MISCELLANY. 161 



Professor Ledebros, near the Black Sea. In speaking on the subject to Mr. 

 Henry Shepherd, the present curator of the Liverpool Botanic Gardens, he 

 states that some few years since, being in one of the alpine woods of Lancashire, 

 at the time Nuts were ripe, he found one tree bearing fruit very much like the 

 Filbert, both in shape, and also in its covering ; the shell was also equally thin. 

 Mr. Shepherd brought some of them home and planted them, and when he left 

 that part of the country the trees were three feet high, since which period he has 

 not seen them. The place is about fifteen miles north-east of Lancaster, in the 

 parish of Tatham, near Longill. — T. B. Hall, Woodside, Liverpool, Feb. 1, 1838. 

 Clematis vitalba. — I can confirm Mr. Hall's statement, at p. 27, of Clematis 

 vitalba occurring in Essex ; it grows in considerable abundance in the lanes near 

 Saffron Walden. It seems to prefer a chalky soil, and I think I never saw it in 

 such profusion as in the chalk districts near Fareham in Hampshire. Many of 

 your readers may not be aware of the great variety of form the leaves of this 

 plant assume, giving very different characters to the whole plant. Sometimes 

 they are quite entire, without any appearance of dissection, while at others they 

 are divided completely down to the mid-rib, and specimens are found in all the 

 intermediate grades of development. — Edwin Lankester, Campsall, near Don- 

 caster, Jan. 12, 1838. 



Blood Bed Wheat. — An instance of the prolific nature of the "Wheat bearing 

 this name has lately been produced, and is deserving of being placed on record 

 amongst our agricultural memorandums. The produce of a piece of old cultivated 

 land, belonging to Mr. William Cowlishaw, of Carlton in Lindrick, which 

 barely measures one acre, has been winnowed during the last week, and the result 

 is 6G bushels of the best, and 3 bushels of hinder-ends — being somewhat more 

 than 23 loads per acre ! The best weighs 14 stone 2 lbs., and is sold to Mr. 

 Baxter, of the Worksop steam mill, for 22s. 6d. per load. Many instances 

 might be produced of the great yield of this Wheat (often confounded with the 

 golden drop), exceeding that of almost any other — and the prejudices which 

 existed against it in the minds of some millers, on its first introduction, are 

 gradually on the decline. The price, as stated above, given by a well-known 

 good judge, and careful buyer, is also an evidence that its quality is not inferior. 

 We are indebted for its introduction into this neighbourhood to Mr. St. John 

 Cartwright, of Worksop, who purchased it (being the prize Wheat) at one of 

 the agricultural meetings in Scotland about three years ago. — Doncaster Gazette, 

 Feb. 2. 



Common Butcher-broom. — The leaf of the Common Butcher-broom (Ruscus 

 aculeatus), late in autumn, presents a very curious appearance, all the fleshy 

 parts of the leaf having been removed by the action of the rain upon it. The 

 strong fibrous part, commonly called the nerves, alone remains. This is beauti- 



