June 27.] 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER, 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
183 
M 
D 
w 
D 
JUNE 27—JULY 3, 1850. 
Weather near London 
in 1849. 
Sun 
Rises. 
Sun 
Sets. 
Moon 
R. & S. 
Moon’s 
Age. 
Clock 
bef.Sun. 
Day of 
Year. 
27 
Til 
Cuckoo last heard. [seen. 
T, 78°—47° 
S.W. 
Fine. 
46 a. 3 
19 a. 8 
10a. 8 
17 
2 
35 
178 
28 
P 
Q. Victoria coronation, 1838. Wasp Beetle 
T. 76°—48° 
N.W. 
Fine. 
47 
19 
10 37 
18 
2 
47 
179 
29 
S 
St. Peter. Water Chickweed flowers. 
T. 73°—55° 
S. 
Rain. 
47 
19 
11 3 
19 
3 
0 
180 
30 
Son 
5 Sun. aft. Trinity. Great Horse-fly seen. 
T. 63°—35° 
N.E. 
Fine. 
48 
18 
n 26 
20 
3 
11 
181 
1 
M 
Orange Lily flowers. 
T. 79°—57°- 
SAV. 
Fine. 
49 
18 
11 48 
21 
3 
23 
182 
2 
To 
Visit. B.V.M. Oxf. Act. Cam. Com. Rooks roost 
T. 73°—55°. 
w. 
Fine. 
49 
18 
morn. 
€ 
3 
35 
183 
3 
W 
Dog Days begin. [on their nest. 
T. 73°—58° 
w. 
Rain. 
50 
17 
0 10 
23 
3 
46 
184 
It is not alone by being guides upon the road which leads to eternal life j 
that the clergy of our land are aiders of our happiness. If this were a 
fitting place, we could tell from an experience of twenty years of village | 
life in how many minor, yet important, circumstances, the ministers of 
the gospel, with their families, dotted about the British islands, are so 
many centres from which are diffused, from day to day and from year to 
year, the growing information and amenities of society. Nor is this an 
advantage, or blessing, emanating from them only in modern times: 
whenever and wherever there has been a fixed source of religious instruc¬ 
tion, it has invariably been also the source of general improvement in the 
arts of life. It has been usual to look upon the monasteries of the Middle 
Ages as institutions of unmixed evil; but even they were not so; and 
however debased was their Christianity, yet they were the nurseries of the 
arts and sciences, and storehouses of the knowledge and improvements of 
the past, held sacred when all else was subjected to dispersion and 
destruction. Among the arts thus cherished and improved, gardening 
has ever been one ; and we could tell of many monks who were as skilled 
in vine culture as they were fond of drinking deep of the juice of its 
berries. Records of their vineyards, orchards, and flower-gardens still 
remain ; but we will tell of another ecclesiastic who emulated their skill 
without any fellowship in their vices. 
Henry Compton, Bishop of London, is one of those characters on 
which no one can dwell without gratification ; for in no period of life not 
only did he never fail in the performance of his duty, but never did he 
cease from striving to effect every possible good within his power. He 
was born in 1632, the youngest son of the second Earl of Northampton, 
and inherited the courageous spirit of his father, who died in the field 
whilst fighting for Charles I. He was but ten years old when the battle 
of Edge Hill was fought, and was, for the sake of security, in the royal 
camp during that blood-stained day. After the Restoration, he accepted 
a cornetcy in a regiment of horse, but soon gave up the profession of arms 
and was ordained a minister of the church. Here he rapidly obtained 
preferment, and, finally, in 1676 , became Bishop of London. He was 
emphatically known as “ The Protestant Bishop,” during that era of the 
struggle for ascendancy between the members of the Reformed and of the 
Romish church. We have no space sufficient for tracing even an outline 
of the efforts and labours which earned justly the popular title bestowed 
upon him, for we must particularize his acts for the advancement of the 
art which especially entitle him to notice in our pages. So ungrudging 
of expense was he for the encouragement of horticulture, that he enriched 
the gardens and greenhouses of his palace at Fulham to an extent which 
rendered them remarkable not only for excellence of cultivation, but for 
containing a greater variety of plants than any other gardening establish¬ 
ment in England. Of exotic plants he possessed more than 1000 species. 
To his taste for horticulture was united a knowledge of botany, not usual 
among the elevated in rank of those days. He was a great encourager of 
Mr. London, who had been in his service, and who, under his patronage, 
established the Brompton Nursery—the best of its period. The Bishop 
was one of the first to promote the importation of ornamental exotics ; 
and not only delighted in encouraging their cultivation, but also that of 
kitchen-garden plants. He was particularly fond of the Kidney bean, 
and introduced many of its varieties. Every department was under his 
own general superintendence; and having especially directed his attention 
to ascertaining the climates of the countries from which his favourites 
were imported, he soon was enabled to cultivate in his open borders many 
plants which had been considered too tender to be exposed to our seasons 
without protection. Death was sent not to him until he had passed his 
eightieth year ; and when he was thus released from his labours on the 7 th 
of July, 1713, he left behind him the reputation of being one of the few 
who, whatever part they have to fill, always act correctly. It is quite 
true that many virulent assaults upon his character and conduct are to be 
found in his contemporary literature, but they are attacks all to be traced , 
to evil sources, and in every instance probably would have received the j 
same worthy comment which he made upon one libeller : “ I am glad of 
his attack upon me, for he has given me an opportunity of setting you a 
good example in forgiving him.” 
Meteorology of the Week. —At Chiswick, the average highest and 
lowest temperatures of these days, from observations during the last 
twenty-three years, are 73.6° and 50.8° respectively. The greatest heat, 
93°, was on the 27 th, in 1826; and the greatest cold, 37°, on the 30th, in 
1848. On 67 days rain occurred, and 94 days were fine. 
RANGE OF BAROMETER—RAIN IN INCHES. 
June 
1841. 
1842. 
1843. 
1844. 
1845. 
1846. 
CD 
*>I 
1848. 
1849. 
27 
B. 
r 30.128 
30.213 
29.776 
29.886 
29.760 
29797 
30.260 
29.923 
29.969 
129.951 
30.143 
29.676 
29-823 
29.462 
29.629 
30.240 
29.776 
29.943 
R. 
0.10 
— 
— 
— 
0.15 
0.01 
0.01 
0.02 
— 
28 
B. 
r 29.981 
30.274 
29.693 
30.016 
29.751 
29.850 
30.265 
29.859 
30.076 
129.773 
30.128 
29.629 
29.949 
29.230 
29-800 
30.248 
29.807 
29.992 
R. 
0.65 
— 
0.01 
— 
0.16 
0.03 
— 
0.02 
— 
29 
B. 
/ 29.817 
30.078 
29.797 
30.056 
29.937 
29.814 
30.267 
29.758 
30.079 
129.743 
29.989 
29.754 
29.926 
29.897 
29.786 
30.252 
29.619 
29.919 
R. 
0.07 
— 
— 
— 
0.04 
— 
— 
0 01 
0.02 
30 
B. 
r 30.093 
29.933 
29.910 
29.936 
29.856 
29.978 
30.272 
29.645 
30.156 
129.927 
29.791 
29.873 
29-850 
2Q.838 
29.888 
30.224 
29.538 
29.916 
July 
B. 
0.01 
0.80 
— 
— 
0.03 
0.03 
— 
0.08 
— 
B. 
( 30.080 
29.849 
30.002 
29.853 
29.665 
30.014 
30.284 
29783 
30.100 
130.049 
29.737 
29-982 
29.829 
29.572 
29.973 
30.274 
29-530 
29.921 
R. 
0.05 
0.05 
— 
0.34 
0.13 
0.04 
— 
0.04 
— 
B. 
/ 30.123 
29-848 
29.995 
29-841 
29.824 
30.074 
30.269 
29.876 
29-999 
130.086 
29-830 
29.964 
29.832 
29.776 
29.988 
30.189 
29.838 
29.964 
R. 
0.01 
0.05 
— 
0.22 
0.06 
0.01 
0.01 
0.07 
— 
B. 
r 30,126 
29.961 
29.992 
29.876 
29-828 
30.165 
30.147 
29.813 
29.7*15 
129.989 
29.826 
29-967 
29.809 
29.640 
30.12Q 
30.040 
29.728 
29 667 
R. 
0.04 
0.01 
~ 
0.14 
0.01 
0.29 
0.01 
Insects. —With no creature is the 
gardener more familiar than with the 
Earth Worm (Lumbricus terrestris), 
and yet there is no other of which, in 
general, he possesses less knowledge. 
Let us bring before him a few of the 
most interesting facts in its history. 
When boring, the worm insinuates its 
pointed head between the particles of 
the earth, among which it penetrates 
like a wedge ; and the fore-part of the 
body being fixed by the spines, of which there are four pairs on each 
segment (see b in annexed drawing), the hinder parts are then drawn 
forwards by a shortening of the body. This swells out the fore segments, and 
forcibly dilates the passage into which the head has been already thrust. 
The spines upon the hinder rings then take a firm hold upon the walls of 
the hole into which they have been drawn, and the effort is again repeated 
so long as onward progress is desired by the worm. If it. be cut into two 
equal parts when in motion, each part will continue to move for a time, 
but only the fore half will continue to live. This forms a new tail, and 
sonn shows but few signs of injury. If the division be made near the 
head, the body remains alive, and will form a new head, but the old head 
dies. On more than one occasion we have advocated the cause of the 
worm, and we will now quote from an eloquent and truthful writer his 
concurring observations. This animal, destined to be the natural manurer 
of the soil, consumes on the surface of the ground, where they would be 
injurious, the softer parts of decayed vegetable matters, and conveys into 
the soil the more woody fibres, where they moulder, and become reduced 
to a simple nutriment fitting for living vegetation. Beneficial as these 
creatures are, by giving a kind of under-tillage to the land, performing 
the same loosening below that the spade and the hoe effect on the surface, 
and thus admitting the air and the moisture,—and beneficial as they are 
by drawing leaves and other decaying matters into the earth, yet they 
are sad tormentors to the gardener, and occasion, in some situations, the 
loss of more young plants than even the slug, by drawing in their haves, 
and thus inverting our buildings. Yet, if these depredations do at times 
excite our ire, we must still remember the nightly labours and extensive 
services of this scavenger and manurer of the soil. The ivorm casts are 
produced by the digestive process of the worms, which take into their in¬ 
testinal canal portions of the soil through which they burrow, extract part 
Of the decaying matters it contains, and eject the rest in a finely divided 
state. In this manner a field manured with marl has been covered, in 
the course of eighty years, with a bed of surface earth averaging thirteen 
inches in thickness [Carpenter's Zoology), a , the perfect worm ; b, the 
fore-segments magnified, shewing the spikes directed backwards ; c, egg, 
inclosing two yoiing ones ; d, young worm escaping from the egg. 
No. XCI., Vol. IV. 
