240 BOTANICAL SKETCHES FROM CHESHIRE. [AugUSt, 



Not being a practical agriculturist^ I cannot give any opinion 

 on the matter, but I can state facts. 



Chester presents a rather unattractive field for a botanist.' An 

 antiquarian would fare better here. But the ' Phytologist ^ is 

 not an antiquarian repository. It deals with recent, not anti- 

 quated facts. 



I walked around the more ancient city. The modern place 

 has extended itself far beyond its still existing wall. Here, on 

 the old coping, or, rather, under it, grew plenty of Wallflowers, 

 Lady's-finger, Stonecrop {Sedum acre), the common Hawkweed 

 {Hieracium vulgatum), H. Pilosella, etc. etc. The Wallrocket 

 of some ancient botanists {Sinapis tenuifolia) , which is said to 

 have been common on the walls of Chester, was not so common 

 when I saw them as the plants above quoted. At the foot of 

 the walls, outside of the city, but inside of the gardens, courts, 

 moats, etc., there were gigantic specimens of Hemlock {Conium 

 maculatum), Cow Parsnip [Heracleum Sphondylium) , and pro- 

 bably other Umbellifers. In similar places under the Avails of 

 York, I observed plants not visible when I was in Chester. 



A botanist need not tarry long in Chester unless his objects 

 be other than botanical. 



This ancient city has long been famous, or, rather, infamous, 

 for the badness of its inns. The tariff alone was good, good for 

 the landlord to get ; the fare and attendance bad. This, being 

 satisfactory only to one of the contracting parties, has been the 

 fertile source of some rather acrimonious productions, which 

 have even found their way into books. Since Johnson^s time 

 (1639) Cheshire does not seem to have mended her ways. Cestria 

 is still in bad repute. 



Those who speak in proverbs say, " Rouse (praise) the ford as 

 ye find it." I found to my great content that the host was civil, 

 even obliging, the hostess attentive, and the maid cleanly. I 

 cannot affirm that I did not spend some time in rather dismal 

 apprehensions that the hour would soon come when my rest was 

 to be broken and myself stung by those foes to repose not alto- 

 gether unheard of nor unfelt in the great metropolis. But the 

 fatigues of a long journey, the habit of early rising and of going 

 early to bed, soon rendered me forgetful of all external things 

 whatever. I can safely say that the bed -leeches of Chester did 

 not indulge their sanguinary propensities at my expense. 



