34 



BAKER : CUMBERLAND BOTANY. 



elevation of 900 to 1,100 ft. The village of Garrigill, four miles up 

 the South Tyne, stands on an alluvial terrace along the river at a 

 height of I, TOO to 1,150 ft. The considerable village of Nenthead, 

 five miles up the other valley, is from 1,250 to 1,500 ft. above sea- 

 level. There are numerous scattered farm-houses in both valleys, of 

 which Priorsdale House over Ashgill reaches 1,766, and Rumney's 

 House 1,980 ft. above sea-level; the latter, 500 ft. higher than the 

 well-known inn at the top of Kirkstone Pass. The hills over Alston 

 reach 1,600 ft. The pass into Weardale is 1,850, and into Teesdale 

 over 1,900 ft. above sea-level; and the long wall-like ridge of Crossfell — 

 the culminating point of the Pennine range, the watershed between 

 Tyne, Tees, and Eden — bounds the horizon, looking south from 

 Alston, and maintains for two miles an unbroken level of 2,600 tO' 

 2,Soo ft. 



Cultural characteristics of the Super-agrarian Zone. — 



Of corn cultivation there is practically none above Alston. I saw only 

 a single field of oats, and hawthorn hedges are very few in number ; 

 but houses and gardens extend to the upper limit of the super-agrarian 

 zone, whilst at the lakes there are scarcely any above the mid-agrarian 

 zone. At Nenthead there must be at least fifty small gardens and 

 allotment- patches at a height of 400 to 500 yards. Speaking 

 generally of these super-agrarian gardens, gooseberries, raspberries,, 

 cherries, and black and red currants, succeed well ; plums occa- 

 sionally, but apples and pears do not ripen properly. Rhubarb and 

 potatoes are common and excellent, also cabbages and turnips ; and 

 lettuce, peas, parsley, and mint, are grown occasionally. There are 

 many plantations up to 600 yards, those at the highest levels con- 

 sisting mainly of pine, spruce, and larch. The commonest planted 

 deciduous trees are the sycamore and beech, and poplars are not 

 uncommon. In the gardens, lilac and laburnum both fruit commonly; 

 honeysuckle, Irish yew, ivy, snowberry, and arbor-vitae are frequent ;. 

 box, holly, rhododendron, hop, and cherry-laurel rare ; I did not 

 see any out-of-door hydrangeas, clematises, jasmines, or aucubas. 

 There are a few open-air fuchsias, and sometimes calceolarias and 

 zonal pelargonia are bedded out. I noted one small araucaria, a few 

 fine dahlias, hollyhocks, and sunflowers in sheltered gardens at Alston; 

 and good hybrid Cape gladioli, as far up the valley as Ashgill; pansies 

 are sometimes very fine. Other favourite garden-flowers are Aconiiuin 

 Napellus and panicuIatiLm, Pceonia officinalis^ Wallflower, Iberis iim- 

 bellata^ Arabis caiicasica, Matihiola tnca?ia, Hesperis, Limaria, Papaver 

 som?iifenun, Tagetes patida, Calendula officinalis, Sweet William, 

 Anlennaria viai'garitacea, Chrysanthennini coro7iaritim, Polemoniunt 

 cccruleum. Phlox pa?iiculafa, Callisteplms chine?isis, Mimulus luieus. 



Naturalist, 



