88 Domestic Notices : — Scotland. 



10*. each. Subscriptions are received b}' Mr. James M'Nab of the Experi- 

 mental Garden. — Cond. 



Foreign Trees luhich thrive in Shetland, — At a meeting of the Botanical So- 

 ciety of Edinburgh, on November 10. 1842, Mr. Edmonston, jun., men- 

 tioned in our Volume for 1840, p. 102., gave an account of the botany of 

 Shetland. The whole is extremely interesting ; but, as it vi^ill be published in 

 the Transactions of the Botanical Society, we shall confine ourselves to an 

 extract relating to arboriculture in that island. " A number of experiments 

 have been carried on by my father for five or six years, in order, if possible, 

 to ascertain what foreign trees will endure this climate. He obtained from 

 Messrs. Lawson of Edinburgh all the more generally cultivated trees and 

 shrubs, North British, North American, and North Asiatic, and the result 

 has been as follows. Among the indigenous trees of Scotland, the ash 

 appears to stand as well as any other, as it puts forth its leaves late and loses 

 them early. Of the scarcely indigenous, or naturalised species, the sycamore 

 appears to be the hardiest ; while the birch and Scotcii pine will scarcely live 

 a year. Again, Piims montana and ^'sculus Hippocastanum, comparatively 

 tender plants, appear to thrive well ; and Pjrus aucuparia, which is indi- 

 genous with us, thrives tolerably in cultivation. Almost all the willows do 

 well ; iS'alix Russellia««, fragilis, cinerea, viminalis, and vitellina, among the 

 best. The alder is rather too early in putting forth its leaves ; but some 

 poplars appear to do well, especially the white, black Italian, and Lombardy; 

 and Populus nigra * is indigenous. Oak and beech will not thrive at all. 

 Generally speaking, evergreens, both trees and shrubs, appear not to suit. 

 Puius Cemhra, the black, white, and Norway spruce have all been repeatedly 

 tried, but seldom languished a year. Even the hardy shrubby evergreens, 

 which are met with indigenous or in every shrubbery on the mainland, such 

 as Z^lex Jquifolium, /Rhododendron ponticum and flavum, Fiburnum Pinus, 

 &c., die almost immediately. Among the best-thriving evergreen shrubs may 

 be mentioned, J'rbutus mucronata, Cotoneaster UVa-ursi, //edera i^^elix, &c. 

 The latter, indeed, is native, and in some situations thrives remarkably well, 

 as it also does in Orkney." — Cond. 



A good Tablet for the Indication of the Name of a Street, or a Guide- Post to 

 a Cross Road. — It should be, 1st, readily discoverable and distinguishable; 

 2d, easily legible at moderate distances, and b}' oblique as well as by direct 

 vision, in diffused light, or in sunshine ; 3d, of such material as to be lasting 

 and easily kept in a serviceable state. 



No tablet which I have met with fulfils these conditions so entirely as that 

 which was widel}' diffused in Paris during the administration of M. Chabrol 

 de Volvic. The material is volcanic stone in thin slabs ; these slabs are 

 covered by hard blue enamel, and the inscription is in white enamel burnt in. 

 They are immediately distinguishable from all other inscriptions or signs, are 

 very legible in all states of the weather, and appear to be unaltered after 

 several years' exposure. 



It unluckily happens that the cost of these tablets is such as to make them 

 unattainable generally. 



The next best model, in point of distinctness, is that which has long been 

 in general use in the town of Birmingham, viz. cast-iron plates, with the 

 inscription in slightly relieved letters. This model, which, if judiciously 

 executed, is but little inferior to M. Chabrol's in distinctness, has a manifest 

 advantage over it in cheapness and in strength. Some tablets on this plan 

 were, several years ago, introduced in Edinburgh, and have answered well as 

 far as they went; but, subsequently, changes have been introduced which 

 have notably impaired their efficiency ; the original proportion of the letters 



* A specimen of poplar which we received from Mr. Edmonston, sen., 

 some years ago, appeared to us to be P. balsamifera ; at all events we are 

 quite certain it was not the P. nigra o? English Botany ; but v/e have written 

 to Mr. Edmonston for a plant. — Cond. 



