Domestic Notices : — Scotland. 553 



A fine Thistle, — There is now growing a gigantic thistle in Mr. Benjamin 

 Sykes's garden, Bradley Mills, near Huddersfield, which measures 8 ft. in 

 height, 26 ft. in circumference, and has 27 branches, and 578 heads. {Leeds 

 Mercury, Aug. 13. 1836.) 



A Tree of tlie White Currant, supposed to be the largest in England, is now 

 growing in the garden of Mr. John Aplin of Thorncombe. It is 13^ ft. high, 

 13 ft. 4 in. wide, and 13 years old ; it is now in full bearing. (Morn. Chron., 

 Aug. 10.) 



A new Species of A^phis has attacked the cabbage and broccoli plants in the 

 neighbourhood of London; the best mode of destroying which is by watering 

 the plants with equal parts of tobacco-water and lime-water. As every part 

 of the leaves must be repeatedly moistened with this liquor, of course the 

 cabbage and the broccoli can no longer be of any use as food, and the only 

 use of the remedy is to prevent the insects spreading to healthy plants. 

 (Report of Ent. Soc, in Morn. Cliron., Sept. 7.) 



SCOTLAND. 



The old Vinery and Peach Houses at the Whim, the seat of Sir James Mont- 

 gomery, near Edinburgh, are still standing, and are said to be the oldest in 

 the county ; they are estimated to have stood between 80 and 90 years, and 

 they still continue to produce good crops of fruit yearly. — W. H. Oxenford 

 Castle, August, 1836. 



Spruce Firs at the Whim. — Nearly all the fine old specimens were cut down 

 about 25 years ago. I was shown only two upright trees, one of which girts 

 at l§ft. from the ground 9 ft. 7 in., and is between 65 ft. and 70 ft. high, with 

 a straight, erect trunk. I was also shown one specimen, in which the points 

 of the branches had taken root, and become young trees ; but this was but a 

 low tree. The centre stem is about 35 ft. high ; and three of the principal 

 branches from it have struck root at their extremities, and produced trees 

 from 15ft. to 25ft. in height; the whole mass of trees forming a thicket of 

 84 ft. in circumference. In this mass is a Pinus sylvestris, fruitlessly strug- 

 gling to obtain a glimpse of sunshine. So congenial is the soil to the spruce 

 fir, that it is not uncommon to see trees which have been blown down, having 

 only a few of their roots attached to the soil, strike root from the base of 

 their principal branches ; which branches take an upright direction, and ulti- 

 mately form fine pyramidal heads. Mr. Robert Young, my very intelligent 

 guide, described one prostrate trunk in the distant woods, from which four 

 handsome trees had arisen ; the largest about 30 ft. high, and the smallest 

 about 20 ft. There is here a very fine spruce fir tree hedge, which, at a little 

 distance, resembles one of yew tree. It seems to bear the shears quite as 

 well as one of yew. — W. H. Whim Castle, Aug., 1836. 



Nettles. — In Scotland I have eaten nettles, I have slept in nettle sheets, 

 and I have dined off a nettle tablecloth. The young and tender nettle is an 

 excellent potherb, and the stalks of the old nettle are as good as flax for 

 making cloth. I have heard my mother say that she thought nettle cloth 

 more durable than any other species of linen. {T. Campbell, in New Month. 

 Mag.) 



Peat Tiles. — We have seen a specimen of draining tiles in the shop of 

 MessrF. Samson and Co., seedsmen, Kilmarnock, made of peat; they were 

 sent there for the inspection of those interested in such matters, by Mr. Hugh 

 Calderwood, Blackbyers, Fenwick, who has invented a spade which cuts them, 

 one out of the other, in an expeditious manner. They are shaped something 

 like a tile made of clay, and on moorlands will answer the purpose equally 

 well. In such districts clay is not to be had, and the expense of carting clay 

 tiles would be heavy. With Mr. Calderwood's spade, a farmer may cast 2000 

 or 3000 tiles a day, expose them to dry in the sun, and lay them in his drains, 

 within a few yards of the place where they were cut. When properly dried, 

 they are very porous, and will not be softened with wetness. Peats are often 

 met with on moors which have been buried by accident, and they are found 



