158 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
June 2 . 
the occasion, and seldom in the course of his great ex¬ 
perience has lie submitted for public competition a 
number of cattle in primer condition for the butcher, 
j They consisted of 100 head—and comprised sixty-six 
! short horn heifers, eight short horn steers, thirty-one 
polled Galway heifers, and a short horn bull; besides 
| which were eighty half-bred bogs. Previous to the sale 
the cattle were viewed by the company, and the utmost 
‘ satisfaction expressed at the fine lot of animals which 
I had thus been brought together. By the liberal manner 
1 in which such noblemen, as the Marquis of London¬ 
derry, place within the reach of their agents the means 
of rearing and exhibiting such stock, a desire for im¬ 
provement is stimulated amongst tenant farmers and 
others interested in the breeding and feeding of cattle, 
i The company assembled on Monday was not, perhaps, 
so numerous as has been witnessed on former occasions 
of a like nature in this neighbourhood, but such as 
Avere present had evidently come with the intention of 
doing business, for the lots were all quickly disposed of 
“ at good market prices.” Previous to the sale about 
800 persons sat down to luncheon, which had been 
spread in the large granary. Mr. Wetherell occupied 
the chair, and after the repast, led the way to the sale 
ring, and having mounted the rostrum—after the usual 
“conditions” had been read,—the first lot, a splended 
short horn heifer, was introduced, and quickly knocked 
down for £22. The sale of the remaining sixty-five 
heifers and steers was then proceeded with ; buyers 
were brisk, and the whole were speedily disposed of at 
prices varying from .£24 10s., down to .£15 15s. The 
Gallow r ays brought from £‘12 to £17 10s., and the 
short horn bull realised £30 5s. After the cattle had 
been disposed of, the sheep were sold at prices varying 
from 32s. to 35s. per head. The cattle realised £1,885, 
and the sheep £138—making a total of £2023. 
Mr. Lawson’s Lectures on Botany. —On Monday 
evening, the 2nd of May, Mr. Lawson, of the Botanical 
Society, opened his summer course of weekly Lectures 
on Botany, in the Hall, 8, Infirmary-street, Edinburgh. 
There was a large attendance on the occasion. The 
, lecturer stated that before proceeding to the regular 
business of the course, he meant to point out, in his 
introductory lecture, some of the objects of botanical 
j science, and to give a rapid sketch of the general 
I features of vegetation in different lands, dwelling more 
particularly on the characteristics of the British Flora, 
and its relations to the vegetation of other countries. 
He accordingly called attention to the remarkable 
differences of structure presented by members of the 
vegetable kingdom, noticing particularly those of im¬ 
portance in guiding the researches of the geographical 
botanist, from the minute snow-plant of the Arctic 
Regions to the luxuriant palm-trees of the Torrid 
Zone. He also illustrated the subject by a reference to 
those plants upon which man depends for his support 
and enjoyment in different parts of the world. He 
gave a detail of the features which characterise the 
vegetation of northern Europe, and then entered upon 
the subject of the British Flora. After alluding in a 
historical manner to the principal authors who had 
contributed to the knoAvledge of British botany, he 
stated that attention has only been recently directed to 
the subject of the geographical distribution of plants in 
Britain, a department in which Mr. Hewett Watson 
has been almost the only labourer. Mr. Lawson then 
detailed the vieAVS brought forward by Professor Edward 
Forbes, Martins, and others, to account for the present 
distribution of plants in the British Isles. This led to 
a consideration of the subject of the origin of plants 
and their diffusion over the earth, in connection Avith 
which many interesting facts were brought forward. 
The lecture was illustrated by a rich display of drawings 
and diagrams, as well as by living and dried plants, 
and preparations under the microscope. It is intended 
to have frequent botanical excursions in connection 
with the class. 
Cheese. —The quantity of Cheese imported into Eng¬ 
land during the year ending the 5th of January, 1853, 
amounted 289,457 c.Avt.; namely — from European 
States, 278,179 cwt.; from the United States, 11,275 
cwt.; and from the British Colonies 2 cwt. 
Effects of the late Winter on Conifers.— The 
following notes show the effect which the late severe 
winter has had in Messrs. P. Lawson and Sons’ Nursery, 
at Edinburgh. In thePinetum there were no coverings 
of any sort given to the plants, in order to test how far 
they might be calculated to stand our climate, and these 
results now appear:— 
1st.— Cotressine® : Junipems clrupacea, macrocarpa, 
rufescens, recurva, squamata, chinensis (male and female), 
excelsa, tetragona, dolabrata, spbrerica, are not the least 
injured; but Bermudian a, flaccida, mexicana, and soph ora, 
are all killed. Widdringtonia juniperoides, cupressoides 
much injured but not killed. IAbocedrus Doniana , one 
plant much injured; but another, shaded from the sun’s 
rays by a bush, quite fresh. L. tetragona and chilensis 
botli quite fresh. Biota pendula, Thniopsis dolabrata, Cu- 
pressns funebris, Retinispora squamosa and ericoides, Taxo- 
diuvi heterophyllum and ascendens, Cryptomeria japonica, 
Cupressm macrocarpa, sp. from Mexico, sp. from Simlah, all 
quite healthy and fresh. Cvpressits glauca, injured but not 
killed. Cupressus Goveniana, Lindleyii, and thurifera, com¬ 
pletely killed down to the roots. 
2nd.— Abietine.e : Pimts Brunoniana, nobilis, religiosa, 
Nordmani, cephalonica, amabilis, grandis, Pindrow, Webbi- 
ana, Pinsapo, Menziesi, orientalis, obovata, Kutrow, ajo- 
mensis, Techugatsgoi, are all fresh and healthy. P. Bru¬ 
noniana evidently gets hardier as it groAvs older. Plants 
one and two years old we have several times had killed;, 
those now reported on are four years old. Pimts Douglassi, 
from home-saved seed, are some of them killed, others 
much injured, while others raised from imported seeds 
growing in the same place are fresh; the foliage of the 
latter is of a deeper green, broader, and with more sub¬ 
stance. Pimts Jezoensis, in a moist situation, is killed ; but 
similar plants jn a dry position are only partially injured ; 
the plants are only two years old, and it is very probable 
that, like P. Brunoniana, they may get hardy as they grow 
older. All the species of Larix and Ccdrtts have escaped 
uninjured ; the newest one, Larix Griffithi (Hooker), seems 
quite hardy. Pimts excelsa, monticola, Ayacaliuite, Lam- 
