AUGUST 20, l89 8 



GARDENERS' 



MAGAZINE. 



leaves Fro 



a Ra 



N 



HARVEST IN FRUITLAND. 



539 



C&^Sfe^ their mark on the trapeze or the tight rope, 

 tion L P S pnc?l m S P ? rp ° SeS common P lace 8 occu?a- 



experienced pfckers of LT * P"*?' u Dd , f? a S iUt y with which 



For a seemingly long time the train remained at a standstill in a little strapped on their back, ^J^V^l ? e J adders > and w "h baskets 



ftauon on one or the lines that wind their way through hop gardens and bran p c P hes of a cher^tif ™ .? * 33 ^° Ugh P ° Sed in the 



S orchards in the county of Kent. No one noticed the de ay for a able . A d»^S£?JSSfe 8 ?" ^ ? the , W ° r,d C S remark " 



e and then one after the other the passengers rose, and with head red fruit glitterine amonJ £ i S - ''T 13 a ^ USy - place ' The bri & ht 



" cLnHers orotrudin* through the window asked all kinds of sarcastic and an element rftSX - , ? aves J m ^e sunshine >s a picture in itself, 



with imnortanf m ;l g V s introduced In the person oftheboywho, 



w h aTun to keLn ' Tfu der u S ab ° Ut under the shade of the armed 

 TomerE ta tt / °^ ^ ^' eV,n S birds - He kee P s U P a brisk fire, 

 hZ JZ n^L dangCr ° f ?« P ickers in the branches, and one canno 



x^eri^*^?!^^^**** of a °y birds that wil1 essa y to 



come' 0 f h en ^ 3"-^ a babel of laughter and conversation. Atone 



and round lr? d m *, 5 T ]l mar <l uee . the headquarters of the pickers, 



must the iSS? a K P, ' ed - the , hea P s of fuI1 and ^ m Pty siev es. Deftly 

 cherrv t Jtt , b \™ ni P ula ted, *o as not to break branches, as a 



the "trV.V. cf ^ Uabl r I*-*, ° f P ro P ert y> and q ui <*ly one after the other 

 the trees are stripped of their luscious burdens. The man who has charge 



linS Pa r g a 7 an &ements transfers the fruit to the sieves, which are 

 lined and covered with paper, and in succession the waggoner, railway 

 man market porter, and salesman play their part in the harvest, and 

 eventually also does the costermonger, who cries " Cherry ripe " from 



and shoulders protruding through the window asked 

 questions, such as: "Are we going to stop here all day?" " Has the 

 engine fire gone out ? " and so on. One portly gentleman, who, from his 

 well groomed appearance and important air, might have been either a 



erc j a l traveller or a member of the Stock Exchange, rose from his 



. threw down his paper, and hurled uncomplimentary epithets at 



comm 



corner, -- --- — j — x — i — — — — — y j - r 



railwav companies in general and this one in particular. " It's a beastly 



■** ; 



through 



Why 



instead of stopping 

 one seemed to know 



ings by goods train, or else run specials for them, 



every train in this provoking manner VI No on. ~ ^ 



exactly why the railway company did not act according to the important 

 gentleman ; s suggestion, and therefore kept discreetly silent, with excep- 

 tion of one passenger, who had a distinctly agricultural Kentish look 

 about him, and hitherto had not offered any remark. " It's quite certain 

 you a'int a grower, sir," he said dryly, and then sucked at his pipe with a 

 resignation which suggested that he was quite contented to wait till the 

 train was ready to start. At length the last basket of strawberries had 

 beemput in, and, after backing into a siding and hooking on several vans 

 laden with fruit, the guard blew his whistle, the train started, and the 



important gentleman in the corner retired once more behind his news- 

 paper. 



This sort of thing is quite common during the fruit season, and 

 perhaps it never occurs to those who buy their fresh strawberries, goose- 

 berries, cherries, and so forth, every day, where they all come from and 

 how they are transferred Jrom the producer to the consumer. At every 



lion along the route there was the same delay, but after the timely 



rrnSi rCCO n Cd u b °, ve ' ^ he M 1 ? gentleman kept his own counsel, 



only person who 



had an n terest in the services of the railway. In the goods yards and 

 TJXfJ° f T were ™ untain * of round sieves and tubs, some empty 

 ' t £ I iZT t"* ° ne * omew hat of the piles of barrels in [he 

 Z t er f, t? 7 rent ™*SS° ns P iled - high with baskets, tier 

 Eed 't£ $ ? h St °° d ,n the sidin S s ' and impatient growers 



^ir^^ 1 "^ 0flida,S ' With en< l uiries about em P^s- 

 iwo important items seem to concern Kentish growers durintr tbe busv 



in the hands o? 1 ^ A ° r " P rices '" and here he is 



mdivdual sends ^e it m uT 'rf^ "^ St ">ttt9litedly ppeket what that 



•otagonis ic "o the miSJu Not . that the ^ rower is ' a ^ a rule, 



m^StZ^^hi^}^ ° n f 6 °l her hand he has a fai; 



Wt, prices m„« necessa K tu ^ ^ ^ market is ful1 of 

 »*re the grower is ^ ^^1 f I 6 Se , COnd ltem 15 empties," and 

 enJSgfa ^ Se ISke ^o taVe -^ radwa y com P a ny unless he lives 

 "Im/for thi -Sf - ls P^duce up by road. 



Naturally, fine weather has an important bearing on the Kentish fruit 

 harvest, particularly so with soft fruit. This season has been a fortunate 

 one, as little ram fell during July, and fruit was marketed in a splendid 

 condition. There have been, and still are, some complaints about crops, 

 but the mutterings generally begin when prices are discussed. Questions 

 applied to different growers anent the crops have elicited the answer 

 that they mustn't grumble," and when a Kentish fruit farmer goes thus 

 ar you may depend that he is more than half satisfied with the result. 

 t,et on the subject of returns, and he changes his tune. It has been a 

 season of surprises and sudden drops. First consignments sold well, 

 beyond the growers' expectation, and in consequence he dispatched 

 heavily the next day. In many cases the returns fell to half the former 

 price, and with this elevating and dashing of hopes the fruit season 

 drags itself along. At the beginning, some people prophesied a glut, 

 others failure, but both were wrong. Generally speaking, bush and berry 

 fruit crops have been fairly heavy, though it seems difficult to prove to 

 many growers that good cro.os and low prices amount to about the same 

 thing as half the weight of fruit and double the returns. Harvest time 

 with most cultivators of land is not of long duration, but among Kentish 

 fruit plantations it begins when the first tiny green gooseberries are 

 stripped from the bushes and continues till the last of the apples and 

 pears have been dispatched. Though much of the traffic is carried on 

 by special trains, at times of pressure the ordinary service is affected, 

 and if my portly friend is a constant traveller I hope there will always be 

 someone present to chide his grumblings by reminding him that he is 

 not a grower. How circumstances alter cases ! H. 



When 



^t&l^^^l^ g? - baskets to put it in, 



«■». and yet I do not Think h? L , He WOrries the carrier s « 



* the quick transk o emotv \£ S f UC< T^ d ln convincing them 

 ■aportant as deUve L J ^^711 £ the f f uit Plantation is quite as 



^Portant a* A*v 1- , F ^ sieves 10 me lruit 

 ^ *nt as dehvenng them full into the market. 



* U ft I J 



Z Kemthfrui?' inl^ unint erested individual 



* tra ">, or else when he ™th P IS - ^ er - § athe «-ed whilst travelling 

 •■PPiies it But the fruit harv PS V 



Some Interesting New Fruits. 



The Logan berry. 



In the spring of 1S97 we planted a few examples of the logan berry on a 

 low south wall, making special preparation for the roots before planting. 

 The plants were rather weak, having come direct from America, but the 

 canes grew from five to six feet high during the summer and ripened 

 well. This year nearly every eye on the blackberry-like ones has pro- 

 duced a raceme of fruit. The fruit is much larger than the largest rasp- 

 berry that I have ever seen, and somewhat resembles a mulberry in its 

 dark colour and long shape. There is two much acidity in the ripe 

 fruits for them to be largely eaten in a raw state ; had they possessed 

 more sweetness, doubtless the logan-berry would have become a popular 

 fruit for dessert, but now I should think few people would make use of it 



■ , . ouuurv otViP f , — ' " ™* "*e cmmity of a con- in that wa > 7 - lt wil1 P roduce fruit about the same time as the raspberry 



belong to thp lnl 1 , ? ecessar y to a day in the fields THp.p in the open garden, where it will readily succeed, so that it can be mixed 



a ^ « Ttog population, and in Kent female laSwr brings with that fruit for tarts. Last week I had a tart mrrde of logan-b,rne* 



>'ist to the mill. Hnn-tvin. ^ ? ]e ^Dour brings ^ berrie5 mixed . after adding extra sugar it is very acceptable. 



The plant is vigorous, making canes like the Crimson Rambler rose, and 

 fruiting nearly the whole length. The fruiting canes should be taken out 

 in the autumn, so as to give room for the young canes ; these 



y es lt But the fru h Yarve ^'A fnm the ^man who 



f^'ldren all take their sh are f * ^ ™ mmui »ty. Men, women, 



^strict towards ev«?S vn Y °? alon ? the h ^way in 



c™/^ them strings of women and 



good 

 •d oth 



iron \h? u WK on the farm keen^ ^ atheri n&» ^uit picking, 



^*temit y 2JE&L r , earm & of a family. 



rty a u ; tp j-::" *^'"s or a 

 ^. ma^^ll^i^e^^ the foregoing. 



•t here is another picking 

 *t is the London element, 



11 LUC iLULUUUJ, *^ O 



m*X** a so « of holidav rfA"*?^ 11 ,s the London element" should be secured to either wall, trellis, or slake. It is also vigorous 

 r* kffl contrast to the i ^ i the , fruit,n ^ r se;is o». and thev oresent 1 rooting, and repays for mulching and watering 1 ,1 

 , + -n, Md nev er " U o n , i , ' < ; VVned fo! ^ who t eat them w th *** S any sheltered corner further south, hut here » ,row u m the 



I should think it will 



<incl never L r et nn • f - ; lvu,UbI1 I0 ^', who treat them with S row in an y she 



53£i e " then ' the sea"on\a\ rn b S eJ V,th th ! m ? Natural instTnct open on a trellis 



5Slav' n ^ e e ^ Uall y squalid tvnes oA ' and fr0m sc l ua,id courts ' 

 , £*™ ays le adin ^ m »V?S?f!2 types °( humanity, who swarm along 



Raspberry 



•uth in laughter rnm 8 n^;^ a PPearance, vulgar in 



^harv^ 0 n fj? the strawbe 

 ^•'natim 



***** StSt C V e ? > a Witioa" to 'say! butTf 2F£ h f i t y - h 



farvest is not long enough. n0t benefi cial, it 



them 



'«s of town life f he hriS ^ tra,nin S amid the con- 



Old and younl lose hl F ° ntaCt with Nat ^e, how- 



« a *'i heal? h r feeffiS PinChed ,0 ° ks ' and 

 ln » notinannL; ' f: 1 ™, 1 the country holi lav has 



is 



1 k 7 Ot 



This was introduced at the same time as the logan-berry, and planted 

 against the same wall ; it is a distinct plant, producing suckers like the 

 raspberry, but these only grow about eighteen inches high, and flower on 

 the current year's canes. It is questionable whether this plant will pro- 

 duce and mature crops of useful fruit in the north, even in front of a south 

 wall. Messrs. Childs, of New York, advise growing it in pots under 

 glass and I have no doubt it will, thus treated, prove an interesting 

 plant! The fruit is very handsome, not large, but I cannot speak of the 

 ■flavour yet. I may lift a plant and grow it under glass, and should it 

 prove useful, I will send a note of it in the autumn. 



The Golden May-berry. 



This is not so hardy as the above, fcr plants placed in the open have 



* 0n S the bran 



{ lu r truit gathering arnw vu 6 il s>Kuiea labour is not This is not so naray w iw auuvc, iur pianis piacea in wc open nave 



>a rticularly i s this so in *h pr ^ ferl °c a l pickers when died, while those planted against a south wall have barely come through 

 1 of thf> fi*r>_^„ tne cherrv harvest • ^nrl thP tiiA wmfpr alivp. One of them has made a shcot three feet lomr this 



che 



■ ***** wrasaaa?a 



n 



the winter alive. One of them has made a shcot three feet long 

 summer, and that is about the extent of our experience with it. 

 Alnwick Castle Gardens. r^v^«* i 



Geor<;e Harris. 



