46 SHROVE tideI 



FEB. 15. SS. Faustinus and Jovita, martyrs, 

 A.D. 121. 

 St. Sigefride, bishop, apostle of Sweden. 



Lupercalia. — Julian Cal. 



Obs. SS. Faustinus and Jovita were brothers, and preached the 

 Christian religion in the city of Brescia in Lombardy, while the 

 bishop of that place lay concealed during the persecution in the 

 reign of Adrian. They are considered as patron saints of Brescia, 

 where their reliques are preserved. Butler refers to Tillemont, t.2, 

 p. 249. 



St. Sigefride was sent from York in 950 to establish the Catholic 

 religion in Sweden, where he founded many churches, and esta- 

 blished the bishopric of Upsula. 



Cloth of Gold Crocus Susianus flowers. 



This Crocus differs from the common yellow one in having a deep 

 yellow flower, striped on the outside with dark chocolate stripes ; it 

 flowers about the same time as we mentioned in our account of yes- 

 terday. We may now expect all the other Croci to begin to blow. 



Four or five Croci distinguished by botanists are really only per- 

 manent varieties of one species, and we call it vernal, to divide it 

 from the autumnal Crocus, called Saffron. The varieties of the 

 spring Crocus, however, flower at somewhat different times ; the 

 yellow Crocus, the Scotch, and the Cloth of Gold, is the first, and 

 ripens about the 5th of February, being abundant about St. Valen- 

 tine's Day ; the striped, and also the blue and white, are somewhat 

 later ; and the blue latest of all. All the Croci continue blowing 

 throughout March. Lindsay, in the new edition of Hort. Cantab, 

 makes the following distinct species: — 1. C. officinalis, 2. C. sero- 

 tinus, 3. C. nudiflorus, autum. fl. Sept. 4 ; 4. C. sulphureus, 5. C. 

 versicolor, 6. C. maesiacus, 7. C. vernus, 8. C. biflorus, 9. C. su- 

 sianus, 10. C. lanaesifolius, and 11. C. stellaris, prim. fl. February 

 and IMarch. 



Thirty or more varieties are cultivated in the garden of the Horti- 

 cultural Society, but we believe that few, if any, of them are new 

 species. 



The soil proper for Crocuses is composed of sand and light loam ; 

 we have found that if enriched with a small portion of old dung, it 

 rather improves the plant, ^ 



