328 Domestic Notices : — Scotland. 



three soles are required for each yard, consequently 66 of each for a chain, at 

 a cost of 5ic?. per yard in the one case, and 3f f/. per yard in the other. Total 

 expense of tile draining per chain in Northamptonshire, 2\s. Moving soil in 

 the same county costs, for a distance of two chains, Qd. per cubic yard, and 

 the price of labour is 9^. a week. — J. M. Northamptonshire, Dec. 1842. 



Leamington Spa, IVanuickshire. — In the course of the last winter many 

 trees have been planted along the principal roads, and in many of the open 

 spaces belonging to the town, thus contributing materially to its ornament, 

 and to the production of shade and shelter, and at the same time employing 

 labourers who could not otherwise have got work. The expense was defrayed 

 by subscription, and two of the most active gentlemen on this occasion were 

 Mr. Hitchman and Mr. Cullis. 



Gigantic Raspberries. — When I altered Walton Hall, I destroyed the finest 

 garden, for its size, in Yorkshire. But there was no help for it. I was ab- 

 solutely forced to turn Vandal, and blot it out from the face of the earth. 

 The raspberries in it always grew to the height of 14 ft. Situation caused 

 this growth. I once, in my rambles in Lancashire, fell in with a like situation, 

 and there I found wild raspberries growing fully as high. To obtain this lux- 

 uriant growth, the situation must be low and rich ; and the raspberry plants 

 must be shielded from the noonday sun by trees, or a high wall. Trees, I 

 should say, would be better. We had always wooden steps on purpose to 

 reach the fruit. My father sent plants of these raspberries to his friends in 

 Yorkshire, and in the county of Nottingham, but they answered not the ex- 

 pectations which had been formed of them. When I destroyed the garden, 

 I saved a sufficient quantity of plants to be cultivated elsewhere. They are 

 still in existence, and their puny growth informs me that I must never more 

 expect to see therfl in their former luxuriance. When I removed the soil on 

 which they had flourished so surprisingly, I found stony fragments at the 

 bottom, through which there ran a stream of water which got vent from the 

 mouth of a drain at the opposite side of the garden. - — Charles Waterton. 

 Walton Hall, May 19. 1843. 



Victoria Rhubarb produces by far the largest stalks of any of the new va- 

 rieties, and it is scarcely too much to say that it is equally superior in flavour 

 and suitableness for culinary purposes. In this respect it may be compared to 

 some of the largest Lancashire gooseberries, the flavour of which is not always 

 deteriorated by size. — Cond. 



SCOTLAND. 



The Kirleintilloch and Campsie Horticultural Society has been instituted chiefly 

 for the encouragement of horticulture among cottagers. Prizes are given for 

 the best kept cottage garden in a particular parish or district. The intending 

 competitors give in their names at the beginning of the season, and their 

 gardens are visited, from time to time, by the officers of the Society. Miss 

 Horrocks, a very young lady, who is an enthusiastic member of this Society, 

 has offered a prize for the best essay on the culture of any flower, by amateur 

 cultivators and cottagers ; and also for the best canary-bird, goldfinch, and 

 the best three singing birds. 



Piiie Cones a valuable Fuel. — Dr. Howison, lecturer on botany in Edin- 

 burgh, met with the following occurrence in Hfeshire, during one of his 

 botanical excursions. Calling at the cottage of a medical practitioner, a 

 former pupil of iiis, he found the Esculapius going to mount his pony to visit 

 his patients. Upon the two friends meeting, the practitioner remarked, 

 " Doctor, it is not every day I see you, we must go in and have a haver." 

 Upon entering the parlour there was no fire. He rung the bell ; his house- 

 keeper came in carrying in her white apron a quantity of dried pine cones and 

 a lighted candle in her hand. She threw the cones into the polished grate, 

 broke a coal into pieces, and laid them over them. She then applied the 

 candle, when almost instantaneously they broke into a beautiful strong flame, 



