January 26, 1893. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
67 
So very hard to get rid of are mealy bugs that there is almost 
certain to be a few survivals of the scrubbing and painting pro¬ 
cesses, and in order to quite clear the Vines of them a close look 
out must be kept during the growing season for any that do put in 
an appearance. Unless these few odd insects are destroyed before 
they have time to deposit eggs in the bark there will soon be a 
return of the old order of things, as they increase and spread very 
rapidly in the genial surrounding of a vinery. Next to the hot 
water scrubbing this hunting out the survivals is of the greatest 
importance, neglecting to follow it up being the most frequent 
cause of failure to wholly get rid of mealy bug from a vinery, 
ONIONS. 
Being one of those selected to assist in judging the very 
remarkable display of what Mr. Deverill calls his pedigree stocks 
at his annual Show in September last, and as the season is now 
approaching when those who require such for 
exhibition purposes will be sowing the seed, it 
may not be out of place to say a little on the 
merits of these popular kinds. 
There are four distinct Globe types, the 
largest and handsomest being Ailsa Craig. 
Twelve bulbs shown on this occasion scaled 
26 lbs., but they were not so highly finished as 
usual, but certainly beautifully shaped bulbs. 
Cocoanut is a very large handsome shaped Onion, 
as is also Advancer, and I should not be sur¬ 
prised to see them to the front on some future 
occasion, their quality being so good. Improved 
Wroxton is highly adapted for the general crop, 
being an excellent keeper ; in fact, it keeps 
sound until June. I consider this Onion is 
invaluable for market work. 
Then comes the section for Urge flat types, 
which comprise Anglo-Spanish, twelve bulbs of 
which were shown in fine form ; weight 22 lbs., 
circumference 18 and 19 inches ; and being so 
well finished were awarded the gold medal as 
the best dozen bulbs in the Show. This variety 
is the gem of this section, and those who want 
the true stock should ask for the latest develop¬ 
ment or Mr. Deverill’s selection. 
Then follows Lord Keeper with deeper flesh 
and runs Anglo-Spanish very close. This variety 
is higher in the shoulder but is not so solid in 
appearance. Royal Jubilee and Rousham Park 
Hero are wonderfully fine strains, and are at all 
times likely to hold their own, for I have seen 
the latter shown more than once when the dozen 
bulbs averaged 18 inches in circumference. The 
original Excelsior is a beautiful Onion and was 
shown in splendid form, but had no chance 
against the larger varieties named. I see by 
Mr. Deverill’s catalogue he is offering prizes for Scotland, as 
he considers the northerners cannot compete with the southern 
growers.—G. A. J. 
PRICES OF APPLES—MANURE. 
I THINK “ A Yorkshireman ” and “ A Sussex Grower ” (page 6 ) have 
overlooked the fact that the discussion of prices was not that of Apples 
generally, but of Domino Apples, and it was as regards this I thought 
sufficient time had been taken up. Still, your correspondents may con¬ 
gratulate themselves on having obtained very good prices. Doubtless 
among so many Apple growers as there are there will be some who 
obtain prices considerably over the average. Your correspondents may 
have had special opportunities for the disposal of produce in small 
towns locally. Here, in the midst of a large fruit growing district, we 
cannot get such good prices from shopkeepers in the neighbouring 
town as in the market, because they obtain the bulk of their 
fruit from cottagers, who, only having a tree or two, have not enough 
to send to a distance ; they therefore sell it in Maidstone for what it 
will fetch, and usually the shops are glutted with cheap fruit. We are 
consequently shut up to London and more idistant markets, and if 1 
send to Yorkshire my return would be very different to that of “ A 
Yorkshireman,” because of the extra carriage, though perhaps in other 
ways our more southern climate would be an advantage. 
Sometimes we can dispose of fruit very well to higglers, who take it 
to the seaside towns ; but this cannot be relied upon for disposing of a 
large quantity. The average return home to us from London and the 
chief Lancashire and Yorkshire towns and elsewhere for Warner’s King 
and other large cooking Apples was considerably less than the prices 
quoted by the two correspondents named above. At the end of August 
1 sent up to Covent Garden some selected cooking Apples—that is, the 
largest grade of large growing sorts—and they realised 63 . a bushel. On 
receiving a telegram as to the price they produced I sent off a large con¬ 
signment of the same sort, but they only made 4s. a bushel on the 
following day. Five days later they made only 83 . 3d, per bushel, when 
I left off sending there. The fruit was not topped, and my mark is 
well known ; there was only the vicissitudes of the market to account 
for it. But these contingencies we always have to face, and it is rarely 
that all can be sold at the top price. The cholera scare much reduced 
the price of Apples in London. 
I may inform “ W. P. W.” that the statements I have made about 
manures were facts, and no amount of writing on the part of anyone 
who has merely a superficial knowledge of commercial fruit growing can 
dispose of them. I do not feel disposed to give your correspondent the 
details he requires about manures, as he appsars to ask in a spirit that 
suggests a desire to find fault. In such a case discussion is of no 
benefit. I am glad to learn from anyone, but dislike mere wordy 
controversy. But for the sake of proving the reasonableness of my 
statement about manure I may say that those of your readers who live 
in this neighbourhood will readily believe it, for although the precise 
applications I give are not known to them, yet my carts are as well 
FIG. 10.— CYPfilPEDIUJI GEEMlNYA^U-^r, {See page 7i). 
known as I am myself, and it is evident in manure alone that I have a- 
large expenditure. 
If “ W. P, W.” is not acquainted with the applications of manures 
by market gardeners and fruit growers who farm well, he has only to- 
turn up back numbers of the Journal to gain information, such as 
26th October and 2nd November, 1871. He should know that appli¬ 
cations of 50 to 100 tons of manure per acre are not uncommon, and he 
will see from the articles I have named that the outlay for this alone in 
one place mentioned “ generally exceeds £20 per acre,” and a garden in 
Bermondsey sometimes has an application of manure value between £30 
and £40 per acre. In the Bedfordshire district it is stated that for 
Onions “ 50 tons of dung per acre are sometimes applied, costing 8 s, per 
ton at the railway and lOs. when spread in the field.” After this my 
statement, which included cost of cartage and labour, reads as a very 
moderate one, and it is true I do not apply nearly as large quantities as 
the above. I consider a shovelful to e.ich Gooseberry bush, and some 
for the crops in the spaces between, with a little extra for standards, 
supplemented by any particular artificial that may be necessary, a very 
good dressing ; yet it does not look very much on the ground, but it 
works out to a large quantity per acre. I may be told that I can use 
artificial manures alone, but I found they worked out by analysis about 
the same price as dung, while more care has to be exercised in the 
application of heavy dressings. Besides this, stable manure supplies 
humus and holds moisture in dry weather, facts which are not considered 
by those who go in merely for analysis, but which make a considerable 
difference to the crops. 
Several different crops, one overlapping the other and trees rising to 
some height above the ground, take a large amount of moisture from the 
soil. It is very obvious, for instance, that Apple trees 20 feet high are 
capable of bearing a great deal more fruit and exhaust ground much 
more than a thick plantation of bush Apple trees 6 feet high. 
