February 7.] 
219 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
M 
D 
W 
D 
FEBRUARY 7—13, 1850. 
Weather near London 
in 1849. 
7 
Tn 
Sea Curlew goes. 
T. 48°—38°. 
S.W. 
Fine. 
8 
F 
Small Eft in ponds. 
T, 51°—32°. 
S.W. 
Rain. 
9 
S 
Wild Goose goes. [Goose goes. 
T. 49°—33°. 
S.W. 
Fine. 
10 
Sun Siirove S. Q. Vic. m., 1840. Grey Lagg 
T. 52°—25°. 
S.W. 
Fine. 
11 
M 
Primrose flowers. 
T, 51°—22°. 
N. 
Fine. 
12 
Tu 
SnROVE Tuesday. Blackbird’s song begins. 
T. 44°—21°. 
S.W. 
Fine. 
13 
W 
Lent begins. Asii Wed. Partridge pairs. 
T. 42°—24°. 
W. 
Fine. 
Sun 
Rises. 
Sun 
Sets. 
Moon 
R. & S. 
Moon’s 
Age. 
Clock 
bef. Sun. 
Day of 
Year. 
31 a. 7 
58 a. 4 
4 
5 
25 
14 
26 
38 
30 
V 
4 
5 7 
26 
14 
29 
39 
28 
1 
5 
43 
27 
14 
31 
40 
26 
3 
6 
24 
28 
14 
32 
41 
24 
5 
7 
0 
29 
14 
32 
42 
22 
7 
sets 
© 
14 
32 
43 
21 
9 
6 a 33 
1 
14 
31 
44 
Quinuuagesima, or SnuovE Sunday. —The first Sunday in 
Lent (which this year occurs on the 17 th instant) having been distin¬ 
guished as Quadragesima, or fortietli—for reasons to be explained 
next week—the Church appropriated the three weeks preceding to the 
gradual introduction of the Lent Fast. Having so appropriated them, 
the three Sundays in them received names significant of their situa¬ 
tion. Thus, reckoning by decades, or tens, the Sunday preceding 
Quadragesima was called Quinquagesima, or about the fiftieth day 
before Easter; the second, Sexugesima, or sixtieth; and the third, 
Septuagesima, or seventieth. 
Siirove, or Collop Monday, is so called because eggs and col- 
lops, or slices of bacon, were the usual flesh-meat partaken of upon 
this anniversary, to avoid the necessity of cooking a joint just at the 
commencement of the Forty-days’ Fast. It is synonomous with the 
Carnival, and all its follies, still celebrated in Roman Catholic coun¬ 
tries ; and which name is a corruption of the Latin words, Carni 
vale, and literally means Good-bye to flesh ! 
Shrove Tuesday, Fasting Eve, or Pancake Tuesday, are names 
referring to our Saxon ancestors’ word for confession (shrive or shrift); 
to its being the evening before the commencement of the Lent fast; 
and to the prevalent dish of the day. Why the day should have been 
made the slaughter-time of poultry—why cocks should have been 
thrown at, and hens thrashed to death with a flail if they had not 
commenced laying eggs by this day—seems unexplainable ; and 
we can readily understand, therefore, why the French traveller 
concluded, that “the English eat a certain fried cake on Shrove 
Tuesday, upon which they immediately run mad, and kill their 
fowls.” 
Asii Wednesday still retains the name given to it by our Roman 
Catholic ancestors, who had dust sprinkled on their heads by the 
priest, whilst he repeated the words, “ Remember thou art ashes, and 
to ashes thou shalt return.” 
Meteorology of the Week. —The average highest and lowest 
temperatures of these seven days, during the last twenty-three years, 
are respectively 44.8° and 32.0°. During the same years there have 
been, during the same days, 74 on which rain fell, and 87 were fine. 
The highest natural tem¬ 
perature was 65° on the 
10th, in 1841 ; and the 
lowest 3° below Zero, or 
35° below the freezing 
point of water ! on the 
11th, in 1845. 
Natural Phenomena 
Indicative of Wea¬ 
ther. — Those best ac¬ 
quainted with horses have 
observed, that theyforetell 
the approach of rain by 
starting, and being more 
than usually restless, on 
the road. Jackdaws are 
also said to be more than 
ordinarily clamorous be¬ 
fore rain. These birds— 
says Dr. Forster—frequent 
the society of rooks, going 
out with them to feed, as 
if being conscious of their 
greater sagacity in find¬ 
ing out, and their greater 
power in turning up 
their food, they wished to 
benefit by those advan¬ 
tages. 
RANGE OF BAROMETER—RAIN IN INCHES. 
Feb. 
1841. 
1842. 
1843. 
1844. 
1845. 
1846. 
1847. 
1848. 
1849. 
B. 
/ 2Q.500 
29.786 
29.993 
29.272 
29.959 
29.932 
29-574 
29.997 
30.396 
1.29.443 
29.697 
29.890 
29.177 
29.950 
29.818 
29.448 
29.818 
30.308 
R. 
— 
0.11 
0.26 
0.29 
— 
0.08 
— 
0.25 
— 
8 
B. 
f 29.442 
29.816 
30.038 
29.371 
30.065 
30.055 
29.653 
29.859 
30.299 
I 29.395 
29-786 
30.024 
29.309 
30.053 
2.9-979 
29.326 
29.694 
30.085 
R. 
— 
0.06 
0.02 
0.02 
— 
0.04 
— 
0.26 
0.06 
B. 
{ 29.952 
29.795 
29.966 
29.185 
30.093 
30.195 
29.419 
29.096 
30.463 
\ 29.645 
29.512 
29.892 
29.164 
29.934 
30.113 
29.358 
29.027 
30.380 
R. 
— 
— 
0.11 
0.06 
— 
— 
0.40 
0.01 
— 
10 
B. 
r 30.017 
29.986 
29.881 
29-639 
29.757 
30.341 
29.566 
28.986 
30.572 
129.959 
29.895 
29.831 
29.417 
29.649 
30.317 
29.460 
28.840 
30.343 
R. 
0.04 
— 
-- 
— 
— 
— 
— 
0.52 
— 
11 
B. 
[ 29.866 
29-935 
29-976 
29.937 
30.216 
30.133 
29.868 
eg.548 
30.880 
1 29.657 
29.970 
29.859 
29.764 
29.880 
30.070 
29.673 
28.984 
30.773 
R. 
0.04 
0.14 
— 
0.01 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
12 
B. 
f 29.745 
30.065 
30.040 
29.993 
30.409 
30.158 
29.887 
29.946 
30.755 
129.640 
30.004 
30.030 
29.974 
30.400 
30.134 
29.869 
29.892 
30.575 
R. 
0.04 
— 
0.01 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
13 
B. 
129.659 
30.180 
30.010 
30.090 
30.238 
30.137 
30.026 
30.051 
30.530 
129.313 
30.020 
29.873 
30.073 
29.755 
30.005 
29-882 
29.936 
30.510 
R. 
0.01 
0.04 
0.30 
' 
0.26 
Insects. —The Saw-fly family ( Tenthredo ) is very apt to be mis¬ 
taken for one very closely allied, also furnished with saws, with which 
to open places for the reception of their eggs, but called by entomolo¬ 
gists Hylotoma. The species in this genus are larger than those of 
the Tenthredo, and are markedly distinguishable by having their an- 
tennse three-jointed, those of the Tenthredo genus having nine at 
the least. The Hylotoma rosre, or Rose-fly, is injurious to the rose in 
two several inodes : it makes a long incision with its saw in the young 
shoots, during June and July, filling the wound with eggs, placed end 
to end, yet with sufficient space between each two to allow for their 
increase of size, as the caterpillars within them grow. These come 
forth in July and August, feeding upon the parenchyma of the young 
shoots, as well as upon that ol' the leaves. This caterpillar is one of 
the very few in which pulsation has been observed. Having but a 
scanty stock of silk, this caterpillar weaves a very fine outer cocoon, 
in the form of an oval net, to exclude the ants, which would other¬ 
wise destroy it in the chrysalis state ; and, within this net, spins one 
still finer, in which its body is wrapped whilst passing through that 
state. It emerges as the perfect fly in the following June ; and 
appears as represented in our drawing, but of the size shewn by the 
crosslines. The head and thorax are black; the abdomen, yellow ; 
and a broad black margin is on the front edge of each fore wing. 
W rTiiouT waiting for further information, as the 
time for purchasing Parsnip and Carrot seed is at 
hand, we think it right to give the warning con¬ 
tained in the following letter. It is dated Jersey, 
January 19, 1850, from a writer of high scientific 
attainments, and is worthy of consideration :— 
“My attention has been called to a parasite on 
the root of the Parsnip and Carrot, by a gentleman- 
farmer of this island, remarkable for his spirit of 
research, and anxiety for the improvement of this 
his native land. On his shewing me the parasite 
attached, I recognised the scaly, tuberous extremity 
of an Orobanohe, which had inserted itself into the 
side of the fleshy tap-root, and had, apparently, much 
reduced its size—giving it a lanky appearance. The 
information he received from the farmer, on whose 
No. LXXI., Vol. III. 
