England. 165 



notwithstanding the circumstance that not more than three figures, or 999, 

 can be got in the width of the top of any one tally. The number 999, however, 

 repeated as often as there are letters in the alphabet, would give upwards of 

 25,000, which is as many species as are to be found in the open air in any 

 botanic garden in Europe. By doubling and otherwise combining or changing 

 the position of these letters, the enumeration might be carried to almost any 

 extent. The projection in the head of No. 5. is intended to rest on the rim 

 of the pot. The great advantages expected from these tallies are, as we have 

 said above, economy of first cost, and durability. — Cond. 



The Oxford Botanic Garden. — It is stated in the newspapers that the late 

 Dr. Williams, who was for forty years professor of botany at Oxford, and 

 who, of course, had the general management of the garden, has bequeathed 

 to it 500/. Dr. Daubeny, an eminent chemist and physiologist, as well as 

 a botanist, has been appointed successor to Dr. Williams. — Id. 



Mr. Penny, late botanist in the Epsom Nursery, has joined Mr. Young, of 

 the Milford Nursery near Godalming, which will henceforward be carried on 

 under the firm of Young and Penny. One of the first collections of hardy 

 plants in the country may therefore soon be expected at Milford ; and, as a 

 number of new hot-houses and pits have recently been erected there, the 

 collection will not be deficient in house exotics. — Id. 



Kirk's Nursery, Coventry. — We are happy to find that our correspondent 

 Mr. Kirk, of whom, when we called on him in 1831 (see VII. 411.), we 

 formed a very high opinion, has commenced business for himself. Mr. Kirk 

 was many years foreman to the late Mr. Weare, and, in fact, appeared to us 

 the only man in or about Coventry who really understood the nursery busi- 

 ness. He is an excellent practical botanist, a most successful cultivator, and, 

 from information which we have received from some gentlemen in the neigh- 

 bourhood, we can assert, with the greatest confidence, that he is a good, an 

 honest, and a most industrious man. He has also been very ill used by his 

 late employers, Weare's successors. Most sincerely do we wish him success ; 

 and we entreat all our brother gardeners in that part of the country to enter 

 into our ideas on the subject. Let every one only imagine himself in Mr. Kirk's 

 situation. — Cond. 



The celebrated Collection of Orchidecs which belonged to the late Mrs. Ar- 

 nold Harrison of Liverpool was purchased by Mr. Knight, Exotic Nursery, 

 in the beginning of February last. — Id. 



Plants in Floiver, at Shortgrove in Essex, on January 31. 1834. — Sir, The 

 extraordinary mildness of the present winter, it is likely, will cause some of 

 your correspondents to make their observations upon vegetation, the progress 

 of which, in some species of plants, has, perhaps, never been paralleled at this 

 season of the year. I herewith transmit to you the names of a few ; they are 

 such as have come under my notice at Shortgrove, where the soil is by no 

 means favourable to early vegetation, nor is the situation in any wise con- 

 ducive to the promotion of premature growth. 



Cerasus iauro-Cerasus (common laurel), iigustrum lucidum var. flori- 

 bundum (Chinese privet), wallflower, crocuses in variety, snowdrops, Kerrc'a 

 japonica, J?6sa semperflorens and indica minor, Cheiranthus mutabilis, 

 anemones, polyanthus, ^'rabis alpina, hepaticas, narcissus, sweet alyssum, 

 marigolds, periwinkle ; Chrysanthemum sinense, several varieties ; common 

 yew (Taxus baccata), Phillyrea latifolia, sloe tree (Prunus spinosa). Ca- 

 lampelis scabra is beautifully in flower in a garden at Saffron Walden. Fil- 

 berts are in bloom, their catkins decaying, or fallen off. Gooseberry bushes 

 partially in blossom, with fruit as large as sweet peas. Pssonia Moutan and 

 M. £>apaveracea, with flower-buds the size of large cob nuts, tfambucus 

 nigra (common elder) in leaf. I am, Sir, yours, &c. — T. Rutger. Short- 

 grove, Jan 31. 1834. 



Plants in Bloom at Bury St. Edmunds, and other Parts in the East of England, 

 early in December, 1833. — The hawthorn was in bloom in the picturesque 

 grounds of the Rev. Edw. Mathew, Pentlow Hall, Cavendish, Suffolk ; an entire 



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