Geraniums, fuchsias,
myrtles, hydrangeas and camellias grow to a considerable size, and
flourish through the winter at Penzance and round Falmouth; and in the
Scilly Isles a great variety of exotics may be seen flourishing in the
open air. Stone fruit, and even apples and pears, do not attain the same
full flavour as in the neighbouring county, owing to the want of dry
heat. The pinaster, the _Pinus_ _austriaca_, _Pinus insignis_ and other
firs succeed well in the western part of the county. All native plants
display a perfection of beauty hardly to be seen elsewhere, and the
furze, including the double-blossomed variety, and the heaths, among
which _Erica vagans_ and _ciliaris_ are characteristic, cover the
moorland and the cliff summits with a blaze of the richest colour. On
the whole the climate is healthy, though the prevalent westerly and
south-westerly winds, bringing with them great bodies of cloud from the
Atlantic, render it damp; the mean annual rainfall, though only 32.85 in.
at Bude, reaches 44.41 at Falmouth, and 50.57 at Bodmin.

_Agriculture._--About seven-tenths of the total area is under
cultivation, but oats form the only important grain-crop. Turnips,
swedes and mangolds make up the bulk of the green crops. The number of
cattle (chiefly of the Devonshire breed) is large, and many sheep are
kept; nearly 60,000 acres of hill pasture being recorded. As regards
agricultural produce, however, Cornwall is chiefly famous for the
market-gardening carried on in the neighbourhood of Penzance, where the
climate is specially suitable for the growth of early potatoes, broccoli
and asparagus. These are despatched in large quantities to the London
market; the Scilly Isles sharing in the industry. Fruit and flowers are
also grown for the market. In the valleys the soil is frequently rich
and deep; there are good arable and pasture farms, and the natural
oak-wood of these coombes has been preserved and increased by
plantation.

_Mining._--The wealth of Cornwall, however, lies not so much in the
soil, as underground and in the surrounding seas. Hence the favourite
Cornish toast, "fish, tin and copper." The tin of Cornwall has been
known and worked from a period anterior to certain history. There is no
direct proof that the Phoenician traders came to Cornwall for tin;
though it has been sought to identify the Cassiterides (q.v.) or Tin
Islands with the county or the Scilly Isles. By ancient charters the
"tinners" were