August 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
273 
M 
D 
1 
w 
D 
AUGUST 30—SEPT. 5, 1840. 
Plants dedicated to 
each day. 
Sun 
Rises. 
Sun 
Sets. 
Moon R. 
and Sets. 
Moon’s 
Age. 
Clock 
bef. Sun. 
Day of 
Year. 
30 
Tii. 
Red Bryony berries ripe. 
Guernsey Lily. 
11 a. 5 
50 a. 0 
1 30 
12 
0 
27 
242 
31 
F. 
Peaches ripe. [seen. 
Autumnal Pheasant’s Fyc. 
13 
48 
2 30 
13 
0 
9 
243 
1 
S. 
Giles. Clouded Yellow butterfly 
Common Orpine. 
15 
44 
3 34 
14 
0 
10 
244 
2 
Sun. 
13 Sun. aft. Trin. Chaffinch sings again. 
Golden Rod. 
16 
43 
rises 
© 
0 
29 
245 
3 
M. 
Meadow Saffron blooms. 
Common Fleabane. 
17 
41 
7 a 13 
16 
0 
48 
246 
4 
Tu. 
Horticultural Society’s Meeting. 
Common Soapwort. 
19 
39 
7 39 
17 
1 
7 
247 
5 
W. 
Old Bartholomew. Hawthorn berries ripe. 
Common Mushroom. 
L 21 
37 
8 5 
18 
1 
27 
248 
Saint Giles, or JEgidius, was born at Athens, but passed into 
France during the year 71 5, and became a disciple of Caesarius, bishop 
of Arles ; subsequently a hermit, and finally promoted to be abbot 
of a monastery at Nismes : he died at this place a.d. 750. His ex¬ 
treme charity, and his refusal to be healed from a lameness, that he 
might not be without “ this thorn in his flesh,” caused him to be 
addressed by Roman Catholic mendicants and cripples as their patron 
saint. The churches dedicated to him were the favourite resort of 
the beggarly fraternity, and our St. Giles’, Cripplegate, in London, 
even before the Norman conquest, received its name from the mise¬ 
rable objects who there assembled to solicit charity. 
Old Bartholomew is the day on which the festival of St. Bar¬ 
tholomew was celebrated before the alteration of our calendar. It is 
now kept on the 24th of August. The alteration of the calendar was 
rendered necessary for the purpose of making the civil year agree 
with the natural year, or that period of time in which the earth tra¬ 
vels round the sun. To effect this, in the year 1752 eleven days were 
omitted between the 2nd and 14th of September, so that this month 
contained in that year only 19 days. Another alteration was effected 
the same year by making the annual round commence on the 1st of 
January, whereas, before the passing of the law (24 Geo. 2. cap. 22), 
the year began on the 25tli of March. The omission of the eleven 
days caused great discontent among the ignorant, who complained 
that Parliament had robbed their lives of those eleven days ! These 
alterations comprise the difference of what are distinguished as the 
old style and the new style of annual computation. 
Phenomena op the Season. —The return of the first of Septem¬ 
ber brings to memory many anecdotes of the partridge and the 
pointer which were familiar to us in days gone by, and a few of which 
now may be recorded aptly. No bird has more enduring courage for 
the security of her eggs and young ones than the partridge. When 
near the time of hatching, the hen will remain upon her nest with a 
pertinacity unequalled by any other of our wild birds, and regardless 
of the approach of man, from whom, under other circumstances, she 
would fiy in wild terror. We knew this strikingly exemplified in a 
case where injunctions were given to some 'mowers to look before 
them, and to use their scythes carefully, in a field of ray-grass where 
a partridge was known to be sitting. They were careful men, and 
took every pains to find out her whereabouts, and to frighten her up 
from before them, but all in vain—she sat immoveably on her nest, 
and her presence was only detected by a slight flutter consequent 
upon the scythe having severed her head. This was passive courage, 
but the same roused to activity must have been observed by most 
persons who have resided in the country, when the hen partridge has 
thrown herself at their feet, and boldly fluttered at a few yards before 
the intruder, to lure him from her young ones. A still greater in¬ 
stance of courage to protect these is recorded by the Rev. Mr. Jenyns. 
The cries of a partridge in distress for her brood being heard, atten¬ 
tion was drawn to a grass field, in which was waging a most furious 
contest between two of these birds and a carrion crow. Probably 
the latter had attempted to carry off some of their newly-hatched 
young, but the two parents resisted the attempt with so much deter¬ 
mined vigour as to frustrate the attempt, and to compel the ill- 
omened bird to act upon the defensive. The contest was long, but 
at length he began to retreat, yet the partridges continued the assault 
until the crow was so fatigued, and became so disabled by their 
blows, as to bo unable to use his wings. In this state he was even¬ 
tually taken by the person witnessing the battle, who had quietly 
advanced to the place of action unheeded by the combatants, whose 
attention was engrossed with the momentous struggle waging between 
them. One more anecdote, and our alloted space will be occupied. 
The sagacity of the pointer is well known, and he knows as well as 
his master does whether a bird has been wounded by the latter; as 
a striking instance of this we may relate the fact that a gentleman 
shooting near the sea-shore at Maldon, in Ksscx, fired at a partridge, 
and was sure that he had hit the bird. His favourite pointer was 
evidently of the same opinion, and watched the bird in his after¬ 
flight for some seconds, until it towered and fell upon a little island, 
or saltan, far from the shore. Sancho’s repugnance to the water was 
immediately overcome ; he hastened down to the water, swam to the 
island, found the bird, and returned with it in his mouth to his 
master. 
Insects.— Unfortunately very few 
persons possessing an orchard are un¬ 
acquainted with the American Blight, 
Eriosoma lanigera of some entomolo¬ 
gists, and E. mail and Aphis lanigera 
of others. Its generic characters are, 
having an abdomen (belly) without 
tubercles or horns, antennae short and 
thread form, and the whole body more 
or less cottony or tomentose. This 
pest has been known here only since 
the year 1787. Sir Joseph Banks traced 
its origin to a nursery in Sloane-street, 
and was led to conclude that it had 
been imported with apple-trees from 
France ; how'ever, he found it to be 
wholly unknown there. If not a native 
insect, it is most probably derived from 
North America, from whence apple- 
trees had also been imported by the 
proprietor of that nursery. Whatever 
its origin, it spread rapidly. At first it was confined to the vicinity 
of the metropolis, but it has now found its way into other parts of the 
kingdom, particularly into the cider counties ; and in 1810 so many 
trees perished from it in Gloucestershire, that, if some mode of destroy¬ 
ing it were not discovered, it was feared the making of eider must be 
abandoned. The presence of these insects is shewn by the white 
cottony matter in the cracks and excrescences of apple-tree branches 
in the spring. When crushed they exude a reddish fluid. These 
insects are injurious by piercing the sap vessels of the tree, sucking the 
juice, and causing wounds which ulcerate and finally destroy the branch 
attacked by corroding through all the sap-vessels. The cottony mat¬ 
ter is abundant, and, wafted to other trees, conveys to them infection 
by bearing with it the eggs or embryo insects. Such, however, is 
not the exclusive mode of diffusing the disease, for although the 
females are usually wingless, yet some are probably produced with 
wings at the season propitious to colonization : the males are uni¬ 
formly winged. In the winter these insects retire under ground, and 
prey upon the roots of the apple-tree. A tree thus ravaged at all 
seasons will soon be killed if prompt and vigorous remedies are not 
adopted. The affected roots may be bared and left exposed for a few 
days to the cold, and the earth before being returned be saturated 
with aminoniacal liquor from the gas-works. In early March the 
branches should be scraped and scrubbed with the same ammoniacal 
liquid, or a strong brine of common salt; but, whatever liquid is 
employed, the scraping and hard bristles of the brush should pene¬ 
trate every crack in the bark. We have found spirit of turpentine, 
applied thoroughly to every patch of the insect by means of an old 
1841. 
1842. 
1843. 
1844. 
1845. 
1846. 
1847. 
1848. 
30 
Fine. 
Cloudy. 
Fine. 
Fine. 
Fine. 
Fine. 
Fine. 
Fine. 
Highest 
& lowest 
temp. 
31 
80 °—67° 
70 °—46° 
77°— 6 l° 
72 °— 42 0 
O 
T 
0 
Cl 
N 
70 °—48° 
69 °—53° 
72°—45° 
Cloudy. 
Fine. 
Fine. 
Fine. 
Fine. 
Fine. 
Fine. 
Stormy. 
74°—45° 
64°—50° 
82°—56° 
80°—44° 
75°—54° 
79°—56° 
67 °— 42 ° 
60 °—48° 
1 
Fine. 
Rain. 
Cloudy. 
Fine. 
Fine. 
Cloudy. 
Cloudy. 
Fine. 
72°— 36° 
60°—58° 
85°—57° 
84°—44° 
66°—50° 
67 °— 46 ° 
66 °—45° 
66°—42° 
2 
Fine. 
Fine. 
Cloudy. 
Fine. 
Cloudy. 
Fine. 
Fine. 
Fine. 
73°—48° 
81°—58° 
82°—54° 
79°—50° 
64°—47° 
74°—4 1° 
65°— 39 ° 
70°—45° 
3 
Showery. 
Fine. 
Fine. 
Fine. 
Cloudy. 
Fine. 
Rain. 
Fine. 
72 °—50° 
74°—53° 
82°—57° 
74°— 6 l° 
63°—41° 
75°—42° 
60 °—4 1 ° 
75°—46° 
4 
Rain. 
Fine. 
Fine. 
Fine. 
Cloudy. 
Fine. 
Fine. 
Fine. 
55°—41° 
74°—49° 
7 5°—42° 
78 °— 60 ° 
6 l°—43° 
74°—54° 
63°—34° 
80°—47° 
5 
Rain. 
Fine. 
Fine. 
Showery. 
Cloudy. 
Fine. 
Showery. 
Fine. 
56 °— 36 ° 
740—470 
74°—45° 
73°—54° 
60°—50° 
<© 
O 
1 
CO 
0 
66 °—39° 
83°—57° 
tooth-brush, the most effective destroyer of these insects. The spirit 
must be applied carefully, because it kills every leaf on which it falls. 
The codlin and June eating-apple-trees are particularly liable to he 
infected, but we never observed it upon any one of the russet apples, 
and the Crofton pippin is also said to be exempted. Our woodcut 
represents the insect of its natural size as well as magnified. The 
head, antenme, and proboscis, by which it wounds the sap vessels, 
arc still further magnified. 
No. XLVIII., Vol. II. 
