April 4.] 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
1 
I 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
M 
D 
w 
D 
APRIL 4—10, 1850. 
Weather near London 
in 184g. 
Sun 
Rises. 
Sun 
Sets. 
Moon 
R. & S. 
Moon’s 
Age. 
Clock 
bef.Sun. 
Day of 
Y ear. 
4 
Tn 
St. Ambrose. Plum leaves open. 
T. 56°—42°. 
s. 
Rain. 
31 a. 5 
35 a. 6 
1 
33 
€ 
3 
5 
94 
5 
F 
Fieldfare last seen. 
T, 57°—25°. 
S.W. 
Fine. 
29 
37 
2 
18 
23 
2 
47 
95 
6 
s 
Old Ladv Day. Turnip Fly appears. 
T. 63°—38°. 
S.E. 
Fine. 
27 
39 
2 
58 
24 
2 
30 
96 
Sun 
1st or Low Sunday. Blackbird lays. 
T. 55°—34°. 
S.W. 
Rain. 
24 
40 
3 
32 
25 
2 
12 
97 
8 
M 
Ringed Snake seen. 
T. 6l°—31°. 
S.W. 
Rain. 
22 
42 
4 
1 
26 
1 
55 
98 
9 
Tu 
Rook hatches. [Sparrow builds. 
T. 42°—32°. 
N.E. 
Fine. 
20 
44 
4 
28 
27 
1 
38 
99 
10 
\V 
Oxford and Cambridge Terms begin. House 
T. 50°—34°. 
N.E. 
Rain. 
18 
45 
4 
53 
28 
1 
22 
100 
St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, who died on the 4tli of this month, 
a.d. 397, was one of those characters of well-poised judgments who arise 
occasionally as leaders and beacons in the age they adorn. Instances of 
his moderation and candour are numerous; but one may be selected, 
because it is believed to be the origin of a wise but easily perverted pro¬ 
verb. At Milan it was customary to regard each Saturday as a festival, 
whilst at Rome it was observed as a fast. Ambrose was consulted as to 
the correctness of either practice, and his just reply was, “ In matters of 
form only, and where no fundamental principle of rectitude is violated, it 
is proper to be guided by general custom: when I am at Milan, I do not 
fast; but when at Rome , I do as they do at Rome.” From this is be¬ 
lieved to have originated the common and somewhat dangerous saying, 
which has been thus versified 
(< When you are at Rome, 
Do as they do at Rome ; 
When you are elsewhere, 
Do as they do there.” 
In essential points Ambrose was as wisely firm : and his refusal to permit 
the Emperor Theodosius to enter the Milan cathedral, after his pitiless 
massacre in Thessalonica, has been not more lauded than the act deserves, 
and has been the chosen subject of more than one great painter. 
Meteorological Phenomena op the Season. —In the twenty- 
three last years, the average highest and lowest temperatures of the above 
days have been 55.8° and 36.3°, respectively. The greatest heat was 73°> 
on the 9th in 1814. During the 
RANGE OF BAROMETER—RAIN IN INCHES. 
April 
1841. 
1842. 
1843. 
1844. 
1845. 
1846. 
1847. 
1848. 
1849- 
29.642 
30.309 
29.553 
29.634 
30.053 
29.916 
29702 
30.033 
29.656 
4 
B. 
129.467 
30.182 
29-305 
29-588 
29.886 
29-250 
29.693 
30.015 
29.420 
R. 
0.11 
— 
0.23 
— 
— 
0.46 
0.02 
— 
0.08 
1 
29.436 
30.355 
29.917 
29.785 
30.041 
29.222 
29.745 
29-989 
29.556 
5 
B. 
. 29.371 
30.286 
29 702 
29.719 
29.992 
29-142 
29.629 
29.736 
29-381 
R. 
_ 
— 
0.02 
0.01 
— 
0.65 
— 
0.01 
— 
, 
129.745 
30.188 
29.843 
29.947 
29.914 
29-058 
29.853 
29.653 
29.609 
6 
B. 
129.661 
29.957 
29.646 
29.839 
29.891 
28.984 
29.745 
29.633 
29.440 
R. 
0.02 
— 
0.01 
— 
— 
0.30 
0.04 
— 
— 
r 29.781 
29.907 
29.563 
30.247 
29.915 
29.156 
29.837 
29.591 
29.514 
7 
B. 
129.777 
29.800 
29.436 
30.095 
29.873 
29.060 
29.813 
29.440 
29-440 
R. 
0.03 
— 
0.35 
— 
— 
0.12 
0.10 
0.04 
0.05 
r 29779 
30.190 
29.573 
30.399 
29.572 
29.411 
29.625 
29.160 
29.429 
8 
B. 
129.775 
30.053 
29.544 
30.386 
29.416 
29.198 
29.549 
29.334 
29.346 
R. 
0.20 
_ 
0.01 
— 
0.04 
— 
0.02 
0.04 
0.02 
r 29.988 
30.331 
29 . 703 ; 
30.480 
29.068 
29.799 
29.775 
29.543 
29.536 
9 
B. 
129.820 
30.307 
29.599 
30.441 
28.972 
39.645 
29.689 
29-515 
29.459 
R. 
0.01 
_ 
— 
— 
0.09 
— 
— 
0.14 
— 
r 30,020 
30.355 
29.921 
30.386 
29.118 
29-835 
29.900 
29.483 
29.664 
10 
B. 
\29.908 
30.281 
29.892 
30.116 
29-020 
29.736 
29.693 
29.328 
29.538 
1 
R. 
— 
0.01 
0.19 
0.27 
0.04 
above time and years, there were 
9 1 fine days, and 67 on which rain 
fell. 
Natural Phenomena Indi¬ 
cative of Weather. —When 
distant objects appear more dis¬ 
tinct or nearer than usual, it is a 
sign of approaching rain. The 
same, says Dr. Forster, has been 
observed of the mountains and 
hills in the West Indies, before 
the occurrence of the autumnal 
rains and tempests ; and some of 
the most violent hurricanes of our 
colonies have been preceded by 
an extraordinary appearance of 
nearness in the distant moun¬ 
tains. In this country, also, 
showery weather is never consi¬ 
dered to be past so long as the 
distant hills appear unusually 
near. This fact corresponds with 
the observation of Sir Isaac New¬ 
ton, that the stars seem clearer 
and better adapted for observation 
in the clear intervals between 
showers, and just before a change 
from fair weather to rain. 
The Hyacinth being a prevailing flower of the season, j 
we devote to it our first essay on the characteristic 
excellencies to he aimed at by the cultivator. We 
shall state what we consider would form a perfect 
flower; not with the idea that any will quite attain to 
such excellence, but because such standards enable the 
grower to judge which approaches nearest to the charac¬ 
teristics that a flower should possess to entitle it to be 
a successful competitor for a floricultural prize. 
At the best, the Hyacinth is a formal-looking flower— 
there are too many straight lines about it,—yet at one 
time fashion made it costly, for there was a hyacinth 
mania as well as a tulip mania in the 17th century. 
It is not known to have been cultivated either in Hol¬ 
land or England before the latter part of the 16th cen- 
I tftry, but within about fifty years it had been widely 
! distributed: numerous varieties raised, and enormous 
! prices paid for favourite specimens. It was then as 
j often called the Jacinth as the Hyacinth. Parkinson 
in his “Paradisus,” published in 1029, mentions fifty 
j varieties, but of these only three were double. Double 
varieties were so far from being estimated at that timt» 
that Peter Yoorhelm, one of the largest of hyacinth 
cultivators at Haarlem, destroyed them as often as they 
appeared in his collection. Illness having one year 
prevented him visiting his flower-beds until the bloom 
of the Hyacinths was passing away, his attention was 
drawn to one double specimen, which though of no 
superior excellence, yet seemed alone blooming to wel¬ 
come the convalescent. He cultivated it: inci’eased it 
from offsets, and introduced it to flower fanciers. The 
taste for them prevailed; and for one, The Ring of 
Great Britain, which Mr. Yoorhelm raised at the be¬ 
ginning of the present century, he obtained more than 
J100. 
The first writer, of whom we are aware, who wrote 
fully and judiciously on the characteristics of a good 
Hyacinth, was Abercrombie in his “ Universal Gar¬ 
dener,” published during 1778. Martyn, Maddock, 
Loudon, and others, subsequently wrote upon the same 
subject; but less successfully, until Mr. Glenny took 
up the subject, and published his excellent little book 
upon “ The Properties of Flowers.” After perusing ail 
these authorities, and after a careful examination of the 
No. LXXIX., Vol. IV. 
