Domestic Notices : — Scotland, Ireland. 383 



sington Gardens to the s. w. one. If this plan be adopted, the public will 

 have a delightful addition to the garden, and the inmates of the palace have 

 the satisfaction of seeing that the ground is devoted to public use and enjoy- 

 ment, instead of their being annoyed by the smoke and inconvenience of pri- 

 vate dwellings which are to close it in upon the north and west. With respect 

 to the raising the money, has parliament ever refused a grant for Windsor ? 

 We think not ; though some grants might have excited observation from their 

 enormous amount in proportion to their objects : the stables and kennels, for 

 instance. If it be deemed necessary or expedient to alienate any portion of 

 .the crown land for the purpose, it should be done at a distance, and not so 

 near the heart of London. A farm in Hampshire or Staffordshire is of no 

 moment, if the full value be obtained for it ; whereas, if a site like this be lost, 

 it can never be regained. 



" There is one more suggestion which may be made : a row of villa houses, 

 contiguous, with a mere open space of a few feet, might be built on the extreme 

 boundary facing the palace, and opening to the road, but without garden or 

 ground. There is no question that this plan might answer, and would not be 

 very objectionable. A depth of 50 ft. would realise some money ; though I 

 should prefer having the whole site clear, especially if there are hopes of pur- 

 chasing ground to the west, which I have heard are entertained. 



" I must now conclude, earnestly calling on members of parliament, more 

 especially those connected with the metropolis, to stir themselves, and prevent 

 the government thus carrying out the provisions of a legacy left them by their 

 predecessors." (W. in Gard. Chron. for 1842, p. 380.) 



Immense Shaddock — On Thursday, the 12th inst., a very fine shaddock was 

 gathered by Edward Spicey, in the hall garden at Chippenham Park, weighing 

 2 lb., and measuring 18 in. in circumference. (Camb. Chron. and Journ., May 

 28th, 1842. 



SCOTLAND. 



The Botanical Society of Edinburgh is in a prosperous state, and accounts 

 of their proceedings appear from time to time in the gardening newspapers, 

 which is the reason that we no longer enter into details, conceiving that these 

 papers are perused by every one at all interested in practical botany and 

 gardening. 



Of the Caledonian Horticultural Society we may make the same remark, and 

 which is applicable also to all the Scotch provincial societies. 



The Edinburgh Botanic Garden has had bequeathed to it the interesting and 

 valuable herbarium of the late Dr. Archibald Menzies (see p. 240.), which 

 was chiefly formed in the course of his voyages round the world with Van- 

 couver, and other circumnavigators. — Cond. 



IRELAND. 



A Farmer's Gazette and Journal of Practical Horticulture, we are happy to 

 observe, is commenced in Dublin, the department of rural affairs edited by 

 Edmund Murphy, A. B., landscape-gardener. A more competent editor could 

 hardly be found either in Ireland or England, and if the paper be properly 

 supported, we feel confident it will do much good. The paper is published 

 weekly at 4t?., which very low price the proprietors bind themselves either 

 to reduce, or to give more for money, by enlarging the size of the paper, as 

 soon as the circulation shall have increased so as to cover the actual expense 

 of publication. The Farmer's Gazette of June 4th, now before us, contains a 

 number of appropriate extracts from agricultural and horticultural publica- 

 tions, and an account of a visit to an experimental ground for trying the 

 effects of Dr. Sir James Murray's oxygenated fertilisers, by Mr. Murphy. 

 " The experiments," Mr. Murphy says, " have been conducted in total ab- 

 sence of every thing like science and accuracy." — Cond. 



