May 26, 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
149 
It does not appear, however, to be necessary to suppose 
the action of a siphon, to which theory, indeed, several 
obvious objections may be made. The chalk, doubtless, 
contains many large caverns or reservoirs, which are fed by 
the numerous fissures which everywhere traverse the strata. 
In a very rainy season, like the last autumn, these caverns 
would, of course, be filled faster than the natural or usual 
outlets would carry the water off, and the consequence 
would be, that the water would find for itself some eth^ 
vent, and through this would continue to flow as long as the 
head of water was sufficiently full. This theory seems 
much more feasible than the siphon theory. If water is 
poured into a vessel faster than it can run off, it is evident 
that it must continue to run long after the supply has 
ceased. 
With regard to the influence of the Bourne upon the 
sanitary condition of the town of Croydon, it may be noticed, 
that from a very early period, a notion appears to have 
existed that these outbursts of water were indications of the 
approach of unhealthy seasons.* The Bourne water of 
Croydon is in this way alluded to by John Werkworth, in 
his Chronicle (he flourished in the reign Edward IV.). He 
places the Croydon Bourne amongst the “ Woo Waters” or 
Woe Waters of England, for he explains that—“ Englyh- 
men wlienne thei dyd fyrst inhabyde this land, as soone as 
thei see this watere renne thei knewe -welle it was a tokene of 
derthe or of pestylence, or of grate batalye. For all that 
tyme thei sawe it renne thei knewe welle that w r oo was 
commynge to Englande.” 
The same popular superstition of there being a connection 
between the appearance of the Bourne, and the ill-health of 
the district, evidently existed when Camden wrote. The 
author of the Brittania, who resided at Chiselhurst, about 
seven or eight miles from Croydon, observes, when speaking 
of Croydon (Edition by Gibson, 1(395, p. 159)—“For the 
torrent that the vulgar affirm to rise here sometimes, and to 
presage derthe, and pestilence, it seems hardly worth so 
much as the mentioning, tho perhaps it may have something 
of truth in it.” 
There is to this day an opinion very common amongst 
the labouring population of Croydon, that the water of the 
Bourne is unwholesome, and equally common is the un- 
defineable notion, that “when the Bourne is out, something 
will happen to Croydon.” 
It was noticed in the case of the epidemic which prevailed 
so extensively in Croydon, in the autumn of 1852, and 
winter of 1852 and 1853, that there was a remarkable 
parallel movement in the progress of the fever, and the rise 
and fall of the Bourne water in the great porous gravel- 
bed on which the chief part of Croydon is built. 
The fever began to be marked about the 7th of October, 
1852. About this day the water in the gravel began to rise. 
The fever continued to increase, and the Bourne water still 
rose in the soil till about the first week in January, 1853. 
Till this time the fever increased in malignancy ; it attained 
its most fatal type about the last week of December; the 
Bourne water in the subsoil was now at nearly, if not quite, 
its maximum. 
About January 24, there was a sensible decrease in the 
water which saturated the subsoil; there was now a marked 
decrease in the number of the fever cases. 
About February 2, the Bourne water was subsiding at the 
rate of an inch per day. The fresh fever cases were now 
scarce. 
It may not he uninstructive to endeavour to ascertain the 
rate of mortality in Croydon during those years in which 
the Bourne was out, with those in which it did not iiow. 
It would certainly appear, from the number of burials at 
the old church of Croydon during the months of November, 
December, [January, February, and March, in the two last 
Bourne-water years, that the rate of mortality was then 
materially increased in comparison with the corresponding 
period of the following years. The subjoined table contains 
the number of burials in Croydon, recorded in the parish 
register, on the two last occasions when the Bourne 
vas out, and also during the same months of the ensuing 
80 
The Bourne copiously out. 
year— 
Nov. 
1840 
Burials. 
.. 16 
Dec. 
— 
.. 19 
Jan. 
1841 
22 
Feb. 
— 
.. 14 
March 
— 
9 
Nov. 
1841 
.. 10 
Dec. 
— 
.. 11 
Jan. 
1842 
.. lti 
Feb. 
— 
8 
March 
— 
.. 13 
Nov. 
1848 
.. 2G 
Dec. 
— 
.. 21 
Jan. 
1849 
.. 26 
Feb. 
— 
.. 22 
March 
— 
.. 20 
Nov. 
1849 
.. 16 
Dec. 
— 
.. 17 
Jan. 
1850 
.. 18 
Feb. 
— 
.. 17 
March 
— 
.. 16 
So that the burials at Cro 
on the two last occasions w 
to 1852 - 53 
(1840 - 41, 
merous 
by 22 
.5 per cent., 
58 
Ensuing season 
Bourne not out. 
Bourne out slightly. 
115 
Next corresponding season. 
Bourne not out. 
84 
md 1848-49), were more inl¬ 
and 31.7 per cent, than in the 
corn 
discern, then, as the flowing of the Bourne follows wet and 
unwholesome seasons, why our ancestors, in more super¬ 
stitious days than ours, not altogether without reason, fell 
into the error of regarding the phenomenon as the har¬ 
binger of public “woo.” 
* The common people, always prone to consider any natural pheno¬ 
menon of rare occurrence, as a ‘prodigy or portent, seem to have regarded 
the flowing of the Bourne with superstitious dread, looking upon it as 
the harbinger of sickness and sorrow, rather than the natural result of 
those causes which produced that sickness. 
APIARIAN’S CALENDAR— Juke. 
By J. H. Payne , Esq., Author of “ The Bee-Keeper's 
Guide," &c. 
The Season. —Much has of late years been said of bad 
seasons, but as far as my experience goes, this has been, in 
my opinion, certainly the worst; for even up to the present 
time (the middle of May) there has not yet been one good 
day for bees; and the little that they have been able to do 
has been done by snatches of an hour or so, and the loss of 
life at such times, from storms and cold winds, lias been 
great; and where feeding weak stocks has been discontinued, 
they are dying daily. Some writer has said that we have 
two good honey years in ten; if it really be so, surely the 
coming one must be a good one. 
Swarms. —Early swarms there can be none this year, for 
the population in the best stored hives increases very slowly; 
indeed, the loss of life, from the above and other causes, 
almost keeps pace with the hatching of eggs. 
Queen Wasps. —These insects, which are frequently seen 
in considerable numbers in March, have yet scarcely made 
their appearance ; I have seen but one. 
Putting on Supers. —I would recommend much caution 
being used in the present season in putting on glasses, or 
small hives. Do not do so too soon, but rather suffer the 
bees even to be a little inconvenienced for want of room for 
a day or so. 
Taylor’s Improved • Straw Bar-hive. —Mr. Taylor has 
kindly sent me one of his new hives, which I hope to be 
able to stock this year. Those persons, and those only, who 
have used bars, can duly appreciate the many advantages 
arising from them, but there has always appeared some little 
difficulty in attaching them to around hive, which Mr.Taylor 
has obviated, and in a very simple manner—indeed, the 
simplicity of the hive altogether is one of its greatest 
recommendations. The dimensions of the hive are four¬ 
teen inches clear, inside diameter, by seven-and-a-half- 
inches in height to the upper side of the bars ; the latter 
are eight in number. Mr. Taylor has overcome the main 
difficulty attending bars in a circular hive by attaching them 
