JANi'Auy 1. COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION. 0:13 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
M , 
D 
W 
JANU.ARY 1—8, 18t6. 
Weather near Lon 
Barometer. Thermo. 
DON IN 1865. 
Wind. Rain in 
Inches. 
Sun i Sun 
Rises. Sets. 
1 
Moon 
R.&S. 
Moc n’s 
A,e. 
Clock Day of 
af. Sun. Year. 
1 
To 
1 
CiRCOMCISION, 
29.951—29.919 
53—46 
W. 
02 
i 
8 a 8 IV 
0 m 47 
23 
3 
36 1 
2 
\V 
Sarrotrium mulicum. 
30.069—30 028 
51 — 44 
N.W. 
01 
9 i 0 
' 2 0 
24 
4 
4 ; 2 
A 
Th 
Helops str'iatus. 
30.170—30.139 
52—39 
N.W. 
00 
8 1 1 
3 16 
25 
4 
32 1 3 
4 
F 
Salpingus Roburis. 
30.218 — 30.164 
47—38 
s.w. 
00 
8 2 
4 35 
26 
5 
0 : 4 
5 
s 
[Epipuanit. Twelfth Day. 
30.132—30.062 
51 — 40 
s.w. 
00 
8 3 
5 55 
27 
5 
28 ' 5 
6 
Son 
2 Sunday after Christmas. 
30.361-30.240 
50-44 
s.w. 
00 
8 4 
7 15 
28 
5 
55 [ 6 
7 
Rf 
Rhynchcenus maculatus. 
30.530—30.428 
49—42 
s.w. 
uo 
7 5 
sets. 
@ 
6 
21 7 
I\Iktkoboi.ogy oi' THE Week. —At Chiswick, from observations during the last twenty-nine years, the average highest and lowest tem¬ 
peratures of these days are 41.3°, and 30.3°, respectively. The greatest heat, 54°, occurred on the Ist, in 1843; and the lowest cold, 4°, 
on the 2nd, in 1854. During the period 120 days were fine, and on 76 rain fell. 
There aro, at least, two old things that we love 
heai’til}’’—old friends and old customs ; and we will show 
such love of both now by wishing A Harry New Year 
TO YOU. It matters not who the “you” may be that 
roads our greeting: for all who so read have our good 
wishes. With us the war-pen is buried on the first of 
; January. 
I We feel the more bound to offer such a New-Year's 
' greeting, not only because old friends have clung to us 
and new friends have thronged to us, but because, in 
“ the good old times,” New Year's Gifts were derived 
chiefly from subjects which find special notice in our 
pages. Let us enumerate a few of them. 
Foremost comes tlie fatted fowl; and even as far back 
as loDS, Bishop Hall, in his “ Satires,” tells that the 
tenant farmer 
“ must haunt his greedy landlord’s hall 
With often presents at each festivall; 
With crammed capons every New Yeare’s morne. 
Or with green cheeses when his sheepe arc shorne.” 
Fruit of various kinds were New Year's Gifts at the 
i same period, and continued to a much later era. Thus, 
j in a work published in the reign of Queen Anne, wo 
read :—“ On the first day of this month (January) will 
be given more gifts than will be kindly received or grate¬ 
fully rewarded. Children, to their ine.xpressible joy, will 
be drest in their best bibs and aprons, and may be seen 
handed along streets, some bearing Kentish Piitpins, 
others, Oranges stuck with Cloves, in order to crave a 
blessing of their godfathers and godmothers.” 
We could give many similar quotations, showing how 
Evergreens in some places. Geese in others, gilt Nutmegs, 
and many similar tokens of good-will, w’ere on this day 
presented to friends. 
As we have already said, we love old customs, so on 
this day we follow it, and present to our friends whole 
pages full of well-tended Poultry, gilded Fruits, and 
Evergreens ; and we bid our friends to treat our pages 
as Herrick bade bis friends,— 
“ Read them—and when your faces shine 
With bu.xom meat and cap’ring wine, 
Remember us in cups full-crown’d, 
And let The C. G.’s health go round.’’ 
So numerous have been the letters which wo have re¬ 
ceived requesting that wo will give our opinion relative 
to the probable success of cultivating the Ciiinese Yam, 
Dioscorea Batatas, that we think it best to reply, generally 
and prominently, that we do not think the general 
results of the past year so discouraging as we antici¬ 
pated. It was unreasonable in those who expected, 
from the liliputian sets which they planted, to obtain 
roots or tubers of the very large size the plant when of 
full growth is capable of producing. It was unreason¬ 
able, because they know that Potatoes planted of the 
same size as tire Dioscorea sets would only produce 
small tubers the first year; but these tubers being 
planted, 'produce a full-sized crop the year following. 
So it may be with Dioscorea. We say may, because no 
one has had sulficieirt experience of its adaptability to 
our climate to speak with confidence as to its probable 
success. We recommend those who grew it during the 
past year to grow it again this year. We also advise 
them to plant much larger sets; some of the roots we 
would plant whole. We would plant early in April, in 
the open ground, and on ridges, giving the roots full 
two I'eet deep of well-loosened soil to work in. In the 
absence of any new information upon the subject, we 
extract the following from the Eevue Horticole, and 
written by M. Curriere :— 
“The increase of the Dioscorea Batatas can be effected 
jii four different w'ays. 1. By suckens. 2. By planting 
the axillary bulbs of the stems. 3. By the under, 
ground bulbs, which come from the suckers of buds. 
4. By the plantation of cuttings obtained by dividing 
the rhizomes, or underground stems. A 5th mode of 
propagation, by seed, is not within our power, for the 
plant is dioecious, and we do not yet possess a plant 
bearing male flowers. 
“The suckers do not offer any difficulty; for it is 
sufficient to cut them off, to plant them in small pots 
in the ground, and place them under a covering. 
They are not slow in taking root. It is not necessary 
that the suckers should be very long. A small piece, if 
supplied with an eye, suffices to produce a plant. In 
this case the eye ought to be covered over by the earth ; 
for from one side of this shoot forth the roots which are 
intended to penetrate into the soil, and from the other 
side the bud, which will become the trunk. 
“ When the success of the suckers is established, shift 
them into pots of a larger size, and finally into a seed- 
plot, very near each other, or in some boxes, under frames, 
where the glass ought to be us near ns possible to the 
young plants. If instead of putting the suckers singly in 
small pols, earthen pans or large pots have been em¬ 
ployed, in w'hich several have been planted, they must 
be separated, as already directed. 
^ 0 . CCCLlXlX. VoL. XV. 
