in Somersetshire, Devonshire, and Part of Cornwall. 487 



given to this place of final repose; and it would be well if it 

 could be imitated in churchyards everywhere. The late Sir 

 John Trevelyan ordered, by his will, that he should be buried 

 beneath a large yew tree in the churchyard, and not in the 

 church ; in which feeling we participate, considering the idea of 

 burying in vaults as unfitted for the present enlightened age. 



Having a great respect for the antiquity of families, a long 

 descent of ancestry being one of the few things which no human 

 exertions, no wealth, and not even chance can procure, we were 

 much gratified by a sight of the Trevelyan family papers, from 

 the time of Edward I. ; almost all of which were in excellent 

 preservation. Among the oldest of these were many permissions 

 from the church to eat meat during Lent; and one pardon from 

 Plenry VIII. to a Trevelyan for killing a man in chance-medley. 

 Tradition, however, traces back the family much higher than the 

 written records; as it is said that the head of a swimming horse, 

 in the family arms, 1'elates to a Trevelyan who was on one of the 

 Scilly Islands when it sank in 850, and that he saved himself by 

 swimming on shore on horseback.. 



Fattening Swine with Fern, or Braice (Pteris aquilhia). Among 

 the many curious and useful things which Mr. Babbage related 

 to us was the following, which we give in his own words. 



" Walking over the estate one day in the spring, I saw a man 

 and his family busily employed gathering the young shoots of 

 fern. On enquiry I found it was to feed their pig. Having 

 expressed a doubt as to its nutritious qualit}^, the man said it 

 was equal to potatoes, and that he would undertake to feed a pig 

 with it alone, and at the end of a month produce the pig in as 

 good condition as another pig that had been fed with potatoes. 

 The way to prepare the fern is to boil (or rather simmer) it for 

 two hours in an iron pot : when cold, it forms a strong jelly." 



Large Trees at Nettlecombe. The following dimensions were 

 kindly taken for us by Mr. Babbage. 



" The park-wood, and the grove of forty acres, contain ],060 

 oak trees, varying in length to the fork from 30 ft. to 70 ft., 

 besides which there are many fine elms, Spanish chestnuts, and 

 beech trees of great length and girt. Many trees contain from 

 80 to 150 cubic feet of timber, and a few trees more than 200 

 cubic feet above the fork. 



"A Cedar of Lebanon growing at Nettlecombe Court,^and 

 about forty years from the seed, was planted in its present situa- 

 tion thirty-five or thirty-six years ago. It now (Sept. 4. 1842), 

 at 3 ft. from the ground, measures 9 ft. 8 in. in circumference ; 

 and at 10 ft. from the ground it is 9 ft. 1 in. in circumference. 

 The extreme height of the tree is 40 ft. The branches extend 

 round from the trunk 30 ft. The trunk (exclusive of branches) 

 contains 110 cubic feet of timber. 



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