Domestic Notices : — England. 47 



elude a space of nearly fifteen acres, and are in the highest state of preserv- 

 ation and beauty." — H. C. Ogle, Under- Gardener in Lewiston Gardens, near 

 Sherborne. 



The Pomegranate. — One of these beautiful shrubs has this year produced 

 the extraordinary number of thirty full-grown and nearly ripe fruit in the gar- 

 den of Captain Conran, in Bury St. Edmunds, It is trained in a south aspect, 

 on the front of the dwelling-house, without any artificial heat. {Ibid.) A tree 

 against a house at Kensington, has now, Dec. 8. above a dozen fruit on it, which 

 have a very fine appearance. Cond. 



Eriobotrya japbnica, the Japan quince, has ripened fruit against a house, in 

 Earl's Court, Brompton. — A. S. Exotic Nursery, Oct. 2. 1834. 



The Leaves and Fruit of a Sweetiuater Grape., the former of extraordinary 

 size, have been sent us from the Ranger's Lodge, Blackheath, the seat of the 

 Princess Sophia of Gloucester, by her Royal Highness's gardener, Mr. Bas- 

 kett. The leaves were woolly, and measured 1 ft. 2 in. by 1 ft., and the 

 petiole was 7 in. in length. The fruit was small, as is generally the case with 

 vines and other fruit trees that have the leaves larger than the average size ; 

 witness the tobacco-leaved cherry, or cherry of four to the pound, which has 

 enormous leaves, and fruit smaller than geans. This sweetwater grape is 

 considered by some as the Dutch variety. 



Apples. — A Nonsuch, grown in the garden of Capt. Carter, at Richmond, 

 in Yorkshire, measured 11^ in. in circumference; and a Hawthornden, in the 

 same garden, 11 in. {Neivcastle Courant, Sept. 6. 1834.) 



Preservation of dned Svjeet Herbs. — Mr. Lindsey, gardener to the Duke of 

 Devonshire at Chiswick, has made a great improvement in the mode of pre- 

 serving dried sweet herbs j such as thyme, marjoram, savory, sage, &c. After 

 drying them in the usual manner in the shade, he puts each sort into a small 

 box, 8 in. or 10 in. long, by 5 in. or 6 in. broad, and 6 in, or Sin. deep; and, 

 by means of boards of the size of the interior length and width of the box, and 

 a screw-press, he presses the herbs into cakes, or little trusses, about 8 in. 

 long, by 5 in. wide, and 2 in. thick. These are afterwards carefully wrapped 

 up in paper ; and, being kept in a dry place, are found to retain their aroma, in 

 as perfect a state as when they were put in the press, for at least three years, 

 which is the extent of Mr. Lindsey's experience. Mr. Lindsey, who is curious 

 in medicinal plants, and administers them for various diseases, preserves them 

 in exactly the same manner as the sweet herbs. It is so excellent a method, 

 that it ought to be adopted by all gardeners without exception. In many 

 places, sweet herbs are hung up in the back sheds, and not only lose their 

 flavour by evaporation, but become covered with dust. 



Large Cucumbers. — The account given by Mr. Cuthill (X. 455.) of a large 

 cucumber which he had grown at Fulham, reminded me of a cucumber plant 

 which I had seen in the garden of Dykes Alexander, Esq., of Ipswich, in the 

 former part of the last summer. This plant was grown by Mr. Smith, with 

 various other plants, according to the system recommended by him in his 

 Treatise on that subject [reviewed IX. 692.]. At the time I saw the plant, it 

 entirely filled a large three-light frame, and was bearing an immense quantity 

 of fruit, which, for colour, uniformity of size, length, and solidity, exceeded 

 anything I ever before saw. Half a dozen of these fruit I measured, and 

 found their lengths to be as follows: — 2 ft. If in., 1ft. UJin., 1ft. 10 in., 

 1ft. loin., 1ft. 9 in., 1ft. 84 in. Having been for several years under the 

 tuition of a very justly celebrated grower, Mr. Joseph Hugman, the sight of a 

 cucumber plant with a stem as large as a tolerably sized walking-stick, and 

 with leaves 18 in. or 20 in. in diameter, and also producing two or three fruit, 

 each measuring 1 ft. 8 in. in length, would have been nothing new to me ; but 

 the sight of such an immense weight of fruit on a single plant, which, notwith- 

 standing, still retained its vigour, was both novel and surprising ; and the 

 more so, as the two longest fruits, the fixst and second, were both produced 



