January 3.] 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
1R1 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
M W 
D| 1) 
JANUARY 3—9, 1850. 
Weather near London 
in 1849. 
Sun 
Rises. 
Sun 
Sets. 
Moon 
R. & S. 
Moon’s 
Age. 
Clock 
bef. Sun. 
Day of 
Year. 
| 
3!Tir 
Bay-shouldered Button-moth seen. 
T. 32°—23°. 
E. 
Fine. 
8 a. 8 
1 a. 4 
10 
39 
20 
4 
17 
3 
4 F 
Rosemary flowers. 
T, 35°—32°. 
E. 
Rain. 
8 
2 
11 
51 
21 
5 
15 
4 
5 |S 
Wren sings. [Day. 
T. 34°— 26 °. 
N.E. 
Rain. 
8 
4 
morn. 
C 
5 
42 
5 
6 Sun 
2 S. af. Christ. Epii-iiany. Twelfth 
T. 35°— 19 °. 
N.E. 
Fine. 
7 
5 
1 
1 
23 
6 
8 
6 
7 M 
Plough Monday. Usher-moth seen. 
T. 38°—30°. 
N.W. 
Rain. 
7 
6 
2 
7 
24 
6 
34 
7 
8 To 
Lucian. Furze Apion Beetle found. 
T. 40°—3 4°. 
S.E. 
Rain. 
7 
7 
3 
12 
25 
7 
0 
s 
9'W 
Redbreast sings. 
T. 47°—37°. 
S.W. 
Rain. 
6 
9 
4 
15 
26 
7 
25 
9 
Epiphany. —The name of this festival is derived from a Greek 
word, signifying appearing, or manifesting, because the Christian 
church celebrates that revelation of Christ to the Gentiles, or heathen 
nations, which is recorded in the'second chapter of St. Matthew’s 
Gospel. Of the nature of the star, or of the revelation which informed 
the learned men, or magi, of the East, of the birth of our Saviour, 
we have no information beyond the recorded fact. The names of the 
three magi, as preserved by the most ancient ecclesiastical historians, 
are Melchior, Jasper, and Balthusar ; and the offerings they made to 
the infant Christ are believed to have been symbolical—the gold of 
his sovereignty, the frankincense of his divinity, and the myrrh of 
his sorrows and humiliation. This festival was first observed a.d. 813. 
It is called Twelfth day, because held twelve days after Christmas 
day ; and the whole of these days, by' a law of Alfred the Great, were 
ordered to be kept as holidays. In the cider districts of Devonshire 
and Cornwall, on the eve of this festival, many an old orchardist 
attended by his workmen, still visits each of his choicest apple-trees, 
and, in goblets of eider, they thrice drink some such a toast as this:— 
Here’s to thee, old apple-tree ! 
Whence thou may’st bud, and whence thou may’st blow, 
And whence thou may’st bear apples enow 1 
Hats full—caps full 1 
Bushels full—sacks full 1 
And my pockets full too ! Huzza 1 
This being done, they return to the house, the doors of which have 
been bolted during their absence by the females, who will not admit 
them, however inclement the weather, until they have guessed the 
nicety that is roasting on the spit for supper. 
Plough Monday, or first Monday after the close of the Epiphany, 
was a rural festival instituted by our forefathers on the occasion of 
their resuming the labours of the field. “ Plough Monday ,” says 
Tusser Redivivus, “puts them in mind of their business. In the 
morning the men and the maid-servants strive who shall rise earliest. 
If the ploughman can get his whip, or other field implement, to the 
fireside before the maid hath her kettle on, then she loseth her 
Shrove-tide cock, and it wholly belongs to the men. Thus did our 
forefathers strive to allure youth to their duty, by providing them 
innocent mirth as well as labour.” 
Meteorology of the Week. —We have now entered upon the 
coldest fortnight of the year. The average highest temperature of 
the above seven days, from observations made during the last twenty- 
three years, is 40.6°, and the average lowest temperature during the 
same period 30.9°. The greatest natural heat during these years oc¬ 
curred on the 7th of January, 1843, when the thermometer rose to 
45°; and the most extreme cold was on the 7th and 8th in 1841, 
when the thermometer fell to 6°, or twenty-six degrees below 
freezing. During these last twenty-three years there have been of 
this week 107 fine days, and 54 during which rain fell. 
RANGE OF BAROMETER—RAIN IN INCHES. 
Jan. 
1841. 
1842. 
1843. 
1844. 
1845. 
1846. 
1847. 
1848. 
1849. 
3 
B. 
(■29-302 
30.013 
30.205 
29-860 
29-974 
30.440 
29.700 
29 919 
29744 
129.084 
29-947 
30.107 
29.626 
29.924 
30.335 
29.663 
29’845 
29.696 
It. 
— 
— 
— 
0.24 
— 
0.06 
0.14 
— 
— 
B. 
/ 29-185 
30.005 
29-977 
29726 
30.142 
30.008 
29.782 
29-974 
29.784 
l 28.978 
29.929 
29-884 
29.510 
30.141 
29.828 
29.746 
29.817 
29.764 
R. 
— 
— 
0.12 
0.05 
0.02 
0.04 
0.04 
— 
0.14 
B. 
r 29 376 
30.051 
30.020 
29.569 
30.110 
30.134 
29-890 
29.641 
29.908 
\ 29-3 16 
30.008 
29772 
29.214 
30.073 
30.0S5 
29.832 
29.542 
29 76 O 
It. 
— 
— 
0.06 
0.40 
0.08 
— 
0.05 
0.08 
0.01 
0 
B. 
(-29.631 
30.311 
30.080 
29.407 
30.100 
30.060 
30.065 
29.799 
30.011 
129.518 
30.168 
29-997 
29-199 
30.084 
29-998 
29-976 
29-719 
29.995 
It. 
— 
0.01 
0.01 
— 
— 
0.02 
0.02 
— 
— 
B. 
f 29.760 
129.693 
30.450 
29.917 
29.656 
30.239 
30.327 
30.057 
29.591 
30.061 
7 
30.445 
29.589 
29.558 
30.206 
30.203 
29 986 
29.478 
29.894 
R. 
— 
— 
0.14 
— 
— 
— 
0.01 
0.21 
0.31 
8 
B. 
(■ 29.893 
30.410 
29.377 
30.125 
30.232 
30.576 
30.197 
29 724 
29.589 
\ 29.866 
30.316 
29.311 
29.834 
30.137 
30.451 
30.069 
29.570 
29.553 
R 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
0.02 
0.11 
9 
B. 
129.738 
30.233 
29.659 
30.326 
30.089 
30.621 
30.333 
30.190 
29.591 
129.411 
30.140 
29-206 
30.303 
30.017 
30.529 
30.111 
30.005 
29.483 
R. 
— 
— 
0.09 
0.08 
— 
“ 
0.08 
NaturalPhenomena 
Indicative of Wea¬ 
ther.- —-As long ago as 
the days of Aratus and 
Virgil, it was observed that 
the croaking of Frogs, 
when more general anil 
louder than usual, indi¬ 
cates the approach of rain. 
Yellow frogs being nume¬ 
rous in the hay-field is 
considered, by the mowers, 
a sure sign of fine wea¬ 
ther. Geese washing them 
selves or taking flight with 
unusual energy and noise, 
portend rain. When Wild 
Geese and other migratory 
water-fowl are seen flying 
in unusual numbers to the 
southward nr westward, 
they indicate the coming 
of severe weather, and 
their early appearance is 
usually a forerunner of a 
hard winler. 
Insects. —At this time may be found, and indeed throughout the 
winter may be found, the larva of the Ghost Moth in its winter quar¬ 
ters, especially in and near hop-grounds. It is a hollow, excavated 
beneath a stone, exactly of the size of the larva, and lined on all 
sides with silk. The caterpillar of this moth feeds upon the roots of 
the hop. It is the Hepialus livmuli of some naturalists, and the 
Phahena and Gorgopis humuli of others. The sexes of this moth 
differ in colour more than those of any other British moth. Our 
drawing represents a male of the natural size, and its wings on the 
upper side are pearly white; but the females are yellow, veined with 
orange. She lays a great number of small black eggs, resembling 
grains of gunpow der. The male being often seen taking his curi¬ 
ously pendulous flight over the grassy graves of churchyards of a 
summer’s evening, gave to this insect its popular name. 
We love old customs,—we cherish and we retain 
every one of them that our forefathers practised ; we 
have our pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, plum pud¬ 
dings on family birthdays, and a yule log on the 
Christmas Eve lire; nor do we ever omit kind, sea¬ 
sonable greetings to our friends: therefore, to each 
and all of our readers, do we say most heartily, “A 
happy New Year to you.’’ May a blessing be upon 
you all, and may no ill befal anything beneath your 
roof-tree, or that comes beneath the sway of your 
No. LXVI., Vol. III. 
