Septeniber 4, 1673. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GAKDENEB. 



173 



For making raisins they wait until the Grape is fully ripe, 

 and then carefully cut off the bunches, and lay them either on 

 a hard clay floor, formed in the open au% or on brown paper 

 laid between the Vine rows. They do not trim out poor 

 Grapes from the bunches, because, as they assert, there ai'e 

 none; but I suspect this will have to be done for the very finest 

 raisins, such as would tempt a reluctant buyer. The bunches 

 require from eighteen to twenty-four days of exposure in the 

 sun to be cured. During that time they are gently turned 

 Irom time to time, and such as are earliest cured are at once 

 removed to a raisin house. This is fitted with shelves, on 

 which the raisins are laid about a foot thick, and here they 

 are allowed to sweat a little. If they sweat too much, the sugar 

 «indies on the outside, and this deteriorates the quality of the 

 raisin. It is an object to keep the bloom on the berries. They 

 are kept in the raisin house, I believe, five or sis weeks, when 

 they ai'e dry enough to box. — (New York Tribune.) 



PHOTOGRAPHS OF LEAVES. 

 One very simple process is this : At any druggist's get a 

 little bichromate of potash. Pat this in a two-ounce bottle of 

 soft water. When the solution becomes saturated — that is, 

 the water has dissolved as much as it will, pour off some of 

 the clear liquid into a shallow dish ; on this float a piece of 

 ordinary writing-paper till it is thoroughly and evenly moist- 

 ened. Let it become nearly dry, in the dark. It should be of 

 a bright yellow. On this put the leaf ; under it a piece of soft 

 black cloth and several sheets of paper. Put these between 

 two pieces of glass (all the pieces should be of the same size), 

 and fasten them all together tightly. Expose to a bright sun, 

 placing the leaf so that the rays will fall upon it as nearly 

 perpendicular as possible. In a few minutes it wiU begin to 

 tnm brown, but it requires from half an hour to several hours 

 to produce a perfect print. When it has become dark enough, 

 take it from the frame and put it iu clear water, which must 

 be changed every few minutes, tiU the yellow part becomes 

 perfectly white. Sometimes the venation of the leaves will be 

 quite distinct. By following these directions, it is scarcely 

 possible to fail, and a little practice will make perfect. The 

 photographs, if well taken, are very pretty. — (To-Daij.) 



NUESEETMEN versus AMATEUES. 



I PERCEIVE in your last number two short paragraphs, the 

 one headed " Brown's Wonder Strawberry," aud the other 

 " Bine Peter and Little Gem Peas," both of which appear to 

 me to originate from the same pen, and the animus of which 

 is unmistakeable. It is evident to the simplest mind that the 

 writer's object was not so much to speak of Brown's Wonder, 

 as to shield himself under that heading to make an attack 

 npon me and the productions of which I have the pleasure, and 

 I hope the honour, to be the raiser. 



Did I unwittingly give offence to Mr. Turner in my remarks 

 npon Peaa? If so, I beg to assure him that I had not the least 

 intention so to do. I beUeve the Pea so generally known as 

 Tamer's Little Gem was the production of a professional 

 brother, the late Dr. Maclean, of Colchester, and on that ground 

 alone I should not have been so uncourteous to his memory. 

 As to Mr. Turner, I never thought of him in the matter. 



I have nothing to withdraw from my remarks on those Peas. 

 Little Gem is so well established that no expression of miue 

 would prevent anyone growing it who likes a very dwarf Marrow 

 Pea. For my part I should prefer Alpha for an early, and 

 some of the other better sorts of Marrow Peas for a later supply, 

 and hence I discarded it long ago ; but iu the Imperial class 

 — and this was really the object I had in view, not thinking so 

 much of Little Gem as of Beck's Gem, Tom Thumb, Ac — 

 I should prefer such a Pea as Blue Peter to wasting stakes on 

 many others of that class no better in quality and not so pro- 

 ductive for the ground they occnpy. But as to Emperor of 

 the Marrows, Mr. Turner's remarks more particularly surprise 

 ine. It is quite within the range of possibility that I may bo 

 as good a judge of Peas as Mr. Turner, albeit he is a nursery- 

 man ; and I can only say, that after testing many of the ac- 

 knowledged best sorts of Peas with which my gardens have 

 this year abounded, G. F. Wilson among the number, when 

 the Emperor came to table everyone wanted to know what it 

 wa.^, and said with one voice, " This is the Pea " — the best Pea 

 they had tasted. I believe the verdict to be a true one, and 

 fearlessly assert that your readers may grow this Pea with the 

 almost confidence — that is (tastes do so diflerj if they like a 

 first-class Marrow Pea. 



Now as to the matter chiefly in hand, the Strawberries. Mr. 

 Turner's remarks carry absurdity on the face of them. He 

 says, " How is it we never meet with Dr. Eoden's gems, so 

 temptingly described in your last number ? They are never 

 met with in good gardens, on the exhibition table, or in any 

 catalogue." It is scarcely necessary for me to reply to the 

 above illogical proposition by asking another question. How 

 can the above results be achieved before the plants are even 

 distributed? Can anything more pointedly show the jealousy 

 Mr. Turner seems to entertain towards humble amateurs like 

 myself dabbling, I suppose he would say, iu matters we have 

 nothing to do with, and overstepping the bounds of reason and 

 even possibiUty to express his feelings ? I think I may here 

 say good-bye to Mr. Turner on the above head. 



But he may say, " You had other seedlings temptingly de- 

 scribed, and which have been before the horticultural world 

 several years." Yes, but they were not described in the last 

 number of the Journal, and it is not true that they are never 

 met with in good gardens or in any catalogue. It is quite true 

 that I did not seek the assistance of men of Mr. Turner's 

 calibre to vaunt these seedlings, neither did I seek the good 

 opinion of the Horticultural Society to bring them before the 

 public. I doubt the expediency of the former for many reasons, 

 even though it may possibly lead to exclusion from such valued 

 catalogues ; but I quite agree with the latter procedure, where 

 leisure time and other circumstances conduce to such a result. 

 I preferred, with my active life, to let my seedlings silently and 

 unobtrusively make their way, assured that if there was merit 

 it would as certainly be found out without any adventitious aid 

 whatever, and what is the consequence ? Those Strawberries, 

 Early Prolific in pai-ticular, are to be found iu many good 

 gardens, are to be found iu some of the best catalogues, and 

 are gradually finding their way into others, several of which 

 are now before me. 



The best exhibition table, and the only one I covet or care 

 about, is the table of the private gentry, and the good and 

 great of the land, for whom my exertions in this department 

 of the art are mainly intended, where the judges are not only 

 competent but unbiassed, and not for the mere trader in plants. 

 And that this course is being appreciated, I can now teU Mr. 

 Turner for his gratification, that my gardener cannot grow 

 Early ProUfio and Duke of Edinburgh fast enough in my 

 limited space, the former especially, for the numerous appli- 

 cations he has for these varieties from all parts of the country. 

 Aud with regard to the two varieties now being distributed, it 

 will be utterly impossible this year to execute the orders he 

 already has on hand for plants, except by limiting the num- 

 bers. The aid of nurserymen, therefore, as mere vendors of 

 plants, even to the dreadful exclusion from their catalogues, 

 will not be necessary. At the same time be it understood, 

 that those nurserymen who have applied to my gardener for 

 plants will by my instructions be treated with every courtesy 

 and attention, and their wonted privileges extended to them 

 in the order of priority, as far as circumstances will admit. 



Having so far justified myself from this uncaUed-for attack, 

 I will not obtrude further on your valuable space on a subject 

 which is foreign to your pages, and on which I feel I could not 

 have troubled you, had you not inserted the articles in question. 

 I will, therefore, conclude by saying that Mr. Turner may 

 depend that I shall always be ready, and I trust able, to defend 

 myself from all such ilhberal attacks, whether they come in 

 the form of satu-e or otherwise. Mr. Turner's allusion to my 

 gems was, doubtless, very clever, but I think the term is so 

 thoroughly appropriated by himself that no one else has any 

 right to it, and I for one do not use it. On the other hand, if 

 Mr. Turner doubts my integrity or the honesty of my state- 

 ments, I shall be happy to extend the right hand of good 

 fellowship, and to see him at Morningside at any time during 

 a Strawberry season. We all know that no fruit varies more 

 with soil and situation than the Strawberry, but if Mr. Turner 

 honours me with a visit, he can judge for himself, and if I 

 have timely notice of his approach, I will try to give him a 

 dish of the true Emperor of the Marrow Peas. — Willum 

 RoDEN, M.D. __^____ 



Siamese-twin CucrJiDEns. — I enclose a photograph of an 

 extraordinary freak of nature, displayed iu the growth of what, 

 I think, may be properly termed twin Cucumbers. A number 

 of working men in this neighbourhood, interested in gardening 

 and fond of Cucumbcr-growiug, have raised a variety to which 

 they have given the name of Benicia Boy, in allusion, no 

 doubt, to the vigorous quaUties of the American pugilist. I 



