the Middle Ages this superstition 

 remained in force. The beauty of the month, 

 and the luxuriance of its flowers, do indeed fit 

 it well for all festivities, as does the fact that 

 in most localities June has as many days of 

 sunshine as any other month. 



The Month's History. It was the Romans 

 who named June, which with them was the 

 fourth month of the year. Some authorities 

 believe that its name was taken from that of 

 Juno, and this seems reasonable enough, for 

 the great queen of the gods was the patron 

 deity of marriage (see JUNO) ; but more prob- 

 ably it was derived from juniores, for this 

 month was specially dedicated to the younger 

 men, as the preceding one was to their elders. 

 In the time of Romulus (which see) the month 

 had thirty days. Later it lost four of these 

 then regained them, so when Julius Caesar 

 began his reform of the calendar it had but 

 twenty-nine. He added the extra day, and 

 ever since June has had thirty days. 



June Activities. June is a busy month in 

 nature. "Fruits that shall swell in sunny 

 June" wrote Bryant; when June comes the 

 blossoms of the fruit trees have had their day, 

 and the tiny green fruit is beginning to appear. 

 The bees, too, are busy, carrying home honey 

 and helping to fertilize the flowers, though 

 this they do not know. 



A swarm of bees in June 

 Is worth a silver spoon, 



says an old rhyme. Butterflies hover over the 

 roadside flowers, and the mother birds brood 

 over their eggs, while their mates sing to them 

 and bring them food. 



June is not so much a time of transition as 

 is May, for summer has really come, but it is 

 a season of undiminished activity, when the 

 "letting down and the drying up" which come 

 in the hotter months of July and August have 

 not yet begun. No month has more to inter- 

 est the children or to draw them out-of-doors. 

 The study of the bee and the butterfly, of 

 many of the sweetest flowers, and of certain 

 phases of the "home-life" of the birds may 

 well be undertaken at this time. 



The lists of birthdays, events and suggestions 

 for study on pages 3186 and 3187 will suggest 

 to the teacher or to the parent many special 

 talks or special exercises which can be of vary- 

 ing length, as befits the importance of the 

 subject. 



JUNEAU, joono' , the capital of Alaska, 

 situated on the coast, about 100 miles north 

 of Sitka. The estimated population is about 

 5,000, and the surrounding country contains 

 as many more white inhabitants. Juneau is 

 the center of government activities for the ter- 

 ritory. The territorial legislature meets there 

 and most of the government officials reside 

 there. It is in many respects a modern city, 

 with churches, public schools and police and 

 fire departments. It is an important supply 

 station, and has steamship connection with all 

 the Alaskan ports and with Seattle and other 

 cities on Puget Sound. See ALASKA. 



JUNE BUG, or MAY BEETLE, popula 

 names for a large, brown beetle common in 

 the United States in the months of May and 

 June. These beetles are seen principally at 

 night when, attracted by spots of light, they 

 fly about street lamps in great numbers and 

 find their way into lighted rooms. There they 

 often bump awkwardly into furniture and pec 

 pie, falling helplessly to the ground and kick- 

 ing and struggling until they right themselves 

 for another flight. They eat the young leaves 





