HARVARD UNIVERSITY LEB RA RY OF THE GRAY HERBARIUM Received \%S “Duss. ; i aap bse -~2Ba es. . Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015 https://archive.org/details/journalofroyalho22roya a a a we rt ree -—————_-— CONTENTS. PAGE Fruit Growing in California. By Mr. S.C. Lamb, F.R.H.S. —... 3 ihe 1 Orchids in Guiana. By Mr. Everard F. im Thurn, F.R.H.S. — ... ee it A Floral Demonstration. By the Rev. Professor Henslow, M.A., V.M.H.... sae Cooking Vegetables. By Dr. Bonavia, F.R.H.S. ... be non ie OO Horticultural Soils. By Mr. J. J. Willis ... aa iat eet 65 Notes on the Flora of Australia. By Mr. G. H. Adcock, FE. R.H. 5. “a cn BO Examination in Horticulture, 1898... o a % Ha ‘ey se 08 Trees and Shrubs in the Isle of Wight. By Mr. S. Heaton, F.R.H.S. ... ave 108 Width of Tires on Wagon Wheels ... ves ae sie sis ead meee Ait Report on Hoes —_... ae os oa ae a nA; Tis sere FLO Report on Radishes .. ao 3 ne a3 ck a v3 een 148 The late Mr. John Weir ah xis an aA as a ee IG The R.H.S. and Railway Hei caniee Bed SN ee eae AG Prizes for Flavour in Apples and Pears 3 ae open tome LES a Tnlaect BI Blights and Blessings. - By ‘Mr. Fred Enook,t FLL. s su 125 Fragrant Leaves v. Sweet-scented Flowers. By Mr. F. W. Burbidge, M. A. V.M. H. 134 Perfumes and the Plants which afford them. By Mr. F. W. Burbidge, M.A.,V.M.H. 153 Books on Perfumes: By Mr. F. W. Burbidge, M.A., V.M.H. — ... : 168. Chemistry of Perfumes. By Mr. F. W. Burbidge, M. A., ¥.M.H.2. a een I fe 3 List of Plants Exhibited at the Lecture on Fragrant bedves thea 175 Observations on Plants Exhibited May 10. ae the Rev. Prof. . Henslow, M. A, V.M.H. ... “ie 176 Hybrid Orchids. By Mr. Janes O’Brien, V. M.H.. ; Ds 2116 Advantages of Physiological Knowledge. By the Ray: Prof. Henslow: M. A, V.M. H. 185 Observations on Plants Exhibited June 28. ey the Rev. Prof. . Henslow, M.A., Y.M-H, =. Ke «a 190 _ The Nepenthes of hietenlies: By Mp. F. Manson iaiey 4 ks Tx = 192 - Report on Raspberries grown at Chiswick, 1896-8 oe bye see :.. 201 Report on Black Currants grown at Chiswick, 1897-8 ... Fs 2a SEEN Report on Peas grown at Chiswick, 1898... au ecg oe ay we £204 Report on Peaches and Nectarines at Chiswick, 1897-8... ae aa see 208 Report on Potatos grown at Chiswick, 1898 _... ae a ser eee Report on Lettuces grown at Chiswick, 1898 _... 38 ay ss we D2E Report on French Beans grown at Chiswick, 1898 S. sdptee Meee ae ey Report on Onions grown at Chiswick, 1897-8... a 3th see arate ny 2201 ____Report on Tomatos grown at Chiswick, 1898... ees vse es wes 288 ~ Chiswick Meeting, July 4 site is ee a eek Garden Peas. By Mr. N. N. ser pected. V. M. Hie ian 239 Origin of asus Glas Varieties. By the Rev. Prof. Gen: Hensiow, M. A, V.M.H. 261 Economic tigae of Bambooe: “By Mr. A. B. Freeman Mitford, C. B. sg i200 List of Bamboos in Cultivation ... pes + F838 Hybrid Water-lilies. By M. Robert Catour: erlio’ eda Le by A ORF - Water-lilies. By Mr. James Hudson, V.M.H. hs x ‘ee wi 2os Bs ee Strawberries. By M. Henry de Vilmorin, F. aa ee eSoft Disa Grandiflora. By Mr. F. W. Birkinshaw «ww Se adn soe 926 - Suburban Fruit Growing. By Mr. es i Sasi: feet os we .. 304 ~ Handbook of Insects. By Miss Ormerod .. 53 e's 5 im ft 846 ~ Cannas at Chiswick, 1898 ... si aa as¢ ae se ae ie “O4F Zonal Pelargoniums at Chiswick, 1897-8 .. Sees ia Be Pe cen OOd - Violas at Chiswick, 1898 _ ... sn ae ay ies Ae 9) ve EA ‘Annual Flowers at Chiswick, 1898. fe A be Fe: 1 386 _ Miscellaneous Plants grown at Chiswick, 1898 fe Sie es seek Nad OOe * Beetroot al Chiswick, 1898 .. ee saa SAC we a ses, ~ O90 _Mis 20US Vegetables at Chiswick, 1898 : ‘Extracts from the the Proceedings ‘of the OBIE General Meetings... —.. anaes e gecenirndd = et tae: uae i Report for the Year 1897-98 a4 rf aes 3 PS feet eet aoa ty Scientific Committee... ro Bia} Ss = Ad er iar XV Fruit and Vegetable Ramiipittog. se ae iF an ey Sade KMIV Floral Committee thd bss = fh ag we oF wee KEK ___ Orchid Committee _--. igs’ of sent mem ape MIR x: _ General Meetings of the Society Pa Temple Show og RS he ES Scientific Committee Meetings ... aa “a us ae cod UR Fruit and Vegetable Committee Meetings =e MS cagie oss XV Floral Committee Meetings iv duh =e aero es = wee AXXii Orchid Committee Meetings ... Ss ai Re se me tree Vr ) us Committee Meetin S . ani tte” jane wie I Pads aoe UVES © Genera Meetings... ... ms a eh ~ Deputation to Nawoastle. Live WEE BE TREO BE ee Oxi Scientific Committee Meetings rae ie cae Ppt eae og OXxV - Fruit and Vegetable Committee Meetings 3 Floral Committee Meetings sesh aads BERS Sa Vos = ERESIV - Orchid Committee Meetings a ehh a - Important Notices to Fellows | Ses ae 238 as Jeet Fe eee ee ene en She a pn Ne re 7 herave~ GNX aoe aee eee JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCLETY, Vou. XXII. 1898. Part I, FRUIT GROWING IN CALIFORNIA, By Srpney C. Lams, F'.R.H.S. GEOGRAPHICALLY considered, California is one of the most favoured districts on the American continent. The Pacific Ocean washes its entire western shore. To the east lie several lesser ranges of mountains, backed up by the Rockies. The Oregon State line is a continuation of California northward, while to the south, genial and balmy Mexico abuts in such a friendly way that the traveller must needs inquire where one country ends and the other begins. Thus it is that, tempered by warm trade winds from the ocean, and lofty mountain ranges protecting us from the HKast—where the land is frozen in winter and scorched in summer—Nature has smiled upon us and placed every possible need of mankind within our reach The early history of California is so closely interwoven with romance and uncertainty as to be in a sense surrounded by mystery. The ruins of ancient Aztec architecture indicate a remote civilisation of which we know hardly anything, and while students have endeavoured to trace connections along our B 2 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. western coast line from North-eastern Russia, across Behring Strait, their researches have not been satisfactory. On the other hand, ethnological evidences everywhere prevail in the south. Ruins, races, customs, civilisation, and religion all point to the habitation of California by the Spanish. It was not until April 11, 1769, that the first white settlers arrived and settled in San Diego, California. On July 16 of the same year some Franciscan friars, under Father Junipero Serra, founded a mission at that place. Between this date and 1828 no less than twenty-one missions were founded in various portions of the State, and with them came the first European civilisation. Events followed rapidly from this date. From a grazing, pastoral country, the discovery of gold, in 1847, led to immediate and unprecedented immigra- tion, until in 1850, the State of California was formally admitted to the Union. Its rapid strides since that period are too well known to need mention here. Cities and towns abound; pro- sperity reigns; our future looks bright beyond compare. The county which deals more particularly with our subject is that of ‘* Santa Clara,’”’ the county which has been termed the land of ‘ Sunshine, Fruit, and Flowers.’’ Santa Clara is situated in one of the most delightfully attractive districts of the State. (Fig. 1.) An arm of San Francisco Bay and Alameda County bound it on the north; Stanislaus and Merced Counties on the east; San Benito County on the south-east; while to the south-west and west lie Santa Cruz and San Mateo Counties. Just inland enough to soften any possible ocean winds that may prevail, being separated from the ocean by the Santa Cruz or “coast range”? of moun- tains on the west, the north breeze from the bay renders the warmest days of summer unoppressive, the mercury rarely rising above 90 degrees, and hardly ever falling below 35 degrees, with a mean temperature of about 60 degrees Fahrenheit. It contains in round numbers 1,000,000 acres of land, of which about 250,000 acres lie in the valley, some 300,000 acres in rolling hills and slopes, the remainder being mountains, some rough and wooded, some full of springs and running streams, and abounding in many kinds of game and mountain trout. Of our climate, temperature, soils, products, &c., full information will be found under their respective heads elsewhere. Suffice it FRUIT GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 8 here to state that we have room for a million people, but only want the best. Of our seasons it may be said we have but two, “wet” and “dry,’’ though the terms are misleading and convey impressions foreign to the facts. The following “ pen picture ”’ of our procession of the seasons, written by the late Judge Belden, is so true and terse that I think I may be pardoned if I present it here entire. ‘Beginning with the month of October, the signs of a coming change are apparent. The winds, no longer constant from one quarter, become variable both as to direction and force, or wholly cease. Sudden blasts raise miniature whirlwinds of dust and leaves which troop over the fields, and the stillness of the night is broken by fitful gusts and the sudden wail of the trees, as the breath of the coming winter sweeps through them. These are the recognised precursors of the season’s change, and are usually followed in the first ten days of October by an inch or more of rain, and this, usually, by weeks of the finest weather. The effect of these first rains is magical. The dust is washed from the foliage, and is laid on the roads and fields. The air has a fresh sparkle and life. The skies are of a deeper azure, and the soft brown hills seem nearer and fairer than before. It is the Indian summer of the East; but, instead of the soft lassitude of the dying year, here it comes with all the freshness and vigour of the new-born spring. If in this and the succeeding months there are further showers, the grass grows up on every hand, and the self-sown grain in all the fields. The hills change their sober russet for a lively green. Wild flowers appear in every sheltered nook. Hyacinths and crocuses bloom in the gardens, and the perfume of the violet is every- where in the air. In the latter part of November the rainy season is fully established. A coming storm is now heralded by a strong, steady wind, blowing for a day or two from the south-east, usually followed by several days of rain, and these are succeeded by days or weeks without a cloud—and thus alternating between occasional storms and frequent sunshine is the weather from October to April—the rainy season in Cali- fornia. The amount of rain that falls varies materially with the locality. In San José it is from 15 in. to 20 in., while in places not ten miles distant twice that amount is recorded. During this period there are from thirty to forty days on which Ba (oot as S LD PAcnew. iy, QMAY FE. B CAMPBELL RATOGAR SARA SAN TOMAS fs.) 7, ‘y -——— \S « eee % *Pesceces RAUOENI Teens Ge © C8 . — wm S = is} a ss] = ° ee wR ° a _ Ey > o _ — FRUIT, GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 5 more or less rain falls; from fifty to seventy days that are cloudy; the rest bright and pleasant. These estimates will vary with particular seasons; but, taking the average of a series of years, it will be found that, from October to April, one- half of the days are cloudless, and fully three-fourths such that any out-door vocation can be carried on without discomfort or inconvenience. Cyclones and wind storms are wholly unknown, and thunder is only heard at rare intervals, and then as a low rumble forty miles away in the mountains. With the month of March the rains are practically over, though showers are ex- pected and hoped for in April. Between May 1 and 10 a slight shower may not be unexpected, but it causes no particular damage or inconvenience. By the first of July the surface mois- ture is taken up and dissipated, and plant growth dependent on this ceases. The grasses have ripened their seed, and, self- cured and dried, are the nutritious food of cattle and sheep. The fields of grain are yellow and ripe, and wait but the reaper. Forest trees and shrubs have paused in their growth. This, to the vegetable world, is the season of rest. This is the winter of the Santa Clara Valley—winter, but strangely unlike winter elsewhere, for here man has interposed. Here, by art and by labour, he has reversed the processes of Nature and constrained the courses of the seasons. In gardens bright with foliage and resplendent with flowers there is spring in its freshness and beauty, while, in orchards teeming with fruits, and in vineyards purple with ripening grapes, summer and autumn vie for supremacy. And so, with changing beauty and ceaseless fruition, pass the seasons of this favoured clime.”’ Concerning the topography of Santa Clara County, it may be said that, while lying in about the same latitude as Italy and Southern France, it has a climate all its own, and advantages possessed by no other country. The valley was originally a lake or river bed. As one has well written, ‘‘ When the waters receded they left a sedimentary deposit more fertile than that of the valley of the Nile. To this deposit the succeeding centuries have added the rich washings of the hills, combining such mineral elements as are most conducive to plant growth and production. The ancient lake-bed has been transformed into a fertile plain that now produces a larger income than any other territory of equal area on the face of the globe.” 6 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. Our CLIMATE. Of our climate a book could be written. It is peculiar to itself, and we do not understand it. More noticeable in the spring-time than at any other period of the year, winds which rise about noon every day rush through the Golden Gate, are deflected against the mountains to the east, and produce the delicious breezes of our summer days. JBeing sheltered by mountains from the ocean, harsh winds occur but at the rarest intervals; fogs are practically unknown; there are no sudden changes of heat and cold; blizzards, cyclones, and tornadoes are only read of elsewhere; severe thunderstorms are never ex- perienced; and the valley may be declared exempt from all disagreeable climatic visitations, with the exception of an earth- quake shock occasionally, but that not of a serious nature. During the very few days in summer when the thermometer runs the highest, the heat is rarely if ever oppressive, and sunstrokes are unknown. Our nights are delightfully cool and pleasant. During the winter months, while an occasional frost appears, and at rare intervals a little ice is seen, snow is of such rare occurrence in the valley that it becomes gleeful, and it is said to have occurred but three times in twenty-five years, disappearing almost as rapidly as it fell. This kind of weather, like the warm periods of summer, lasts but a few days. Noonday is nearly always warm and pleasant. In what we are pleased to call our “foothills,” also known as our ‘‘warm belt,’’ the most delicate flowers bloom in the open air throughout the year, and orange and lemon trees can be seen laden with fruit in January. Thus do we enjoy a climate that is unsurpassed, one that for health is unequalled, and where the highest development of all the products of our soil is brought about. The following table gives the temperature at San José (San Hosay), which is the county town of the Santa Clara County, for the years 1892 to 1895 inclusive :-— FRUIT GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 7 1892 1893 1894 1895 Month = $a) Ga 82|/9s|/8e|22|9a/3e 28 |8a/84)/ 28 me) 88) s£/s/ 38) 58) m2 /88) 58) m8 | 8) sf B/S" |S /E" A" | 28a" A" (28 la | a= 28 January eee | 65 | 3% | = | 65.) 85 | — | 64.| 26h. | 62°] 32 | — February . . | 67 | 35 | — | 67 | 36 | — | 65 | 32 | — | 69 | 37 | — Warcheaeeme |) 760) 42| =. 78 | 88 | == gan) apt | 71. | 36. | Marilee 74) 49), | 74 4ae | 2 goy | dor) = 78 | 43) Wayeeeeeee | 95: | 47105 | Obi) 45 | =9).86 |-45 | 1 | ey |.46,} 2 Joneses.) 90 | 527) 1 1 G4) 51 | 2 88) 50) 1-196 | 50') 5 july eee 100.) 53) 2 eo | 48 3 loi | 53 |.8 | 94 541 8 Auguste.) 96)| 54) 5 | 85 | 52/101 | 55 | 4-| 92'| 53) 4 September . | 87|50| 1 | 79 | 45 | —|97/50| 7 | 92] 50] 8 Octgues b..../|.85y42.) —- | 81. | 41) — | 88) 44 | -2 86 49} 4 Namemben (erlang ba | oa | = \ 16-40.) —— 84 |, 34. b— December. . /| 72 | 34 | — | 78 | 30 | — | 61 | 34 70 | 30 The above table shows the highest and lowest temperature, the hours of observation being 7 A.m. and 2 p.m. of each day in the month. Our Solu. The soil of Santa Clara County varies greatly in different localities, some parts being specially adapted to the cereals, others to vegetables, and still others to orchard fruits, small fruits, and the vine. Many fields are continuously planted with one kind of grain, and yield heavily. Wheat raised in the eastern portion, where the soilis somewhat gravelly, sells for the highest price and makes the best flour. Occasionally a stretch of ‘“‘ adobe ”’ soil is found, its adhesive qualities making it difficult to cultivate in wet weather, yet producing exceedingly heavy crops, and considered very valuable land. The district towards the Bay is given over more to grazing and small fruits. Running north-east to south-west, and directly through St. José, is probably the most fertile section of the valley. The rich bottom land adjoining the Los Gatos Creek, and locally known as “The Willows,” is the heaviest fruit-producing section in the world, and every kind of fruit appears to grow with equal luxuriance. And while our foot-hills are declared the native home of the grape, owing to the soil being of a dark brown sandy loam, quite unlike that of the valley, richer flavoured, more luscious fruit than is grown thereon, even to an altitude of 2,000 or 3,000 feet, is not grown anywhere. Finally it may be 8 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. said, that although many varieties of soil exist in our county, no theory of specialisation is safe from disapproval, for anything will grow anywhere, scores of orchards being planted with one or two kinds of fruit for the market, while for home use a dozen or twenty kinds of fruit and berries are grown on the same land. As to the depth of our soil, it is not considered; cultivation never reaches the bottom. WHAT WE GRow. What do we not grow? What is there raised on the habitable globe—from fancy trotting stock to Durhams or Hol- steins, from Southdowns to Berkshires, from Plymouth rocks to bronze turkeys, from wheat, rye, barley, alfalfa, corn, tobacco, cotton, or Rochester onion seed, along the whole category of fruits and vines to almond, fig, and olive orchards, and from edibles to drinkables from mammoth squash to giant beets— that this glorious Santa Clara County does not produce? Is it almonds, or English walnuts, or figs, or other semi-tropical fruits? Would you like some of our “Quito’’ olive-oil? Per- mit us to drive you nine miles distant, to an eighty-acre orchard where it is grown and made. Oranges for breakfast? Allright. Take your tickets for Los Gatos, “the town that nestles in the hills,” ten miles away. Please tell us what we do not grow here! Enumeration seems to us to be superfluous, because it would be almost impossible to enumerate everything in one brief paper. . Our RAINFALL. As already mentioned, the rainfall of Santa Clara County is all but exclusively confined to the months of October to March inclusive. An occasional shower in April, May, and even as late as the first few days of June does occur, but at rare intervals. From the following table, officially prepared for the Board of Trade of San José, it will be seen that the average rainfall for the past four years (which may be taken as a fair index of all preceding years) is 17°42 inches. FRUIT GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 9 1891-92 1892-93 1893-94 1894-95 abe bmtke| Was lawloele te ly at 2 Mou) Seubes los) Se |oelss| Sa |Ss\ss| 38 |selss Sem Sst eat ak Sh SRW SS Hire | coun aie ee eee ee eae, ee ee eee Sire eke ray EE ya hte bs Sep Ee ese ee i eh Pye S0eh=.| 146.) 1k 8 Oct jee) os |) 3 0d oa | 3 )-22-|29| &| 205 Lis |’ 7 Noe metcel on | es lle4oorl ase) 71 4-81 |-90+| to) 1:36 | Is) 3 Dae. eee ian! 19 | van | au 10. \) 1:69| 22) 9 |), | 29 | — Ten MMed hos. G eds gael) 8 | 47320 10) - | oq| 4 Hen nieeico | 51 | 8) 265 loa) 5 | 9-61 16 | 12) = | 98 | — Mar. | 475 |22| 9| 512|21/10| -69127| 4| -o5 | 25] 2 April] -65|25| 5| 135/23| 7/ -63/25| 5/| -83|20|] 5 May | 1:20/26| 5| -30/28| 3| 1:36] 25] 6| 108 | 22] 5 Tees oy set 22 lib sor l=. Vf hago bear lh -eal ag) 7 Totl. | 1611 1307 | 59 | 25-27 1312 | 53 | 12-92 [305 | 60 15-37 242 | 60 | | | DESTINATION. Our fruit goes in three different channels. 1. A large quantity goes to fruit driers, where it is dried, and then shipped to the Kastern States and to Kurope. 2. A large proportion is canned ; it is sent to canneries, where it is prepared, canned, and shipped the same as dried fruit. 8. The rest is shipped green to San Francisco and other large cities and towns. Grapes are made into wine, jelly, and also shipped with other fresh fruit for immediate eating. There is also one place where evaporated grape juice of medicinal and nutritive worth is made. ALVISO. Around Alviso, which is a port in the north of the county, the soil is very fertile. Itis a heavy black loam, formed of silt brought down from the mountains by the Guadalupe river and Coyote Creek, and peat formed by the decomposition of vegetable matter. This makes one of the richest combinations possible, and seems inexhaustible. It is one of the best in the world for vegetables, berries, and small fruits ; and it is safe to say that in the years to come the Alviso district will be one of the most noted 10 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. berry-growing districts in the United States, as the rich soil, cheap freights, and artesian water plainly indicate. The perishable nature of berries gives Alviso a great advan- tage over more distant points. More than one-half of the straw- berries consumed in San Francisco are grown in the vicinity of Alviso. The varieties usually grown are the Longworth and the Sharpless. The price received varies from 10s. to 24s. per chest, and the profit from £15 to £100 per acre. Apples do not acquire the flavour nor possess the keeping qualities which characterise those grown in the mountains; but they attain a greater size, and as the market is near they are erown very profitably. The crops are larger than are usually obtained elsewhere. A good grower secures from 500 to 1,800 boxes per acre, and receives from 2s. to 4s. per box. Pears thrive also in an unusual manner, and are generally profitable. They seem to assimilate any unusual amount of moisture in the soil to better advantage than most other fruit trees. ; The price of Pears varies more than the price of some other fruits, however, and for this reason they are not always so highly profitable. A well-kept Bartlett pear orchard, however, is generally remunerative. This low land is the very best for Asparagus, and more than two-thirds of the amount consumed in San Francisco is grown at Alviso. Thecrop varies from 75 to 125 50 1b. boxes per acre. The price ranges from 3s. to 12s. a box, and the gross income is from £5. 10s. to £45 per acre. Tomatos are almost twice as profitable here as in the Eastern States, as the season is twice as long, the fruit is twice as large, and the output per acre more than twice as great. Raspberries and Blackberries are grown extensively, as they are at home in the silty, peaty soil of the low lands, and bear prodigious crops. Raspberries usually sell from £1 to £1. 12s. per chest of 100 lb. The income ranges from £35 to £100 per acre. Alfalfa, grain, and nearly all fruits and vegetables grow thriftily. Alfalfa cannot be grown profitably except in places where it can be irrigated. In this county its culture is confined almost exclusively to the artesian districts. It is cut six times a year. If it is cut less frequently the stalks grow too rank. FRUIT GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 11 The price per ton is about £9. 10s., though it is occasionally as much as £10. Sugar beets are now being grown to some extent, as the refinery at Alvarado is but fourteen miles distant. The price per ton ranges from 22s. to 25s., and the product per acre from twenty to forty tons. The following table shows the relative value of the different srades of dried prunes, reckoned with reference to quotations applicable to the four sizes. By “four sizes” is meant four grades of prunes, namely :— (1) Those requiring between 60 to 70 prunes to weigh a lb. (2) 39 99 9 70 9 80 1) +e] (3) ” 92 9) 80 9 90 ” 9 (4) 9 ” ’) 90 9 100 ” ” The term “four sizes’? used commercially means equa] quantities of those grades ; that is, a twelve-ton car load of the four sizes contains three tons of each of the four grades. The different grades, of course, have different values, which are computed with reference to the basis price for the four sizes universally used as the sizes upon which to base values. The relative value of the various grades when prices are quoted for the ‘‘four sizes’? may be seen at a glance by consulting the following table, which was prepared by F. M. Righter, Esq., the President of the Campbell Fruit-Growers’ Union :— BASIS PRICE FOR THE FOUR SIZES. ~_ Sizes of Prunes, | | | | | | oe een 8 that is number | 3 |3$/34 |32| 4 4} |43 [42 | 5 57/54 53) 6 6} 64 6} | 7 74 \74 | 72 \cents required to | | paella calim Ch | | (d.) make 1 lb. | | | + | | hie | 30 to 40 [5452536 6262627 7372728 8183839 93929210 | 103 40 ,, 50 (425 5353526 67,65 63/7 \7z\73\72/8 84 83/829 |94| 93) 3 50 ,, 60 4445425 |5355 526 63 65/62|\7 |74/75|/72.8 |8383 83 OF t 60 ,, 70 [884 14342435 5252536 6262637 7472728 \8i 83} 83 70 ,, 80 8433334 /43/43/43)5 54,95 536 64\63\62 7 |74,73|72) 8 8 80 ,, 90 (223 133:33)33/4 4442435 [54 53 536 '6463/62.7 |7i! 72! 3 $0)» 5 100 24525 273 3g 35 32/4 4a 4o 425 54/53'526 (6462.63) 7 Tt 100 ,, 110 {12/2 |24/23/233 Brace 334 44414315 5z 53/5216 |64 63 2 LEO; 120 Maps? (2223)24)3 Paes on 47/45 435 apa 2) 6 < | 0S Vara ed | This is made out in American money, but a cent is worth 3d. of English money. 13 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, LABouUR MARKET. In Santa Clara County, for general farm work, the average wages are 4s. a day and board, or 6s. a day without board. A few pay more and some pay less. When fruit is picked by the day 6s. is usually paid without board. The average contract price for gathering prunes is 9s. a ton. When Grapes are picked by contract 4s. a ton is usually paid, though the Chinese and Japanese take contracts to pick as low as 3s. 9d., 3s. 4d., and even 8s. per ton. These men are a curse to California, and any other place where there are many of them. A man can pick from a ton to a ton and a half a day. Men working at fruit driers, engaged in carrying trays and handling fruit, receive from 5s. to 6s. per day without board. SHIPPING GREEN Fruit Fast. Whether it pays best to dry fruit or ship it green depends upon the quality and variety of the fruit. The quality, in turn, depends upon the soil in which the fruit is grown, and the climatic conditions by which it is surrounded. Asa rule, fruit grown in the mountains has better keeping qualities than that which is grown in the valleys. The quality of fruit, however, depends upon so many things that itis not possible to deal definitely with altitude. Shippers claim that cherries produced in the Santa Clara Valley keep better than those from any other part of the State. This claim, however, may have to be modified when cherries are more extensively grown in our mountain districts. Our cherries are now shipped in refrigerator cars to New York, Boston, Chicago, and nearly all the principal cities in the Kast. Santa Clara County is also noted for its autumn and winter pears. There are other districts which send out Bartlett pears equally good, both as to flavour and keeping qualities with those raised here ; but their autumn and winter pears are not in such demand as ours. Shippers often send them to the East in ventilated cars, and on arrival they are placed in cold storage, where they keep through the winter till as late as March and April. Thus they are in market at a time when the season for other fruits has closed, and as a result bring high prices. Good table grapes are also shipped East profitably in refrigerators. FRUIT GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 13 The varieties that are the most satisfactory for this purpose here are the Verdel, Muscat, and Cornichon, and, as a rule, those ex- hibiting the best keeping qualities come from that portion of the county known as the Santa Cruz mountain district. Some of the Cornichons grown in the valley keep well enough for Eastern shipment, and all of the best varieties of table grapes may be profitably grown for the San Francisco market. Asa rule, the fruits that may be most profitably shipped Hast, green, are cherries, grapes, plums, and pears. The profits realised, of course, depend upon the quality of the fruit, the condition of the market, and the care exercised in properly supplying the demand. If the grower deals with some well-known agent, he gets all that the fruit will bring in the Eastern market, after the freight is paid, less 7 or 8 per cent. commission. Freight rates on green fruit from San José to Hastern cities are usually quoted per car load. With a view of securing greater detail the rate here is given per box. Cherries are always shipped in 10-lb. boxes; pears in 40-lb. boxes; and plums, peaches, and grapes in 20-lb. boxes. From San José to Kansas City or Omaha the freight charges are: for cherries, per 10-lb. box, 94d.; pears, per 40-lb. box, 3s. 64d.; plums and grapes, per 20-lb. box, 1s. 83d.; peaches, per 20-lb. box, 1s. 44d. From San José to Chicago, St. Paul, or Minneapolis: Cherries, per box, 95d.; pears, per box, 3s. 6d.; plums and grapes, per box, 1s. 9d.; peaches, per box, 1s. 44d. From San José to St. Louis: Cherries, 93d. ; pears, 3s. 7d.; plums and grapes, 1s. 9}d.; peaches, 1s. 54d. From San José to New York or Philadelphia: Cherries, 1s.; pears, 4s. 3d.; plums and grapes, 2s. 24d.; peaches, 1s. 9d. At present the most successful and satisfactory method of shipping green fruit to great distances is in refrigerators. The price of freight will not be higher, and will probably be lower within the next few years. The freight to San IT rancisco is low. It sometimes pays better, however, to ship East. MontTHs, SEASONS, AND WHAT THEY Brina. In most countries the year is divided into four seasons, the lines between which are so definitely defined, that not only may spring, summer, autumn, and winter be distinguished, but may be outlined by months in the almanack. In California the 14 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. seasons merge into one another so gently, and the line between them is so dimly defined, that it can only be designated as existing between two dates some distance apart. In this State the year is generally divided into what are termed the wet and dry seasons, but this does not properly designate nor appro- priately define them. Summer lingers so long in the lap of winter that set calculations cannot be relied upon. In September come the first perceptible indications of ap- proaching change from the bright, warm, sunshiny days of summer. ‘The nights become the least bit cooler. From a mean temperature of 60 deg. shown in August, the thermometer drops to 58 deg. on an average in September; ranging from 60 deg. to 70 deg. in the daytime. About the only fruit that makes its first appearance in September is the pomegranate. The bulk of the fruit crop has been gathered, though some yet hangs on the trees. Almonds are almost ripe, and grapes are ready to be picked. All kinds of vegetables are yet in the market, and flowers bloom as usual. Farmers who have grown care- less because of the long drawn-out summer afternoons have hay uncovered in the field, or perhaps a stack of wheat yet waiting to be threshed. The days are a shade cooler towards the end of the month, with just a suggestion of haziness. A shower at this time would be very unusual. In October come more prominent signs ofchange. Yetthey are signs which would be almost imperceptible to one not acquainted with the peculiarities of our climate. The air grows hazy and seems oppressive. Smoke rises slowly and hangs over the valley or along the mountain slopes. The winds are no longer constant from any quarter, but become variable, both as to direction and force. Perhaps they cease. Perhaps sudden blasts send leaves fluttering down from the trees or whirl the dust along the road. The days are cooler, and the peculiarly dry feeling which characterises the air in summer is replaced by one of dampness. Dark lead-coloured clouds drift across the valley and clouds may hang over the mountain tops, but it does not rain. It is just getting ready. No one is justified in purchasing an umbrella in the Santa Clara Valley upon the mere suggestion of a rain cloud. The first clouds that come are evanescent. They go floating lazily over the valley, and their shadows play hide and seek on hill and dale—but still it does not rain. Then some day the air FRUIT GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 15 feels chilly and the sky is dark. There is a distant roar in the cafion and a white mist in the air. The atmosphere grows darker, and a few scattering drops are heard on the roof, and then comes a soft, gentle shower. No snow with it, of course, no sleet, no wild winds; just a nice warm rain. It may rain until three o’clock in the morning, when it usually ceases until just before daylight, when another shower may be expected. The clouds then commence to clear away, and by ten o’clock the sun is shining, and Nature looks cheerful and refreshed. In the early part of October rain may fall every few days until an inch or more has fallen. Then there will probably be a week or more when the weather will be clear. The sky is of a brighter blue, and the hills have grown darker. If more rain falls the sunny slopes commence to lose their sober russet and take on a vernal hue. Mushrooms break through the sod, and a few wild flowers push up their tiny leaves. In November rain usually falls more frequently, and the rainy season is generally established by the latter part of the month. It occasionally happens that it commences late, and but little rain falls previous to the 1st of December. If the season is an average one, about 3°89 in. of rain will have fallen by the end of November. In the meantime the farmer has been ploughing the mellow earth and sowing the golden grain. The orchardist commences to prune his trees, and if the season is an early one, the vineyardist his vines. Rain may fall during a period of two or three days at a time, but there are usually during this month a great many sunshiny days, though they may be ushered in with a slight fog or a darkened sky. Farmers may work in the sun- shine during the greater part of the month, and are seldom inconvenienced by any severe or long-continued rain-storms. Blackberries, raspberries, and a few strawberries are still in the market, and all kinds of vegetables. A few light frosts have occurred along the creek-bottoms and in the lowlands. No snow has fallen, even upon Mount Hamilton, the tallest peak in the county, and upon its crest, 4,250 ft. above the sea, the Lick Observatory’s white dome yet frequently reflects the western sun. The rainy season, however, is now fully established. Along in December, however, a little snow will fall on the - mountain tops, and the air will be decidedly crisp. If in the night the wind dies down, the warm air will be drawn up the 16 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. mountain slopes, and frost will settle in the valley. In the lower and most exposed districts delicate flowers will be injured. Many plants that grow by the house or in other protected places will flourish and bloom all the winter. Along the foot-hills, at an elevation of from 400 to 1,800 ft., frosts will be very light or altogether absent. In the warmer foothill belts, oranges and lemons grow, and ripen throughout the winter. In the valley sunshine and shadow have been alternating. More rain falls here in December than in any other month, and yet there is considerable sunshine. There are about 3800 sunshiny days in the year. Hail falls occasionally, but no snow, unless it be a few stray flakes, and they usually melt before the ground is white. No snow has been seen in the towns along the foot of the Santa Cruz Mountains for at least eighteen years. The thermometer has ranged between 34 and 58 deg. above zero except on nights when frost occurred. It seldom registers less than 80 deg. above zero, and the lowest temperature we find recorded for the past decade is 22 deg. above zero. In January the rainfall will not be as great as it was in December, and the wind will be less vigorous. Yet nothing can be said which will certainly indicate days on which rain will or will not fall. In January, too, the wind is more capricious. During more than half the year the wind is quite methodical, and compared with those which visit other States, very gentle at all times. On the mountain tops a breeze blows quite steadily from the north-west in the day-time, summer and winter, in- creasing in force, of course, during the latter season. In the valley, however, wind-currents are influenced by the local topo- graphical conditions, and are mild or strong without regard to the conditions prevailing upon the mountain tops. Ploughing and sowing continue, trees are being planted, and orchardists are still pruning. Grass is growing rapidly, and vegetables are coming in. Onions, lettuce, carrots, beet, cabbage, turnips, and radishes we have with us always. In this month, however, new potatos and green peas are first seen in the market. The mean temperature of the month is 43°83 deg., with 80 deg. and 56°5 deg. as extremes. Once during the past ten years the thermometer fell to 25 deg., above zero, of course. The temperature never reaches zero in the Santa Clara Valley. In February there will be less rain and more sunshine than FRUIT GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 17 in January. The rainfall during this month seldom equals 2 in, The weather grows a little warmer, the mean temperature rising to 48°2 deg., with 35°5 deg. and 60°8 deg. as the extremes. A few orchardists still prune, but the work should end with the month, preferably sooner. There are usually a number of warm, sunshiny days, and these cause a few almond trees to blossom. March is still warmer, and almonds, peaches, plums, and cherries bloom profusely. The mean temperature is 52°3 deg., and the extremes 40°7 deg. and 63°9 deg. In this month the winds are variable, and more rain falls than in any month except December. ‘The average rainfall for March is 8°77, but the rain is warm, and trees, vines, and vegetables grow with increased and remarkable vigour. When April comes every orchard is a sea of flowers, and the air is full of perfume. Wild flowers tint the hillsides, birds fill the air with melody, and gentle breezes go laughing o’er the wheat. The average rainfall for the month is 1°85 in., and the mean temperature 50°1 deg. The thermometer has indicated as low as 87°4 deg., and as high as 64°8 deg.in April. As April passes away spring is preparing to leave and summer is ap- proaching. Strawberries are here, and will be seen in the markets until the latter part of November. Cherries, red and ripe, hang thick upon the trees, and every field is brilliant with wild flowers. In May there is usually very little rain. The average for this month is °53 of an inch. Haying commences in this month, and as a rule there is very httle danger of injury from rain. The average daily temperature is 57:9 deg., the lowest being 42°2 deg., and the highest 73°6 deg. June is one of the warmest months in the year, the average daily temperature being 58°7 deg., with a mean minimum of 41:4 deg., and a mean maximum of 76 deg. During this month the thermometer upon rare occasions registers 85, 90, or 95 deg. The highest figure reached during the past ten years was 104 deg. Apricots now come into the market. A few ripen in May, but now they are plentiful. The earlier varieties of peaches are ripe, and prunes are ripening; raspberries and currants are ripe, and it is the height of the cherry season. Strawberries and all kinds of vegetables are plentiful. The sun shines almost ~/¢ 18 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. uninterruptedly during this month, and there is never any rain. Haying is about completed, and grain is ripe. July is the hottest month of the year; the mean daily tem- perature being 63°3 deg., the lowest mean 45°6 deg., and the highest mean 81 deg. The temperature may upon occasion reach 90, 95, or 100 deg., the latter figures being unusual. No rain falls in July, none in August, and very little, if any, in September. The horticultural advantages we possess are due, in a great measure, to this fact. Summer rains would injure our fruits, berries, grapes, hay, and grain, and greatly interfere with the harvesting, curing, and packing processes. Melons are coming in, and apples, pears, and figs are ripening. Some varieties of grapes are ripe, such as the Sweet-waters. With the ushering in of August the heat of summer is gradually superseded by the coolness of autumn. So slowly does the change come that the mean daily temperature of August is but 3:2 deg. less than that of July. In this month the minimum temperature is 46°9 deg., and the maximum 79°30 deg. Nearly all kinds of fruits are being harvested. Water- melons and musk-melons are plentiful, and nectarines are getting ripe. Full forces are at work in canneries and driers. Then August merges into September; the latter month bringing weather so similar that the thermometer indicates a difference of less than 2 deg. in the mean temperature. Thus summer shades off into autumn, and another round is commenced. The seasons are separated by very fine lines, and it is difficult indeed to tell when a Santa Clara County winter ends and spring begins, or when spring ends and summer commences. It may be said that the elements are always gentle and the climate kind. In this valley it is a year without snow, without tornadoes, without blizzards, and with equable temperature, much sunshine, and long-continued fruitage. The figures quoted relating to rainfall apply more particularly to San José, where the average annual fall is 19°85 in. In most other districts of the county the rainfall is greater, the figures ranging from 30 in. in the northern portion of the valley, to 40 in., and even to 65 in. in some of the mountain districts. The heaviest rainfall occurs along the summits of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The temperature is a little lower on the mountain tops than in the valley, as the upper currents of the air are always cooler, FRUIT GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 19 Always mild and exceedingly equable, the climate of the Santa Clara County makes it the home of the olive, the orange, the vine, and the fig; the land of sunshine, fruit, and flowers. The price of -land in the Santa Clara County varies con- siderably, as it is influenced by numerous local conditions Land within a radius of three miles from San José suitable for fruit growing commands from £40 to £120 an acre, unimproved. Similar land from three to ten miles from that city may be had for from £30 to £60 an acre. Valley land still further from the city for from £15 to £30 an acre. It might here be well to give a few statistics of irrigation. There are in an acre 6,272,640 square inches. A stream 1 in. wide and 1 in. deep, flowing at the rate of four miles an hour, will give 6,082,560 in.in twenty-four hours. Sucha stream will therefore cover an acre of ground with water nearly 1 in. deep in twenty-four hours. This equals about 25,920 gallons. At Riverside, California, orchardists as a rule use an inch of water to three acres ; some an inch to five acres. The duty of water in Southern California as a whole, may be put at an inch to eight acres, and the cost of water, first charge, £7 to £12 for the right, and a further charge of 6s. to 10s. an acre per annum for general expenses. The duty of water in Santa Clara County is much ereater, owing to the character of the soil. There is at present no extensive system of irrigation in operation here. One, how- ever, is now being constructed. In the use of water for irrigation it may be estimated that 1,000 gallons of water a minute will irrigate an acre an hour of row crops, such as potatos, corn, &e., and it generally requires two men to handle this amount of water properly. An inch of water nominally will cover an acre of land. Upon the necessity for irrigation in this county there is a wide difference of opinion. In closing the first part of this brief sketch, I might say: “Tig pleasant through the loopholes of retreat, To peep at such a world as this.”’ 20 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, PART. II, HORTICULTURAL INTERESTS. California is the greatest fruit-growing State in the Union, and Santa Clara County is the most important horticultural district in the State. This fact is widely known, but com- paratively few are familiar with the factors which combine to produce this result. | One of the most important is the climate. Upon it successful and profitable horticulture very largely depends. Climate in turn depends upon the contour of the country and its relation to those influences which control meteorological conditions. The climate here is determined principally by the Japan current, which brings the heated waters of the Indian Ocean across the Pacific and sweeps our Californian shores from north to south. In the same way, but with a very decided difference, the New England shores are swept by cold currents from the Arctic Ocean, which bring from the frozen north great icebergs, which chill the waters. The Straits of Behring, on the other hand, are too narrow to allow the introduction into the Pacific of any con- siderable amount of water from the Arctic Circle, and there is not enough current to carry icebergs very far south. The Japan stream, therefore, has full sway, and currents of air from this warm water flow over California, modifying both the heat of summer and the cold of winter. Another factor which influences the climate kere is the contour of the coast and the topo- graphical features of the mainland. The Sierra Nevada and Cascade Mountains bend like a great arm around the country from Alaska to Mexico, shielding it to a great extent from the cold waves from the east, and forming a barrier which effectually prevents the warm air of the Japan current from spreading over the plains of Nevada. This reserves its full influence for California. The conditions are unique, and the resulting climatic effects are not experienced elsewhere. Local conditions are also peculiarly favourable. The valley is protected from harsh sea winds on the west by an unbroken range of mountains. The Coast Range on the east protects us from the cold winds, which in winter sweep from off FRUIT GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 91 the snows of the Sierra. Under the lee of the high ranges which form a barrier in Santa Clara County a warm temperature prevails. The cool winds, which are deflected toward the lower end of San Francisco Bay and into the valley, are moderated and greatly softened by the warmer air that rises from inter- vening vales. Thus we have higher summer and higher winter temperature than some localities not fifty miles distant. The chief characteristics of the Santa Clara Valley climate are, first, freedom from extremes of low temperature; second, an abundance of sunshine; and third, an atmosphere with a low percentage of humidity. All these are favourable to fruit growing, as it has been shown that perfect development of fruit depends upon heat, light, and a certain dryness of atmosphere, combined with a proper moisture of soil. In fruit growing a temperature above a certain minimum is found necessary for germination, another for chemical modification, a third for flowering, a fourth for ripening of seeds, a fifth for the elaboration of the saccharine juices, and a sixth for the development of aroma. Not only is heat a requisite, but long-continued sunshine as well. Without light there can be no fructification, though heat be given. The actinic rays are necessary to produce’ chemical changes. The cloudless skies and almost uninterrupted sunshine which prevail here are important factors in the development of fruit. The absence of clouds insures sunshine, and sunshine insures a higher and more uniform temperature. Uniformity is desirable. Hxtreme temperatures are fatal. In the east the percentage of humidity of atmosphere is high insummer. In Santa Clara County itis low. Dry air favours both the access and the action of light and heat. Sheets of vapour are in a great measure absorbent of both. The average cloudiness in the east is more than twice as much as in the Santa Clara Valley. The heat, continuous sunshine, and ary air with the extreme length of our growing season, combined with a rich soil, insure the characteristic excellence of our fruit. We have other marked advantages. Shipping ®* facilities are unexcelled. In the first place, San José (the county town) is a terminal point. Again it is only forty-eight miles from San * The word is used in America to include transit by land as well as by sea. 22. JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, Francisco, where there is a ready market for early fruits, and at all times for vegetables and berries. The advantage we have in gathering and handling fruit is also important. The rainless summers and great percentage of dewless nights enable us to dry fruit in the open air without protection day or night until late in the season. The fruit does not mould, because the peculiar dryness of the atmosphere is not favourable to fungoid growths. The Santa Clara Valley is one of the most extensive districts in the State which is, as a whole, suited to the growth of some valuable product. Nearly every acre in the valley, and the greater portion of the mountain land, is suited to fruit trees, vines, or vegetables. Different localities are suited to different fruits, as there is a variety of soil and climate, the latter being influenced by elevation and topography. The largest fruit canneries in the world are in operation in the vicinity of San José, and extensive fruit-drying establish- ments are located in every district. This is a feature of great value to the orchardist, as a great deal depends upon the facilities for preparing fruit for market. Prune growing is here the most extensive, and usually the most profitable fruit industry. The Prune grows well in nearly any portion of the valley, though it thrives best in soil that is not too heavy. It is easily cultivated and readily handled. As the fruitis dried, it does not have to be marketed immediately, and does not come under the head of “ perishable.’ The trees are as a rule planted 20 feet apart, which means 108 trees to the acre. They commence bearing the fourth year, and some- times in the third, and are in full bearing in the seventh. The yield will average 100 lbs. to the tree, and the fresh fruit fetches from 3d. to 3d. a lb. ‘The gross income, therefore, ranges usually from £20 to £40 an acre. Orchards in full bearing occasionally yield from £40 to £60 an acre. Next in importance, both as to acreage and profit, is the Apricot. The culture of this favourite fruit is limited exclusively to the Pacific coast, and only reaches perfection in California. This is one instance in which the climate of California does a perfect work ; for while the Apricot will grow elsewhere, it does not thrive ; and while it grows in nearly every section of the State, there is but one district which can compete with the FRUIT GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 93 Santa Clara Valley. Apricots grow best in the sedimentary soils. In this valley they commence to bear the third year, and the fourth year the crop pays a little more than the expenses. Thereafter the crops are usually large.” This fruit is always in demand, and the demand is increasing as the delicious flavour of the fruit is becoming better known. Either dried or canned, it is beyond comparison as a table fruit. It is dried in the sun, and when dried brings from 23d. to 6d.a pound. The fourth year from planting an orchard will generally produce five tons per acre, and the fresh fruit sells for from £3 to £6 a ton. The average price last year was five-eighths of a penny per lb., or £5a ton. This year the price was £6 per ton, the income ranging from £15 to £70 an acre. Peaches may be grown in nearly every State in the Union, but they prefer a warm climate, and only reach perfection in California. All the favourite varieties of this delicious fruit ripen here in the full perfection of sweetness and flavour, but the Early Crawford is the prime favourite. Three years after planting the trees yield a good crop, and thereafter the crop is usually so heavy that props must be used to keep the trees from breaking down. Generally the fruit must be thinned, and it pays to do this, as then it is larger and has a better flavour. Peaches thrive better in the lighter and warmer soils. They are as a rule nearly as profitable as Apricots, and occasionally net even more. The earliest ripen in May, and find a ready sale at high figures. One variety succeeds another throughout the summer, and Peaches may be had as late as November. The returns are between £15 and £60 an acre. Californian Cherries, like all other products of the State, are remarkable for their size, flavour, and beauty of appearance. The Cherry tree likes a rich, arable, silty soil. Cherries do not come into bearing before the seventh year, but after that will yield largely, and choice Cherries always command a good price. The first ripe Cherries appear in May, and the later varieties in June, July, and August. The principal varieties cultivated here are the Royal Anne, Napoleon, Bigarreau, and Black Tartarian. The price ranges from 8d. to 10d. a lb., with the average about 4d.alb. The yield per acre ranges from £40 to £200, and the average is about £60 gross. The Pear adapts itself to a diversity of soil and climate more 94 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, readily than any other tree-fruit grown. Yet the Bartleit, which is one of the choicest varieties known, only reaches per- fection in certain districts. It requires a deep, moist, and rich soil with a warm climate. There are several varieties grown here, each presenting some quality which makes it desirable. The Pear here commences to bear the third year, but is not in full bearing until the seventh. The choicest Pear-growing dis- tricts are the silty lands along the watercourses, and where water can be had for irrigation. Only the best varieties, with the most favourable surroundings, produce the largest crops; but with the best conditions Pears produce crops worth from £20 to £200 an acre, depending upon the market and on the variety grown. The price per ton varies. This year Pears were in great demand at £6 per ton. The chief varieties grown here are Bartlett, Comice, Vicar of Wakefield,* Glou Morceau, Winter Nelis, and Easter Beurré. Olive growing is one of the most profitable industries, but the greatest returns are secured by manufacturing the Olives into Olive oil, and that requires improved machinery and technical knowledge. The trees do not bear heavily until several years of age. They are long-lived, however, and will in the future be more extensively grown. The price of pure oil is now 386s. a gallon, and the gross income per acre ranges from £15 to £200, according to variety and age of trees. . Grapes may be grown in nearly any part of the county. Table Grapes like a heavy loam, while other varieties acquire a better flavour on the red gravelly and chalky soil of the foot- hills. Ordinary varieties are not very profitable, as the area in which they may be grown in California is so extensive. The shipment of choice table Grapes in refrigerator cars to the Kast is profitable, but fruit trees bring greater returns. Strawberries here yield prolifically, especially along the bay and in the artesian district, which is one of the choicest Straw- berry-growing lands in the United States. The yield is usually from £40 to £150 an acre gross. Blackberries yield well also, and thrive over an extended area. In the artesian basin, north and north-west of San José, however, they bear through a more extended period, and return larger crops than in any other locality. The profits do not * So called in America; in England, Vicar of Winkfield. FRUIT GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 95 average as much as from Strawberries, but range from £30 to £100 an acre gross. Raspberries are more easily gathered than Blackberries, and command a higher price, as the area of greatest production is not so extensive. They return from £40 to £100 an acre gYoss. Oranges thrive in the foot-hills at elevations ranging from 600 to 1,800 feet. They are gross feeders, and require a rich, fertile soil containing plenty of moisture. The red lands of the foot-hills give good, perhaps the best, results. The oranges erown here are large, sweet, and free from scale. They only reach perfection in localities most free from frost, cold winds, and sudden changes of temperature. The choicest variety is the Washington Navel, which ripens here nearly a month earlier than in the choicest Orange-growing districts in the South, and early fruit commands fancy prices. Profits range from £85 to £75 an acre. Apples grown in the valley reach a very large size, especially in the silty soils along the Los Gatos creek, Coyote, and Guadalupe. They lack the flavour and keeping qualities, how- ever, Which characterise the Apples grown in the mountains, and are not usually as profitable as the stone fruits, though they have been grown very profitably near Alviso. There are various other fruits and berries which are grown to some extent, usually for private home consumption, though occa- sionally for profit. Of these Quinces, Plums, Figs, Crab-apples, Almonds, Walnuts, Currants, and Gooseberries may be mentioned. Almost anything that will grow anywhere in the temperate or semi-tropical zones will grow here, and many trees and plants only here reach their highest development. We have treated of those which are the most profitable. From GROWING TO CONSUMING. The main feature of the fruit-growing industry in Santa Clara County may be outlined as follows. In preparing the land for planting it is, when practicable, ploughed thoroughly and deeply in the fall of the year, and the surface left unharrowed and exposed to the desiccating influences of the air during the winter. This adds to the fertility of the 26 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. soil, or, more properly speaking, it makes the plant food more available. In laying out an orchard it is desirable to have it symmetrical in order to economise the land and to provide for facility in further use and care. There are various methods of aligning trees, each method haying its own peculiar advantages. The principal forms are the square, the quincunx, and the hexagonal. The first two are those most commonly used. By the square method, if the trees are 20 ft. apart, 108 trees are planted to the acre. This is one of the best forms for an orchard. By the quincunx method the number of rows are doubled, and a tree planted in the centre of every square. At 20 ft. apart by this method 199 trees may be planted per acre. The hexagonal system makes the trees equilateral, equally distant one from the other in every direction. Six trees form a hexagon and enclose a seventh. By this method at 20 ft. apart 126 trees are planted to the acre. The distance at which trees are planted in orchard rows varies considerably, but the method usually followed in planting Peaches, Prunes, and Apricots is to allow a space of 20 ft. between trees, which gives 108 to the acre. The trees grow so luxuriantly here, however, that the limbs often intertwine and make cultivation difficult. Im many of the orchards planted recently the trees are 25 ft. apart, and in some cases 380 ft. The prices of nursery stock vary so much that it is difficult to quote. Trees of the several varieties have in some seasons commanded from 1s. O}d. to 1s. 38d. each, while in others they fell to 4d. and 44d. The general average price of good trees during the past ten years has been from 6d. to 7$d., new and choice varieties ruling a little higher. Last year good Prune trees on Myrobolan stock could be had for 35d., and on Peach stock 23d. to 24d. Apricot trees were 75d. and Peach trees 5d. The cost of cultivation varies. Usually parties will take con- tracts to plough shallow for 8s. an acre, and deep for 12s. an acre. The digging of holes and setting of the trees costs from 24d. to 84d., according to the soil. It is within range to have orchards planted with trees 20 ft. apart at the following figures :— ee sii. Ploughing and harrowing . : : ; et eR 108 trees at 33d. each : : : : es Ug: a Staking, digging, planting . ; ‘ : . Sad of Total cost . 3 : ; . 814 1 an acre FRUIT GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 27 Parties often take contracts to plough, harrow, and prune young orchards for from 30s. to 40s. an acre for the season. For hilly land which cannot be worked except at a disadvantage, as high as from £2 to £2. 8s. an acre is charged. When a cultivator is used the ground is usually worked from four to ten times in a season, according to the nature of the soil. Orchards are never seeded to grass here as they are in the Hast. This constant stirring of the soil adds greatly to its productive powers, probably by exposing the plant food to the action of the sun and air, and bringing about chemical changes which make it more easily assimilated by the tree. The cost of this cultivation is often noted by those who have grown fruit in the Kast, where this system is not followed. The work costs but 2s. an acre each time, however, or from 8s. to 14s. an acre each season, and the increased yield makes the work remunerative. The cost of pruning varies according to the size and variety of the trees. Prune trees are not now pruned very much. They are, as a rule, merely thinned out to let the air and sunshine in, and allowed to grow with very little if any cutting back. Peach and Apricot trees, however, are cut back heavily in order to avoid the growth of too much wood and too great a weight of fruit. Notwithstanding the heavy pruning, Peaches are always thinned after the crop sets, and even then the branches must be often propped to prevent them from being broken by the weight of fruit. The conditions vary so much that each orchard must be estimated for separately by those taking contracts to prune. Contracts range about as follows:—First year, Prunes, from 1s. to 1s. 4d. a hundred; second year, 1s. 8d. to 2s.; third year, 4s.; fourth year, 12s.; fifth year, £1. The price for older Prune trees ranges as high as 386s. a hundred. Peaches and Apricots cost more after the second year, being a penny a tree for trees two years old, and 25d. a tree for trees three years old, and after that about as many halfpennies per tree as the tree is years old up to ten or twelve years. Fruit growing, although it is more profitable here than in any other State in the Union, is attended with difficulties as elsewhere, though perhaps in a lesser degree. We never have the severe weather here that prevails in the East; but even in the Santa Clara Valley, noted for the mildness of its climate, 28 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. and known as the “ Garden of the World,” our fruit crop is occasionally injured by frost. The greatest drawback, perhaps, is the scale and other insects which infest the fruit trees. These, however, may be kept in check by using proper sprays, as was mentioned in an article on ‘ Insects and Fungi, with Remedies,” published in the Jowrnal of the Royal Horticultural Society for December 1897. Pear and Apple trees are attacked by the codlin moth,* and the crop is materially injured unless sprays are used. Paris ereen is the spray generally used for codlin moth. An average of 1 lb. to 150 gallons of water is a good strength for general purposes. The poison is first made into a thin paste in a small quantity of water, and powdered or quick lime added, in amount equal to the poison used, in order to take up the free arsenic, and to remove or lessen the danger of scalding. The trees are usually sprayed four times, and the cost per acre averages about 6s. The brown scale has been almost annihilated by the Australian ladybird. The San José scale is also scarce. Prune trees have seldom to be sprayed now. The average crop for Prune trees from seven to eight years of age is about 80 lbs. to the tree, though sometimes it runs from 100 lbs. to 125 lbs. If the tree is twelve years of age, from 125 lbs. to 200 lbs. may be secured. Six tons to the acre is a fair average. Prunes sell from £4 to £13 a ton. The average price last year was £6 a ton, and this season from £6 to £6. 2s. Apricot trees from seven to eight years old will average 100 lbs. per tree. The price last year was very low, ranging from £5 to £5. 10s. a ton. Peach trees from seven to eight years old will produce from 175 lbs. to 200 lbs. a tree. Early varieties a little less. The average price is about £5 a ton. Fertilisers have as yet been but little used, but the results clearly indicate that artificial manuring pays if those elements are supplied in which the particular soil is deficient. Bone dust is good, but costs £6 a ton. Gypsum, from San Benito County, is now most largely used, as it furnishes necessary plant food, and can be had in carloads for £2 a ton. About 600 lbs. an acre is usually applied, but more or less according to require- ments. Ordinary manure may generally be had for the carting, * See the Strand Magazine for December, 1897, on ‘‘ American Pests.” FRUIT GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 29 and some fertilise with it; but the greater proportion of our orchardists use no fertilisers of any kind. The prices realised this season by our fruit growers have been very fair. Apricots have sold for from £5. 10s. to £7 a ton for those suitable for canning, and for drying purposes from £5 to £6 a ton. Peaches sold for from £4 to £6 for those suitable for canning, but lots for drying sold as low as #1. 12s. to £4aton. Prunes sold for from £5 to £6. 8s., the average price being £6 a ton. The Pear crop was light, and good Bartletts sold the season through for £6aton. The minimum weight for a carload of fruit is 24,000 lbs. The freight rates on the Santa Fé and on the Southern Pacific Railroads are identical, one company always meeting any reduction made by the other. The rate on fresh fruit from San José to the London markets is 12s. per 100 lbs. During the year Santa Clara County orchards and vineyards may be depended upon to yield as follows :— January.—Oranges, Lemons, Strawberries, and occasionally Apples and Raspberries. February.—Oranges, Lemons, Guavas, and Strawberries. March.—Oranges, Lemons, Guavas, and Strawberries. April.—Oranges, Lemons, Guavas, Strawberries, and Loquats. May.—Currants, Loquats, Oranges, Lemons, Guavas, Straw- berries, and occasionally Cherries, Apricots, and Peaches. June.—Cherries, Plums, Apricots, Prunes, Peaches, Currants, Loquats, Oranges, Lemons, Guavas, Strawberries, Blackberries, and Raspberries. 7 July.—Figs, Apples, Grapes, Cherries, Nectarines, Plums, Prunes, Apricots, Peaches, Currants, and the others mentioned in June. August.—Pomegranates, Quinces, with those in season in July, with the exception of Loquats. September.—Same as August. October.—Pomegranates, Figs, Quinces, Grapes, Apples, Plums, Prunes, Peaches, Lemons, Guayas, Strawberries, and Raspberries. November.—Persimmons, Pomegranates, Quinces, Grapes, Apples, Figs, Plums, Prunes, Peaches, Oranges, Lemons, Guavas, Strawberries, and Raspberries. December.—Same as November, with the exception of plums. 80 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. This list shows at once the great variety of fruits produced in the Santa Clara County, as well as the lengthy season during which they may be gathered fresh from tree and vine. They are all grown out of doors. Vegetables of most varieties are in the market all the year round. Cost oF DryING. Far away back in the horticultural history of the county it became evident that the financial success of the fruit-grower depended as much upon his ability to market his produce, as it did upon the selection of the varieties and of the locality in which tney should be grown. Fruit growers for years produced fruit and entrusted the sale of it to commission men, who were interested in securing their commission, rather than in widening the market or intelligently supplying its demands. As a result, the markets in some cities were often over-supplied, while perhaps those of larger cities were not supplied at all. In the case of fresh fruits, which were perishable, this often resulted in forced sales and a demoralisa- tion of prices, while at the same time the same fruit would have been gladly received in other cities, where good prices could have been obtained. Our fruit growers from time to time held meetings to discuss the situation and suggest remedies, and as a result of these meetings in 1891 the West Side Fruit Growers’ Association was formed. Among the objects to be attained was the securing of more economical methods of fruit drying and more careful methods in the marketing of the product. Both were accom- plished. This success led to the establishment in June 1892 of the Campbell Fruit Growers’ Union. The projectors made scientific experiments which resulted in the discovery of methods by which fruit could be more economi- cally dried. A more uniform grading was also insured, with a corresponding increase in the price of the product. The expense of curing, packing, and marketing was also materially reduced. The cost for drying a ton of fresh fruit, including all expenses from the time the fruit reaches the drier until it is put into the bins ready for sale, such as the cost of sulphur, lye, fuel, handling and grading, and the general expenses of operating the plant, such as the salary of the secretary, superintendent, book-keeper, FRUIT GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 31 and night watchman, all office expenses, telephone, telegrams, interest on borrowed money used in handling the crop, and for making advances on fruit delivered, insurance, light, tax, depre- ciation of plant, and 7 per cent. interest on stock, is given by the Campbell Fruit Growers’ Union as follows :— | 1892 | 1893 1894 1895 = - : x eee te ee si ea ets |B) ga Apricots . Se eo aelO sits 505 Ole French Prune . l- 20% 28). 9 OFS V6 Os 9.0 — Silver =e IA OF *O Os 0 Oo" Or | — Ege Plums eo gonee On BO 3 a ~- Washington Plums . —- Ua oe a= | ia: Pears : : — Le gel Lab! — | Sse Karly Peaches 13 4 Oe DOES ee ees at Oak —- Muir * 1 3.7% Oe Loy sl not carried out. Cling i IL 5 of 1. 4-8 7 =; % Salway _,, ft 10 bSOr0e “f _ The best graders and dippers now in use are those manufac- tured by the firm of Messrs. Cunningham & Barngyrover, of San José. Their machines have innumerable advantages over any others made, and are designed to meet the wants of large, as well as small, growers or packers. I cannot speak too highly of the material and workmanship employed in the manufacture of these indispensable articles, and the testimonials which have been pre- sented to the makers are of the highest order. Sometimes the wet season is early, and Prunes are not all sun-dried ; then it is that they have to be evaporated, and this costs about 24s. a ton. I think that at this stage it would be well to give reports of interviews with ranchers, drying, canning, and packing com- panies around San José, the county town of Santa Clara County. THE GREAT DUNNE RANCHO. Choice fruit land in the Santa Clara Valley is cheaper at £40 an acre than the best corn land in the Middle States is at £10 an acre, because ten acres of land here in full bearing fruit trees will produce more than fifty acres of corn land in the East. It is not at all an uncommon thing for our orchardists to realise a net income of from £10 to £20 an acre. Yet there is land in the county which can be had for from £20 to £25 an acre, which 32 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. will grow fruit trees that will as certainly bring in £20 an acre when in full bearing, as other land in the county does. One of the last of the great Spanish grants in Santa Clara County was the great Catherine Dunne Ranch of 18,000 acres. This is now being sold in lots of 5, 10, 20, and 40 acres. Prices range from £5 to £25 an acre, quarter cash, and the balance in six equal payments, with interest at 7 per cent., the mortgagee to pay the tax. BERNAL’S FRUIT AND VEGETABLES. Yenacio Bernal owns, on the Monterey road, about nine miles south-east of San José, 395 acres of land. The soil here is exceedingly fertile, as it consists largely of silt washed down from the surrounding hills. In this vicinity were located immense cattle and slaughtering pens, and the great pits where the refuse meat was thrown. Here hundreds of tons of bones have been mouldering for more than half a century, and bone dust is one of the richest fertilisers known. Here Yenacio Bernal planted his orchard. He could scarcely have found a richer spot, and his trees show a most remarkable growth. The Peach trees are now three years old, are about 10 ft. high, and bore this year a large crop, considering their age. The Prune trees are much larger than ordinary trees of their age, and bore afew Prunes this year. Mr. Bernal utilises the space between the rows of trees by planting Corn, Peas, Beans, Melons, and Pumpkins. The Pumpkins produce on an average ten tons to the acre. ‘The price received for them varies with the season. The lowest price is 6s. a ton in the field not cut, and the highest £1. The Peas raised are the Spanish Garvanzas, or Soup Peas. The produce ranges from ten to fifteen 100 lb. sacks to the acre. The price is generally low, bat this year rose to £1 acwt. The corn averages 2,000 lbs. an acre. Lowest price received 6s., and the highest 8s. a cwt. Musk Melons sell for from 12s. to 20s. a hundred. The usual crop of hay upon Mr. Bernal’s valley land is two tons to the acre, and upon the hillside less. The price of Hay varies from 82s. to £5 a ton, the average being about £2. 8s. Mrs. J. H. Smitn’s Srx AcrREs. Mrs. Smith owns six acres on meridian 125°, about a mile from the Alameda, which is one of the most luxuriant and pro- FRUIT GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 83 fitable spots in the county. The trees are well planted, have been well cared for, and even among the many magnificent orchards of the vicinity this one attracts attention and admira- tion by reason of the size and appearance of the trees and the crops borne. The orchard contains Cherries, Peaches, Apricots, and Apples. THE Werston PEAR ORCHARD. A good illustration of the profits secured in Santa Clara County in Pear culture is furnished by Mr. B. F. Weston, whose orchard is about 25 miles north-west of Santa Clara, or 45 miles N.N.W. of San José. The crops and income for each year since the orchard came into Mr. Weston’s possession have been as follows :— In 1890 the trees bore a few scattered Pears, the entire crop only fetching £11. Crop of 1891, 50 tons, which sold for £9 per ton, or £450 ” 1892, 75 ” 9 ” £8 99 ”” £600 %) 1893, 100 ” PP] ” £6 ”? ” £600 3” 1894, 185 9 ” 9 £4 7 bi) £740 yer -L895,/ 190) ,,, - 5) Ol, i, eeO Mr. Weston’s is probably the best Pear orchard in the county. Fruit experts are unanimous in the opinion that it will, when in full bearing, produce 400 tons of fruit. GLEN UNA. There is in Santa Clara County what may be called a model orchard—the Glen Una, situated about midway between Los Gatos and Saratoga, and owned by Mr. F.G.Hume. The entire tract covers an area of 680 acres, 3850 of which are Prunes, 160 trees to the acre, this being the largest bearing Prune orchard in the world. Itis not claimed that the profit per acre is as great as it 1S in some other instances, as the owner endeavours to secure quality rather than quantity. With this end in view, the trees are carefully pruned, and all the small imperfect fruits removed. This decreases the output, but insures choice fruit. The income, however, is from £20 to £25 an acre, though some of the trees are not yet in full bearing. Everything about the place is kept in perfect order. ‘The trees are carefully cultivated and pruned, the roads are kept in good condition, the engine- D 84 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. room ig as clean ag a parlour, and the fruit waggons are re- splendent with bright paint and artistic lettering. The draught horses are all large, sleek, and fat, and the carriage horses are neat-limbed and of noble lineage. Water is piped from springs upon the mountain side, several hundred feet above, to every building upon the place, under a pressure of 150 lbs. to the square inch. A hose-cart is. provided for protection in case of fire, and the main buildings are covered with pipes, so that they could if necessary be quickly flooded. The buildings and various portions of the farm are connected with the engine-room by electric alarm bells. The residence and packing-house are connected with Los Gatos and all the principal towns in California, by long-distance telephone. A private electric plant furnishes both arc and incandescent electric lights for the residence, packing-house, drying-ground, stable, and other buildings, and also for the town of Los Gatos. The 15-acre plot used as a drying-ground, as stated, is also supplied with electric lights, and all work involving the handling and packing of the dried fruit is done at night in order to avoid the settling upon the fruit of the minute particles of dust set in motion by menandhorses. Near the residence there is a grove of live-oak trees. From their branches depend a number of electric lights, and scattered about among the branches are a number of rustic seats. Near at hand there is a large cement plunge bath, supplied with a spring board and other accessories. A Grape arbour and trailing vines furnish grateful shade, and the pool is supplied with running water from mountain springs. Twenty-five men are employed upon the place the year round, and from seventy-five to 100 in the season. Every company of men works under its own foreman, each foreman reporting to the superintendent, and hein turn to the proprietor. Kverything moves forward quietly and as systematically as clockwork. Itis all very much like a dream. The packing-house is two storeys high, 55 ft. in width by 185 ft. in length, and is supplied with the latest and most im- proved machinery. It has also an elevator. The ground floor is of cement, and is kept very clean. The machinery is all propelled by steam power. The engine is a Putnam 60-horse power. It was built to order, and is a most beautiful piece of machinery. Jt is kept as neat and clean as the furniture in a FRUIT GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 85 private house, and is housed in an expensive and model building. In another room of the engine-house there is a 55-horse power engine, which propels two dynamos, one of which is a Thomson-Houston 600 light alternator, and the other an Edison 250 light direct current. In the upper storey of the packing-house the. Prunes are packed. As they are all extras they are packed exclusively in boxes. The room is 56 ft. by 185 ft., and there are two rows of incandescent lamps the entire length of the building. The packing-house is on a plateau about 500 ft. above San José, and at night the electric ights may be seen from a large part of the valley. A tract of fifteen acres, in a little valley, about 100 ft. below the packing-house, 1s used as a drying-ground, and here are some- times spread out as many as 18,000 white wood fruit trays, each 4 ft. by 8 ft., where they are allowed to remain until the fruit has been thoroughly cured by the warm raysof the sun. Atintervals all about the grounds are arc lamps upon poles to furnish light for the men engaged in attending to the drying fruit. Steel tracks extend to all parts of the grounds, and long trains of flat cars, loaded with stacks of fruit trays, are pulled to and from the various sections by horses. A railroad also extends from the drying-ground in the little valley directly up the steep hill to the packing-house on the plateau above, and this is worked by a cable from the engine-house. All parts of the packing- house and drying-grounds are connected with the engine-house by electric wires and alarm bells, so that signals may be given for the stopping and starting of the machinery. Every machine is connected separately, so that in case of accident it may be disconnected at once without stopping other machinery. All fruit waggons, carriages, and farming implements are kept in perfect condition and freshly painted every year, a shop supplied with every requisite having been provided for the purpose. ‘The ranche has its own blacksmith’s shop also, which is supplied with lathes, forges, band and buzz saws, drills, emery wheels, and all other necessary machinery, power being supplied by a Pelton wheel propelled by water from springs in the mountains above. In winter, when the water supply is ample, the Pelton also drives a 150 light C & C dynamo, which supplies light for the residence and grounds. The family orchard contains about 250 trees, including D2 86 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY Oranges, Lemons, Chestnuts, Cherries, Walnuts, Figs, and Pears. The annual income now ranges from £7,000 to £8,750. It was named Glen Una in honour of Mrs. Hume, whose Christian name is Una. The proprietor, who is only twenty-four years of age, was married in 1892 to Miss Una Handy. Dr. DupLEy’s GRAPE Farm. On the Almaden road, five miles from San José, Dr. J. P. Dudley has a beautiful place of 140 acres. Here he has prac- tised experimental agriculture and horticulture for many years, and at the same time has made a success of it from a business standpoint. His genius for experiments has led him to seek to obtain from the fruits which he grew a knowledge of their special qualities, which would render them of great value as life- sustaining elements. In pursuit of this knowledge he discovered that a particular kind of Grape, treated in a certain manner, and used as food, possessed high nutritive and medicinal properties. The particular kind of Grape is one having a peculiar degree of acidity of the Rose of Peru type, and the treatment to which it is subjected is the condensation of the juice by a process of evaporation. Thus is obtained in a convenient form an abundant supply of tartrate of potash, which, when taken into the stomach as food, is converted into an alkaline carbonate. To obtain the proper quantity of this tartrate the Grape must be grown on a soil having a clay base. The action of the alkaline carbonate upon the human system is said to be to dissolve the uric acid, and, therefore, the concretions, and to stimulate every gland to healthy action. The medicinal qualities of tartrate of potash have been long known to eminent physicians of this country and Europe, but the idea of obtaining it from the Grape in a form convenient for use, originated with Dr. Dudley, and his success is due to years of study and experimental work. Mr. ZIcovicuH’s VINEYARD. A. Zicovich, who owns a 40-acre vineyard on the West Side, furnishes the following facts concerning wine-making :— The average crop ranges from three to five tons of Grapes an acre, the smaller and choicer varieties producing the former amount, and the commoner varieties the latter. In seasons when the rainfall is unusually abundant, and when it falls just FRUIT GROWING IN CALIFORNIA, SF as needed, the crop ranges from five to ten tons an acre, varying, of course, in different districts. Only those Grapes showing 22 to 24 degrees by the saccharometer are used for wine, those showing less are used for brandy. One ton of Grapes makes from 185 to 160 gallons of wine, according to the variety of the Grape. The wine-makers are this season paying from £2. 8s. to £3.4s. a ton for Grapes, and wine of this year’s vintage is being sold for 73d., 9d., and 10d. per gallon, according to quality. Wine sold early in the season for 6d. a gallon. Mr. HERBERT’s DRYING SHEDS. In 1887 J. B. Herbert commenced to dry the product of his young orchard. He then found a few hundred trays sufficient for his needs. He subsequently commenced to buy fruit from surrounding orchards to dry. The business has since grown to such an extent that he has shipped this season seventy-six car- loads of dried fruit. Mr. Herbert is a practical fruit grower, and knows what fruit is, how it should be packed, and what the market demands. Heis constantly advised of the condition and demands of the market, and can therefore pay as much for fruit as any “drying establishment in the county. Mr. FLICKINGER’S CANNERY. A few years ago the only fruit canning plants in the State were located in San Francisco, and to these fruit was shipped from all over the State. As a result much of the fruit was necessarily picked when it was green. That which was allowed to remain on the trees until it was thoroughly ripe was entirely too ripe by the time it reached the cannery. It was then made into jams, which were unfit for food. J. H. Flickinger was at the time a wholesale dealer in cattle and sheep. He noticed the difficulties experienced by the cannery men, and at once planned to obviate them. His first proposition was, that instead of taking the fruit to the cannery the cannery should be taken to the fruit. He decided also that only the best varieties should be used, and of these varieties only the most perfect fruits. He accordingly purchased 500 acres in the Santa Clara County, which seemed to recommend itself as the choicest fruit-growing section. Having first determined which varieties were the most suitable for canning purposes, he selected and planted them. 88 © JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. Trained employés watch the fruit constantly. When it is thoroughly ripe, it is gathered and taken direct to the cannery the same day. At four o’clock in the afternoon the fruit gatherers cease work in order that no fruit may be left un- canned over night. In this way only the ripest and choicest fruit is canned. There is no long distance for the fruit to travel, as the cannery is in the orchard. The fruit, therefore, is left on the tree until it has attained its full size and developed its best flavour. An idea of the size of the fruit may be gained when it is stated that the smallest aperture in any can used here is 24 in. in diameter, and that many of the Peaches and Pears have to have parings taken from them before they can be inserted in the cans. These parings are subsequently dried. This alone shows that the quantity measuring over 2% in. must be considerable to make it worth while to dry the parings. Over 1,000,000 cans a year are used in this one cannery alone, and about 400,000 lbs. of sugar. It is one of the largest in the world. HeALTH IN SANTA CraARA. As regards the death-rate here and elsewhere, the following statistics compiled by the boards of health and other municipal authorities in various cities throughout the world will give a very clear idea of the standing of San José, the capital of Santa Clara County. DEATH-RATE PER ANNUM PER 1,000 INHABITANTS. Dublin. ; s 30'K0 Richmond (Va.) . 20°10 Savannah : BB PIG, Cincinnati ¢ . . 18°89 Brussels . : . 30°66 San Francisco . — eters Vienna . ‘ 4,2 28:57 Philadelphia . a Lene, Berlin A 5 . — 27°80 Sacramento ‘ ~ eal Os Paris : ; 2 25:19 Milwaukee : . Joep New York : . 24°19 Los Angeles. . 15°82 Tondon . : 7 23°62 Stockton ' » lass Glasgow . : SPU, Oakland . : . 14°45 Stockholm : . eo 5? | Alameda . : . 40 Boston . ; e207 San José L . 49°78 Baltimore 20°31 | San Diego ; . 10°38 SUMMARY. Prune export of 1895 from San José, 40,000,000 lbs. Santa Clara Co. has 111 miles of railroad. " » contains 1,754 square miles. 4 », has one of the largest seed farms in the world. FRUIT GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 839 Santa Clara Co. has the largest horse farm in the world. Cherries have netted over £260 an acre in one year. has 16,624 horses, 25,197 cattle, 2,972 sheep. has the largest University (Stanford’s), with an endowment of £8,000,000. In a , there is not a month during the year when some kind of fruit does not ripen in the open air. has the lowest rate of taxation of any county in California save one—Yolo County. No other section of the world produces the same number of varieties of fruit as are grown in Santa Clara County. The number of trees in Santa Clara County in 1896 were as follows :—Apple 44,840; Apricot 585,099 ; Cherry 159,098 ; Fig 2,241; Lemon 1,554; Nectarine 894; Olive 17,886 ; Orange 1,885; Peach 405,731 ; Pear 144,877; Plum 45,562; Prune 2,961,114 ; Quince 1,808; Almond 24,050; and English Walnut 11,672. No paper or papers ever written can express one half of the charms of the ideal country of California, or reveal its beauties, its glories and charms, as a fruit-growing district, as a health resort, as a centre of industry, or as an earthly paradise wherein one can reside, and spend the last few years of life, after the struggles and toils of many years of hard labour, worry, and trouble—a place for the poet, the artist, the novelist, the naturalist, the botanist, and in fact any who desire to see the beauties of nature revealed and expounded. It may be well for me to reproduce the following prose gem by the late talented Bayard Taylor, whom death, alas! deprived of ever realising the fruition of his hopes. ‘This is what he wrote :—“ Then let me purchase a few acres on the lowest slope of these mountains, overlooking the valley and with a distant gleam ofthe bay. Let me build a cottage, embowered in Acacia and Eucalyptus and the tall spires of the Italian Cypress. Let me leave home when the Christmas holidays are over, and enjoy the balmy Januarys and Februarys, the heavenly Marches and Aprils of my remaining years here, returning only when May shall have brought beauty to the Atlantic shores. Here shall my Roses outbloom those of Pestum; my nightingales sing, my 9 9) 40 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. Orange blooms sweeten the air, my children play, and my best poem be written.” In conclusion I should ihe to tender my best thanks to the ranchers and other gentlemen who have so graciously given me such able assistance in the way of information, which has enabled me to lay before the Fellows of the Royal Horticultural Society an idea of the resources and advantages of this beautiful country of California. SKETCHES OF WILD ORCHIDS IN GUIANA. By Everarp F, 1m THurn, F.R.H.S. NEARLY twenty-one years ago the Fates led me to Guiana and, nearly ever since, have detained me in the wilder and more remote parts of that region. Throughout I have taken an interest in the plants, and especially in the Orchids; and of late years whatever time I have been able to afford to botanical hobbies has been devoted almost exclusively to the somewhat arduous task of collecting, drying, dissecting, and drawing Orchids, many of them so small that an entire clump, root and all, and in full flower, would pass without touching through a finger-ring, and in making frantic efforts to grow these in my garden. It has been a long promise to the Editor of the ‘Royal Horticultural Society’s Journal ” that I should give him some notes of the experiences thus gained, and he now insists on the immediate performance of this promise. I find myself embarrassed by the vast number of the scraps of Orchid lore which the abovementioned circumstances have put into my head, and still more by the desultory and unconnected character of the collection. Probably the only feasible way to fulfil my promise at present is to jot down certain pictures which remain in my mind of scenes in which Orchids were a prominent feature, and to leave it to my readers to pick out for themselves the scraps of information as to the natural conditions under which the Orchids mentioned grow, and as to the artificial conditions which may therefore be best applied in the cultivation of these. Lest, however, my horticultural readers should after this SKETCHES OF WILD ORCHIDS IN GUIANA. 41 expect too much of me, I will add that the showiness of any particular species is but a small merit in my eyes. I have spent many more hours and much more thought over what I over- heard a very famous English horticulturist, a few weeks ago, at one of the shows in the Drill Hall, refer to as ‘‘ rubbish, or, as we will call them, ‘botanical curiosities,’’’ than over the more showy plants. And, though to admit this is probably to destroy my own character for sanity, I am firmly convinced that the rational being would get far more delight out of the marvellous diversities and marvellous adaptations of some of my tiniest Orchids than out of the most splendid flower which, as the West Indian negro says, “fills the eye.’ But I promise that I will not here draw upon my experiences of the more minute aspects of Orchid life except in so far as this may be made to serve the purpose which I have in view in this paper of illustrating the natural conditions under which Orchids grow in Guiana. The usual idea of the inexperienced is that Guiana is a land of Orchids ; and so it is, but not of showy Orchids. It is doubt- ful if there exist in British Guiana a dozen different Orchids which the ordinary Orchid grower would care to have in his houses. Let me try what sort of list I can put together of the so-called desirable species. I should myself be inclined to put Oncidium lanceanum first for three reasons: (1) because it is a fairly common and accessible Orchid; (2) because of the great beauty both of plant and flower; and (8) because of the lasting quality of the flower. Then the two Cattleyas (C. superba and C. Lawrenciana) would come, though neither is easy to get; Zygopetalum rostratum—one of the commonest Orchids of the country—certainly merits a place; Zygopetalum venustum and 4. Burket also come in; as does Paphinia cristata, Ionopsis pamculata, Lodriquezia (Burlingtonia) candida, and perhaps Catasetum longifolium. I doubt if there are any other ‘“‘Gardener’s Orchids”’ in British Guiana. And yet the number of species from Guiana to which I have devoted some atteniion 1s nearly 800, and many of these are very beautiful things even without the use of the microscope. It may be well here to premise that the part of Guiana to which I shall refer lies entirely between 7 and 8 degrees N. of the Equator, and that, though the country does rise to a greater 42 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, altitude further inland, it is in the parts referred to either prac- tically at sea level or at most not 50 feet above it; that the rainfall is heavy, the average for the year being about 90 inches ; that this rainfall is distributed in two wet seasons in the year, the one lasting from December to February, and the other from April to September; that the temperature ranges from 66 degrees to 88 degrees ; that the temperature falls very little during the night, and does not vary greatly throughout the year; and that almost the whole country is covered by the densest imaginable forest, only broken by the wider rivers and by small patches of “wet savannah,” 7.e. grass-covered swamps broken by many clumps of trees and by great stretches of an arborescent Aroid (Montrichardia), here and there by stretches of white sand reefs, also much broken by clumps of small trees, and, though not near the coast, by ‘‘ dry savannahs,”’ areas of rocky ground broken by coppices. Orchids are to be found even at the edge of the sea; indeed, two of the best Orchids of Guiana, from the gardener’s point of view, are there to be found. The sea-coast of Guiana, where it has not been altered by the hand of man, is of a somewhat peculiar nature, due to its past history. It has been built up by the current from the mouth of the Amazon, which runs up in a north-westerly direction, carry- ing with it much matter from the Amazon and other rivers which it passes in its course. Where checked by the current from the Orinoko it has to deposit its load. Thus the shore is mainly built up of soft alluvial mud, which has been received on its arrival from the Amazon, and has been retained by the marvellously intricate thicket of mangrove roots quite into which the up current runs. Here and there, however, that part of the current which strikes on a particular part of the coast has brought not mud but sand and broken shell, which it there heaps up, and thus forms sandbanks, breaking the otherwise uninterrupted line of mangrove growth. Behind such a sand- bank the mangroves often attain to a considerable size, and their trunks are not much obscured by young growth. Itis high up on trees of this kind, exposed almost to the full blaze of the sun, that that most beautiful of all our Orchids, Oncidiwm lanceanum, grows most luxuriantly. It is, however, a widely but sparsely distributed species throughout the country. Though it SKETCHES OF WILD ORCHIDS IN GUIANA, 43 appears to be very difficult to grow in an Orchid-house, itis a most successful garden Orchid in the colony. Masses of it may be seen in the older gardens in Georgetown; and in one case in which one of these masses was sold for removal it was found to be too big for the cart which was sent to fetch it, and had to be divided. The other Orchid which is to be seen in the same kind of place is Diacriwm (Hpidendrum) bicornutum, which clings to the more exposed boughs, and seems to enjoy the blaze of the sun and the full exposure to the salt-laden wind. For many miles from the sea the broad rivers are edged by mangroves of large size, the otherwise bare trunks of which are in places almost clothed by the free-flowering masses of Hpidendrum fragrans with its honey-like scent. Nearer to the water’s edge great masses of the pretty little Laniwm micro- phyllum enjoy the shade of the overhanging boughs, and are sometimes bathed in the rising tide. Brassia and Catasetwms are common. In places there are colonies of Coryanthes maculata, the roots of each matted together by ants into a round black mass. Two Hpidendrums (EL. imatophyllwum and LE. Schomburgki) occur in the same places, and with much the same habits. From the large main rivers one can penetrate into the dense forest which covers nearly the whole country by following up the course of one of the innumerable creeks. To English ears a creek is a backwater, generally, I think, an arm of the sea; but in the originally Dutch colonies of Guiana the word means a stream or rivulet, or even a fair-sized river, provided it is not one of the main rivers of the colony. Here, however, we shall have to do with one of the innumerable small ereeks or rivulets draining that great primeval forest which, except in the few places touched by the hand of man, stretches with hardly a break from where the crowded mangrove trees are lifted on their stilt-like roots over the mud-laden brackish water to the highlands of the interior. From some forest swamp, often at a great distance from the main river, the water of such a creek gathers itself almost imper- ceptibly into a definite channel, down the intricate loops and coils and turns of which it creeps, generally in deep shade, and deepens for many miles, till (even its mouth almost hidden in 44 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. trees) it adds itself to the mighty gathering of its fellows which have already lost themselves in the main river. Miners speak of the oozing of water from the over-saturated earth as “‘ seepage.’’ Such a creek as I mean is the seepage of the tropical forest swamp. It indeed has a channel—near the mouth often a deep channel—but it has, in its upper reaches, no banks, so that while part of its water hurries leisurely to the river, the rest spreads for an indefinite distance on each side ; and there, having washed bare the fantastic tree roots, lies half stagnant, and loads and overloads the air imprisoned between the floor and the roof of the forest. And just as the densely matted forest roof almost shuts in the moisture-laden air, soit almost shuts out the light of the sun. ven when at midday the tropic sun is reflected with most dazzling brilliance from the tropic sky above, here below there is hardly more than twilight pierced by countless tiny shafts of fulllight, which here and there strike through the less crowded leaves far down into the gloom. The light is too faint for much plant life, and the black vegetable refuse which represents the soil is almost bare. Moss and such delicately small growths as cover our English ground are nowhere to be seen. What plants are there are mostly of striking and singular aspect, giving the scene a weird and uncanny look. | There are weedy clumps of great sedgelike plants. There are a few ground-loving Aroids with quaintly coloured and marked stems, with quainter heart-shaped leaves, and with quaintest flowers. ‘here are ferns, some large and coarse-growing, the fronds of these loaded with the young plants, which would perish in the too great moisture below; others of lower stature and more delicately cut, the fronds of these often coated with the mud washed on to them by the last flood. Here and there—and these are the greenest patches—-a beautiful and rampantly grow- ing Selaginella has spread itself over places where the ground is a little higher ; while close by, and in most beautiful contrast, are the broad oval leaves of the sweet-smelling Wood Lily (Hymenocallis guianensis), lifting toward the light its stately cluster of delicately white trumpet-shaped flowers, from which hang loosely down the curiously long, narrow, and quaintly twisted petals. SKETCHES OF WILD ORCHIDS IN GUIANA. 45 These are all comparatively low-growing plants; but there are others which, springing higher, sparsely occupy the whole space between floor and roof. Here and there a few shapeless bushes, hardly clothed by scanty leaves, seem languishing for want of light. Here and there—though partly hidden by hanging dead leaves and fruits, mingled with hanging ferns and climbing Aroids—the massive column-like stem of a ‘‘ Troolie Palm” (Mamcaria saccifera, Gaertn.) tapers gradually upward from its small and sturdy base to where the magnificent uncut leaves, perhaps the largest in the world, curve gradually upward and outward. Or from a densely packed hillock of over- sround roots a cluster of perfectly straight, perfectly bare, slight-looking stems carries the most delicately cut leaves of the ‘“‘Manicole Palm ”’ (Huterpe edulis, Mart.), some to a height but little above the ground, others midway, and yet others piercing and overtopping the forest roof. Or a “ Pimpler Palm” (Astrocaryum), generally of no great height, stands, its stem horrid with curious black thorns, long and flat and sharp. Many quaint growths also hang down from the forest roof into this forest chamber. Sometimes an Aroid or a Fig, having perched itself aloft, has let down a single small root, as straight as a plumb-line, which either having reached the ground has there anchored and rooted itself or, without waiting to reach the ground, having sent out rootlets while its growing point still sways in the air, carries nutriment from the moisture-laden atmosphere to its parent above. Sometimes it is the leafless stem of a creeper, small it may be, or huge, round, or flat, or riband-like, or plaited, which hangs down from the roof in coils and loops and knots, or is stretched frorn tree to tree as taut as ever was rope. Sometime again it is the tree itself which, as if tired of drawing its water from so deep down as the earth to so high up as its own top, sends out masses of adventitious roots from some point on its own trunk, and so also draws an additional supply of moisture from the air. Yet there are breaks in this curious land of twilight. Some- times where a big tree has fallen and has carried with it many others—the prolonged crash of such a fall, which generally occurs in the stillness of the night, is a sound to be heard and then never to be forgotten—an oasis of light is formed. Some- times a creek washes away more or less of the trees, the branches 46 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. of which swathe its bed; and then for a time at least the water runs in the clear light of the sun. It is so difficult to make words alone suggest the picture of the scene which is so familiar to oneself: a narrow streamlet of dark, untransparent water, well rounded masses of small-leaved shrubs, almost suggestive of willows, growing on both banks, right down into the water, their tops extending far above one’s head as one floats in the boat; behind these a few quaintly twisted, much branched trees, with but scanty leafage; over- head the bluest of blue skies, sun, and the vapour of heat; in front and behind alike the scene closed by the trees once more weaving their tops together over the dark tunnel ahead from which the stream emerges and over that other dark tunnel into which it passes. Here too there are Orchids. From the cluster of five or six immensely tall, slender-stemmed, feather-crowned Palms, which in one place lifts itself above the bushes at the side of the stream up into the sky, hangs down, swaying in the wind, a single, immensely long spray of a very beautiful Vanilla, its heart-shaped leaves alternately arranged, with almost the regu- larity of an architectural ornament, on each side of the central stem, each leaf bearing from its axil a cluster of three or four exquisitely shaped flowers of a pale greenish colour, almost like that of a Devoniensis Rose. The Palm so gloriously developed is one which the English nurseryman grows by the thousand and sells in small pots as table plants—Huterpe edulis. The Vanilla I have not yet been able to identify. It particularly affects this special Palm, but never seems to flower, though then generally in extraordinary abundance, except on these long single trails as they float freely from the Palm crown. On some of the smallest twigs of the water-washed bushes cling the tiny Iris-like plants bearing comparatively enormous yellow flowers of Oncidium iridifolvum. Higher up on the same bushes, where the branchlets are somewhat stouter, hang clusters of the dark green leaves of Rodriguezia secunda, its long spikes of large, intensely ruby- coloured flowers looking more jewel-like than ever when one happens to see them against the strong light of that sky. It is a constant wonder to me that the better forms of this SKETCHES OF WILD ORCHIDS IN GUIANA. 47 Rodriguezia are not more popular with gardeners in England. But the plant in its native home is a very variable one, and, though very common indeed, generally occurs in a puny form with pale, washed-out pink flowers; and it is probably these poor forms which have generally been imported and have got the plant a bad name. In similar places, but very much more rarely, is another Rodriguezia, once called Burlingtonia (BL. candida), with much broader, darker green leaves, and with huge white flowers of most exquisite texture, its beauty much increased by the pale lemon-coloured throat of the labellum. A curious feature about Burlingtoma in its wild state is that one seldom seems to see it in the place in which it has grown. It is generally seen hanging head downward from, and at some distance from, a branchlet, to which, however, it is still attached by the ends of its long, white, wiry roots. I suppose that its more natural habitat is in the full blaze of the sun on the tops of some of the more moderate-sized, thin-leaved trees, where one’s eye does not generally reach; and that it is only plants which have been half torn away, and so hang, that come within one’s ken. Passing out of the sunlight, through one or other of the tree arches which close the two ends of this open space, one passes at once into a quite different scene, and comes at once among quite different Orchids. Here, in a twilight which never brightens into daylight, the curiously twisted and buttressed tree-trunks, seldom of any great size, rise from banks of black leaf-mould over which the ground vegetation is rank yet sparse. The trees, meeting over the creek, lift almost all their leaves to the sunlight, while under the dense roof thus formed their own trunks and branches are swathed with Mosses and Lycopodiums and Pepperworts and Aroids and with curtain-like masses of pendent Orchids. The most characteristic Orchid of the pendent habit just alluded to is a caulescent Mazillaria, which occurs in two closely allied but easily distinguishable forms. In both, the long and wiry rhizomes and much-sheathed pseudo-bulbs carry long grassy leaves and shortly stalked white or whitish flowers, individually beautiful and still more beautiful in the mass, which, by a not inapt comparison, are sometimes familiarly 48 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. spoken of in the colony as ‘‘ snowdrops.”’ I notice that in books Maaillarias of this habit are generally written of as “scandent”; but the natural habit is certainly not scandent but pendent. On the same branches, almost always over the water, from which these Mazxillarias hang down are a great variety of other Orchids, often in tangled masses. Many other species of Maxillaria, of the acaulescent section, cap the upper surfaces of the boughs in turf-like masses. From among these spring and, before they flower, wander far up among the tree tops, the long stiff stems of Sobralia sessilis, Lindl. Where the tree’s branches leave the trunk, in the upper angles, nestle, their roots crowded with large black stinging ants, clumps of Stanhopea eburnea, its large white flowers most gloriously beautiful, among all other blossoms, in texture, and more intensely yet delicately scented than almost any other flower known to me. It has always seemed to me that the peculiar character of the great beauty of this flower is, in some way, especially suited to the natural circumstances in which it grows. But even apart from these natural circumstances the flower is surely beautiful enough, despite its evanescent character, to make it a worthy object for cultivation. In similar places to those in which the Stanhopea grows, but generally near the ground, and so placed that its flowers can rest on the vegetable débris, are the two species of Peristeria (P. nendula and P. citrina). Up the actual tree trunks, almost always on the side away from the creek and from the faint light which there prevails, closely cling luxuriant masses of one of the most beautiful Orchids of Guiana, Zygopetalum rostratwm, its huge white violet-veined flowers standing out with almost startling clearness from the gloom in which it grows. On the hghter sides of the same tree trunks grow, not in masses, but widely scattered and singly, delightfully neat little plants of Paphiua cristata, its purple flowers, barred with white, extraordinarily difficult to see in the half light natural to it. Much in the same sort of position as the Paphima grows Stenia pallida, in two forms very distinctly marked, the one by broad, the other by narrow leaves. Another but much rarer Orchid, of very similar appearance, when not ‘in flower, to the SKETCHES OF WILD ORCHIDS IN GUIANA. 49 Stenia, and growing in the same places, is a curious little Zygopetalum, as yet, I believe, undescribed. Much higher up on the trees, but still completely in the shade of the leafy roof, and almost always overhanging the water, are most atiractive looking and handsome-leaved masses of one or more species of Gongora. From these hang down the necklace-like strings of flowers, which though certainly not showy, and, taking the size of the plant into consideration, not worthy of cultivation in small houses, are most quaint and most decorative. Forms of very various colours occur : white, yellow, brown, purple, and of a dark chocolate ; and in some of these darker forms a bright yellow labellum adds very greatly to the beauty of the flower. But I have never been able to satisfy myself that I have seen more than one species. Nor has the variety of Orchid life in such a creek as I have been imagining even yet been fully indicated. Here and there a small tree, often a Calliandra, does not rise to the forest top, but stretches its branches and branchlets, often very sparse- leaved but thickly set from end to end with its feathery close-nestling pink or white flowers, out into the vacant space over the creek water. The smaller branches of such a tree, often matted together with mosses and Liverworts, have perched upon them, as it were, a number of very small Orchids, Plewro- thailis and Masdevallia, with mosquito-like flowers, and fan-shaped plants of two small species of Ornithocephalus (O. Ibis and O. Cruegerv), and many others. I may pause for a moment to recommend anyone who cares to see a really marvellous thing in the way of beauty of form and beauty of adaptation to grow these or similar small species of Ornithocephalus, to examine the flowers carefully under the microscope, and more especially to watch carefully the exquisite contrivances which are revealed when the pollinia are released. Let us now wander in imagination higher up some creek, some creek which has its source, not in the mere drainage of a swamp, but from some of the low hills, the original coast line of the country, which penetrate into the more lately deposited alluvial tract, with which we have hitherto been chiefly dealing. At the head of such a creek the bottom is often sandy, and the water, no longer muddy but clear as crystal, is of a beautiful and deep wine colour. (I often mentally praise the old Greeks K 50 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. who provided us with that most apt colour phrase which so exactly expresses a tone which one means without binding one down too closely to the colour of any particular wine.) Broad- leaved Aroids grow in the stream at the sides, their leaves and white or green flower-spathes. constantly swaying with the current. Here and there a fallen tree, often, in these higher grounds, of some size, hes across the water, its upper surface covered with a close-growing carpet of thin moss, its lower surface almost constantly wetted by the running water. On the higher part of such a trunk are grass-like tufts of Zygopetalum granunifoliwm, its erect, hair-like flower stems carrying two or three most daintily beautiful yellow, brown barred flowers, its thick fleshy white roots at first twisted much together, and then spreading out over the surface of the bark and reaching down far enough to bathe their growing points in the water. On both sides of the trunk, just where the deeper colour of the moss indicates the average height to which the water level of the stream rises at certain seasons, the turf of the moss is every- where penetrated by the threadlike wiry rhizomes of a very minute but very lovely Plewrothallis (? P. acutissima of Coigneaux’ ‘Flora Brasiliensis’’), the tiny, acutely pointed leaves of which are hardly distinguishable from the mossy covering of the bark, while the small purple twin flowers, in that they are carried well over the foliage, are only a little more easily seen, though if put under the microscope they appear as amongst the most gorgeous of Orchid flowers. A few sandstone rocks crop out over the surface of the water, their tops above water level clad with similar moss to that on the tree trunk. Higher up the stream, toward the head of the miniature reach, these rocks are more numerous, barring the water, which there dashes through the channels between the rocks with some small force. On the higher parts of such rocklets, ever wetted by the spray from the top falls, grow exquisite ittle clumps of arare and beautiful little Orchid, Cheira- demia cuspidata, each plant a delightful little cluster of leaves, well over which the very fine but sturdy flower stalk carries the magnificent little flowers. I cannot refrain from giving one more creek scene, this time much nearer to the sea. The deep sluggish water here winds through a swamp almost entirely covered by masses of a prickly palm. (Bactris leptocarpa, Trail), the grey-green stems and SKETCHES OF WILD ORCHIDS IN GUIANA. 51 feathered crowns of which rise in a wild tangle to a height of about 20 feet above the water level. On these stems, among the flattened grey thorns which thickly clothe them, fully exposed to direct sunlight at midday from overhead, cling loose masses of Bifrenaria longicornis, Lindl. Through the Palm stems, something white, a little way in the swamp, attracts the eye; and a second look discloses that this is the white flower of Agansia pulchella, which in some places, hardly ever seen by human eye, creeps up many of the Palm stems. Occasionally, very occasionally, in that vast stretch of forest and creek there are open places—‘‘ wet savannahs’”’ they are called—where the creeks wander for a time no longer under the trees, but through great water meadows of long grass, over which in the wet season the water spreads and makes a lake. In such places, breaking the grass stretches, are many clumps of low. bushes and far-reaching groups of arborescent Aroids (Montrichardia). On these bushes, almost weighing them down, are vast masses of an Hpidendrwum (LE. oncidioides), with thickly clustering, very upright pseudo-bulbs, and narrow, very erect, and stiff leaves. The innumerable straw-coloured flowers of this Hpidendrum, tossed up into the air on very long flower- stalks, sometimes in such profusion as almost to dim the light, fill the air with a scent as of newly flowering Hawthorn. Thickets of this Orchid thus seen in all the supreme beauty and lightness which come to them in the flowering season make a picture which does indeed brighten all after-thought. Nor is this the only, perhaps not even the most striking, of the Orchids of such places. From innumerable of the smaller branches of the bushes, and from many of the woodyaroid stems, hang loose clusters of Ionopsis paniculata with its light clouds of pale violet-coloured flowerets, apparently hardly held together by anything substantial enough to be called a stalk. Again in other places is there very occasionally open country, but this open country is dry. There reefs of almost pure sand, so whitened by the tropical sun as to dazzle the eye, are broken by coppices and clumps of low-growing gnarled trees and a few bushes, all of special kinds. Such places also have their special Orchids. Up the tree trunks grows, often in great abundance, a very small brown-leaved and stemmed Vanilla, with beautiful little flowers of almost pure white. On tie ground, where the E2 52 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. trees, thin as they are, yet give some shade, grow Catasetwms of more than one species, as well as a Brassia, perhaps unnamed, but certainly not beautiful enough to be an acquisition to gardens. And in the deeper shade grows one of the rare terrestrial Orchids of Guiana, a Wicrostylis. Outside the clumps of trees, but where the shadow of these occasionally falls, are thickets of a Cyrtopodiwm with gigantic pseudo-bulbs, often three or more feet long, over which rise the splendid masses of yellow flowers. I have left myself no space to speak of the forest country further inland, or of the open highlands, to which the name of savannah more especially belongs, yet further in the interior. If the Orchid pictures which have already been given are of any interest to the readers of the Society’s Journal, possibly the editor will allow me ona future occasion to tell of the homes of the Cattleya and Selenipediwms (of both of which genera, however, there are but few species in Guiana), as well as of my own greater favourites, Trichocentrum, Quekettia, Octomeria, and so on. I cannot, however, close the present paper without justifying my appearance in a journal of this nature by one suggestion which I suppose may be picked out as the one practical point of what I have here written. I have found by experience in my own garden (which it must, however, be remembered is in the tropics) that a great many small Orchids which it seems difticult or impossible to establish in pots or on blocks, or in any of the ordinary methods of the garden, can be established very readily—so readily that in the tropics they soon seed themselves freely over the garden—on growing plants of garden shrubs. Such shrubs as the various species of Tabernemontana, Jasminum, Gardenia, Hibiscus, Coffea, and even “ Crotons,” make suitable hosts for Jonopsis paniculata, as also for the much rarer JI. teres, for Oncidiwm iridifolium, Rodriguezia (including Burlingtonia candida), and, in short, for most of those which grow naturally on the outer branchlets of trees or shrubs, and are consequently much exposed to the sun, and are at the same time provided with ideally perfect drainage. The conditions in an English stove of course differ very materially from those of a tropical garden; but it wonld perhaps be worth the experiment whether some of the small “ difficult things”? might not be grown on living hosts. Or Oo FLORAL DEMONSTRATION. FLORAL DEMONSTRATION. By the Rey. Professor Grorecr Henstow, M.A., F.R.HLS., V.M.H., &e. [Given March 8, 1898.] Proressor Henstow commenced by alluding to a plant of Iris persica and one of Cyclamen Coum, interesting historically as being the first and fourth plant respectively illustrated in Curtis’ ‘‘ Botanical Magazine,” vol.i. They have thus been in cultivation for upwards of a century, but show little if any improvement. Specimens of Sarracenia in blossom afforded an opportunity of describing the method of catching insects adopted by this genus, which decay within the trumpet-shaped leaves through bacteria, and afford some nourishment, by absorption, to the host plant; but under cultivation the flies are often sonumerous as to destroy the pitchers themselves, the only preventive being apparently the plugging the mouths with cotton wool. Allusion was made to the fact that in America a certain moth drops its eggs into the decaying débris, when birds subsequently sht open the tubes and extract the grubs. Mr. Henslow had even found the decaying mass of insects full of the grubs of the blow-fly. The flower was described and the movements of the shield-like stigma, first noticed by Mr. W. G. Smith, to allow an insect to enter beneath it and then escape with pollen, when the stigma became depressed again. Lirica and Epacris supplied an illustration of representative plants. Though much alike, but of different orders, the former is from the Cape, the latter from Australia. The interpretation of the similarity is that they both grow under similar climatal conditions, the plants having ‘responded ’”’ to these, and con- sequently assumed a like physiognomy. Bryophyllum calycinum, from Madeira, &c., illustrated a peculiar method of vegetative propagation, inasmuch as the leaflets fall off before decaying and strike root, then produce buds at the notches on the margin. Professor Henslow pointed out the analogy between this and a carpellary leaf with ovules, as exemplified in a Pea pod. 54 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. Some hybrid Orchids, raised by Mr. Veitch, between species of Epidendron, with subsequent considerable variations in the results, called for observations ; as well as one between Dendro- bium Wardianum and D. japonicum, a much smaller flowered ‘species without any yellow in the lip. That in the labellum of D. Wardianum was completely obliterated, a purple spot being only retained. A hybrid sent by Sir T. Lawrence, called Azaleodendron, suggested some remarks upon what a species really was. For- merly it was thought to be a fixed entity, and that nature did not permit a hybrid to be fertile. This, however, has long since been disproved. Species were recognised by systematic botanists solely by the forms of the flowers, foliage, &e. But when two plants, regarded as belonging to different genera, e.g. Azalea and Rhododendron, were found capable of being crossed, then the offspring was either called a ‘‘ bigener,”’ or else ‘‘ form ”’ was ignored, and both parents were said to be of the same genus. “ Amaryllis,’ Hippeastrum Pardina, exhibited by Mr.Veitch, illustrated a case in which no benefit had followed from crossing, the flower being rather small, inferior-coloured, and the stem weak; but A. Leopoldina, obtained simultaneously with the preceding from Peru, had been crossed with well-established and old crosses, and so brought about an excellent strain, this species having imparted a broader and flatter mouth to the perianth. The Professor drew attention to the slight irregularity which occurs in this flower, in that the lower and front petal is the smallest and not streaked with white as the others. More- over the stamens are declinate. He observed that most flowers, in which the stamens formed the support for, and bore the weight of the insects, assumed the above type of character; in which the lower petal was more or less atrophied, and even some- times completely obliterated, as in the Horsechestnut. A group of Cyclamen with fringed petals represented a new ‘break’’ in this plant, a result of hypertrophy and a feature occurring in other flowers as well, for it has appeared in Begonias, greatly enhancing the beauty of the flower. THE COOKING OF VEGETABLES. 55 THE COOKING OF VEGETABLES. By Dr. Bonavia. Ir is not always easy to give recipes for cooking vegetables without an accompaniment of meat, fish, oreggs. Some vege- tables admit of being cooked alone. Jor instance, I know nothing nicer than good honest potatoes, simply boiled and eaten hot with good butter and salt. Being myself half Irish, I look upon this homely dish as “very pretty eating,” as it was called by an Irishman. Many vegetables are used in combination with meats of sorts, with fish, and with eggs; and therefore, in order to make this paper more useful, I shall, here and there, allude to certain combinations of vegetables with other materials. It is a curious phenomenon of the human brain that cookery had been for long looked upon as a vulqar occupation. We think a great deal of things that are pleasing to the sight, such as pictures, flowers, pretty furniture, pretty dresses, &c. We think a great deal of scents that are pleasing to the olfactory nerves. We also think very highly of charming sounds, songs, music of all sorts, that fascinate the organ of hearing. But, curiously enough, when we come to things that please the palate, our common sense seems to fail us. We seem to look upon the pleasures of the palate as akin to gluttony. The reason of this seems to be that, while indulging in these pleasures, we have to introduce into our interior economy something material, and the handling of the raw materials in the kitchen is not always very fascinating. No doubt eating and drinking have been often abused, not only in ancient, but also in modern times. Indeed, the medieval Church set upon its lists, as great sins, what may be vulgarly called “the sins of the belly,’ or, as the Italians called them, “ peccati della gola’’; that is, “sins of the gullet.” In my Opinion, however, cookery ought to be considered as one of the fine arts. It is not only an art, but also a science, much like chemistry, with the great advantage that, unlike the latter art, cookery does not frequently evolve such odiously bad smells. ~The kitchen should be looked upon as a_ laboratory, where innumerable combinations of different kinds of food- 56 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. materials can be worked up into, not only pleasure-giving, but also health-giving compounds; for to eat a thing with pleasure is a great aid to digestion, and, without good digestion, good health is hardly possible. The gardener and the cook are a pair of very useful creatures in civilised life. In the words of the Very Rey. the Dean of Rochester (Nineteenth Century for April, 1898, page 646): ‘Seriously, these subjects of horticul- ture and cookery are of great national, social, and moral import- ance. ... Ifaman does not find happiness at home, he will seek it elsewhere in vain; but when, after his day’s work is done, you refresh his eyes and his palate with the results of hig own handiwork, you do much to make him satisfied with his surroundings, and to restrain him from wandering to those perilous places where wild asses quench their thirst.”’ In concluding this little preamble, let me tell you that you cannot have savoury dishes without the use of onions, garlic, olives, erated cheese, and various other condiments. I know that some people have a horror of onions and garlic in any form. These strongly scented ingredients should, however, be used so judi- ciously as to present to the palate a sort of “bouquet” of flavours. In short, they should be used much as perfumers use musk and civet to produce the various scents which ladies and other folk are so fond of. Let us now commence with the Aubergine.—Some time ago I procured some seeds of a very choice variety from Delhi in India, called there mdroo baingan. I have a suspicion that mdroo is simply a corruption of the English word marrow, owing to the marrowy softness and flavour of this delicious vegetable. Well, among others I sent some of the seeds to the Rev. Mr. Wilks, our esteemed Secretary. He made them over to the official in charge of the Chiswick Garden, and in due course they produced fruit; the report I got of them was that they were pronounced nasty! Certainly the raw aubergine is nasty, and, simply boiled, it cannot be called nice. In this case it was simply boiled, and I do not wonder it was not found fascinating. Mr. Wilks himself, however, had some fried in butter, and pronounced them decidedly nice. There are several ways of cooking this aubergine, or brinjal, as it is called in some places. (a) Remove the stalk and bracts, or enlarged calyx, cut the THE COOKING OF VEGETABLES. 57 fruit in slices lengthways, of the thickness of two or three half- crowns, and fry them in plenty of oil or lard till they are of a light brown on both sides, and serve them hot, either alone or as a vegetable with meat. Of course salt is to be used with them. (b) Cut the aubergines in halves lengthways, and_ boil them till quite soft; squeeze them between two plates, to rid them of the slightly bitterish water they contain. Then scoop out the interior and chop it up roughly. When cold, dress it with oil and vinegar, pepper and salt, and use it as a salad. The aubergines for salad are nicer when baked whole in a dwindling oven. They will be shrivelled a good deal when done. When cool, take off the skin, chop up the pulp roughly, and use it as a salad as before. It should be understood that the pulp, when sufficiently baked, should be of a marrowy softness. (c) The nicest way, however, of cooking this vegetable is as “ stuffed brinjals,’’ or ‘‘ aubergines farcies.’”’ This, of course, is a combination of aubergines and two kinds of meat, with other condimental materials, as follows :—Remove the stalk and bracts and cut the aubergines lengthways in halves; boil them to ten- derness as before, and squceze them between two plates to get rid of surplus water; scoop out the interior, leaving only the shell with a thin layer of the pulp; shape them like little boats for stuffing. The round kinds are the best for the preparation of this savoury dish. In the meantime chop up finely, through an American mincing machine, some fresh pork with the fat on and some fresh beef. While this is being done, chop up a couple of good-sized onions, and fry them in lard; when nearly done, throw in a good tablespoonful of chopped parsley, add the minced meats, two tablespoonfuls of grated Parmesan cheese, pepper and salt, and stir the whole on the fire for half an hour ; after having added the chopped-up pulp of the aubergines. When the whole is cool, mix in thoroughly a couple of eggs beaten up, and stuff the aubergines with this compound. Smooth the surface and sprinkle some more grated cheese over the surface of each, and bake them in a pan previously smeared with lard, till the surface of the ‘aubergine farcie’’ is of a light brown, and serve them hot as a separate dish. If well made, this dish is supremely nice. Its perfection can only be attained by practice, and connoisseurs will not fail to enjoy it. (d) Aubergines baked as before, and pulped, will make a 58 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, very nice curry to be eaten with nicely boiled rice and chutney. This vegetable curry in India is called chichki. All vegetable curries bear this name. Cabbage.—Besides the simply boiled cabbage, there are two other ways of cooking this vegetable. (a) Steam some nice sort of cabbage till quite tender, and squeeze it between two plates to get rid of excessive moisture. Chop it up finely. Boil or steam some mealy potatoes, and press them through a squeezer, and mash them all up with the cabbage. Put the whole in a saucepan on the fire with a good pat of butter, half a breakfastcup of creamy milk, and a good sprinkling of salt. Heat the whole, and stir frequently till the mass becomes like thick porridge; serve hot as an accompani- ment to meat. This is an Irish dish, and I have never seen it done well except by Irish people. It is called “ kalecannon.”’ It is very nice indeed, but requires practice to proportion the ingredients nicely. It can be varied by mixing all the inegredi- ents as before, and baking the whole in a buttered dish in the oven till the surface of the mass acquires a rich brown colour. A good deal of butter is required to make a nice ‘“ kalecannon.”’ (>) Stuffed cabbage or “choux farcis.” This is a very interesting dish. Prepare some minced fresh pork and beef— as for stuffed aubergines—season with chopped onions, pepper, salt, a few pinches of ground cinnamon and cloves, and a good proportion of grated cheese; mix in a couple of beaten eggs. In the meantime half steam a nice small cabbage, separate the leaves, and lay them flat on a dish. In the middle of each cabbage leaf place a full tablespoon of the minced mixture, and envelope the whole in the leaf. Put a few coils of thread round each ball to prevent its becoming undone in cooking, and when all are thus prepared stew them gently in a rich gravy, so that when they are cooked they will become glazed over with a condensed gravy. Dish the ‘‘choux farcis’’ one by one, cut through the thread and remove it, and serve them hot. I have eaten these ‘‘ choux farcis’’ made by a first-class cook, and they were exceedingly nice. Cauliflower.—Besides the English way of serving cauliflower simply boiled with an insipid white sauce, there are two other ways of cooking this fine vegetable. (a) Steam a nice cauliflower till it is quite soft, but not THE COOKING OF VEGETABLES. 59 overdone. When cool divide it into branches. Then beat up a couple of eggs, and turn each branch of the cauliflower in the beaten egg, so as to smear it all over with egg, and fry it in lard, turning each piece in the frying-pan, till it is of a golden- brown; serve hot. Ido not know any vegetable dish nicer than this one when well done. White broccoli is not half so good as cauliflower, which, when nicely cooked, is of a marrowy con- sistence. The sprouting purple broccoli is a totally different thine. Simply steamed it is very nice, eaten with pepper and salt as a meat accompaniment; but there is a nicer way of cooking it. Steam the sprouting broccoli, fry some chopped onion in lard or butter, add some minced parsley, and toss the broccoli gently in it without mashing it; serve hot. “Choufleur au gratin’’ is sufficiently known, but there is usually one great omission in this dish. It should have a good deal of grated Parmesan cheese mixed up with it; and grated cheese should be sprinkled over the surface before baking it. This dish requires a good deal of butter. There is one other way of using steamed cauliflower which is not generally known. Divide one or more cauliflowers into branches and steam them till quite tender ; serve quite hot with lemon juice, olive oil, and pepper and salt, as a sort of hot salad. Steamed cauliflower divided into branches makes a capital accompaniment to a fish-pie, with olives (with the stone cut out) fried, chopped onions, and parsley, pepper and salt. This in Italy is called ‘“‘ pasticcio di pesce.’”’ The paste of this pie should be kneaded with oil and red wine instead of with water ; salt should never be omitted in the paste. Onions.—There are two kinds of onions, viz., the flat white onion, which, when boiled, has a marrowy consistence; the other is the large Spanish onion, which, when boiled, has the consistence of leather. Why growers try to produce the largest onions, sometimes as large as a cannon-ball, as if they were meant for feeding cattle, I do not know. I think onions should be boiled, not steamed, because the boiling water washes out a good deal of the rankness of the onion. There are two nice ways of using whole onions. (a) Boil some white flat onions to marrowy tenderness, squeeze them slightly between two plates, and serve hot, to be dressed with oil and vinegar, pepper and salt, and eaten as a 60 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. hot salad. The boiled onion, eaten hot, has a nicer flavour than the same onion allowed to cool. (b) The best way of cooking the leathery Spanish onions is to use them as vehicles for cooking kidneys, in the following manner :—Cut off a third of a Spanish onion; scoop out the interior sufficiently, so as to hold a kidney; chop up the scooped portion finely, mix it with a good pat of butter, add pepper and salt, put the kidney in the hollow of the onion, stuff in the chopped onion and butter, put on the third which has been cut off, as a sort of .cap or cover, and bake in a brisk oven for two hours. The green leaves of young onions are generally thrown away, which isa mistake. If the leaves are cut up and fried as a condiment, they are as good, if not better, than the bulb. Artichokes.——The English way of cooking them is to boil them, and eat the bases of the bracts with melted butter or a white sauce. The same boiled are nicer if eaten with a sauce made of oil and vinegar, pepper and salt. Another way of cooking the matured and large artichokes is to prepare a stuffing of finely chopped garlic, finely chopped parsley, and breadcrumbs, seasoned with pepper and salt; stuff this ‘‘compo”’ between the bracts, pour oil over the whole, arrange the artichokes in a baking-dish stood upright, close to each other, and bake them in an oyen till the bracts loosen easily. They are to be eaten in the usual way, by biting off the soft base of the bracts, flavoured with the stuffing. The principal and best part of these large artichokes is the receptacle, freed of what is commonly called the “choke.” The Italians, however, use the artichoke bud, that is the artichoke, when quite small and tender, as follows :—The outer bracts of the small artichoke are removed. It is then steamed, and when cool split into two halves, and fried in good French batter as artichoke fritters. If well done, these are very nice. Salsify.—Serape the roots and steep them in water for a couple of hours, then boil them to tenderness. When cool they make an excellent salad with mayonnaise sauce. Another way is to cut them up after boiling them, and fry them in good French batter, to be served hot as salsify fritters. If well done, this is one of the choicest fritters. Still another way is to cut up the boiled roots and cook them exactly as you would baked oyster scollops. THE COOKING OF VEGETABLES. 61 Parsnips.—Choice varieties of parsnips are the only kinds worth eating. The ordinary way is to boil them like carrots. But when boiled and sliced and fried in good French batter, they make excellent fritters. Of course, in all this sort of cookery, practice is needed, in order to make a choice dish. Vegetable Marrow.—The great fault I find in the way vegetable marrows are used in England is this :—They are allowed to remain too long on the plant before plucking. The consequence is that they are full of seeds and flavourless. If plucked of the size of a lemon, they are much nicer, whatever way they may be cooked in. The plant will go on producing others of the same size, so there is no waste. There are several ways of cooking these nice little marrows. (a) Slice them crossways, each slice of the thickness of two half-crowns, and fry them in lard, to be eaten with salt as an addition to meat or fowl. (b) Cut them in halves lengthways, scoop out the interior carefully, and stuff them with minced meat, flavoured with minced spring onions, parsley, pepper and salt, bound with a whipped ege; cover with breadcrumbs, and bake until the surface is browned. ‘This ‘‘ courge farcie’’ can be varied by making the stuffing of fish, flavoured with onions, thyme, &c., but preferably with tinned sardines. | (c) Cut up the marrows into inch cubes; place them in a pot with some finely sliced onions, some sliced green or red chillies, and a lump of butter and some salt, and stew them on a slow fire without any water. They will stew nicely “in their own juice,’ and make a capital hot vegetable dish. Mammoth gourd or Potiron.—This fine vegetable is scarcely ever seen in England. All the same, it is one of the finest vegetables, of a sweetish taste when cooked. Some varieties grow to such a size when ripe as to be a load fora man. This gourd will keep for a long time in a dry place, and pieces of it can be used as required. There are different varieties of it, some of a yellow and others of a reddish colour when cut. The seeds should be shaved off for cooking purposes, and the thick and hard rind cut away. When cut up into 14 inch cubes, steamed to tenderness and pressed through a sieve, 1t makes a capital gourd soup, like pea-soup or tomato soup, or Jerusalem artichoke soup. But the best way of cooking this interesting vegetable is the 62 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. following :—Take a thickish slice of gourd, and after removing the seeds and rind cut it up into 14 inch cubes and stew it in its own juice on a slow fire, with the addition ofa finely sliced white onion and a chilli cut up, and, of course, with some salt. No water is required, but only an occasional stirring. It can be served as a vegetable with meat. When the gourd is quite young, of the size of an orange, it can be cooked as a vegetable marrow; indeed, it 7s then one of the marrows. A very nice sweet dish can be made out of this gourd. Cut up as before, steam, and press through a sieve. The result will be a purée of gourd. Mix ina whipped egg or two, some sugar to taste, a spoonful or two of cream, a little flour, and a seasoning of ground cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. Mix up the whole well, take up tablespoonfuls of this purée, and fry them singly in lard on both sides. Dish them in layers, sprinkle finely ground sugar over each layer, and serve hot as a sweet dish. A very good pudding can also be made out of the gourd purée. Peas.—The cooking of peas is sufficiently known in this country, but the Indian way of cooking peas is in my opinion the best. Put the shelled peas into a stone jar with a screw top, with some fresh mint. Add two teaspoonfuls of water, a good pat of butter, half a teaspoonful of sugar, a few pinches of salt, anda little pepper. Give the whole a stir with a spoon, screw on the top, and cover all the top with some flour paste in order to keep in the steam. Then plunge the jar in a pot of boiling water, and keep it boiling for a couple of hours. Remove the paste and screw top—surround the jar with a clean napkin, and hand round the peas, to be ladled out with a spoon by the diners. The French way of cooking petits pois, as a separate dish, is a very nice one. Broad beans and young French beans are best cooked in the way the French cook peas. But young French beans make a good hot salad as follows :—Steam them with a number of young silver-skinned onions, and serve them hot, to be seasoned with oil and vinegar, pepper and salt, as an accompaniment to meat. The mistake is often made of leaving the French beans on the plant till they become too large and hard. Then they are hardly worth eating. Knole Kole-—This is a vegetable of the cabbage tribe, with a turnip-shaped stem above ground. When of the size of a THE COOKING OF VEGETABLES. 638 small orange it is very nice when cooked. Peeled like a potato, with a knife, cut into halves or quarters and steamed, it makes a good hot salad with lemon juice, oil and pepper and salt. Simply steamed, it is very nice as an ordinary vegetable, mixed up with its own tops. Peeled, cut up, and stewed with meat, it is very nice. Tomato.—I have eaten tomatos simply grilled, as an accompaniment with a mutton chop. But grilled tomatos are not so good as tomatos cut in halves cross ways, and fried in ‘lard to softness, or till the rawness disappears. If they are only to be half done, it is better to eat them quite raw as a salad. Baked tomatos in a pan smeared with lard are very nice when eaten as a vegetable with pepper and salt. But the tomato admits of being cooked in various ways, with meat, eggs, or fish ingredients, as follows :— (a) Stuffed tomatos.—Take some smooth round tomatos, cut off the stalk end, and scoop out the seeds from the centre, but not the pulp round the skin. Fry some chopped onions in lard to softness with a minced clove of garlic and some minced parsley. Mix in some minced meat, or fowl, or fish—preferably tinned sardines. When cool, bind the whole with a whipped ege and a little breadcrumb ; season with pepper and salt and a pinch of ground spice; stuff the tomatos with this mixture, smooth the surface and sprinkle over it a little breadcrumb and bake in a dish smeared with lard till the surface is browned. (0) Tomatos and Eggs.—Peel some ripe tomatos (two, three, or four, according to need); cut out the stalk centres, cut them up and fry them in butter till they become dissolved, no raw bits should remain uncooked; season them with pepper and salt. Beat up three, four, or six fresh eggs, according to need, but do not beat them too much. Pour the eggs into the tomato-pan, and stir gently till the eggs are almost set. Serve hot on toast. If the tomatos are quite ripe, the eggs fresh, and the butter “best butter,’ this isa very nice breakfast dish. The eggs should not be allowed to become solid on the fire. (c) But one of the best ways of cooking tomatos is the follow- ing :—In a baking-dish or pudding-dish place a layer of sardines from a newly-opened tin, spread over them a layer of finely sliced young white onions (spring onions are the best), over these sprinkle a tablespoonful of capers, and a heaped dessertspoon of 64 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. fresh marjoram leaves; add pepper and salt; pour over all a tablespoonful of good olive oil, and cover the whole surface with ripe tomatos cut in halves crossways, the cut side downwards ; sprinkle over all some breadcrumbs, and bake in a quick oven. If you do this tomato dish properly, you will repeat it often and will never forget it. The onions, capers, and marjoram are de rigueur. Potatos.—The cooking of potatos is sufficiently well known in England, but a few ways of cooking potatos which are not commonly known may be mentioned here. (a) Potato soufflé.—Boil good oval-shaped potatos. When cool, cut off one end and scoop out the interior of the potatos, leaving about a florin’s thickness all round under the skin. Mash up what you have scooped out, mix in some cream or melted butter, a little grated Parmesan and a whipped egg, and season with pepper, salt, and a pinch of spice. Fill the scooped-out potatos with this stuffing, smooth the surface, place them side by side in a baking-dish, and bake till the surfaces are browned. To be served hot. If you have any meat or fowl left, chop it up, grind it in a Wedgwood mortar, and add it to the stuffing. (b) The most savoury way I know of cooking potatos is in an Trish Stew.—The English way of making an Irish stew is to cut up peeled; potatos, with sliced onions, and stew them in an open pot with mutton neck-cutlets. This dish is nice enough, but it wholly lacks the marvellously appetising flavour of a real Irish stew, which is made in the following manner :—Begin by placing at the bottom of the pot some old plate, face downwards, over it place a layer of whole middling-sized peeled potatos, over that a layer of sliced white onions; season with pepper and salt ; then again a layer of mutton or lamb cutlets; go on building up the same layers—potatos, onions, pepper and salt, and cutlets, or shortenings of ribs or pieces of brisket—until the pot is nearly full, pour in by the side of the pot a small teacup of water. Then —and this is the most important part of the performance—cover the whole with a slab of paste worked up with suet and well tucked in at the sides, and cook on a slow fire for a couple of hours. This stew should be kept simmering all the time at boiling-point. The object of the plate at the bottom, of course, is to prevent the ingredients from being burnt, and the object of HORTICULTURAL SOILS, 65 the paste is to keep in the steam and with it the aroma of the stew. If properly done, the potatos become throughout im- pregnated with the aroma of the onions and of the meat, and are unequalled in flavour by any other form of cookery. When the whole is cooked, take up the slab of paste carefully and place it upside down on a hot dish, and tumble out carefully the stew over it. There should be just a little gravy, but never a lot of gravy as if it were a soup. The paste, if well made, becomes also impregnated with the aroma of the stew, and is very nice and juicy if it is not made too thick. Such is a real Irish stew. Practically it is a potato stew cooked by steam. In the English mode of making an Irish stew the whole aroma escapes with the steam and is lost. There are not many that can make a real Irish stew, unless they have been taught by Irish people. In conclusion, I would remark that it is no more possible to make a good cook by giving him or her recipes on paper than it is possible to make a good pianist by giving him or her a piece of music on paper. Practice and inteligence—and shall I say an appreciative diner ?—are essential to the evolution of a good cook. HORTICULTURAL SOILS. By Mr. J. J. WIxtis. [Read March 22, 1898. ] THE question of soils must always be an important subject to horticulturists, for the reason that if a plant is to grow up strongly and freely, it must have not only good and abundant food, but a suitable and healthy abode. Science, as well as practice, have demonstrated the fact that some kinds of soil are more suitable than others to certain plants, and it is found that the value of different soils for horticultural purposes is greatly dependent upon the original material from which they were made, and upon the state of fineness to which they have been reduced. FORMATION OF SOILS. All soils have been formed by the disintegration of rocks, | through the prolonged action of water, alr, and frost; and in F 66 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. the latter stages of their history by the action of vegetable and’ animal life, and their products. When once a soil has been brought under cultivation, the continual ploughing, digging, hoeing, stirring, and other operations of the gardener—all com- prehended under the term “‘ tillage ’’—assist most powerfully the weathering influences, and cause cultivated soils to become finer and more permeable, and consequently in that respect better and better. The purposes of tillage are twofold. First, it improves the texture of the soil in the mere mechanical sense; or, in other words, it stirs and loosens the soil so that the roots of plants may readily pass through it. Air and water are allowed to enter freely, and water is enabled to pass easily through the mass, while at the same time it ensures that the soil shall retain a sufficient amount of moisture for plant-life. Secondly, tillage alters the position and condition of the soil particles, facilitating the chemical changes in these particles through the action of atmospheric agencies. Helping also the microscopic organisms in their work of nitrifying the organic matters contained in the soil. The weight of soil on an acre of land is so enormous that small proportions of plant-food present in it may amount to very considerable quantities when reckoned up to the acre at any given depth. ‘Table I. illustrates the weight of different de- scriptions of soil, cut to 9 inches deep, when perfectly dry and free from stones. TABLE I.—Wetecut of an Acre of Sor, cut to 9 inches deep, Dry and Free from Stones. Pounds. | Sandy soil... ae aoe a ae ... 3,500,000 Arable loamy soil... ae Ss us 22 8,000,000 Pasture soil ... rat wee ie one ess 2,250,000 Forest soil... oe see o) ore: ..- 1,500,006 Peaty soil... 55 st: ase 55 .-- 1,000,000 These illustrations show that an acre of sandy soil will weigh 3,500,000 lbs.; an ordinary arable loamy soil 3,000,000 lbs. ; a pasture soil when dried and the visible roots removed will weigh about 2,250,000 lbs.; a forest soil that contains an abundance of decaying vegetable matter will weigh but 1,500,000 lbs. per acre; while an acre of peaty soil cut to 9 inches deep, in consequence of its light and spongy character, HORTICULTURAL SOILS. 67 will weigh only 1,000,000 lbs., or in some cases possibly even less. THe Usss oF Solu. The uses of a soil to plants are to provide a firm yet sufficiently deep and porous layer, into which the roots can penetrate, and extend their fibrils and rootlets in every direction. The soil has to support the plant in an upright position, and keep it firm, when in the open air, against the storms of wind and rain. It must allow of the free percolation of both water and air, which are so necessary to the life and growth of the plant, and to the due preparation of plant-food in the soil. It must retain sufficient moisture to furnish the growing crop with an immediate supply of water, and its pores must be sufficiently fine to allow of the ascent of water from the subsoil by capillary attraction. It must store up some of the heat received from the sun in the day-time, and so render the temperature of the soil more equable. It also serves as a protective covering to roots and seeds against excessive summer heat and winter frosts. A soil should contain in itself a stock of the mineral food necessary to the growth of crops, and it must constitute the laboratory of a number of wonderful actions whereby plant- food is always being prepared little by little for reception and assimilation into the plant. For a soil to be fertile it must permit of the various tillage operations by which alone the surface can be kept free from weeds, and given the proper conditions of texture necessary for the sowing of different seeds, and for the healthy development of the various crops grown upon it. All fertile soils are made up more or less of each of the following substances :—Gravel, clay, sand, carbonate of lime (chalk), and vegetable matter. Hach of these ingredients can be discovered in, and separated from, a soil by simple means. The proportions in which they are mixed together in any given soil have great influence on the uses to which the soil can be put in practical horticulture, and the kind of crops and in- dividual plants best fitted for it to grow. Table II. gives an illustration of the mechanical analysis of five different descriptions of soil, cut to 9 inches deep. The quantities are quoted in 100 lbs. of each, free from moisture :— F 2 68 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. TABLE II.--Mecuanican Anatysts of Dirrerent Descriprions of Sort, cut to 9 inches deep. | The quantity of gravel is seen to range from less than 4, per cent. to over 9 per cent. The sand ranges from 28 to 72 per cent. The clay, including lime and soluble silica, ranges from 2 per cent. in the Ghent heath mould to about 523 per cent. in the rich pasture soil. The organic matter ranges from about 74 per cent. to 64 per cent. The Ghent heath mould is composed of more than five-eighths of its total weight of organic matter. It may, therefore, be easily understood that the ready-formed plant-food in soils, whether of mineral con- stituents or of nitrogen, is a very fluctuating quantity, often falling below the needs of a particular crop, as regards one or other ingredient. Itis only the very rich virgin soils, formed by breaking up of natural pastures of newly settled countries, or such soils as the Ghent heath mould, as quoted in Tables II. and III., that are practically inexhaustible. | | | Nl Arable | Rich | Alluvial | Rich | Heath loamy pasture pasture | = ie ite mould soil | soil soil Sail | (Ghent) | % °% , % Gravel . 8-7 92 | 0:3 16 | 0:0 Sand . : 629 | -28:b I) uae o14 | 340 Clay and chalk oo ys ae Daal 6 Ga 2-0 Organic matter 8:5: | eOD | 74 35°99 | 64:0 | | Total. .| 1000 | 1000 | 1000 | 100:0 , 1000 THe Sor AS A SouRCE oF PuAnt Foon. In order to start with definite notions about the inherent fertility of soils, I may state that where any plant, however lowly, has once grown and died away, its remains gradually decay and add a little vegetable or organic matter to the soil, rendering it thereby capable of growing a better plant the next season. As the soil becomes richer in carbonaceous and vegetable matters, higher organised plants will occupy it; these pass through the same phases of life as the plants of simpler structure, and enrich the soil at an increasing rate by the expanded flora, as well as by the greater bulk of their products HORTICULTURAL SOILS. 69 that fall victims to organic law. We have to remember, further, that the greater part of the weight of every plant is obtained from the air, and only a very little is derived from the sgoil. Not only so, but it is a fact, and a very important one, that new plants grow much more quickly than the remains of the old ones decay and disappear; hence organic carbonaceous matter must always be increasing in a soil left in a state of nature and uncultivated. The character and amount of plant-growth is found to differ considerably in different soils, and the largest quantity of produce will be grown on the soils where the wild plants could get the greatest amount of food. It happens, therefore, that the virgin soils, as they are termed, derived from the heath, the forest, or the prairie, which are first ploughed up by the settlers in new countries, are richly charged with a blackish-brown vegetable substance, known under the general name of humus, and recognised as one of the marks of a fertile soil. In fact, humus was considered by agricultural chemists in the early part of the present century to be the main source of soil fertility. But without supposing that plants feed directly upon humic matter, it is easy to see why the proportion of this substance is often a very fair measure of the productiveness of a soil, for the reason that it represents the material accumulated by a previous succession of crops. Table III. shows the proportion of organic matter, and of nitrogen in the organic matter, in seven descriptions of soil, in quantities per acre, the soil being cut to 9 inches deep. TABLE IIJ.—Oreantc Marrer and Nrrrocen in Dirrerent DescrirTions of Soru per acre, cut to 9 inches deep. Description of soil Organic matter Nitrogen | lbs. | lbs. Arable loamy soil . . : 34,500 | 3,360 Pasture soil . ; ‘ : 76,050 5,558 Prairie soil. : , a: 117,225 | 9,630 Forest mould . 3 ; f 126,900, . | 6,750 Leaf mould : : : : 141,950 | 8,805 Peat mould. : 188,000 | 5,000 Heath mould (Ghent) a 640,000 11,650 | The figures show a very considerable range in the amount of 70 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. organic matter in the different soils, according to the locality © from which they have been obtained. Thus an arable loamy soil that is under constant cultivation of an ordinary rotation of crops contains 34,500 lbs. of organic matter per acre with 3,360 lbs. of nitrogen. As all arable land was once pasture or forest, the loss of organic matter and of nitrogen that has occurred during its cultivation becomes obvious when we com- pare these figures with those that follow in Table III. A pasture soil with its undisturbed accumulation of root-fibres contains 76,050 lbs. of organic matter per acre, a quantity more than double that of the arable soil; and 5,558 lbs. of nitrogen, or nearly one ton per acre of nitrogenous plant-food in excess of the arable soil. The prairie soil, which has doubtless been gathering and storing up organic matter for many centuries, is seen to contain 117,225 lbs. per acre of this substance, with a correspondingly large quantity of nitrogen, amounting to 9,630 lbs. or to more than four tons per acre. The forest mould contains even more organic matter than the prairie soil, but, owing probably to the woody nature of the refuse, the decaying material is much less rich in nitrogen than the more fibrous-rooted soil of the prairie. The leaf-mould and the peat-mould contain, as would be expected, an enormous amount of organic matter, averaging, when cut to 9 inches deep, more than seventy tons per acre. The proportion of nitrogen, which is lower than in some of the other soils, depends in such moulds upon the degree of oxidation or decomposition to which they have been submitted. The oxidation of the organic matter in a peat-bog may be greatly checked by a high-water level, which excludes air from the soil 5 hence an unlimited accumulation of organic matter may take place if plants capable of growing under these circumstances are present. A dark-coloured soil becomes hotter in the sun’s rays than a light-coloured one, hence the oxidation and nitrification of the organic matter is more active in these richer soils, provided the requisite mineral ingredients are not deficient. The last item in Table III. relates to a vegetable mould existing in Belgium and known in the horticultural trade as ‘Ghent heath mould’’; it is the result of the decomposition of various species of Erica mixed with sand, and is most extensively used in the cultivation of azaleas for market. HORTICULTURAL SOILS, 71 The analysis of the soil shows that it contains the vast quantity of 640,000 lbs. per acre of organic matter when cut to 9 inches deep, and gives 11,650 lbs. of nitrogen per acre. Such fibrous-rooted soils as the Ghent heath mould are of a light texture, and peculiarly suited to the growth of most greenhouse and conservatory plants. Their peculiar property is that they facilitate drainage and aération, causing a quick and active growth with a free development of feeding roots; and thus are especially fitted for composting with other and stiffer descriptions of soils. The soil, then, as it results by the processes thus briefly indicated is a compound of coarse and fine materials, mixed with clay, silica, and chalk; together with a greater or smaller amount of organic matter, holding a variable but usually large quantity of moisture. Further, a soil rich in organic humus matter is rich in nitrogen ; while a soil poor in organic substance is poor also in nitrogenous plant-food ; and the permanent fertility of a soil is found to be very closely connected with its power of retaining plant-food. Table IV. illustrates the percentage amount of five selected constituents—organic matter, nitrogen, potash, lime, and phos- phoric acid—in seven widely different descriptions of soil. The quantities quoted are in water-free soils. TABLE IV.—SeE.EctTED CHEmicaL CoNSTITUENTS in DIFFERENT DESCRIPTIONS of Som. Quantities in 100 pounds of each, dry. Werestisaney Garden Rich | {Rich Heat Peat Heath average | bedding | garden | pasture mond mould mould loam loam loam, soil (France) |} (Ghent) | : ee, aloe sane a Organic matter | 3°84 4:05 8°46 14°55 | 17:00 | 18°80 | 64:00 Nitrogen . a | O23 0°23 0°45 0°59 0°47 1°40 1 Wy Potash . «| 0°20 0°33 0:73 0°75 0°50 0°31 0-14 Lime : . | 0°66 0°67 2°08 1:20) 2, 0:18 0°53 0°35 Phosphoric acid| 0:12 0°48 0-10 1:00 | 0-13 0-20 0-16 The analytical results show that the proportion of plant-food present in soils is very small, even when the landis extremely fertile, the bulk of the soil serving chiefly as a support to the growing crops and as a sponge to hold water for their use. 72, JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. An ordinary average sample of loam is seen to contain 3°84 per cent. of organic matter, 0°13 per cent. of nitrogen, 0°20 per cent. of potash, 0°66 per cent. of lime, and 0:12 per cent. of phosphoric acid. A garden bedding soil of fair texture will con- tain a larger proportion of available nitrogen, as well as other plant-food constituents, than the ordinary arable loam; the amount of nitrogen being nearly double, the potash considerably larger, and the phosphoric acid four times as much. The rich garden loam is about twice as valuable in the various chemical ingredients as the garden bedding mould; the exceedingly large amount of lime—over 2 per cent.—would very materially assist in the active nitrification of the larger percentage of organic matter, which is shown to be nearly 84 per cent. In fact, Pro- fessor Hilgard has pointed out that the presence of lime in a soil, especially when associated with humus, much increases the availability both of potash and of phosphoric acid, so that smaller quantities of these constituents suffice when extra lime 1s present. | The rich pasture soil, in consequence of its extensive amount of grass-root fibres, contains in the sample quoted 144 per cent. of organic matter, with 0°59 per cent. of nitrogen, about the same amount of potash as the garden loam, but only one-half the proportion of lime. The phosphoric acid, however, is exceedingly high, amounting to 1 per cent., being the richest in the series. The leaf mould contains 17 per cent. of organic matter, with nearly 4 per cent. of nitrogen, a good quantity of potash, but only small amounts of lime and phosphoric acid. The peat mould of France is high in most constituents, especially in organic matter, and in nitrogen; the potash and phosphoric acid are, however, somewhat low in amount. The Ghent heath mould is remarkable for its enormous quantity of organic matter. Much of this is stated to be in not a very advanced stage of decomposition. Consequently the quantity of fine mould passing through a} in. mesh sieve is found to be less than in the case of some other soils. These investiga- tions show that the great value of the Ghent heath mould and of the French peat mould for horticultural purposes rests mainly in the excessive amount of fibrous-rooted material or of leafy organic matter, with a correspondingly large amount of nitrogen. It is these constituents which by their abundance HORTICULTURAL SOILS. 73 produce the greatest fertility, and the practical value of the results is the fact that, knowing the substances directly assimil- able by plants and the character of the soil to be cultivated, the horticulturist may, by means of applying the elements that are wanting, obtain the conditions best suited to his particular cultures. JADOO FIBRE. Most horticulturists have heard of ‘Jadoo fibre,” and although it is not a soil, yet, as it is recommended to take the place of mould in gardening practice, I have thought it desirable to bring the subject before you. We have seen that the surface soil of a prairie, a forest, or a permanent pasture is exceedingly rich in organic matter, and that the inherent fertility of the soil may be very accurately gauged by estimating the amount of such organic matter, and of the quantity of nitrogen contained init. It is the surface soil of a very rich prairie that the Jadoo fibre most nearly resembles. Colonel Halford Thompson, the inventor of the Jadoo pro- cess, says the material consists of peat-moss, to which soot, bone- meal, and gypsum, with a smal] quantity of phosphoric acid and potash, have been added. These ingredients are boiled together, and undergo a process which Col. Thompson calls “ fermentation,’ and he says that the whole essence of the success of Jadoo fibre for plant-culture lies inthe amalgamation by this ‘‘ fermentation ”’ of the various plant-food ingredients. When Colonel Thompson understood that I was preparing the present Lecture he very kindly supplied me with a quantity of the fibre for analysis and experiment. Table V. shows the composition by a partial analysis of the substance. TABLE V.—Japoo Fisre. Its Chemical Composition. Organic matter (water-free) . : : : 21°75 per cent. Moisture . ; ; ‘ ‘ ‘ d . 78°25 ve To eee AOOOOON 4) In fresh In dry { Per cent. Per cent. Mineral matter (ash) : ‘ : fu 2 10 12°41 Nitrogen . : : : : ; ee UAE 0:96 These results show that Jadoo fibre contains 21? per cent. of organic matter, with 78} per cent. of moisture. The mineral 74 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, matter (ash) was found to be 2:7 per cent. in the fresh substance, and nearly 124 per cent. in the material when fully dried. The nitrogen is shown to be about + per cent. in the fresh fibre, and nearly 1 per cent. in the fully dried substance. The Jadoo fibre is, therefore, richer in organic matter and in nitrogen than the famous leaf-moulds of Rambouillet and Maurepas, France, so largely used in the horticultural establishments of that country. But while it does not contain so much organic matter or nitrogen as the Ghent heath mould, it is richer in mineral constituents. The chemical composition thus given pretty clearly shows that the reason of the great value of Jadoo fibre rests in the fact that the organic nitrogen is readily susceptible of nitrification, and so of becoming easily available to vegetation. NITRATES IN THE SoIL. As soil fertility is of so much importance to the horticul- turist in the productiveness of the garden, and as the final returns may be expected to be directly proportionate to the amount of nitrates which it contains, and to the facilities or favourable conditions offered for the conversion of organic nitrogen into ammonia and nitrates, the subject of nitrification in the soil becomes one of intense interest. Nitric acid is a compound of nitrogen which represents the form of combination in which nitrogen must be in order that plants may use it as food. The organic nitrogen of the soil, as well as that contained in such fertilising materials as leaf mould, peat mould, stable and farmyard manure, blood, fish, rape cake, vegetable and animal refuse, &c., is not in a condition to serve as plant-food. To become available it must be converted into ammonia and then into nitric acid. This change is accomplished by certain living organisms, known as bacteria, which exist in all fertile soils—the carbon of the humus being at the same time oxidised to carbonic acid, whereby heat is developed. The different stages of the work are apparently performed by different species of bacteria. We are told by Professor Warington that the final nitrifica- tion of ammonia, which is a product of oxidation or decay, is performed by two species of bacteria, one of which produces nitrites, which the other changes into nitrates, the latter being the form in which plants take up most of their nitrogenous food. HORTICULTURAL SOILS. 75 One essential condition of the nitrification of organic matter is that it only takes place in a moist soil, sufficiently porous to admit air; hence the beneficial effect of mixing a certain pro- portion of sand, charcoal, or peat to soil composts for potting purposes, and the value of a sufficiency of crocks for drainage. It is also necessary that some chemical base should be present in the soil, with which the nitrates as they are formed can combine ; this condition is usually fulfilled by the presence of carbonate of lime (chalk), nitrate of lime being produced. In leaf moulds and peat moulds rich in humus the nitrification is sometimes rendered difficult by the lack of such a constituent, the alkali bases rendered soluble by nitrification get rapidly used up, and the soils in consequence become overcharged with acidity, to the injury of the growing plants. Itis necessary in such cases to apply an antidote, which may be lime, chalk, or wood ashes ; these substances tend to accelerate the nitrification in an extra- ordinary manner.} Temperature is another prime factor in determining the rate of oxidation and nitrification in organic materials and soils; the activity of all living agents, whether animal or vegetable, being dependent on the occurrence of a favourable degree of heat, and being confined to certain specific ranges of temperature. Oxidation is consequently found to be far more rapid in summer than in winter, and much more energetic in hot climates than in cold; accordingly we find it more active in a conservatory than in the open garden. The nitrifying organisms in soils may be killed by severe drought. This may probably explain the fact of some plants suffering so terribly from insufficient watering at certain stages of their growth. For instance, the chrysanthemum neyer thoroughly recovers the ill-effects of excessive drought. Recent investigations have shown that the microderms are in greater or less numbers in all fertile soils, but are most active in soils under cultivation, teaching us the advantage of the frequent use of the hand-hoe and other implements of tillage in the open garden, and of a friable porous soil for potting purposes. The soil should have good capillary action, so that at all seasons it will as near as possible contain that amount of moisture which is present when ground digs well, because this is found to be the degree of moisture most desirable. Soils should also contain 76 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. plenty of organic matter to furnish nitrogenous plant-food and to favourably influence the supply of water. It is for this reason that horticulturists find leaf-mould, pasture-turf soils, and peat soils so beneficial for plant-growing. The total quantity of nitrates found in fertile soils is very considerable. Table VI. shows the amount of nitrogen as nitrates in drainage water passing through an unmanured soil and a recently dunged soil. The quantities are given in pounds per acre during each of the seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter ; also the total amount for the whole year. TABLE VI.—NitrRocen as NITRATES IN DRAINAGE WATER. Quantities in pounds per acre. Seasons Unmanured soil Dunged soil | oS 2 a lbs. | lbs. Spring. : : : : ‘ 19°5 461 Summer . : : ; : : ah) 22-2 Autumn . . ; : : d 28°3 | 38:2 Winter . 5 ; : : a 13°5 | 17°4 i — Yearly total | 74:8 123-9 The figures show that in the unmanured soil nearly 75 lbs. of nitrates were produced in the year, whilst in the dunged soil about 124 lbs. were produced in the year. In the unmanured soil the largest production of nitrates was in the autumn, while in the dunged soil the maximum amount was formed in the spring. But it may be well to note that the whole of this nitrogen would not be available to our ordinary cultivated crops, for the reason that many of them only assimilate the spring or early summer nitrates, the principal growth and power of assimilation having ceased by the month of July. Vegetable crops, such as cabbage, beet, onions, turnips, carrots, parsnips, celery, peas, &c., may still get hold of summer-formed nitrates, but that produced late in autumn and winter is of little use in so far as this applies to outdoor plants. The spring nitrification of the soil is, as a rule, quite in- sufficient to meet the food requirements of early-sown spring crops; hence the advisability of using some stimulating manure, HORTICULTURAL SOILS. 7h) such as nitrate of soda, guano, ammonia salts, or soot if very early production of vegetables is desired. The change of insoluble into soluble plant-food is always going on in the surface soil, especially in rich moulds, and as the nitrates are formed they are at once taken up by the growing plants ; but if there is no plant at hand, then the soluble con- stituents are washed away by the rains, and thus a constant exhaustion of plant-food in soils that are uncropped is being brought about. In rich garden soils the production of available plant-food is at its maximum, and so is also the waste by drainage if proper care be not taken. | AVAILABLE PLANT-FOOD. A large part of the elements of plant-food contained in soils is present in such a condition that plants are unable to make use of it. For example, it is very usual to find about 0°15 per cent. of phosphoric acid in an ordinary loamy soil. Such a soil 9 inches deep, in its dry state, may be said to weigh from 1,200 to 1,500 tons per acre. A soil containing 0°15 per cent. of phos- phoric acid would accordingly contain somewhere about two tons of phosphoric acid to the acre, disregarding the subsoil altogether. Such a soil contains as much phosphoric acid per acre as would be contained in about seventeen tons of superphosphate or in nearly ten tons of bone dust, and yet the addition of a few hundredweights per acre of phosphatic manure may make the difference between a full crop and a bad one. Similar state- ments would apply to other constituents of the soil. This leads us to recognise the important fact that it is not the total pro- portion of phosphoric acid, or of potash, or of nitrogen that rules a soil’s fertility for horticultural purposes, but the amount of each of them that is present in an immediately available condition. This question of the availability of plant-flood in soils has been dealt with more or less fully during recent years by many investigators, and to Dr. Bernard Dyer we owe much valuable information regarding the subject. By the permission of Sir John Lawes, and with the advice and personal assistance of Sir Henry Gilbert, Dr. Dyer obtained samples of soils from an ex- perimental field at Rothamsted, Hertfordshire, which has grown 78 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. barley for forty-six years in succession, from 1852 to 1897 inclusive, and on which each plot has been year after year subjected to some one kind of manurial treatment. Thus were obtained soils about whose history and whose fertility very exact information was attainable. The soils were submitted to analysis by using a solvent consisting of a 1 per cent. citric acid solution. Such a solution is found to yield instructive information in the case of manures, and it approximates fairly closely to the average acidity of plant-root sap. ‘These samples of soil were taken in the autumn of 1889, after thirty-eight crops of barley had been removed. Table VII. (a) gives a list of nine plots out of a total of twenty-two submitted to analysis, with the description of manure applied to each. TABLE VII. (a).—RotHamstEp ExPERIMENTS. Particulars of Manures applied for the Growth of Barley, for 38 years in succession: 1852-89. Plot Nos. | Manures applied every year 1,0 | No manure 2,0 | Superphosphate alone 3, O | Potash, soda, and magnesia (no phosphates) 4,0 Superphosphate, potash, soda, and magnesia a A | Ammonium salts alone 2, A | Ditto, and superphosphate 3, cA. Ditto, and potash, soda, and magnesia (no phosphates) 4, A Ditto, and superphosphate, potash, soda, and magnesia. | 7-2 | Farmyard manure This table shows that plot 1 O received no manure; plots 2 O, 30, and 4 O received different mineral manures ; plot 1 A received ammonium salts alone; plots2 A, 8 A, and 4A received a similar quantity of ammonium salts with various mineral manures in addition; and plot 7-2 received farmyard manure at the rate of 14 tons per acre every year. Thenext table— VII. (b)—belongs to the same experiments, and shows the totalamount per acre in the top 9 inches of soil of potash and phosphoric acid present in each plot of land, with the quantity that was found soluble in a 1 per cent. solution of citric acid; also the average produce per acre of barley grain and barley straw that was grown on each plot. HORTICULTURAL SOILS. 79 TABLE VII. (6).—RotHamstEeD EXPERIMENTS. On the Growth of Barley for 38 years. Amount of Potash and Phosphoric Acid in the Soil, and the quantity soluble. Also produce per acre. Soluble in Soluble in Produce per acre 1 per cent. |} Phosphoric | 1 per cent. Plots Potash Citric Acid Citric Acid Acid Grain Straw Quantities per acre, first 9 inches of soil. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. Bushels Cwts. 1, 0 36,604 91 2,503 139 163 92 2: © 37,918 165 4,601 1,170 212 102 3.0 42,848 925 3,059 253 18 5 4,0 43,429 859 4,778 1,360 223 118 1A 35,845 50 2,452 152 29 16 2,A 36,376 57 4,373 1073 423 232 3, A 39,637 1,029 2,579 205 312 18 4,A 43,301 daa 4,602 1,264 432 252 72 33,374 669 3,669 932 48 3 29 —_—— The results show at a glance the comparative exhaustion or accumulation of both potash and phosphoric acid. It will be seen that plot 1 O, to which no manure of any kind had been added for thirty-eight years, contained 36,604 lbs. of potash per acre, of which only 91 lbs. was soluble, or available to plants. Of phosphoric acid there was 2,503 lbs., of which only 139 lbs. was soluble. With this small quantity of available plant-food per acre it is not surprising that an average produce of 16} bushels of barley grain, and 92 cwts. of straw only was obtained. In fact, the wonder is that the land continued to grow corn at all. The three other plots of the O series show from 387,918 lbs. to 43,429 lbs. of potash per acre, of which there is a range in the solubility of from 165 lbs. to 925 lbs. per acre. The amount of phosphoric acid ranges from 3,059 lbs. to 4,778 lbs. per acre, and the soluble portion from 258 Ibs. to 1,860 lbs. per acre; the two plots (2 O and 4 O) receiving the phosphate manure each year show from five to six times more available phos- phoric acid than plot 3 O, which had never received phosphate as manure. The difference between 86,604 lbs. and 48,429 lbs. of total 80 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. potash in the soil, and of 2,503 lbs. and 4,778 lbs. per acre of: total phosphoric acid, appears from these results to be immaterial as a measure of present soil fertility, notwithstanding that the degree of solubility of each constituent is largely increased on the different plots according to the manure employed. As no nitrogen has ever been applied to the plots of the mineral series (1 to 40) there has been no strain on the natural resources of the soil, and consequently the barley crops obtained have been small. From the next group of plots, 1 A to 4 A, we get some valuable information. To each of these portions of ground ammonium salts have been added to the other manures. (Sce Table VII. {a].) The total amount of potash is seen to range from 35,845 lbs. to 43,301 lbs. per acre; of this quantity the soluble part ranges from 50 lbs. to 1,029 lbs., showing that plot 8 A has 200 times more available potash than plot 1 A, but, owing to the lack of sufficient soluble phosphoric acid, the yield of barley is but 2 bushels per acre in excess of plot 1 A. The phosphoric acid ranges in total amount from 2,452 lbs. to 4,602 Ibs. per acre, the soluble portion from 152 lbs. to 1,264 lbs. per acre. The produce of barley grain and of barley straw is seen to be about doubled from the previous series; but in plot 1 A, receiving ammonium salts alone, there is a starvation of the two mineral constituents, potash and phosphoric acid, notwithstanding the large amounts in the soil; while in plot 3 A, receiving the nitrogen and potash, but no phosphates, there is a starvation of phos- phoric acid, with a consequent falling-off in the crop grown. Plot 7, which had received 14 tons of farmyard manure per acre for thirty-eight years, amounting to the enormous quantity of 582 tons of manurial material, but made up very largely of organic matter and water, shows an accumulation in the soil of 33,374 lbs. of potash per acre, of which 669 lbs. only is soluble. Phosphoric acid shows 3,669 lbs. per acre, of which 932 lbs. are soluble. The returns of corn and straw on plot 7 show that the accumulated residue of organic nitrogen in the soil enables the crop to be maintained at a high standard, notwithstanding that the amounts of potash and phosphoric acid in the top 9 inches of soil are lower than in the soils receiving artificial manures. But doubtless the improved subsoil on the dunged plot would have much to do with its increased produce. HORTICULTURAL SOILS. 81 How Puants ARE DEPENDENT UPON THE Foop SupPyy IN THE SOIL. The invaluable investigations of Rothamsted just referred to, and others of a similar kind, illustrate this fact among others —that the crop or particular plant we grow has to do not only with the supply of food in the soil as a whole, but also with each of its ingredients separately. The total productive power of a soil cannot exceed its power to supply to the growing plant each and all the necessary food constituents. Every plant we culti- vate must have a certain amount of each of the nutritive elements—potash, phosphoric acid, and nitrogen—or it cannot grow satisfactorily. Thus the plant cannot rise above the level of the lowest ingredient in the food supply. If each description of food comes up to the required standard, and other conditions of heat and moisture are favourable, a good result may be expected; but if any one element falls below this standard, the erowth of the crop must suffer. We have seen in the various illustrations brought forward that the food supply available to plants varies greatly in different soils. Sometimes one constituent and sometimes several may be lacking. An horticultural soil may have a proper texture, with a suitable amount of moisture, and, in fact, a full supply of everything the plant needs, except phosphoric acid ; if so, it cannot yield a full crop. Add phosphate in an available form and the growing plants will be benefited. Another soil may be deficient in potash, another in lime, another in nitrogen, still another in two or three of these substances. This same variation, as shown in Table VII. (b), may run through inherent fertility of the soil and in the solubility of its constituents. Therefore an horticultural soil may be deficient in available mineral ingredients or in available nitrogen. Or it may be so compact that air and moisture cannot get into it to work over the crude material it contains, nor the plant roots make their way through to obtain the food that has been made soluble. Again, it may be so loose and non-retentive that the food constituents will escape by drainage. Or, on the other hand, it may be so dry that fertilisers will be useless, and plants wither for lack of moisture ; or so wet and cold as to prevent plant growth. In these several cases proper tillage operations will assist in amending the G 82 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. soil texture. Its power of holding water may be improved; its: supply of available plant food increased; and then by a suitable manurial treatment it may be brought into condition to yield bountiful returns for all that is done to it. The next question very naturally is, What ingredients of plant-food are most frequently deficient in horticultural soils ? I think we may take it as a pretty-well established fact that the only constituents of plant food which need be supplied to garden soils are potash, phosphoric acid, lime, and nitrogen. When we say these ingredients are lacking, we do not mean that the soil does not contain them, but that it does not supply the erowing plants with as much as they need. It is not so much because horticultural soils have been worn out of plant food, but rather because the food is locked up in such combinations that the roots cannot get at and use it, that an artificial supply of soluble food in manure becomes necessary. CoNCLUSION. In conclusion, a few practical remarks may be made upon the three main constituents of plant food in horticultural soils— namely, nitrogen, potash, and phosphoric acid. Nitrogen.—Although the nitrification in rich garden soils, leaf-moulds, and peat-moulds may be sufficiently active for the gardener to dispense with artificial nitrogenous manures in most cases, yet there are certain species of plants which rapidly develop a large mass of foliage, and these cause a rapid and extensive demand upon the available nitrogen of the soil. For such plants it will always be advisable to use nitrate of soda, sulphats of ammonia, guano, soot, or similar materials as manure ; and also for growing very early crops, or plants owt of season. Phosphoric Acid.—Assimilable phosphoric acid occurs in very small actual quantities in most soils, however rich; this has been fully illustrated in the tables. It is therefore necessary to add this ingredient by a manurial application if full crops are to be obtained. The best form in which phosphoric acid may be added to horticultural soils is by bone phosphate, bone meal, double superphosphate, or basic slag. Superphosphate of lime yields a certain proportion of phosphoric acid soluble in water. But in rich moulds cheap mineral superphosphates are not to be ON THE FLORA OF AUSTRALIA, 83 recommended, being always more or less acid; and this intro- duction of sulphuric acid into soils poor in lime would certainly be hurtful to growing plants. Potash.—Rich horticultural soils contain a considerable proportion of potash, which becomes only slowly available for vegetation. For certain cultures—more especially that of ferns, palms, vines, roses, potatos, &e.—potash manures have a very beneficial effect when applied to leaf-mould composts. The most rational mode of application is to use carbonate of potash, one of the chief ingredients in wood ashes; kainit salt, sulphate of potash, or muriate of potash may also be used, Potash is retained by the soil, and plants are able to absorb it as they need. The proportion to be used must vary according to the require- ments of the plants cultivated. ON THE FLORA OF AUSTRALIA. By G. H. Apcock, F.L.S., F.B.H.S. I HAVE often tried to imagine what must have been the feelings of Mr. (after Sir Joseph) Banks and his companion, Dr. Solander, as they—the first scientific investigators of living Australian plants—gazed on the enchanting beauty and _ rich floral profusion which aptly suggested the name ‘“ Botany Bay.’’ Fancy an enthusiastic botanist in the present day find- ing himself in a new land with a flora so unlike that of any other. In attempting even a sketch of our splendid flora at the request of the ever-courteous Secretary of the Royal Horticul- tural Society, it is with the consciousness that the subject requires an abler pen than mine to do it anything like the justice to which it is entitled. In the “Second Systematic Census of Australian Plants,” published in 1889, my esteemed friend the late Baron von Mueller included among the Vasculares 8,839 indigenous species. Of these he gives 7,501 as endemic to continental Australia and Tasmania; so that in round numbers 85 per cent. of our plants are exclusively Australian. The area is, roughly speaking, about 3,000,000 square miles, much of it presenting almost insuperable a2 84 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. difficulties to the work of collecting. All zones of plant life are here represented, from the Alpine vegetation to the luxuriant and varied fiora of the tropics; and it is a record of which we who have made Australia our adopted home may be reasonably proud that so many species, totally different in so many respects from those included in other and better-known floras, have been so closely observed and so carefully and accurately described. When we consider that there are countries—each with a history going back far beyond the commencement of the Christian era, each the birthplace of generations of eminent scientific men— that have never yet had their floras described as systematically as ours, we cannot but feel ithe deepest admiration for the scientific genius, perseverance, and research by means of which such splendid results have been achieved. Australian botanical science presents an illustrious roll of indefatigable workers. It is a matter of great regret that so many of the names bestowed on native plants and animals by the pioneer settlers are singularly inappropriate. Thus “ Gum-tree”’ is the colonial name for all species of Eucalypts. The Banksias are known as ‘‘ Honeysuckles.” Our native “ Fuchsia” is a Correa belonging to the Rutacee. Hxocarpus cupressiformis is the native “Cherry.” “She Oak” is the name given to some of the Casuarinas, whose cone-like fruits are called ‘‘ Oak-apples.” Australian ‘‘ Tea-irees’’ are members of the order Myrtacee, and include plants belonging to the genera Melaleuca and Leptospermum, while “ Native Hops” represent various species of Dodonea and Goodenia, or maybe Davizsia latifolia. And so this list might be almost indefinitely extended. The flora of Australia presents many peculiarities, of which much capital has often been made. Thus our trees are, many of them, peculiar in giving but little shade. Some are leafless. Our Cherry is stated to grow its stone outside the fruit—really on a succulent fruit stalk—while our Pear (Xylomelum pyri- forme), one of the Proteads, is not only wooden but reversed on its stalk, and our Nettle assumes the proportions of a fair-sized tree up to 100 feet in height, and so we might go on. The first thing that will probably strike a botanical observer in Australia is the great extent and wide distribution of its forests, composed chiefly of Eucalypts, which form the principal timber vegetation of the continent with perhaps the exception ON THE FLORA OF AUSTRALIA. 85 of some limited areas in the north and north-east. Of these remarkable trees we have over 150 distinct species. It is remarkable that none of them are indigenous to the romantic and adjacent islands of New Zealand, nor, indeed, are any of our larger trees also native there. Hence the Kucalypts are typical Australian trees, and like many others in our flora are relics probably of the HKocene age. In this brief sketch no more than a passing mention can be made of the many species deserving much closer attention for their utilitarian or horticultural value. Individuals of some species grow to be gigantic trees. Hucalyptus anvygdalina is said to equal if not to surpass in height any other tree in the world, not excepting Sequoia (Wellingtonia) gigantea. The latter, however, much exceeds the Eucalypt in the size of its massive trunk. While we must admit that the heights of Eucalypts have been frequently much exaggerated by travellers who have trusted to their imagination rather than to scientific observation, yet reliable measurements have been taken by authentic observers of great heights up to and even considerably exceeding 400 feet. The Western Australian Karri (2. diversicolor) is another species remarkable for its towering height. But while some are noted for their lofty growth and stately habit, especially in humid forest glens, yet many species are gnarled and dwarf and almost shrubby. The Eucalypts are locally and popularly known under an almost endless variety of names, e.g. blue, white, red, and spotted gum, stringy or iron- bark, peppermint, apple -scented, or manna gum, and mallee. It should be remarked that the same popular name sometimes represents a totally different species in a different locality. Bushmen and splitters tell the varieties by the appearance of the bark, which in sore cases is shed in long strips, while in others it is persistent, and may be stringy and soft, or hard and rugged, or furrowed. The leaves of sume varieties grow to a large size, and are liberally provided with stomata. The majority of species pro- duce leaves tough in texture, full of oil glands,and are suspended on their petioles, so that the edges are vertical—these provisions being doubtless Nature’s devices to protect the blade of the leaf from the scorching Australian sun. As aids in the classification of these interesting plants we 86 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. may cite the character of the bark as already referred to, the presence or absence of sterile stamens, the arrangement, structure, and dehiscence of anthers, peculiarities of fruit, sections of petioles, and uniformity or otherwise of the number of stomata on the upper and under surfaces of the leaf. The “ Blue-gum ”’ (£. globulus) is a lofty tree, remarkable for the quickness of its growth. In some parts of Europe it is popularly called the “ Fever-tree’’ on account of its value in malarial regions. It rapidly absorbs the excessive moisture in marshy places, and freely exhales its valuable antiseptic oil. Its timber is of a very durable character, and as it is of exceptionally rapid growth it has been largely planted abroad. It owes its popular name to the bluish tinge of the waxy bloom that covers the calyces and the foliage of young plants. The “‘ Red-gum ” (H. rostrata) prefers low-lying situations, and may usually be seen near the watercourses in almost every part of the continent. It takes its vernacular name from the colour of the timber, which for its durability in such places as are usually favourable to the rapid decay of timbers has probably only one rival in the Jarrah (#. marginata) of Western Australia. The gem of the genus from a horticultural standpoint is unquestionably EL. ficifolia. Its strikingly handsome dark green foliage, to which it owes its specific name, forms a fitting con- trast to the gorgeous crimson flowers which this magnificent species bears in such profusion. Other brilliantly coloured species are HE. miniata and EH. Phenicea, both of which yield flowers of a bright scarlet colour. The “ Sugar-gum”’ (EL. corynocalyz) produces sweetish foliage, which affords food for stock in seasons of drought. Time and space would fail even to refer to the many other meritorious species. In addition to the useful timber, many yield large quantities of the Eucalyptus oil, which is largely and increasingly used in medical practice. The result of a series of elaborate experiments seems to prove that EL. amygdalina is far richer in oil than any other species. The Eucalypts claimed our first attention owing to their wide distribu- tion and the immense areas they cover, as well as for their towering height, their economic value, and, in some cases at least, for the unsurpassed beauty of their blossoms, However, ON THE FLORA OF AUSTRALIA. 87 in point of numbers the Leguminose come far ahead, and represent about 12 per cent. of the flora. The Acacias, numbering some 3800 odd species, make up by far the largest Australian genus. The golden and delicately fragrant blossoms of many of these species are amongst the first to proclaim the advent of spring. They are represented almost everywhere in the continent. Some line the banks, and the graceful pendulous branches of some varieties droop over the waters of many of our inland streams. They clothe the moun- tain-side, adorn the pastures, grow in the poorest or in the most fertile soil, while some species revel in sandy tracts either inland or littoral. In some of our dense southern forests they form a large proportion of the undergrowth. liven in the arid and desolate interior they are represented, and form in some cases an almost impenetrable scrub that well-nigh baffles the hardy and daring explorer in his toilsome advance through those dreary and inhospitable solitudes. From this circumstance some have earned the names of ‘ deadfinish ’’ and ‘‘ wait-a-while.”” These local names have been doubtless bestowed on them by travellers who have experienced a disappointing repulse in their onward march by an impassable barrier of the dense growth. Strictly speaking many species have no true leaves, but are amply provided with phyllodia. Acacias are not without utilitarian value. Several yield a bark exceedingly rich in tannin, e.g. A. decurrens, A. mollissima, while the ‘Golden Wattle” (A. pycnantha), besides being so attractive to the senses of sight and smell, yields one of the richest barks for tanning purposes in the world. The gum, which is very copiously exuded by several kinds, is used for the same purposes as Gum Arabic. The delicate perfume of the blossoms has been extracted, and furnishes an agreeable scent. Several species, as A. pravissima, A. cultriformis, and others, possess considerable horticultural merit, and are extensively planted. The timber of the “Blackwood” or “ Lightwood” (A. melanoxylon) is one of our most valuable, and is used in cabinet work, railway-carriage fittings, and for similar purposes. A. acuminata produces wood whose scent resembles that of raspberries, while the timber of A. homalophylia is violet-scented, Both these species are known as “ Myall.” 88 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. The parts of the flowers that are conspicuous in our Eucalypts and Acacias are the parts that are more or less con- cealed in many of our cultivated blossoms. Included in the same order is a gigantic bean (Hntada scandens) whose pods are sometimes 6 ft.to8ft.in length. The individual seeds are often hollowed, mounted with silver, and converted into fancy match- boxes. Very many of the papilionaceous section of the Legu- minose produce handsome flowers, such as Indigofera, Dillwynias, Pultenezas, and Swainsonias. Many of the latter are remarkable for spiral or curved lower petals and beautiful blossoms, but are frequently deleterious. Besides these there are others equally attractive in almost endless variety. But probably none are more charming than Clianthus Dampieri, Sturt’s Desert Pea, whose silver-green foliage and large, bright, gorgeous blossoms render it peculiarly conspicuous and attraetive. Next in importance, when we consider the number of species, are the Proteads, than which, perhaps, no order of indigenous plants has greater interest either for the gardener or the botanist. The name bestowed on this order (from the South African Protea of Linnzus) is singularly appropriate, for these plants exhibit a variability which excels even the mutable characteristic for which the mythical sea-god was so remarkable. Probably the commonest and most widely distributed Proteads are the native Honeysuckles (Banksia spp.). They owe their singular popular name probably to the fact that they, in common with many other proteaceous plants, yield a copious supply of nectar. While the aborigines greedily suck the flowers to obtain this sweet fluid, yet with Europeans its use is frequently attended with feelings of nausea and headache. Dryandra plumosa is often cultivated for the sake of its large cylindrical flower-clusters and its deeply serrated and peculiar foliage. Both flowers and foliage of this unique plant will keep almost indefinitely. Of Grevilleas there are probably over 160 varieties, but as yet only about half-a-dozen species are in cultivation. These include the stately G. robusta, or Silky Oak, as it is popularly called. Its immense comb-shaped trusses of bright orange flowers render the tree a strikingly conspicuous object in the landscape. These blossoms have sometimes been fancifully compared to flame, and have earned for this species the popular name of ‘ Flame tree,”’ ON THE FLORA OF AUSTRALIA. 89 a title it shares with the vermilion-flowered Brachychiton acerifoliwm of the order Sterculiaceg. In addition to its stately habit and massive flower-clusters this Grevillea possesses attractive foliage. The timber, too, is useful, and furnishes staves of excellent quality, and is used (as is also that of some Banksias) in making picture-frames. It may be remarked here that the wood of all our Proteads is of a very distinctive character. Very closely allied to the Grevilleas are the Hakeas—the main difference being in the position and character of the inflorescence, texture of seed-vessel, and wing of seed. Hakea is (as far as is known) a distinctly Australian genus, embracing about a hundred species. Already gardens are embellished with several varieties. H. lawrina, syn. H. eucalyptoides,is one of the best known representatives, and well worthy is it with its showy flowers and distinctive foliage to represent this unique family. More gorgeous still is the superb H. grammatophylla, a variety of H. multilineata, which deserves rank as a distinet species. This rare but meritorious plant I described at length in the Scientific Australian for June, 1897, and it was figured from my original photographs in the Gardeners’ Chronicle, January 18, 1896. I also had the honour of sending the Royal Horticultural Society photographs and seeds of this stately shrub. The magnificent Waratah (Telopea speciocissima) is sometimes regarded as the national Australian flower. It requires a warm sub-tropical climate to bring its superb blossoms to perfection. Its generic name aptly indicates its attractiveness, which causes the plant to be readily seen from afar. Many other plants among the Proteads are deserving of careful attention, but cannot now be referred to in a superficial sketch like this. Distributed throughout the entire length and breadth of the continent may be found charming representatives of the large order Composite. Moist forest valleys in the southern parts pro- duce abundantly the Native Musk (Aster [Olearia] argophyllus). It has large handsome leaves lined beneath with a silky silver- coloured down, and emits the musk-like odour from which it derives its common name. Timber cut from its gnarled roots forms a handsome veneer that rivals Birds-eye Maple, which it somewhat resembles, Aster argophyilus and Senecio Bedfordi 90 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. attain with us the proportions of trees, which is not common in this order. Included among the Composite are very many beautiful everlastings which here, as elsewhere, are of wide distribution. Western Australia is specially rich in exquisite examples of these deservedly popular flowers. The genus Helichrysum contains some three score species, many of them of more than ordinary beauty. The allied genus Helipterwm includes about forty species. Asters—many of them strong- growing shrubs—are rather more numerous than any other genus in this order, which, though one of the most extensive in the world, is fourth with us as regards the number of species. The native Daisies (Brachycome spp.) have representatives all over the colonies, including New Zealand; but the genus does not seem to extend beyond these limits. Among its two score species are many dainty, attractive, and meritorious plants. Grasses are represented by a goodly number of species, though exceeded by the Cyperacee. Extensive areas in the uninhabited interior produce little else but a so-called “ Spinifex ”’ (Triodia irritans), which is spiny and utterly useless as fodder. Its sharp spines caused considerable irritation to the legs of the unfortunate beasts of burden in all the exploring expeditions that crossed any extent of it. It affords shelter to a few native animals and reptiles which form the scanty food of the few nomadic and indolent natives who traverse occasionally these dreary regions. ‘They burn the grass, and thus drive out their intended prey. The “ Kangaroo Grass’”’ (Anthistiria ciliata), or, as it should be called by priority, Themeda triandra (Anthi- stiria Forskdlii), is a splendid fodder plant. It resists the drought to which the continent is subject, and springs up into growth immediately after rain. ‘‘ Grass-trees’’ are common in many parts. The leaves are long and wiry, and the white bases of the young inner leaves are edible and of a nutlike flavour. The flower spikes that surmount the tufts of leaves are frequently several feet in height. Grass-trees (Xanthorrhea spp.) are not grasses, but are allied to the Lilies, and were included among the Liliacee by our late distinguished Government Botanist. Of liliaceous plants we have many varieties. A number are small but none the less beautiful. Grass-lilies of brilliant hues adorn the pastures. The ‘“ Fringe-lilies ” ON THE FLORA OF AUSTRALIA. 91 (Thysanotus spp.) speedily arrest the attention of even the most casual observer by their exquisite beauty. It is difficult to say which is the more admirable, their delicate tints or the fairy- like fringe from which these plants derive their generic and popular names. The ‘‘ Queensland or Spear-lilies’”’ (Dory- anthes spp.) are strictly amaryllidaceous plants of huge size. They produce an excellent fibre. The futacce are represented by about 200 species. The native Fuchsias (Correa spp.) are handsome flowering shrubs. Hriostemon and Boronia are the largest genera, each possessing many horticultural desiderata. Boroma megastigma from Western Australia produces copiously its sombre-looking but exquisitely fragrant blossoms. Dried specimens in the herbarium will continue for years to emit this delicious perfume. Several other plants of this genus are of rich beauty. | Ficus macrophylla, the “ Moreton Bay Fig,” may be chosen to represent the genus FYvcws, which includes some twoscore native species. It grows into a stately tree and produces large, handsome, glossy leaves. Another representative of the order Urticacea, the “ Tree-nettle” (Laportea gigas), has already been referred to. The sting of this nettle causes such severe pain as to actually drive cattle mad when they inadvertently brush against the branches. Eipacrids of delicate and almost inconceivable beauty cover immense areas. They are locally known as “ Native Heaths.”’ They are allied to the true Heaths (Hvicacee), which outwardly they somewhat resemble, but differ in structure and dehiscence of anthers. A by no means uncommon, but never-to-be forgotten, sight is an extensive tract, called a ‘“‘ heathbed,”’ covered with these beautiful plants in full bloom and exhibiting the richest as well as the most delicate tints. The genus Styphelia is the richest in species. Several plants of this order (Hpacride@) possess more than ordinary horticultural merit, but many of them seem averse to artificial culture—a characteristic which they share with many other desirable native plants. Hpacris vmpressa is a striking feature among our indi- genous vegetation. Its brilliant and copiously borne blossoms and the vast numbers of individual plants render it exceedingly noticeable and attractive in many an Australian scene. It exhibits great variation in colour, from purest white to brilliant 92 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. red, with every conceivable tint between. Of Palms we have but few examples, but many of them are of imposing appearance. These are chiefly confined to the eastern colonies. Even in the desert interior, however, travellers have occasionally come across stately species which mark out veritable oases. Of Orchide@ we possess hardly 300 species, many of them exhibiting the grotesque but nevertheless superb beauty which characterises this order. We have about half a hundred genera, many of which, however, are here represented by a single species. Of these exquisitely beautiful plants the genera possessing most species are Dendrobium, Prasophyllum, Caladenia, Pterostylis (often with sensitive labellum and greenish flowers), Thelymitra, Sarcochilus, and Dviuris, the pretty little ‘double - tailed Orchids.’”’ Many of these are small but of rare and delicate beauty and rich perfume. Of Ferns we can boast not only a number of species, but large areas in our enchanting “ fern- gullies,” profusely covered with the exuberant growth of many handsome and stately as well as delicate varieties. Fern-trees of graceful palm-like habit grow in great profusion in humid forest glens, and represent the genera Alsophila, Dicksonia, and Cyathea, while the dwarf but massive trunk of our Osmunda (Todea) barbara, endemic to the southern part of the eastern hemisphere, has frequently been known to attain a weight of considerably over a ton. The lofty stems of some of our Fern-trees are clothed with a living mass of verdure, consisting of filmy and other tender ferns, representing the genera T7ichomanes and Hymenophyllum, amongst which the cosmopolitan Hymenophyllum Tunbridgense may frequently be seen. Draping also the spongy trunks of these graceful Tree-ferns are exquisite examples of the genera Polypodium, Aspidium, Gleichenia, and others. In my “Census of Plants of the Cape Otway Forest’’ I have recorded from that romantic region forty-three species of these interesting and shade-loving plants, all of which are well worthy of cultivation. An Australian fern-gully presents a truly magnificent sight. Overhead the tops of gigantic Eucalypts form an interlaced canopy and filter the rays of the summer sun. Beneath these the undergrowth forms another and a denser canopy. This shelters the majestic palm-like tree ferns, whose graceful feathery fronds form again a grateful shade for humbler and more tender ON THE FLORA OF AUSTRALIA. 93 species. Every shade of green is here seen. The unfailing stream babbles musically below. Spanning its fern-shaded waters here and there are natural bridges—the huge decaying trunks of prostrate forest giants. These, like the Fern-tree trunks, are daintily draped with tender ferns and delicate mosses, which here grow in richest profusion. Mint-trees (Prostanthera spp.) laden with their beautiful blossoms add a new aspect to the scene, which forms an ideal earthly paradise, and entirely baffles description. One Baobab (Adansoma Gregorii) is found in Northern, or more strictly in North-Western, Australia, while the Bottle-trees, of the genus Brachychiton (Sterculia), are remarkable for their gouty trunks. B. Delabechet, F. v. M. (Sterculia rupestris, L:), the Queensland Bottle-tree, is of a most quaint appearance. JB. acerifolvus, the ‘‘ llame-tree,”’ presents a gorgeous appearance when in full bloom. Its brilliant blossoms are borne in great abundance, and the flower stalks partake of the vermilion hue of the flowers. At the same time the effect is heightened by the shedding of the large and glossy leaves. Of food plants Australia possesses hardly any. The few edible fruits are for the most part remarkably insignificant. A few yield also «dible leaves or roots, but the flora is exceptionally poor in plants suitable for human food. Timber-producing species are numerous. Many of the seasoned native woods possess a specific gravity greater than that of water, and are remarkable for durability. Medicinal plants are not particularly well represented, or, at any rate, their medicinal qualities are not known. ‘The Kucalypts yield the well-known and widely used antiseptic oil; the Alstonias spp. yield a tonic bitter, useful as a febrifuge; Huphorbia pilulifera is commonly known as the ‘asthma herb,” from its use in that ailment; the Gentianee and many others possess valuable tonic properties. While there are others deserving notice, yet many indigenous plants enjoy a quite unearned reputation for medicinal or curative virtues. Interesting examples of insectivorous plants are included in the genera Nepenthes (three species), Cephalotus follicularis, Drosera spp., and Utricularia, which I have fully dealt with in my lecture, Insect Traps, ‘‘ Geelong Naturalist,” vol. v. No. 4. In a superficial and rambling way I have noted a few of 94 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. what I thought were the most striking points in our flora, chiefly | such as possessed interest from a horticultural or utilitarian standpoint. The topic, however, is so great that ali we could possibly do would be to glean a few ears of corn from a field white with harvest. EXAMINATION IN HORTICULTURE. 1898. The Annual Examination in the Principles and Practice of Horticulture was held on April 6: 190 candidates presented themselves for examination. Of this number 155 were from all parts of England and 11 from Scotland ; 19 gave no address on their papers. Three hundred marks were allotted as a maximum, and all candidates who obtained 200 marks and upwards were placed in the first class. The total number was 87, or 45°7 per cent. Those who received 150 and less than 200 marks were placed in the second class. The number was 61, or 32°6 per cent. Those who obtained 106 and upwards were ranked in the third class. The number was 86, or 19:0 per cent. The highest number of marks was awarded to Miss O. M. Harrisson, of the Horticultural College, Swanley. The great advantage of systematic training is seen in the fact that of the pupils, e.g. of the Swanley College 24 were in the first class and only 4 in the second. Of those of the Technical School of Stafford, there were 12 in the first and 7 in the second class; of the County School of Horticulture, Chelms- ford, 8 were in the first class and 4 in the second; while of the Horticultural School, Holmes Chapel, Cheshire, 6 were in the first class and 4 in the second. Comparing the results with those of last year, we find that the number in the first class has slightly decreased, viz. from 89 to 87. In the second class there is an increase from 55 to 61; and also in the third class from 28 to 36. Those not placed % EXAMINATION IN HORTICULTURE. 95 have fallen from 12 to 5. Comparing the percentages they stand as follows :— 1897 (184). 1898 (190). First class . : : , 483 : 45°7 Second class. d : 29°8 : 32°6 Third class 4 : q 15:2 ; 19:0 Not classed ‘ : ; 6°5 ; 2°6 The answers were, on the whole, very satisfactorily given ; and the general standard of those dealing with the Klementary Principles of Vegetable Physiology were somewhat better than was the case in 1897. There is also a general improvement in the answers to questions referring to Practical Horticulture. Most of the students have a good general idea of the work, although a limited number only went fully into the minor details of it; but some of these details are essential to a full measure of success, and as far as possible they should be included in the answers. GroRGE HENsLow, Jas. Douauas, \ LAMMNeTLS . First Class. No. of Marks gained. . Miss Olive M. Harrisson, Horticultural College, Swanley 285 . Mrs. Mary Banks, County Technical School, Stafford. 280 . Mr. O. H. Faulkner, County Technical School, Stafford 280 Mr. C. Lawrence, County Technical School, Stafford . 280 . Miss Ethel 8. Lutley, Horticultural College, Swanley . 280 Mr. C. Mann, County Technical School, Stafford . 280 Mr. M. Wilson, Horticultural College, Swanley . . 280 8. Mr. F. A. Gwilliam, A.R.H.S., Palace Gardens, Glouc. 275 8. Mr. A. Tanner, School House, Cobham, Surrey . - Ato 8. Mr. EF’. Ovenden, County Technical School, Stafford . 275 11. Miss Mary H. Graves, Horticultural College, Swanley 270 11. Miss Ethel Ki. Rands, Horticultural College, Swanley. 270 13. Mr. Henry Mitchell, County Technical School, Stafford 265 18. Miss Jessie H. Price, Horticultural College, Swanley . 265 15. Miss Lilian Deane, Horticultural College, Swanley . 260 15. Mr. Herman Spooner, Technical Laboratories, Chelmsford 260 15. Mr. Harry H. Thomas, 346 Kew Road, Kew : » 260 bo bo bo bo bo DO JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. No. of Marks gained. . Mr. Geo. Underwood, Municipal Technical School, Leicester : «260 . Miss Eunice Watts, dorkeniiene Gallece, swanler . 260 . Mr. W. H. Brownridge, County Technical School, Stafford . f . 25a . Miss Ada C. Bryson, Honticaleena Gailere: ‘awanley . 255 . Mr. G. Mills, Bayham Gardens, Lamberhurst, Kent . 255 3. Mr. F. Botterill, County Technical School, Stafford . 250 . Miss Ethel Edmunds, Horticultural College, Swanley 250 . Mr. Robert C. Gaut, 3 Gloucester Terrace, Kew, Surrey 250 . Mr. Jos. Gillibrand, Horticultural School, Holmes Chapel 250 . Mr. Jos. Hope, The New Gardens, Elveden, Thetford, Norfolk . y 250 . Mr. Arthur Jones, Hortieultntel Sehoal Holkics Chapt 250 . Mr. Harry Miller, Technical Laboratories, Chelmsford 250 . Mr. F. E. Boyes, 19 Woodland Grove, Whitegate Lane, Blackpool . . 245 . Mr. E. T. Cole, Technical Lane. Chelmsford . 245 . Mr. J. K. Cureton, County Technical School, Stafford 245 . Mr. Geo. Leadbeater, Junr., Horticultural School, Holmes Chapel . 245 . Mr. A. J. Morland, Syon Ganaere Breet tard ; . 245 . Mr. R. Newman, Horticultural College, Swanley . 245 . Mr. W. B. Pinder, County Technical School, Stafford 245 . Mr. Wm. Woodward, The Croft, Wallingford . , O45 . Miss Annie Ault, Horticultural College, Swanley . 240 B8. . Mr. Geo. Butcher, 188 Wellfield Road, Streatham, 8. W. 240 . Mr. John P. Holt, Horticultural School, Holmes Chapel 240 08. . Mr. C. E. Malins, Horticultural College, Swanley . 240 . Mr. Geo. Ord, Causey Wood, Marley Hill, Newcastle- Mr. Hy. Broadbent, Park Hall, Evesham . : 240 Mr. F. Lazenby, Botanic Gardens, Cambridge . . 2240 on-Tyne , 240 . Mr. Isaac Godber, The Wimepatden os er Noreceh 235 A'S. . Miss Marion Hawkes, Horticultural College, Swanley 230 . Mr. William H. Neild, Horticultural School, Holmes Mr. W. J. Hurford, 3 Pound Street, Carshalton, Surrey 235 Chapel . : 230 . Miss E. Morland, 7 Gisncentee Raed Kew . : . 220 47. 51. 51. 51. aL. 51. 56. 56. 56. 56. 56. 56, 56. 63. 63. 63. 63. 63. 63. 63. 63. 63. 72. 72. 72. 72. 72. 72. 78. fier 78. 78. EXAMINATION IN HORTICULTURE. 97 No. of Marks gained. Mr. G. W. Pyman, Technical Laboratories, Chelmsford 230 Mr. John Benson, Liverpool Road, Aughton 925 Mr. H. F. Easton, Pullar Road, West Barnet 225 Miss Katherine M. Gervais, Horticultural Poltaad, Swanley . . 225 Mr. K. F. Jeffrey, Hosicultnral College, eaanice 225 Mr. A. Manson, Moreton Hall Gardens, Whalley, Blackburn . 2295 Mr. Arthur Cooper, St. ates diraek: “Wallingiond 220 Mr. W. Cranfield, Botanic Gardens, Cambridge . 220 My. F. J. Crook, 14 St. John’s Park Terrace, Winchester 220 Mr. F. H. Harris, Technical Laboratories, Chelmsford 220 Miss Hilda Leese, A.R.H.S., 31 Richborough Road, Cricklewood, N.W.. 220 Mr. A. D. Morris, Barrowmore Hall Cardona: near Chester . 220 Mr. Arthur Valentine, ne iced Eaboiatities Ghalcs ford ; 220 Mr. E. Banks, Chaney. Tgahaieal School, Stafford 215 Mr. Thos, Bell, 1 Alexandria Place, Paisley 215 Mr. W. Brown, Cullen Gardens, Cullen, Banffshire,N. B. 215 Mr. A. E. Burgess, Technical Laboratories, Chelmsford 215 Mr. Hy. Davis, County Technical School, Stafford 215 Mr. J. Richards, Horticultural School, Holmes Chapel 215 Mr. J. C. Tate, The Villa, Bulmer, Welburn, Yorks. . 215 Mr. John 8. Thompson, Horticultural College, Swanley 215 Miss Annie K. Young, Horticultural College, Swanley 215 Mr. Thomas Benians, Horticultural College, Swanley 210 Miss Ada M. Cassidy, Horticultural College, Swanley 210 Miss Hlsie G. Callender, Horticultural College, Swanley 210 Miss Frances KH. H. Gervais, Horticultural Bae Swanley . : . at 210 My. A. Stirrat, Beanie Gamaane: Glesend ‘ ; 210 My. F. W. Pallett, Technical Laboratories, Ghelmeford 210 Mr. C. Buckland, 8 Datchet Place, Datchet : 205 Mr. F. B. Davis, 4 Adon Terrace, Hendford Hill, Teavil 205 Mr. E. Walker, Dairy Cottage, Wales, near Sheffield 205 Mr. John T. Walker, The Gardens, Fairfield, anak Surrey . ‘ : , . ; : » 205 H 98 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. No. of Marks gained. 78. Mr. Edward Semper, The Gardens, Scawby Hall, Lines. 205 83. Miss E. M. Brace, 62 Lower Sloane Street, S.W. . 200 83. Mr. Geo. W. Brookbank, 62 Queen’s Road, Wimbledon 200 88. Mr. E. J. Pitts, Horticultural College, Swanley . . 200 83. Mr. F. Weiste, Horticultural College, Swanley . 200 88. Mr. W. H. White, Municipal Technical Solel Leicester ; : ; : : ' : . 200 Second Class. 1. Mr. Hy. Brotherston, Gosford Gardens, Longniddry, N.B. 2 ~- Se 1. Mr. J. Burden, Growiek Gakinad Giftora, Wallingtord 195 1. Mr. J. Child, County Technical School, Stafford . . 6 1. Mr. A. H. Davis, F.R.H.S., Albert House, Sutton, Surrey . : . Soe 1. Mr. W. (ieuthars W at Voagae Pee ee E : . ie 1. Mr. W. Hamnett, 11 Granville Place, Stone, Staffs . 195 1. Mr. R. Hudson, The Paddocks, Swaffham, Norfolk . 195 1. Mr. E. Miller, 55 Holly Road, Chiswick, W. : . 336 1. Mr. Basil G. Stanley, Bredon’s Norton, Tewkesbury . 195 1. Mr. Thos. H. Usher, Hoe Place, Woking, Surrey ; 11. Mr. A. J. Brabner, 75 Bertram Road, Southbury Road, Enfield . : 190 11. Mr. Thomas Carr, Dilemmas eamiend: panckueel Isle of Wight . ; . 190 11. Mr. Louis Hales, Heticcioeal Ocliee Birinty . 190 11. Mr. C. T. Isley, Amblecote, Cobham, Surrey . 190 11. Mr. J. Jeffery, Moor Court Gardens, Oakmoor, sicke: upon-Trent . x . 198 11. Mr. J. Jordan, County Tdshovieetl Bekok Stafford - 190 11. Mr. J. Lee, Gosford Gardens, Longniddry, N.B. - 190 11. Mr. J. F. Mitchell, Horticultural College, Sie . 190 11. Mr. A. J. Pye, Technical Laboratories, Chelmsford . 190 11. Mr. W. Sproston, Great Haywood, Stafford ; 190 91. Mr. Chas. Fogden, Poplar Villa, South Hayling, Hanis 185 v1. Mr. H. R. Judson, The Gardens, Abbotts on House, Winchester ; : : 185 91. Mr. J. Prescott, Brookfield Lane, ee é : . 185 24. Mr. Hy. Child, County Technical School, Stafford . 180 24. 26. 26. 26. 26. 26. 26. 26. 53. 33. 35. 33. 38. 33. 33. 33. 35. B98. 43. 43. 43. 43. 45. 43. 43. 50. 50. 50. 55. 53. 58. 53. EXAMINATION IN HORTICULTURE. 99 ‘No. of Marks gained. Mr. C. Sellars, 5 Leaman Terrace, Linthorpe Road, Middlesboro’ : ¢ 180 Mr. E. Dolman, Wychnor Ban iGatderis: Tieton: -on- Trent : 175 Mr. Wm. Laurence, meelneadl Lahoratiesien Chelnisford 175 Mr. 8. Lyversage, County Technical School, Stafford . 175 Mr. Wm. Morris, Horticultural School, Holmes Chapel 175 Mr. T. Ottewell, County Technical School, Stafford 175 Mr. Edward Rustige, Horticultural School, Holmes Chapel : 175 Mr. Geo. H. ee fiaagipal Meclitteal Sahoo): Leicester : or ef Mr. W. Burgess, Braden: s Norton! Rewleebuey ; “210 Mr. J. Clark, Bank Cottage, Waterhouses, Ashbourne. 170 Miss OC. F. Fellows, Horticultural College, Swanley 170 Mr. A. Morton, Horticultural School, Holmes Chapel 170 Mr. Wm. HE. O’Hara, Horticultural College, Swanley . 170 Mr. H. P. Appleton, ea Technical School, Leicester : 170 Mr. J. P. Quinton, 3 Bone Boa ane Titon 170 Mr. A. Shaw, Staincross, near Barnsley, Yorks. 170 Mr. W. Smith, Bredon’s Norton, Tewkesbury 170 Mr. W. C. Smith, Botanic Gardens, Glasgow 170 My. L. R. Baker, Blagdon House, Merton Road, Menton 165 Miss Gertrude Bridger, Primrose Bank, Aughton, Ormskirk : 165 Mr. G. J. Goodall, The Gandens, Sireailey House Reading . P : 165 Mr. W. Ness, fifo leorovediee N. B. : 7 16D Mr. KE. Pedley, Holywell Green, near Hatin, Yorks... 165 Mr. R. Sumner, Liverpool Road, Aughton . : = 165 Mr. R. Y. White, 67 Queen’s Street, Cheapside, H.C. . 165 Mr. L. Davenport, Horticultural School, Holmes Chapel 160 Mr. Maurice Field, Newnham House, Wallingford 160 Mr. E. Russell, Municipal Technical School, Leicester 160 Mr. W. Galloway, Gosford Gardens, Longniddry, N.B. 155 Mr. J. Humphreys, Hillside, Winchmore Hill, N. 155 Mr. R. Jones, Aughton Springs, Aughton : 155 Mr. W. T. Smith, County Technical School, Stafford . 155 H 2 100 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. No. of Marks gained, 53. Mr. P. H. Jones, County Technical School, Stafford . 155 53. Mr. H. Weddell, Haycroft Cottage, Surbiton . s 156 59. Mr. H. Holmes, The Gardens, Garvald House, Dolphinton, N.B. . . 150 59. Mr. B. Ling, Technical Tanoreees PE Sautaen oe a 59. Mr. 8. J. Sayer, Technical Laboratories, Chelmsford . 150 Third Class. 1. Mr. F. E. Belcher, 26 First Avenue, Bush Hill Park, Enfield, N. . ‘ 145 1. Mr. A. W. BeaanesCosterd Gane enemadry Ne B. 145 1. Mr. Henry Kingham, Technical Laboratories, Chelms- ford ; : - 145 1. Mr. E. Powell, Heveatetney Hall Gone eo as Suffolk . : .. 145 . Mr. W. Hind, Town Corda ni Dee . 140 5 5. Mr. Henry Hope, Municipal Technical School, Leicester 140 5. Mr. P. M. Marshall, Technical Laboratories, Chelmsford 140 8. Mr. F. South, Horticultural School, Holmes Chapel . 185 8. Mr. H. L. Symes, The Gardens, Milburn, Esher “1385 0 10. Mrs. J. Chapman, 1 Leopold Road, Wimbledon Park, Surrey . 130 10. Mr. C. New, 11 Bledsoe eee. Weta aies Rong) Ventnor, Isle of Wight . ; 130 10. Mr. KE. H. Niblett, The Gardens, Los Ato Samidowen Isle of Wight . ‘ 130 10. Mr. A. McQuaker, 8 etait Place Tat Hidinbaree 130 10. Mr. J. F. Sargeant, Horticultural College, Swanley . 180 10. Mr. D. A. Simes, Technical Laboratories, Chelmsford 130 10. Mr. S. W. Whalley, Streatley, Reading . ; . 180 17. Mr. H. R. Davey, 14 Albion Road, St. Albans . ~ > f25 17. Mr. Robt. Perry, Milburn Gardens, Esher . : . 125 17. Mr. J. Wilson, Castle Street, Wallingford . : 125 20. Mr. J. Hubband, The Gardens, Mountfield, Hérnhill near Faversham . 120 20. Mr. G. Linter, 3 Kast Bircet, Wontned: Isle of Wight 120 20. Mr. J. B. Pratt, Technical Laboratories, Chelmsford . 120 20. Mr. W. G. Taylor, Technical Laboratories, Chelmsford 120 20. Mr. W. H. Wield, Burches Lodge, Kingston Hill | ZO EXAMINATION IN HORTICULTURE, 101 No. of Marks gained. 90. Mr. 8S. Wren, Technical Laboratories, Chelmsford . 120 26. Mr. John Atkins, Rose Cottage, High Street, Caterham 115 26. Mr. Samuel E. Brown, Oak Road, Caterham 115 26. Mr. J. Dent, Howberry Park, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford . , 3 dite 29. Mr. F. Wichelo, St. Mary’s Stzeet Wallingford . oe 30. Mr. J. H. Brand, Essendene Cottages, Caterham a Og 30. Mr. G. Hunter, Gosford Gardens, Longniddry, N.B. . 105 30. Mr. G. Braddy, Technical Laboratories, Chelmsford . 105 30. Mr. H. G. Chick, Moray Villa, Elm Grove, Caterham 105 34. Mr. J. Fudge, Horticultural School, Holmes Chapel . 100 34. Mr. C. Rymes, 28 Cottage Grove, Surbiton . : OO 84. Mr. A. Wilkins, Martyr Worthy, near Winchester . 100 ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY’S EXAMINATION IN HORTICULTURE. 1898. QUESTIONS. Eight questions only to be answered: four from Division A and four from Division B. DIVISION A. ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES. 1. Describe the methods of propagation of different weeds; explain why Groundsel and Chickweed and the large white-flowered Convolvulus are particularly troublesome. What are the best means of exterminating these plants ? 2. Point out the importance to the plants of a good circulation of air in a hot-house, and the consequences of a stagnant condition of the atmosphere within it. 3. Describe the different functions of leaves, and the best way to secure their due performance. 4. What are the component parts of a flower, and of what use are they respectively to the plant ? 5. What external conditions are favourable for inducing variations to 102 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. appear in cultivated plants; and how would you proceed in order to fix any variation ? 6. What parts of the flower are retained and altered in forming the JSruit of the Peach, Melon, Mulberry, Fir-cone, and Pine-apple? 7. To what Natural Orders do the following trees belong :—Tulip tree, Maple, Apricot, Ash, Laburnum, Guelder-rose, Horse-chesnut, Horn-beam, Thuia, and Evergreen Oak? Which are natives of this country ? 8. Describe the structure of the bulb of the White Lily, the corm of Gladiolus, the ereeping-stem of Couch-grass, the rhizome of the Flag, and the tuber of the Potato ; and explain their uses to the plants. DIVISION B. PRACTICE. 9. Describe Landscape Gardening as an art. 10. Describe the formation of a Garden Lawn, and the details of the work necessary to keep it in condition during the year. 11. What are the preliminary operations necessary to the laying-out of a garden for Fruit and Vegetable culture? Describe the arrangement of the Fruit Trees, and the method of planting them. 12. A garden having four walls facing north, south, east, and west, what varieties of Fruit Trees should be planted on each? Describe their first year’s pruning and training. 13. Give full details of the propagation and culture of Grape Vines and Fig Trees in pots. 14. Describe the culture of Sea Kale, Asparagus, and French Beans; and the best method of forcing them. 15. What are the best Manures for Kitchen and Fruit =—— ? How ought they to be applied, and when ? 16. Describe the propagation and culture of Roses and Carnations intended to be cultivated under glass. TREES AND SHRUBS IN THE ISLE OF WIGHT, 103 TREES AND SHRUBS IN THE ISLE OF WIGHT. By Samuru Heaton, F.R.H.S. Ir is with some diffidence I write of the trees and shrubs in the Garden Isle; for I seem to hear many Fellows of the Royal Horticultural Society say that they have been through the island many times, both on foot and by coach, and have observed nothing of special excellence to note. And this is quite true. But the trees and shrubs I am about to draw attention to are to be found in private gardens and not by the highways and hedges, where many of them would undoubtedly luxuriate and lend addi- tional beauty to the charms of this naturally picturesque island. The enterprise displayed by private individuals in beautifying their gardens should be a stimulus to all public bodies to beautify the island as a whole, and make it more attractive to visitors, who are an important factor in the prosperity of the Garden Isle. The monotony of the streets and buildings might be relieved by trees and shrubs planted in suitable positions and convenient places; the public halls might be made more attractive and inviting if clothed with window-boxes; and the open spaces could be made more picturesque and interesting if relieved with shrubs in boxes or tubs, as may be seen in Manchester and other places. But, alas! the public authorities seem to take no interest in the arboricultural charms of the island. The generally undulating surface of the Isle of Wight un- doubtedly affords exceptional convenience and opportunity for the cultivation of rare trees and shrubs of a so-called Half-hardy nature. The length of the island, east to west, is about twenty-two miles; the width, north to south, about thirteen miles; and the circumference about sixty miles. The average rainfall is about 28 inches per annum, and the mean temperature about 50° F. In addition to the ordinary forest trees or “ hard-woods,” and the Conifer, the Huonymus, Tamarisk, Laurustinus, Bays, Fuchsias, Veronicas, and Hydrangeas are to be seen well repre- sented in all parts of the island; whilst here and there in some of the best-kept gardens, and those most favourably situated, may be seen plants of Eucalyptus, Phillyrea latifolia, 104 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. Griselinia littoralis, Myrtles, Escallonia macrantha, Choisya’ ternata, Aralia Sieboldi, Leycesteria formosa, Paulownia imperialis, Bignonia radicans, Aloysia citriodora, Photinia serrulata, Phenix dactylifera, Chamerops humilis and Fortunei, Phormium tenax, Coronilla glauca, Daphne Indica, Phlomis fruticosus, Desfontainea spinosa, Buddleia globosa, Arbutus, Forsythia viridissima, and others, which will be mentioned as growing in the following places, which are amongst the largest and best-kept gardens in the Garden Isle. Brooke House GARDENS. In the gardens of Brooke House, the residence of Sir Chas. Seely, Bart., are to be found the following noteworthy trees and shrubs: Cupressus macrocarpa, over 25 feet high and 18 feet through at the base; Pinus insignis, which evidently does well for seaside planting ; for this, ike many other specimens, seems to revel in its position—it is 24 feet high and 17 feet through at the base. Pinus excelsa and Abies Nordmanniana are fine specimens, considering the short time they have been planted. Large healthy plants of Cedrus Deodara, C. Atlantica, and C. Libani are also very conspicuous. Other Conifere worth notice are Retinospora filifera, R. aurea, R. plumosa, and R. squamosa; Taxus baccata and T. elegantis- sima, Thuja plicata (Lobbi of gardens), Juniperus Chinensis, Cryptomeria elegans and C. japonica, and the “ Blue Spruce,” Picea pungens glauca. Magnolia Lenei and M. conspicua diffuse a glorious scent from their beautiful showy fiowers. The showy Pyrus malus floribunda and P. atrosanguinea cannot be overlooked. Amongst other plants of interest are a Spanish Cork-oak (planted by Garibaldi in 1864; the dimensions are, stem 18 inches in diameter, height of tree 27 feet, spread of branches 120 feet), Aralia spinosa, Cornus Spathii, Garrya elliptica, which requires protection, Hibiscus syriacus, Hippophaea rhamnoides (Sea Buck- thorn), Andromedas and Daphnes (in variety), Staphylea col- chica, Deutzia candidissima, Berberis Thunbergii, Acer negundo var., and A. palmatum atropurpureum. The ornamental Grasses include varieties of Eulalia, Bambusa, Arundo, and Gynerium TREES AND SHRUBS IN THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 105 argenteum ; one clump of the latter has produced over 200 glorious plumes of inflorescence. These gardens, which are situated on the south coast, are well worthy of a visit. Oup PARK. These gardens, which belong to Mrs. Spindler, are beautifully situated in the Undercliff, about three miles from Ventnor, on the south coast. Being so well sheltered and close to the sea will probably account for the fine healthy plants of Magnolia grandi- flora, Laurus nobilis, Garrya_ elliptica, Aucuba japonica, Arbutus (several varieties), Fuchsia Riccartoni, Choisya ternata, Kscallonias (in variety), Phillyrea latifolia, Benthamia fragifera, Veronicas (in variety), Colletia cruciata, Sumachs (in variety), Photinia arbutifolia, Ceanothus (in variety), Chamzerops Fortunei and C. excelsa, Phormium tenax, Dracena australis, Yucca aloifolia variegata, Y. gloriosa and Y. recurva, Eucalyptus globulus, and Bambusa (in variety). The aboveare all grown in the open air, and receive no protection whatever. It may interest some to know that Calla «ethiopica is grown as a hardy outdoor aquatic, and does remarkably well. STEEPHILL CASTLE. These gardens are one mile west of Ventnor, on the south coast ; they are charmingly picturesque, and contain some fine specimen plants. Amongst the most interesting are Photinia serrulata, Taxodium distichum, Benthamia fragifera, Podocarpus chilina, Rhus Cotinus, Salisburia adiantifolia, Carya alba, Colletia cruciata and C. horrida, Magnolia grandiflora, Lirio- dendron tulipifera, Clerodendron Bungei, Erica arborea, and Garrya elliptica, Pyrus sorbus, Phormium tenax, Quercus, and Pittosporums (in variety). East DENgs. These gardens are situated about one mile east of Ventnor, close to Bonchurch Old Church and at the entrance to the far- famed landslip. They are well sheltered and close to the sea. The most noteworthy trees and shrubs are fine healthy plants of Pittosporum tenuifolium, Garrya elliptica, Fuchsia gracilis, Choisya ternata, Magnolia Watsoni, Laurus nobilis, Veronica 106 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. salicifolia, Daphne laureola, Colletia cruciata, Arbutus rubra, | Aucuba vera nana and A. viridis, Buddleia globosa, Erica coccinea and EK. melanthera, Cupressus Lawsoniana and C. macrocarpa, Cedrus deodara, Hydrangea paniculata grandiflora, Deutzia scabra flore pleno, Spirea confusa, Staphylea colchica, Photinia serrulata, Dracena indivisa, Escallonia macrantha, EKleagnus longipes, Aralia Sieboldi variegata, Aloysia citriodora, Chamerops Fortunei, Yucca gloriosa, Camellia (Adrien Lebrun), C. alba compacta, and C. alba plena. Str. CLARE CASTLE. These gardens are close to the sea, about one mile east of Ryde. Amongst the most interesting plants we may mention Edwardsia (Sophora) microphylla, which grows freely on a south wall, is quite hardy, and never fails to bloom; there is also a fine specimen of Ilex latifolia over 20 feet high. This plant is rather rare in the island. Photinia serrulata and glabra are fully exposed to the sea-breezes, and do well; Potentilla fruticosa does best in a sunny position: Diospyros virginiana, which has fruited several times; Eucalyptus Gunni, which is much hardier than KE. globulus and E. cordata. In a garden near St. Clare there is a specimen of EH. Gunnii over 30 feet high, which lives and erows vigorously amidst the gales and climatic changes experienced on the north coast of the island. Mr. Meehan, the gardener at St. Clare, rightly considers it folly to plant trees and shrubs of doubtful hardiness in warm sheltered positions where the morning sun and the cutting east winds can play on them, for by the former they are hurried into growth prematurely, whilst by the latter the tender growth is withered or dried up. The cause of the plants dying is generally attributed to the unusual severity of the winter or to the tender- ness of the plant; but this, in nine cases out of ten, is a wrong verdict. Magnolia grandiflora does well in all parts of the island; the Loquat (Eriobotrya Japonica) is grown with great success at St. Clare. St. Joun’s VICARAGE, RYDE. The Rey. H. Ewbank possesses perhaps the finest collection of rare trees and shrubs to be found in the Garden Isle. Through TREES AND SHRUBS IN THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 107 his kindness I am able to give the following interesting notes, which I hope may prove of some value to others. Fremontia Californica, a malvaceous shrub, does well in a semi-shaded spot. Abutilon vitifolium, from Chili, though not considered hardy, has done remarkably well so far in the open, and should prosper in the Isle of Wight. Pterostyrax hispidum, from Japan, blooms in corymbose racemes, and is a good thing and easy to grow. Mandevilla suaveolens, from Buenos Ayres, is a splendid climber of great fragrance. It should be planted in April in a sunny sheltered spot, and given a little protection in winter, as it is not quite hardy. Poinciana Gillisii makes a fine shrub. It is easily raised from seed, and when it once commences to flower it will repay anyone for any amount of trouble taken with it. Magnolia Lenei, M. parviflora, M. Watsoniana, M. conspicua, M. grandiflora, and M. stellata are to be found doing well in Mr. Ewbank’s garden. Colletia bictonensis is a strange-looking plant, and should be well worth growing, if only for its distinctive and peculiar form. Olearia Hastii, a nice bush from New Zealand, and does well - in most parts of the island. Sikkim Rhododendrons, R. Aucklandi, R. Thompsoni, R. Hodgsoni, and others flourish remarkably well with canvas protection in winter and a top-dressing of cow manure in summer. Rosa ruberrima is a shrub that does well, and grows to a large size ; Pomegranates do well, so far as making growth, but they do not bloom very freely. Edwardsia grandiflora, a leguminous plant with yellow flowers, is much admired. Exochorda grandiflora is a handsome shrub from 4 to 6 feet high, and is quite hardy. It requires little pruning. Lonicera fragrantissima, a native of China, makes bushy growth, and produces fragrant white flowers during the winter season. Paulownia imperialis is a handsome and fast-growing tree, and should be planted in a moist situation. As it blossoms early, its buds are sometimes injured by the frosts. 108 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. Lardizabala biternata requires a wall. It is a tall climbing © shrub with dark green persistent leaves, and bears purplish flowers in drooping racemes in winter. Choisya ternata thrives remarkably well in this garden as in many others in the island. If Mr. Ewbank were allowed to grow only one shrub in his garden, this, he says, would be his choice. Cistus, in variety, are grown. Limonia trifoliata, or hardy lemon, does well here. Neviusia alabamensis is sometimes grown in a greenhouse ; but it thrives in the open air in this garden. Ozothamnus rosmarinifolius is a pretty shrub, but not quite hardy. ‘The small white aster-like flowers are so effective that the plant is often called ‘Snow in Summer.” Parrotia persica, well known for the Jovely autumnal tints displayed by the foliage when dying off, likes a warm situation and a rather dry border. Rhododendron przcox is a very attractive shrub, and well known. Vitis heterophylla humulifolia should be grown against a wall in a sunny place, so as to ripen its exquisite turquoise blue berries, which are most attractive. Xanthoceras sorbifolia, a native of China, grows to a height of about 15 ft. It is an extremely pretty flowering and most handsome-leaved shrub, and as it becomes better known will be sure to be much more largely grown. Rubus biflorus, or the sometimes called ‘‘ Whitewashed Bramble,” is a tall-growing species with whitish spiny stems and simple three-lobed leaves that are tomentose on the under side. Rubus deliciosus is another beautiful plant from the Rocky Mountains, and which likes moisture. Camellias grow luxuriantly and bloom profusely. Cercis siliquastrum, or “Judas Tree,” thrives in a damp, warm situation, and grows from 15 ft. to 20 ft. high. Chimonanthus fragrans, with its deliciously fragrant flowers, produced in abundance in winter when, the plant is leafless, seems thoroughly at home. Rhyncospermum jasminoides, though generally grown in a greenhouse, seems quite hardy here. TREES AND SHRUBS IN THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 109 Amongst other plants worthy of mention are Cotoneaster Simonsii, Photinia japonica, Clerodendron fetidum, Clematis Davidiana, Caryopteris mastacanthus, Fuchsia Riccartoni, and Coronilla Emerus. OsBORNE Houss. In the Queen’s gardens at Osborne are to be found some very interesting trees and shrubs. On the north coast of the island, and with a gentle slope towards the sea, plants seem to do well with little or no protection, Camellias in particular. There is a large tree of Liriodendron tulipifera and fine healthy specimens of Garrya MacFadyani, Berberis Darwinii, Bupleurum frutico- sum, Griselinia littoralis, Callistemon viridiflorum, Fagus Cun- ninghamii (ivergreen Beech), Myrica Californica, and Colletia spinosa. Amongst the most interesting trees planted as memorials we may mention Tilia Kuropea, which was planted by Her Majesty in commemoration of the Diamond Jubilee, on July 28, 1897. Princess Beatrice also planted a Fagus cuprea in commemoration of that event. H.R.H. the Prince Consort planted a Magnolia grandiflora in the flower garden on March 10, 1846, which is doing remarkably well. H.S.H. Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha planted, August 2, 1850, a Pavia californica; and on October 26 in the same year a Torreya nucifera was planted in memory of Louise, Queen of the Belgians. On June 30, 1851, Leopold I., King of the Belgians, planted a Mahonia nepalensis. In May 1861, H.R.H. the Duchess of Kent planted a Podocar- pus andina; whilst on August 3 in the same year H.R.H. Prince Frederick William of Prussia planted a Torreya Myristica. On February 10, 1862, Her Majesty the Queen planted at the Swiss Cottage for H.R.H. the Prince Consort a Sciadopitys verticillata (the Umbrella Pine). On August 6, 187 3, H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh planted a Prumnopitys elegans. Her Majesty the Queen planted at Swiss Cottage, on Feb- ruary 18, 1878, a Myrtle (in honour of the marriage of her grand-daughter, Princess Charlotte of Prussia), grown from a 110 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. sprig of the Princess Royal’s marriage bouquet, January 25, 1858. On August 19, 1879, Prince Alfred of Kdinburgh planted at Swiss Cottage an Arthrotaxis selaginoides and Princess Marie of Edinburgh an Arthrotaxis Gunneana. The Duc de Nemours planted, in 1848, a Cryptomeria japonica. An Abies pinsapo, planted by Her Majesty the Queen, May 24, 1849, is now over 40 feet high and about 8 feet in circumference. The Maharajah Dhuleep Singh planted a Cedrus deodara, on August 24, 1854, on the garden lawn. The Emperor of the French planted an Abies neha and the Empress of the French an Abies pinsapo, on August 8, 1857, on the lawn. H.1.H. Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria, after- wards Emperor of Mexico, planted a Thujopsis borealis and H.1.H. the Archduchess Charlotte of Austria, afterwards Empress of Mexico, a Cupressus Lawsoniana, on August 3, 1861. The King of Sweden planted at Swiss Cottage, on August 14, 1861, a Pinus radiata. H.R.H. the Prince of Wales and H.R.H. the Princess of Wales each planted an Abies pinsapo at Swiss Cottage two days after they were married, namely, on March 12, 1863. Altogether there are something like two hundred and fifty memorial trees, each one recalling some person or event of interest. WIDTH OF TIRES ON WAGON WHEELS. Report oF EXPERIMENTS IN AMERICA. TH width of tire on wagon wheels which is most conducive to easy draught is a problem of the highest practical importance, for on its solution may depend the saving of a considerable sum on the year’s labour bill. Estimates made by General Roy Stone put the total wagon transportation in the United States at about 500,000,000 tons, the public roads having an aggregate length of 1,500,000 miles. The average distance of haul is put at eight miles, and the average cost of transporting one ton this length ig assumed to be $2, making the total yearly cost for wagon WIDTH OF TIRES ON WAGON WHEELS. 1 freight $1,000,000,000. It is claimed that this freight could be moved the length of eight miles over first-class roads at an average cost of eighty cents per ton, so that a saving of 600,000,000 per annum might thus be effected. This sum represents about one-fourth of the value, on the farms, of all the farm products of the United States. An amount of about $20,000,000 is paid out each year for the maintenance of public roads outside the cities of the United States, yet after the expen- diture of this sum these roads are no better at the end of the year than at the beginning. All ratepayers are interested in re- ducing this expense, provided the roads are not impaired in efficiency. There exists a widespread belief that narrow wheels are amongst the most destructive agents to streets, to macadam, gravel, and dirt roads, and to the fields, meadows, and pastures of the farm. ‘The introduction in recent years of the wide-tired metallic wheel at about the usual price of the ordinary narrow- tired wheels has removed one very serious objection to the pro- posed substitution of broad tires for the narrow tires hitherto in use. In order to obtain reliable information on so important a matter, numerous trials, extending over a year, so as to be subject to all kinds of weather, have been carried out at the Missouri Agricultural Iixperiment station. The draught or pull was in all cases determined by means of a self-recording dynamo- meter, and the net load in every trial was the short ton of 2,000 lbs. Contrary to what was anticipated, in the majority of cases the draught was materially less when tires 6 in. wide were used than when the tests were made with tires of the standard width of 14 in. We give a brief summary of the results :— On macadam road, as an average of the two trials made, a load of 2,518 lbs. could have been hauled on the broad tires with the same draught as a load of 2,000 lbs. required on the narrow tires. On gravel road, except when wet and sloppy on the top, the draught of the broad-tired wagon was very much less than that of the narrow-tired wagon; averaging the six trials, a load of 2,482 lbs. could be hauled on the broad tires with the same draught as was required for a load of 2,000 lbs. on the narrow tires. The trials on dirt roads gave varying results, according to the condition of the road. Thus when it was dry, hard, and free from dust, 2,530 lbs. could be hauled on the broad tires with 112 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. the draught required for 2,000 lbs. on the narrow tires. When the surface was covered with two or three inches of very dry loose dust the results were unfavourable to the broad tire. On clay road, muddy and sticky on the surface and firm under- neath, the results were uniformly unfavourable to the broad tires. On the other hand, on clay road deep with mud and dry- ing on top, or dry on top and spongy beneath, numerous tests were uniformly favourable to the broad tire. The difference ranged from 52 to 61 per cent.; on the average about 3,200 lbs. could be hauled on the broad tires with the draught required for 2,000 lbs. on the narrow tires. It was in this condition of dirt road that the broad tires showed to greatest advantage. As the road dries and becomes firmer the difference between the broad and narrow tires gradually diminishes, until it falls to about 25 to 380 per cent. on dry, hard, smooth dirt, gravel, or macadam road, in favour of the broad tire. On the contrary, as the mud becomes softer and deeper,a condition is at length reached when the mud adheres to both types of wheel; here the advantage of the broad tires ceases entirely and the narrow tires pull mate- rially lighter. Generally it may be said that during the greater part of the year, and at times when the dirt roads are most in requisition and when their use is most imperative, the broad- tired wheels have a considerably lighter draught than the narrow-tired. Many tests on meadows, pastures, stubble land, corn ground, and ploughed ground in every condition, from dry, hard, and firm to very wet and soft, showed without any exception a large difference in draught in favour of the broad tires—a difference ranging from 17 to 120 per cent. The investigations further showed that six inches is the best width of tire for a combina- tion farm and road wagon, and that both axles should be the same length, thereby securing that the front and hind wheels shall run in the same track. This inquiry differs in character from some of the abstruse problems the solution of which is attempted at American experimental stations ; but there can be no question as to its utility. REPORT ON RADISHES GROWN AT CHISWICK, 1898. 118 REPORT ON HOES. Three new hoes were sent to the Society’s Gardens at Chiswick for trial, by Rev. Foster-Melliar, Sproughton Rectory, Ipswich ; Mr. George Abbey, Avery Hill, Eltham; Mr. G. W. Shailer, 3 Avenue Road, Brentford. (1) Sproughton Hoe (Foster-Melliar).—This hoe is some- what in the form of an improved Dutch hoe, with double edges, having a point at one end of the hoe for using as a prong to get out deeply rooted weeds. Another advantage of this tool is that, by having double edges, it cuts through the soil when pushed forwards and drawn backwards, never clogging with soil, and always bright and clean. A most useful hoe. (2) Drill Hoe (Abbey).—F or drawing seed drills this heart- shaped hoe is very useful, as the drills can be quickly drawn at a uniform depth. It is only suitable for such operations. (8) Pronged Hoe (Shailer).—Although the maker describes this tool as a hoe, it is really more like a hand cultivator, as it consists of a number of prongs revolving on an axle. These prongs or teeth will penetrate loose soil to the depth of two or three inches, dislodging all small weeds ; and, being easy to work, aman may push the implement before him at a good walking pace. On light or loose soils this tocl should prove an acquisi- tion, but on firm or solid soil it is of no service. REPORT ON RADISHES GROWN AT CHISWICK, 1898. Twenty-four stocks of Radishes were received, and all were sown in a cold frame on March 16. The lights were not put on the frames except on those nights when there was danger of frost. The whole collection was taken up to the Drill Hall Meeting on May 10 and examined by the Fruit and Vegetable Committee. A.M.=Award of Merit. 1. Earliest of All Olive (Sutton).—Ready for use May 2. Roots true turnip-shape, pale red, with remarkably short tops. I 114 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 2. Harliest Red Long (Barr).—Ready for use May 9. Roots . long, pinkish red, with moderate tops. 3. Karly Deep Scarlet (Watkins & Simpson).-—Ready for use April 80. Roots scarlet, turnip-shaped, with moderate tops. 4. Karly Forcing deep scarlet Turnip (Watkins & Simpson).— Ready for use April 80. Same as No. 18. 5. Karly Frame Long (Sutton).—Ready for use April 380, Roots long, red, with short compact tops. 6. Karly White Long (Barr).—Ready for use May 10. Roots long, white, with large tops. Late. 7. Karly White Turnip-shaped (Barr).—Ready for use May’3. Same as No. 21. 8. First of All White Olive-shaped (Barr).—A.M. May 10, Same as No. 11. Ready for use April 30. 9. First of All Scarlet Olive-shaped (Barr).—A.M. May 10, Same as No. 10. Ready for use May 2. 10. Forcing Carmine Oval (Sutton).—-A.M. May 10. Ready for use May 2. Roots olive-shaped, bright red, moderate tops. An excellent stock. 11. Forcing White Olive (Sutton)—A.M. May 10. Ready for use April 80. Roots olive-shaped, pure white, with very small compact tops. 12. French Breakfast Olive-shaped (Sutton).—Ready for use April 80. Roots olive-shaped, red tipped with white, short compact tops. . 244 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. they came so far and cost so dear. It would therefore appear that some different and probably superior varieties were obtained from Holland than the Rounceval Pease mentioned by Tusser. Gerarde, in his ‘‘ Herbal,’’ 1597, says thus: —“ There be divers sorts of Peason differing very notably in many respects. Some are of the garden and some of field, and yet both counted tame. Some with tough skins or membranes on the cods, and others have none at all, whose cods are to be eaten with the Peason when they are young, as those of Kidney Beans ; others carry their fruit on the top of the branches, and they are esteemed and taken for Scottish Peason, which is not very common.” I have had photographs taken of twoof the Peas thatareillustratedin Gerarde’s ‘‘ Herbal,” where thefollowing sorts are enumerated :— (1) Pisum majus (Rounceval Pease). (Fig. 58.) (2) Pisum minus (Garden & Field Pease). (3) Pisum umbellatum (Tufted or Scoitish Pease). (4) Pisum excorticatum (without skins in the cods). (Fig. 59.) This last is doubtless the remote ancestor of the ‘ Sans parchemin’ Peas, which are so highly esteemed on the Con- tinent, but which are little grown now in England. . In the “ Art of Gardening,”’ published in 1688, we are in- formed: “Pease are of divers kinds, and some of them the’ sweetest and most pleasant of all Pulses; the meaner sort of them have been long acquainted with our English air and soil ; but the sweet and delicate sorts of them have been introduced into our gardens only in this latter age. “‘ There are divers soris of Pease now propagated in England, as three several sorts of Hotspurs, the Long, the Short,and Barns’ Hotspur, the Sandwich, five sorts of Rounceval, the Grey, White, Blue, Green, and Maple Rounceval. Three sorts of Sugar Pease, the large White, small White, and Grey Sugar Pease. The Egg Pease, Wing Pease, and Sickle Pease; whereof the Hotspur are the mosi early, pleasant, and profitable of all others. The Sugar Pease with crooked cods, the sweetest ofall. The large white and green Rouncival, and the great Egg Pease we shall more particularly advise to be propagated in our gardens. “ The Hotspurs are the speediest of growth of any : that being sown about the middle of May will in six weeks’ time return ripe again into your hands, no Vegetable besides being so quick GARDEN FEAS., 945 in its growth and maturity. Therefore let these be the first you sow, if sown in February or March: they will come earlier than any other sort sown before winter. But if you sow them in Sep- LP ag AD, Oa - i Fig. 59.—OxLp Worup Pease. PEASE WITHOUT SKINS IN THE Cops: Pisum EXCORTICATUM. (Facsimile from Gerarde’s “ Herbal,” 1597.) tember, and can by fences of reed, or otherwise, defend them from extreme frosts, you may have ripe Peascods in May following. 246 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. ‘The large Sugar Pease (which many take to be a fair white sweet Pease succeeding the Hotspur, but erroneously) is a tender Pease planted in April, and ripe after midsummer: the cods are very crooked and ill-shaped, which, being boiled with unripe Pease in them, are extraordinary sweet. The greatest dis- couragement in raising these is that their sweetness attracts the small birds unto them, to their total destruction, unless care- fully prevented; which is a sufficient argument of their pre- excellency. “The large white and green Rounceval or Hastings are tender, and not to be set till the cold is over, and then not very thick, for they spread much and mount high, and therefore require the aid of tall sticks. Livery one knows the worth of them. ‘There is another very large grey but extraordinary sweet Pease that is largely propagated: it is tender but very fruitful, and deserves a large bed in your kitchen garden.” Gerarde further informs us that “‘ Peas are set and sown in gardens and also in fields in all parts of England. The tufted Peas are in reasonable plenty in West Kent, about Sevenocke. In other places not so common. Wilde Pease do grow in pastures and arable fields in divers places, specially about the fields belonging unto Bishop Hatfield in Hertfordshire.” Parkinson, in 1629, in his “ Paradisus Terrestris,’’ says :— ‘There is very great variety of Marrowed Pease known to us, and I think more in our country than in others. Garden Pease are for the most part the greatest and sweetest kind, and are sustained with stakes or bushes. ‘The kinds of Pease are these :— The Rounceval. Grey Pease. Green Hastings. Peas without skins. White Hastings. Scottish or Tufted, which some Sugar. call the Rose Pease, is a good Spotted. White Pease fit to be eaten. “Marly or French Pease, which some callthe Fulham Pease because the ground thereat doe bring them soonest forward for any quantity, although sometimes they miscarry by their haste and earliness.”’ I think that the so-called French Peas would be nothing but \ Ee ele GARDEN PEAS. 247 an ordinary White Pea, possibly brought from France and cultivated by the market gardeners at Fulham, but certainly not a distinct variety. In 1710, or just eighty years after, “‘ Salmon’s Herbal” speaks thus of Peas manured or cultivated :— ‘Of Pease there are several sorts :— “The Karly or Fulham Pease. “Green and White Hastings. ‘‘ Rounceval. ‘“‘ Grey Pease. “ Spotted. ‘Pease without skins.”’ You will please observe that in eighty years there is no mention of any new variety having been introduced. In 1787 Miller’s ‘‘ Gardeners’ Dictionary ’’ enumerates six- teen varieties of Peas, and says there are several other kinds known by names as distinct sorts; but as they are very subject to vary there can be no doubt they are merely seminal variations, and are not worth enumeration in this place. He says of the Sickle Pea that it is much more common in Holland than in Kngland, being the sort most cultivated in that country ; but in England they are only grown by curious gentlemen for their own table, and are rarely brought into market. The English Sea Pea is found wild on the shore in Sussex and several other counties in England; and in the year 1555 it is reported that between Alford and Aldburgh it grew upon the heath, where nothing, not even grass, was ever seen to grow ; and the poor people, being in distress by reason of the dearth of that year, gathered large quantities of these Peas, and so preserved themselves and families from starving. I would here like to refer to some extracts from old cookery books on the subject of Peas. 1596. Thomas Dawson, in ‘‘ The Good Housewife’s Jewel,’ gives a recipe to make a close tarte of Green Pease, and another to make White Pease pottage. 1621. John Murrell in “ A delightful daily exercise for Ladies and Gentlemen ”’ gives : ‘‘ To boyle chickens or capons with pease cods, take green pease when the pods be young, with butter, o water, peper, salt, and mace, the yokes of 2 or 8 eggs, six 248 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, spoonfuls of sacke, and as much vinegar. Dish up your capons upon suppets, then pour your pease cods and browth upon them, and serve to table hot.” 1700. The “ Art of Cookery ’’ in verse says :— The Sailor shipwrecked never can have ease Till re-established in his Pork and Pease. The following is a very interesting extract from an ancient cookery book compiled about the year 1890 by the master ccoks of King Richard II. Itis written in Old English, and I have had it translated into ordinary style that it may be easier for perusal. | [TRANSLATION. | From ‘The Toime of Cury.’—A roll of ancient English cookery, compiled about 1890 by the master cooks of King Richard II. Perrey of Peas (Perrey, a dish in old cookery made chiefly of Peas, Onions, and spices)—Take Peas and boil them soft and cover them till they burst. Then take them and mash them ina cloth; take Onions and mince them, and boil them in the same liquor, and oil with them; add sugar, salt, and saffron, and boil them well. ‘Then serve them forth. From Warner's * Antiguitates Culinatia.”’ Green Peas to Pottage.—Take young Green Peas and boil them with good beef broth, and take parsley, sage, savory, and hyssop, and a little bread, and pound all this in a mortar and some of the Peas with it; mix it with the broth, and put it in the pot with the other Peas, and let it boil together. Then serve it forth. Green Peas unstrained with Herbs-—Take Green Peas and let them boil with good broth of beef, and take parsley, sage, and savory and hyssop, and cut them small. Put them in the pot and let them boil until thoroughly mixed. Colour it with saffron and serve it forth. Green Peas and Bacon.—Take old Peas and boil them in good stock that bacon has been boiled in, then take them and pound them in a mortar, mix them with the broth and strain them through a strainer. Put them in a pot, and let them boil till they are thoroughly mixed. Then serve it forth, with bacon. ——————————eEEeEeeEEeEeEeEEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeeEeEe——e—EOuouoeeer GARDEN PEAS, 249 I think that we may assume that before the introduction of the Wrinkled Pea, which I shall shortly touch upon, the culti- vated Peas of commerce formed two distinct classes, viz. such as have white flowers, with white or sometimes bluish-coloured seeds, commonly called Garden Peas, all included under the name ‘¢ Pisum sativum’; and such as have coloured flowers and generally dun, grey, or speckled seeds: these are known as Field Peas, or Piswm arvense, which botanical authorities now regard as a varietal form of Piswm sativwm. I would here remark that while rapid and wonderful strides have been made in horticulture during the Victorian era, and notably in the introduction of culinary vegetables, fruits, and flowers, the great attention and labour given to the work by gardeners and others is more clearly exemplified, in the vast improvement in Peas—greater, perhaps, than in the case of any other culinary vegetable, numbers of new varieties having fallen into oblivion through lack of merit, while the fittest have survived the test of time. Our earliest garden Peas were for a number of years the round white-seeded varieties, such as the Early Charlton or Fulham, which is regarded as the parent of the Karly varieties subsequently introduced. It had been in cultivation for years previously to the beginning of the present century, and up to within the last fifty years was extensively cultivated and esteemed as the best Early Pea for garden purposes in commerce. Most of the subsequent improvements were only the Charlton, con- siderably modified in character by selection. This may appear to some a startling statement, yet when we consider the clearly ascertained effects and changes which result from cultivation, it is not improbable, especially as the Pea is susceptible of marked variation. The Karly Charlton or any other variety, if sown for several years, and the very earliest on the one hand and the latest on the other being selected for seed-bearing each season, the difference in the time of ripening between the two will ultimately become so great as to constitute two distinct varieties; and by sowing the early type on warm light lands the difference will be materially increased, not only in the time of ripening, but also in the habit of growth. I now come to a most important period in the improvement of the Pea, viz. the introduction of the Wrinkled type. It is to Mr. T. A. Knight, of Elton, near Ludlow, that horticulture is 950 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. indebted for the development of the Wrinkled Marrow which imparted to the Pea a much higher table value. In the ‘“ Philosophical Transactions ’’ for 1799 appears an account of some experiments on the fecundation of vegetables, made by Mr. T. A. Knight, then President of the Royal Horti- cultural Society. Mr. Knight says:—‘I had a Pea in my garden, which having been long cultivated in the same soil had ceased to be productive, and did not appear to recover the whole of its former vitality when removed to a soil of a somewhat different quality : on this my first experiment in 1787 was made. When the blossoms were matured I introduced the farina of a large and luxuriant grey Pea into the one half, leaving the others as they were. The pods of each grew equally well, but I soon saw that in those whose blossoms I had not fertilised the seeds remained undeveloped and finally withered. Those in the other pods attained maturity, but were not sensibly different to those of other plants of the same variety. ‘In the succeeding spring, however, the difference became very obvious, for the plants rose from them with increased luxuriance, and the colour of their leaves and stems clearly indicated that they had changed their whiteness for the colour of the male parent, the seeds produced in autumn being dark grey. By introducing the farina of another white variety (or, in some instances, by simple culture) this colour was easily dis- charged, and a numerous variety of new kinds produced, many of which were in size and every other respect much superior to the original white kind, and grew with excessive luxuriance, some to the height of more than 12 feet. I observed a stronger tendency to produce purple blossoms and coloured seeds than white ones, for when I introduced the farina of a purple blossom into a white one the whole of the seeds the next year became coloured; but when I tried to discharge this colour by reversing the process a part only afforded plants with white blossoms, this part some- times occupying one end of the pod, and being at other times irregularly interspersed with those which when sown retained their colour. *« Ag the offspring of a White Pea is always white unless the farina of a coloured kind is used on it, and as the colour of the erey one is always transferred to its offspring, it occurred to me* that if the farina of both were mingled or applied at the GARDEN PEAS, 951 same moment the offspring of each could be readily distin- guished. ~ “ My first experiment was not altogether successful, for the offspring of five pods (the only ones which escaped the birds) received their colour from the coloured male. There was, how- ever, a strong resemblance to the other male in the growth and character on more than one of the plants, and the seeds of several closely resembled it in everything but colour. In this experiment I used the farina of a White Pea, which possessed the remarkable property of shrivelling excessively when ripe; and in the second year I obtained white seeds from grey ones, above mentioned, perfectly similar to it. I am strongly disposed to believe that the seeds were here of common parentage. ‘‘ Again I prepared blossoms of the little Karly Frame Pea. I introduced its own farina, and immediately afterwards that of a very large and late grey kind, and I sowed the seeds thus obtained. Many of them retained the colour and character of the small Karly Pea, not in the slightest degree altered, and blossomed before they were 18 in. high, whilst others (taken from the same pods), whose colour was changed, grew to the height of more than 4 ft., and were killed by the frost before any flowers appeared.’’ In this way were obtained Knight’s Green und White Wrinkled Marrow Peas. In the ‘Transactions of the Horticultural Society,” 1817, appears on page 87 another paper, On the Prevention of Mildew, by the President, Mr. Thomas Andrew Knight, in the course of which he says :— “This led me to the following method of cultivating the Pea late in autumn, by which my table has always been well supplied in September and October as in June and July, and my plants nearly as free from mildew. ‘‘The Pea, which I have always planted for autumnal crops, is a very large kind, of which the seeds are much shrivelled, and which grows very high: it is now very common in the shops of London, and my name has, I believe, been generally attached to it. I prefer this variety because it is more saccharine than any other, and retains its flavour late into the autumn.” This was undoubtedly Knight’s Tall Wrinkled Pea, afterwards sent out as British Queen. Some experiments were also made by Mr. John Goss, bearing date October 15, 1822. 252 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. ‘‘T have raised some new varieties of Peas. In 1820 I crossed the Prolific Blue with pollen of a dwarf Pea, and ob- tained three pods of seeds. On opening them I found that the colour, instead of being a deep blue like the parent, was a yellowish-white like the male. These white seeds produced some pods with all blue, and some with white seeds and some with both colours mixed.” I can find no record as to when these Peas were sent out, or if sent out, by what names. It is therefore quite certain that we are indebted to Mr. Thomas Andrew Knight, President of the Royal Horticultural Society, for the introduction of the Wrinkled Pea, and that he ob- tained them by crossing some of the round White and Grey sorts. From their remarkable wrinkled appearance, together with the peculiar sweetness they possess, Knight’s Marrow Peas may be said to have originated a distinct class of Garden Peas, possessing qualities which, together with their general productiveness, rendered them a valuable acquisition both to cultivators and consumers. Knight’s Peas were therefore the origin of the numerous family of Wrinkled Peas that have succeeded them, both dwarf and tall, early and late. It now remains to follow the development of the Wrinkled Pea after Mr. Knight’s introductions. I have failed to discover when these Peas were first introduced to commerce, and the earliest mention of them I have been able to trace is in Page’s “ Prodromus,’’ 1817, which gives the names of twenty-three varieties of Garden Peas, among them Tall Marrowfat White, Tall Marrowfat Green, and Tall Knight’s Marrowfat; but no clue is given to the colour of the seeds. They were also offered — by Messrs. Richard Gregory & Son, of Cirencester, in the year 1818. Henry Miller, in ‘‘ The History of Cultivated Vegetables, 1822,”’ says :—‘‘ The principal kinds of Peas are Early Frame, Early Charlton, Dwarf Imperial, Dwarf Spanish, Blue Prussian, White Prussian, Sugar Peas, White Rounceval, Rose Crowned, Knight’s Superb,”’ but here again it is not stated if it is tall or dwarf, white or blue seeded. I think we may assume as certain that Mr. Knight, in his experiments, found both Tall and Dwarf Peas in the same pods, and that these gradually became known to gardeners and Pea erowers, and were generally quoted in seedsmen’s catalogues about 1820, : . oo 3 ome we momunneiccnas wpaR Fia. 60.—Surron’s Dwarr DEFIANCE. (From a photograph, showing natural size.) GARDEN PEAS. 958 In the “‘Gardeners’ Magazine” for 1826 I find an “ Historical Notice of two varieties of the Garden Pea,’ by T. H. Masters, Eden Nursery, Stoke Newington ; one being Masters’ lmperial Marrow, raised by Mr. W. Masters, of Canterbury, a hardy green Marrow- fat Pea, 5 feet high. In the year 1836 Lawson’s “Agricultural Manual’’ describes ‘‘Knight’s Dwarf White Wrinkled Marrow as producing pods in pairs, from two and a half to three anda half inches long, well filled and terminating abruptly at both ends; the Peas on an average about three-eighths of an inch in diameter, flattened and very much wrinkled ; colour white and sometimes of a greenish tinge ; height 8 feet. ) “Knight’s Tall White Wrinkled Marrowfat: Pods larger and rather more bent than the last; Peas exactly similar; height 7 feet. “Knight's Improved White Wrinkled Marrow: Pods similar to those of the Tall and Dwarf variety, but much sweeter and more prolifie. “ Knight’s Dwarf Green Wrinkled Marrowfat: Pods in pairs, 3 inches long by § inch broad, flattish and very slightly bent; the Peas, which are of a light bluish-green, differ only from the White Marrow in colour; height 3 feet. Medium prolific. “ Knight’s Tall Green Marrowfat : Similar in shape and colour to the last-named variety ; height 7 feet. Very prolific.” These Peas of Knight’s, the Tall White and Tall Green, were no doubt the parents of the British Queen and Ne Plus Ultra, and the Dwarf Green and Dwarf White of the Alliance and Climax types, names which were first catalogued in 1849-50. I believe I am correct in stating that a gardener named Fairbeard, in the district of Sittingbourne, cross-fertilised some Peas, and found in the same pod both Round-seeded and Wrinkled varieties. One of the former was distributed as Champion of Kngland, and one of the latter as Harrison’s Glory. Dwarf Knight’s Marrow Pea was also raised by a gentleman’s gardener in the vicinity of Sittingbourne. It is nearly the same height as the Blue Prussian, but in all other respects—even to the shrivelled appearance of the seed—it resembles the very excel- lent Pea raised by the indefatigable President of the Royal Horticultural Society, Mr. T, A. Knight. Cc 954 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. In 1850 Dr. Maclean, of Colchester, commenced to cross- fertilise Peas, and without hesitation I may say he was the first to introduce a real improvement in the Wrinkled Pea in various distinct classes. The firstfruits of his work appeared in 1859, when Mr. Charles Turner distributed Sea Green, Epicurean, Mons. Soyer, and Princess Royal. In this year Messrs. Jas. Veitch & Sons sent out their Veitch’s Perfection, which has held its place ever since as one of the best medium height Wrinkled Peas in cultivation. I have no doubt it is a descendant of Knight’s Dwarf Green Wrinkled. Later appeared Advancer, Prince of Wales, Premier, and Little Gem, this last being the first very dwarf Wrinkled Pea, growing to a height of from 15 to 20 inches. All Dr. Maclean’s seedlings were subjected to a very rigid selection before being put into com- merce, and this fact accounts for their character being so well maintained. Laxton and Culverwell, followed by Eckford, are the names of successful cross-fertilisers : to the former we are indebted for a peculiar type of Pea, a round seed with a very slight indent, the first of this class sent out being William the First, the object being to get a very early blue-seeded indented Pea of the same earliness as the Sangster type with a blue seed, or in other words with a Wrinkled Pea flavour. This type of Pea is most difficult to keep true on account of the slight taint of the Wrinkled Pea in the breed, which causes it to run back to the Round variety. Mr. Laxton sent out a number of Peas, such as Laxton’s Prolific, Fillbasket, Supreme, William Hurst, Dr. Hogg, Omega, and others. To Mr. Culverwell we are greatly indebted for the introduc- tion of some of the finest Peas sent out within the last thirty years. He informs me that his first success was a cross between Laxton’s Supreme and Veitch’s Perfection, from which he obtained his Telegraph. He says that he does not think any Pea has produced so many varieties as this one. Witness the many selections made from it:—Telephone, Pride of the Market, Stratagem, Duke of Albany, which Mr. Culverwell considers the finest Hxhibition Pea there is ; but the Telegraph the best Market Pea, being so great a cropper and so very hardy. He considers the best Pea ever raised for productiveness was Autumn Giant, but the pods would not stand the sun. This Fic. 61.—Surron’s Magnum Boxum MArrowFrat (From a photograph, showing natural size.) GARDEN PEAS. 955 was a cross between Culverwell’s Prolific and Telegraph. These various Peas have been sent out by Messrs. Charles Sharpe & Co., Messrs. Carter & Co., and Messrs. Hurst & Son. Messrs. Sutton & Sons have introduced within the last ten years some wonderful improvements in Peas. I find that in 1841 the principal Peas offered by that house were Blue Prussian, Woodfords, and Scimitar. They have been selecting seedling Peas with marked success, both for earliness, size, and shape of pod. The sorts introduced by them have been May Queen, impress of India, Forcing, and Excelsior, &e. I believe the aim of this firm has been to replace the Round- seeded varieties with Peas of dwarf growth, Wrinkled, equally early, and producing extra large pods. Of such they have introduced Royal Jubilee, Perfection, Windsor Castle, Late Queen, Magnum Bonum Marrowfat (Fig. 61), and Dwarf Defiance (Tig. 60). To illustrate the extraordinary advance made in Peas within the last fifty years, | have inserted figures of two of Messrs. Sutton & Sons’ latest introductions (Figs. 60 and 61) and one of my own (Tig. 62), in order that they may be compared with the Old World Pease figured previously from photographs I have had taken for this paper from Gerarde’s ‘‘ Herbal’ of the year 1597. It may interest my readers to be made aware of the great care taken by seed merchants to save stocks of Peas true to character. In taking measures to obtain a pure stock of a variety, what is known to be a good one is sown, and then, when the plants are large enough to show their character, every plant not true to the type which displays itself during growth—techni- cally called a rogue—is most carefully taken out. In this way a quantity of seed of the right character is obtained; it is sown a second year, the produce is again rogued, and in this thorough manner sufficient seed is procured to sow some acres, and so on, until enough is obtained to offer the variety to the public. The wholesale seed merchants enter into agreements with farmers to sow somany acres of Peas, the seed merchant supplying the stock seed they have selected with so much care; and they assist the farmer in securing purity of type by sending competent men to go over the fields at certain times and remove any plants which are untrue to character. When the Peas are harvested and threshed out they are sent o2 E’ Marrowrat Pra. ABL NCOMPAR —-Hourstr’s ‘I ) . 6 (E Fic ¢.) LZ “& g natural s aph, showin ‘om a photogr ? 7 GARDEN PEAS, 257 to the warehouses of the seed merchants, who employ often hundreds of women and girls to hand-pick the Peas; for, although the most perfect machines have been invented to take out small seeds or broken Peas, it is impossible to take out worm-eaten or discoloured Peas by any other than hand labour. These women come each autumn to the seed warehouses after the hop-picking ends. It would not be possible to arrive at any definite number of acres of Peas grown for seed in this country, still less of the acres cultivated for picking green for market; in both cases they would amount to many thousands of acres. Peas for such London markets as Covent Garden, the Borough, and Spitalfields are chiefly grown in Surrey, Middlesex, Kent, and Essex. The great aim of the market gardeners is to get them put on the market as early as possible, as often 12s. and upwards a bushel is paid for the first Peas, and in a few days they drop to half that price; so one can see the necessity for getting early and pure stocks for cultivation. Enormous quantities of Peas are grown in the Evesham district of Worcester, and also at Selby in Yorkshire, the land in both districts being found particularly suitable for Pea growing, and these are sent to London, Manchester, and Liverpool, or, in fact, to any market where there is a prospect of securing the highest price. To show how certain varieties die out and are superseded by others, I find in 1877-8 ninety-seven varieties quoted in cata- logues ; in 1887-8 seventy only of these varieties are still quoted ; and in 1897 only forty-six of them are found remaining ; and yet the names of Peas are ever increasing owing to the constant announcement of new varieties, or shall I say old friends with new names? ‘There are quoted now in English catalogues some 625 names. I need hardly say that they may be easily reduced to one fourth that number, as so many are only synonyms well known to those who test them each year; but itis not my in- tention to apply the pruning-knife, as I should most likely bring about my head a hornet’s nest of protests from those who do not agree with me. I may say that we have nearly 700 rows of Peas for comparison this season in our own trial grounds in Hssex. Within the last fifteen years quite a new industry has sprung 258 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. into existence, namely, the growing and disposing of Blue Boiling Peas. These are sold in the large manufacturing and colliery towns to the extent of many hundreds of quarters. They are used in the winter season as a vegetable, and properly cooked are a good substitute for fresh green Peas. They are also sold to workmen early in the morning hot from stalls, and served with butter and salt. Many hundreds, I may say thousands, of acres are used to grow these Peas, and as they are mostly hand-picked it employs an immense number of women and girls to do this work. I wish to say a few words on the great difficulty in cross- fertilising and raising new Peas. The operation is one requiring the utmost care and the finest touch in properly and successfully manipulating the flowers. This information has been given me by a friend of mine who has made the matter his particular study. The flower of the variety selected as the seed parent should be secured some time before it approaches the opening stage, as if not operated upon at the right time it may become self-fertilised. Having selected the two varieties of Peas to be crossed, the operator carefully opens the undeveloped petals of the seed parent, re- moving delicately and carefully by means of forceps the unde- veloped anthers upon which appear the pollen grains, but which at this stage are not active. The next process is to take the other bloom selected just as the pollen grains are maturing upon the anthers, and by the assistance of a fine camel’s-hair brush care- fully dust with pollen the stigma of the seed-bearing blossom ; when the viscid substance upon the stigma dissolves the pollen grains they pass into a tube below, the lower end of which is connected with each ovule contained in the ovary; and as the dissolved grains pass into the ovules fertilisation is completed. The operation thus performed, the operator carefully covers up the stigma with the petals of the flower to prevent contact by the elements, or by insect agency, &c., and the fertilised blossom is covered with a thin piece of muslin or cotton shading. The act of crossing has been performed with marked success, and the changes thus brought about will manifest themselves in successive generations. Supposing a fertilised pod produces six seeds, and if each of the six seeds be sown and they germinate, and the produce of each of the six seeds be sown by themselves, GARDEN PEAS, 259 it is pretty certain each row, though sown with seeds which are the produce of an undivided plant, would produce plants showing great diversity in habit of growth, earliness, and in the character of the pod and seeds. As a general rule, after reaching this point it is necessary to select the most promising plant in each of the six rows, and by succeeding selections fix the character of the particular variety. It very likely happens that the best type obtained from a particular cross is found in selections made in the fourth and fifth year after the cross was made. By the same process of cross-fertilisation, the Sweet Pea has been vastly improved, and the varieties largely increased. Before closing my paper, I think it may interest my hearers to know what I consider the best Peas that have been intro- duced into commerce up to the present time, or perhaps I should say the best Peas that exist now for purposes of growing (1) in gentlemen’s gardens and also (2) for market gardens. Possessing a trial ground where every sort of Pea introduced has been grown, and all their different characteristics and qualities carefully noted, I think you will agree that from in- spection year by year Iam able to form a pretty good estimate of what are the best varieties according to our tests. It is quite possible, however, that my estimate may not be generally admitted to be correct; neither do I claim that it should beso: I am only expressing my own opinion, in the hope that it may be of service to Pea growers in general. On the following page will be found the lists of what I con- sider to be the leading varieties at the present time :— 260 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, (1) Some oF THE BEstT (2) Some or THE BEst WRINKLED VARIETIES FOR ROUND-SEEDED VARIETIES GARDENS. FOR MARKET, First Early— First Early— Gradus. William the First. May Queen. Eclipse or Alaska. Exonian. Sanegster’s Improved. Sutton’s Al. Second Harly— Very Dwarf— Telegraph. William Hurst. Lye’s Favourite. Chelsea. English Wonder. Notts’ Excelsior. Sutton’s Favourite. | Dr. Hoge. Ameer (Laxton’s). | | Main Crop-— | Gladiator. | Pride of the Market. Second Early and Early | Main Crop— Duke of York. Sutton’s Empress of India. Prince of Wales. Duke of Albany. Triumph. Main Crop and Late— | | | | Stratagem. | Daisy. | Sharpe’s Queen. | Autocrat. Captain Cuttle. Veitch’s Perfection. Ne Plus Ulitra. Sutton’s Magnum Bonum. ORIGIN OF SPECIES IN NATURE. 261 ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES IN NATURE, AND SUGGESTIONS FOR EXPERIMENTS TO INDUCE VARIETIES TO ARISE UNDER CULTIVATION. By the Rev. Prof. G. Henstow, M.A., F.R.H.S., V.M.H. [Lecture delivered at the Gardens of the Royal Horticultural Society, Chiswick, July 13, 1898. ] INTRODUCTION.— WHAT Is A ‘“ SpEcrEs ”’ 2?—It is a term used by botanists to indicate a certain amount of differences between one and another kind of the same genus. Hence a species is known by a collection of morphological characters, presumed to be constant, and taken from any or all parts of a plant. A variety only differs from a species in having a less amount of differences. There is no recognised standard as to the amount or number of differences which separate varieties from species; hence systematic botanists have greatly differed in their use of these terms. The point to be remembered is that neither one nor the other is a fixed entity in nature; but a so-called variety or species can change its form under altered circumstances ; and the direct cause of changes of form or of variations of structure in plants is a change of environment. A good example of “ forms’ being assumed by a common plant under different soils, &c. may be seen in the knot-grass (Polygonum aviculare, L.). Thus Sir J. D. Hooker describes. the varieties :—“‘ P. aviculare, L., proper; P. lttorale, Link, Littoral; the passage to P. maritumum, L., sea-shores ; var. agrestinum, Jord., the common robust field form; arenastrwum, Boreau, a sand-loving prostrate one; nucrospermum, Jord., a small fruited one; and rurivagum, Jord., a wayside one; sub- species, P. Roberti, Loisel, sandy shores.” * In Nature, new varieties, Sir J. D. Hooker observes, are mostly found on the confines of the geographical area of the species: and when plants are grown for experiment in widely different regions, they are generally found to lose their special features, and to take on those of the plants among which they now live; so that lowland forms assume alpine or arctic features * Hooker’s Student's Flora, p. 346. 962 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, when grown at high altitudes and latitudes. Plants of arid districts gradually lose their spiny and poverty-stricken appear- ances when grown in a rich and moist soil. Hence it is obviously more likely that one would induce plants to vary by transferring them to as different external conditions as possible. Mr. Elwes informed me that the many bulbous plants he brought from the East change so in all their parts in his garden, that they can scarcely be recognised after three or four years; as, e.g., Tulipa Kolpakowskyana.* Of course, great differences exist in the natural capacity of plants to change; some are very refractory, others supply numerous cultivated varieties ; but every experience tends to show that all plants can vary if a sufficiently active environment be provided to call out their latent powers of response. ILLUSTRATIONS OF Raprip CHANGES IN STRUCTURE.— From Dry to Moist Conditions.—One of the most marked and comparatively sudden alterations of structure that take place on a change of environment is seen in that of inhabitants of dry, poor soils with a dry atmosphere, when they are removed to a moist one. Thus a common feature of not a few plants of the former condition is to be spinescent; whether the spines be branches, as in the Rest-harrow, or leaves, as in the Barberry. Experiments have shown that if the Rest-harrow (Ononis spinosa) be grown, either from seed or from cuttings, in a moist soil and atmosphere, the spines soon cease to be formed, and the plants assume more or less the character of the wild and spineless form, O. inermis or O. vepens. Similarly the leaf-spines of the Barberry will develop out into true leaves under similar conditions ; while hairiness, a characteristic of drought, dis- appears. Analogous results have occurred when wild plants bearing spines have been cultivated in, of course, a good soil: when they become non-spinescent, as Pears and Plums and some Roses. From an Aquatic to a Lané Soil.—Many plants are amphibious, 7.e., though usually aquatic and wholly or partly submerged, they can grow on land equally well by adapting the minute structures of their roots, stems, and leaves to either medium, air or water. If they be transferred from one to the * Gard. Chron., 1896, p. 586. Figs. 93, 94. ORIGIN OF SPECIES IN NATURE. 9°68 other, then all the submerged foliage dies, but new foliage ig immediately developed suitable to the changed medium. A common cultivated example is seen in Richardia Av thiopica, usually grown in pots, but it is an aquatic plant in its native habitat. There is no apparent reason why water-lilies should not be grown in a garden border ; if the experiment be made, either by sowing the seed or by gradually adapting the thick rhizome to put out suitable roots, by supplying it with a wet soil at first. The experiment is worth trying, either with water-lilies or any other aquatic plants which might be thought suitable for the garden. As water has the effect of producing degeneration of the tissues in aquatic plants as compared with land plants, they often grow stronger when on land than when in their normal condition under water. Changes between an Hrect and Prostrate Habit.—The erect habit of growth is common with plants growing thickly together, but if they are isolated on an exposed surface they will often assume a prostrate habit. This is due to the ground being warmer than the air above it. We may describe this tendency by the term ‘‘thermotropism,” i.e. ‘(a turning heatwards.” This response to an inequality of temperatures will account for the plants acquiring a prostrate habit. Thus Malva sylvestris, the common Mallow, when growing in shady places with other herbs will be erect, but on the road- sides it becomes perfectly prostrate. It is so prevalent in this condition on the limestone of Malta, that it has been named M. Nice@ensis, but it is simply a prostrate and more hairy form of the common Mallow. A very familiar example is seen in the lesser Bindweed, Convolvulus arvensis, for this plant is a true stem climber when growing among other erect plants, but assumes a thoroughly prostrate habit when growing on banks by roadsides, &c. Similarly a prostrate form is characteristic of high Alpine plants, and when lowland plants are grown in those regions they, too, then become prostrate in habit. Fleshy Types.—Many seaside plants are remarkable for the fleshy character of their leaves and stems, as Plantago maritima, Samphire, &c. This is due to the presence of salt, and it can be - 964 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. imitated by watering inland plants with a saline solution. Hence it is customary to give salt to some maritime plants which are cultivated, as Asparagus and Sea Kale; while all the cabbage tribe would doubtless be assisted by it, if it were thought necessary, as they are natives of sea-cliffs; but they retain their fleshy character by heredity. Several plants growing at Bad Nauheim, 200 miles from the nearest sea-coast, have acquired a fleshy texture in consequence of the abundance of saline waters there. Variegation.—This phenomenon is produced by several causes ; though it is not quite clear why some plants with a variegated foliage may grow in the same soil with others not variegated. The general absence of colour has beer called “ Chlorosis,”’ and the disease appears to be the result of the absence or defi- ciency of certain ingredients in the soil requisite for a vigorous erowth and a fully green colour. Thus, a variegated strawberry remained constant so long as it grew in a dry soil; but when it was transferred to a cold or moist one, its variegation quickly disappeared. A variegated laurel grew well in a not very deep soil for three years, but when the roots could penetrate into the sub-soil composed of chalk, - the leaves became green again. Professor A. Church has investigated the subject, and finds that Chlorosis may be divided into four groups—(1) Htiolation, due to insufficient light; (2) Albinism, when there is a relative excess of potash and deficiency of lime; (8) Jcterws, due to a deficiency of iron; (4) Wheat-yellow, on account of a deficiency of potash. Mr. Penhallon found that Peach-yellow was due to a defi- ciency of magnesia. Following these discoveries, ii seems obvious that experi- ments might be made in which soils deficient in the above- mentioned ingredients might be used, to see if variegation could not be induced. As, however, all cases of variegation are abnormal and unhealthy conditions, it is probable that a perma- nency would be difficult to secure, unless the soil remained of the same character to produce it. Still,as M.Carriére observes of plants, ‘“‘ everything tends to become hereditary,” therefore yariegations may in time become so fixed in the constitution, ORIGIN OF SPECIES IN NATURE. 965 that they might not disappear even in a good soil. Thus coleus, hollies, pelargonia, &c., appear now to be pretty well fixed in the various colorations of their foliage. Dwarfing.—There are many more dwarf annuals than peren- nialgs in cultivation. This is only because the latter are not usually raised from seed. On the appearance of a dwarf, it is necessary to isolate it; so that it be not crossed with taller ones. Then one must keep selecting seed from the shortest of the seedlings, till the ‘‘nanism” be fixed. This fixing varies from one to six years; but it is not known why there should be this variation in time. The methods of producing dwarfs are possibly several. The following have been suggested. Bearing in mind that the object is to “ arrest vegetative growth,” anything that will do this may produce dwarfing, not only in an individual, but in its progeny. By autumn sowing (Aug.—Sept.): When it is too late for a plant to flower, it produces a more compact vegetation. If it be sown in spring, successive prickings out and transplanting, so that each plant grows freely, will result in strong thick-set plants. ‘ This process will favour the development of the lower ramifications at the expense of the main stem; we thus create an individual, comparatively dwarf. If now we collect seed from plants thus grown, and if we give the same treatment to them as to their parents, we shall obtain year after year ‘plants which we shall have made to develop a certain tendency to nanism.’ That is, after some years, they will be more apt to pro- duce dwarf varieties.”’ Verlot adds that the greater number of cultivated dwarfs were of varieties sown in autumn ; or ifin spring, they have been subjected to successive transplanting. Of the first he mentions eleven varieties, such as Calceolaria plantaginea, Senecio cruentus (garden cineraria), Cinothera Drummondii, Scabiosa atropurpwrea, [beris umbellata, &e. Of those sown in spring-time, he mentions Impatiens balsa- mind, Callistephus sinensis, Tagetes patula, JT’. erecta, and T. signata. With regard to the procuring of dwarfs by fecundation of flowers, ordinary crossing has usually an opposite tendency in making the offspring more vigorous; but Mr. McNab found that the best dwarf varieties of Rhododendron were obtained by using pollen taken from the anthers of the shorter stamens. 266 _ JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. - As numerous irregular flowers have stamens of different lengths, this experience opens out a new field for experiments with Labiatz, Scrophularinez, Leguminose, &c. M. Verlot observes that when plants are cut back early to make dwarf planis of them, though it may usually only affect the individual plant, yet he thinks that if it be habitually sub- mitted to this treatment, the seeds are subsequently more likely to give rise to dwarf plants. As an illustration, the writer has lately had occasion to notice — a tennis lawn, part of which was returfed from a field last winter. The whole has been left to grow uncut. The result is that while the new turf rapidly grew tall, as it would have done in the field if left for hay, the old lawn-turf and other flowering plants mixed with the grass have remained more or less in a much dwarfer condition. Similarly, Mr. Veitch found that cuttings from the miniature trees made by the Japanese and struck in a border refuse to grow. If, however, they be grafted on other and vigorous plants of the same kind, they then grow out vigorously. It would be interesting to see if seeds of such tiny trees produce dwarfs also. It would seem, therefore, probable that whatever causes tend to check growth, if persisted in long enough, may in time have an hereditary effect. Tt would be therefore advisable to try experiments besides the repeated pricking out alluded to :—(1) Reducing the roots; (2) reducing the foliage; (3) cutting off the terminal shoots; (4) selecting small seeds; (5) crossing with pollen from the smaller stamens, wherever there is an inequality ; (6) using pollen from the smallest flowers on the plant; (7) poor soil. Double Flowers.—These result from various alterations in the structure of flowers, coupled with an increase in the number of petals. The question is, what are the causes which induce the production of double flowers? M. Verlot observes: “A rich soil, a culture inducing a luxuriant vegetation, are those under the influence of which we see duplication generally to arise in our gardens.” On the other hand, Mr. Barron observed that: “ Double flowers growing on a sandy soil at Sutton keep truer to doubling than on a wet, heavier soil at Chiswick.’ Mr. Wolley Dod ORIGIN OF SPECIES IN NATURE. 267 corroborates this fact, for he says that his own cold and wet soil tends to make his double daffodils to become single. Mr. Darwin, some fifty-five years ago, noticed and described, in the Gardeners’ Chronicle (1848, p. 628), some double flowered Gentiana Amarella, ‘‘ which grew on a very hard, dry, bare, chalk bank.’ Similarly he found on an adjoining field of ‘“‘wretchedly sterile clay great numbers of Lanwnculus repens, producing half-double flowers.’’ He then asks the question, ‘“‘ Ts it, then, too bold a theory to suppose that all double flowers are first rendered, by some change in their natural condition, to a certain degree sterile?’’ When a double-flowering plant has this affection well fixed in its constitution, then it would seem that it is benefited by a rich soil; ‘‘ petalody’’ having set in, it may affect every part of the flower-—stamens first, then pistil or calyx, and finally the petals may be multiplied indefi- nitely, so that a flower of the double stock may contain more than fifty petals. That the petalody can be “in the blood,’’ so to say, is seen from the fact that, as no seed can be raised from a “ perfectly ”’ double stock, they can be procured from the “ single ’’ flowers. For by suppressing the anthers of flowers before they shed their pollen, the seeds (M. Verlot observes) developed in the ovaries of these flowers produce double-flowering plants with great facility—viz. 60 to 70 per cent. If the anthers be not removed, then the percentage drops to 20 to 80 of double-flowering off- spring, the number of seed being reduced to five or six in a pod, which produced double-flowering plants, instead of from forty to fifty. As another influence, that of age may be mentioned. Thus, seed of Maithiola annua, sown immediately after being gathered, produced few double-flowering plants; while seed three to four years old produced many. Wallflowers gave similar results. Yet another fact may be mentioned which bears out the same contention. It is found that old, strong root-stocks of Dahlias produce strong growing plants, but they do not ‘double ”’ well. Heavy foliage and rich colouring are, as a rule, adverse to doubling. The conclusion to be drawn from the above facts is that it ig not a rich soil which first induces doubling, but a poor one; but 268 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: let the doubling be once thoroughly set up in the plant’s constitu- tion, and it then seems that a rich soil will probably enhance it. As soon as the slightest indication of petalody of the stamens has appeared, by one or more of them having a minute petal-like appendage; then that particular flower in which the change has occurred must be fertilised with its own pollen, all other pollen being rigidly excluded. The progeny will, in all probability; prove to be semi- or quite double. Such was the experience with Mr. Heal, who raised the Balsamez-flora section of the Kast Indian Greenhouse Rhododendrons in this manner. I will conelude by quoting a passage from Bacon’s “ Naturall History,” Century vi. $ 513. ‘It is a curiosity also to make Flowers double, Which is effected by Often Removing them into New Earth; As on the contrary Part, Double Flowers, by neglecting, and not Remouing, proue Single. And the Way to doe it speedily, is to sow or set Seeds, or Slips of Flowers ; and as soone as they come vp, to remoue them into New Ground, that is good.” ON THE ECONOMIC USES OF BAMBOOS. By Mr. A. B. FreEMaNn Mirrorp, C.B., F.R.H.8., F.L.S. (Read July 26, 1898.) THERE is an old Chinese proverb which says, “ Better meals without meat than a house without a Bamboo.’ To our western ears, accustomed as we are to the shy and lagging growth upon which alone the Bamboos venture in a climate that shows them but poor favour, such a saying may seem to smack of extrava- gvance. How can these puny rods, so tender in their birth that a breath of the summer wind, or the weight of a perching wren, will snap them in sunder, play any foremost part in the great struggle for life? But those who go down to the sea in ships and do business in great waters, having seen these grasses at home in all their lusty pride, and having noted the thousand and one ways in which they are made to do service, will perforce own that there is some reason in the proverb, and that, at any rate, there is not among the kindly fruits of the earth a plant more intimately bound up with the life of man. Consider for a moment the matter of size, and size only. Exalted almost ON THE ECONOMIC USES OF BAMBOOS. 269 above all the trees of the field in its own country is the Burmese Bamboo (Dendrocalamus giganteus). It is worth the trouble of a voyage to Ceylon to see the beauty of the Peradeniya Gardens, near Kandy. But in that Paradise, where all the treasures and wonders of the tropical flower-world are gathered together in wildest wealth of colour and form, nothing is more striking than this huge Bamboo. Picture to yourself great clumps of a hundred or more canes, from 20 to 30 inches round and 1385 feet high, spurning the earth in their heavenward flight, and bending their graceful heads on all sides, like great showers of sky-rockets hurtled into mid-air! Such figures as these sound like drawing the long bow, yet are they sober truths, grounded upon official measure- ments given me by the Director of the Gardens. Here, by way of proof, is a piece of one of these culms, by no means chosen as one of the greatest, but taken at haphazard, 27 inches round, which, from its size and structure, will at once suggest some of the many necessities to which the ingenuity of man may apply such a plant. At the same time I must point out to you that, looked at from the point of view of usefulness, this Burmese giant, beautiful as it is, takes no very high place amongst its kin. It is, as you can see, very hollow, the walls being a mere shell in proportion to the height and girth of the culm—the fibre of the wood is loose and spongy, it dries quickly and is then apt to splinter, but when used as a water-pipe and so kept moist it lasts well. The specimen now before you has been soaked in linseed oil in order to preserve it ; the quartermaster on board ship who did this for me, told me that it sucked up the oil almost as fast as he could pour it in. He was quite amazed at the amount of oil which it drank in. I must say that I was rather astonished during a visit which I paid to Ceylon last winter to find that the only Bamboos which have been planted there to any great extent are this Dendrocalamus giganteus and the very inferior native Una (Bambusa vulgaris), which is even more shelly and more easily split. Here you see a fair specimen of its quality. A child might almost crush it in its little hand. And yet the value of the tribe is fully recognised. Seeing that on almost all the tea estates which I visited Bamboos were growing, I asked the Chairman of the Ceylon Planters’ Association whether they were cultivated for use or for ornament. His answer was to the point: “For use. I had not the least idea of the many uses of D 270 "JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. Bamboos until I planted them myself.’’ In a climate where Bamboos simply grow for the asking, I should have expected to find the best, the toughest, and the most valuable species intro- duced from China and elsewhere. The pity of it is that time and money, that might have been better spent, should have been lost. I am rather anticipating; but what I have said will serve to show how little attention has been paid even by some of the best of our colonists to a genus which I shall have little difficulty in proving to bea possible source of great profit where the conditions are favourable to its culture. There is one plant, the Cocoanut Palm, which disputes with the Bamboo the honour of being the best friend of mankind. This tree, according to the pretty Singhalese fable, pines if it be out of reach of the sound of man’s voice, and dies if the village, near which it has thriven, be deserted.* Unless you walk under it and talk under it, it will not flourish. This intense philanthropy is probably accounted for by the fact that the plant requires careful tending and manuring, which it cannot get in the jungle. Be that as it may, there is no doubt that its uses are almost endless. The trunk, the leaves, the blossom, the sap, the nut and its juices, the shell and the fibre which surrounds it—all are turned to account ; and Percival cites the case of a ship which, some forty years ago or more, came from the Maldive Islands to Galle, ‘which was entirely built, rigged, provisioned, and laden with the produce of the Cocoanut Palm.” But I do not hold a brief to-day for the Cocoanut Palm. Iam retained on the other side, and I trust to bring forward such evidence as will ensure an unanimous verdict in favour of my clent. There is nothing which the Palm has done for the well-being of man which the Bamboo has not done, and more besides. Indeed, great as may be the merits of this powerful rival, it is open to one blame from which it cannot escape. No more poisonous spirit has been invented to steal away the brains of man than arrack, which is distilled from the sap of the flower-buds of the cocoanut. No such crime can be laid to the charge of the Bamboo, the gifts of which are all good without a single exception. It must be con- fessed that here we score a point, though it be one of negation. * Sir Emerson Tennent’s Ceylon, vol. 1. p. 119. + Ibid, vol. ii. p. 109. ded ON THE ECONOMIC USES OF BAMBOOS, at i: Of far greater import is the connection of the Bamboo with letters. The ‘“‘Ch‘u shu chi nien,”’ or, Annals of the Bamboo books, is an historical classic of an authenticity which has never been doubted, and which was discovered more than 1,600 years ago, graven in the old seal character upon bamboo tablets. And in this connection it is amusing to see that only a few weeks ago the Corean Government, wishing to record for all ages their sense of gratitude to Mr. McLeavy Brown, the able financier whose name has been recently so much before the public on account of the Russian intrigue to oust him from his post, enacted that his great deeds should be ‘“ written on silk and graven upon Bamboo Tablets.” The Cocoanut Palm can show no such connection with letters and politics. If it wishes to save the family honour in this respect, it must call in its cousin the Talipot Palm (Corypha wmbraculifera), though it would be difficult to argue that the writings of the Buddhist monks, the highest use to which its leaves have been applied, could compare with the importance of the ‘‘ Annals of the Bamboo Books.”’ As regards geographical distribution it may be said briefly that Europe is the only quarter of the globe in which Bamboos are not found. In Asia, America, Africa, and Australasia, in fact in all tropical and subtropical climates, they are indigenous. Probably there are more species in Asia and in South America than in any other part of the world. I say probably, because of the African genera and species little information hag, up to the present, been available. They affect the most various situations. The home of some families is among the steaming swamps of Siam and the Malay Archipelago; others thrive at high alti- tudes on the snow-clad Himalayas. One species, Chusquea aristata, ‘‘first makes its appearance at a height of 13,000 feet above sea-level on the eastern chain of the Andes in irregular patches; at 15,000 feet (the height of Mont Blanc), it completely covers the whole surface, forming what the natives call a carizal, impenetrable to man or beast. It continues nearly to the limits of perpetual snow” [Jameson, quoted by General Munro, p. 61 of his Monograph on the ‘“‘ Bambusez ’’}. It not unfrequently happens that one and the same species is found in widely differing conditions as to climate, rainfall, and soil, and, not unnaturally, so changed in character and appear- ance as to puzzle the very elect, and completely bewilder the D2 979 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. profane. Take for instance Dendrocalamus strictus, the famous so-called male Bamboo of India. It is found, as we are told in Mr. Gamble’s exhaustive monograph on the “‘ Bamboos of British India,” on dry hill slopes in the Siwaliks, on the rocky hills of Central India and the Deccan; it is also found in Burmah, in Bengal, and in moist localities in Southern India. In the former case, where the soil is dry, the culms are small, very hard, and solid, or nearly so; in the latter case, where there is much moisture, the culms increase in size, and are hollow. The sheaths, leaves, and even the flower spikelets show corresponding variations. In damp Ceylon, where the species is not indigenous, but is grown in the Botanic Gardens, I was unable to find a record of a single solid culm ever having been observed. But even in the most favourable circumstances it is not every culm in any one plant that will be sufficiently solid to furnish a spear- shaft ; some will always be more hollow than others—and this inconsistency vexes the souls of our military officials at the War Office and in the Government of India. Spear-shafts are needed: how is it that every culm will not furnish one? There must be something rotten in the state of our forestry; and so our foresters are reviled because Bamboos will follow the laws of Nature rather than the commands of gentlemen in cocked hats. But wherever they may be found, in whatever quarter of the globe, in whatever conditions, in whatever variations, to man the Bamboos have been an inestimable gift. The Chinaman, probably, may lay claim to the credit of having turned that gift to the most profitable account; and, indeed, he is fully alive to his indebtedness. T'z‘w Chiin, “this gentleman,” is a common classical name for the Bamboo; it is taken from a verse of the poet, Wang Hui Chih, who exclaims, ‘ How can I exist for a single day without this gentleman?” Nor is this the language of exaggeration. Just think what the Bamboo means to the Chinaman. It carried his mother as a bride to her husband’s house; it will carry himself to his grave. In the meantime it will have built and furnished a house for him.* The cost of the materials of the house is estimated by Dr. Wells Williams at $5. It will have supplied him with several articles of food and one of medicine (the famous tabashir); with clothing, with paper * Dr. Wells Williams, Middle Kingdom, vol. i. p. 360. ON THE ECONOMIC USES OF BAMBOOS. 2738 and pens, with arms, with fishing-tackle, with masts, sails, and ropes for his boat, sometimes with the boat itself. It will have furnished him with nearly all the implements of his daily toil in the fields, and soothed his evening leisure with melody, for the Bamboo is specially, as Shelley said of the guitar, “the slave of music.” Is he an artist? Here is his model and the brush wherewith to paint its grace. Many a time during my wanderings far away in the interior of China I have rested in some little wayside inn, the walls of which have been decorated by wandering painters, each paying his shot with his skill, and more often than not the subject has been a dainty study of Bamboo, with perhaps just the suggestion of rock and river. To the four hundred millions of Chinamen, rich and poor alike, this is a living thought: ‘“‘ How can I exist for a single day without this gentleman ?”’ In India it hag been recorded how, over and over again, the seeding of the Bamboos has stood between the natives and death from starvation ; while the ingenious ways in which the plants are turned to account for the most various purposes has aroused the admiration of travellers, and notably of that most dis- tinguished man, Sir Joseph Hooker, who alludes to them more than once in his Himalayan journals. A few weeks ago I fell in with one of our great Indian officials, who told me of a property in Bamboos which was new to me. He was on duty on the north-east frontier of India. It was a dry and thirsty land, and what scanty supplies of water were to be found were impure and poisonous. Luckily there was a great Bamboo srowing there, 20 inches in circumference, of which the Ghoorkas tapped the internodes with their knives, drawing from each joint about a teacupful of deliciously pure wholesome water. The kindly plant had sucked it up foul from the soil, and literally filtered it. My friend could not give me the name of the Species, nor have I been able to ascertain it. I could not help thinking it somewhat ungrateful not even to have asked the name of so good a friend. Hiven the most savage and primitive races make the Bamboo serve the wants of their simple lives. It furnishes weapons for war and hunting, traps, tackle for fishing, and other obvious and simple implements. The blow-pipes from which the Jacoons, or Tree-men of the Malay Archipelago, shoot out poisoned 974 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. arrows with such deadly aim that they can even kill tigers with them, are a good example of such weapons. So are the assegais of the Basutos, the shafts of which are made from culms of Arundinaria tessellata. It is said that some Malayan tribes use the bristles which are found on the sheaths of certain species as a means of poisoning their enemies. The bristles are mixed with curry, and escape observation; they stick in the victim’s throat, violent irritation and inflammation are set up, and, finally, death ensues. ‘This, however, hardly comes under the category of the economic uses of Bamboos. The great debt which European commerce owes to the Bamboo must never be forgotten ; it was in canes of Bamboo that two Persian monks smuggled the first Chinese silkworms’ eggs to Constantinople for the Emperor Justinian in the sixth century. I would willingly have dwelt longer upon this branch of the question, but I have already had my say upon it elsewhere,* and you have a wholesome rule that the papers which you honour by accepting shall break new ground. I propose therefore to give you some account of the uses to which those Bamboos which have been exhibited here to-day are put in their own country. I will begin with the five Indian species :— Arundinaria racemosa furnishes food for cattle and horses ; it is used for making mats, for roofing native houses, for fences, and other purposes. Arundinaria falcata makes Hookah tubes, fishing-rods, and basket-work. Arundinaria spathiflora and Arundinaria aristata (Fig. 63) are made into baskets, pipe-stems, pea-sticks, &c. Arundinaria Falconeri. Of the uses which this species serves I find no account. They probably do not differ from those of its congeners. We now come to the (from an economical point of view) far more interesting species of China and Japan. The foremost of these is Phyllostachys mitis, a truly glorious Bamboo, which, in its own country, grows to a height of from 60 to 70 feet, with a girth in proportion. In the gardens of the Chateau Eléonore, at Cannes, there is a clump of which the canes measure 385 feet, and are 12 inches round. The walls of * See R.H.S. Journal, Vol. XIX. p. 359 ef seq. CPA AA Ssteneetat SE HUH poner roeyerereesBaEl = cas Ba i : SS Y j Y y | ZA | : } LH, ! | ff ANA PA | f Oy Aas Id i Di Sarar: 4 AW TIA / SANS iA ISA a ‘ a ews SS SS SASS ee gt a ee ies ee ON THE ECONOMIC USES OF BAMBOOS, 975 the culm are rather thin, but, on the other hand, the wood is very tough and light, so that there is hardly any use to which timber can be put that this Bamboo does not serve. It is largely used for building purposes, scaffolding, the frame of the house, water-pipes, furniture, and carved ornaments; for boats and junks it is in constant request; and it is the young shoots of P. mitis which are so highly prized by the Japanese as a vegetable food. It is not indigenous in Japan, but was introduced, according to the author of the ‘“‘ Nippon Chiku Fu ”’ (catalogue of the Bamboos of Japan), about the year 1738 a.p. It was earried from China to the Liulkiu Islands, and thence to the Province of Satsuma, whose princes claimed sovereignty over those islands. The name Moso is, as Mr. Van der Polder (“ de Cultur der Bamboe in Japan,” p. 11) suggests, probably that of the importer, who certainly, as a lasting benefactor to his country, deserved to have his fame so perpetuated. It would be tedious to go through these various species one by one; it must suffice to say that all the larger Phyllostaches, such as P. Quilioi, P. Marliacea, P. Henonis, P. Boryana, and others, are used much in the same way as Phyllostachys mitis, though they can hardly be said to compete with it. Arundinaria japonica (Métaké) is also employed in the same way, and its far-spreading rhizomes render it invaluable for strengthening dykes and holding together embankments. Tor this latter purpose some of the semi-dwarf and dwarf Bamboos, such as Bambusa or Arundinaria palmata, Arwndinaria Veitchu, B. pygmea, and others, are most useful, their roots making a perfect network underground, and spreading with phenomenal rapidity. One of the most prominent Bamboos as an article of com- merce is certainly Phyllostachys nigra. It is largely used for decorative purposes in building, and much of the Bamboo furniture which is imported into Europe, and now so largely sold, is made either of Nigra or the variety of Nigra known as nigro-punctata. Walking-sticks and umbrella handles are made of it, and its rhizome furnishes the cane known as Wanchai. Phyllostachys Castillonis is evidently a garden sport, not improbably of P. Quilioi, to which in form and manner of growth it bears a strong likeness. It is only valued as a 276 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. garden ornament. I am strongly inclined ‘to think that both P. Castillonis and P. rugosa or Marliacea are garden forms of P. Quilior. Phyllostachys heterocycla, the tortoiseshell Bamboo, I take to be simply a deformity of Phyllostachys mitis, caused by the repressive action of stiff soil, which forces the growing internodes in a soft state back upon themselves from side to side, until they reach freedom in the open air, when the remainder of the culm resumes its naturalaspect. The same deformity may be observed in similar circumstances in the case of Phyllostachys aurea. I found it myself in plants of P. awrea growing in very stiff soil at Grasse, on the Riviera. I have not seen it or heard of it in any other species. The more slender stems of P. awrea, when they present this appearance, are valued as walking sticks, umbrella handles, and for other trifles. Their quaintness gives them the charm of curiosity. If you will take the trouble to look at these two specimens, P. heterocycla and P. awrea, showing the same tortoiseshell-like armour, I think my meaning will be plain to you. I may here say that the so-called tortoiseshell Bamboo of commerce is not P. heterocycla, but a cane of any bamboo artificially coloured by burning. Bambusa quadrangularis is used for walking sticks and umbrella handles, and for the manufacture of fancy articles, pipe-stems, &c. It is almost certainly not indigenous in Japan, but introduced from China through the Liukiu Islands. Dr. MacGowan, writing to ‘‘ Nature’’ February 8, 1886, says: “It grows wild in the north-eastern portion of Yunnan, on the sequestered mountains of Takuan Ting and Chén Hsing Chou, to which in spring men, women, and children resort for cutting its shoots, which they tie in bundles and send to market. It is prized above all other bamboo shoots as an esculent’’ (‘‘Nature,”’ xxxili. 1886, p. 560). There is a most interesting account of this species published by Mr. Thiselton Dyer in “ Nature” xxxii. 1885, p. 391, from which I take the following quotation from a com- munication of Dr. MacGowan. ‘Its anomalousness is attributed by the Chinese to supernatural powers—occult agencies varying with each district. The Ning-po Gazetteer tells how Ko Kung, the most famous of alchemists, fourth century a.p., thrust his chopsticks, slender bamboo rods pared square, into the ground of the spiritual monastery near that city, which, by thaumaturgical ages nite a aA hl ZA WA — NOTES ON THE NEWER OR LESSER KNOWN WATER:LILIES. 809 flowering. The foliage is mottled and bronzed in the earlier stages of growth. In this respect it somewhat resembles N. odorata sulphurea. N. Marliacea carnea is a most lovely and distinct variety : the blossoms are flushed with pale flesh-pink, this colour being deeper at the base. With age the colour fades and tones down to almost white at the extremities of the petals. It is a strong grower, and throws its flowers, like N. Mar. albida, well up above the water. N. Marliacea rosea is somewhat similar to the preceding, but when flowers of both kinds are compared the difference is plainly visible ; the rose tints are more fully developed in this instance, and the same shade of colours extends more towards the extremities of the petals, which are not so pointed and frequently broader. As regards its foliage, which is of a reddish bronze tint, and its freedom of blooming, it is similar to carnea. N. Marliacea rubro-punctata is a newer and choicer variety : the colour is a deep vinous red, with purplish suffusion, and spots or blotches of carmine. In point of size it will, I think, fully equal the rest of this section. So far, we have only a single crown plant which has this season flowered very freely. Last season, too, we had a good number of blooms. 7 NN. Andreana has flowers of handsome shape, rather incurved, and above medium size: the colour is deep red, with a tinge of violet when well developed. This, too, has flowered well, being most profuse in this respect, having had as many as twenty-four flowers expanded at one time on one plant. N. Aurora.—With me, this comes of a clear canary yellow, without the tints of “rose-yellow to deep red,’’ which it is described as possessing. It is possible I may not have got it true to name; at any rate, mine is a distinct and beautiful Lily of medium and compact growth. N. Hllisiana.—This is, in my opinion, one of the choicest, as it is one of the richest in point of colour, of all the varieties. The colour with me is deep rosy purple, which intensifies with age. So far, mine has only one, or at most two crowns ; there- fore I expect to see a great improvement when more vigorous. N. Seigneur Ets is a very compact-growing plant, with rather small foliage, which in itself is handsome; the colour is pale rose, with tints of creamy yellow. Y 810 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. N. lucida, of which I have only had a few flowers, is a clear pale pink, deepening with age to rose colour: it is a marked improvement, I think, upon N. Laydekert rosea. N. sanguinea.—This is one of the choicest of the new varieties, and is thus far very scarce: the colour is a deep blood- red, the flowers are large and the petals broad; it is one of the deepest-coloured varieties in cultivation. I have only had a few flowers upon my plant, which is of moderate growth. N. gloriosa is well described by its name, as it is without doubt one of the very best of all the Marliac hybrids: in point of size it equals N. Mar. albida, whilst in colour it is a dark purplish red. Our plant has flowered fairly well, but it lacks vigour as yet; I hope another year I shall obtain flowers quite eight inches across. It is a vigorous grower. N. Laydekeri rosea is one of the best known of the hybrids raised by M. Latour-Marliac. It is of medium growth, flowering most profusely, the colour being a soft rosy-pink, opening fre- quently almost white, but deepening in tint day by day. It continues to flower over a prolonged period. In growth it is disposed to keep to one stem, making but few offsets. N. Laydekeri lilacea is a counterpart to all appearance of N. Lay. rosea except in colour, which is a clear rosy-llac: its first flowers of this year opened late in June. N. fulgens.—Another richly coloured hybrid, which I have not yet flowered to any extent; the colour is a purplish-rose. I have learnt from those who have flowered it freely that it is a grand Lily. N. pygmea helvola is the smallest Water-lily in our collection: it is quite a miniature in foliage and flower; the colour of the leaves is a bronzy green with darker markings, and that of the flowers a pale sulphur yellow. It is quite a gem. N.odorata rosacea.—This and the following havelarger flowers than the type: the colour is soft rose, paler towards the tips of the petals. N. odorata exquisita.—In this variety the colour is a deeper rose, suffused with carmine. This and the preceding are quite gems in their way, being in addition sweetly scented. They are both moderate growers, flowering well when established, notably so this past season. N. Robinson: is a superb Lily of very close, compact growth, PERPETUAL STRAWBERRIES. 811 making a profusion of foliage, which is marbled with reddish bronze : the colour of the flowers is a deep vinous red with slight traces of subdued yellow on each petal. The stamens, as in several of the darker hybrids, are of deep orange shade, thus increasing the attractiveness of the flower. Young plants of it blossom quite freely. N. odorata sulphurea and N. odorata sulphurea grandiflora may be termed the ‘‘ Cactus Water-lilies,’’ as their petals are narrow and most numerous, likewise at times twisted as in the Cactus Dahlia. The colour is a clear deep sulphur-yellow, and in size quite equal to the N. Marliacea group. The distinctive affix of ‘‘ grandiflora’’ well describes its quality. Last season these both flowered very well late in the summer, their blossoms being sent up some 6 or 8 inches above the water. N. Carolimana mvea and N. Carolimana perfecta were both added last year; but so far they have not made good progress, through, I have no doubt, being badly placed. They are both, I know, excellent varieties, with rather narrow petals, and sweetly scented also. In colour the former is pure white and the latter a deep flesh-colour. For fragrance these are, I think, the best of any. N. flammea is our latest addition, but as yet it is not well established. In growth it appears to be moderate, whilst its specific name denotes its colour. It is in this respect more brillant than N. fulgens. PERPETUAL STRAWBERRIES. By Mons. Henry pe Vitmorin, F.R.H.S. [Read August 23.] STRAWBERRIES are so wholesome and health-preserving, as well as so delicious a fruit, that it is small wonder if every one should endeavour to make the season during which they are available last as long as possible. Now this achievement is actually not only a remote possibility, but an accomplished fact, and brought within reach of every one by the introduction of perpetual large- fruited Strawberries. We call those races perpetual which bear flowers twice or several times in the course of one summer as contrasted with those which usually bloom only once. 812 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. I say usually because the casual production of a few flowers out of season is a very frequent occurrence amongst cultivated plants: Pear trees, Horse-chestnuts, the common Lilac, Polyan- thus Primroses, show frequent instances of the fact. But these are purely accidental freaks of nature, and do not constitute a permanent character. The expression “perpetual”’ is applied only to plants that yield regularly and certainly fresh crops of flowers at distinct periods in the same year, such as perpetual Roses, sweet Violets, and Alpine Strawberries. These last have long been the only really perpetual Straw- berries known in our gardens. The main object of the following paper is to introduce to the knowledge of the British public varieties of the large-fruited type which originated recently on the Continent or in America, and which are quite as perpetual bearers of flowers and fruit as any strain of the old Alpine. The introduction of these new sorts may mark as great an epoch in modern Strawberry culture as did the propagation of the Alpine Strawberry about one hundred years ago. SomME WORDS ON THE HIsTORY OF STRAWBERRY CULTURE. It does not appear from any document handed down to us from antiquity that Strawberries were ever grown in gardens by the ancients. They are everywhere mentioned as wild fruit picked in woods. It was probably during the Middle Ages, or perhaps only at the beginning of modern times, that the custom of introducing Strawberries to the house garden became established, with the result that new and improved strains originated owing to the plants being more amply fed, and especially to the close and constant observation to which the Strawberry plants were subjected. Parkinson in 1629 enumerates several varieties of the common or wood Strawberries along with the Virginian, and a certain Bohemian Strawberry, with fruit of enormous size, the identifica- tion of which seems to be a difficult problem to solve (Park., Paneer,” p.-75'7). Round Paris the common red, the white, and a bush Straw- berry, quite distinct from the bush Alpine, were the principal sorts grown. At the time of Duchesne (who published m 1766 a valuable “ Histoire des Fraisiers”’), the favourite strain for market PERPETUAL STRAWBERRIES 913 culture was the ‘Fressant’ Strawberry. It used to be raised in the south of Paris, around La Ville du Bois and Villebousin. The market gardeners at Montreuil, who were then as now amongst the most skilled and enterprising in their trade, went to these places in order to purchase fresh plants, which they fruited in their gardens for some years, constantly introducing fresh supplies of young plants from the places where they were reputed to grow best and cheapest. The introduction of the Alpine Strawberry put an end to the practice. THE ALPINE STRAWBERRY. This sort, which is generally considered to be a mere local variety of Fragaria vesca (although some botanists of note, as Fic. 68.—Common ALPINE STRAWBERRY. Duchesne himself and Persoon, held it at one time to be a distinct species), is found wild at various places in the Wuropean Alps. The only difference noticeable between the Alpine and the common wood Strawberry consists in the fact that the latter 814 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. blooms only once in the spring of the year, while the Alpine bears flowers from April till November, and even later, whenever the weather is mild in the autumn. (Fig. 68.) Duchesne was the first to give a complete and detailed account of the “ fraisier des mois,’’ as he calls it. He refers the plant to a kind mentioned by Cesalpin (“ Syst.” 554) as “ Fragarie genus in alpibus Bargeis visum, bis in anno fructificans.’”’ The same is described by C. Baulim (“ Pin.” 326) as ‘‘Fragaria bis fructum ferens;’’ by Parkinson as “ Fragaria alpina fructu compresso ”’ (‘‘ Theatr.” 757). Duchesne (‘ Hist.”’ pp. 57,58) considers that all the latter authors spoke of the plant merely on Cesalpin’s authority, who either saw the plant or heard of it from people who had actually seen it. He (Duchesne), on the strength of Cesalpin’s description, wrote to a resident at Bargemon, in Provence, and satisfied himself that a kind of Strawberry was found in great abundance and in a wild state in the vicinity of the town, and having the peculiarity mentioned. Plants were sent to him at Versailles, where they succeeded well and became soon widely distributed. A short time before that, in 1764, _M. de Fougeroux de Bondaroi, returning from Italy, had seen similar Strawberries on Mont Cenis, and collected seeds which his uncle, M. Duhamel du Monceau, a great amateur and judge of plants, sowed with success on his estate at Nainvilliers. It is said (Duch., ‘Hist.’ p. 56) that the same variety of Straw- berry had been under cultivation for a few years about London at the same time, the first seeds having been sent to the King from Turin. The cultivation of the new kind spread rapidly around London, and was soon transferred from there to. Holland. The knowledge of the perpetual Strawberry may even be traced further back than to Cesalpin’s book, as the following passage occurs in a work of Jerome Back, better known as Tragus :—‘ Floret vero fragaria plerumque Aprili mense, de- mumque ad autumnum usque” (Trag. ‘‘Comm.” Argent. 1552, 1, I. ec. 170, p. 499) ; and again from the pen of Conrad Gessner : ‘Frage vere et tota estate florent inque maximam autumni partem ”’ (Gessn., ‘‘ Coll.” 1558, pp. 478 and 490). The peculiarity of bearing flowers and fruit during the whole of the summer months was so well inbred in the race of Straw- berry found at Bargemon and in the neighbouring mountains, PERPETUAL STRAWBERRIES. 315 that all the seedlings raised from it from the time of its intro- duction down to our time, although they often showed some important variation in the size and colour of the fruit, never departed from the ever-bearing character of the original plant. VARIETIES OF THE ALPINE STRAWBERRY. Propagation by seed is much oftener resorted to in the case of the Alpine Strawberry than with any variety of the large- fruited kind; and although a particular strain is seldom repro- duced absolutely true except by the use of runners, sowing is so Fig. 69.—Busn ALPINE STRAWBERRY. cheap, so easy, and go rapid a way of propagation that most gardeners commonly have recourse to it. There is indeed a case in which there is no alternative to the increase from seed, and that is with the Bush Alpine or Gaillon Strawberry, which emits no runners. (Fig. 69.) The original plant was obtained at Gaillon (Eure) by M. Labaube in 1811 (J. fr. Art. fr. des Alpes”). Some years later (about 1818) M. Morel de Vindé originated the white-fruited bush variety. Both rapidly became popular, and entirely super- seded the old Bush Strawberry for edgings and beds in small gardens. They are reproduced true from seed as far as the absence of runners goes, some variation occurring only in the colour of the fruit. Of the numberless improved varieties which have originated 516 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. since the Alpine Strawberries were distributed in gardens, half a dozen or so (including the bush variety) deserve to be enumerated. They belong to our present subject, being all of them perpetual Strawberries. (Fig. 70.) Janus.—A fine variety of the Alpine Strawberry was offered by Bruant, of Poitiers, about twenty years ago. It is a strong- Fic. 70.—Improvep ALPINE. growing sort, with comparatively large fruit, often double-pointed, which particular probably suggested the name of the double-faced god. It is still sometimes met with in cultivation. Quatre Saisons Duru.—This bears a remarkably elongated fruit, not very delicate in flavour, but of a very bright clear colour, with somewhat tough dry flesh, of indifferent quality, but bearing ae PERPETUAL STRAWLPEBRIES: B19 éairiags wonderfully well, which advantage makes it highly profitable for cultivation. Belle de Meaux was raised by Edouard Lefort, who is the successful originator of several large Strawberries, one of which bears hisname; and others are Souvenir de Bossuct and Le Czar. Belle de Meaux is an excellent all-round Alpine, early, prolific, Fie. 71.—Breiim pr Meavx. constant, aud of superior quality. It is mainly distinguished by the deep colour of its ripe fruit, stems, and runners, which all turn nearly black during warm and bright weather. The peculiar colour rather disqualifies the fruit for market, but as an amateur’s variety Belle de Mcauz deserves the highest praise. (Fig. 71.) Berger, a seedling of Berger (who raised Dr. Morére), combines the good points of the Durw Alpine with the eating G 318 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, qualities of the original sort. It will not travel as well as the Duru when ripe; but picked just before it is quite ripe it will bear carrying very well, and beats every other Alpine by its size, colour, and eating quality. (Fig. 72.) A GLIMPSE AT THE ANATOMY OF THE STRAWBERRY PLANT. The practical difference between the single bearing and the per- Fic. 72.—BErGcerR ALPINE. petual Strawberry can be easily traced back to an anatomical difference, which consists in the production of flowering stems instead of runners from the axil of some of the leayes on the main stems. The species included in the genus Fragaria appear to stand PERPETUAL STRAWBERRIES. 319 on the very border between herbaceous and shrubby plants. Potentillas, which are next to them in the botanical classification, have a still wider range of organisation; some of them, as P. anserina, being perfect herbs, and some others, as P. fraticosa, being decidedly shrubs with woody permanent stems. Straw- berries are mostly placed just on the intermediate step between the two. Their short-jointed, thick stems bear from eight to twelve leaves, at the axil of which a bud exists, which seldom becomes abortive, and mostly develops either into a branch similar to the main stem, or into a runner, or into a flower stem, these appen- dages being in a manner equivalent to and, so to speak, inter- changeable with one another. The runner at first sight appears as different as possible from the ordinary leaf-bearing stem: it becomes very plain, however, upon closer inspection, that it is merely an elongated branch, dissimilar to the original one simply in the great length of the internodes and in the diminutive size of the leaves, which are mostly reduced to mere bracts. But the runners show their identity with the normal branches in producing from their knots exactly the same appendages as the primitive stems do, viz. regular stems, runners, and even flower stems, and in bearing also abortive axillary buds occasionally. A vegetable axis which reproduces another axis similar to the one from which it proceeded cannot be called really different from it in nature. Now it is the case both in the Alpine and in the large-fruited Strawberry that runners issuing from the normal stems produce from some of their axillary buds new stems exactly similar to the original stems. Tor LARGE-FRUITED STRAWBERRY. The vegetative organs are in the large-fruited Strawberry in the same organic relation to one another as in the alpine. There is consequently no reason why the same characteristics Should appear in the one and fail to appear in the other. Barring the greater thickness of the runners and flower stems (which in either species are respectively very like to one another) the relations of number, position, and growth are just the same in both. This is reason enough why the creation of perpetual varieties G2 339 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. in the large-fruited sort should have been in contemplation almost as soon as this sort originated. The earliest facts concerning the large-fruited hybrid Eng- lish or American Strawberry (as it has successively been called) are very far from well known. The first detailed account of it was given by Miller, in 1759, with a good figure. The plant. seems to have been somewhat widely distributed at the time, and as both the Chili and the scarlet, or Virginian, Strawberry had been introduced some forty or fifty years, the opinion expressed by Duchesne (“ Hist. des Fr.” p. 197) that it isa hybrid between the two last named sorts seems to gain much credit. The original form, known in England as the old Pine, and in France as fraisier ananas, is to be found in gardens to the present day, answering perfectly to the elaborate description given by Duchesne (“ Hist. des Fr.” pp. 191-194). It is, in fact, inter- mediate between Fr. chilensis and £7. virgimana, and the pale brownish colour of the fruit is in that respect highly charac- teristic. It was only in the earlier part of the present century that skilful horticulturists began to originate named varieties of the large-fruited Strawberry, which developed in various direc- tions the possibilities of the new race. Keen’s, Myatt’s, Rivers’s, Turner’s novelties were successively introduced, several of which even now holda prominent place in the list of esteemed varieties ; De Jonghe, of Brussels, Jamin, of Bourg la Reine, Gloede, of Beauvais, and Moret soon added most excellent contributions to the stock of useful kinds of the large Strawberry. I will dwell here only on one of Gloede’s seedlings, distributed in 1866, and called ananas perpétuel, because to it may be re- ferred, as to their ancestor, most of the perpetual large-fruited Strawberries of the present day. It is not even mentioned in Dr. Hogg’s ** Fruit Manual,’’ but it created some excitement at the time of making its appearance in consequence of its giving an autumn crop, although it was a scanty one. It must be mentioned here that as early as 1856 the question of perpetual-bearing large Strawberries had been started in America ; not that special varieties, gifted with a special quality, were offered for sale there, but in consequence of the opinion asserting itself that all large-fruited Strawberries could be made perpetual bearers by means of some special tricks in the culti- vation. PERPETUAL STRAWBERRIES. 821 Mr. Charles A. Peabody, of Columbus, Georgia, quoted by Mr. R. G. Pardee, wrote as follows :— “In European gardens autumnal crops of Strawberries have been obtained sometimes by pinching off the flower stems in spring, suppressing therunners, and feeding and watering the plants liberally during summer ; but this process partakes more of the art of forcing fruit than of the ordinary cultivation. What was needed was a variety of large-fruited Strawberry, flowering and bearing fruit naturally in summer and autumn, just as the Alpine does. Ananas perpétuel was a harbinger of the new races to come. After a short period of popularity, however, it seems to have sunk into oblivion. * “Tt is now well known throughout the Southern States that for many years I have cultivated the Strawberry extensively, and have had from my beds a constant succession of fruit six months in the year, and frequently have it ten. While lam now writing (December 24) one of my beds—of an acre—is loaded with ripe fruit, specimens of which I have sent to New Orleans, Mont- gomery, Savannah, Charleston, Mobile, and New York. This bed has scarcely produced a runner the past season. The causes of this will be found in my method of culture. ...I prefer a sandy soil and new land. My grounds are on what are called ‘piney woodlands,’ hills and valley with never-failing streams meandering through them. I have taken the grounds bordering on the streams, ploughed them deep, and laid them off in rows two feet apart. I plant seven rows of pistillate (Honey’s seed- ling) and one row of hermaphrodite (early scarlet). I plant the pistillate for fruit and the hermaphrodite for impregnators ; and the only two which I have found to bloom and fruit together the whole season are the Honey’s seedling and the large early scarlet. The first season I let the runners fill the ground; in the fall go through the grounds with hoes, thinning out to eight or ten inches, leaving the vines to decay just where they are cut up. I then cover the whole bed with partially decomposed leaves from the woods or swamps. I never use animal manure of any kind—nothing but the leaf-mould and an occasional sprinkling of wood-ashes. The leaf-mould keeps the ground cool and moist, as well as the fruit clean, and does not stimulate the plants to runners. The potash and acids contained in it are just what the fruit wants. A few years of this culture will check their 822 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, disposition to run and encourage them to fruit ” (‘A Complete Manual for the Cultivation of the Strawberry,” 8rd edition. By R. G. Pardee. New York, 1857). The next step was the introduction by the firm of Mabille at Limoges of a diminutive new variety called 1’Inépuisable, an account of which appeared in the “‘ Revue Horticole,” October 1, => Yo). th —. Wilt l, a SS x Fic. 73.— Sr. Josrrn’ Prerrrrvuan STRAWBERRY. 1871 (page 506). In the new plant the physiological problem was solved, in so far as the production of flower stems during all the summer and autumn not only took place, but was even frequent and uninterrupted ; but the weak point was found in the defec- tive organisation of the flowers, which, through lack of stamens or imperfect organisation of pollen, seldom set fruit, and when they did so produced only small, irregular, and scarcely eatable PERPETUAL STRAWBERRIES. 8238 abortions. L’Inépuisable was disappearing out of sight when a new sort was brought before the public as ‘Roi Henri.’ This was in most respects so like ‘l’Inépuisable’ as to be hardly distinguishable from it: it would scarcely deserve to be men- tioned but for one important fact, viz., that it was the first pro- duction of the man who was to originate some years later the first really good perpetual Strawberry, Abbé Thivolet, of Chenoves, Sadne-et-Loire. According to the Abbé himself,* who has been for a long time a passionate lover of horticulture, he sought a departure in a cross between a large-fruited and the Alpine Strawberry. One ought to wonder if he had not. The idea is so obvious that the same cross was attempted times without number. But as it never succeeded, it is most likely that in the present instance it was equally inefficient. The facts related above show plainly enough that no such cross was needed for the production of a per- petual large Strawberry, and a change in the sexual development of the plant was, I think, more to the point than a change in the tendency to produce a succession of flower stems. The fate of ‘Roi Henri’ turned out to be nearly the same as that of ‘l’Inépuisable.’ After calling forth a certain interest it was dismissed by the general public as a mere curiosity. But not so by its raiser. He persisted in sowing seeds of his Straw- berry, both self-impregnated and crossed with other large-fruited kinds. His indomitable perseverance was destined to triumph at last. Next to Roi Henri he raised Robert Lefort and Léon XIII. ; the latter especially he considered as promising. Although less floriferous than his previous seedlings, it set and matured its fruit better and more regularly. Finally, in 1893, a seedling appeared which flowered continuously from May till November,’ and set a fruit for every flower. This was named ‘St. Joseph’—with it “the perpetual large Strawberry was discovered.’ So the raiser puts it, and his boast is perfectly justified. (Figs. 73 and 74.) Of course there is ample room left forimprovement. The plant is rather dwarfish and depressed; the leaves, which are of a dark-bluish green, are mostly spread flat on the ground; the stems are short and need supporting to raise the fruit from the * Moniteur des Campagnes, St. Quentin. + On November 26, 1898, ‘St. Joseph’ was still blooming in my own garden.—Ep. 824 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. soil; but, at the same time, the fruit is of fair size, heart-shaped, angular or coxcomb-shaped when produced by strong plants, with a deep scarlet colour, scarlet flesh, and brisk taste. Sweet- ness, acidity, and a rich flavour combine in exquisite proportions. Notwithstanding the freedom with which flowering stems are put forth, runners also are produced in large numbers so as to Fic. 74..—‘ Sr. Josepn’ Detacuep Frctir. insure a speedy increase of the new variety. It should really be introduced into every garden, were it only as the representative of a series of new Strawberries. With some extra care and management it may even prove profitable asa market plant for late summer and autumn sale. Its raiser is too sensible to consider his achievements as complete and definite, and he is in the field as actively as ever raising and propagating new forms with the purpose of intro- ducing, if possible, fresh seedlings, which may be distributed as improvements upon ‘St. Joseph.’ One, which he has just named ‘St. Antoine de Padoue,’ fairly promises to be a valuable PERPETUAL STRAWBERRIES. 25 cS addition to the already pretty long list of the perpetual large Strawberries. M. Edouard Lefort, the reputed raiser of some good varieties, has already entered the lists with ‘Jeanne d’Arc,’ a seedling from ‘St. Joseph,’ which, although decidedly different from the mother plant in its rounder, greener leaves and brighter scarlet fruit, does not show such an advance as to deserve a lengthy description. Fresh achievements in perpetual Strawberries are to be expected yearly now, and some respite should be given to the raisers in order to let them thoroughly test their new pro- ductions before bringing them forward. Similar kinds which follow too soon upon the appearance of a sensational novelty are very apt to turn out to be nothing more than misnomers and masqueraded duplicates of the original article. So every able judge will pronounce the so-called ‘ Rubicunda, la Constante féconde ’ to be with regard to ‘ St. Joseph.’ It is quite otherwise with ‘Oregon’ and another French sort, ‘Louis Gautier.’ Both are distinct, and, although far from perfect, deserve to be noticed and experimented with. ‘Oregon’ was distributed as far back as 1894 or 1895 by Mr. Crawford, of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, as a Perpetual Strawberry, and it really deserves the name to a great extent. I have seen it recently bearing a fair crop of large, bright scarlet, sharply angular berries, and showing fresh trusses of bloom which promise another crop of fruit before winter. My opinion is that it is heavily handicapped in the contest with ‘St. Joseph ’ by the fact of its being a weak grower and a scanty bearer of runners ; but it is after all a fairly perpetual sort. ‘ Louis Gautier,’ on the other hand, is a vigorous and luxuriant erower, with a dark, thick, hairy foliage: the trusses are very strong, growing well out of the leaves, with large coxcombed fruit as pale as the original Chili Strawberry. It gives, accord- ing to my experience of it, a heavy crop in spring of ill-coloured, large white-fleshed, quite solid, juicy fruit, but bears only few and far between summer or autumn trusses of bloom. ‘These, when produced at all, mostly spring from the young plants rooted in spring from the earlier runners. A fresh flower-stem from even a young plant which has already bloomed in spring is, to my knowledge, a rarity. Tt is certain that new yarieties of perpetual large-fruited 326 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. Strawberries will now be produced in great numbers, some of which may deserve to be hailed as valuable discoveries. We must be content to wait for them to appear, and in the meantime turn the few already established sorts to the best possible account, which can be done most successfully with some care and manage- ment. The best system, to the extent of my experience, consists in preventing the perpetual varieties from flowering and bearing fruit in May, when they cannot compete anything like succegs- fully with the fine single-cropping sorts, suppressing the runners all the time, and in manuring, mulching, and watering freely from July to the end of September. The use of the perpetual Strawberries for forcing I am not acquainted with, and therefore I will abstain from treading on unexplored ground. But I will add a last remark to the effect that I have observed an imperfectly perpetual Strawberry found in the district of Angers to bear fruit much more abundantly since the ‘St. Joseph’ Strawberry has been introduced into my garden at Verriéres. It seems evident that the flowers borne out of season by the former, which I suppose to be a chance seedling from the old Pine-apple Strawberry, mostly failed to set for lack of impregnation, and now are regularly pollinised in consequence of the ‘St. Joseph’ Strawberry bearing a profusion of perfect stamens nearly all the year round. The new race should then prove doubly useful in bearing fruit constantly and in helping to impregnate the ovaries of other varieties, THE DISA GRANDIFLORA. By Mr. F. W. BrrxinsHaw. [Read September 6, 1898.] THis interesting cool Orchid is one of my special favourites, and I may say that I have grown it with very fair success. In some seasons of course it has flowered much better than in others, according to the strength of the annual growth which it makes. There are, I believe, upwards of fifty species of Disa, chiefly natives of the Table Mountain and the Mascarenhas Islands; but Iam sorry to say that not half of them are cultivated in European gardens at the present day. Ido not know why this THE DISA GRANDIFLORA. ES Wy is so, but I have heard Orchid growers say how very difficult Disas are to manage. However, I have not found them so; but of course the position in which they are placed is very important to their growth. My remarks will refer chiefly to Disa grandiflora, or, as it is sometimes called, the ‘ Flower of the Gods,’ which is the largest flowered variety in the genus. The flowers are of a brilliant carmine red, and in some the hooded sepals are suffused with orange. There is a variety named ‘ Superba,’ which is quite a deep blood-red, and when seen under artificial light it is most attractive. This beautiful class of terrestrial Orchids should, I think, be included in even the most select collections. The amateur may try a few plants, as they do not require any expensive glass structures or heating apparatus. In a cool greenhouse, where Pelargoniums or hard-wooded plants flourish, there will the Disa be at home if properly attended to. The plants that I have charge of are arranged at the east end of a cool greenhouse some twenty yards in length, and partially shaded from the afternoon sun by a 10 ft. wall. The house is about sixty yards away from the boilers, so that there is very little pipe heat at any time. The plants are elevated a few inches above the front ventilators, on sandstone slabs, covered over with sand and spar. There is a duplicate stage underneath filled with gas-coke broken small, so as to absorb all moisture, and give it off again during the nights. In warm weather it is kept watered, so as to keep the plants cool and moist. I often put cabbage and lettuce leaves down among the plants on a hot day, and they have appeared to wither up; but on visiting them again about 8 p.m. they have looked quite fresh and green again, and covered with moisture, the slugs taking their repast from them instead of making a supper off the Disas. VENTILATION. Being an alpine or mountain plant the Disa delights in abundance of fresh air, without a draught. Even in winter it is most beneficial, as it strengthens the young growths, and makes them all the more vigorous to withstand the summer heat. If only a chink of air is given for two or three hours a day, just to change the temperature of the house, it will do them a great deal 328 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY of good, coming as they do from high altitudes, where fresh air is constant and pure both day and night. As evidence of the hardiness of this Orchid, during the severe winter of 1894 I remember on several occasions finding in the early morning 1 deg. and 2 deg. of frost in the house, the soil in the pots quite crusted over, and the young growths black and drooping; but a sprinkling of cold water from a fine rose-can or syringe soon restored the plants to their proper colour and firmness, care being also taken not to let the sun shine on them for several days. The boiler that was working the houses then was a litile beneath its work, consequently the Disa house only got a small share of heat. But in that same year there were over forty spikes of bloom, and some of the spikes had seven, eight, and nine flowers upon them, proving that the low temperature did not affect them in the least. Many times from December to February the house opens at 35 deg. Some growers are quite alarmed if the thermometer falls below 48 deg. at night. But I am told that on the Table Mountain frost is very prevalent, and I have found out from experience that a little will not do them any harm, providing the rhizome does not get frozen through, as it is of a fleshy nature, and would soon perish. TREATMENT WHEN IN BLoom. The usual time for Disas to Hower is in June and July. I have had them out by the first week of the latter month, and exhibited them at our local show the last day in August by keeping them shaded from the sun, and in as cool a place as possible. This shows what a most useful Orchid it is, as it lasts so long, and comes into bloom at a time of the year when most of the Orchidaceous plants are over, and are making their new pseudo- bulbs for another season’s work. If arranged with such things as Eulalias, Cyperus natalensis, and Ferns, some on the staging and others elevated on pois, the effect, when they are in bloom, is most lovely; and when a whole group is seen in this way, it is a sight not easily forgotten. When fully expanded they require keeping a litile drier, both at the roots and in the atmosphere ; but when the flowers are in the bud state a slight spraying over once a day is most beneficial to THE DISA GRANDIFLORA. Bag them. For vases and table decorations, arranged with light grasses and ferns, they are very effective, as also in hand bouquets; and they last for a long time when cut. THe Restina PERIopD. All the Orchid family take a rest at some period of the year, many of them when the pseudo-bulbs have finished growing. But the Disa has a short rest before it commences its new growth. It can scarcely be perceived, for when the old growths are quite gone the new ones will be an inch or soin height; but when the foliage is seen to put on a yellow tinge, they want to be kept a little dry, but not dust-dry, as in their native home they will get heavy dews at night; so, to imitate their natural conditions, I usually syringe them late in the afternoons, or draw the lights off for an hour or so when it is raining gently. PoTtTinc THE PLANTS. I have repotted them in November, December, and January, but I find the most suitable time to be the latter end of September or the beginning of October, as the fleshy roots have not then got so far advanced in growth as to be injured in the potting process. My mode is to top-dress and look to drainage one year, and the next year to repot them, having perfectly clean pots and crocks, as this is very important, for the Disa’s roots will not work in anything that is dirty or sour. I have tried the perforated pans for them, but find they are not atall suitable, as they dry up too quickly during hot weather; and not only that, but the young growths are very awkward to get out of the holes at potting time without breaking them off. They are also favourable to the wood-lice, as they can enter the holes, and so make their way readily to the roots, which they are so fond of. So having tried both sorts of pots, I much prefer the ordinary ones without side-holes. CRocKING THE Pots. This should be done with great care. Instead of placing the crocks flat side down, I find it is better to arrange them on their ends, as the roots delight to ramble down between them without turning in a horizontal direction, as they must do when the crocks have been laid flatways. After crocking place a thin 830 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. layer of sphagnum moss on the top to keep the soil from choking the drainage. If the water cannot pass away quickly, the plants will soon show an unhealthy appearance, the tips of the leaves damping off. When this is seen they should be shaken out forthwith and replaced with clean potting material, for if left any length of time the tubers will decay. Tur Potting Compost should consist of three parts spongy peat with bracken fern roots in it, such as is obtained from any rough moorland. It should be pulled into small pieces, with a little turfy loam added with plenty of fibre in it, and a little decomposed cow manure which has been thoroughly baked to kill all insect life. These ingredients should be passed through a half-inch sieve to take the small out, using only that which does not go through, and putting among it plenty of coarse sand, lumps of sandstone and charcoal, and mixing all well together. Carefully knock the plants out of their pots, damaging the roots as little as possible. Some growers pot them quite flat, and I have tried it myself, but I find that by elevating them a little above the pot’s rim they seem to do much better, and are not so liable to damp off at the collar, the water leaving them more quickly. A thin wooden label is very useful in working the new soil round the plant, finishing off with a little sphagnum and small pieces of sandstone. After potting take back to the winter quarters, giving them a good watering with tepid water through a fine rose; they will not then require any more for several days, only to be kept moist by the syringe. The one I use is Stotts’s patent, which discharges water almost like dew falling on them. ‘They will require watering at the roots as well if they appear to be dry, which is ascertained by the sphagnum turning a light colour. Tapping the pots with the knuckles, as is done with other plants, is no use, for having extra drainage and being potted rather lightly they would sound hollow, perhaps, when quite saturated. When the sun is at all hot and shining on them they will require shading. Roller blinds are the best: they can be drawn up when it is at all dull or cloudy. Disas like to be near the glass, and to receive abundance of light at all times. About February the roots will be working in the new com- THE DISA GRANDIFLORA. 8381 post, when they will want more water at the roots, as well as over the foliage. Twice a day will do them no harm, according to the state of the weather. March, April, and May they will take copious supplies. In the latter month, if about 1 oz. of guano is dissolved to a gallon of aired water, and given them once a week, they will derive much benefit from it. The principal insects which attack the plants are red spider, green and black fly, which get down the centre of the young growths, and if not eradicated will soon cripple the young shoots. I used to lay the plants on their sides and syringe the fly out with a little soft soap and water, as tobacco smoke disfigured the young leaves at the tips. But now I use that gardenevr’s friend called “XL All,” a vaporiser that will kill the fly on the first application without injuring the most delicate foliage, provided that it is quite dry at the time of fumigation. Slugs are also very fond of Disas, and would soon ruin the plants if not looked for in the evening. Some shell snails also are very troublesome, boring holes through the tender leaves, and being so very small they are difficult to find. About the middle or the latter end of May, if it begins to be very hot, I remove the plants out of the house into a cold frame on the north side, bringing them back to flower, as in the frame the spikes would be too near the glass, and could not be so easily inspected as in a house. During the time they are in the frames, if the lights are drawn off now and again during gentle showers of rain, it will do them a great deal of good. Rain- water is the best to water them with if it can be got. The lights should be well tilted up at all times, so that they can have plenty of air. If a little is left on all night, when the weather is favourable, the growths will be all the more robust. HYBRIDISATION. I am quite sure there is a large field for the hybridist to work up new varieties belonging to this Alpine genus. Messrs. Veitch have already given us several new ones, for which we are greatly indebted to them, such as Disa Langleyensis, the result of Disa racemosa crossed with D. tripetaloides. Also the most beautiful Disa Veitchii, a hybrid between Disa grandiflora and D. racemosa. The sepals are of a bright carmine, with the B39 JoURNAL OF TEE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. inner portion of the lip almost white, spotted with crimson. It is a great acquisition, and much easier to grow than its parents. Disa grandiflora crossed with D. Veitchii has also given us the lovely D. Diores and D. Diores, var. ‘Clio’ (fig. 75), which deservedly received an Award of Merit at the last meeting of this Society. (See page clsxii.) When the flowers of any Disa have been successfully cross- fertilised, it is soon seen by the flower beginning at once to droop and close, and in the course of a few days the pod will begin to Fic. 75.—Disa Diores, var. ‘Cuio.’ (Journal of Horticulture.) swell with rapidity. About the middle of September the seed will be getting ripe, and will require watching daily, for as soon as the seed-pod opens and looks at all brown it will be quite time to cut it off, placing it in a box on a sunny shelf for a few days until it has parted with its contents. The seed will then be ready for sowing at once, as no Orchid seeds improve by keeping, but quickly lose vitality. THE DISA GRANDIFLORA. 333 SowING THE SEED. I do not think it a good plan to sow it on its own pot, as the abundance of water which the Disas require would wash away all the seed, which is only like so much snuff. My method is to get an ordinary seed-pan, put in sufficient drainage to keep the soil sweet, place some of the roughest peat on the crocks to keep the drainage open, then fill in with more peat and lumps of sandstone, imitating a miniature rockery, and give it a good watering with hot water to kill any insects that may be lurking in the soil. The seed should then be scattered evenly over the surface, covering very slightly with a little sand and dusty peat ; put through a very fine sieve, give it a gentle watering to settle the seed, place a bell-glass over the pan, and put it in a tempera- ture of about 55 deg. at night. The seed should be shaded at all times when the sun is on the house, and the compost must be kept fairly moist. The seedlings will begin to appear from two to three months after sowing. They seem to germinate best near to the lumps of sandstone. I have even seen them on the top without a particle of soil near them. I have a nice potful of seedlings, about three years old, some of them with four and five leaves on each. I sowed another pan last year (1897), and about eighty seedlings have already germinated. These will remain in the seed-pan until they are two years old; then they will be pricked out round the sides of 5-inch pots, using a rougher com- post than was used in sowing the seed. My practice is to let them grow in this way for a year; then put them into thumb- pots, plunging them in a large pan of cocoanut fibre or sphagnum, so as to keep the roots cool and moist. When they have got well rooted in the thumbs they may be transferred into a little larger pot, and soon as they require it. They may show a spike of bloom in the fifth or sixth year, according to the strength of the erowth. It seems a long time to wait, but nevertheless it is most interesting to watch the tiny blade of grass (as it looks) when it first appears until the flowering stage is reached, when there may be one or two plants flower in the batch, which will repay the cultivator for all the trouble and care bestowed on them. The best varieties are easily detected by being of a deep red colour near the base of the annual growth. The majority of them are of lighter colour, and the flowers from these will be a little washy in colour and not so refined. In purchasing established H 334 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. plants it is best to select those with dark bases to the shoots, as from these good varieties are sure to result. That most lovely hybrid Disa kewensis which was exhibited in Sir F. Wigan’s beautiful group of Orchids at the last Temple Show came in for a good share of admiration from all interested in cool Orchids. DEALING WITH IMPORTED PLANTS. Like most Orchids, Disas can be purchased at the auction- room for a trifling sum ; but it is far better to buy established plants at some reliable nursery, as they are not so easily managed when just imported as some other Orchids coming from warmer regions are. When they are imported from their native home, they require putting into pans with peat, broken crocks, and a little sphagnum and coarse sand. They should be placed ina house with a night temperature of about 45 deg. ; syringing them now and again until growth is well advanced, when they will require more water at the roots. PROPAGATION. In nearly all the family of Orchidaceous plants there is a method of increasing them, either by aérial growths or cutting the pseudo-bulbs in pieces. The latter is the best way to increase the Disa. At the potting time take a small piece off with a little bit of rhizome to it; place it in a 38-inch pot, using the same potting material as before; and in a year’s time it will be ready for a size larger pot. Offsets made thus increase very fast, especially if the soil and climatic conditions are suitable to them. | SUBURBAN FRUIT-GROWING. By Mr. Rovrett, F'.R.H.S., Hon. See. of the Brixton, Streatham, and Clapham Horticultural Society. [Read September 20, 1898. | Tue following remarks are intended to apply to the environs of all large cities and towns in Great Britain and Ireland, and the area of Greater London, with its population of six millions, is taken as a type and example. SUBURBAN FRUIT-GROWING. 835 Fruit-growing in the suburbs of London is no new thing, From time immemorial market gardeners have grown their fruit and vegetables, and taken them to market, bringing back in their carts and vans manure obtained at a cheap rate in the town. The distances to be covered fifty years ago were com- paratively small, and growers made a pleasant and comfortable living by the cultivation and sale of Grapes, Plums, Apples, and bush fruit, in addition to vegetables, all of which brought good prices. The land was not over-drained, and in some cases it was marshy and waterlogged. Ponds and ditches were in many instances the sources of their water supply for horti- cultural purposes; but in those days we did not suffer so much in dry weather from lack of moisture as we do now that there is no reserve stored up in the subsoil. The main drainage of London, though necessary from a sanitary point of view, has greatly lessened the fertility of the soil. In the first place, it has carried to the sea incalculable wealth in the shape of organic matter, which was formerly available for the fertilisation of the land. Houses were then drained into cesspools ; the night-waggon was a familiar institu- tion in the town; hardy farm labourers cheerfully engaged in the most offensive tasks for the sake of a little addition to their wages and privileges; and Mother HKarth, the great deodoriser, received back her due. But now she is robbed and starved or cheated with stable litter, which differs greatly from the old farmyard manure; or she is insufficiently fed with artificial manures, some of which are of but little value. In the second place, the main drainage of London has inter- cepted all the springsandrivulets which previously found their way from the beautiful hills which surround London to the valley of the Thames, and the blessed raindrops which Heaven distils are bound by Act of Parliament to hurry from the roofs of palaces and cottages alike through the same foul pipes which carry the diluted sewage to the sea. It is within my knowledge and recollection that the eminent engineer Robert Stevenson the younger and others, who professionally approved the main draining scheme, regarded it as a necessary first step which would eventually have to be followed by a system of separation. This is not a cheerful prospect for the ratepayer, but the question will have to be faced, as Nature will inevitably call the H 2 336 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. inhabitants of London to a strict account for their wanton waste of the vast wealth of organic matter which is now sent down to the river’s mouth to feed or poison the fishes. One has only to look at the standard trees in the suburban gardens to see how rapidly they are failing. The tops are dying —an ominous sign. And this is true also of the forest trees in Kensington Gardens and some of the public parks, especially where the subsoil is gravel. I have touched upon this branch of the subject because one of the first necessaries in fruit-growing is a copious supply of water. My friends often ask why their out-of-door Peaches fall off every year when they are about the size of hazel nuts, and on examination at the foot of the wall the subsoil is always found to be as dry and hard as bath brick. When the old Suburban Gardens were first laid out the soil was generally fresh and in good condition, for as building extended meadows and market gardens were absorbed, and fruit trees throve in the freshly broken ground enclosed within the garden walls; but of late years the speculative builder has converted the light soil into mortar for building purposes, and the new gardens consist generally of clay and rubbish fenced in with oak palings. The fine old gardens of Dulwich, Tulse Hill, Streatham, Putney, and other suburbs still remain, but the surface soil is generally exhausted, sour, and full of fungoid germs. ‘To buy fresh soil in quantity would now be an enormous expense, and the question is, What should be done to restore fertility to the soil ? I am afraid that the art of trenching is in danger of being lost in the suburbs of London. Nearly all young gardeners want to get into the glass houses and amongst the flower pots. The first tool put into the hands of a young gardener should be a spade, and if he do not begin to use it in early years he will never have the muscles or the inclination to use it manfully. If you want trenching done properly you must look about for some old labourers to doit. Of course, a good deal depends upon the subsoil, and I do not advocate the bringing up to the surface a quantity of gravel or stiff clay. But a portion of the latter mate- rial may with advantage be turned up, and when dressed with lime and exposed to the frost it will soon break down and admit of being incorporated with the rest of the soil. Where it can be done some clay should be burnt or charred and worked in with SUBURBAN FRUIT-GROWING, 337 the rest. All lime and brick rubble should be saved. The ashes of rubbish heaps, soot, sweepings of the poultry yard, dovecote, and stable, refuse from the kitchen, weeds, and leaves should be collected and spread over the ground to be turned into the bottom of the trench, so as to be buried with the stale and exhausted soil from the surface. When the trenching is completed the surface should be heavily dressed with quicklime and be left rough for the winter. In the following spring a liberal dressing of quarter-inch bones or coarse bone meal should be lightly forked in and a green crop, say of tares, raised, which might with advantage be dug in to freshen and enrich the soil. ‘The land would then be fit for planting with fruit trees in the following autumn. Stable litter— I will not call it manure—is of but little value except as amulch in dry or frosty weather. ‘This should be spread round the trees after planting, and when there is a good crop a surface dressing of any good manure, consisting mainly of phosphates and potash rather than nitrates, should be sown. ‘The trees will require to be watered in dry hot weather, as the roots, if planted properly, are near the surface. I have tried planting maiden trees, but whether pruned the first year or the second I have never been able to make such good bushes or pyramids as those obtained from the nurseries under the description of ‘ Two-year-olds, with some fruit spurs.”’ With respect to pruning it has been humorously said that “there are two sets of fools—those who prune too much and those who don’t prune at all.’”’ I have found it better to be cautious in the use of the pruning-knife after the foundation of the tree has been laid, and to confine pruning to thinning out objectionable shoots rather than to shortening them back. Summer is to be preferred to winter pruning, as the wounds heal over more quickly and leave less opportunity to canker germs and American blight to effect a lodgment. Summer pinching has its uses, but bushes pinched into stunted growth can never be got out of it. I prefer a more natural system. CorDons. These succeed for a time, and some varieties of fruit give wonderfully fine specimens from them. This is especially 888 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. true of Bismarck Apple. The chief use I make of upright Cordons on the Paradise and Quince is to form half-standards, a form that has been named ‘Amateur’s Trees,’ and which have been well described in the Gardeners’ Chronicle by Mr. Waltham. The advantage of this form is that the fruit is kept well above the ground instead of lodging upon it, as often happens with bush trees. It is interesting to see how the scions of some varieties of Apple infuse vigour into the Paradise stock, and compel it to support a standard tree. The Blenheim Orange, Newton Wonder, Smart’s Prince Arthur, Beauty of Kent, Peasgood’s Nonesuch, Warner’s King, and several other Apples have this effect, whilst Pitmaston Duchess and some other Pears similarly affect the Quince stock. Fruit should be cultivated and suitably manured as a crop. Proper quarters should be set apart for the trees, and tall growing vegetables should not be planted between them. Apples and Pears on the free stock are better avoided, except when they are wanted for ornament or shelter, instead of forest trees. If standards are desired they may be raised from Cordons on the Paradise stocks, as before described. If fruit trees grow too vigorously and bear no fruit, lft them and re-plant; or if too big, cut a trench a few feet from the stem and prune the roots. This should be done in the autumn, half the circle one year and half the next; but old trees whose roots have travelled to a tes will not bear this treatment. sis 6 It is curious to note how oiinatad certain errors with respect to fruit are held by the public. For instance, it is generally believed that the Ribston Pippin is dying out-as an old and exhausted variety. Now, in the first place, it is not an old variety, for the original tree died only in 1835; and, in the second, it is not exhausted, for at the present time there are more Ribston Pippin trees in a healthy condition than at any previous period in my recollection. They may be had in thousands on the Paradise stock, perfectly free from canker; but if people will plant them on the crab stock in unsuitable soil they must take the consequences. There are as many Ribston Pippins as ever there were, but there are many more mouths to eat them. SUBURBAN FRUIT-GROWING. 839 There are certain Apples which are referred to in Shake- speare’s plays that are of unknown antiquity, and yet they are still with us. Thus, in the play of Henry IV. Pari L1., act 11, scene 4, the first drawer says: “‘ What hast thou brought there? Apple Johns ? Thou knowest Sir John Falstaff cannot endure ap Apple John.” Second Drawer: “ Mass! Thou sayest true. The Prince once set a dish of Apple Johns before him and told him there were five more Sir Johns, and, putting off his hat, said, ‘I will now take my leave of these six dry, round, old, withered knights.” And in the same play Davy says, “There is a dish of Leathercoats for you,’ no doubt meaning the Leather Coat Russet. Then, again, Shallow is made to say, ‘‘ Nay! you shall see mine orchard, where in an arbour we will eat a last year’s Pippin of my own graffin, with a dish of Carraways,’’ no doubt meaning Carraway Russets. In the Merry Wives of Windsor Evans says, ‘‘I pray you, begone! I will make an end of my dinner. There’s Pippins and cheese to come.” It was only the other day that an old lady picked up an Apple in my garden, and said, “‘May I keep it? Iam so fond of a sharp Apple with cheese.” And in the play of Romeo and Juliet Mercutio say «Thy wit is a very bitter sweeting—it is a most sharp sauce ! ’ And Romeo replies, “ And_ is it not well served to a sweet goose 2?” Many of you have doubtless often heard of good old John Parkinson, the author of ‘‘ Paradisus.’”” From an edition of this work, published in 1629, I have made the following extract. He says, in-his quaint old English :— ‘‘The Paradise or dwarf-apple groweth nothing so high as other sorts, and many times not much higher than a man may reach. The fruit is a fair yellow apple, but very light and spongy, and of a bitterish-sweet taste—nothing pleasant. To recompense this fault, whatever other sort of apple shall be grafted on it will be kept low and like unto itself, and bear fruit reasonable well.”’ He goes on to say that “the Golding Pippin is the best of 840 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: all sorts of Pippins, but I know of no sort of Pippins but are excellent, good, well-relished fruits. The ‘Flower of Kent’ is a fair yellowish green apple, both good and great. The Gillo- flower is a fine apple. The Grey Costerd is a good, great apple, and abideth the winter. The Queening Apple is of two sorts, both of them great, fair, red apples, and well relished, but the greater is the best. The Leathercoat Apple is a good winter apple, but of no great bigness. The Catshead takes the name of the likeness, and is a reasonable good apple and great. There are twenty sorts of Sweeting, and none of them good.” There is one other Apple in Parkinson’s list, described by him as ‘‘avery pleasant and good apple,” and that is the ‘“‘ Geneting ”— still our best-flavoured first early Apple, now known as Juneating or Red Margaret. So much for old sorts dying out. I do not think many of my hearers could tell me the origin of the word “ pomatum.” Old Parkinson says: ‘‘ There is a fine sweet ointment made of apples, which is much used to help chapped lips or hands, or for the face, or other part of the skin that is rough with the wind, to supple them and make them smooth, and the name of the ointment is Pomatum, from the Latin word pomwim.”’ In the cider districts of Somerset some old rhymes contain, as they often do, the experience of ages. They say :— Tf apples blow in March, For apples you may search ; If apples blow in April, Apples will be plentiful ; But if apples blow in May, You may eat apples night and day. The Sertinc oF Harpy Fruit Buossom. There is much difference of opinion upon this subject amongst writers upon fruit culture, but I do not think fruit growers vary very much in their ideas upon the matter. I think the general opinion amongst them is that frost is the chief agent in determining the question of a good fruit crop or a bad, and I noticed that this year we had a week of very inclement weather, whilst the Pear trees were in bloom, followed by a very bad crop, and that when the Apple trees were in blossom the weather was showery for a week without a single frost in my district, and SUBURBAN FRUIT-GROWING. 341 that an exceptionally good set of Applesfollowed. The question of shelter is therefore a very important one, and there is nothing so injurious to fruit blossom as frost accompanied by a dry, cutting wind. In all the gardens that I have visited, the Pears, where there are any, are all on the sheltered side of the tree, away from the north-east wind; and whether the wood be well ripened or not the question of good crop or bad depends, in my opinion, mainly upon the condition of the weather when the trees are in bloom. An error prevails that the R.H.S. has increased the evil of too many varieties of Apples and Pears by granting certificates to a great many new sorts. This is not the case. The Society rarely grants a certificate for a new Apple or Pear, and then only when the variety is a real acquisition. In fact the R.H.S. is the only body that has done anything to remedy the evil of too many sorts. The Apple Congress held at Chiswick in 1883 under the auspices of the R.H.S. was the first considerable attempt made to deal with the evil. All the known and unknown varieties of the Apple that could be brought together were there, and an immense number were marked as third-rate or worthless. Many varieties so called were proved to be the same Apples under different names. Some had as many as thirteen or fourteen. Much of the evil has arisen in the cider districts, where many trees raised from pips have been allowed to stand without being erafted, as their fruit could be used for cider-making, and having received a local name they have got included in the list of Apples. It must not be forgotten, however, that many of our best Apples were chance seedlings obtained in this way. In the matter of fruit the taste of the public has changed very much. Formerly a small crisp Apple, suitable for dessert, such as the Golden Pippin, the Nonpareils, Golden Knob, &c., was in favour. High colour was thought to indicate inferior quality, and it is only of late years that highly coloured Apples have come into favour. It was thought that British Apples were inferior in colour to American varieties, but a glance at the fruit exhibited to-day will convince every one that our Apples are not deficient in this respect. The populations of the large cities and towns have greater purchasing power than was formerly the case, and fresh fruit is largely consumed as an article of diet by the masses instead of being considered a luxury. 342 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. Much that I have stated about Apples will be also applicable to Pears. The Quince takes the place of the Paradise stock, with the result that Bush and Pyramid Pears are produced instead of the timber-like trees with which we are all familiar. The Quince is, in a sense, intermediate between the Apple and the Pear, and both can be grafted upon it, so that Pears and Apples may be seen growing upon the same iree. It has, how- ever, greater affinity to the Pear than to the Apple, and all who wish to have Pears should purchase Pyramids or Cordons on the Quince stock. Pears are more truly a luxury than Apples. Our climate is not so well suited to them, and they are more uncertain. The difficulty of keeping Pears after they are ripe affects their value, but there are certain kinds that are less perishable than others, and some of the popular Pears are good bearers and sell freely. A good deal of judgment and skill is required in gathering and storing this fruit. Some varieties require to be kept in a warm place to ripen them, and others are apt to shrivel if exposed to the air and light. A proper fruit-room should be dark, not too dry, and of even temperature. Fruit is often gathered before it is fit, because of the autumn gales, but on Pyramid and bush trees the fruit may be allowed to hang longer. The gardens of our nobility and gentry have in the past been the schools for high culture, and we owe much to those who have maintained them in so public-spirited a manner. But of late years the greatest advance has been made by the growers of fruit for market. They have taught us how to cover the land with glass at a marvellously cheap rate, and by combining the culture of Grapes and Tomatos, they have added enormously to our supplies. Our open ports invite the foreigner to send us the products of sunnier skies; but still British products maintain their superior character, and we may with the aid of cheap glass structures defy competition. . The Grapes and Tomatos grown in London suburbs and in the neighbourhood of Worthing fetch the highest prices, and I have no doubt but that in the near future Strawberries will be produced under glass at a cheap rate before the French growers can supply them, and that means will be taken to prolong the season. The taste of the public has a tendency to become more fastidious as supplies increase; and whilst there SUBURBAN FRUIT-GROWING. 848 is a craving for cheapness there is also a dissatisfaction with inferior quality, and a desire and willingness to pay for some- thing better. The cheap foreign products go year by year to a lower stratum of society, and the upper strata are always asking for higher quality. For example, the middle and upper classes show a decided preference for the high-class smooth Tomatos of moderate size, and the old, corrugated, and over-sized varieties find their way to the coster’s barrow. And this leads me to say that the advance made in the cultivation of Tomatos and the raising of improved varieties have entitled this beautiful and wholesome product to be elevated to the dignity of a fruit. Messrs. Sutton & Sons and other growers have presented us with dessert varieties, which are being consumed in enormous quantities in a raw state, and I frequently hear it said, in answer to the question, ‘Do you want the Tomatos for cooking?” “Oh no; they are far too good for that!” Why, it would be more reasonable to call some varieties of Melon vegetables than Tomatos of this fruit-like character. For I am inclined to think that some inferior Melons would be improved by cooking. Let me also put in a plea for the more delicate varieties of Grape. Londoners are too apt to taste with their eyes, and during the festive season, go where you will, nothing but Gros Colmar and Black Alicante Grapes meets your eyes at dessert. I give credit to the growers for their great skill and enterprise, but I should like to see some Grapes in the market suitable for invalids. It is one of my greatest pleasures to supply the sick and suffering with fruit that they can really enjoy, and a Grape with a thin skin and juicy texture will often bring a smile to the face even of the dying. The “ Diamond Traube,” “ Duke of Buccleuch,” “ Black Hamburgh”’ properly ripened, and ‘“ West St. Peter’s’ are to be recommended for this purpose. Weare indebted to our French friends for a delightful addition to the fruits suitable for invalids. The so-called Perpetual Straw- berries are likely to effect a revolution in Strawberry growing, not so much by what they are as by what they will probably become when crossed with our largest and best varieties. Last week I was privileged to see these Strawberries growing in the gardens of Gunnersbury House, the residence of Mr. Leopold de Rothschild, and I was greatly surprised to find the crop of Strawberries 844 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. there far in advance of anything of the kind I had previously seen. Theair was perfumed with their delightful fragrance, and the fruit was thrown well above the leaves on the old plants, whilst the runners, not yet detached from the parent plants, were commencing to fruit in pots in the open air. Even runners from these were showing blossom. The name of the variety is ‘St. Joseph.’ | Mr. Hudson, the eminent gardener at this establishment, in a letter to the Standard, thus describes kis mode of culture :— ‘““The culture of the Alpine Strawberry is of the simplest description. Seedling plants are infinitely better than those obtained from runners. The old plan of propagation by runners did nothing to increase its popularity, rather otherwise. Plants raised from runners lack in a remarkable degree the vigorous constitution of seedlings, whilst they are not so fertile, nor so continuous in bearing fruit. The seed may be sown in a cold frame in April, or in the open ground in May, similar to hardy annuals, a moist, cool, shaded spot being chosen. ‘The seedlings should be transplanted once or twice, being finally put out into beds eighteen inches from plant to plant, October being the best month for this purpose. These plants if well attended to will commence to bear fruit in June following, being as early as the best known of the early kinds of the ordinary Strawberry, but with continuous cropping qualities until the middle of October, covering a period of four months. The season may be further extended until the end of October, if ordinary garden frames be placed over them, whilst under more favourable climatic con- ditions the season can be further prolonged. When the fruit is all picked the plants can be destroyed, or a portion of them, those remaining being kept for the first crop another season, these being again succeeded by seedling plants, which in that case can have their first flower spikes cut off, so as to further strengthen the plants. The runners, which are produced freely, should be cut off too. Almost any soil, but preferably a light one, will suit them. This Strawberry delights in moisture, and a moderate amount of shade; hence spots not suited to other fruits may be utilised for this.” The Raspberry also can be grown to great advantage in the suburbs of London, as it is not adapted to bear long journeys, and the new variety, ‘ Superlative,’ is strongly recommended. ‘ I L ; SUBURBAN FRUIT-GROWING. 845 GOOSEBERRIES have the good quality of being useful both in their ripe and un- ripe state. The method of growing them in fan shape, as recently exhibited by Messrs. Veitch, offers many advantages. It is easier to protect the fruit and to gather it when the bushes are thus trained.