30 



JOUENAL OF HOBTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



( July 9, 1874. 



were then called for, and the following were reported by the 

 growers representing the diiJerfnt sections ; — 



From Mount Pleasant, 20,000 baakfits ; Kirkwood, 10,000; 

 Armstrong's, 35,000 ; Middletnwn, 75 000; Townsend, 25,000 ; 

 Ginns, 2000; Black Bird, 5,000; Green Spring, 5,000; Clay- 

 too, 35,000; Brentfor.i, 10,000; Morton, 25,000 ; Dov^r, 20,000 ; 

 Wjoniinjj, 20,000; Woodside, 5,000 ; Canterbury, 10,000 ; Fel- 

 ton, 10,000; Harrington, 5.000; Farmington, 3,000; Green- 

 wood, 2 000; BriHgeville, 10,000; Seaford, 5,000; Laurel, 

 10,000; Delmar, 2 000; Salisbury, 5,000; Dorchester and De- 

 laware Railroad, 10,000 ; Junction and Breakwater Railroad, 

 10,000; Kent County Railroad, 25,000; Mirjlaud and Dela- 

 ware Railroad, 25,000 — making a total estimated shipment by 

 rail of 412,000 baskets. It was also estimated that 158,000 

 adilitional would be shipped by water, making a total ship- 

 ment from the entire Peach country of 000 000 baskets. This 

 report was accepted by the Convention, although some of the 

 growers thought it rather a low estimate ; but it seems to be 

 the general opinion of those who should know, that this will 

 be the extent of the crop for this year. 



AMONG THE NORTH-FOLK.— No. 2. 



I SAT down to tell more of all I know and have seen of 

 Hunstanton, but must first relieve my mind of the " Norfolk 

 dumpling." Never was a greater delusion. I had read of it, 

 beard of it, and eat down to it, and found it was nothing but a 

 large yeast dumpling ! Accompanying it was a tureen of gravy, 

 and I was tuld that that is its orthudos accompaniment. 



Well, that's oS my mind ; and my next note is on that 

 special English text, the weather. I see in the Lynn papers 

 that the centre of the county was visited by a frost and keen 

 wind on the night of .June 20th, which cut down the haulm of 

 the Potatoes and the Kidney Beans, but it did not reach this 

 north coast, and the Potatoes, Peas, and Kidney Beans are 

 uninjured and most promising. 



Wben it is high tide at Hunstanton at eight o'clock in the 

 morning, the ebb is at its very lowest about twelve, and the 

 Submarine Forest may be visited by any pedestrian. If at the 

 hour last-named from beneath the wall of the lighthouse gar- 

 den he looks in a northerly direction he can see on the sea's 

 margin what appears like an expanse of black earth. It is 

 about a mile and half distant across level, stoneless, but wet 

 sand ; its blackness is caused by its being a mass of dark-grey 

 unctuous clay, with mussels thickly spread about its surface. 

 In that clay the prostrate forest trees are embedded. It is a 

 low flat bank, about a quarter of a mile long and averaging 

 about 40 yards broad. Above the surface of the clay protrude 

 two or three stumps of tree trunks, the sides of many pro- 

 strate trunks, and stumps of their branches. All are intensely 

 black, yet so well preserved that the grain of the wood of the 

 branch stumps when broken is plainly discerned. I have speci- 

 mens showing clearly that they are Oak. The few trunks 

 which I was able to trace along portions of the length ranged 

 east and west, with their beads towards the quarter last-named. 



This bank is the burial ground of a verv small portion of 

 the drowned forest, for the Rev. George Munford, who well 

 studied the natural history of the district, has recorded that 

 " this submarine forest commences at Brancaster Bay, stretch- 

 ing by Holme and Hunstanton, across the Wash, and extend- 

 ing all along the coast of Lincolnshire from Skegness to 

 Grimsby. This now submerged tract was once inhabited by 

 herds of deer and oxen, as is evident from the remains of their 

 horns and bones which have been occasionally found there ; 

 the foot of man has also trodden these now ruined wastes, for 

 works of art have been met with buried with the forest beneath 

 the waves. The prostrate forest consists of numberless large 

 timber trees, trunks, and branches, many of them decomposed, 

 and so soft that they might easily be penetrated by a spade. 

 Many of the trees, however, are quite sound and still fit for 

 domestic purposes ; and, indeed, they are sometimes used by 

 the proprietors of the neighbouring lands for posts and rails. 

 But the most extraordinary thing met with was a British 

 flint celt or axe embedded in the trunk of one of the decom- 

 po.sed trees, about IJ inch, by its cutting edge. This curiosity 

 is now deposited in the Norwich Museum." 



This excursion to the submarine forest made me more than 

 ever conversant with the abundance and variety of Seaweeds. 

 I have already noticed their employment here as a manure ; 

 and now I saw cows quietly walking down to the beds of grow- 

 ing Seaweeds, each taking a mouthful or two, and then return- 

 ing as leisurely to their grass pasture as they had come from 



it. They know that the salt in the Seaweed makes them feel 

 comfortable, as we know that it promotes their digestive power. 

 Among the Saaweeds was the Chondrua crispus, often used as 

 a substitute for isinglass ; and Dulse, RhoJomenia palmata, 

 which is considered invigorating when boiled in milk for in- 

 valids. All Sdaweeds early in the present century were burnt 

 to form kelp, then the only source of alkali for the glass and 

 soap makers, but now these weeds are used for other purposes. 

 They are distilled by highly heated steam, and an illuminating 

 gas, oil, acetic acid, iodine, and chloride of potassium, all 

 useful in various arts, are thus obtained. The residuum has 

 a powerful deodorising power, and can be used for that purpose 

 with sewage for manure. 



I will in a short time communicate my notes on Hunstanton 

 Hall.— G. 



ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY'S FLORAL 

 COMMITTEE. 



Tour reporter has given me credit for two very well-grown 

 pans of Nertera depressa at the South Kensington Show on 

 the 1st inst. Tney were no children of mine, but as they 

 had no card in front, and as my card was before a bottle of 

 cut Lilies very near, the Nurtera was credited to me. It the 

 Floral Committee continue the new rule of not allowing ex- 

 hibitors' names to appear, care should be taken to place cards 

 with names immediately after judgment. I have heard of 

 several mistakes, and not a little discontent caused by thb 

 omission of this. 



Old stagers say that the exhibitor's friends know his plants 

 without the name appearing, and that knowledge is really 

 ouly withheld from those who would make good use of it. 

 Our Fruit Committee rule of having numbers instead of names 

 for collections of fruit exhibited for prizes, seems to work 

 well, but this case is rather different. — Georqe F. Wilson, 

 Heatherbank, Weybridge. 



APPLES AND SOILS. 



Ddbino an extended observation of several years we have 

 noticed a peculiar adaptation of varieties of Apple trees to site 

 and soil. We have found the English Golden Russet succeed- 

 ing best on decidedly dry soils, and sunshiny slopes, or high 

 land. Tops liable to winter kill when trees are young, hardy 

 when older. Not an early bearer, but bears regularly and well 

 with age. A poor nursery but good orchard tree. 



Talman Sweet chooses a strong, rich soil, where it can 

 make a good annual growth. Young trees very liable to bark- 

 burst, and a bad nursery tree on that account. Here the tree 

 is almost hardy — receives injury many winters, but with 

 strong soil and good culture will recover. When in bearing is 

 very productive, trees from eighteen to twenty-five years old 

 bearing twelve to thirty bushels of Apples. 



Fameuse thrives best on limestone, clay, loam, or Oak-bush 

 land, such as is found at Baraboo in the State. Fails on 

 sandy land, and is worthless there. A good nursery tree, and 

 where it succeeds, one of the most profitable orchard trees. 



Duchess of Oldenburg — hardy on most soils, but suffers con- 

 siderably from drought on sandy soils. Needs a clay or loam, 

 and will do well where it is too cool and moist for the Golden 

 Russet. Very liable to send-up water-spouts from the roots 

 on account of early maturity of growth of top before roots 

 naturally would. 



Alexander is very hardy, but liable to fire blight. Thrives 

 best on clay loam soil, and blights most on sandy soils and 

 hot exposures. 



Yellow Belleflower has not proved productive or profitable 

 as far as we have seen it, and is not hardy enough to endure 

 well here. — A. L. Hatch (in American Horticulturist). 



L/ELIA MAJALIS. 

 This species is always admired, and always desired by 

 Orchid amateurs, and yet very few succeed with it when they 

 do become possessed of the plant. It is a dwarf-growing plant, 

 forming somewhat ovate or sub-rotund pseudobulbs, which 

 vary from 1 to 2 inches in height. The leaves are usually 

 solitary, some 4 inches long, oblong in shape, thick and leathery 

 in texture, and deep green in colour. Like all the genus, the 

 spike springs from the top of the pseudobulb, and is generally 

 single- flowered ; more rarely two are produced (our illustration 

 shows these). The flowers are large and showy, and from the 



