188 



JOURNAIi OF HORTIGDLTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ August 2T, J874. 



perennis) as good for cooking as Spinach. If our notes on 

 pages 258 and HI of our last Tolume are referred to it will be 

 seen that we especially pointed out that the plant is Good- 

 King-Henry (Chenopodium Bonus-Heurious), and that the 

 name of " Mercury " is the common name applied to this in 

 Lincolnshire. 



BELFAST INTEENATIONAL FRUIT AND 



FLOWER SHOW. 



This was held on the 20th and 2l8t inst. in the Gardens of 

 the Royal Botanic Society at Belfast, and under the manage 

 ment of the Ulster Horticultural Society. It was entirely suc- 

 cessful, and we refrain from minute details, because we cannot 

 afford space for the claims upon our columns made by many 

 other exhibitions in England, Scotland, and Wales. Messrs. 

 Veitch and Mr. B. S. Williams were to the fore among the 

 English exhibitors, but we shall enumerate chiefly the Irish 

 exhibitors. Messrs. Rodger, M'Clelland, & Co., Newry, ex- 

 hibited more than a hundred specimen plants, and obtained 

 three first prizes. Mr. R. B. Matthews, Belfast, had a large 

 and meritorious collection. The Roses from the nurseries of 

 Mr. Hugh Dickson, Belmont, and Messrs. Alexander Dickson 

 and Sons, Newtownards, were, as might have been foretold, 

 most successful. Among the fruit we will notice the monster 

 bunches of Black Hamburgh and Calabrian Grapes from 

 Lambton Castle. The Hamburgh bunch weighed 21J lbs., 

 and the Calabrian 15 lbs. The Queen's gardener at Frogmore, 

 Mr. Jones, was the chief prizewinner for Pine Apples. The 

 prizes offered by Mr. W. Bull, King's Road, Chelsea, went 

 chiefly to Irish amateurs. 



THE LADY APPLE. 



It has been asserted that this Apple was brought from Pelo- 

 ponessus to Rome by Appius Claudius. Whether this be true 

 or not, there can be no doubt it is of great antiquity, as all the 

 oldest authors regard it as the production of an age prior to 

 their own. Dalecbamp and Harduin are of opinion that it is 

 the Petisia of Pliny; but J. Eaptista Porta considers it to be 

 the Appiana of that author, who thus describes it, " Odor est 

 his cotoneorum magnitudo qua! Claudianis, color rubens." 

 From this description it is evident that two varieties are re- 

 ferred to, the Appiana and Claudiana. Such being the case, 

 J. Baptista Porta says, " Duo sunt apud nos Mala, magnitudine 

 et colore paria, et preciosa, quorum uuum odorem servat coto- 

 neorum, alteram minimL-. Quod odore caret, vulgo dictum 

 Melo rosa. Id roseo colore perfusum est, mira teneritudiue et 

 sapore, minime fugax, pomum magnitudine media, ut facile 

 cum ceteris de principatu certet, nee indiguum Claudii nomine. 

 Hoc Claudianum dicerem." This Melo Eosa may possibly be 

 the Pomme Rose or Gros Api, and if so, we may infer that the 

 Api is the Appiana, and the Gros Api the Claudiana of Pliny. 

 This, however, may be mere conjecture; but as the authority 

 referred to was a native of Naples, and may be supposed to 

 know something of the traditionary associations of the Roman 

 fruits, I have deemed it advisable to record his opinion on the 

 Bubject. According to Merlet the Api was first discovered as 

 a wilding in the forest of Api in Brittany. 



Although mentioned by most of the early continental writers, 

 the Api does not appear to have been known in this country 

 till towards tbe end of the seventeenth century. It is first 

 mentioned by Worlidge, who calls it " Pomme Appease, a 

 curious Apple, lately propagated ; the fruit is small and 

 pleasant, which the madames of France carry in their pockets 

 by reason they yield no unpleasant scent." Lister, in his 

 " Journey to Paris, 1G<J8," speaking of this as being one of the 

 Apples served up in the dessert, says, " Also the Pome d'Apis, 

 which is served here more for show than for use, being a small 

 flat Apple, very beautiful, and very red on one side, and pale 

 or white on the other, and may serve the ladies at their toilets 

 as a pattern to paint by." De Quintinye calls it " Une Pomme 

 des Damoiselles et de bonne compagnie." 



Under the name of Lady Apple large quantities of the Api 

 are annually imported to this country from the United States, 

 where it is grown to a great extent, and produces a consider- 

 able return to the growers, as it always commands the highest 

 price of any other fancy Apple in the market. In the winter 

 months they may be seen encircled with various coloured tissue 

 papers adorning the windows of the fruiterers in Covent Garden 

 market. 



There are other varieties mentioned by J. B. Porta as belong- 



ing to the Api family : one which ripened in August, in sizei 

 like the Claudiana already mentioned, and commonly called 

 Melo Appio Bosso because it retained the scent of the Api ; 

 this is probably the Rother Sommer-api of Diel. There is 

 another, of which he says, "Assererem tuto esse Melapium 

 Plinii," and which was held in such estimation as to give rise 

 to the proverb — 



" Omme Malum malum prieter applum Malum," 

 Fruit small, oblate. Skin thick, smooth, and shining, 

 yellowish green in the shade, changing to pale yellow as it 

 attains maturity, and deep glossy red, approaching to crimson, 

 on the side next the sun. Eye small, set in a rather deep and 

 plaited basin. Stalk short and deeply inserted. Flesh wliite, 

 crisp, tender, sweet, very juicy, and slightly perfumed. 



Fig. 55. — The Lady Apple. 



A beautiful little dessert Apple, in use from October to April. 



It should be eaten with the skin on, as it is there that th& 

 perfume is contained. The skin is very sensitive of shade, 

 and any device may be formed ujiau it by causiog pieces of 

 paper, in the form of the design required, to adhere on the 

 side exposed to the sun before it has attained its deep red. 

 colour. 



The tree is of a pyramidal habit of growth, healthy, and an 

 abundant bearer. It succeeds well in almost any situation 

 provided the soil is rich, loamy, and not too light or dry, and 

 may be grown with equal success either on the Doucin or Crab 

 stock. When worked on the French Paradise it is well adapted 

 for pot culture. The fruit is firmly attached to the spurs, and 

 forcibly resists the effects of high winds. — H. 



PEACHES-STRAWBERRIES. 



As Mr. Camm asks advice in respect to Peaches, and I sup- 

 pose Nectarines, I am pleased to give it. He must use Par- 

 ham's glass copings, which are successful, and which I have 

 seen at Mr. Connop's at Fifehead Neville near here. He must 

 buy Mr. Brchaut's admirable treatise called the " Modern 

 Peaoh-Pruner," which can be had at the office of The Journal. 

 OF HoKTicuLTCKE. He must read and copy, as near as he 

 can, page 8'J, " the theory of close pruning," especially Mr. 

 Knight's advice, beginning with the words " Instead of taking," 

 to the words " Cold and late ones." I use sheet copiugs, and 

 have, on all walls in a most trying situation, a capital crop of 

 Peaches and Nectarines. I practised Mr. Knight's plan long 

 before I saw it brought forward. Mr. Sturt's under gardener 

 has been here from Critchel. He was astonished at the fruit 

 and health of the trees. The trees out of doors of the above 

 fruits, he says, have been much blighted at Critchel. The 

 fruits here have been slow in swelling, but the Grosse Mignonn© 

 Peaches are splendid, from 8 to 9 inches in circumference. 

 That will be a large size for this year. They are splendid in 

 form. Noblesse and Grosse Mignonne are, in my judgment, 

 the best two Peaches. I cannot recommend too highly Early 

 Louise Peach, ripe here on a severe east wall July 19th. 



As regards Strawberries, I recommend " A. P., Germany," 

 to have Wonderful. It beat all here this year, and is a capital 

 culinary Strawberry, as it retains its firmness. I recommend 

 " D. F. J. K." to have Frogmore Late Pine. He is right in 

 saying that the Black Prince is the best early out-of-doora 

 Strawberry. There is one much earlier — Nicholson's May 

 Queen, but it requires glass to ripen it, as it flowers in Febru- 

 ary. Baron Hambro's late gardener at Milton Abbey told mo 

 some years ago they forced a great quantity and found it very 

 useful. It has been a bad season here, owing to the drought,, 

 scarcity of water, and fierce heat. Wonderful was finely 

 cropped. Its chief fault is that it^does not colour well to ita 



