Stock. 
289 
As an instance of what a capacity for growth stocks possess, 
may be mentioned one grown at Notting Hill in 1822, which, 
says Phillips, in his interesting “Flora Historica,” “attained a 
circumference of nearly twelve feet.” This same writer tells 
of an acquaintance of his, with whom he made a tour through 
Normandy. It was the first time this gentleman had ever 
left the sea-girt shores of his native land, and so thoroughly 
insular were his habits that everything he encountered dis¬ 
satisfied him. The food was unpalatable, the girls ugly, their 
clothing too scanty; and, finally, his grumblings made the 
whole company uncomfortable, until, adds the narrator, good 
fortune led us to a rustic inn where were growing several fine 
stocks, which, he affirmed, were the first good things he had 
seen since he left Sussex. On hearing the landlady acknow¬ 
ledge them to be girojiier de Brompton, he insisted upon the 
entire party halting there, entertained them to a capital meal 
at his own expense, and left the village with a sprig of the 
Brompton stock decorating his button-hole; his good humour 
restored, and the remainder of his journey rendered pleasant, 
all through, as he frequently exclaimed, the Brompton stock. 
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