86 Domestic Notices : — England. 



inch in length ; they consist of narrow, slender, bristly, somewhat recurved 

 brownish scales, densely imbricated. — G. Lawrence. Hendon Vicarage, 

 Jan. 10. 1843. 



Vicea spectdbi/is. — Of this fine tree we have tv/o specimens, each bearing 

 seven cones. — Idem. 



Pmiis Sa6i7iikna has one cone, — Idem. 



An Oak (Quercus pedunculata) in the park of Hazel Grove, Castle Gary, 

 Somersetshire, [of which a lithograph has been sent us,] is 82 ft. high, 

 30 ft. in circumference at 3i ft. from the ground, and it contains 863 cubic 

 feet of timber, though it has lost many of its largest limbs. It is in full vigour 

 and bears every year abundance of small acorns in pairs at the end of long 

 stalks. Near this tree are several other oaks of great height, and from 18 in. 

 to 23 ft. in circumference. An elm in the same park, blown down some time 

 since, measured 39 ft. in circumference ; and an ash 21 ft. — P. J. M. 



The Mistletoe on the Oak may be seen at Penporthlenny, in the parish of 

 Goitre, Monmouthshire ; and also on a tree near Usk. It may be interesting 

 to some to have these habitats added to those already given in your Arbo- 

 retum BritaiDiicum. — Jane Williams. Glastonbury, Oct. 22. 184'2. 



Yerbena Melindres and V .Tiveediehna have stood out here the last winter 

 with no other protection than their own uncut branches. They died back to 

 the collar of the roots, but broke well again in spring, more especially V. 

 Melindres, and they grew much more vigorously during summer than plants 

 raised from cuttings in spring. Our flower-garden is a level spot on the 

 south side of a steep hill overhanging Swansea. The soil is a sti'ong loam, 

 from 9 to 18 inches deep, on stratified rock dipping to the north. It becomes 

 rapidly dry and hard after rain. — P. Walker, Gardener to R. Grenfell, Esq. 

 Maesteg, near Swansea, Oct. 22. 1842. 



Melons grown in Leaves. — At Taplow Lodge, Bucks, melons have been for 

 many years past grown in leaves raked up the preceding autumn. The plants 

 are raised in loam in the usual manner, and a crop of early potatoes having 

 been first grown on the leaves, the melons are turned out of the pots to 

 succeed them. They bear abundantly, and the fruit is of excellent flavour. 

 — J. B. Uxbridge, Dec. 10. 1842. 



Mushrooms this year (1842) have been most unusually abundant in August 

 and September, and very great quantities have been gathered fine and large ; 

 some measuring 30 in. round. Many of the agricultural labourers' fami- 

 lies have made a guinea a week during these months, by gathering them in 

 the fields and selling them in the neighbourhood. — M. Saul. Garstang, Lan- 

 cashire, Oct. 10. 1842. 



Cucumbers this year (1842) have been very abundant in the cottager's 

 gardens here. They are attended with very little trouble or expense, and are 

 of great benefit to the cottager and the labouring man in hot weather, being 

 found of great advantage in removing thirst, with the addition of a little 

 vinegar, when taking their meals, far more so than either milk or beer. The 

 cottagers' mode of growing is, in the first place, to obtain a few plants 

 from their neighbours who have them in the open ground, and plant them in 

 the spot where they have taken up their early potatoes in July, without adding 

 any manure. I have seen some so planted this season produce cucumbers 

 weighing from 2 to 3 lb. each, without any protection, but merely growing 

 in the beds the early potatoes had been removed from. To keep the Iruit 

 clean when growing, they put what is here called a turf or [)eat under them, 

 such as they use for fuel ; they use no coal for fuel here. I have no doabt 

 you would have been much pleased if you had had an opportunity of seeing 

 those cucumbers growing in the cottage gardens, and might have said much in 

 their praise. There is at this time growing up to a saw-pit side in the wood 

 yard of Henry Masden, at Cobus, near Garstang, a cucumber which weighs 

 32 oz. The roots are ixierely growing in a few road droppings from the horses, 

 gathered from the road side. The plants have produced abundance of fruit, 

 without the least protection, in September. — Idem. 



