* * * * *
_On Planting Poor Light Land_.
Besides paring and burning, and trenching the soil previous to making
the plantation, Mr. Withers, (who received the large silver medal from
the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, &c. London, for experiments
conducted on the subject in Norfolk,) spreads on it marl and farmyard
dung, as for a common agricultural crop, and at the same time keeps the
surface perfectly free from weeds by hoeing till the young trees have
completely covered the ground. The progress that they make under this
treatment is so extremely rapid, as apparently to justify, in _an
economical point of view_, the extraordinary expenses that attend it. In
three years, even oaks and other usually slow growing forest trees have
covered the land, making shoots by three feet in a season, and throwing
out roots well qualified, by their number and length, to derive from the
subsoil abundant nourishment, in proportion as the surface becomes
exhausted.--_Trans. Soc. Arts_.
_The Air Plant_.
Prince Leopold has succeeded in bringing to perfection that
extraordinary exotic, the air plant. It is suspended from the ceiling,
and derives its nourishment entirely from the atmosphere.
_Potato Flour_.
The farina, or meal, obtained from potatoes is now regularly sold in the
markets of Scotland. It is _stated_ to be quite equal to genuine arrow
root; but this is quite a mistake, unless the nutritious properties of
arrow root have been overrated. Sir John Sinclair has devoted much of
his time to the preparation of the flour; but as we gave his process
many weeks since, it is not necessary to repeat it here.
* * * * *
Kynaston's Cave.
[Illustration]
We are indebted to the portfolio of an interesting lady correspondent
for the original of the above engraving. The ingenious draughtswoman
states the drawing to have been taken during a recent tour; and our
readers will allow it to be _fair sketch_. By way of rendering it
unique, we append the following description from the same fair hand:--
From Shrewsbury to the Ness Cliff, (on the road to Ceriogg Bridge,)
there is in the scenery little worthy of remark, until we approach
the latter place, when the cliff on the right hand, and the Brathyn
mountains (Montgomeryshire) on the left of the traveller, produce a
very picturesque effect; and the post-house of Ness Cliff commands an
extensive and lovely view of mountainous and champagne country. At this
place we were invited to see a curious cave cut in the rock, which was,
in the sixteenth century, the residence of one Humphrey Kynaston, a
notorious bandit. This, however, was not his own work, since Ness Cliff,
having been worked as a quarry, the cave, either by accident or design,
was wrought by the labourers, and used by them as _salle à manger_,
dormitory, or tool-house, according to circumstances. We proceeded to it
by a broad rising walk of red sand, delightfully wooded, and presenting
an enchanting view of the Brathyn and Wrekin, as well as the country for
some miles round. At the end of this walk is a gate, which opens into a
small grove; proceeding a little into which, we saw the cave in the high
red cliff immediately before us. We ascended by a considerable flight of
narrow and rugged steps cut from the solid rock: the interior of this
curious place is as black as a coal-mine, and a partition, more than
half the way across, divides the part where Kynaston used to reside
by day from that in which he slept and _kept his horse_, for he had
actually the ingenuity to make the animal ascend and descend the stairs
above-mentioned. The robber's initials, and the date of the year in
which we may suppose he cut them, appear on the partition just opposite
the entrance. The romance of the place was not a little augmented by the
appearance of its inhabitant, (a blacksmith,) whose tall, thin figure,
and whose pale, wild, and haggard countenance, well accorded with the
singularity of his abode. He read for our amusement and _instruction_,
I conceive, a few choice passages from a well-thumbed penny pamphlet,
purporting to contain the veritable history of the adventurous Kynaston;
from whence it appeared that Master Humphrey was a gentleman, like "that
prince of thieves," Robin Hood, stealing from the rich to give to the
poor, avenging the innocent, and chivalrous where ladies, or the lure of
plunder, called forth his prowess; that his depredations were numerous,
even in the face of day, and in the teeth of his enemies; and yet that
those who admired and sided with him were for a considerable period the
terror of the whole legal force who were on the alert to seize him. This
interesting memoir was recited by the son of Vulcan, with an enthusiasm
and delectable pronunciation, that could only be appreciated by hearing
it, and was altogether inimitable. Strange! thought I, that this cave,
once the residence of a robber, should now have become that of a
_forger_.