JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
April 20, 1882. ] 
a 
s fine appearance is tlie principal object for dessert it is not easily 
urpassed early in tlie season.— W. H. Divers, Burghley. 
PITCH PINE FOR LABELS. 
I notice that an objection has been raised against this wood 
on account cf some difficulty in writing upon it. This difficulty 
has not come within my experience under the usual plan of 
writing on a perfectly smooth surface with a lubrication of moist 
paint, either with or without a dry coat beneath. If, however, 
the paint for writing on is allowed to dry there is indeed a great 
difficulty. I have found that pitch pine labels can be written 
upon with facility, and, granted the quality of durability in the 
wood, it appears to me practically equal in other respects to 
common deal. I have had a number made, and the label writer 
here likes the material for writing upon in the large italic letters 
necessary for reading from a distance. I send you a specimen 
of his work, which you will see is quite clear and clean-looking. 
Further, I send you a piece of the wood upon which a name has 
been written in running hand. It seems to be quite clear, and 
was written as easily, I think, as if on deal. In this case the 
paint is very thin, and the contrast of the writing with the wood 
is not. quite so great as it would be with white deal, but if the 
label is more durable I should think that of the greater import¬ 
ance. The pencil used is of fair quality for drawing purposes, 
and is marked “H.” But if slight difficulty should be found in 
writing, I believe that the trouble is worth taking if the result is 
durable. 
I propose to try larch, which has been recommended; but for 
the present, from what I have seen, I am strongly inclined to use 
pitch pine, especially for large labels. It is cut into strips by the 
merchant, and when received is easily smoothed with a plane, 
being afterwards cut into lengths as required.—B. Irwin Lynch. 
[The label received is 64 inches long, nearly 2 inches wide, and 
half an inch thick. The writing is black, clear, and excellent, 
but the pitch pine is neither so hard nor so good of its kind as 
that sent by Mr. Wolley Dod, and the quality which w T e used 
many years ago, and eventually abandoned. We have found 
white deal far more easy for writing on than the hard-ribbed pitch 
pine, and the impressed letters of the former were at the expira¬ 
tion of ten years more legible than the surface letters on the 
latter; in fact, the names were perfectly distinct after being 
attached to walls in the open air for twenty years, while the wood 
twice painted before using, and the names written in moist paint, 
was quite sound. We have never found the wood of white deal 
decayed before the names were obliterated when the labels were 
not inserted in the ground. The label before us, which is not for 
placing in the soil, will last much longer than the name will, 
which is so well written on its surface ; this, however, will last 
for some years, and the label is good, but is not hard pitch pine.] 
m 
A 
JiTES-GLEJl 
NINES. 
ft 
Mr. J. C. Forster of Leeds “ would be obliged if any cor¬ 
respondent would give his opinion of Matricaria eximia 
AUREA crispa, which it is said will shortly displace as an edging 
plant the popular Golden Feather. It is said to be more perma¬ 
nently and richly golden.” 
- A recent telegram from New York, says a daily contem¬ 
porary, informs us that “it is estimated that two and a quarter 
million bushels of potatoes have been imported this year, chiefly 
from Great Britain. The selling value is over a million and a half 
of dollars.” 
- Messrs. Fisher, Clark, & Co. have sent us samples of 
their waterproof labels, which can be written on with ink or 
pencil, which the manufacturers of the labels state “ will not 
wash out by the longest exposure to rain.” They are made of 
stout paper with brass eyelets inserted, and appear to be ad¬ 
mirably adapted for use by nurserymen when sending out trees, 
shrubs, and Roses to their customers. 
- A correspondent writes as follows respecting the 
321 
prospects of the Fruit Crop in the South of Scotland :— 
“ Notwithstanding the abundance of blossom on fruit trees many 
are not now very promising. Apricots, for instance, will not have 
one fruit swell in twenty. Plums I am afraid will be similarly 
defective, and unless we experience a few warm showers doubt¬ 
less the other kinds of fruit will also be unsatisfactory. The 
value of rain when fruit trees are in flower is not much understood. 
Repeatedly I have noticed a warm shower of rain make all the 
difference between an abundant crop and a medium one.” 
- The Braintree Horticultural Society will hold 
their annual Exhibition in connection with the Essex Agricul¬ 
tural Society’s meeting at Braintree on Wednesday and Thursday, 
June 11th and 15th. Prizes to the total value of £135 are offered 
in numerous classes for plants, flowers, fruits, and vegetables. 
- In Battersea Park, a short distance from the steamboat 
pier, is a magnificent specimen of a double Cherry, Cerasus 
Sylvestris flore-pleno, flowering most profusely, the branches 
being covered with masses of pure white double flowers. This is 
one of the most handsome flowering trees for shrubberies, and when 
in a suitable position upon a lawn where it can develope freely a 
beautiful specimen is obtained. An engraving of the variety was 
given in this Journal last year, vol. ii., page 401, which shows the 
characters of the flowers, and the freedom with which they are 
produced, admirably. 
- Mr. G. Boothby, Louth, Lincolnshire, writes “ A list of 
good varieties of double white Azaleas was recently given in the 
Journal, but one which I think the finest was not included—• 
namely, Reine du Portugal. It has very beautiful double and 
pure white flowers, is rather late blooming, and is a most desirable 
variety. A correspondent also mentioned Souvenir du Prince 
Albert as being a very handsome variety. So it is, but I think 
Sigismund Rucker is superior to it for beautiful marking, also in 
shape and substance. I much prefer the double to the single 
forms of Azalea indica.” 
- In striking comparison with the weather in London on 
Monday we learn that in the extreme north of Scotland the snow¬ 
fall has been unprecedentedly heavy. In the neighbourhood of 
Fort William, Inverness-shire, the snow was 15 inches deep. All 
outdoor labour has been suspended, and it is feared that the storm 
will kill many lambs. On Monday afternoon there was a renewal 
of the snowfall. On Deeside 11° of frost have been registered. 
In the Shetlands the most severe snowstorm of the season was 
experienced on Sunday and Monday, when snow fell continuously 
for hours. Much fruit blossom is destroyed. 
- We learn from the schedule just to hand of the New¬ 
castle-upon-Tyne Botanical and Horticultural Society 
that the summer Show will be held on July 26th, 27th, and 28th, 
when the usual liberal prizes will be offered in numerous classes. 
Plants are particularly well provided for ; in the chief classes the 
prizes range from £12 to £2, and in the leading open class a 
silver cup is offered. The principal fruit class is that for eight 
dishes, the first prize being £8 and the Royal Horticultural Society’s 
bronze Knightian medal, the second £4, the third £2, and the 
fourth £1. In the amateurs’ and nurserymen’s classes the prizes 
are proportionately liberal, the total prize money for the Show 
being £428. 
-Referring to the treatment of Hollyhocks, “R.P.B.” 
writes—“ This fine season has so advanced the growth of the plants 
that unless my named Hollyhocks are shifted into 9-inch pots they 
will be so root-bound as to be useless. That would be quite a serious 
undertaking, so I intend trusting to the weather continuing mild, 
and shall plant them out immediately. The greater number will 
be planted at the back of two herbaceous borders, each over 
100 yards in length. The ground has been deeply trenched, and 
