Qtieries and Answers. 53 



veteran naturalist, surely some modern botanist, who has the distribution of 

 generic honours, will not forget him. — W. C. D. Bristol, Aug. 9. 1834. 



What is the Natural History of the Cone-like Excresceiice so common on the 

 Oak ? — It is the work of some species of Cjnips, I suppose. One thing 

 puzzles me : on opening some of these excrescences, I occasionally find what 

 evidently appears to be a minute, abortive, embryo acorn, as if this exci'es- 

 cence would have been an acorn, had it not been blighted and converted into 

 what we now see instead ; and yet these cone-like excrescences cannot be 

 abortive acorns, because they oftentimes occur where acorns never would j as, 

 for example, on the current year's shoots of oak stools that have been felled 

 in the winter. I have young oaks that are covered over with these cones. 

 Both kinds of the common oak are subject to this disease. — W. T. B. 



As the best Method of preserving Celci'y through the Winter (X. 577.), I beg 

 leave to submit the following, which I have practised for several years with 

 very good success : — Get up the celery on a fine dry day before it is injured 

 by frost, cut off the leaves and roots, and lay it in a dry airy place for a few 

 days J then remove it to a cool cellar, where it will be quite secure from frost, 

 and pack it up with sand, putting layers of celery and of sand alternately. 

 Celery thus preserved will continue perfectly sound, sweet, and crisp all 

 through the winter. — M. F. November 8. 1834. 



Magnolia grandijlbra exoniensis. — In Miller's time there was a celebrated 

 tree at Exmouth, in Devonshire, belonging to Sir John Colliton, which Miller 

 seems to have considered as one of the oldest in England. Notwithstanding 

 a number of enquiries made in different directions, we have been unable to 

 ascertain the history of this tree altogether to our satisfaction ; whether it is 

 still alive, or when it died. If our correspondent " Mentor" is still in Ex- 

 mouth, we should be glad to hear from him on this subject. We should, also, 

 as we stated in a former Number, be very greatly obliged for notices of mag- 

 nolias, tulip trees, lime trees, acers, and horsechestnuts, from every part of 

 the country; the species composing these genera, as we have indicated 

 (X. 581.), being intended to be included in the first three numbers of our Ar- 

 boretum Britannictim. — Cond. 



The Cabbage Tree of Lapland. (X. 466.) — Five or six years ago, the late 

 M. Madiot, who was head gardener at the Botanic Garden of Lyons, made 

 much noise about the Chou arbre de Laponie, which, from the similarity of the 

 names, must be the plant Mr. John Brown means. M. Madiot represented 

 this plant as standing any frost, and lasting not less than five, six, or even ten 

 years, &c. After a fair trial, however, it was found to be the same thing, or very 

 nearly so, as the Chou cavalier, or Grand chou a vache of our western provinces 

 (what you call, I think, Anjou kale) ; and, if any difference did exist, it could 

 hardly be considered even as a subvariety, but rather as a choice and vigorous 

 stock of that sort. It was generally found to live two years, or accidentally a 

 few more, as is the case with the common Chou cavalier. Severe winters, such 

 as that of 1830, destroyed both equally; it proved, in fact, not more hardy 

 than the rutabaga, and much less so than the Chou frise du nord (your 

 Scotch kale), especially the purple kale, which stood that winter, and some 

 others equally cold, without injury. From this explanation, 1 conclude that 

 the Lapland tree cabbage (if that name must be preserved) will not answer 

 Mr. John Brown's purpose; neither will, I think, any of the tall-growing, or 

 even of the dwarf, kales ; their whole tribe requiring as much, if not more, 

 manure than is necessary for growing turnips. As I happen, however, to 

 possess some seed of the Madiot breed, the descendants of a stock I originally 

 got from him, I will send you a paper by the first opportunity, that you may 

 procure your correspondent the satisfaction of personal experiment. — Vil- 

 7norin. Paris, Oct. 30. 1834. 



We have since received a packet of seeds from M. Vilmorin, of which we 

 sent some to Mr. Brown, and distributed the remainder among our agricul- 

 tural friends. The results, we trust, they will enable us to lay before our 

 readers. — Cond. 



