October 11. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
13 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
M 
D 
W 
D 
OCTOBER 11—17, 1849. 
Weather near London 
in 1848. 
Sun 
Rises. 
Sun 
Sets. 
Moon 
R. & S. 
Moon’s 
Age. 
Clock 
bef.Sun. 
Day of 
Year. 
11 
Th 
Old Michaelmas Day. Ash-leaves fall. 
B. 29 . 9 — 29 . 7 - 
T. 60 °—35°. R. 
19 a. 6 
15 a. 5 
0 
27 
25 
13 
13 
284 
12 
F 
Honeysuckle-leaves fall. [fall. 
B. 29.9—29 9. 
T. 56°—38°. R. .01 
21 
12 
1 
39 
26 
13 
28 
285 
13 
S 
Trans. K. Edward Conf. Aspen-leaves 
B. 30.0—30.0. 
T. 58°—44°. R. .02 
23 
10 
2 
51 
27 
13 
42 
286 
14 
Sun 
19 Sun. aft. Trin. Swallow last seen. 
B. 30.0—30.0. 
T. 54°—40°. R. .14 
24 
8 
4 
4 
28 
13 
56 
287 
15 
M 
Lady-bird hybemates. 
B. 29.8—29.7. 
T. 52°—41°. R. .21 
26 
6 
5 
14 
29 
14 
9 
288 
16 
Tu 
Martin last seen. 
B. 29 . 7 — 29 . 6 . 
T. 54°—44°. R. .04 
28 
4 
sets 
© 
14 
22 
289 
17 
W 
Etheldred^, Hazel-leaves fall. 
B. 29 . 9 — 29 . 8 . 
T. 49°—33°. R. .02 
29 
1 
6 
a. 1 
1 
14 
34 
290 
Translation of King Edward the Confessor. —This day 
commemorates the removal of the Anglo-Saxon king’s remains from 
the Abbey at Westminster, which he had built himself, to the more 
splendid shrine erected to his honour by Henry 3rd in the still more 
splendid Abbey that is yet one of the best ornaments of London. 
Etheldreda, or Adelfrida, was daughter of Annas, king of the 
East Angles, and bom at Ixning, in Suffolk, about the year 630. 
She was canonized for her chastity, and was popularly known as 
Saint Audry. At St. Audry’s fair, held at Ely, much sliewy lace 
was formerly sold, and Saint Audry’s lace soon became proverbial, 
and by degrees corrupted into our now common word tawdry. 
Meteorology of the Week. —During the last twenty-two years 
the average highest and lowest temperature occurring from the 11th 
to the 1 /th of October near London has been 6(1.2° and 43.6°. The 
highest temperature was 72°, and the lowest 29 °. The greatest quan¬ 
tity of rain falling on any one of those days was 1.04 inch ; and, in 
the twenty-two years, of these days 67 have been rainy and 87 have 
been fine. In our last Number we warned our readers against con¬ 
cluding that the average amount of rain falling in Britain was even 
nearly the same in every district; and as this is rather an important 
point for the gardener to be well acquainted with, on account of its 
influence over out-door gardening, we will give a tabular view of the 
average quantity in inches of rain which annually falls in various 
places. 
Inches. 
86 EsthwaiteLodge, Lancashire 
85 Coniston, Lancashire. 
75 Esthwaite Lake. 
67 Keswick. 
61 Cameron, Fifeshire. 
60 Haslington, Lancashire. 
56 Kendal. 
55 Allenheads, Northumber¬ 
land. 
54 Whitehaven. 
52 Garsdale, Yorkshire. 
50 Stone Easton, near Wells. 
Inches. 
49 Castle Toward, N. B. 
48 Milbury, Oxfordshire. 
46 Plymouth. 
44 Corbeth Guthrie, Stirling¬ 
shire. 
42 Sorn, Ayrshire. 
41 Townley, Lancashire; Lud- 
guan, Cornwall. 
40 Glasgow. 
39 Lancashire, Greenock, 
Catrine. 
38 Alford, Aberdeenshire. 
Inches. 
37 Selboume, Dover. 
36 Manchester. 
34 Liverpool, Applegarth, 
Swansea. 
32 Cheltenham, Chichester, 
Kinfauns Castle. 
31 Minehead, Sheffield, Abbey 
St. Bathans. 
30 Carlisle; Pool Cottage, near 
Hereford. 
29 Bristol, Bridgewater, Mon¬ 
mouth. 
27 Hereford, Chatsworth, 
Derby, Gosport, Ferraby, 
Barrowby. 
Inches. 
26 Fifield, Edinburgh, Bir¬ 
mingham. 
25 * Norwich, Bedford, Horn- 
castle, Ware, Kimbolton, 
Brandsby, North Shields, 
Elgin, N. B. 
Lyndon, Thirsk, Inveresk, 
Ackworth. 
Aberdeen, Oundle, High 
Wycomb. 
York, South Lambeth. 
Widdrington, Northum¬ 
berland. 
London, Cambridge, Ayles¬ 
bury. 
Upminster, Essex. 
24 
23 
22 
21 
20 
19 
Natural Phenomena Indicative of Weather. The Ass ,— 
If this animal shakes and moves its ears, and brays more often, walks 
more slowly, and rubs itself against walls, &c., more frequently than 
usual, it is an indication that rain is approaching, and particularly 
showers. Mr. Forster says, “ I have noticed that in showery weather 
a donkey confined in a yard near the house has brayed before every 
shower, and generally some minutes before the rain has fallen, as if 
some change of electrical influence irritated him. Whatever this 
electric change in the air may be, it seems to be the same that causes 
in other animals a similar inclination to cry out—making the peacock 
scream, the pintado or Guinea-fowl call ‘ come-back,’ and which 
creates a variety of prognostic motions in other animals. It also 
creates pain in old wounds, decayed teeth, and fractured bones. An 
expressive adage says. 
When the ass begins to bray, 
Be sure we shall have rain that day. 
I have repeatedly been able to give my hay-makers useful admoni¬ 
tions, founded solely on the braying of the ass. Thus, the proverb 
says truly, 
’Tis time to cock your hay and corn 
When the old donkey blows his horn.” 
Insects. —Every one who is ac¬ 
quainted with the seeds of the pea 
and the bean must have noticed that 
RANGE OF BAROMETER—RAIN IN INCHES. 
in many of them were small round 
holes, and these occasionally are so 
numerous as to spoil the sample, and, 
indeed, render the seeds totally valueless for sowing; for not one of 
those thus pierced but would either produce a weak unhealthy plant 
or not vegetate at all. Those holes in the “ worm-eaten” peas and 
beans are made by a small beetle (Bruchus granarius) produced 
from a grub or caterpillar which has eaten away the vital parts of the 
seed; and when it has passed through the chrysalis state, and given 
birth to this beetle, the latter makes the hole in order to escape into the 
open air, there to perpetrate more mischief upon the growing crops. 
The body of the beetle is a dull brown, but the elytra;, or wing covers, 
are black, dotted with white, but scarcely perceptibly so, unless mag¬ 
nified, as in our drawing. Naturally it is the size of the smaller 
figure; that is, scarcely two lines long. The antenna; are eleven- 
Oct. 
1841. 
1842. 
1843. 
1844. 
1845. 
1846. 
1847. 
1818. 
11 
B. 
f29.596 
30.363 
29.217 
29741 
29.851 
29.753 
29.846 
29.927 
\ 29.441 
30.282 
29.089 
29.623 
29.399 
29.592 
29.839 
29.793 
R. 
0.34 
— 
0.14 
— 
0.09 
0.26 
0.03 
— 
12 
B. 
r 29.596 
30.286 
29.S37 
29721 
30.213 
29-531 
29.886 
29.975 
129.202 
30.244 
29.090 
29.540 
30.083 
29.405 
29.844 
29-928 
R. 
0.24 
— 
0.09 
0.03 
— 
0.07 
— 
0.01 
13 
B. 
f 29.973 
30.258 
29753 
29.409 
30.419 
29-882 
29-919 
30.041 
L 29.859 
30.220 
29.598 
29.217 
30.282 
29.803 
29.793 
30.010 
R. 
0.04 
— 
— 
0.33 
— 
0.01 
— 
0.02 
14 
B. 
/ 29 821 
30.209 
29.771 
29.322 
30.435 
29.501 
29.864 
30.046 
1 29.698 
30.204 
29740 
28-987 
30.304 
28.992 
29.739 
30.005 
R. 
0.02 
— 
— 
0.42 
— 
0.50 
0.01 
0.14 
15 
B. 
f 29.799 
30.268 
29.697 
29.018 
30.242 
29.081 
29 865 
29.815 
l 29.492 
30.233 
29.649 
28.940 
30.030 
28.934 
29.695 
29755 
R. 
0.50 
— 
— 
1.04 
0.01 
0.69 
0.01 
0.21 
16 
B. 
r 29.520 
30.235 
29.682 
29.096 
30.196 
29.268 
29.960 
29.749 
I 29.349 
30.171 
29.621 
28.940 
30.099 
29-189 
29.944 
29.697 
R. 
0.04 
— 
0.52 
0.02 
— 
0.40 
0.01 
0.04 
17 
B. 
f 29.519 
30.045 
29-377 
29.450 
30.126 
29.470 
29.986 
29.044 
\ 29.409 
29.664 
29.250 
29.232 
30.031 
29.241 
29,843 
29.808 
R. 
0.01 
" 
0.06 
0.18 
0.01 
0.02 
jointed, black, and thinnest near the head, where they are also tinged 
with red. The head droops, the eyes are prominent, the fore-legs 
are rusty-coloured. This little beetle may be found upon various 
flowers during seven months of the year. In February it may be 
found on the furze blossom, in June upon the white-thorn, and in 
July and August upon the spiraea and rhubarb flowers. The female 
pierces through the pod of the pea and bean whilst very young, and 
often deposits an egg in each seed. Probably, the best mode of 
destroying this insect would be to subject the seed, as soon as har¬ 
vested. for some hours, until thoroughly heated, to a temperature 
of 150°. This, we think, would kill the grubs without injuring the 
seed. 
No. L1V., Vol. III. 
