June THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 139 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
M 
D 
w 
D 
JUNE 21—27, 1849. 
1 
Plants dedicated to 
each day. 
Sun 
Rises. 
Sun 
Sets. 
Moon R. 
and Sets. 
Moon’s 
Age. 
Clock 
bef. Sun. 
Day of 
Year. 
21 
Th. 
Q. ViCT.pro. Long. day. Partridges hatch. 
Viper’s Buglos. 
45 a. 3 
18 a. 8 
8 54 
1 
1 
22 
172 
22 
F. 
Sun’s dec. 23°2/' n. Six-spot Burnet Moth 
Canterbury Bells. 
45 
19 
9 44 
2 
1 
35 
173 
23 
S. 
Wheat flowers. ^ een - 
Lady’s Slipper. 
45 
19 
10 23 
3 
1 
48 
174 
24- 
Sun. 
3 3. a. Tu. Nat. J. Rapt. Midsummer-D. 
St. John’s Wort. 
45 
19 
10 50 
4 
2 
1 
175 
25 
M. 
Common Wasp abounds. 
Sweet-william. 
40 
19 
11 24 
5 
2 
14 
170 
2(5 
Tu. 
Privet Hawk Moth seen. 
Blue Sowthistle. 
40 
19 
11 50 
0 
2 
27 
177 
27 
W. 
Cuckoo last heard. 
Perforated St. John’s Wort. 
47 
19 
morn. 
5 
2 
39 
178 
Longest Day. —This is always considered to be the 21st of June, 
but it is not strictly so, the next Hay or two being slightly longer. The 
longest day at the Greenwich Observatory, after deducting for refrac¬ 
tion, contains 1(5 hours, 34 minutes, and 5 seconds. 
Nativity of St. John the Baptist. —This festival, in com¬ 
memoration of the forerunner of our Redeemer, was first instituted 
in the year 488, and has ever since been observed both by the Papal 
and the Reformed Church. He was born about six months before our 
Lord : and, when nearly 33 years old, “the word of God came unto 
him in the wildernesss,” which he appears to have made his abode, 
and, obeying its summons, he left his solitude and “preached the bap¬ 
tism of repentance for the remission of sins,” in “all the country 
round about Jordan.” At the end of a ministry of about 13 months’ 
continuance he appeared at the court of Herod Antipas, and reproved 
him boldly for his incestuous intercourse with his brother’s wife, He- 
rodias. The result is told us in Scripture (Matt, xiv), and we will 
only add that the place of St. John’s imprisonment was the Castle of 
Machoeius, near the Dead Sea. His murder occurred a.d. 33. 
Phenomena of the Season. —We now come to the considera¬ 
tion of one of the parts essential to all flowers for the production of 
seed —the stamens. These are the long stalks ( filaments) usually 
white, with yellow heads {anthers), situated next within the petals, 
and being the male portion of flowers. They vary in number from 
one, as in the common Marestail ( Hippuris ), to a great number, as 
in the strawberry, and in form as represented in the annexed woodcut. 
It is on the number and some peculiarities of the stamens that the 
celebrated Linmean system of arranging plants is founded. In double 
flowers the stamens are changed into petals, and these flowers are, 
consequently, incapable of producing pollen, the powder which, when 
applied to the pistil, impregnates the seed and renders it fertile. This 
pollen is produced by the anthers only ; and, to secure that it shall 
reach the summit of the pistil, many contrivances are provided. 
Thus, in most flowers hanging downwards the stamens are shorter 
than the pistil, so that when the pollen is shed it may fall down upon 
it; and in the berberry, when the filaments are touched gently, they 
spring forward and dash the anther against the pistil. Pollen con¬ 
sists, as may be seen when examined under the microscope, of nume¬ 
rous little bags, angular in the violet, kidney-shaped in the narcissus, 
and perforated in the pelargonium. They differ in colour or form al¬ 
most in every species ; and their surface, though mostly smooth, is 
often wrinkled, net-like, and even prickly. 'When moistened, these 
globules burst and emit a cloud of dust. This is very remarkably 
visible in the cypress, birch, and willow, if they are shaken when the 
pollen is ripe. This dust is also composed of myriads of little bags, 
which in their turn explode when moistened, as may be noticed most 
readily by placing some of the ripe anthers of Valerian on water. 
a, stamen of the lily; b, of the Lemna (duck-weed); e, of the potatoe; 
d, of the berberry; e, of the ginger ; /, of the sage. 
Insects.— At p. 52 of our present 
volume, we expressed a doubt whether 
one of the Snake Millipedes (Julus com- 
platanus) really attacks the root of the 
potato until this is in a state of decay, 
and the same doubt exists with us relative 
to another and much smaller species, 
Juluspulchellus, represented in our draw¬ 
ing of its natural size and magnified. 
Cabbages have been very liable, during 
the recent spring, to wither away when about half grown. When 
pulled up, their stems, just below the surface of the ground, are 
found to be thoroughly decayed, and in the decayed place are usually 
a colony of this species of snake millipede. Now, the question 
arises, is this insect the cause of the disease, by wounding and eating 
the bark of the plant; or does the parent wound the bark, depositing 
her eggs in the wound, and then wet, and the irritation produced by 
the larvie, complete the fatal wounding; or does the decay first 
arise, and then this millipede comes to it to feed upon the putrid 
part, and the mites ( Acari) which frequent the places where decaying 
vegetable matter occurs ? These are questions to which the answers, 
at present, cannot be decisive; and we shall be glad of any facts 
! June. 
1841. 
1842. 
1843. 
1844. 
1845. 
1846. 
1847. 
1848. 
21 
Showery. 
Showery. 
Fine. 
Fine, 
Fine. 
Fine. 
Cloudy. 
Fine. 
Highest 
& lowest 
O 
1 
O 
73°— 51° 
73°—51° 
83°—52° 
80°—51° 
81°—56° 
67 °—46° 
77°—52° 
temp. 
Fine. 
22 
Showerv. 
Fine. 
Fine. 
Fine. 
Stormv. 
Cloudv. 
Fine. 
7 3°—46° 
75 0 —48° 
70°—40° 
86°—48° 
73°—48° 
93°—59° 
70°—41° 
81°—55° 
23 
Rain. 
Cloudy. 
Fine. 
Fine. 
Fine. 
Showerv. 
Showery. 
Showerv. 
73°—44° 
73 0 —57° 
72° —4g° 
91°—63° 
73°—51° 
69°—48° 
67 0 — 48 ° 
75°—55° 
21 
Showerv. 
Cloudy. 
Fine. 
Fine. 
Rain. 
Cloudy. 
Cloudy. 
Showery. 
72°—54° 
72°—54° 
66°—48° 
CD 
to 
O 
1 
05 
v 4 
O 
74°—52° 
67 0 — 48 ° 
68°—52° 
6g°—52° 
25 
Rain. 
Cloudy. 
Cloudy. 
Rain. 
Showery. 
Fine. 
Showerv. 
Showerv. 
70°—54° 
66°—54° 
65°—41° 
65°—47° 
74°—52° 
70° — 45° 
70°—48° 
65°—52° 
26 
Fine. 
Fine. 
Fine. 
Cloudy. 
Cloudv. 
Showery. 
Cloudv. 
Cloudy. 
67 0 — 52 ° 
70°— 49 0 
73°—43° 
67°—51° 
74°—49° 
67°—54° 
71°—50° 
73°—54° 
27 
Showerv. 
Fine. 
Fine. 
Cloudv. 
Rain. 
Cloudy. 
Cloudv. 
Cloudy. 
70°—52° 
73°—44° 
76° —49° 
68°—50° 
66°—56° 
73° — 50° 
76 0 — 53° 
70°—57° 
bearing upon the subject from any of our correspondents. In our 
own opinion, this Julus does not attack the cabbage whilst this is 
healthy, but that the wound may be occasioned by the parent milli¬ 
pede, and that the young ones feed on the mites which frequent the 
decaying wound. This millipede is a sandy grey colour, having on 
each side a row of small crimson spots. The number of legs vary 
with the age of the insect, but the greatest number observed in the 
Julus pulchellus have been about 170. When disturbed, it coils itself 
round in the way we have represented. It has been found in decayed 
onions and pansy roots, as well as in cabbage stems. Quicklime and 
gas-lime, incorporated with the soil, destroy or drive away these 
creatures. 
In a recent Number we advocated the establishment 
of village Horticultural Societies, and quoted in¬ 
stances and testimonies shewing the beneficial in¬ 
fluence such societies exercise over the improvement 
of the gardening of the many. There is another 
class of local Horticultural Societies, which have 
also for then- object the improvement and diffusion of 
the practice of gardening among the more wealthy 
classes, and to these societies we will offer a word of 
warning, suggested to us by the state of some of the 
departments of the London Horticultural Society’s 
garden at Chiswick. 
Let local societies strictly and invariably endea¬ 
vour to attain their object by judicious rewards alone. 
Let them hold out prizes to be attained by the 
growers of the best vegetables, the best fruit, and 
the best flowers. Let them tempt all within their 
influence to contend for those prizes. Let them sit 
: 
t 
No. XXXVIII., Vol. II. 
