JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
126 
bloom should be nearly perfectly circular, flat, and very smooth at the edge ; 
every notch or unevenness being a blemish. 2, The petals should be thick and 
of a rich velvety texture. 3, Whatever may be the colours, the principal or 
ground colour of the three lower petals should be alike; whether it be white, 
yellow, straw colour, plain, fringed, or blotched, there should not in these three 
petals be a shade difference in the principal colour; and the white, yellow, or 
straw colour should be pure. 4, Whatever may be the character of the marks or 
darker peneillings on the ground colour, they should be bright, dense, distinct, 
and retain their character without running or flushing—that is, mixing with 
the ground colour. 5, The two upper petals should be perfectly uniform, whether 
dark or light, or fringed or blotched. The two petals immediately under them 
should be alike; and the lower petal, as before observed, must have the same 
ground colour and character as the two above it; and the pencilling or marking 
of the eye in the three lower petals must not break through to the edges. 
6, If flowers are equal in other respects, the larger, if not the coarser, is the 
better ; but no flower should be shown that is under 1J inch across. 7, Ragged 
or notched edges, crumpled petals, indentures on the petal, indistinct markings 
or peneillings, and flushed or run colours, are great blemishes; but if a bloom has 
one ground colour to the lower petal and another colour to the side ones, or if it 
has two shades of ground colour at all, it is not a show flower. The yellow 
within the eye is not considered ground colour.” 
The Lady Apple (R. P., Devon ).— The Apple to which you refer is the Api 
of pomologists, and the following description and history from the “Fruit 
Manual” may be of interest to you :—“A beautiful little dessert Apple ; in use 
from October to April. It should be eaten with the skin on, as it is there that 
the perfume is contained. The skin is very sensitive of shade, and any device 
may be formed upon it, by causing pieces of paper, in the form of the design 
required, to adhere on the side exposed to the sun, before it has attained its deep 
red colour. The tree is of a pyramidal habit of growth, healthy, and an abun¬ 
dant bearer. It succeeds well in almost any situation provided the soil is rich, 
loamy, and not too light or dry, and may be grown with equal success either on 
the Doucin or Crab stock. When worked on the French Paradise it is well 
adapted for pot culture. The fruit is firmly attached to the spurs, and forcibly 
resists the effects of high winds. According to Merlet, the Api was first dis¬ 
covered as a wilding in the Forest of Api, in Brittany. It has been asserted 
that this Apple was brought from Peloponessus to Rome by Appius Claudius. 
Whether this be true or not there can be no doubt it is of great antiquity, as all 
the oldest authors regard it as the production of an age prior to their own. 
Although mentioned by most of the early continental writers, the Api does not 
appear to have been known in this country till towards the end of the seven¬ 
teenth century. It is first mentioned by Worlidge, who calls it ‘ Pomme Ap¬ 
pease, a curious Apple, lately propagated ; the fruit is small and pleasant, which 
the Madams of France carry in their pockets, by reason they yield no unpleasant 
scent.’ Lister, in his ‘Journey to Paris, 1698,’ speaking of this as being one 
of the Apples served up in the dessert, says, ‘ Also the Pome d'Apis, which is 
served here more for show than for use; being a small flat Apple, very beautiful, 
and very red on one side, and pale or white on the other, and may serve the 
ladies at their toilets as a pattern to paint by.’ De Quintiuye calls it ‘ Une 
Pomme des damoiselles et de bonne compagnie.’ Under the name of Lady 
Apple large quantities of the Api are annually imported to this country from 
the United States, where it is grown to a great extent, and produces a consi¬ 
derable return to the growers, as it always commands the highest price of any 
other fancy Apple in the market. In the winter months they may be seen 
encircled with various coloured tissue papers adorning the windows of the 
fruiterers in Co vent Garden Market.” 
Names of Fruit (IT. II. Deane ).— The Grape is White Frontignan. 
Names of Plants (J. Williams). —The plant with large red bracts is Ley- 
cesteria formosa; the other is Bocconia frutescens. (Inrift). —The specimen 
was very much crushed, but appears to be Malva moschata. 
POULTRY, PIGEON, AND BEE CHRONICLE. 
THE ADVANTAGES OF AUTUMN CULTIVATION. 
(Continued from page 104.) 
The next point to be considered is the autumn cultivation of 
Potatoes, and in this case it will be the same as before stated for 
Lent corn, roots, &c., if the land is foul; if, however, it is com¬ 
paratively clean our practice has been for many years to plough 
the land directly after harvest. As soon as the lumps of grass 
commence growing, and can be readily seen, these are forked out 
and carried away ; the land will then be allowed to remain un¬ 
disturbed until planting time. If, however, a few bunches of 
grass should appear they may be forked-out before proceeding to 
harrow or prepare the land for planting. Having completed our 
remarks as far as the surface cultivation is concerned we must 
now refer to the ploughing, which should be done by a heavy 
furrow, making the necessary distinction in the treatment of 
light or heavy soils. In various northern or north midland 
counties it is customary to drill or hand-dibble the root seeds on 
the stetch at 27 inches apart, in which case we advise that the 
land should be laid into stetches to lie for the winter months, in 
[ August 5, 1880. 
order that in the spring they may be reversed, and that the dung 
may be laid into the furrows before reversing, in readiness for 
drilling the seed ; this refers to the light and dry loams. Upon 
the heavy soils intended for Mangolds or Swedes the land may 
require to be worked down and the stetches reversed, and then 
lay out the dung, to be buried by the last reversal of stetches, 
and by this means the land will be brought into a light loose 
state, so desirable for root cultivation. It will, even on heavy 
land, not always be necessary to reverse the stetches the second 
time in the spring if the land is placed in stetches by steam power, 
as advocated by Mr. Smith of Woolston, whose system of manage¬ 
ment of heavy land is deserving of the home farmer’s attention. 
By driving the tackle through the soil and leaving it on the sur¬ 
face like rubbly coal or limestone, after having been exposed to 
the alternations of winter weather, the dung may be laid out 
between the stetches or artificial manure strewn over. The land 
will then, after reversing the stetches and having laid hollow 
and dry during the winter, be found in a fitting state to work 
fine enough to receive the seed in the best condition. 
We will next consider the best method of treating the land 
during winter when intended to be cropped in the spring with 
Lent corn or pulse. Again we shall have to recommend some 
difference in ploughing light and heavy soils. We will consider 
the light soils first, because these will generally be cropped with 
Barley or Peas. If for the former crop the land may be deeply 
ploughed and allowed to remain undisturbed during the winter 
months until the seed time. If the winter has been wet and the 
land lies close and cold it is often necessary to employ Coleman’s 
scarifier, followed by the harrows and roller until the finest 
possible tilth can be obtained. If the winter has been dry and 
frosty, dragging, harrowing, rolling, &c., will be sufficient to 
produce a good tilth adapted for the successful cultivation of 
Barley. Bear in mind, however, that as no time can be stated 
for commencing to work the land it should not be undertaken 
until the land is white and dry upon the surface, after which the 
sooner the seed is drilled the better. We deprecate entirely any 
spring ploughing, as being not only an unnecessary delay of the 
seed time, but in dry harsh weather it has often resulted in the 
seed not vegetating with regularity. For Peas, however, we 
recommend the reverse, and the early sorts cannot be drilled too 
soon, for on the first suitable date the land must be ploughed 
and drilled, in order that rain or night frosts may not intervene, 
and it is also necessary because Peas, Vetches, &c., always succeed 
best upon a fresh furrow. 
Heavy land usually cropped with Oats or Beans should be 
ploughed with a deep furrow to lie durffig the winter in ridges of 
such size as is usual in the district, and the land being properly water- 
furrowed and well cleaned, so that it may lie high and dry during 
winter, in order that the land in the spring may be planted with 
Beans as early as possible. If allowed to lie on the bare furrow 
during the whole winter the land can be worked early in the 
spring, and the seed should be drilled at once, for the early sown 
are the likeliest to escape the black aphides. Sometimes we have 
known the seed hand-planted in every other furrow, and the land 
ploughed with a shallow furrow just sufficient to bury the Beans. 
This plan is only advisable when the soil is very stiff and difficult to 
work, for we have seen the Beans germinate well, and frequently 
succeed much better than by drilling or hand-dibbling. The same 
method is recommended for the Oat crop, but we do not advise 
sowing Oats too early upon heavy cold land, preferring to wait 
until the land is white on the surface, and then drill after work¬ 
ing the land sufficiently to obtain a fine tilth. 
We may now refer to the autumn tillage of Clover or Saintfoin 
leas, for in these much Couch and Lop Grass is often found, 
particularly upon those fields when previously under a fallow ; 
and with an adveree season like 1789, when it was quite im- 
