ajid of Rural Improvement generally f during 1838. 571 



in some of the public nurseries ; and we hope soon to see it at 

 least as much cultivated as the pine-apple. Mr. Thompson's re- 

 port on the fruits and culinary vegetables in the Horticultural So- 

 ciety's garden, will not be ready for us before January next ; so that 

 it is necessarily postponed till our succeeding volume. Some use- 

 ful experience, we believe, has been gained with regard to the best 

 manner of keeping fruits in a fruit-room. Through a great part 

 of the late severe winter, Mr. Thompson stopped up all the 

 windows with matting, and stuffed hay in the openings for 

 ventilation in the roof, of the Horticultural Society's fruit-room; 

 in consequence of which, he prevented any change of air what- 

 ever in the room, retained a temperature in it somewhat above 

 the freezing point, and preserved his apples and pears with the 

 same success as in ordinary winters. 



Rural and Domestic Improvement generally. — Increased atten- 

 tion seems to be paid to procuring improved varieties of agri- 

 cultural seeds of every kind, not only by the agricultural mu- 

 seums established in different parts of Scotland, but also by 

 the principal London seedsmen. (Seep. 531.) It is gratifying 

 to see particular regard paid to the different varieties of wheat ; 

 for drawing attention to which, the public are indebted to 

 Professor La Gasca, Colonel Le Couteur, M. Vilmorin, Mr. 

 Lawson, and some others. The establishment of an English 

 Agricultural Society, comprising the richest landowners, will, we 

 have no doubt, contribute to the improvement of field culture 

 in England; for which there is ample room, the greater part 

 of English farmers not being aware that they are behind the 

 Scotch cultivators at all, much less that they are so immeasurably 

 distanced by them as they are. It is gratifying to us to be in- 

 formed from various quarters, that the improvement of labourers' 

 cottages is now attended to by almost every country gentleman, to 

 a greater degree than it ever was before ; because we can trace this 

 in a great measure, as indeed is generally acknowledged, to the 

 influence of our Encyclopaedia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architec- 

 ture, which continues to circulate extensively. Nutt's bee-hives 

 have created some discussion in this Magazine, in the course of 

 the past year; Mr. Nutt and his party contending that they 

 prevent swarming, and fulfill all the promises held out in Mr. 

 Nutt's book ; and the other party affirming that they do not 

 prevent swarming, and, consequently, cannot fulfill the most 

 important of all the conditions characterising Mr. Nutt's system. 

 It is certain, that these hives thrive very differently under the 

 care of different persons; but, probably, this may be from com- 

 parative want of care on the part of some, and from ignorance 

 or error on the part of others. In domestic economy, the 

 greatest improvement is the manufacture of jam and jelly from 

 the stalks of Buck's red rhubarb, which will prove a valuable 



