THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, March- 17, 1857. 407 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
D 
M 
3C 
MARCH 17—23, 1857. 
Weather ns 
Barometer. 
ar Lon 
Thermo. 
DON IN 
Wind. 
1856. 
Rain in 
Inches. 
Sun 
Rises. 
Sun 
Sets. 
Moon 
R. & S. 
Moon’s 
Age. 
Clock 
bf. Sun. 
Day of 
Year. 
17 
Tu 
St. Patrick. 
29.951—29.924 
44—39 
E. 
02 
11 a. 6 
6 a. 6 
1 
8 
21 
8 
28 
76 
18 
W 
Princess Louisa born, 1848. 
29.930—29.764 
50—41 
E. 
24 
9 
7 
2 
18 
€ 
8 
11 
77 
19 
T 11 
White Poplar (Populus alba). 
29.909—29.734 
51—41 
N.E. 
— 
7 
9 
3 
18 
23 
7 
53 
78 
20 
F 
Aspen (P. tremula). 
29.953—29.932 
52—40 
N. 
01 
5 
11 
4 
5 
24 
7 
35 
79 
21 
S 
Black Poplar (P. nigra). 
29.985—29.896 
54—30 
N. 
— 
2 
12 
4 
39 
25 
7 
17 
80 
22 
Sun 
4 th, or Midlent Sunday. 
30.063—30.051 
51—25 
N. 
— 
0 
14 
5 
4 
26 
6 
58 
81 
23 
M 
Spurge Laurel (Daphne). 
30.148—30.074 
60—35 
N.E. 
— 
V 
16 
5 
22 
27 
6 
40 
82 
Meteorology of the Week. —At Chiswick, from observations during the last twenty-eight years, the average highest and lowest 
temperatures of these days are 50.7°, and 34.0°, respectively. The greatest heat, 69°, occurred on the 19th, in 1830 ; and the lowest cold, l 6 °, 
on the 17th, in 1845. During the period 116 days were fine, and on 80 rain fell. 
ORNAMENTAL GRASSES. 
When a gardener talks about “ mowing the grass,” how 
single is the idea conveyed by the expression! It is 
suggestive of nothing more than that the scythe has to re¬ 
duce to an even sward one kind of plant. How contrary 
is this to the truth ! for beneath every footstep on every 
lawn are different species of Grass, and every upland 
or lowland situation, every geological formation, every 
well-drained and every ill-drained soil, varies in the 
Grasses which can live upon its surface. Each has 
its particular Grass Flora; for, as it has been justly said, 
the Grasses are Nature’s especial care. They are her 
favourite costume for the earth, never out of season, 
and never displeasing to the eye. They all have that 
verdure more or less—that “ grass green,” the very 
mentioning of which is associated with freshness and 
vigour. Yet the beauty of the Grasses is not confined 
to the refreshing colour of their leaves; for some have a 
beauty of form which for that gift renders them an 
object of the gardener’s especial cultivation. These are 
not very numerous, and we purpose to publish some 
notes relative'to them and their cultivation. 
iE'GILOPS SQUARRO'SA. 
(Rough-spiked Hard-Grass.) 
The culm, or flower-stem, of this species is about nine 
inches high. Leaves shorter than their culm-clasping 
sheath, and fringed with hairs. Spike of flowers about 
three inches long, cylindrical. Flowers stalkless, pressed 
to the hollow rachis. Calyx two-valved; valves leathery, 
notched at the end; one tooth of the notch shorter than 
the other. Corolla two-valved; outer valve having a 
short awn, or beard ; the awn longest in the flowers of 
the upper part of the spike. The male flowers have no 
awns on their corolla. This renders it necessary to 
observe that the LEgilops is one of the very few genera 
of Grasses belonging to the Polygarnia Moncecia class 
and order of Linnaeus; that is, perfect flowers, and 
flowers having only stamens, or flowers having only 
pistils, are borne on the same plant. 
The JSgilops squarrosa was discovered by Tournefort 
in the Levant, and by Cavanilles in Spain. It is 
from species of this genus that recent researches justify 
the conclusion that our Wheat has gradually been 
raised, and it is a conclusion strengthened by the 
following facts relative to the species we are now 
considering:— 
“ Professor Henslow exhibited to the British Association 
a specimen of JEgilops, which had sprung up in his garden 
amidst a patch of JE. squarrosa, which for three years in 
succession had been allowed to scatter its seeds over a 
portion of a bed appropriated to it. All the other plants 
had retained the usual characters of JE. squarrosa; but the 
one in question had become perfectly upright, and wheat¬ 
like (triticoidal) in appearance. The awns had lengthened, 
and the glumes were downy. The plant was barren. The 
triticoidal forms obtained from JEyilops ovata and JE. tri- 
aristata are stated to be generally barren; and it has been 
conjectured that all such must be hybrids. It has, on the 
other hand, been positively asserted that such triticoidal 
forms are occasionally fertile, and that genuine wheat has 
been extensively raised from them.” 
JEgilops squarrosa is a hardy annual, and blooms in 
June and the early part of July. It likes a moderately 
No. CCCCXLII. Vol. XVII. 
