upon a gentle declivity sloping to the south on an angle formed from the bend of a valley running east and west in front, and turning nearly north on the left; though on that side the valley is completely filled with wood. Such, then, is the picture I have been endeavouring to describe to you, and which, I trust, you will view some time or another; for I can assure you that you will find several fine mansions in the neighbourhood, well worthy of your notice.

ART. V. Notice of the Wilton Shrub-lifter. By its Inventor,
HARRY ALCOCK.

If you think the accompanying sketches (figs. 125. to 127.) worthy of a place in your Magazine, pray accept them as a trifling

125

mite from one who has been gratified for many and many an hour by the perusal of your different valuable works for us country gentlemen.

I have called it the Wilton Shrub-lifter, from the name of this house; and my first reason for thinking of making it was, when superintending the removal of evergreens, &c., I observed

126

127

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that half the men's time was lost in trying to get the tree out of

the hole, after it was loose.

Now, Sir, with the lifter, I can do as

much work with two men, and do it better than I could do before with six men; and my mode of operating is this: -

I cut a trench round the tree or shrub; then take the round part of the machine, fig. 126. (which is made of oak, like a very flat dinner plate, and crossed with strong iron on the under side, as represented in fig. 127.), first detaching the handles from their swivel hooks (fig. 125. c). Then, by inclining the tree a little on one side, I slip the machine under it, and let the tree fall into its own place, when, taking the choice of two opposite sides, where the branches are least in the way, we attach the two handles; and two men can lift the tree in a few seconds, withou* even putting a hand to the stem or branches.

Wilton, near Enniscorthy, Nov. 2. 1836.

ART. VI. An Account of a Method of pruning ornamental Trees, chiefly Beech. By J. W. B.

BEING aware of your desire to give publicity to any plan which seems to promise improvement, I have here forwarded to you an account of a method of pruning ornamental trees, chiefly beech, which has been adopted by John S. Enys, Esq., and executed, under his immediate superintendence, at Enys, near Penryn. Most of these trees were planted about forty years ago; and, from favourable circumstances of soil and shelter, were in a flourishing state of growth, and were from 16 in. to 20 in. in diameter, and perhaps 60 ft. high; but, in consequence of neglect, they had run up with several competing leaders. The best of these leaders was left; the others were shortened to one of the side branches about three years since. The tops cut off varied from 4 in. to 6 in. in diameter; and a stem was left from 10 ft. to 25 ft. long to its junction with the main trunk of the tree. The outer side was partly cut first, and the remainder was sawn from the inner side; so that the weight of the upper branches, aided by the leaves, as it was never done except in summer, snapped off the top without splintering.

The intended effect has been produced; viz., the selected leader has begun to assume the decided character of a main trunk; while the condemned leaders, whose growth has been checked in proportion to the amount of top taken off, have become large subordinate branches, headed by the side shoots which were left. It should be observed a sufficient quantity of branches must be left attached to the remaining stem to keep it in health, otherwise the defect of snag-pruning will not be avoided.

Although I have constantly passed under these trees since December, the marks of the pruning are so little visible, that I

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have never observed them until pointed out to me oy Mr. Enys; but I am so convinced that this method of cutting back large neglected trees is not only the most effective, but the least expensive, that I shall always practice it whenever I may have to direct the pruning of ornamental forest trees.

ART. VII. Notice of the Mode of treating the more rare Species of the Pine and Fir Tribe. By P. FROST, Gardener, Dropmore.

I NOW send you an account of the system we adopt in planting the different species of Pinus; particularly such as may be termed pot plants, and which have their roots coiled up into a ball. In the first instance, I shall describe the manner in which we prepare the ground for planting them; that is, by digging a hole from 12 ft. to 15 ft. in diameter, by 3 ft. deep, and carrying off the major part of the subsoil, which consits chiefly of gravel. To replace this, we bring a sixth part of bog earth, with a full half of scrapings and parings from the road sides, which are of a gritty substance; taking, at the same time, as much turf as possible; which is all incorporated together. The surface soil here is very light, rather peaty; and the whole, when mixed, is very light; and, by using a portion of the gravelly soil natural here, it never binds closely together, but remains open and kind. When the hole is ready, observing to keep it nearly a foot higher than the natural surface to allow for sinking, I extricate the plant from the pot, carefully drawing out every root, so as to get the whole ball loose, and not minding if every particle of soil drops. I then extend every root as regularly as possible; giving them a good watering before I cover them with soil, which causes the soil to adhere closely, and, I find, does much more good than watering when the roots are covered. I find all such plants as have been previously planted with the balls entire never resist wind, but are often destroyed by such careless planting. Those planted since I came here are, in general, growing much more luxuriantly than such as were previouly planted; and do not require the same care when exposed to high winds. I mostly use leaves with the surface mould, as I keep the better soil as deep as possible; and often make the soil better near the roots, by mixing up a wheelbarrow-full of leaves for planting in: I think it gives them a better start at first. The plants require to be tied up for a short time, till the ground gets settled; when there is no further care required, except occasional pruning, &c.

ART. VIII. List of Plants suitable for a Flower-Garden, which, it is found by Experience, are not liable to be eaten by Hares. By P. FROST, Gardener, Dropmore.

THE following list of plants contains those which, when bedded out at Dropmore, are seldom gnawed or bitten by hares or rabbits, &c.; except those that are distinguished in the list by an asterisk, which are sometimes gnawed when newly planted. Newly planted things are more liable to injury than such as have been in the ground some time.

ART. IX. On some of the Advantages attending the Culture of Hardy Annuals. By JOHN CAIE, Gardener to His Grace the Duke of Bedford, at Bedford Lodge, Cambden Hill.

THE regularity and neatness which constitute good keeping in the flower-garden, however desirable they may be in other respects, tend to do away with many of those invaluable plants called hardy annuals; because their reproduction from selfsowing cannot take effect when high keeping is adhered to. The suitableness of these annuals to the climate of this country, when sown in autumn, or permitted to sow themselves, is such as to render them truly useful; and their value was fully proved here in the spring of the present year. During the cold weather which prevailed at that season, not a few of the plants, the seeds of which were introduced into this country from North America by the late Mr. Douglas, were here apparently in their proper element. As soon as the cold weather ceased, they came into blossom, and made a brilliant display; a circumstance which goes far to prove not only their importance for an early show of flowers, but their adaptation for ornamenting borders of plantations; especially as many of them are not likely to be eaten by hares or rabbits. As we do not consider groups of such plants, when in a state of maturity and in seed, in character with the good keeping which

is necessary at an early period of the season in the flowergarden, it will be indispensably requisite to have a piece of ground set apart for the growth of such, where they will remain permanently; and which will prove a store-garden, to which the gardener may resort when plants are wanted to produce certain effects; such, for instance, as a show of flowers, previous to the summer-flowering plants coming into blossom. But, notwithstanding their suitableness for a spring show, many of them will continue flowering pretty well during the summer months. The following list contains a few of the plants recommended:

Enothera Lindleyana, purple.

álbicans, white.
decumbens, purple.
vimínea, purple.

Clarkia pulchella, purple.

élegans, pinkish purple.

Gília tricolor, whitish.
achille@folia, blue.

Madia élegans, yellow.
Collòmia grandiflora, pink.

Collòmia lineáris, red.
Nemophila insígnis, blue.

Collinsia grandiflòra, blue and white.
vérna, blue and purple.
bícolor, pinkish.

Leptosiphon densiflorus, lilac.
androsàceus, lilac.

Chrysèis (Eschscholtzia) cròcea,

orange. califórnica, yellow.

ART. X. Notice of some new, or little known, Sorts of culinary Vegetables, cultivated in the North Riding of Yorkshire. By J. B. WHITING.

A KIND of Celery is grown here, which is not noticed in the Encyclopædia of Gardening, and, probably, is unknown in the south; but its merit is so great, that it deserves general cultivation. It is called, here, the Flat-stalked; one of its distinguishing characters being the great breadth and flatness of its leafstalks, which are white, and perfectly solid. The leaves are large and spreading, pale green, with broader leaflets, and more obtuse serratures, than the common white.

In the spring of 1836, I received an excellent Lettuce, called the Asiatic Cabbage, from Messrs. Backhouse of York. It is not a very large lettuce; but it cabbages particularly well, and stands a long time without running to flower. The leaves are pale yellowish green. We have here another very superior cabbage-lettuce, seeds of which were received, some years ago, from the London Horticultural Society, under a French name. It is larger than the preceding sort, rather darker in colour, and the leaves are slightly speckled with brown.

We grow here a Broccoli, which frequently attains an enor mous size. In 1835, I measured two heads, one of which was 1 ft. 11 in. across, and 3 ft. 1 in. in circumference; the other was 1 ft. 6 in. across, and 2 ft. 10 in. round. It is called Metcalf's Gray; having, as I understand, been originated by a gardener named Metcalf. In flavour, it is inferior to many other sorts.