October 8, 1898 



GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



649 



and to be acc^ ^ deaJings of pub i; c bodies which it is difficult to understand. 

 SdS grower pays no rent, rates, nor taxes to this country, while the English 

 \a n is not only heavily taxed, but has to bear his share m providing the 

 seedsma r ed ^ ^ Lon don County Council, who, in return, prefer to place 



reorders with foreign houses, I believe this is the first time the order for 

 b lbs has been placed abroad, and, that it may be the last, I hope every pressure 



money 



London 



Some Crested Begonia Blooms of great excellence have been sent us 



trom Aberlour, btrathspey, by Mr. J. G. White, who states that the plants bearing 

 them were raised from seed sown this year. In the Strathspey district begonias, 

 both single and double, have flowered profusely, but unfortunately two frosts 

 occurred last week, one of four and the other of seven degrees, which effectually 

 ended the outside display. Mr. White is to be congratulated upon his success as 

 a begonia grower, for the trusses and flowers before us are large and substantial, 

 bright, clean, and fresh even after their long journey. There are buff, pink, 



bold 



manner than any we have hitherto seen. 



will be brought to Dear on uic ic^u 3JU i C ~* 



Council, not merely to give a satisfactory explanation, but to prevent the repetition 

 of such an injustice to English seedsmen." 



Royal Horticultural Society.— The Fruit, Floral, and Orchid Com- 

 mittees will meet at the Drill Hall, on Tuesday next, at noon ; and at the after- 

 noon meeting of Fellows the Rev. G. Henslow will lecture on " Some of the 

 Plants Exhibited." 



Experimental Stations were discussed in a paper read by Mr. Lewis 

 Castle, manager of the Woburn Experimental Fruit Farm, at the meeting of the 

 Birmingham Gardeners' Association, held at the Athletic Institute on Monday 

 last. The subject was dealt with at some length ; the experimental work in 

 Great Britain and abroad was reviewed, and suggestions made for the formation 

 and management of horticultural stations. Mr. W. Latham, curator of the 

 Birmingham Botanic Gardens, presided, and at the close of a long and interesting 

 discussion, a hearty vote of thanks was accorded Mr. Castle for his lecture. 



The Fruits of the Passion Flower suffer so much in transit, unless orTnge, The St."^^ TreTf 



packed with exceptional care, that hitherto it has been found impossible to import a blood . red colour> the Mandarin> and Tangerine. Orange trees are remarkably 



them from abroad, and it would appear that the problem of their successful lm- pro iifi c fhrit bearers, and it has been stated on good authority that one tree has 



portation still awaits solution. The latest consignment of these fruits to this ^ea k nown to yield twenty thousand fruits fit for exportation. Enormous quan- 



country arrived a few days since by the " Orient," but the fruit contained in the tities of fruitS) which are ever j ncreas ing in bulk, find their way into the English 



twenty cases was in such an unsatisfactory condition as to necessitate the whole of market> and when it }s borne in mind that tach frtlit has to ^ gat hered separately, 



it being condemned. Further attempts are, however, likely to be made in order wrappe d i n paper and packed, together with the cost of the boxes, freight and 



to get this particular kind of fruit placed on the market, as it is thought that when ]abour throughout, and after all this the fruits can often be sold in the retail 



5weet, Seville, and Bergamotte Oranges.— The Sweet orange, 



which is also known as the Chinese or Portugal orange, is the fruit of Citrus 

 aurantium, a small, much -branched tree of about twenty feet in height, which is 

 scarcely known at the present time in a wild state, but which seems to have been 

 originally a native of Northern India or Southern China, and not introduced into 

 Europe till the middle of the fifteenth century, at least, so says Mr. J. R. Jackson, 

 A.L.S., in Knowledge. At the present time the Sweet orange is cultivated very 

 extensively in many parts of the Mediterranean, district, as well as in Spain, 

 Portugal, Madeira, the Azores, and many other countries possessing a suitable 

 climate. In the South of Europe the trees flower, ip April and May, and the 

 fruits ripen about a year after. A very large number of varieties of the orange 

 have been described, the most important being those affecting the size, form, or 

 quality of the fruit. The more important varieties are those known as the China 



the fruit is once introduced a profitable trade may be cultivated. In appearance 

 the Passion fruit somewhat resembles the walnut. The fruit is of a yellow colour, 

 and the flavour is nearly similar to that of a black currant. In the colonies, where 



market at twenty for a shilling, it seems very remarkable that the crops are made 

 to pay even for the ground upon which they are grown. The orange is one of 

 the most wholesome fruits known, and a truly valuable refrigerant, and it is 



there is a good demand for the product, it is frequently eaten with sugar and remarkable that very few people dislike the orange. Besides the use of the pulp 



crea 



Low 



as an edible, the rind of the fruit, known as Sweet orange peel, is valued for its 



Place, has been appointed by the New South Wales Government to report on the aromatic, stimulant, and slightly tonic properties, 

 condition of the shipment, and when seen by a representative of the City Press 

 he pointed out that the present consignment had not been packed in the best 



Essential Oils from Oranges. — The essential oil, contained in such 



manner possible, and that the temperature of the compartments in which it had large quantities in the glands of the rind of the Sweet orange, is extracted 



both by the sponge and ecuelle processes. Large quantities of oil of orange 

 peel are used in Germany in the preparation of perfumes and liqueurs. From 



been carried had been far too high. Consequently, he said, more than an ordinary 

 amount of delay occurred. Mr. Low thinks that in the future a very large busi- 



ness will be done in the fruit of Passiflora edulis, but in his opinion the trade the flowers a volatile oil is distilled, known as oil of neroli, which is one of 

 might best be opened up by sending a few cases to a private merchant, who would " ~" 



distribute it among the best class of fruiterers. The fruit could thus be intro- 

 duced to the public, and a demand would, he says, no doubt, soon be created. 



American Fruit Crop.— The September report of the Department of 



Agriculture at Washington contains much information of interest relating to the 



ican 



The apple crop does not appear to be very satisfactory, 



the ingredients in Eau de Cologne, and is also used in perfumery and liqueurs. 

 Besides this, the leaves and young shoots of the orange plant yield by distillation 

 another kind of oil known as Essence de petit grain. The bitter or Seville orange, 

 which is a variety of the last named, is rather a smaller tree, and does not seem 

 to be cultivated in India except in gardens, but it is extensively grown in the 

 same countries as the Sweet orange. The chief distinction is that the rind of the 

 fruit has a bitter aromatic taste. It is used in making candied orange peel. The 



and the downward movement m the general condition of the apple crop has con- flowerg ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ n for oil q{ neroU> This yarietyf which g, nQW 



tinued, only four States — Georgia, Iowa, Minnesota, and Idaho — reporting any 

 improvement upon the condition in the preceding month. Three States return 

 the September condition above 100: these are Idaho, 115 ; Minnesota, 105; 

 Wisconsin, 104. At the other extreme are such values as 18 for Indiana, 20 for 

 Ohio, 20 for Nebraska, and 25 for Missouri. In the New England States the 

 average condition ranges between 75 and 51, whilst in New York it is only 33, 

 and in New Jersey 38, Of peaches about two-thirds of a full crop is looked for, 

 but there is great local variation. Georgia, the leading peach-growing State of 

 the Union, is fortunate in returning an average as high as 108. On the other 

 and, Texas at 46 and Arkansas at 38, these ranking probably as second and 

 third of the peach-producing States, have less than half a crop each. Along the 

 Atlantic slope, from New York to Virginia inclusive, from 10 to 49 per cent, of a 

 aitisf 1 ^ * S k^ 0 ^^" The condition of the grape crop is regarded as very 



Horticultural Club.— The first dinner and conversazione of the session 



^-99, will take place on Tuesday next at six p.m. The subject for discussion will 



The Fruit Crop of 1898 and its Lessons," to be opened by Mr. George 

 Bunyard, V.M.H. 



th Pro . tective, y-coloured Mice.— The common house mouse did not escape 



exh'b' 01106 ° f scientists assembled at Bristol, for Dr. H. Lyster Jameson 

 ited examples of a race of protectively-coloured mice which inhabit a sandy 

 * nd m the Bay of Dublin, known as the North Bull. A considerable percentage 

 mou ^ exam P Ies ar e distinctly lighter in colour than the ancestral type of house 

 ^ 0ttse * though every possible inter gradation occurs between the typical house 

 <* tod am V he PalCSt exam P les - Dr - Jameson regards the marked predominance 

 tod o I °° • fed exam P les as due to the action of natural selection. The hawks 

 tttopet S Wh - Ch fre< l uent the island, and are the only enemies the mice have to 

 ^pee against, most easily capture the darkest examples, that is to say, those 



coloured ^° St stron S , y the colour of the sand, and thus a protectively- 



P^perTh ra °t ^ becomin B established. A reference to old charts and Parliamentary 



■* conseouenUv fe£ this .^ Iand / rst . cam , e into . ^noe about a century ago, w^JSthdi produce, we ~need 



Cvol d p r ? f X " tim V im ^ W1 ? m T hich the raCC iD qU€Sti0D ST^ ^T^kW^ and thrushes on that score. A short time since a good 



bdo* J-?* . Profes ** Fulton emphasised the value of these time data as not kill our biacK _ e . _ c 



classified as Citrus aurantium, var. Bigaradia, was at one time considered a distinct 

 species under the name of C. vulgaris. The Bergamotte orange is another variety 

 (C. aurantium, var. Bergamia). Its chief distinctions from the Sweet orange are 

 its smaller flowers, which are known by their delicate and peculiar odour, and the 

 paler colour of the fruit. The Bergamotte orange is grown chiefly near Reggio, in 

 Southern Calabria, and more sparingly in Sicily, Southern France, and elsewhere. 

 The volatile oil obtained from the rind of the fruit forms the Fssence of Bergamo 

 of the chemist, the principal use of which is in perfumery, while from the pulp is 

 obtained, by expression, the acid juice which forms a portion of the commercial 



lime-juice. 



A Practical Gardener on Bird Destruction.— In reply to a letter by 



Colonel Lautour, which appeared in the Morning Post, in condemnation of the 

 steps that are being taken with a view to the preservation of u eful birds, Mr. R. 

 Maher, bead gardener at Vattenden House, Newbury, writes : " You did me the 

 honour to publish my plea on behalf of the birds, and likewise a letter on the other 

 side of the question from Colonel Latour, who seems to think that the preservation 

 of our British birds is a whim of a certain class of faddists. Of that class I am 

 one, and at same time a practical gardener of forty years' experience. The last 

 eighteen years I have had charge of large gardens practically in a wood swarming 

 with birds. My bread and cheese, as it were, depend on a full supply of fresh 

 flowers and vegetables, and yet the birds and I get on very well together. Of 

 course, gardening, including fruit and vegetable culture, is essentially a matter of 

 dressing and keeping, and where birds are numerous netting must be provided for . 

 bush fruits and strawberries. Speaking from a practical gardener's point of view, 

 the only bird 1 consider it necessary to destroy is the bullfinch, for its bud-destroy- 

 ing propensities, and even the bullfinch during part of the year lives on weed 

 seeds such as docks, charlock, &c. The worthy Colonel seems to be afraid of 

 foreign competition, but if British produce had as free access to the markets of 

 Paris as French produce has to those of London that bugbear would soon dis- 



If the French would admit our choice products, such as hothouse grapes, 



not kill our blackbirds and thrushes on that score. A short time since a good 



an additional ~ZF7JL C, " FU T uT I T? trade was springing up in France for British hothouse grapes ; it was displacing 



tddrp«c ^ Ul0nal P^of of the statement made by the president in his opening trade was s P rm * m & r , . j 1 j * 



that the tran<;™»fat;~ ( • • * p*«iucui m up: 5 produce by reason of its superiority, when a heavy duty was placed on 



d »cemible. transmutat ^n of species is not necessarily so slow as to be in- jte rf ^ trade collapsed .. 



