April 29. THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 57 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
; 
M W 
D D 
APRIL 29—MAY 5,1852. 
| Weather near London in 1851. 
Sun 
Rises. 
Sun 
Sets. 
Moon 
R.&S. 
Moon’s 
Age. 
Clock 
bef. Sun. 
Day of 
Year. 
j Barometer. 
Thermo. 
Wind. Rain in In. 
29 Tb 
Large Tortoiseshell Butterfly seen. 
29 . 675 — 29.601 
53—28 
s.w. 
1 1 
37 a. 4 
18 a. 7 
3 6 
10 
2 
49 
120 
30 F 
Dragon-Fly seen. 
29 . 643 — 29.601 
55—29 
N.W. 
04 
35 
19 
3 32 
11 
2 
57 
121 
1 S 
St. Ph. & St. Jas. Pr. Ar. b. 1850. 29.760 — 29.672 
58—32 
S.W. 
— 
33 
21 
3 54 
12 
3 
5 
122 
2 Sdn 
3 Sunday after Easter. 
29 . 835 — 29.659 
57-29 
N. 
— 
31 
22 
4 16 
13 
3 
12 
123 
3 M 
Honeysuckle flowers. 
29 . 826 — 29.732 
54—32 
N.W. 
09 
29 
24 
rises. 
© 
3 
19 
124 
4'Tu 
Toothwort flowers. 
29 . 702 — 29.665 
50—30 
N. 
02 
28 
26 
8 a 22 
15 
3 
25 
125 
5 W 
Mealy Tree flowers. 
29 . 709 — 29.677 
54—38 
N. 
02 
26 
27 
9 44 
16 
3 
30 
126 
Meteorology of the Week. —At Chiswick, from observations during the last twenty-five years, the average highest and lowest tempera¬ 
tures of these days are 63.2°and 41.8° respectively. The greatest heat, 80°, occurred on the 29 th in 1841 ; and the lowest cold, 27° on the 29th 
in 1836. During the period 105 days were fine, and on 70 rain fell. 
BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
CROWFOOTS—RANITNCULACEiE. 
THALICTRUM. MEADOW-ROE Or RUE-WEED. 
(Continued from. page 20.) 
Thalictrum majus : Greater Meadow Rue. 
Description.—Boot perennial, very yellow, throwing up one 
or two stems every year. Stems crooked, two or three feet 
high, cylindrical, scored, purplish green, leafy, panicled. 
Branches several from the same point, of different lengths. 
Leaflets small, egg-shaped or roundish, two or three-cleft 
towards the end; rather milky-green above, quite so under¬ 
neath. Flowers sweet, drooping. Petals four, purplish 
green. Stamens fifteen to twenty. Anthers yellow. Pistils 
four to seven. Seeds spear-shaped, furrowed, acute. Dis¬ 
tinguished from T. minus by its always sending out two or 
three branches from the same knot on the stem or larger 
branches, and by the leaflets being dark green above and 
glaucous underneath; whilst in T. minus the branches rise 
singly, and the leaflets are of a lighter green above, This 
plant is also much more branched, and one-thud taller. 
Time of flowering. —June and July. 
Places where found. —On bushy hills. More common in 
the north than in the south. 
History. —We think that in Byte's Herbal, page 42, this 
species is mentioned as the third kind of “ Thalictrum mag¬ 
num, or Great Bastard Rewbarbe," described as having “his 
small flowers of a light blue colour,” of which colour they 
have been seen in our Thalictrum majus. 
Thalictrum flavum : Yellow-rooted, or Common Rue- | 
weed. 
Description. —It is a perennial. Root fibrous, yellow. Petals 
four, cream-coloured. Stamens twenty-four; anthers yellow ! 
and erect. Pistils ten to sixteen. Leaves alternate, doubly 
pinnate. Leaflets, the lower irregular, sometimes wedge- 
shaped, with three clefts; or oval, entire, with a lobe on one 
side; the upper spear-head-shaped,entire,or with three clefts, 
all smooth, veiny, grassy green on upper surface, paler under¬ 
neath. Stems leafy, three feet high, upright, hollow, angular, 
little branched, panicled at the head, with very numerous 
flowers. Stigmas heart-shaped, short. Seeds few, furrowed. 
Var. 1, lobes of the leaves narrower, and more wrinkled. 
Time of flowering. —June and July. 
Places where found. —Common in moist meadows, and on 
the banks of ditches and rivers. 
History. —The absurd name of Rue, which it resembles 
neither in appearance nor in quality, seems to have been 
first applied to this plant by those who should have been 
wiser; for Lyte, who wrote in 1578, says, “ In certain apo¬ 
thecaries’ shops they call this kind of herb Piganum, and do 
erroneously use it for Rue, which is called in Greek Pega- | 
non." “ The common sort,” he adds, “ call it Bhabarbarum, 
and therefore it is called False or Bastard Rhubarb." A 
plaister made of the bruised leaves raises a slight blister, 
and has been found useful in lumbago and rheumatism. 
The root dyes wool yellow, and in Buckinghamshire the 
villagers boil the root and young tops in ale, and drink the 
liquor thus made as a purging medicine. Cows, horses, 
goats, and sheep eat it, but swine reject it. 
Foremost of an array of publications requiring our 
notice, is Mr. Scoffern’s Treatise on Sugar and Sugar 
Apparatus, a little pamphlet deserving perusal by every 
one taking an interest in the details of our manufac¬ 
tures, but more especially by those who are endeavour¬ 
ing to establish manufactories of beet-root sugar in 
Ireland, and elsewhere. Of the samples of beet-root 
1 sugar exhibited in the Crystal Palace, Mr. Scoffern 
thus speaks:— 
“Of the beet-root sugar samples present from Germany 
and northern Europe, the best appear to us to be those of 
the Zollverein. The Austrian samples of beet-root sugar 
present a difficulty which we cannot solve. With the object 
of showing the perfection to which drainage has been 
earned, wo have presented to us the tips of certain sugar- 
loafs completely white, or, more technically speaking, ‘ neat.’ 
This result, if occurring in the actual course of manufacture, 
and after the ordinary amount of liquoring, is expressive of 
a highly-successful condition of the sugar-making art. If, 
on the contrary, these tips are merely the product of forced 
efforts, they merit no approbation. We make this remark, 
because, on examining the unbroken Austrian loaves, their 
tips are found to be in a very different condition from the 
others. 
“The French beet-root sugars are unquestionably the 
finest examples in the Exhibition of sugar, from whatever 
source prepared. We never remember seeing more brilliancy 
of colour than exists in the loaves of Messrs. Jeanti, I’revost, 
and Co. Nearly as satisfactory, but not quite, are the pro¬ 
ductions of Messrs. Serret, Hamoir, and Co., of N alenciennes. 
It may be remarked of both these manufacturers, that their 
goods are neat to the tip, and must have stood high in the 
moulds. A sugar refiner will easily know how to appreciate 
these conditions. 
« Unfortunately, the Belgian loaves of Messrs. Claus and 
Caron got soiled during their transit, and hence a great deal 
of their natural brilliancy is lost. Any one acquainted with 
No. CLXXXVII, Vol. VIII. 
