October 14, 1911 



HORT1CU LTU RE 



530a 



AMERICAN TOMATOES IN ENG- 

 LAND. 



(Kroui report of Consul Charles N, liimlels. 

 Sheffield.) 



A sample shipment of American 

 tomatoes was recently unpacked in 

 Sheffield and the fruit was found to 

 be in a very satisfactory condition. 

 Only one tomato showed any sign of a 

 bruise. The variety that appeared to 

 meet with the most favor was the 

 "Stone." The consignee stated that 

 the "Globe" and the "Buckeye" were 

 too large for the English market and 

 also showed some blemishes. Toma- 

 toes are usually eaten raw here or used 

 in salads, and more often than not are 

 served without peeling, so that a 

 smooth skinned tomato without blem- 

 ishes has the preference. Any mark, 

 as an insect sting or a crack that has 

 healed and left a seal is to lower 



the grade of the tomato in the market. 



The condition in which this ship- 

 ment arrived is proof that tomatoes 

 could be shipped to England from 

 Florida and find a market at seasons 

 of the year when the home-grown ar- 

 ticle is not plentiful. A tomato to suit 

 this market should run from 1% to 3 

 in. in diameter, should ripen to a good 

 color, have a smooth skin, and when 

 packed should be carefully graded, the 

 perfect ones being separated from 

 those showing even the slightest mark 

 on the skin. The mixing of the two 

 grades would result in the lowering of 

 the grade of the whole. 



If a tomato like the "Stone." with 

 its firm pulp and fine flavor, could be 

 grown in size to suit this market, 

 there is no reason why it should not 

 find a ready sale. The condition in 

 which those sent arrived shows thai 

 thej will stand the transportation all 

 right. One of the partly ripe "Buck- 

 eyes" showed a tendency to rot before 

 the ripening was completed. Whether 

 this was due to some bruise received 

 in transportation or to the fact that it 

 was not cut at the right time is a 

 question. The proper stage at which 

 they should be cut could be deter- 

 mined by experiment. In the opinion 

 of the dealer it would be better to ship 

 them in tight boxes, thus keeping the 

 air away from them, rather than in 

 open crates. The fact that the 

 "Stone" tomatoes sent were each 

 wrapped in paper bears out this idea. 

 This close package is the one in use 

 by the French growers, and it is also 

 used by a firm shipping Canary toma- 

 toes. The Bordeaux shippers pack the 

 fruit in a flat paper-lined box without 

 wrapping the tomatoes si parately, but 

 the Canary tomatoes are each wrs 

 in paper and then packed in peat moss, 

 which is sent from England for thai 

 purpose. The dealer is inclined to 

 think that this paper v. 

 to ripen the fruit better. 



There appears to be two kinds of the 

 "Stone," one inclined to be Hat and 

 the other longer and more pointed at 

 the blossom end. Thi 

 be better suited for this market. Both 

 kinds, however, appeared to stand 

 transportation equally as well. The 

 manager of the leading retail grocery 

 sampled the "Stone" and pronounced 

 it superior in every way to the Canary 

 tomatoes he handles. He added that if 

 this tomato could be grown in a size 

 to suit this market and could compete 

 with the Canary fruit in price, it would 



undoubtedly find a stile, in fact he 

 stated thai he would give 11 the pref- 

 erence tor his own trade, whit 

 the best in the city. 



BRITISH HORTICULTURE. 

 Another Batch of New Dahlias. 

 Some attractive dahlias were recent- 

 ly on view at the fortnights meeting 

 of the Royal Horticultural Society. 

 Notable amongst the good whites were 

 Mrs, Shoesmith, White Lady and 

 Snowdon. There were some lnt< 

 ing exhibits at the second show of i hi 

 National Dahlia Society, held at the 

 Royal Botanic Gardens, London. In 

 the nurserymen's classes, for three 

 vases of cactus dahlias, put into com- 

 merce for the first time in 1909-10, 

 Mrs. M V. Seale, of Seavenoaks, Kent, 

 was first with excellent vases of Prima 

 Donna. Mary PUrrier and Johannes- 

 burg. In the principal cactus class for 

 twelve bunches, six blooms of each 

 variety, Messrs. i. Stredwick iV Son. 

 of St. Leonards, Sussex, won premier 

 honors with Indomitable, Olympic, 

 Orion, Elite, Golden Wave, Miss Stred- 

 wick Uranus, Snowdon, Satisfaction, 

 Jupiter, Mrs. I). Fleming and H. H M. 

 Thomas. For six blooms of any one 

 show or fancy seedlings, Mr. S. Morti- 

 mer of Rowledge, Farnham, Surrey was 

 first with Edward Lee. a meritorlou 

 \ ariety of deep crimson tint. There wen 

 some fine samples of paeony flowered 

 dahlias, which are steadily increasing 

 in popularity. First-class certificates 

 were awarded to the following novel- 

 ties: Golden Wave, pure yellow 

 cactus, Frederick Wenham, apricot, 

 yellow centre. Sunlight, yellow, tinted 

 apricot, Messrs. J. Stredwick & Son; 

 Florrie Wells, pure red. shaded violet, 

 Mr. H. Shoesmith, Woking, Surrey; 

 Diadem, deep rose pink, white collar. 

 Messrs. Dobbie & Co.. Edinburgh: 

 Mahdi, dark reddish maroon, Messrs. 

 J. Cheal & Son, Lowfield Nut 

 Crawley, Sussex. 



Autumn Roses. 

 The autumn show of the National 

 Rose Society exceeded the anticipa- 

 tions of the promoters as regards the 

 quality. In the nurserymen's classes, 

 which were well filled, for :)6 distinct 

 varieties, the first prize fell to Messrs. 

 Hugh Dickson, of Royal Nurseries, 

 Belfast, who had some splendid sam- 

 ples of Mme. Joseph Courbet, Charles 

 J. Grahame, Hugh, Dickson and Leslie 

 Holland. Some pleasing effects were 

 produced in the class for a group of 

 roses arranged on the floor in a space 

 not exceeding 150 square feet. Mi 

 Paul & Sou. The Old Nurseries, Ches- 

 hunt, Herts, thi first prizi 

 made a bold display with some ex- 



ional blooms. The repi i 

 group of cut 1 1 i con- 



siderable attention, Messrs. W. & J. 

 Brown, ol irough, securing the 



Chief award. As is usually the 

 the dinner tables decorated with 

 roses proved a popular feature with 

 the visitors. For the best blooms the 

 following were the awards in the nur- 



nen's section: Hybrid perpi 

 Gloire de C. Guinoisseau, Hybrid tea, 

 Rarl of Warwick, both exhibited by 

 Messrs. Cocker & Sons, of Aberdeen; 

 tea, Molly Sharman Crawford. Mi 

 Adam & Craigmile, of Aberdeen. 

 There were several novelties submitted 



udical Ion, but only one was 

 considered sufficiently meritorious for 

 an award. This was Mrs. Muir Mack- 



.i shapely hybrid tea. It is a 

 self-colored crimson, of a deeper shade 

 In the hud. and is likely to prove a 



,i addition to the H. T. section. 

 \ silver gilt medal was awarded to the 

 exhibitors, Messrs. s. McGredy & Son, 

 Portadown, Ireland. 



W. H. ADSETT. 



LOUISIANA AROUSED. 

 The State of Louisiana with many 

 million acres of now uncultivated but 

 highly productive soil, a mild climate 

 which permits a series of crops to 

 be grown on the same land each year, 

 and a net work of navigable canals 

 and streams which inures cheap 



portation, will bid for the immi- 

 gration Canada is now getting from 

 the United States. In order to make 

 the bid most effective, a Louisiana 

 Agricultural Exhibit Commission has 

 lam appointed by the Governor, and 

 supplied with funds by the Parishes, 

 or Counties of the State, for the pur- 

 pose of gathering exhibits and data 

 concerning agricultural production, 

 cost and profits, health and market 

 conditions, character of soil and cli- 

 mate, etc., and thus equipped meet the 

 people of the North and West face to 

 face. 



The Commission will demonstrate 

 that with only about 5,000,000 acres in 

 i ultivation out of 27,000,000 acres com- 

 prising the State, the people of Louis- 



have prospered, her planters have 

 enjoyed wealth and affluence, and her 

 farmers have never known want. The 

 plantation or overlord system, is now 

 rapidly disappearing, and the great es- 



are being sub-divided and culti- 

 vated by smaller independent farmers. 



cut-over forests are being cleared 

 and opened up to settlement. The 

 wet alluvial lands are being drained 

 and made available to the plow. In 

 this manner new tracts of virgin lands 

 are being made available and the State 

 in its official capacity is taking t ; mc 

 by the forelock, and is going after 

 farmer families to occupy these lands. 

 The first exhibit the Louisiana Com- 

 mission will give will be at the United 



3 Land and Irrigation Exposition, 

 at Chicago, November 18 to December 

 9. Others will follow later. The ob- 

 ject of the Commission is to exhibit 

 average rather than abnormal prod- 

 ucts, so that the farmer seeking accu^ 

 rate information may learn exactly 

 what the soils of Louisiana produce 

 under normal conditions. No land 

 will be sold at these exhibits, no pri- 

 vate enterprise will be exploited and 

 n formation will be given out ex- 

 cepl such as has been carefully inves- 

 ed and compiled by the Commis- 

 sion itself. 



The Chairman of the Commission, 



Dr. W. R. Dodson of Baton Rouge, is 



and Director of the State 



ge of Agriculture and Agricul- 

 tural Experiment Stations. Other 

 members are: Robert Glenk, New 

 is. Curator Louisiana State Mu- 



: Louis N. Brueggerhoff, Shreve- 



ihe active head of the Louisiana 



State Fair Association: M. Leigh Alex- 



of Alexandria, who represents 



Agricultural interests of North 

 Louisiana, and A. B. Graves of New- 

 Orleans, who represents the Agricul- 

 tural interests of South Louisiana. 



