June 20.] 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
169 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
M W 
D D 
JUNE 20 — 26 , 1850. 
Weather near London 
in 1849. 
Sun 
Rises. 
Sun 
Sets. 
Moon 
R.&S. 
Moon’s 
Age. 
Clock 
bef. Sun. 
Day of 
Year. 
2o|th 
Q. Vict. Access. Young Greenfinchesfledged. 
T. 75°— 50°. 
W. 
Fine. 
44 a. 3 
18 a. 8 
1 
44 
10 
1 
6 
171 
21|F 
Q. Victoria Proclaimed. Longest Day. 
T. 75°—42°. 
s.w. 
Fine. 
44 
18 
2 
10 
11 
1 
19 
172 
22S 
Sun’s declin. 23°2/' n. Six-spotted Burnet Moth 
T. 78°—48°. 
w. 
Fine. 
45 
19 
2 
40 
12 
1 
32 
173 
23 Sun 
4 Sun. aft. Trinity. Wheat flowers, [seen. 
T. 85°— 52°. 
s.w. 
Fine. 
45 
19 
3 
13 
13 
1 
45 
174 
24M 
Nativity John Baptist. Mids. D. 
T. 89°—46°. 
N.E. 
Fine. 
45 
19 
rises. 
© 
1 
5 7 
175 
25 Tv 
Common Wasp abounds. 
T. 79°—53°. 
S. 
Fine. 
45 
19 
8a.53 
15 
2 
10 
176 
26 W 
Privet Hawk Moth seen. 
T. 75°—51°. 
w. 
Fine. 
46 
19 
9 
34 
16 
2 
23 
177 
On the 19 th of June, 1820, died Sir Joseph Banks, Baronet, and 
President of the Royal Society, another of those instances, now less rare 
than formerly, of a man preferring the labours, both mental and physical, 
attendant upon the most active pursuit of natural history, rather than the 
ease and seductive indulgences placed at his command by inherited 
wealth. In boyhood he was uncharacterised by any peculiarity but good 
humour, and the love of boyish sports ; and it was not until fourteen that 
his tutor ever detected him perusing a book during the hours when recrea¬ 
tion was permitted. That first instance is memorable, and may be told 
in his own words : “ One fine summer evening I had bathed in the river 
as usual with the other boys; but having remained long in the water, I 
found when dressing all my companions gone. Walking leisurely along 
a lane, the sides of which were richly enamelled with flowers, I stopped, 
and exclaimed involuntarily, ‘ How beautiful! * After some reflection, I 
said to myself, ‘ It is surely more natural that I should be taught to know 
all these productions of nature rather than Greek and Latin; but the 
latter is my father’s command, and it is my duty to obey. But I will 
make myself acquainted with all these plants for my own pleasure.’ ” 
From that time he commenced learning Botany; and, for want of more 
able tutors, submitted to be instructed by the women employed in gather¬ 
ing herbs for the London herb shops. When at home for the ensuing 
holidays, he found in his mother’s dressing-room a book in which all the 
plants he had met with were described and engraved. This was Gerarde's 
Herbal ; and it was over this huge folio—which, despite its size, he had 
taken to school—that his tutor found him poring. This love for natural 
history increased as he advanced to manhood, and became his cherished 
occupation. His father being dead, he persuaded his mother to reside at 
Chelsea, near to the well-known garden of the Apothecaries’ Company; 
and whilst here he was apprehended on suspicion of being a foot-pad, the 
pursuers of the felon having found young Banks in a ditch beneath some 
underwood, and turning a deaf ear to his assurance that he was only 
botanising I We shall not follow him through his adventures in his 
voyage round the world with Captain Cook, nor to Iceland with Dr. 
Solauder, much less shall we touch upon complaints made against the 
preference shown to natural sciences more than to the mathematical 
whilst he presided over the Royal Society; but we will pause to enumerate 
the benefits he effected, all springing from his love for and knowledge of 
the departments of science which he preferred, and we shall do so by 
quoting the words of one of his biographers. The African Association 
owed its origin to him, and Ledyard, Lucas, Houghton, and the unfortu¬ 
nate Mungo Park, all partook of the care which he extended to the 
enterprising traveller. He devised the means of carrying the Bread-fruit 
from Otaheite, and the Mango from Bengal, for cultivation in the West 
Indies. He transferred the fruits of Persia and Ceylon, also, successfully 
to the West Indies and Europe. The establishment of our Colony at 
Botany Bay originated entirely with him. In the affairs of the Board of 
Trade, and of the Board of Agriculture, he was constantly consulted ; and 
he took a leading part in the management of the Royal Gardens at Kew. 
He was also a distinguished promoter of the Horticultural Society; and he 
was indefatigable as a trustee of the British Museum, to which institution 
he bequeathed his scientific library and his foreign correspondence. His 
writings relative to cultivated plants were numerous, and highly interest¬ 
ing, among them being dissertations on the mildew in wheat, on the 
Native Country of the Potato , and on the cultivation of strawberries, 
figs, and American cranberries, at Spring Grove, his residence near 
Hounslow. Here, under the care of Mr. Oldacre, his gardener, the cul¬ 
tivation of his kitchen-garden, especially in the forcing of mushrooms 
and pine-apples, became markedly eminent. It was the birth-place, 
also, of one of our best summer 
kitchen apples, the Spring-grove 
Codlin. Death did not close his 
useful and generous career until he 
had attained his eightieth year; and 
most truly may it be said of his 
whole manhood, “ His time, his 
wealth, his influence, his talents, 
an incomparable library of works 
on science and art, knowledge 
and judgment to advise, genero¬ 
sity to assist, all, in short, of 
which he possessed, he made the 
patrimony of the studious, not of 
his own country alone, but of the 
whole world I” 
Meteorology of the Week. 
At Chiswick, from observations 
during the last twenty-three years, 
the highest and lowest average 
temperatures of these days are 
72. 6 ° and 50./°, respectively. The 
greatest heat, 93°, occurred on the 
22nd in 1846 ; and the greatest 
cold, 37°, on the 25th in 1835. On 
69 days rain fell, and 92 days were 
fine. 
RANGE OF BAROMETER—RAIN IN INCHES. 
June 
1841. 
1842. 
1843. 
1844. 
1845. 
1846. 
1847. 
1848. 
1849. 
20 
B. 
129.759 
29.734 
30.160 
30.041 
30.117 
30.181 
29.954 
30.130 
30.139 
1 29.724 
29.665 
29.956 
29.972 
30.083 
30.087 
29 - 8/2 
30.075 
30.086 
R. 
0.02 
0.01 
— 
0.01 
— 
— 
0.01 
— 
— 
21 
B. 
129.959 
29.670 
30.128 
29.980 
30.082 
30.190 
29.800 
30.065 
30.118 
129.769 
29.640 
29-984 
29.761 
29.991 
30.061 
29./40 
30.063 
30.030 
R. 
0.26 
0.01 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
22 
B. 
r30.059 
29.767 
30.045 
29.797 
30.014 
29.957 
29.717 
30.019 
30.166 
\ 29.994 
29.725 
29-984 
29.769 
29.935 
29.649 
29.637 
29.866 
30.011 
R. 
0.01 
0.20 
— 
— 
— 
0.59 
— 
— 
— 
23 
B. 
f30.028 
29.823 
30.051 
29.789 
30.126 
29.644 
29.646 
29.830 
29.941 
i 29-812 
29-767 
30.027 
29742 
30.094 
29-577 
29.633 
29.591 
29.822 
R. 
0.40 
0.01 
— 
— 
— 
0.05 
0.36 
0.44 
— 
24 
B. 
r 29.741 
29.679 
30.011 
29.651 
30.034 
29.517 
29.623 
29.633 
29.904 
1 29.639 
29.420 
29-987 
29.642 
29.797 
29-401 
29.580 
29.560 
29.880 
R. 
0.49 
— 
— 
— 
0.21 
— 
0.02 
0.04 
— 
25 
B. 
r 29.543 
29.806 
29.962 
29.666 
29.808 
29.643 
29-835 
29-897 
29.979 
I 29.494 
29-585 
29.906 
29.613 
29.798 
29.497 
29.643 
29.631 
29.907 
R. 
0.04 
0.09 
— 
0.62 
0.09 
— 
0.06 
0.04 
— 
26 
B. 
129.774 
29.915 
29.888 
29-/84 
29.856 
29.681 
30.192 
30.016 
29.980 
i 29.605 
29.674 
29-845 
29.718 
29.776 
29.647 
30.014 
30 011 
29.919 
R. 
— 
— 
0.12 
“ 
0.09 
0.01 
0.01 
Insects. —One of the greatest pests of this season are the Gad-flies; 
and they who, like Jacques, deduce “ sermons from stones, and good 
from everything,” may aptly moralise upon the frantic terror evinced by 
animals powerful as the horse and the ox at the mere buzzing sound of 
the wings of an insect scarcely an inch long—a buzzing discomforting 
even to man, and acquiring for the insect the popular name of “The 
Breeze.” The species we have selected as an illustration is the Ox Gad¬ 
fly, Tabanus bovinus. It resembles a large fly, with large greenish eyes, 
and its abdomen spotted w'ith white longitudinally. At the sound of its 
flight, as well as at that of another species, (Estrus bovis, terrified herds, 
with their tails erect, or stiffly stretched out in the direction of the spine, 
gallop about their pastures, make the country resound with their lowings, 
and fear to rest until they have plunged into water. The Zhnb, an 
African insect, is probably a species of this family. Bruce describes it as 
attacking cattle so fiercely, that, unless immediately protected, they for* 
sake their food, and run wildly about the plains, dreading even its very 
sound, until they die, worn out with fatigue, fright, and hunger. 
Very much against our inclination, and we are not sure 
that it is not contrary to our interests, we have resolved 
to postpone the publication of the First Number of The 
Cottage Gardeners’ Dictionary until Thursday, the 
3rd of October. The present is a season so fully em¬ 
ploying our various coadjutors, that they cannot devote 
to the work so much attention as is desirable, if we 
resolved to commence publishing at once, and to con- 
No. XC., Vol. IV. 
