Honey fall or honey dew is a sweet, sticky substance, found at times upon the leaves of various plants and trees, more particularly in hot, dry weather; it was anciently supposed to be a deposition from the atmosphere, and hence its name of honey ‘dew’. Pliny hesitates whether he shall call it “the sweat of the heavens, the saliva of the stars, or a liquid produced by the purgation of the air”. The Rev. Gilbert White, of Selbourne, tells us, under date June 4th, 1783, that there were “vast honey dews this week, the reason of which seems to be that in hot days the effluvia of flowers are drawn up by a brisk evaporation, and then in the night, fall down with the dews with which they are entangled.” Curtis was of the opinion that honey dew was merely the sugary matter excreted by aphides or plant lice, but this theory was supposed to be demolished by the observation that the honey-dew is found upon the upper surfaces of the leaves, whilst the aphides are invariably found underneath. Some, again, have held that the sugary exudation from the aphides is merely the enveloping medium in which the ova are deposited, and that it is not likely to be produced in such quantity as to account for the abundant honey dews often observed. The fact that albumen and not sugar is the usual envelopment of ova, and the further fact that the bulk of the aphides are produced viperously; that is, they are born not in the form of ova, but alive, probably disposes of this supposition. Another theory is that honey dew is an exudation from the plant itself, being somewhat analogous to that outburst of blood which at seasons is apt to occur to man, giving relief to the circulatory system, and that this exudation occurs in consequence of the heat and dryness of the air inducing an unnatural condition of things. In the opinion of a recent writer, however, “plants rarely, and probably only in diseased conditions, secrete excessive quantities of sweet liquid arising from the various parts of their surfaces.” The following observation, made by the same writer, strongly supports the theory of Curtis, that honey dew is amply accounted for by the exudations of the aphides. “Two or three years since, in the shadow of a lime tree, I saw falling, in the sunlight, a thick, constant shower of minute drops, which were being expelled from the anal apertures and the nectarines of the aphides infesting the leaves. The necessity for this vigourous ejection is apparent; without it the closely packed colonies would soon be hopelessly fixed to the leaf and to one another. The grass beneath the trees was thickly gummed, while the upper surface of every leaf was closely covered, and not a few bore incipient drops at their points.”
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Another example is given of an apple tree, which “became in a very few days so covered that every leaf carried hundreds of the aphis mali, and every fruit was running with what might have passed as a compound of treacle and soot.” A sycamore also he observed which had dripped upon the paving stones beneath to such an extent that they became positively dangerous to the pedestrian. In summing up we may affirm on the authority of the same writer that “honeydew is now universally conceded to be the product of the aphis.” This pest is in itself a most curious creature, increasing with wonderful rapidity. The male and fully sexed female only appear amongst them at intervals, and their impregnated eggs having been deposited, very many generations of individuals, formed by a process of interior budding, and born alive, will succeed one another before the cycle is completed, and the fully sized male and female again appear. The insect after leaving the egg grows rapidly, and soon exhibits in its false ovaries larvae, which begin to escape at the rate of many daily, showing traces of another generation within themselves, and thus a single insect may during the month or so of her lifetime become the parent (according to Reaumur) of some six billions of individuals, a computation regarded as much under the mark by subsequent observers. Indeed Professor Huxley amuses his readers by a calculation which, assuming an aphis to weigh 1,000th of a grain and a man 285 lbs, then the tenth brood of one parent would contain more ponderable substance than 500,000,000 of such men, or more than the whole population of China. The curious circumstances that aphides are kept in captivity by ants, and by them used as cows, is now well known, the observations of Darwin and Sir John Lubbock showing that these ancient republicans literally milk their aphides, titillating them with their antenna until they give up their store of sweet – shall we call it excrement? – to the superior race, and then proceed to “fresh woods and pastures new” to gather more. Fortunately they have their foes; ladybirds and other insects come to the relief of man, but perhaps above all the rough drenching showers which our insular position secures to us rids us of shoals of them, and perhaps accounts for the fact that honeydews occur, as old writers say, “in consequence of the heat and dryness”, which renders breeding rapid, and enables the aphis to live out all her days and do her full modicum of mischief”. |
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ANNALS OF OLDHAM No. XXXV 1800 August 1st – Rosey, daughter of Richard Lyght, collier, of Cowhill, drowned herself; age 18 years. July 30th – Last night, Abraham Taylor, of Buggard Hole, Oldham, was apprehended on a charge of buying stolen goods, and was, of course, committed to Lancaster Castle. August 2nd – Manchester meal and flour droped about 12s. a load. August 4th – Oldham; to the great joy of the poor, meal 3s. 3d. and 3s. 6d; flour, 3s. 3d. to 3s. 8d. a peck. Potatoes continue dear, being 1d. per pond. August 9th – Manchester meal fell about 3s. and flour about 7s. a load. August 13th – Died, at Old Clark’s, Samuel Andrew; disorder, a fever. August 16th – Manchester meal took a rapid rise, selling new meal 30s. a load; old, a coarse article, 60s. a load; flour, same as last week. At Oldham, meal (new), 4s. 7d.; old, 4s. 7d. a peck; at James Lees, Maygate-lane, 4s. 9d. a peck. Robert Smith, of Beartrees, sells meal of his own growing 4s. 8d. a peck. August 17th – The weather still continues very hot, with no appearance of rain, so that the earth is parched up. The grass is withered, as in a dry frost, so that cattle are in a starving condition. August 23rd – Manchester meal sold 4s. a load less than last week; flour rather lower than last. August 24th – Was interred at Oldham, James Wild, commonly cald Jammey at Greenacres. August 30th – At Manchester meal fell 17s. a load; all other articles about as last week. At Oldham rushbearing this day it was verey fine, and a deal of company and high spending. There where the following rush carts, viz., one from Cowhill, one from Northmoor, one from Nimble Nook, a wagon from Chadderton Fold, one cart from Bent, and one from Roundthorn.
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At this Wakes E. Butterworth says there was an extremely brutal contest betwixt two of the rushcart parties from Chadderton and Haggate, although Haggate rushcart is not mentioned in the above list. The Chadderton party took refuge in the Red Lion public-house, and the Haggate party in their indignation demolished the doors and windows of the inn. For this offence six of the rioters suffered six months’ imprisonment in Lancaster Castle. This account of high spending at the Wakes does not tally very well with that of the miserable condition of the people. It must be remembered that though the old system was perishing, the new system was coming to life. Factory people were getting good wages, and as the hours of labour were unrestricted, they would have plenty of money to spend at the annual carnival. Besides this it will be noted that some of the rushcarts came from such rural places as Chadderton Fold, Cowhill, and Roundthorn. These represented the agricultural interest, which at that time was flourishing enough on account of farm produce of every kind being so high in price. The picture drawn of the condition of farmers in this autobiography of Orator Hunt is so striking that I cannot but copy it. Henry Hunt writes: “Those were glorious times for farmers. The prices of corn and of all sorts of agricultural produce was enormous, and as I had grown most excellent crops that season (1800) my profits were most ample. I spent a great portion of my time in fox hunting and shooting. I kept an excellent table, had a good cellar of wine, dinners, balls, plays, hunting, shooting, fishing, and driving, in addition to my large farming concerns. All these left me no leisure to think or reflect, and scarcely time to sleep.”
Lancashire Assizes ended this week, when John Buckley was acquitted. Abraham Taylor transported for 14 years. The jury found him guilty of croft-breaking, yet his neighbours believe him to be innocent of the charge. August 31st – Oldham Rush-bearing Sunday. An exalent fine day, and a deal of company, and more strangers than perhaps ever seen before. The factory system, which was just been established in Oldham, was a great attraction to strangers, and I have heard say that any small pretext would do for a stranger to establish a claim for hospitality on Oldham Wakes Sunday. If an outsider could only make out a kinship of thirty-second cousin, it was a good excuse to ask for a meal. Oldham had begun to grow, and was even at this time showing other Lancashire towns the lead. |
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William Rowbottom's Diary as published in the Oldham Standard |
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