Cornwall, Devon, and West Somerset. . ^3 



dower (near the same town), in greenstone and slate, of Kennack 

 Cove (Lizard), in serpentine, of Pendowa (near Veryan), in ordi- 

 nary schistose graiiwacke, of Polperro, chiefly in variegated clay- 

 slate, and several others in different varieties of grauwacke, with 

 each other and with those of Sidmouth and Lyme Regis, we can 

 scarcely doubt that their relative fertility, and their power of 

 growing particular kinds of plants to advantage, greatly depends 

 upon their subsoil rocks. 



That shelter from the prevalent sea-winds, which strike so 

 many parts of the coasts of Cornwall and Devon with great force, 

 is important to the vegetation of the district, will be amply testi- 

 fied by the bent and stunted character of such trees as can be 

 made to grow exposed to their influence, and by the fine appear- 

 ance of those which flourish freely when defended from them, 

 even when they closely approach the sea, as at Newlyn, near 

 Penzance, at Mount Edgecumbe, near Plymouth, and at Dart- 

 mouth. It will be observed, in the continuation of the same range 

 of rocks, that, while the portions which are exposed to these pre- 

 valent sea-winds will scarcely support the growth of more than a 

 few bent and stunted shrubs, the sheltered parts are covered by 

 vegetation in proportion to the fertility of the rocks of the 

 locality.''' Let, for instance, the vegetation on the mica slate and 

 chlorite rocks of the Molt, at the entrance of the Kingsbridge 

 estuary, be compared with that on the continuation of the same 

 rocks in the Sewer valley, opposite the Ham Stone, and we 

 shall find flourishing gardens overhanging the sea in the former 

 situation, orange and lemon trees growing in the open air, with 

 little shelter during the winter, though the Molt is exposed to the 

 south-east ; while in the latter trees and shrubs are completely 

 cut up where exposed to the south and south-west winds. For 

 similar reasons fine woods clothe the coast near Clbvelly, in 

 North Devon, though its aspect is northern ; while the conti- 

 nuation of the same beds of the carbonaceous series, near Hart- 

 land Pier, will scarcely support the growth of a tree when ex- 

 posed to the western winds. So also the Culbone woods, near 

 Porlock, which rise gradually from the shore, and flourish with 



* Mr. Worgan, in his ' General View of the Agriculture of Cornwall' 

 (1811), p. 47, calls the attention of farmers to the value of the tamarisk for 

 fences in situations exposed to the brunt of the sea-winds, where scarcely 

 another shrub will grow in the hedges. We have observed good fences of 

 this plant on the south, near Landewednack (in the Lizard district), and 

 around Harlyn House, near Trevose Head, on the north. Hence it is pro- 

 bable that it might, notwithstanding this plant suffers from frost, be suc- 

 cessfully cultivated along a large portion of the coasts of Cornwall. As it 

 is, this useful tree is sparingly found. It is probable, also, that it would 

 thrive along the southern shores of Devon, as it grows fiiirly in some gar- 

 dens close to the sea at Lyme Regis. 



