3'68 Domestic Notices : — England. 



through the soft woodj its maturation in the leaves; and its descent by the 

 inner bark. 



Sont/i London Floiicultnral Society. — The first general meeting and flower 

 show of the above Society, for the present year, took place at the Horns 

 Tavern, Kennington, on April the 7th. The show of flowers may be con- 

 sidered as magnificent, considering the severity of the season : every table of 

 the large ball-room was thickly studded with the most superb specimens, and, 

 amongst others, that singular plant Tropse'olum tricolorum was most distin- 

 guished This plant, to the great regret of the floral world, was lost, many 

 years ago, at the Botanic Garden, Chelsea; and the restoration of it has afforded 

 much pleasure. There were abundance of azaleas, salvias, primulas, roses, 

 camellias, oxalises, magnolias, cyclamens, ericas, &c. Catcleugh of Chelsea 

 exhibited a splendid show of pelargoniums, consisting of all the best known 

 varieties. The cucumbers from Mr. Conway of Fulham were much admired, 

 being 17 in. long. The prizes were awarded, for the best pair of auriculas, to 

 Mr. Harding of Sydenham ; and for the second best, to Mr. Lidgard of Ham- 

 mersmith ; for the best seedling auricula, to Mr. Dickson, Clapham ; for the 

 best polyanthus (Burnard's Formosa), to Mr. Harding; for the best hyacinths, 

 to Mr. Lane of Henlingham, Fulham; for the second best ditto, to Mr. 

 Chandler, Wandsworth ; and for the first, second, and third best miscellaneous 

 collection of plants, to Messrs. Chandler, Young of Epsom, and Fairburn of 

 Clapham Rise. Extra prizes were given to Mr. Sadler of Dulwich, for the 

 best specimen of fruit ; and to Mr. Conway of Fulham, for the best vege- 

 getables. (^Morn. Chron., April 8.) 



A Botanical Collector has recently been sent out from Kew, to South 

 America; and another, it is said, will soon proceed to Mexico, under the 

 auspices of the Horticultural Society. Lord Mount Norris's collector has ar- 

 rived safely in New Zealand. We wish we could hear of our friend Dr. 

 Lippold being engaged in an expedition of this kind. 



The Weeping Oak (Quei'ciis ^obiir var.) at Moccas Court, Herefordshire, 

 the seat of Sir George Cornewall, Bart. This is one of the most extraordi- 

 nary trees of the oak kind perhaps in existence. It was first pointed out to 

 lis in 1806 ; and we have lately had the following account of it sent to us by 

 Mr. J. Webster, who was then, and is still, gardener and forester at Moccas : — 

 The tree is in vigorous health ; the height of the trunk to the first branch is 

 18 ft. ; girt. Oft. from the ground, 13 ft. 2 in. ; total height of the trunk 75 ft., 

 with branches reaching from about the middle of its height to within 7 h. of 

 the ground, and hanging down like cords. Many of these branches are 30 ft. 

 long, and no thicker in an}' part of that length than a common waggon rope. 

 The entire head of the tree covers a space 100 ft. in diameter. The tree 

 bears acorns every year, from which many plants have been raised, all of 

 which partake more or less of the weeping character of the parent, and many so 

 much so, that, when they are young, they areobliged to be supported by props. 

 Many of the trees raised from this oak at Moccas are 20 years before they 

 show much inclination to hang their branches like cords ; others begin to do so 

 when they are quite young. There are plants at Moccas, raised from the pa- 

 rent tree, which are 50 years old. 



A common Oak at Moccas Court was blown down in a .hurricane on Jan. 

 19. 1804. It was 105 ft. high ; the diameter of the space covered by its 

 branches was 135 ft.; and the cubic contents of the trunk, and of the principal 

 limbs, were 23 tons. 



Planting at Moccas Court has been carried on with great vigour by the late 

 proprietoi". Sir George Cornewall, and his father. Mr. Webster has been 

 gardener and forester there for 43 years. Many of the trees which he first 

 .planted, he says, have now trunks, which will square 1 ft. on the side, for 

 lengths of from 40 ft. to 60 ft. He has planted nearly 300,000 oaks, besides 

 .other trees, particularly on hill sides, unfit for producing either grass or corn 

 from their steepness. Nurseries were made on these hills, and the trees 

 raised there which were to be planted in the adjoining ground. Mr. Webster 



