Domestic Notices. — Scotland. 



281 



world, and no less creditable to Mr. Thomson, than highly gratifying to the 

 noble owner. A hand is eight fruit, attached together at the base, each 

 fruit is from 4 to 5 in. in length, about \\ in. in diameter, narrow at each 

 end, and of an irregular trigonal or quadrigonal shape j the pulp is soft, 

 melting, and in flavour like an over-ripe jargonelle pear. I have no 

 doubt but that the mango, mangosteen, &c., may be fruited in the same 

 manner. 



In the West India Islands, the planters form walks or avenues of the 

 plantain, it being one of their most useful vegetables ; as, besides the 

 fruit, the leaves and stem, when chopped into what they call chaffs, are 

 excellent provender for cattle. Although this plant is commonly called a 

 tree, it is in fact only a gigantic herb, as no part of it is ever transformed 

 into ligneous matter. The Banana, by some reckoned a distinct species, but 

 probably only a variety, is applied to the same purposes. — J. M. Sept, 

 1827. 



Mildew {Sporotrichum macrosporum). — This minute fungus found on apple 

 trees, the hawthorn, peach trees, &c., is very common in spring and the be- 

 ginning of summer. To gardeners it is well known as a kind of mildew, or 

 blight, and is commonly taken for an insect. The leaves of peach trees, even 

 when protected by glass, are often attacked by it, nor does the fruit itself 

 always escape, in which case it frequently drops off. The leaves are more 

 or less distorted by it. As its production is probably the result of a pecu- 

 liar state of the atmosphere, there is little chance of any means-Ueing dis- 

 covered for its prevention. {Dr. Greville's Flora Edinensis, p. 464.) 



A Model of a Machine for drying Corn {fig- 80. a), was laid before the 

 Highland Society at Glasgow, in September, 1826, by Mr. R. Monteath, the 

 forester, r. From 6 to 12 sheaves 

 being put on the forks of the mid- 

 dle ring, the whole are put in motion 

 by a very slight degree of wind, and, 

 " when placed in an open situation, 

 an hour of dry weather will com- 

 pletely dry them, after having been 

 drenched with rain." The expense 

 of this machine, it is said, will not 

 be great ; but, we fear, this will be 

 its principal objection. Three young 

 fir trees, turning on a pin at the 

 top {b), would form a cheaper, 

 though, doubtless, a more clumsy 

 support. 



The Spray of the Larch is, per- 

 haps, more durable than that of any other tree. Monteath has known the 

 warping of paling with larch spray, keep out hares and rabbits from a nur- 

 sery of young trees, for 20 years, with very little repair. {Miscellaneous 

 Reports on Woods and Plantations, p. 97.) 



American Forest. — I have lately been at Galloway House, near Wigton, 

 and was particularly pleased with a walk there, conducted through a wood 

 of old and young spruce firs, the glades varied by masses and scattered 

 groups and single plants of iihododendron, Laurustinus, and other Ameri- 

 can shrubs and roots, the whole conveying the beau-ideal of an American 

 forest, as St. Mary's Isle did, some years ago, of an English wood. — J. N. 



Lemon Trees in the open Air. — I have seen in your Encyclopcedia of 

 Gardening and Gardener's Magazine, notices of the lemon tree being grown 

 in the open air in England. I was not, however, aware of its having been 

 tried in Scotland, till the other day, when, looking through the collection of 

 plants belonging to Mr. H. Nisbet, at Beil, which are under the management 



