June 22. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
D 
M 
yy JUNE 22—28, 1854. 
Weather near London in 
Barometer. Thermo. Wind. 
j 
1853. 
Rain in 
Inches. 
Sun 
Rises. 
22 
Tb Sun’s declination, 23° 27' n. 
29.780—29.694 
64—50 
N. 
01 
45 a 3 
23 
F Hydroporus flavipes. 
29790—29745 
73-47 
N. 
_ 
1 45 
j 24 
S Mids. Day. Nat. Jn. Bap, 
29.820—29.751 
81—56 
S.W. 
06 
45 
; 25 
Sun 2 Sunday after Trinity. 
29.748—29.603 
69—55 
S.W. 
18 
45 
26 
ftf Colymbetes colconotus. 
! 29 . 656 — 29.528 
67—53 
w. 
36 
46 
V 
To Colymbetes oblongus. 
29 . 616 — 29.573 
69-59 
S.W. 
01 
46 
28 
W Queen Victoria’s Cor. 1838. 
29 . 677 — 29.576 
71—53 
S.W. 
— 
47 1 
Sun 
Sets. 
Moon 
R. & S. 
19 a 8 
19 
19 
19 
19 
19 
19 
1 51 
2 14 
2 41 
sets. 
9 a 37 
10 13 
10 40 
27 
28 
29 
@ 
1 
a 
3 
209 
Moon’s Clock 
Age. af. Sun. 
Day of 
Year. 
33 
47 
0 
12 
25 
38 
60 
1/3 
174 
175 
176 
177 
178 
179 
meteorology of the Week. At Chiswick, from observations during the last twenty- seven years, the average highest and lowesttem- 
peratures of these days are 73° and 51° respectively. The greatest heat, 93°, occurred on the 22nd in 1 846 j and the lowest cold 35° on the 
23rd in 1851. During the period 110 days were fine, and on 79 rain fell. “ coin, , on me 
It would be a rash prophecy to pronounce that such a 
spectacle as that of the opening of The Crystal Palace, 
on the 10th iiustant, will never he witnessed again by 
the present generation; hut it is not too much to say 
that no spectacle will ever be looked upon embracing 
more examples of all that is estimable, all that should 
he loved and clung to, whether within the circle of 
i home, or the wider field of sociaHife. 
On the central platform there then stood a royal 
family unequalled by any of its contemporaries, whether 
regarded as an illustration of English domestic happiness, 
or as an example of a monarch wisely careful to pro¬ 
mote the home improvements and pleasures of her 
subjects, whilst as discreetly directing their energies in 
the waging of one of the most wide-world wars that 
' ever impended over Europe. That groupe told hy its 
example, that however high the public duties, however 
difficult and weighty the cares which our nature may 
be called upon to sustain, that there are sympathies 
within the home circle that sustain, and encourage and 
aid—upon which the heart, as well as the mind, can lean 
with a certainty of being strengthened—far greater 
than that heart and mind can gather from counsellors 
withoutside that circle, however transcendent their 
ability, and however faithful and zealous. That groupe 
further gave evidence that those possessed of power, 
almost without limit, to command all that is rare and 
vivid of enjoyment, still felt that this enjoyment would 
be purchased too dear if it excluded the quieter pleasures 
of home; and that the enjoyment would be scarcely 
worthy of the name, if it could not be shared by all the 
members of the circle. Three generations were in that 
groupe, and no one could look upon it without the 
beneficial conviction, that husband and wife, child and 
| parent, were examples of reciprocal affection and 
confidence. It spoke out in every action, from the 
I Queen’s mother putting the shawl over the Queen’s 
shoulders, down to the whispers between the young 
| princes and their father. 
Such are the best examples a people can have placed 
before them by their monarch; nor were the thousands 
assembled that day examples of subjects unworthy of 
such a sovereign. Never was there a more orderly or 
more loyal assembly ; and the fact of so large a gather¬ 
ing being there to afford “ All honour to labour,"—to pro¬ 
mote the welfare of that only abiding source of the 
i wealth of uatious,—is the best evidence of our people’s 
I wisdom. 
We hope such lessons could not be thus practically 
enforced without a salutary influence upon the repre¬ 
sentatives of the world who were there also assembled ; 
and if they felt that neither the kings, nor the inhabitants 
of their own native lands, were elevated by comparison 
with the examples of that day in our Crystal Palace, 
let us hope that such examples will stimulate them to 
emulation, and not to envy. 
Let us not forget, in our admiration of our sovereign 
and the people gathered around her—let us not forget 
the objects of the institution they met to inaugurate. 
That object is, indeed, worthy of such an august cere¬ 
monial, for it is the fostering and improving the good 
tastes and good habits of the least woalthy classes. 
How important it is esteemed by the well-informed 
for the enlargement of the understanding to have an 
opportunity to examine the products of other nations, 
and to look with our own eyes upon the results of their 
industry and skill, had a marked witness, on that day, 
in the King of Portugal aud his brother. In the prime 
of youth they have left the throne for awhile to learn 
wisdom from other nations. Wealth and power enables 
them to visit those natious, but as these agents are 
denied to our millions of people, the Crystal Palace has 
been instituted to bring the wisdom of other nations to 
those millions. 
It is within no department of our pages to dwell upon 
the inaugural ceremonies, and we will at once pass to 
detail some few particulars concerning the building, and 
the arrangements of the plants within its space, reserv¬ 
ing our notes upon the garden withoutside, until some 
future occasion, as well as the remarks we shall have to 
offer upon some departments within the palace. 
“ The building above the level of the floor is entirely \ 
of iron and glass, with the exception of a portion at the 
north front, which is panelled with wood. The whole 
length of the main building is 1008 feet, aud the wings j 
574 feet each, making a length of 2756 feet, which, with 
the 720 feet in the colonnade, leading from the railway i 
station to the wings, gives a total length of 3470 feet; or j 
nearly three-quarters of a mile of ground covered with 
a transparent roof of glass. The length of the Hyde Park 
building was 1848 feet, so that, including the wings j 
aud colonnade, the present structure is larger than its I 
predecessor by 1628 feet; the area of the ground floor, 
including the wings, amounts to the astonishing quantity 
of 598,396 superficial feet; and the area of gallery 
flooring of building and wings to 245,260 superficial 
feet, altogether 843,050 superficial feet. In cubic con¬ 
tents the Palace at Sydenham exceeds its predecessor 
by nearly one-half. The width of the nave, or main 
No. CCXCIX, Vol. XII. 
