600 Domestic Notices : — Scotland. 



Large Melon. — A Cantaloup melon has been raised by Edward King, 

 gardener to John Buckle, Esq., of the Wildlands, near Chepstow, measuring 

 341 in. in circumference, and weighing 151b. 2 oz. (JVeivsp.) 



Large Cucumber. — A cucumber (the Bloor's White Spine) was cut on 

 the 8th of June, in the garden of W. Hardman, Esq., of Chamber Hall, near 

 Bury, of the following dimensions : — Length 26 in., girth 1 1 in., weight 

 5 lbs. 8| oz. It did not appear overgrown, but in a proper state for the 

 table. {Morn. Chron., June 23.) 



SCOTLAND. 



Promenade, §c., in the Caledonian Horticultural Society's Experimental 

 Garden at Inverleith, July 10. — The garden is about ten English acres in 

 extent, and commands from every part a superb view of the city. It is 

 divided into compartments suited to the different kinds of plants raised in 

 it ; the chief of these compartments being the arboretum, the orchard, the 

 nursery, the hot-houses and stoves, and the kitchen-garden. The arboretum 

 is formed of the numerous species and varieties of trees and shrubs, and 

 extends round nearly three sides of the garden, besides intersecting it in 

 the form of two raised belts. The orchard contains upwards of 600 sorts 

 of apples, collected with great care, and at considerable expense, and many 

 new seedling varieties. The pears amount to 350 sorts, the plums to 100 

 sorts, the cherries to 80 sorts, and the filberts to about 10 sorts. Of goose- 

 berries there are 350 varieties ; and the distinct kinds of strawberries are 

 about 100. The nursery is filled with fruit and forest trees and shrubs 

 in various stages of growth, intended chiefly for distribution among mem- 

 bers. The hot-house establishment is not yet complete, but the collection 

 of pine-apples amounts to about 20 sorts, and that of grape vines to about 

 100 sorts. The culinarium, or kitchen-garden department, is richly stocked 

 with rare culinary plants and herbs. The whole garden is under the ma- 

 nagement of Mr. Barnet, and never did we see a place of the kind in better 

 order. Not a weed was to be seen ; and, still more marvellous to be told, 

 not a bush appeared deranged, nor a bed furrowed by the deluges which had 

 poured down daily for a month before from the weeping skies. The turf- 

 walks were shaven so closely, that they seemed to the eye, and felt to the 

 feet, like a carpet of velvet. 



In the centre of the garden a large tent was erected, supported on pillars 

 gaily festooned with evergreens and flowers. Under this awning two tables 

 were placed, capable of accommodating about 500 people. The tables were 

 profusely covered with all the fruits of the season, interspersed with con- 

 fections, and beside each cover a nosegay was invitingly deposited. At 

 each end of the tent was an elevated platform, supporting a variety of mag- 

 nificent exotic plants, the exhibition of which was one of the principal fea- 

 tures of the entertainment. The collection was as numerous as many of 

 the specimens were splendid. It included the iVepenthes distillatoria, or 

 pitcher plant of China, from the garden of Professor Dunbar, bearing 

 pitchers 10 in. long ; the Opuntia Tuna, or prickly pear, in fruit, from the 

 conservatory of Mr. P. Neill ; a splendid specimen of the Cactus specio- 

 sissima, in flower; from the botanic garden, the Alstrcemera pulchella, 

 tricolor, and Pelegrina ; a large Cycas revoluta, and Latdnia borbonica ; 

 i/ibiscus i?6sa sinensis, Kalim'a latifolia (splendid), Erythrina /aurifolia 

 (property of garden), Gladiolus cardinalis, Protea nigra, Z/Hium japonicum, 

 Maurandya Barclaya«a, SarracemVz rubra, Calceolaria purpurea ; Ferbena 

 Melindres, Pimelea rosea; and a vast variety of ericas, or heath plants, 

 among which the most remarkable, both for size and beauty, were specimens 

 of the perspicua, ventricosa, erecta, florida, alba, pilosa, tricolor, prse'gnans, 

 metulseflora, radiata, spuria, elegans, and jasminiflora. The manner in 

 which these superb plants were arranged showed them off to the greatest 

 advantage. 



