March 2 t, 1892. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
215 
prone to canker. Fruit spotted and given to rot on the tree, and 
altogether unsatisfactory ; stocks make no difference. Yet on 
some soils this is one of the best. Mr. Bunyard exhibited it grand 
at Manchester last October. 
Dumelow’s Seedling is a failure to a certain extent here, the 
trees cankering, and the fruit being much smaller than I used to 
have it on a heavier soil further north. Bramley’s Seedling is 
much to be preferred. 
Emperor Alexander is rather too shy a bearer to be recom¬ 
mended for market, but a good dish always tells in a collection. 
Gravenstein is also a shy bearer and of little market value, owing 
to that defect. 
Margil is well known for its excellent quality, but is of little 
use for market, and on most soils is subject to canker. 
Melon is one of those Apples that require an orchard house to 
secure the fruits first-rate, and is consequently of not much good 
as a rule for outside work. 
Newtown Pippin, like the preceding, is another American Apple 
which seldom does much good in the open. 
Northern Spy I have never seen cropping well, though it is one 
of the best in America. Pennington Seedling and Puckruflf Pippin 
are two Apples of little value. 
Waltham Abbey Seedling is, I think, over-estimated. It has 
not answered my expectation here, in spite of careful and good 
treatment. 
No doubt the list might with advantage be considerably en¬ 
larged, and with benefit to the country, as our lists of Apples are 
becoming too large. At the same time, it is well to bear in mind 
that a variety which is poor at one place may be just the reverse at 
another. The failing of planters, as a rule, is the selection of too 
many varieties, some of which are almost certain to be unsatis¬ 
factory. Comparatively few varieties, carefully chosen as being 
suitable to the district, will prove all that could be wished, and 
will be a pleasure to all concerned.—S. T. Wright. 
THOUGHTS ABOUT TOMATOES. 
(^Continued from page 179.') 
In the pot culture of Tomatoes there are two common sources 
of failure, the-one consisting in the transference of the plants from 
very small pots into very large ones crammed with rich soil, the 
other in the saturation of the compost with water immediately 
after repotting has taken place. In the first case the same evils 
result as those induced by too large borders, and in the other the 
plants are checked by the hesitation of the roots to penetrate freely 
into the sodden mass around them. Where, as not infrequently 
occurs, a plant is transferred from a 5-inch pot to one 10 inches in 
diameter, the latter should not be filled to the rim at once, but 
after packing soil firmly round the ball of the plant space should 
be left at the top for a subsequent surface dressing. And as 
respects watering, proceed cautiously for a few days. Let the 
fresh soil be just moist when used, not saturated, and only supply 
sufficient water to check evaporation until the roots are ramifying 
freely. The double mistake of giving a largely increased bulk of 
soil and watering freely is often made at the same time, and the 
result frequently is that the plants stand almost still for a time, 
then rush ahead into a luxuriant course of leaf and stem develop¬ 
ment at the expense of fruit. 
While pointing out the risk of feeding Tomatoes too liberally a 
warning may bo given against going to the other extreme. It is 
quite possible to grow them in too poor a medium. Two years 
ago the experiment was tried of potting half a dozen plants in some 
poor fibreless soil from which, so far as could be judged, every 
particle of nutriment had been extracted. The result was that the 
plants were puny, stunted, and almost worthless, the stems being 
attenuated, the leaves small and lacking substance. A top-dressing 
of fresh loam and bone dust, consisting of a handful of the latter 
to two quarts of the former, was prepared and applied. The effect 
was almost magical. The stems lengthened and thickened at once, 
the foliage improved in size and texture, flower clusters formed, 
and in the end a fair crop of fruit was gathered. The quantity 
of soil supplied may be small, but what there is of it should be 
good, as the plants must have something to feed on. Quality 
rather than quantity should be the watchword. 
It has been sensibly suggested that raisers of new varieties 
should turn their attention to the production of disease-resisters. 
It is quite clear, from the abundance of varieties that are intro¬ 
duced only to prove commonplace, that the multiplication of 
Tomatoes on the o’d lines has gone far enough. Is there no Clark 
to give us a Magnum Bonum ? There is room for development 
still, but it must be in a new direction—that of stouter, harder 
texture, and more robust constitution. The end in view may be 
thought impossible of realisation, but so it was in the case of 
Potatoes until Magnum Bonum came ; since then disease-resisting 
qualities have been held constantly in view, and hence the produc¬ 
tion of varieties of strong constitution, firm growth, and heavy 
cropping character that we now possess. Is there any reason why 
what is possible with Potatoes is impossible with the Tomato ? It 
is not to be expected that such complete immunity from attack will 
be gained as to make outdoor crops a certainty in unfavourable 
seasons, but there is ample justification for the belief that attention 
devoted (1) to the production of varieties of stouter texture and 
more robust constitution, and (2) to a sound system of culture, in¬ 
clusive of the careful provision of suitable food constituents, 
would meet with the reward of larger, better, and more certain 
crops. 
In cropping qualities and good flavour we have now very little 
to complain of. The varieties promise to become as numerous as 
Peas and Potatoes. They have grown from a list of seven or 
eight twelve years ago to one of several dozens. At that time 
Orangefield, Large Bed, Hathaway’s Excelsior, Acme, and Hepper’s 
Goliath were amongst the most popular, other favourite sorts 
being Tick’s Criterion, Earley’s Defiance, Trophy, and Green Gage. 
These are veterans now, and some of them “ lag superfluous on the 
stage,” but Hathaway’s Excelsior and Trophy are deservedly grown 
still. Perhaps some of the others are also, under fresh names. 
Hackwood Park, Dedham Favourite, Perfection, Laxton’s Open 
Air, Earliest of All, The Mikado, King Humbert, and others com¬ 
prised a later generation, but some of them are already on the 
down grade. Then we had Conference, Ham Green Favourite, 
Horsford’s Prelude and Challenger. Of these Ham Green 
Favourite is perhaps doomed to live the longest. There may be 
many who will question the wisdom of my choice when I say that 
if restricted to one variety alone Ham Green would be selected, 
but there are the powerful points of heavy cropping, handsome 
appearance, and rich flavour to be urged in its favour. It is a 
market and home Tomato of the utmost value. Its beautiful 
appearance sells it readily, and its incomparable quality secures 
for it a firm hold on the favour of every buyer or cultivator. It 
has the slight fault of not coming into bearing quite so early as 
some others, and it is therefore well to provide it with a precocious 
companion, such as the valuable Earliest of All. Of the others 
named Hathaway’s Excelsior and Perfection are perhaps the pick, 
but there is room for expressions of opinion in favour of several 
which growers may perhaps avail themselves of. A distinct and 
highly promising yellow variety in the hands of Mr. E. D. Smith 
of Sheffield is likely to be heard of this year. 
The white fly, which has given Tomato growers so much trouble 
in the past, has at last met its match. A large grower finds Calvert’s 
carbolic soap a certain destroyer of it. Dissolve 1 oz. in a gallon 
of water, and syringe the plants with it on three successive days, 
thoroughly wetting the foliage above and beneath, and a riddance 
is effected. 
Victory over a powerful enemy awakens cheerful feelings. Let 
me close, before they evaporate under the influence of piercing 
winds and frostbound soil, by expressing a hope, justifiable inas¬ 
much as Tomato-growing is still in its infancy, that the time may 
come when we shall be favoured with bountiful crops, even if the 
seasons are not of the best. For the present we must, so far as 
outdoor crops are concerned, trust entirely to the weather, but in 
the light of what British perseverance and ingenuity have accom¬ 
plished in the past there is hope for better things “ in the long 
years to be.”— W. P. Wright. 
As a large grower of the Tomato for market, and one who has 
successfully battled with the dreaded disease (Phytophora infes- 
tans), I was especially interested in Mr. W. P. Wright’s thoughts 
upon the subject as given on page 172. He there tells us “the 
Potato disease is spread by minute floating organisms termed 
zoospores, and that it is probable these zoospores are largely re¬ 
sponsible for the spread of the Tomato disease.” Undoubtedly 
our friend’s thoughts are here not far wide of the mark. The 
dreaded Potato disease seldom makes its appearance on the haulm 
of our Potato crops until the latter portion of the month of July or 
early in August, and exactly the same may be said as regards the 
time when it flrst appears upon our Tomatoes. During the earlier 
months of the year the young plants of Tomatoes are usually 
pushed on in warm close houses where there is an abundance of 
atmospheric moisture—conditions most favourable to the develop¬ 
ment of the disease ; yet it seldom appears before the time above 
stated, but after that time, although the atmospheric conditions 
maintained are not nearly so favourable for its germination as were 
those in the earlier months, yet it is almost certain to present 
itself in greater or less quantities. 
I think there can scarcely now be a doubt that the same kind of 
zoospores, floating in numbers in the atmosphere, may germinate 
and produce disease upon either Potato or Tomato foliage, which- 
