Retrospective Criticism. 269 



The Viitoria Wheat has succeeded remarkably well in Warwickshire. It 

 produced a fine crop in July last year, though sown a month too late. It 

 yielded a particularly sweet and well-tasted flour, from which excellent bread 

 was made. To have the crop ripen in June, it ought to be sown in February : 

 if sown in June, it will, in fine seasons, yield a crop in October. {Bury and 

 NorivicJi Post, February 11. 1835.) 



Above a dozen large Mushrooms were sent us by a correspondent, John 

 Mowlem, Esq., on the 23d of March, which had been gathered the day before 

 in an open field near Edgeware. Being cooked, we found them as good as 

 mushrooms grown in artificial heat, of which there are immense quantities in 

 this neighbourhood (Bayswater). — Cond. 



SCOTLAND. 

 Drummond's Agricidtiiral Museum at Stirling may now be considered as 

 open to the public throughout the year. Messrs. Drummond liberally admit 

 all youths and servants, particularly those connected with farms and gardens, 

 and mechanics, free of expense; other persons pay 1/. for a yearly ticket, not 

 transferable, \0s. for a single person, or 2s. 6d. for a family ticket. T/ie Re- 

 port of the Museum, from March, 1833, till November, 1834, lately published, 

 will be noticed in a succeeding Number. 



IRELAND. 



A Yew Tree with yellow Berries. — Among a group of lofty old yews at the 

 seat of Bishop Lindsey, there is one tree which has the berries yellow. This 

 fact is taken from the column of general remarks in the Return Paper 

 from Terenure, near Dublin, the seat of F. Bourne, Esq., made by his 

 very intellectual gardener, Mr. William Chalmers. We mention this to 

 show the value of such remarks. Here is a source from which a new and 

 very distinct variety of yew may be obtained by nurserymen, and propagated 

 by grafting or layers. We have no doubt of there being many such sources 

 of new varieties throughout the country. The way to find them out is for 

 gardeners to be continually keeping their eye on the foliation of trees in 

 spring, and on the dropping of their leaves in autumn, because, at these two 

 seasons, any variation from the central or average form is in general more 

 conspicuous. The Return Paper from Terenure is filled up with extraordi- 

 nary care, and is full of interesting information as to the habits of species. 

 The collection of trees at that seat appears to us to be the most complete 

 which has been made in Ireland in the nineteenth century ; as that at Oriel 

 Temple appears the most complete that was made during the eighteenth. 



Art. IV. Retrospective Criticism. 



SOLA^NUM hetdcetim. (p. 105.) — Depend upon it that the iSolanum of which 

 I showed you the fruit is not S. betaceum. I shall get you a specimen of it 

 when it next comes into flower. Mr. Miller examined the figure of Mr. 

 Lambert's plant in the Botanical Repository, and says the figure does not at all 

 suit his plant. Besides, Mr. Lambert's flowers are pink ; while those of Mr. 

 Miller are white, without any purple in the foliage, either in the new or old 

 leaves. It is certainly a most interesting plant. — Robert Byers. Swansea, 

 February 14?. 1835. 



The Purple Potato which I spoke to you about is quite different from that 

 cultivated by the French, and which is for sale by Mr. Charlwood. My 

 purple potato differs from the other in boiling of as deep a purple as it is in a 

 raw state. It is also early, a great bearer, and remarkably mealy. It is cul- 

 tivated in some parts of Cornvvrall, and is a most valuable vegetable, not only 

 for all the common purposes of potatoes, but as a garnish, as an ingredient in 

 salmagundi, and for mixing in salads along with, or instead of, red beet. — Id. 



