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JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ October 5, 1876. 



Knight lived, and in the interests of which he toiled through- 

 out a long life, there should remain so few traces of his labours. 

 With the exception of the Downton Pippin, and here and there 

 a stray dish of one or two varieties, there was no evidence in 

 this great collection of fruit of any great change or lasting im- 

 pression he left behind him. The Rev. C. H. Bulmer of 

 Credenhill sent twenty-five dishes, very correctly named ; Mr. 

 Hill of Eggleton sent twenty-four of Apples and Pears, Miss 

 Guthrie of Hereford sent twenty- three of Apples and Pears, 

 Rev. J. Davis of Moor Court sent twenty-five of Apples and 

 Pears, all well grown, as were also the twenty-seven dishes of 

 the Rev. A. Clive of Whitfield, and the thirty- three of Apples 

 and Pears contributed by W. F. Herbert, Esq., of Credenhill; 

 Miss Bulmer sent a good collection of twenty-four Apples and 

 Pears, and Wegg-Prosser, Esq., of Belmont, contributed the 

 large number of sixty-three dishes, forming a most interesting 

 collection. Mr. Davis of Marden sent thirty dishes of cider 

 Apples, and another collection of the same came from Mr. 

 Davis of Burlton ; Messrs. Cranston & Mayos sent twenty-four 

 dishes of Apples and Pears, Capt. Doughty of Hereford four- 

 teen, Mr. F. Boddenham of Hereford fourteen, Mr. Morris of 

 Dewsall fourteen, and Dr. Bull of Hereford fourteen. This 

 collection of Dr. Bull's was remarkable for a dish of very hand- 

 some Gloria Mundi Apples, which formed a great attraction. 

 The other contributors of smaller collections were Sir Herbert 

 Croft, Mr. Curling, Mr. Cam, Dr. Moore, Mr. Hereford, and 

 Rev. W. Thomas of Llanthomas. 



We shall not on the present occasion go into particulars 

 about the different varieties of fruit that were exhibited, with 

 the exception of those grown for cider ; and it will be interest- 

 ing to many of our readers to know the names of those varieties 

 which contribute to produce the noted vintages of Herefordshire. 

 At some future time we will enter more in detail upon the 

 individual merits and uses of the different varieties; mean- 

 while we append a list of those which were exhibited at this 

 meeting. 



Bromley. Germain. Ked Norman. 



BJack Norman. Green Norman. Red Stjre. 



Crimson Qneening. Handsome Normandy. Redstreak. 



Cook's Kernel. King Charles. Styre. 



Cowame Red. Kernels. Sam's Crab. 



Cowame Qneening. Morning Pippin. Skyrme's Kernel. 



Com Apple.| New German. Spreading Norman. 



Cherry Norman. Old Peaimain. "White Musk. 



Foxwhelp. Pig-nose Pippin. TJnderleaf. 



Forest Styre. Philip Mandy. Upright French. 



Goose Apple. Royal Wilding. Yellow Styre. 

 Rocklej's. 



The frequency with which the names " Norman," " Nor- 

 mandy," and "French" occur in this list confirms the state- 

 ment of contemporary writers, that it was through the exer- 

 tions of Lord Scudamore in the reign of CharleB I. introduc- 

 ing some of the best cider Apples from Normandy that the 

 orchards of Hereford were so much improved. It was he also 

 who introduced the Redstreak, hence called Scudamore's Crab, 

 but we have no record whence it came or how it originated. 

 For a long period after its introduction it was regarded as the 

 moat valuable of cider fruits, and Philips says — 



" Let every tree in every garden own 

 The Redstreak as supreme." 



Now its place is usurped by the Foxwhelp, which yields a 

 vintage not inferior to some of the renowned crus of France. 

 This is notably the case at Credenhill near Hereford, where 

 we can testify from personal experience that a sparkling cider 

 of the most wholesome and generous description is made 

 which is far superior to much of the sparkling wine that comes 

 from abroad. An uneasy feeling exists among the orchardists 

 of Herefordshire that the Foxwhelp is dying out. There is 

 no ground whatever for this alarm. The old trees are cer- 

 tainly dying out, and will inevitably die out like every other 

 organised body as the result of exhaustion and old age ; but 

 by careful selection of healthy soions and grafting them on 

 vigorous-growing stocks, this and any other variety of fruit 

 tree may be perpetuated in a state of perfect health. The con- 

 trary opinion advocated by Mr. T. A. Knight has been proved 

 to be entirely fallacious, and no better instance of this could 

 be given than that furnished by Mr. John Boxley of Lyde, who 

 exhibited at this meeting fruit of the Foxwhelp yielded by 

 trees which had been " five times past through the graft." 

 The meaning of this is that scions had been first taken from 

 the old tree and grafted on young stocks. From the trees thus 

 produced more vigorous scions were again taken and grafted 

 on young stocks, and this successive grafting having been per- 

 formed five times, the result was a perfect regeneration of the 



constitution of the tree, and a great improvement on the size 

 and appearance of the fruit. This improvement of the fruit 

 is considered an objection by the orchardist on account of the 

 quality of the eider being inferior to that produced by the old 

 trees, and being deficient of the peculiar smack and aroma 

 which is the great characteristic of the matured Foxwhelp. 

 This is an objection, however, which age will remove. It is 

 well known that in all wine-producing fruitB the quality of the 

 liquor is much superior when made from fruit grown upon 

 aged trees than from that which is yielded by young trees ; and 

 therefore as the trees become older so will the cider become 

 relatively of finer quality. Fruit from young trees is always 

 more succulent than from those that have attained to perfect 

 maturity. This suggests the question, " When has a tree 

 attained to perfect maturity?" The answer depends on the 

 nature and individual constitution of the tree. Some are more 

 robust and enduring than others, and some are more adapted 

 than others to particular soils, and upon these depends the 

 period when the several varieties attain perfect maturity. To 

 arrive at this question most readily we have to observe what 

 is the duration of the existence of the variety in a particular 

 soil, and just as we estimate the perfect maturity of any or- 

 ganised being at middle life, so may we estimate the perfect 

 maturity of an Apple or a Pear tree when it has attained what 

 is known to be the half of the period of its average existence. 

 We have no fear, therefore, that the Foxwhelp or any other 

 variety that is worth preserving will ever die out if the proper 

 means are taken to preserve it. 



Dr. Hogg of the Journal of Horticulture was present by in- 

 vitation, and in company with Rev. C. H. Bulmer and Dr. 

 McCullough examined every dish, and corrected the nomen- 

 clature where this was necessary, supplying the names of Buch 

 varieties as were wanting. Dr. Hogg has also undertaken to 

 assist the Club in any attempts they may make in investigat- 

 ing the numerous fruits of the district. 



Some may Bay, and some no doubt will say, " Of what use 

 is such a meeting as that where no prizes are awarded?" We 

 have already indicated that the Woolhope Club is a scientific 

 body, consisting of gentlemen whose EOle object is the advance- 

 ment and cultivation of science, and we regard it as a great 

 step gained that pomology has fallen under their protecting 

 shadow. Every subject to which they have hitherto applied 

 their attention has been benefited, and now that they have 

 taken up the study and investigation of fruits we may hope 

 for an elucidation of the pomology of one of the greatest of tha 

 orchard districts of England in a manner which has never even 

 been attempted. The partial work of the late Mr. Thomas 

 Andrew Knight, as we find it in his " Pomona Herefordiensis," 

 gives a very inadequate idea of the extent and importance 

 of the subject as it exists in Herefordshire alone. These 

 orchards are teeming with varieties of great excellence of which 

 the world knows nothing, and it is to be regretted that at 

 the meeting held last week there were so many exhibited to 

 which no names were attached. This omisBion we are informed 

 was a reluctance on the part of the exhibitors to give the local 

 names, from a supposition that they were all possessed ol 

 " book names," and that someone learned in the subject 

 would be able to identify them. The fact is they had no 

 " book names," and were never known out of their own 

 districts, hence the importance at any subsequent meeting of 

 having all such exhibited with the names by which they are 

 known in the orchards where they are found. What we would 

 recommend the Woolhope Club to do is to form a pomological 

 committee of those of its members who make a speoial study of 

 fruits. A committee not exceeding twelve in number would be 

 found the most serviceable, and let them investigate the history 

 of these nondescript varieties, compare them with the recog- 

 nised kinds, and ascertain their relative merits and uses. Such 

 a committee properly constituted and favoured with the benig- 

 nant smile of the indefatigable Dr. Bull could do valuable work 

 which would confer lasting benefit on the commercial enter- 

 prise of the county. Under the committee, too, a " Pomona 

 Herefordiensis " worthy of the name could be produced which 

 would become a permanent authority and work of reference on 

 this important question. 



EUCALYPTUS GLOBULUS. 

 Thb answer you have given to a correspondent in the Journal 

 of last week respecting Eucalyptus globulus is no doubt applic- 

 able to England, but in Ireland it has been found perfectly 

 hardy, and promises to be not a merely curious but a profitable 



