$56 Foreign Notices: — France. 



an ejaculation ; and thus sounded an alarm to the Scottish soldiers, who 

 instantly rose as one man, and slew the Danes with a great slaughter : and 

 in commemoration of this signal service of Cnicus acaulis, it was adopted 

 into our national insignia." The above account was communicated to me 

 by W. C. Oldham, Esq., the nephew of Mr. Lambert. Soon after the 

 king's visit to Scotland, some seeds were presented to the botanic garden 

 at Bury St. Edmunds by a relation of the Bishop of London, who received 

 them as seeds of the identical thistle, or kind of thistle, carried in the 

 processions that attended on His Majesty in Scotland : these developed 

 Onopordum Jcanthium. I am, Sir, yours, &c. — John Demon. Botanic 

 Garden, Bury St. Edmunds, Nov. 1. 1829. 



When Potatoes are exposed in the time of Frost, the only precaution ne- 

 cessary is, to retain them in a perfectly dark place after the thaw. In 

 America, where they are sometimes frozen as hard as stones, they rot if 

 thawed in open day ; but, if thawed in darkness, they do not rot, and lose 

 very little of their natural flavour and properties. ( Hobart Toivn Courier, 

 June 11. 1831.) 



Notable discovery! Dear brother-gardeners, henceforth toil not to 

 collect and pit your potatoes for the winter ; but, allowing them to re- 

 main in the rows' where they have grown, treat them with a thin coat of 

 mould, to keep out the light ; heed not the frost, and dig out potatoes for 

 use " fresh and fresh," as your wants require, and thaws permit. — J. D. 



Art. II. Foreign Notices. 

 FRANCE. 



THE vegetable Productions of the Neighbourhood of Bagnolles Wells, and 

 of the ivhole of the Department of VOrne, are numerous and excellent, in- 

 cluding every kind of grain, and an immense proportion of sarrasin (buck 

 wheat), flax, and hemp, all of which latter are cultivated with great care ; 

 and in the month of May, with a spring much forwarder than in England, 

 were remarkably free from weeds. Considerable quantities of potatoes are 

 planted ; but, in point both of culture and productiveness, they are gene- 

 rally not equal to those grown in this country ; their quality is also infe- 

 rior, though the inhabitants have every requisite but knowledge and expe- 

 rience to produce potatoes in the highest perfection. The country abounds 

 in all sorts of leguminous plants ; and, in particular, with haricots (kidney- 

 beans), and other excellent garden beans, which are brought to table dressed 

 in a variety of ways, and are eaten both separately and as accompaniments 

 to various meats. Most of these are subjects also of extensive field cul- 

 ture. The department is said to contain 643,528 hectares of land (more 

 than 1,500,000 English acres), and 423,500 inhabitants. But notwithstand- 

 ing their numbers (and the general disappointment expressed that the 

 revolution of July had not been followed up with that reduction of tax- 

 ation which it ought to have been), apart from a very few habitual beggars 

 to be met with in some of the towns, there is no appearance of abject po- 

 verty any where. The country is fully enclosed ; and small properties, in 

 the hands of their owners, abound every where, and exhibit symptoms 

 of comfort and independence, though they do not manifest such signs of 

 improvement and prosperity as the major part of those observed in the 

 department of La Sarthe. The neatly cultivated cottage gardens of the 

 neighbourhoods of Le Mans and Alencon are wanting; but most of the 

 poorest-looking houses have their patches of flax and their half dozen of 

 apple and pear trees. There are neither tithes, taxes, nor poor rates to pay ; 

 and the style of living even amongst fanners of 150 or 200 acres being 



