Queries and A?is'wers. 379 



through the whole year ? We have no good work, or even hints on these 

 subjects that are of the least use to us. Again, you seem to think that 

 they have two varieties of mushrooms ; one whitish yellow, the other 

 delicate white. Spawn of each could easily be introduced : and, in the 

 neighbourhood of Bath, and probably many other places in England, 

 mushrooms may be raised in old stone quarries under ground. 



In fact, on raising mushrooms, or winter salads, we know just nothing : 

 and I hope that you will collect and publish every information on these 

 subjects, and take away this reproach from British gardeners. Perhaps, 

 with a little instruction, we might do much with our cellars ; at all 

 events, we ought to try. Yours, &c. — George Wilkinson, Gardener to 

 J. L., Esq. 



In what Degree are the Growth, Welfare, and Permanence of the Western 

 Plane Tree {Vldtaniis occidentdlis^A.^, and of the Eastern Plane Tree (Vldtanus 

 orientdlis L.), affected by the various Climates and Soils of Britain, and by the 

 Mode or Modes ofj^rojjagating these Trees practised in the British Nurseries? — 

 Sir, Some twenty years ago, or more, the occidental plane tree (Platanus 

 occidentalis L.) received a check, which some attributed to a late frost that 

 happened after the trees had begun to shoot, while others considered it to 

 be a blast : but, whatever was the cause, the result was such as to irre- 

 trievably injure the greater part of this ornamental tree throughout the 

 western counties. Many fine specimens, from fifty to sixty feet in height, 

 in full vigour, came under my observation, which, after the circumstance 

 took place, began, as if death-stricken, to decline, and in the course of two 

 or three years their bark began to fall off, and, thus looking so miserable, 

 they were with reluctance taken down. After this some young trees were 

 procured from the nursery ; but they by no means answered my ex- 

 pectations, as most of the young shoots died back every winter, exactly 

 similar to those on the old trees after they had received the injury. In 

 consequence of this, I turned my attention to the oriental plane (PJatanus 

 orientalis L.), of which some fine young trees are now making progress 

 on the site where the others stood. I am inclined to think that the failure 

 of the young occidental planes was owing to their having been layers from 

 stools that had been more or less injured by the same cause which proved 

 so injurious to the old trees, although perhaps in a less degree. 



I do not recollect seeing any thing in the pages of your Magazine in 

 allusion to the above subject. Perhaps some one of your intelligent cor- 

 respondents may feel inclined to take it up, so as to give a satisfactory 

 evidence of the real cause which deprived so many gentlemen's seats in the 

 west of a part of their proudest ornaments j and also to throw out some 

 hints on the propriety of endeavouring to reinstate this favourite tree, with 

 the chance of success, &c. ; so that the succeeding generation in those 

 parts may enjoy the sight of it in all its beauty ; as many gentlemen, since 

 what has happened, are unwilling to give it another trial. 



I am not aware how far north or south this mischief extended. On re- 

 ferring to your Vol. III. p. 364., under the head of " Calls at Suburban 

 Gardens," I perceive, when that article was written, that there were trees 

 of this kind, from sixt}' to eighty feet nigh, at Sion House and in Chelsea 

 Garden. Your calls at these places were made many years after the injury 

 that happened in the west ; consequently, it could not have been universal. 

 T. Rutger. Shortgrove, Essex, Jan. 1833. 



A fine Cork Tree (Quercus Siiber L.), jjear Woodford, Suffolk. — In the 

 Newcastle Cojirant of October 20. 1832, it is stated, that, at a meeting, on 

 Oct. 15. 1832, of the Natural History Society in that town, was presented, 

 besides other matters, a fine piece of the wood of the cork tree (Quercus 

 iSuber), grown near Woodford, in Suffolk. Out of whose garden, or off 

 whose estate, could this be derived ? Perhaps some Suffolcian will oblige 



