442 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. [ November 11 , isso. 
with his honourable character he has not yet yielded to the 
temptation to place any of these before the public as worthy 
of extensive planting. He candidly admits that for years he was 
bathed in his attempts to produce a truly meritorious variety. 
He has, however, hopes that the produce of seedlings of recent 
years may result in one or more varieties worthy of general cul¬ 
tivation. For instance, a seedling of 1878 has this season given a 
calculated result of no less than 2G tons per acre under garden 
cultivation, and 154 tons under ordinary treatment in the field, in 
both cases without a trace of disease in the tubers. Some seed¬ 
lings of 1879 have this season, under ordinary field treatment, 
yielded at the rate of from 5 to 11 tons per acre respectively, 
while the produce of seedlings grown only this season has been 
from 1 to 2 lbs. per plant. 
The experience gained by Mr. Nicoll in his work may serve as a 
guide to less experienced aspirants, and maybe briefly summarised 
by the remark that from all we know of Mr. Nicoll no one 
would rejoice more than himself, though others should succeed 
better than he. He states that “ Propagating seed from the seed 
apple or plum must always be very uncertain, as Potatoes are 
exceedingly liable to sport, perhaps as much, if not more, than 
any other plant in cultivation which is grown for seed. Insects 
are not the only natural hybridisers. The pollen grains are so 
very small and light, that when shaken from the enclosing cells 
even a slight breeze of wind would carry them a considerable 
distance and deposit them on the gummed surface of the stigma, 
and so cause great variety in the contents of one plum.” Still he 
is not certain that the stigma of a bloom that has been fertilised 
from stamens on the same plant will produce a variety of sorts. 
He finds that the Potato bloom, though possessing both stamens 
and pistil, does not ripen these simultaneously. The stigma is 
developed and fit for receiving pollen before the vessels on the 
anthers are opened for the discharge of the pollen grains. Thus 
fertilisation must be effected from older flowers on the same or 
some other plant by pollen conveyed by the wind or the agency 
of insects. Knowing this, and the proper moment for applying 
the pollen, Mr. Nicoll has obtained distinct crosses between the 
Champion and other more shapely and very hardy varieties, such 
as the Magnum Bonum. Great precaution needs to be exercised 
in keeping the produce of every seed thoroughly distinct, for 
the produce of one plum, especially if naturally fertilised, may 
give a hundred plants, no two of which may be exactly alike 
in all points. Even artificial fertilisation does not secure uni¬ 
formity, though it greatly lessens the natural inclination to sport. 
The general type of the future Potato is no doubt fixed in the 
first tubers produced on the seedling plant if not in the seed itself, 
but considerable modifications may be looked for during the 
succeeding four or six years ere the type be permanently fixed. 
The most unpromising seedling may thus after all develope into a 
valuable variety. Coloured eyes will often disappear and coarse¬ 
ness of shape become toned down. Even yet one may readily 
observe the Champion itself slowly altering its character. It is 
not nearly so coarse in root and haulm as it was some years ago, 
while, on the other hand, occasional plants in a field may be 
observed reverting to their original type. Mr. Nicoll believes that 
were those occasional plants, the greenness of which after the first 
frosts in autumn makes them conspicuous among the others, care¬ 
fully cultivated for a year or two, they would in all likelihood be 
found the means of continuing for another generation the native 
hardiness of the original.— William Raitt, Blairgowrie, N.B. 
PRUNING LUXURIANT ROSES AND VINES. 
The other day, when looking over an amateur rosarian’s pets, 
a plant of Jean Rosenkrantz was pointed out as yielding only 
■wood and leaves. The season’s growths were at their base thicker 
than my thumb, and the general appearance of these stems imme¬ 
diately suggested the reason why flowers had not been produced. 
At the base of the shoots the buds could scarcely be seen. At the 
upper part of the shoots the buds had gradually become more 
prominent, till at the ends they were as prominent as those on any 
of the other Roses. To obtain a supply of blooms next season 
the tips of the shoots would merely require cutting off ; but to 
make a permanent improvement at least one shoot would need 
to be cut well in, and then, instead of allowing the young shoots 
to grow as they pleased, their points would require to be pinched 
out when the young growths had attained a firm condition at 
least some inches above its base. 
I have had a similar instance here with Grape Vines. A vinery 
planted in spring with weakly canes, from which I expected only 
comparatively weak wood, have given us some canes where there 
are scarcely any buds at the base. The main leaves were forced 
off the stems at the end of August and the beginning of Septem¬ 
ber ; and now, instead of having to cut the canes down to within 
a foot of the ground as I had intended, many of them will have 
to be left several feet in length in order to secure a good leading 
bud. The lateral growths near the base are so pruned as to leave 
a bud to start, that the buried buds will not be missed in the 
process of thickening the canes equally throughout. Some canes 
intended for fruiting next year, the laterals of which have been 
kept regularly pinched, present a great contrast with the perma¬ 
nent canes in the matter of the buds. In this case the buds stand 
prominently out right from the base to the end of the canes. 
Similar cases will occur to many who have had practical acquaint¬ 
ance with young fruit trees, Plums being, perhaps, more given 
to produce this growth than other fruit trees—at least in the case 
of Plums the effects are more exaggerated. I thought a note on 
the above of more than passing interest just at present, when the 
time of pruning is at hand. A little attention to pinching in 
summer will always keep such growths away ; but in cases where 
this has been neglected it is well to bear in mind that cutting 
them back merely causes a continuation of the evil, and in the 
case of young Grape Vines be most likely to cause a weakly growth 
instead of one of increased strength.—R. P. B. 
MANCHESTER FRUIT AND VEGETABLE MARKETS.* 
Time was when this market was dependent upon Cheshire and 
the Lancashire bank of the Mersey for its supplies of fresh vege¬ 
tables and fruits ; but since the abolition of duties, improved steam 
navigation, and the more complete development of the railway 
system, no spot upon the earth’s surface appears sufficiently re¬ 
mote to deprive the teeming populations of these districts of its 
productions. 
But whilst these changes have proved a blessing to the com¬ 
munity generally it will be said, probably, that they have tended 
to the injury of the native grower of many kinds of agricultural 
and horticultural produce. We know that that which is for the 
public good is oftentimes temporarily prejudicial to the interests 
of individuals. It is not the province of the writer of this article 
to point out any remedial measures that may suggest themselves, 
but he may be permitted to say that it seems pretty certain that 
the only change that can bring remunerative prices to the English 
grower—if they are not now so—lies between himself and the 
owner of the soil he cultivates. Diminished crops in this country, 
from whatever cause, no longer mean higher prices from the con¬ 
sumer. Abundance in any part of the world will flow into the 
scarcity of any other as surely as air rushes into a vacuum. 
Other changes have also taken place. Ere the revolution in 
the sources of supply had begun the growers supplying this 
market brought their goods and disposed of them personally, now 
the great bulk reaches us by railway. The number cf carts 
laden with their owners’ produce which arrived in the market 
on the night of Friday the 8th of August, and before six o’clock 
on the morning of Saturday the 9th, last year, w r as 230. Their 
contents would probably be about one-eighth of the total supply 
brought for the Saturday’s market. Very few large growers 
now sell their own goods ; they are generally consigned to sales¬ 
men who have permanent standings in the market, and who 
charge a commission of 5 per cent, upon the sale of all goods 
entrusted to them. This system has its advantages, and perhaps 
not entirely free from occasional disadvantages. Doubtless the 
owner would frequently make more by his goods if be personally 
attended the sale of them ; but then, to set against this, there is 
the time and money expended to enable him to do so, and there¬ 
fore, all things considered, he is induced to save himself much 
trouble and employ the salesman. 
In laying before the reader some of the chief sources of supply 
I will begin with our own country. 
In the first three months of the year vast quantities of flower¬ 
ing Broccoli (erroneously called Cauliflowers by many persons) 
are received from Cornwall, very frequently 20 tons per day. 
The Cornish Broccoli are followed by extensive supplies from 
the midlands. The very best come from the neighbourhood of 
Northampton. 
In March early Radishes are received extensively from Wor¬ 
cestershire. One salesman has sold three hundred hampers in 
one day. They leave Evesham and neighbouring stations in the 
evening, and reach Manchester at three o’clock the following 
morning in excellent condition. As I shall frequently have to 
mention Evesham as a source of supply I may here quote what a 
writer said of it fifty years ago : — 
“The vale of Evesham is celebrated for the extreme richness 
* Extracted from a Trize Essay by John Page, published by the Koyal Man¬ 
chester, Liverpool, and North Lancashire Agricultural Society by permission of 
that Society. 
