30 



January 15, 1898. 



sponding month of 1896. There was a decrease equal to 5*2 per cent. 



Medal 



The Council of the Royal Horticultural 



in the imports ; of 4'9 per cent, in the exports of British and Irish Society having been consulted as to a proper mode of the use of the Victoria 

 produce; and of 17 percent, in the'exports of foreign and colonial produce. medal b y members of the trade, have decided that the only permissible method is 

 These decreases are in the majority of cases due to a decline in value b Y the ,etters V.M.H. following the name of the holder of the medal, No other 



mention of the medal can be properly made in any application pertaining to 

 horticultural trade or relating thereto. 



New Apples. 



Waterl 



rather than to a reduction in quantities. The imports of fruits and 

 vegetables were less regular than for several months past, and increases 

 and decreases were almost equally balanced. As might have been ex- . 

 pected by those who have paid attention to the reports of the American *' nte : Referring to your article and illustration on page 8 of the Gardeners' 



crop, there was a material decrease in the imports of apples, the aggre- Magazine on the new seeding apple, James Grieve, raised and sent out by us, 



«ite aumtities received krone been 410 0<U bushels of the value of * few addltlonal P^iculars may be of interest to your readers. It is a seedling 

 gate quantities received haung been 410,954 Dusneis,, or tne \ aiue 01 from poU>s SeedH and fa lhehabit wood f ,. and buds it has very much th 



fiffi A 4 I' S ' f tV'f "I ^ ,70 1 3m fTn'f character as the parent. It fruited first with us in l88 7 . M^lZ^i 



ber, 1896, or a decrease in quantity of 77S,S^ bushels and m value of we raised it we had a number of other seedlings from different well Wn varied 



and those which in their wood, foliage, and robustness showed exceptional promise 

 were selected and grown on for trial. One of those which we named, Biilie 



,£148,833. The imports of apples for the twelve months was 4,199,971 

 bushels, of the value of .£1,187,363, against 6,176,956 bushels, of the value 



of ,£1,582,495, in 1896. Pears, on the other hand, show some increase, Neilson, a seedling from Golden Drop, has also 



for we imported 11,822 bushels, of the value of ,£6,342. The increase acquisition 



proved a very valuable 

 and was awarded a first-class certificate at the International ShowJ 



on the year was relatively much larger, for the aggregate imports were Edinburgh, in 1S91; this is a kitchen apple, with large fruit, an abundant 



1,057,694 bushels, and our bill for them amounted to the substantial sum bearer, and its season is from October to January ; it is being largely planted bj 



of ^£37 1,808. For the first time plums have a place in the returns for market growers. Although raised from Pott's Seedling, James Grieve has proved 



December, and it is interesting to observe that 604 bushels were im- a vei 7 fine dessert fruit 5 it is much hardier than Cox's Orange, which in Scotland 



ported, and that their value is returned as £184. For the year the im- re q uires to be grown on a wall, while James Grieve fruits freely on standards. In 



ports of plums were about 20,000 bushels less than those of pears, but ScoUand the season for this va "ety extends from September till March, and it 



their values ruled higher, as these closely approached half a million stains its jucmess till the last. Some of the other seedlings raised at the same 



sterling. Grapes show a drop of from 7,422 bushels to 1,634 bushels, as J f me * P nevc and r BaiUe Ndlson and are heavy and constant 



. , b , • j . . u\ c L bearers and of first-rate quality, are W. Robinson, James Welsh, P. \Y, 



with a corresponding decrease in values, but for the year there was an r>- PM^f*™ \r 1 1 i r v , lr- ^ a .1 u ,, 



„ v . * , i . 1 •• -i rairgneve, Dr. Robertson, Malcolm Dunn, and Edinburgh Castle, and they shoull 



increase of upwards of 100,000^ bushels, the actual quantities received come prominently t0 the front when better known » 



Injurious Insects in 1897. — In ber annual report on injurious insects 



having been 995,413 bushels, of the value of £495,642. Unenumerated 



fruits continue to increase and our bill for them in 189? amounted to W*E^& refei^ 



^695404. As in November, so m December, there was a material pants of garden and orchard : Attacks to orchards and bush fruits are steadiiv 



augmentation in the imports of potatos as compared with the correspond- increasing both in severity and in difficulty of dealing with them, consequently on 



ing month of the two previous years. The total was 472,867 cwt., of the increasingly large areas of land occupied permanently by one kind of crop, 



the value of ^82,096, against about 32,000 cwt., returned as of the value Applications regarding apple attacks were unusually numerous, including those of 



of about ;£6,ooo, in December 1895 an d 1896. There was an enormous codlin moth and sawfly caterpillars to fruit ; weevil and the little " apple sucker" 



increase in the German supplies, and also in those received from " other (Psylla malt) to the flower buds or their stems, and thrips also, and the apple 



countries." The imports of potatos during the twelve months ending bark scale. An attack to fruit in one district, which I was informed had been 



with December last very closely approached 4,000,000 cwt., and the bill considered to be that of the exceedingly injurious maggots of the U.S.A. Trypeta 



for them considerably exceeded £ 1,000,000. Onions, on the other hand, pomonella, caused some uneasiness, but as no larvce or specimens of the fly had been 



evinced a decrease both for the month and the year, and it is interesting secured > 1 venture to hope it may turn out to be only a somewhat uncommon form 



to observe that there was a material recovery in values as compared with of one of our En S lish attacks. Anyway, it can do no harm to mention that if im- 

 ported apples are noticed to be much tunnelled inside by the legless maggots of a 



two-winged fly, it would be of importance to attend to the matter at once. In 



those obtaining in the two previous years. These figures are of interest, 



as they indicate our dependence upon foreign cultivators for immense , . . , 4 T - . . ■ . , fc , 



rtnor.tUiocr of <VmWc ™a ,r««.*oku *u 4. 1 j u c> ui j j plum-tree infestation I am sorry to say that yet another shotborer beetle has ap- 



quantities of fruits and vegetables that could be profitably produced at ™> Q ^ ~ a *v v 1 : t I • ™ j i_ ^ r ■ .,, 1 



1 * «*t peared, named the Xyleborus Saxeseni. Pear and cherry leafage is still yearly 



much injured by the caterpillars, known as " slug worms," of the pear and cherry 

 sawfly, which is quite unnecessary, as the remedy and prevention of recurrence 



home. 



Position of the Royal Botanic Society.— At the meeting of the Fellows are sure and simple. 



of this society on Saturday, Major Cotton, w ho presided, referred at some length 



The ordinary attacks to bush fruits appear to have been 

 much as usual, excepting in a remarkable prevalence of the gooseberry and currant 

 to the present position of the society. In the course of his observations, he stated ma gpie moth, and also of the somewhat large "ground beetle "—the Harpalus 

 that the year 1897 had been a very eventful one in the history of the society, and ruficornis, which did much damage to ripening strawberry fruit in various locali- 

 se was pleased to be able to congratulate the Fellows upon the very excellent ^ es > and appeared in great numbers, though (in the absence of strawberry grounds) 

 position in which the society now stood as compared with its position at the not as a fruit pest, in the neighbourhood of St. Albans. The black currant gall 

 opening of last year. At that time the outlook was gloomy, for the lease of the mite > which causes the buds to develop into mere useless roundish knobs instead 

 gardens was about to expire, and an accumulated balance of some thousands of of producing fruit and leaves, now Causes serious and yearly increasing losses 

 pounds stood on the wrong side of the accounts, and was not only in itself a where this crop is grown on a large scale, and the yearly repeated and carefully 

 source of much uneasiness, but also prevented the society from giving prizes at the conducted experiments of some of our chief currant growers, have as yet failed in 



various fetes and shows as liberally as it desired. The position, however, had bein g more tha n palliatives. As, however, there appears to be just a possibility 



been resolutely faced, and he was pleased to say that, with the co-operation of that some varieties might be less subject to attacks than others, I have, through 



the council and some of the leading Fellows, the society was now perfectly solvent, the courtesy of one of my colleagues, been favoured with a supply of cuttings from 



and the accumulated debt, which had so long been a source of trouble and anxiety, Puda-Pesth, which will be carefully experimented with, and the result (if satisfac- 



had been swept away. A new lease for the maximum term of thirty-one years toi T) dul Y mentioned. Amongst attacks to root crop?, and to roots of grass and 



had been promised by the Commissioners of Woods and Forests, and it now only corn cro P s > damage was, as usual, done by the wireworms and daddy longleg* 



remained tor the Fellows to use their utmost endeavours and to induce friends to S rubs » also b Y maggots of cockchafers and rosechafers, especially by the last, for 



make the society the success it should be. Not only were the gardens open for the ravages of which at grass roots no reasonably practicable remedy has as yet 



study to the pupils of the various medical schools, but a school of practical garden- been brought forward. Amongst turnip attacks, diamond-back moth appeared at 



ing had been started with the concurrence and aid of the London County Council. several localities late in the season, and attacks of a small weevil and a gnat- 



The Middlesex and Herts County Councils had approached the society with a view mid 8 e ma ggot in the seed were present, also an unusual amount of damage was 



to sending students to the new school, and it was believed that to ladies also such done to roots n °t much advanced in growth by " surface caterpillars. 



an opportunity of learning gardening would be most agreeable. The council of 

 the British Astronomical Association, too, were taking steps to erect and equip 

 an observatory in the gardens. Reference was made to the great increase in the 

 number of Fellows elected in 1897, there having been more than eighty above the 

 average numbers of the last ten years. 



•'Garden and Forest" has been so admirably conducted from the first 

 that we greatly regret to learn that with the completion of the tenth volume its 

 publication has ceased. In announcing the discontinuance of the journal, &c 

 editor observes : " For ten years the experiment has been tried of publishing a 

 weekly journal devoted to horticulture and forestry, absolutely free from all trade 



iLvIT 25 ™? ™ T < _ ndon — We are Phased to learn that a movement is ln *hiences, and as good as it has been possible for us to make it. This experiment 

 ~, ,~ " which has cost a large amount of time and money, has shown conclusively that 



securing 



body 



London 



rrowd#»H nart nf Q fVi T a a r~ "'^ ****** — &^ wnwu ui mac <uiu luuucy, nas snown conclusive^ 



SZLrfrtl* «°!lrJi° SHU! _ L number of ^Ployers of labour in the district there are no * persons enough in the United States interested in the subjects which 



m^n » nr , n , u , . . .. - - have been presented jn co j umns of Gardm and F()resf tQ make a j ourna l of i« I 



class and character s-lf-supporting." 



Potato Culture in France for the production of supplies for purposes d 



human food has steadily increased during the past thirty-five years. From the 

 official returns recently published it appears that in 1862 there were 3,o^9,9l' 

 acres under potatos; in 1872, 3,304,398 acres; and in 1SS2, 3,641,154*** 



lark' 



Nelson Square, Ulackfriars Road, as an open space. The garden is a 

 and the square is bounded on the east by a number of narrow lanes WUIl5 

 The only open space in the neighbourhood in which children can play with safety 

 :s the small garden in Red Cross Street, Borough. It is also hoped that the 

 churchyard of Chnst Church may also be converted into a garden^ before he 

 com.ng spnng, the rector being desirous of meeting the views of the vestry if 

 sausmctory arrangements can be made fnr nr. 



increase 



and similar green crops for consumption by the people during the same period 

 which appears to indicate a larger consumption of vegetables in France. 



