December 31, 1898. 



GARDENERS' MA GA Z INE . 



859 



near future become a very extensive trade in the British Isles. The superior 

 quality, the more delicate appearance, the exquisite fragrance and flavour mhlrh 

 distinguish the English from the imported fruit justify this prophecy. 



The 



the plant asserts its habit and blooms at mid-winter. There is nothing marvellous 

 in a staff formed of a branch of the thorn producing roots and growing into a 

 tree, as many of the trees of the common thorn, of which the Glastonbury thorn 



the «f t a ^ b T Ver ' hC,p US mUCh m findiDg S ° UrCe ° f is a variet y> found in ° ur P«ks, have been raised in a sim ilar manner, 



tne supply of London grown pineapples. 



Relative Productiveness of Potatos.— During the past season two 



series of experiments were conducted by the Agricultural Department of the 

 Nottingham University College on the Althorpe estate, one of these being for the 

 purpose of determining the relative productiveness of varieties. Twenty-one 

 varieties were included in the trial, and of these seven were first or second earlies, 

 and the remainder belonged to the maincrop section. The most productive of the 

 earlies were British Queen with 11 tons 18 cwt. per acre, and Challenge with 



London Footpaths. — The Commons Preservation Society is doing a service 

 by publishing maps especially devoted to the indication of footpaths in the north of 

 London. The north of London is very badly furnished with open spaces. Of old 

 time it possessed Finchley Heath and other wide stretches of common. But, 

 while the poor sandy soil of the hilltops in the south of the metropolis fortunately 

 offered little temptation in the days when enclosure was advocated for the increase 

 of food, the richer open spaces of the north were rapidly reduced to cultivation. 

 Beyond Hampstead Heath scarcely any open land remains save a few roadside 



10 tons 17 cwt. per acre. The heaviest crops of the maincrop varieties were — / V V 1 "™ T~ , I T ,# 



Lvmn frrpv. in . t^.,. .fL.* * — . *a TT^.not. strips and a fragment, at Monken Hadley, of the ancient chase of Enfield, itself 



Lymn Grey, 12 tons 10 cwt. ; Imperator, 12 tons 8 cwt. ; and Up-to-Date, 

 12 tons 3 cwt. 



Newcastle-on-Tyne Horticultural Society.— Mr. Isaac Brandon Reid, 



30, Mosley Street, Newcastle-on-Tyne, has succeeded Mr. J.J. Gillespie, jun., 

 as secretary of this society. Twenty years ago Mr. J. J. Gillespie, sen., was 

 appointed the secretary of this society and continued to occupy that position until 

 l %93> when he retired and had for his successor his nephew, who has recently 

 resigned. During the period here mentioned the society has had two or three 

 exhibitions annually, but in the coming year it will hold a summer show only in 

 July, although it has at the present time a surplus injhand. 



Seeds and Seed Testing.— A course of ten lectures and demonstrations 



on seeds and seed testing will be delivered by Mr. D. Finlayson, in the Royal 

 Botanic Society's Museum, Regent's Park, on Monday afternoons, at half-past 



apparently a survival of that forest of Middlesex in which the citizens of London 

 enjoyed by charter a right of hunting. Fortunately some compensation is afforded 

 to the landless inhabitants of Middlesex or Herts in the abundance of footpaths. 

 Fields and woods and meadows are constantly disappearing under the advancing 

 wave of London ; it is the more important that all reasonable means of enjoying 

 the surrounding country should be placed at the disposal of the millions of thq 

 metropolis. 



Royal Botanic Society. — The fixtures of this society for 1899 are : 

 Spring show, April 12 ; floral fete, June 7 ; and the meetings of Fellows, January 

 14, 28 ; February 11, 25 ; March 11, 25 ; April 8, 22 ; May 13, 27 ; June 10, 

 24 ; July 8, 22 ; anniversary meeting, August 10. 



New York Fruit and Vegetable Supplies.— Great Britain is by no means 



three p.m., commencing January 23, 1899. The following is a summary of the the only country that obtains large supplies of fruits and vegetables from beyond 



syllabus: January 23— Relative value of Samples, considered in relation to colour, her boundaries, but it is somewhat surprising to learn that the capital of the 



size, uniformity, condition, maturity, age, purity of samples, essentials to germi- United States should be dependent upon foreign cultivators for a large propor- 



nation, pedigree influence ; adulteration and doctoring of seed. January 30— tion of the supplies of the products of the orchard and garden. The New York 



Effect of age of seed on its rapidity of growth and liability to disease; soil suit- Times states that the city levies tribute upon all lands and exacts commercial 



able ; change of seed, why necessary ; quantity of seed per acre. Grass seeds, contributions from the Occident and the Orient, from the torrid, the temperate, 



comprising Meadow Foxtail, Rough Cocksfoot, Tall Fescue ; impurities specified and frigid zones. Every ship that comes from the West Indies or the South just 



now carries its complement of fruit, and many of the Transatlantic liners bring to 



us fruits from the Mediterranean or Africa. Even in the matter of potatos the 

 city is dependent at times upon other countries for her supply. It seems like 

 carrying coals to Newcastle to bring potatos to America, but in reality there are 

 half-a-dozen countries which look to New York as one of the chief markets for 

 their potatos. Bermuda sells nearly all of her potato and onion crop in New 

 York, and in winter potatos come freely from England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, 

 and some of the lesser European countries. The Scotch Magnum Bonum is said 

 to be the best imported potatos, next to the Bermudas, and they have acquired 

 quite a reputation. They all come in sacks, and, as the westward-bound steamers 

 are in need of ballast, potatos are carried at a very small cost. The West Indies are 

 also learning the ways of Bermuda, and shipments of potatos from there are 

 increasing every year. There are a dozen different countries engaged in trying to 

 supply New York with all the onions needed. France, Spain, Bermuda, the 

 West Indies, Great Britain, and all her insular dependenciesf and even far-off 

 Kgypt, help to swell the total shipments of onions to New York. Before the 

 Southern market gardeners of the United States get their vegetable products to 



and described. February 6— Timothy, Tall Oat Grass, Perennial Rye Grass, 

 Italian Rye Grass, Meadow Fescue ; impurities specified and described. February 

 13— Fiorin, Yellow Oat Grass, Smooth-stalked Meadow Grass, Rough-stalkeJ 

 Meadow Grass, Evergreen Meadow Grass, Flat-stemmed Meadow Grass ; 

 impurities specified and described. February 20 — Sweet-scented Vernal Grass, 

 Crested Dogstail, Red Fescue, 

 and described. February 27 



Barley 

 White ( 



Rye. March 6 — Red 



impurities specified and described. March 13— Lucerne, Sainfoin, Suckling 



Clover, Crimson Clover. 



20 — Special 



namely, Yarrow, Kidney Vetch, Sand Reed Grass, Sea Lyme Grass, Hungarian 

 Forage Grass, Schrader's Brome Grass, Reed-like Canary Grass (a) vegetable 

 seeds, (6) flower seeds. March 27— The best turf produced by seeding and good 

 management. Composition of good and bad mixtures of seeds for lawns, cricket 

 fields, golf links, temporary and permanent pastures. Preparation of the soil, 

 selection of suitable seeds, sowing the seed, and after management. 



Glastonbury 



The flowering of the Glastonbury Thorn market BermU(]a and the West Indies ship alI sorts of garden produce t0 New Yor k. 



{Crataegus oxycantha pnrcox) at Christmas is evidently a matter of much interest 

 to a large number of horticulturists, for the note by Mr. F. W. Burbidge in our 

 issue of the 24th inst. on the flowering of the tree in the Trinity College Botanic 

 Garden has brought us numerous inquiries. According to the legend in the far- 

 distant past, Joseph of Arimathea determined on a mission to christianise the 

 Britons. Arviragus, who was then king, was not to be persuaded, but he rather 

 encouraged the mission, and granted a piece of land whereon to build a church. 

 When Joseph reached Weary-all- 1 lill, by Glastonbuiy, he thrust his staff" into the 

 ground, and this staff, after the habit of holy men's properties in very remote 

 times, displayed remarkable manifestations^ It put forth leaves, and the next day 



South America and Africa have more recently joined in this business, and con- 

 signments come from these countries every winter. Holland is an extensive 

 shipper of cabbages to America ; France sends early cauliflowers, and both France 

 and Italy send celery. France has for many years been engaged in supplying 

 London with many vegetables, but it is only recently that an attempt has been made 

 to find a wider market for them in New York. A consignment early in March of 

 asparagus, artichokes, celery, seakale, mushrooms, and rhubarb was made for the 

 first time two years ago, and now every season the vegetables arrive. They are 

 raised in Southern France, and are shipped in cold storage. As they are very 

 fancy articles, they bring high prices, so that the shippers make good profits out 



was in bloom. Henceforth this tree always bloomed on Chnstmas Eve, and ^ ^ ^ ^ ext nt prices for fancy products 



slips thereof planted in other places invariably bloomed on the same : day. No ^ ^ se and k fa % knowled of this fact that induces the Krench pj* 

 wonder that a pious people, but little troubled with the doubts and difficulties of deners make ^ e imenL England sends choice hothouse grapes during the 



thing 



sovereign specifics for all the ills to which a remarkably troublesome flesh is heir. 



was 



these precious blossoms to all parts of Europe, so great was the fame of their 

 healing virtue. But the career of the tree was practically ended when Henry 

 abolished the monasteries. St. Joseph's tree, the Holy Thorn of Glastonbury, grew 

 up with twin trunks. In the reign of Elizabeth some effervescing Puritan laid the 

 axe in grim earnest at the root of one of them, and a similar fate befel the other 

 one during the wars of the Great Rebellion. Nevertheless a contemporary issue 



London evening paper states that on Christmas Eve in 1753 (new 



winter months that sell readily in New York at prices ranging from three to four 

 dollars (one dollar = 45. 2d.) per pound, wholesale. 



Imperial Penny Postage —On Christmas Day the postage of prepaid 



letters from this country for the undermentioned British colonies and protec- 



torates was reduced to id. per 

 Ascension. Bahamas, Barbadoes 



l / 2 oz. f instead of 2#d. as previous!/: Aden, 



British Central Africa, 



uiana, British Honduras, Canada, Ceylon 



itish East 

 Falkland 



Islands, Fiji Islands, Gambia, Gibraltar, Gold Coast Colony, Hong Kong, India, 



Lagos, Leeward 



States, Natal, Newfoundland, Niger 



ule) a great concourse of people assembled to *e it bloom. They were dis- Coast Protectorate, Niger Territory St Helena, Sarawak Seychelles, Sierra 



i>iej <* £ ICAL * mm r r _ ... . t fikJ*. C<HUiMb Ta Tr n \,UA Tm r Ire K hinds. I i'anda. Windward 



dead for more than 100 years 



upposed to have been 

 But behold a marvel ! They watched it again on 



Leone, 

 Islands. 



usual 



Whatever it was that bloomed, the nonesi country ioik were convince< 

 Christmas Day was the true one, and the new style anniversary a thin 

 effect. Now a slip of this tree had been planted at < Sainton, in Bucking 

 and on the aforesaid Christmas Eve about 2,000 people assembled, wit 

 and candles, to see the annual miracle ; they, too, were disappo 

 j_-.m~i urnuld not 20 to church on the new Christmas Dav. 



There are 



people who are persuaded that all these stories of the holy thorn are merely super- 

 stitions founded on a monkish trick ; but a holy thorn is a common object. The 

 #A i llr ^ nn nf the mystery is to be found in the fact that the Eastern form of the haw- 



* naturally about Christmas, and should the weather be mild enough 



ents, Tobago, Trinidad, Turks Islands, Uganda, Windward 

 postage payable on letters addressed to, other British possessions, 01 

 to any foreign country, and that payable on postcards, printed papers, samples, 

 &c. f for any part of the world remain unchanged. 



The Fruit-jrrowinfc Pastor.— The action of the Rev.C Doughs Crouch, 

 pastor of the Worthing Tabernacle, in promising to remit £100 of his stipend to 

 his congregation is being much discussed, and is not without interest to horticul- 



mch states that he has conscientious scruples about the receipt of 

 pastorship, but he was not able to give practical expression to 



e came to reside at Worthing, and engaged in the fruit -growing 



1 to my work as a horticulturist, I enjoy 



turists. 



industry. 



Thanks 



health 



exercise 



it has give 



%m • 1 



practical acquaintance with the ups and downs 



