September THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 329 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
M 
D 
w 
D 
SEPT 27—OCT. 3, 1849. 
Plants dedicated to 
each day. 
Sun 
Rises. 
Sun 
Sets. 
Moon R. 
and Sets. 
Moon’s 
Age. 
Clock 
bef. Sun. 
Day of 
Year. 
27 
Th 
Birch leaves yellow. 
Many-flowered Starwort. 
56 a. 5 
46 a. 5 
0 16 
11 
9 
2 
270 
28 
F. 
Ring-dove’s note ceases. [moth seen . 
Evergreen Goldenrod 
57 
44 
1 18 
12 
9 
22 
271 
29 
S. 
Michaelmas Day. Autumn-green-carpet 
Michaelmas Daisy. 
59 
42 
2 23 
13 
9 
42 
272 
30 
Sun. 
17. Sun. aft. Trin. St. Jerome. 
Golden Amaryllis. 
61 
39 
3 31 
14 
10 
1 
273 
1 
M. 
Remigius. Common Snipe plentiful. 
Lowly Crinum. 
VI 
V 
4m 44 
15 
10 
20 
274 
0 
Tu. 
Hort. Soc. Meeting. Walnut-leaves fall. 
Common Soapwort. 
4 
35 
rises 
© 
10 
39 
275 
3 
W. 
•Jack Snipe arrives. 
Downy Helenium. 
6 
32 
6 a. 35 
17 
10 
58 
276 
Michaelmas Day. —This day, on which our Church reminds its 
members of “Saint Michael and all angels,” and prays for their 
guardian aid, was first instituted by the Roman Catholic Church in 
the year 487. We are at a loss to discover the reason for calling that 
celestial messenger of God a Saint, who is spoken of nowhere in the 
Scriptures but as an “ archangel.” To none but to him do the sacred 
writers give this title of pre-eminence. Five times do they mention 
him, and always as a spirit guiding the tide of battles. Thrice does 
the prophet Daniel speak of Michael as fighting against Persia on 
behalf of the Jewish Church; once does St. John, as leading on the 
angelic host against the devil and his angels; and lastly St. Jude, speak 
of him as fighting in single combat with the same spirit of evil for the 
body of Moses. Tire custom of eating roasted goose on this day is of very 
ancient date, arising probably from this “ pasturer of the common” 
being now of growth most desirable for table use, and because this 
great festival of the Romish Church occurred at the same season, and 
all Northmen love good eating on such occasions. It is quite certain 
that long before the reign of Queen Elizabeth it was customary to 
eat “ a fat goose” on the Michaelmas festival. True it may be that 
on this day, in 1588, at Sir Neville Umfreville’s, near Tilbury Fort, 
“ Good Quaen Bess” was dining off this bird, “for her majesty was 
much affected towards savoury dishes,” and that receiving intelligence 
of the Spanish armada’s defeat, she may have commanded that both 
ihe event and the dish which she relished should whilst she lived be 
associated together. All this may be true, and yet the custom have 
been long practised previously. _ 
St. Jerome, or Hieronymus, is one of the most eminent of Christian 
ecclesiastical writers. He was born at Strido, on the borders of Dal¬ 
matia, about the year 329, and died at Bethlehem in 420, where he 
had established a monastery. He was learned and enthusiastic, but 
far too intemperate to be reconcilable with our estimate of the Chris¬ 
tian character. His writings are valuable by containing many quo¬ 
tations from the early translations of the Bible, and by their record¬ 
ing the opinions and explaining the customs of his Jewish contem¬ 
poraries. 
Remigids, Archbishop of Rheims, was an exemplary prelate, 
chiefly memorable for having converted to Christianity Clovis, the 
founder of the French monarchy. He was born in the year 439, and 
died in 535. 
Phenomena of the Season. —One of the most common pheno¬ 
mena of the autumn is the abundance of dew occurring, and its 
cause and nature have been the occasion of much learned research and 
controversy. Experiments recorded within the present century have 
determined the correct explanation of the phenomenon, and therefore 
we may leave the erroneous opinions unnoticed. All air contains 
moisture dissolved in it, and the warmer the air is the more moisture 
does it dissolve. When this air comes in contact with, or touches, 
anything so cold as to cool the air so much that it cannot hold all the 
moisture it contained when warmer, that which it cannot hold is 
deposited on the colder body in the form of dew. Thus, suppose a 
cubic foot of air at 60 ° holding dissolved 20 grains of water, and 
that at 40° it could hold only In grains ; then, if brought in contact 
with anything so cold as to cool it down to the latter temperature, it 
would deposit upon the colder body 10 grains of water in the shape 
of dew. For this reason cold wine-glasses brought into a room of 
which the air is warm and moist, immediately are clouded with dew ; 
for the same reason moisture is depo-ited and runs down the wains- 
coating and windows of a room ; and the same deposit of moisture 
occurs when we breathe upon any substance much colder than the 
air thus issuing from our lungs. From the preceding facts it is 
evident that before dew can be deposited in our gardens the atmo¬ 
sphere in contact with them must contain more moisture than it can 
retain when cooled down to the temperature of the plants, &o., in 
those gardens. If the night is cloudy no dew will probably be depo¬ 
sited, because it is found that in such nights the earth and plants do 
not cool down sufficiently below the temperature of the air. The 
colder the bodies with which the air comes in contact, the more 
abundantly is dew deposited upon them. Thus grass, asparagus, and 
other vegetables with very numerous surfaces, cool faster than smooth 
broad surfaces, such as gravel walks, and the soil of the beds ; there¬ 
fore on those vegetables the dew is most abundant. Dr. Dalton cal¬ 
culated that a depth of five inches of water is deposited all over the 
British isles annually in the form of dew. 
Insects. — During September and 
October the points of the side shoots of 
1841. 
1842. 
1843. 
1844. 
1845. 
1846. 
1847. 
1848. 
27 
Stormy. 
Stormy. 
Cloudy. 
Fine. 
Showery. 
Fine. 
Fine. 
Cloudy. 
Highest 
& lowest 
670—540 
58°—49° 
55°—32° 
70°—39° 
60 °—48° 
66 °—49° 
o> 
O 
1 
»o 
CO 
0 
64°— 52° 
temp. 
28 
Rain. 
Fine. 
Fine. 
Fine. 
Cloudy. 
Cloudy. 
Cloudy. 
Rain. 
64°—56° 
58°—48° 
590—340 
75°—39° 
63°—36° 
66°—38° 
59°—33° 
58°—54° 
29 
Showery. 
Showery. 
Fine. 
Fine. 
Cloudy. 
Rain. 
Fine. 
Rain. 
65°—54° 
58°—45° 
62 °—47° 
59°—30° 
62 °—48° 
65°—36° 
63°—49° 
58°—51° 
30 
Showerv. 
Fine. 
Cloudy. 
Fine. 
Cloudy. 
Cloudv. 
Cloudy. 
Cloudv. 
65°—44° 
57°—44° 
68 °—55° 
67 °— 31 ° 
62 °— 41 ° 
630—39° 
63°-47° 
64°—51° 
1 
Rain. 
Fine. 
Fine. 
Cloudy. 
Fine. 
Fine. 
Cloudv. 
Cloudy. 
64°—43° 
59°—31° 
72°—55° 
70°—45° 
6l°—46° 
67 °— 52 ° 
65°—52° 
63°—39° 
2 
Fine. 
Fine. 
Showerv. 
Cloudy. 
Showerv. 
Showery. 
Cloudy. 
Fine. 
63°—42° 
6(>°—32° 
670 — 47 ° 
70°—47° 
64°— 58° 
64°—55° 
60 °—42° 
67 °—40° 
3 
Fine. 
Fine. 
Showery. 
Cloudy. 
Cloudv. 
Showery. 
Fine. 
Fine. 
63°—51° 
57°—38° 
65°—54° 
71°—41° 
67 °—45° 
65°—36° 
59°—48° 
6 /*—49° 
the Scotch fir ( Pinus sylvestris ) and of the heavy-wooded pine (P. pon- 
derosa) are too frequently observed to have become yellowish in colour, 
and this is found to arise from their being bored by a small insect, 
the Scotch-pine-bark beetle, Hylurgus piniperdn of some entomolo¬ 
gists, and Hylesinus or Ips piniperda of others. Our drawing repre¬ 
sents this beetle much magnified, but naturally it is only as long as 
the line by its side. This beetle may be found in June. The wing 
cases are pitchy black, marked with lines, but the antennee and feet 
are reddish brown. The rest of the body is black and bristly. The 
larva, or grub, may be now found; it is cylindrical, w'hite about the 
middle, but both its ends are dull yellow. The beetle burrows along 
the pith of the young side shoots. The female deposits her eggs 
under the bark of old or even of dead pines, upon the resinous juices 
of which the grub feeds. We know of no practicable remedy but cut¬ 
ting off the ends of the shoots which have turned yellow, and burn¬ 
ing them. 
The present number completes our second volume, 
and brings us to the close of our first year. In the 
customary Preface we will record our grateful feelings 
upon our prosperous course, and shall confine our¬ 
selves, therefore, on the present occasion to a brief 
notice of what are some of our purposings for the 
future. Among these are a series of Essays on the 
usual Weather, or Meterology, of each week; an en¬ 
largement of the Kitchen Garden directions ; an in¬ 
terchange of Departments among our present con¬ 
tributors, so as to give our readers the benefit of their 
fresh experience and knowledge; a connected series 
of editorials on the Principles of Gardening; monthly 
directions for the care of the Poultry Yard, by the 
well-known Martin Doyle; on the Medical uses of 
our Native Plants, by a Physician, with their descrip- 
No. LII., Vol. IT, 
