September 4J THE COTTAGE GARDENER, 349 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
M 
i) 
W 
D 
SEPTEMBER 4—10, 1851. 
Weather 
Barometer. 
near London in 1850. 
Thermo. Wind. Rain in In. 
Sun 
Rises. 
. 
Sun 
Sets. 
Moon 
R. & S. 
. 
Moon’s 
Age. 
Clock 
bef. Sun. 
Day of 
Year. 
1 
Til 
Horticultural Society. 
30.322 — 30.274 
66—30 N.E. ! — 
18 a. 5 
40 a. 6 
11 47 
9 
0 
57 
247 
5 
F 
Old Bartholomew. 
, 30.377 — 30.277 
66—37 N.E. — 
20 
38 
morn. 
10 
1 
17 
248 
6 S 
Flycatcher last seen. 
,30.343 — 30.285 
64—30 N.E. — 
21 
36 
0 40 
11 
1 
37 
249 
7 , Sun 
12 Sunday after Trinity. 
30.401 — 30.357 
67—33 E. — 
23 
33 
1 40 
12 
1 
67 
250 
8 M 
Nativity Blessed Virgin Mary. 
,30.446 — 30.388 
60—36 N. — 
24 
31 
2 43 
13 
2 
17 
251 
9 Tu 
Dog-Rose casts its leaves. 
530.367 — 30.2971 61—47 N.E. — 
26 
29 
3 48 
14 
2 
38 
252 
10W 
Yew berries ripe. 
30.318 — 30.288 
65—35 1 E. 1 — i 
28 
26 
rises 
© 
2 
53 
253 
In our days of improved transport by sea, canal, and railway, and when 
more than two hundred coal-pits are in operation on the Tyne, Wear, 
and Tees alone, we have no vivid conception of the inconveniences and 
sufferings attendant upon a deficiency of fuel. Those coal mines, em¬ 
ploying underground, in the county of Durham, more labourers than are 
engaged in cultivating its surface, produced, in the year 1843, the enor¬ 
mous quantity of 4,823,967 tons of coals, of which 2,754,719 tons were 
consumed in London ; and the entire quantity of coal conveyed hy ships 
only in that year, from one port of the United Kingdom to another, 
amounted to 7,649,469 tons ! It is needless to dwell upon the importance 
of this enormous supply of fuel, for every reader who will dwell for an 
instant on the fire-sides, and factory furnaces, of the British Isles, will 
appreciate how much of their home comforts, and commercial greatness, 
depends upon that supply; and will feel that there is no exaggeration in 
this portion of the supposed address of the huge specimen of coal to the 
Crystal Palace, enshrining it— 
’Twas mine these walls, with their silvery sheen, 
To prepare in their crystal sea; 
And the forest of pillars that tower within 
Were molten and shaped hy me. 
Yon engine that proudly lifts his beam, 
The spindles that merrily roll, 
The circling wheel, and the moving steam, 
Are worked by me—King Coal. 
Yet it was not always so—or, rather, it was only of comparatively recent 
date that coal was raised to rule over the hearths and furnaces of the em¬ 
pire ; for even as late as the time of James the First, wood usurped the 
throne of all the fuels, and was until then almost sole “ruler of the 
roast.” Even when coal began to be introduced into use, so loud against 
it was the clamour, denouncing its smoke as the cause of disease and 
death to man and beast, as well as to plants, that Edward the First for¬ 
bade, hy proclamation, its use. Before the more general employment of 
coal as a fuel, wood was the customary source of heat; and from a very 
early period of our history, our Statute Book records many acts of the 
legislature for the promotion of the growth of wood for such purposes, 
for its protection whilst growing, and to secure to the purchaser a due 
amount of this fuel in exchange for his money. We opine that our 
woodsmen would now rebel against having to mark every “ billet,” or 
obeying the 43 Eliz., cap. 13, which commands that every “ Taleshide, 
marked one, shall contain sixteen inches of assize in compass,” and 
“ every faggot-stick to contain in length full three feet of assize or more, 
excepting only one stick or bend to be one foot long, to stop or harden 
the binding thereof 1 ” We may smile now' at grave legislators debating 
and determining the desirable length of a faggot-stick, but in those days 
“ wood was scant and shillings few ; ” and it was no more derogatory for 
senators, such as Coke and Bacon, to insist upon a faggot-stick being 
thirty-six inches long, than it was for such of their successors, as Sir 
Robert, Peel and Lord John Russell, to preside over the parliament which 
provided that coals shall be sold by the pound. 
So decreasing and so scarce was wood in the early part of the reign of | 
James the First, that it was becoming a national grievance; and one evi- j 
deuce of this is before us in the form of a pamphlet, entitled, The Com¬ 
mons’ Complaint, wherein is contained, two Speciall Grievances, the ! 
/retierail destruction and waste of Woods in this Kingdome, with remedy 
for the same; also how to plant Wood according to the nature of every 
soil, without loss of ground, and how therby many more and better 
Cattell may be yeerely bred; also the extreame dearth of Victuals, with 
four remedies for the same—the planting of Fruit-trees, breeding Fowle, 
destroying Venniue, S/c., with folding plate and proclamation for the 
encouragement of the work. This was published in 1611, and its author 
w'as Arthur Standish. These grievances—the. destruction and waste 
of wood in the kingdom, and the extreme dearth of victuals—he proposed 
to remedy by a general planting of fruit-trees, “ an extraordinary breeding 
of fowl and pullen,” and by the destruction of vermin and pigeons, 
because of “ the abundance of corn that these birds yearly devoured and 
destroyed.” 
The author’s friend, Henry Peacliem, in verses prefixed to the book, 
assures us that “the Genius of Britain” so highly admired the produc¬ 
tion, and the proposed remedies, that— 
She swore by Thames, her hopes are more by Standish, 
Than all the gold she got by Drake or Cundish. 
Yet “the Genius of Britain” has not preserved to us a fragment of her 
hopeful’s history. His work contains much curious information, and 
evinces an intimate acquaintance with the fen districts ; but we glean 
from it no other biographical light than that he speaks of “ Standish 
Hall, the house from whence I descended.” Now whether this Hall be 
in Gloucestershire, or Lancashire, where there are villages of the name, 
we cannot say. In 1613 , appeared New Directions of Experience to 
the Commons Complaint, by the encouragement of the Kings most excel¬ 
lent Majesty, as may appear, for the planting of Timber and Fire-wood; 
and how wood may be raised from hedges as may plentifully maintain 
the kingdom for all purposes without loss of ground, so as within thirty 
years all spring woods may be converted to tillage and pasture. 
“ Invented by Arthur Standish.” 
The Royal Patents, directing attention to these books, are each dated at 
“ Andever,” and acknowledge that “ the decay of woods in this realm is 
universally complained of.” Mr. Standish states, “ The whole kingdom 
containeth 29,508,000 acres, or near thereabouts, of which 4,000,000 are 
waste,” and it was these w'aste lands he proposed to plant. 
Meteorology of the Week. —At Chiswick, from observations 
during the last twenty-four years, the average highest and lowest tem- 
eratures of these days are 69 . 5 ° and 48.8° respectively. The greatest 
eat, 84°, occurred on the 3rd in 1843, nnd the lowest cold, 31°, on the 
6 th in 1847. During the period 85 days were fine, and on 83 rain fell. 
We have “ catalogues” of the Great Exhibition, an.d we 
have that clever little guide hy the son of Mr. Douglas 
J err old, “How to see the Exhibition in four visits,” 
but these are intended for the mere sight-seers, those 
who go either to be amused, or to bo able to talk about 
it. There is, however, another class of visitors, those 
who go thither to extract information, and subjects for 
reflection, and these require some more suggestive work 
upon this gathering together of the world’s products, 
and of the world’s ingenuity. It is curious to mingle 
with this class of visitors, and to listen to the lessons which 
acute minds, differing in their bias, extract from this 
peaceful contest for excellence. A clergyman told us he 
saw in it an assurance of the approaching re-gathering 
of the Jews in their own country; another, that it was 
a realisation of the prophetic period when the lion 
should lie down with the lamb; a third party we found 
tracing the progress of silk, from the cocoons of the 
worm through all the processes of dying and spinning 
until perfected in the silk fabrics of the East, and the 
velvets of Genoa; a fourth tells us he has derived in¬ 
formation from specimens within the Crystal Pavilion, 
which will lead to vast changes in our dependence upon 
other countries for the supply of raw materials; and so 
might we go on citing instances, until we had far 
exceeded our allotted space, but we will quote no more; 
and only quoted the few we have, to recommend to such 
persons, and to all who wish to extract thoughtful and 
beneficial suggestions from the exhibition, a shilling 
volume now before us, bearing the following title:— 
The World in its Workshops: a Crit ical Examination 
of the Fabrics, Machinery, and Works of Art, contained 
in the Great Exhibition. By James Ward. One 
sentence of the introduction tells the intention of this 
work, namely, to point out that “ In that wondrous 
structure there is study for a month, reflection for a 
year, and instruction for ever; ” and we can assure our 
readers that it well carries out its purpose. In addition, 
it is full of amusement, and does not always “ talk 
philosophy,” as the following quotation will shew:— 
“ We must pass over a multitude of queer-looking ma¬ 
chines, with just as queer names, and can only wonder how 
No. CLLII., Vol. VI 
