February 14.] 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
201 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
M W 
D D 
FEBRUARY 14—20, 1850. 
Weather near London 
in 1849. 
Sun 
Rises. 
Sun 
Sets. 
Moon 
R.&S. 
Moon’s 
Age. 
Clock 
bef. Sun. 
Da£ of 
Year. 
h|th 
Valentine. Eldef leaves open. 
T. 51°—41°. 
S.W. 
Fine. 
19 a. 7 
10 a. 5 
7 
40 
2 
14 
29 
45 
15 F 
Red Dead Nettle flowers. 
T. 57°—32°. 
W. 
Fine. 
17 
12 
8 
49 
3 
l4 
26 
46 
16 ;S 
Laughing goose goes. 
T. 45°—23°. 
w. 
Fine. 
15 
14 
9 
59 
4 
14 
23 
47 
17:Sun 
1 Sun. in Lent. Waxen Chatterer goes. 
T. 52°—28°. 
S.W. 
Fine. 
13 
If) 
11 
10 
5 
14 
18 
48 
18 M 
Common Honeysuckle leaves open. 
T. 52°—35°. 
S.W. 
Fine. 
11 
18 
morn. 
6 
14 
14 
49 
19 jTu 
Stock Dove goes. 
T. 50°—38°. 
S.W. 
Fine. 
9 
20 
0 
22 
3 
14 
8 
50 
20 W 
Ember Week. Dartford Warbler goes. 
T. 52°—33°. 
S.W. 
Rain. 
7 
22 
1 
35 
8 
14 
Q 
51 
* 
Valentine. —Last year we gave tlie biography of the ecclesiastic 
commemorated on this day, and endeavoured to explain the origin of 
choosing valentines. This amatory selection was a costly fashion in 
the time of Charles II.—for every gentleman had to make his chosen 
fair one a present of value ; and those who wished for advancement at 
court, took care to bestow their offerings upon the favourite and most 
influential lady of “the merry monarch.” Thus, when Mrs. Stuart 
was in the ascendant with that king, the Duke of York and Lord 
Mandeville each chose her for his valentine ; the latter giving her 
jewels valued at ^31)0, and those presented by the Duke being worth 
^800. The offering brought by Montgomery was far more classical; 
for he combined, for the adornment of his chosen one, all the early 
flowers of the season. 
For thy locks of raven hue, 
Flowers of hoar-frost pearly ; 
Crocus-cups of gold and blue, 
Snowdrops drooping early, 
With mezereon sprigs combine,— 
Rise, my love, my Valentine ! 
O’er the margin of the flood, 
Pluck the daisy peeping ; 
Through the covert of the wood, 
Hunt the sorrel creeping ; 
With the little celandine 
Crown my love, my Valentine ! 
Pansies, on their lowly stems, 
Scatter’d o’er the fallows ; 
Hazel-buds with crimson gems ; 
Green and glossy sallows ; 
Tufted moss, and ivy-twine, 
Deck my love, my Valentine ! 
Few and simple flowrets these ; 
Yet to me less glorious 
Garden-beds and orchard trees, 
Since this wreath victorious 
Binds you now for ever mine,— 
O ! my love, my Valentine ! 
Quadragesima, or First Sunday in Lent. — Lentz, the old 
Saxon name for Spring, in allusion to the lengthening days, is now 
adopted for the fast which occurs at the commencement of this season. 
Quadragesima, or fortieth, is said to have received its name lie- 
cause it is about the fortieth day before Easter; but also to be com¬ 
memorative of the forty hours during which our Saviour was under 
the power of death ; and of the forty days Roman Catholics are 
expected to abstain from flesh meat. 
Meteorology of the Week. —During the last twenty-three 
years, the average highest and lowest temperatures of these seven 
days has been respectively 45.5° and 32.0°; and, during the same 
period, there were 66 days on which rain fell, and 95 days were fine. 
The highest point reached by the thermometer was 57°, on the l/th 
in 1817; and the lowest 16°, on the 19 th in 1845. 
Natural Phenomena Indicative of Weather. —When the 
jonquils bloom early in March, they are said to announce that the 
following season will be very fine. Paper kites —says Dr. Forster— 
may be converted into useful prognostics of the wind. When several 
of them are let up together—the higher ones being successively tied 
to the back-sticks of those below them—they will ascend to a 
height of more than 1000 feet. When the upper kite moves in a 
direction different from the lower, the wind usually changes to that 
from which the upper kite indicates that it is blowing. When—adds 
Dr. Forster—by the motion of kites we perceive that the wind vibrates, 
or shifts its direction, we may be sure the weather will be squally. 
There is, also, a kind of bobbing motion sometimes imparted to kites 
by the wind, in variable weather. The kite seems to nod backwards 
and forwards—jerking the arm of the person holding the string. 
Insects. —Mr. Knight ob¬ 
served, that the blossoms of 
pear-trees are often rendered 
abortive by a small brown 
beetle; and we have known 
those of the Chaumontelle, and 
of some of the more tender 
RANGE OF BAROMETER—RAIN IN INCHES. 
Feb 
1841. 
1842. 
1843. 
1844. 
1845. 
1846. 
1847. 
1848. 
1849. 
14 
B. 
129.288 
30.452 
29.721 
30.066 
29.696 
30.185 
29.660 
29.863 
30.671 
\ 29.157 
30.390 
29.613 
29.995 
29-796 
30.118 
29.604 
' 29.658 
30.528 
R. 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
0.12 
0.04 
— 
15 
B. 
r 29.263 
30.446 
29.470 
29-917 
29.966 
30.260 
29.540 
29-554 
30.519 
i 29.071 
30.424 
29.294 
29.919 
29.876 
30.196 
29.358 
29.174 
30.491 
R. 
0.15 
— 
— 
0.02 
0.01 
— 
0.25 
0.03 
— 
16 
B. 
129.141 
30.488 
29.234 
30.171 
29-904 
30.196 
29798 
29.956 
30.521 
I 29.086 
30.416 
29.193 
30.146 
29-851 
30.182 
29.636 
29713 
30.464 
R. 
0.11 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
0.23 
30.436 
— 
17 
B. 
/ 29-584 
30.372 
29.502 
30.108 
29.959 
30.177 
29.904 
30.552 
\ 29.584 
30.252 
29-420 
29-983 
29.944 
30.010 
29.879 
30.214 
30.487 
R. 
0.01 
— 
0.16 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
18 
B. 
r 29-614 
30.367 
29-425 
29.824 
30.021 
30.005 
29.908 
30.420 
30.459 
129.490 
30.316 
29-400 
29-558 
30.007 
29.978 
29772 
30.182 
30.396 
R. 
0.04 
— 
0.04 
0.05 
— 
— 
0.01 
0.16 
— 
19 
B. 
129.744 
30.377 
29.417 
29.498 
30.139 
30.061 
30.197 
29 773 
30.182 
129-601 
30.194 
29.311 
29.292 
30.063 
29.993 
29769 
29.553 
30.007 
R. 
0.02 
0.02 
0.28 
0.02 
— 
— 
— 
0.02 
— 
20 
B. 
129.977 
30.030 
29.324 
29.792 
30.164 
30.076 
30.235 
29744 
29.957 
\29.808 
29.881 
29.261 
29765 
30.029 
30.061 
30.213 
29.364 
29.689 
R. 
0.11 
0.16 
0.01 
0.02 
0.23 
French pears, especially subject 
to this beetle’s attack. In May, the blossoms do not open, or open j 
abortively ; and, if examined, they will be found to be pierced, and I 
otherwise grub-eaten. The grub doing this mischief is the larva ot 
the Polydrums ob tony us, called by some entomologists Curculio 
oblong us. It is a small weevil, or beetle, as represented in our draw¬ 
ing, magnified, and of its natural size. Its body is black, but the 
wing-cases covering it are purplish-brown ; the antennte and legs 
brownish-red. It maybe found upon the bark of pear-trees at the 
end of May, and during June. 
Many things are upon our table deserving notice; 
but we have only a brief space to devote to their 
consideration. First, because most meritorious, we 
will ask for attention to the monthly part of The 
Gardeners' Magazine of Botany. It is, decidedly, 
the best of all the highly-illustrated magazines de¬ 
voted to gardening that has ever been published in 
this country. We have no room for descanting upon 
the merits of the practical and scientific essays which 
fill its fifty-six pages; and will, therefore, confine 
ourselves to an enumeration of its embellishments. 
There are most superiorly coloured plates ol Passi - 
flora Belottii (Belott’s passion-flower), with petals 
alternately white and pink; of a rose-coloured variety 
of Maurandya Barelayana (Barclay’s Maurandya); 
of a hybrid Anemone Japonica, ot which the parents 
are the common Japanese anemone, and the Vine¬ 
leaved Indian anemone; of a new pelargonium, 
called Flower of the Day, which certainly will be a 
fine bedding-out plant, if its trusses of scarlet flowers 
No. LXXII., Vol. III. 
