664 



GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



October i 5 , i898> 



A GOOD INVESTMENT. ThelPolishing of Fruit.-With reference to thi^^T^T^T"^ 



The wages of the general body of gardeners are so low that, even ™ k « the ff ^^TTl^ ""^ : , Y ° Ur p5quant " No * of'the' WeS 



with the J* rigid ecoU, « *~ ^ - ^ 



tamnies, snouminey uiet-uuipcxiai. / / » . » lard, and glycerine, as aids to prize winning, could thev onlv hp r^nv^ uuul «r, 



importance the small sum annually available should be invested to the _ l^JL ~ m ;„ 5™m.i. .wu . f y ° n ! y be re P rod «ced ln /W*. 



best possible advantage, and for this reason the report of the quarterly 



meeting of the United Horticultural Provident and Benefit Society, held ^ ^ & ^ ^ ^ wutempi tna _ 



Monday evening, is of special interest. At this meeting the principal po ii s hing compounds. It was bad enough to smear our old 



on 



practices. I can conceive nothing more likely to bring fruit culture^ and" " ^ 

 ally prize-winning at our great^ fruit shows, into contempt than these or other 



especi- 



business was the consideration of the case of the oldest member, who, 

 having attained the age of seventy, and being in failing health, was 

 entitled under the eighteenth rule to an allowance from the Benevolent 

 Fund. This member was one of the founders of the society, and has 

 taken a part in the management throughout the thirty-two years that 

 have elapsed since it was established. The committee, having taken 

 these facts into consideration, unanimously resolved to grant him an 

 annuity at the rate of 8s. per week for life. On attaining his seventieth 

 year this member had standing to his credit in the ledger the sum of £&o, 

 from which he can draw according to his requirements. These facts 



or others of our comic journals, should suffice to deal the last blow at such 



t 



and oil, to dye our flowers, and revivify our plants or bulbs with the semHancr^f 

 new life ; but this modern nastiness thrust on the fruit that we must all T 

 proceed to eat is worse than any of the processes and adulterations of the oldT 

 times. With our plants and seeds almost perfected, it is not likely that the 

 public will longer submit to the most nauseous and filthy pollution of their fruits 

 on the altogether false plea of improving its appearance. It does nothing of 

 the sort. To every true judge of fruit polished fruit is already largely spoilt the 

 shining cheeks have already lost their chief charm— that of their natural bloom- 

 and it would be almost as reasonable to wipe or scrub off the bloom of peache/ 

 plums, and grapes as of apples and pears. Possibly the polishing of fruit is 



, , * .i i. c 4.1. j • ~ ~* another useless and mischievous survival from the laborious nractice of ^wpotmrr 



cannot be brought too prominently before the gardening community, for J lc ** UUIAUU! » practice 01 sweating it, 



, , , , j . 1 • i once so common. When fruits sweltered for weeks or months in steamina w 



no better investment could have been made than in this case, as can be . , ... . I "^"^ m warning neat 



readily shown by a comparison of the payments to the society with those 

 required under the rules of the Post Office for the purchase of a deferred 



it was at times at once cleanly and convenient to wipe off or up the perspiration with 

 a clean, soft cloth. But no cream, oil, saliva, milk, nor even pure water, hot or 

 cold, was added to the fruits in those days, nor was any rubbing that could be 



annuity. During the thirty-two years a sum of £2 is. has been paid called a poUsh indulged in . The superfluous sap that false and faulty methods of 

 annually, and the benefits in return were a weekly sum of 16s. during 

 sickness, until the scale of payments was increased to 18s. three or four 

 years since, the return of the surplus profit on the attainment of the 

 seventieth year or death, and a claim upon the Benevolent Fund through- 

 out the whole period. Happily, in this case there was no occasion to 

 draw sick pay. Had the member in question purchased a deferred life 



storing and ripening fruit had condensed on the external surface was softly sponged 

 or rubbed off with a soft cloth and a light hand, that was all. With improved 

 methods and cooler and more regular temperatures for fruit storing the sweating 

 of fruit is now prevented, and hence neither (polishing nor wiping of hardy fruits 

 is needed. 



The Coming Trouble. — According to the calendar, we should, writes 



annuity of a similar value from the Post Office by annual payments, Mr. George Bunyard, of the Royal Nurseries, Maidstone, now be hard at work 



under the u money returnable " table, he would have had to pay about executing orders for roses, gooseberries, currants, trees, and conifers, and even 



£3 annually, and would now have the option of obtaining the return of lifting some few pears and plums for orders. But alas ! the land is as dry as 



the money paid, equal to about £96, or an annuity of £20. On the other possible, and below the surface crumb is as dry as a brick, making all this work 



hand, as the result of his membership of the society, he has the sum of impossible ; and meantime we are bombarded with letters, such as "lam told 



£80 at his disposal, and an annuity of £20 16s. What more need be that now is the ver y *»t time for removing the things I ordered" ; "If you are 



said, except to express the hope that the member may long enjoy the unable t0 what 1 °'dered you should have said so at the time " ; " Unles* 



annuity that has been granted him ? 



N.C.S. Conference on Tuesday was a splendid success in every vay f 

 and we have much pleasure in recording this fact because of the prevalent belief 

 that conferences have had their day. Conferences might be made as popul 



y order is forthwith executed, please consider it cancelled, that I may be better 

 served elsewhere." Well ! What for a remedy? Why patience. Practically the 

 season is three weeks late, and as no fibrous roots can be got out of the hard soil, 

 my kind friends, trust to your - nurseryman to do his very best. Apples are yet 

 in full growth, and practically a week's heavy rain is wanted before lifting time 

 can be started. I send these few lines on behalf of myself and fellow- 



the present time as at any period in the history of horticulture, but they must be nurserymen, as we, I feel sure, are only too anxious to do our best, and are not 

 carried out on proper lines, and what these lines are was sufficiently indicated at the responsible when the clerk of the weather and the calendar do not agree. 



N.C.S. gathering. There must not be several lengthy papers of merely academic 



The Manchester Chrysanthemum Show, to be held under the 



.— 11 r 11 J " mu ' m * i'luuviivoitl Will Y3fllHH^lHW»i " I ~~ 



interest ; but instead, short pithy addresses by men who are known to fully under- auspices of the RoyaI Botanical and Horticultural Society of Manchester, in the 



stand their subjects, and these subjects must be of current interest and admit of being 

 briskly discussed. The subject selected for the chrysanthemum conference was 



St. James's Hall on November 17, 18, and 19, should be of exceptional excel- 

 lence, for some handsome prizes are to be offered, notably £4 and a gold medal 



abstruse, but it was of immediate interest, and, in consequence, upwards of three as first prJze fof twQ do2eQ incuryed bIooms ; n tweIve varieties ; £6 and a gold 



hundred persons mustered in St- Stephen's Hall to hear what had to be said about 

 the fungus causing the disease of the chrysanthemum, known as the rust. This 

 large number not only came to the conference, but the greater proportion stayed 

 until the close of the proceedings, and this desirable result was brought about by 

 rigidly limiting each speaker to five minutes, thus preventing tedious repetition by 

 those who are not accustomed to speaking in public. 



Strawberry Mildew.— Strawberry plants were seriously affected in many 

 places during the past season by the strawberry mildew {Spluvrotheca pannosa), a 

 fungus which attacks first the leaves, causing them to curl and shrivel up, and 

 then the fruits as they are forming. This disease makes its appearance in May, in 

 the form of white spots upon the leaves. These gradually spread and cover the 

 leaf-surface and extend to the fruit, covering it with white filaments, which may 

 easily be mistaken for common mould. To casual observers the fungus appears 

 to attack the fruit only as it approaches ripeness, when it spreads with astonishing 

 rapidity ; but this is due to the fact that it is not readily seen with the naked eye 

 upon the fruit until the latter has coloured, but with the aid of a pocket lens it 

 may be discovered upon the fruit in all stages. It is, however, most rapid and 

 destructive in its action as the fruit approaches ripeness. This fungoid attack 

 must not be confounded with that of Sphcerella fragaria, which is confined to the 

 leaves, nor with that of Glctosporium fragaria. In the case of plants infected by 

 this fungus it is advisable to brush off the leaves as closely as possible without 

 injuring the crowns, and to rake up and burn at once all the leaves and rubbish 

 between the tows. The ground between the rows should be well forked and 

 hoed in the autumn and early spring, to bury the perithecia, and weeds should be 

 kept down, both in the beds and around their borders. After an attack in the 



medal as a first prize for thirty- six Japanese blooms in not less than eighteen 

 varieties ; and £5, £3, £ 2% and £1 respectively as prizes for thirty-six miscel- 

 laneous blooms. The great prize for cut blooms, however, is £10 and a challenge 

 cup valued at ^25-presented by the Earl of Derby— offered as first prize for the 

 best forty-eight blooms, two dozen each of Japanese and incurved varieties, dis- 

 tinct; second, third, and fourth prizes are £6, £4, and £2 respectively. The 

 cup has to be won twice by the same competitor to become bis property. T ere 

 are good prizes for groups and winter flowering plants of many sorts. 



The Yield of Perfume Plants.— A correspondent in Gardening (Chicago) 



states that in the south of France one violet plant will yield two-thirds of an ounce 

 and one orange tree twenty-two pounds of flowers. A woman can pick m 

 morning, that is in four hours, about forty-four pounds of roses, seven poun • <^ 

 jasmine, thirteen pounds of tuberoses, and in a whole day twenty-two poun s 

 violet or orange flowers. To produce one kilog. of essence (essential 

 long ton, or about 1,200,000 orange flowers, are necessary. Sixteen tons 0 r * 

 or 5,000,000 flowers will only provide one kilog. of essence. Five hundre h 

 tons of pomades and perfumed oils and 4 ,oco,oco litres (or quarts) of odori ^ 

 waters valued, as first matters, at over £625,000, are annually manufactui 

 the south of France. 



A Botanical Exploration of Mount Koscinsko, the highesi 



in Australia, has been made by Mr. J. H. Maiden, the Government 

 Sydney. The mountain has a height of 7,328 feet above the level of tne s ^ 

 even at Midsummer (January, 1897), the temperature was only V$ deg ^ 

 the freezing point at noon. In the list of the species gathered the mos 



mountain 



posit.* 



# . * vaxawio aic LX1C iv U II 11 lit Uii*v* j 1^******^ j * 



previous year the plants should be sprayed early in the following season, before ^ Graminere. There are no species of Saxi f ragacefe or Pri 

 the blossom shows, with a weak Bordeaux mixture, composed of 4 lbs. of sulphate • - -■ Cre are n ° SpeC ' e h 



position 



spraying 



potassium (liver of sulphur) to 50 gallons of water. In large planta- 

 □mpositions can be nnr nn u^th ih« distributing machine used for 



The 



peated 



spraying 

 hen white spots 



are seen upon the strawberry plants that have not been infected previously, spray- 

 ing with either of the above compositions should be carried out at once. 



in the list, and only one each is recorded of Crassulacese and Gentianac . rf 



Importation of Raspberries.-It is reported that the expe 



exporting raspberries from Canada to EDgland will fce made next )c. ■ ^ ^ 

 wild raspberries, of which the country produces great quantities *™™*> If lbis 

 be used in the experiment, and they are to be packed in ten-pouno 1 

 business can be made a success from Canada, says the h u> m ' ff a> . 



there seems to be no reason why it should not be from America, ^ an ^ 

 settle the question for tome of our raspberry growers who have loun 



