92 Domestic Notices. — England. 



took place at 7 o'clock, and produced 5l. 6s. 8d. ; this amount in a fruit 

 neighbourhood warrants all that has been said of the fruit specimens. The 

 number of specimens ticketed and entered into the Society's book amounted 

 to 456. A number of prizes were awarded. (Gloucester Journ. Oct. 7 th § 14th.) 



The late extraordinary dry and warm summer has brought different fruits 

 and plants to a degree of ripeness and perfection rarely witnessed in this 

 country. The autumnal rains, on the other hand, have, as we have before 

 observed, (p. 41.) injured the keeping qualities of pears and apples, and in 

 some places of early crops of turnips and potatoes ; they have also occa- 

 sioned a second growth of herbaceous flowers, and in some cases two crops 

 of annuals have been obtained, both of the culinary and ornamental kinds. 



Grapes ripenedin the Open Air. — Sawbridgeworth, Herts, Nov. 17th, 1826. 

 Sir, " You will perhaps allow me to record in your pages the remarkable 

 fact, that the Black Hambro', Black Muscadine, ' Sir Abraham Pitches' fine 

 Black,' and the Esperione, all ripened their fruit in the, open quarters in 

 our nursery, upon young plants plunged in pots, as well as upon the old 

 stools. The white Frontignac and Spence's seedling, a variety of the Syrian, 

 the latter bearing bunches weighing two pounds, though both generally re- 

 quiring glass and fire heat almost brought their produce to perfection under 

 the same circumstances. As this may appear to some of your numerous 

 readers to savour of the marvellous, let me add that the soil and situation 

 are peculiarly favourable, the former a deep sand, the latter a south-eastern 

 slope. I need scarcely add that the more common grapes, as the Muscadines, 

 Sweet Waters, and Clusters, hardly ever fail to ripen their fruit under the 

 same treatment. T. Rivers, jun." 



Second crops of Apples. There are now three apple-trees in the garden 

 of Captain Portbury, Stafford Terrace, Heavitree, near Exeter, which are 

 showing a most curious proof of the extraordinary summer we have just ex- 

 perienced. One of the trees, a Red Quarantine, produced some fruit at the 

 usual season ; but it has since thrown out a profusion of blossom, and has 

 now, in a healthy growing state, a complete crop, of the size of wal- 

 nuts. — In the orchard of J. Grose Esq. Penpont, St. Kew, there are now 

 five apple-trees bearing a second crop of fruit this season ; one of the trees 

 has more than a thousand apples on it, and some of these, that have been 

 pulled this week, measure above an inch in diameter. — (Newsp. Oct.) 



Large Apples. Four fine specimens of the Greenup Pippin were last 

 week gathered from a tree in the garden of Mr. William Hey wood, of Ley- 

 land. They measured 51 inches in circumference, and weighed 48 ounces. 

 The tree from which these four apples were plucked bore a large quantity 

 of fruit nearly equal in size to the above. — (Neivsp.) 



Reinette de Canada. On the 16th of October last, we saw in the garden 

 of Lord Middleton, at Wollaton Hall, near Nottingham, an apple of this 

 variety, measured by the gardener, Mr. Haythorn; it was 14 inches round, 

 and weighed 19 ounces. — (Cond.) 



Large Gourds. In the garden of T. A. Beck, Esq. of Grove, near Hawks- 

 head, two yellow gourds were cut on the 27th of September, one of which 

 weighed 7 1 lbs. 4 ounces, and measured nearly 5 feet in circumference ; 

 and the other 40 lbs. The former is the largest we ever remember to have 

 heard of in the north. — (Lane. Gaz.) 



A large pumpkin was grown in the garden of Captain Portbury, Stafford 

 Terrace, Heavitree, near Exeter, measuring 5 feet 2 inches in circumfer- 

 ence, and weighing 80 lbs. — (Brit. Farm. Chron.) One was grown by Mr. 

 French, gardener to the Rev. T. Oldham, Vicar of Dovedale, and exhibited 

 in Mr. Bigg's seed-shop in Worcester, measuring 8 feet 6 inches round, and 

 weighing 124 lbs. — (C. F. W.) 



Cucurbita claviformis, or Club-shaped Gou?-d. Large fruits of this kind 

 are noticed in the newspapers as cucumbers, probably from their long 



