112 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ February 9, 1893. 
expenditure on manure, not as a fact but as an “ estimate,” and 
estimates are made to be criticised. It is extraordinary that he should 
meet my request for particulars about what he is doing now with 
manures by referring me to what someone else did in another district 
upwards of twenty years ago. But to oblige him I have turned up the 
articles referred to and found, as I expected, that for practical purposes 
there is absolutely no connection between the two cases. Your corre¬ 
spondent has estimated that he spends £12 lOs. per acre annually on 
manure for land, “all of which is under fruit cultivation.” What 
comparison is there between this and £20 per acre expended on land 
under market vegetables ? Mr. Kruse appears to rely upon mulching, 
but how under this practice he utilises the enormous quantity indicated 
by his “ estimate” of £500 a year for 40 acres of land I fail to see, and 
I happen to know that many others share my difficulty. 
I observe that although Mr. Kruse advances 10s. per ton as the cost 
of stable manure, he is careful to avoid saying that it costs this to him. 
The price appears to represent what someone else has paid elsewhere. 
Further, he adds that the cost of labour is to be added to that of the 
material, although when he first wrote he spoke of his “ manure bill ” 
alone. When a man uses this term he is generally understood to 
mean the cost of manure to his premises, not the application of it as 
well. This generally comes in the wages account, and in his previous 
letter Mr. Kruse made a separate charge for this of another £500 a 
year. From this it will be seen that he declines to supply the only 
information which would be of practical use to readers. The grounds 
for refusal are by no means satisfactory. He bases them on the 
assumption that the information is sought with a spirit of finding 
fault. If, however, his estimates are accurate and his methods 
sound, surely the best plan of bringing carping critics to grief is to 
supply the explanations asked for, not to take refuge in silence. That 
which is right and good will stand the test of fault-finding. How¬ 
ever, he distinctly ref^uses particulars, and there, I suppose, the matter 
ends. The salesman’s returns, giving prices home to the grower of 
Apples, that I have sent to the Editor show clearly that Mr. Kruse 
is less fortunate than some others in his sales, and those returns, which 
no one can question or explain away, are ample justification for what 
I have said on this subject.—W. P. W. 
Events op the Week.—A s stated below, the Committees of the 
Eoyal Horticultural Society will meet at the Drill Hall, James Street, 
on Tuesday, February 14th, and the annual general meeting of the 
Society will be held at 3 p.m. The Committee of the National Eose 
Society also meet at the Hotel Windsor on Tuesday afternoon, and the 
annual dinner of the Horticultural Club takes place in the evening at 
the same hotel. 
-The Weather in London.—T he weather in the metropolis 
has been of a variable character during the past few days. Sunday 
proved cold and frosty with local fogs, freezing hard at night. On 
Monday morning a thick fog prevailed in the north of London, but it 
cleared during the day and became milder at night. Tuesday was fine, 
mild, and springlike, similar weather prevailing at the time of going to 
press. 
- Weather in the North. —The first week of February has 
been on the whole mild for the season, the days generally dull with 
occasional showers and a touch of frost on two mornings. Sunday was 
for some hours almost spring-like in temperature and brightness, but 
became cold and dull in the afternoon. Snowdrops are in bloom, and 
Crocuses are showing above ground. Eoses seem terribly cut up by 
the frost, not a few killed outright.—B. D., S. Perthshire. 
- Eoyal Horticultural Society.—T he next meeting of the 
Society will be held on Tuesday, February 14th, at the Drill Hall, 
James Street, Westminster. As the annual general meeting will be 
held the same day at 3 p.m. at the Society’s offices, 117, Victoria Street, 
it is expected that there will be an unusually large attendance of 
Fellows to hear the report of the past year. 
- Fruit Culture in the Scilly Isles. — A western con¬ 
temporary states that during the next few months an enterprising 
syndicate of fruit growers will lease the entire group of the Scilly Isles 
from the proprietor, and English-grown Oranges may in the near future 
be competing with Valencias in Covent Garden Market. No snow has 
fallen at Scilly since the spring of 1890. 
-National Am.vteur Gardeners’ Association. — The 
members of this Association held their second annual general meeting 
at the Memorial Hall, Farringdon Street, on Tuesday, February 7th, 
under the presidency of Mr. T. W. Sanders. The report of the 
Committee showed that much good had been accomplished by the 
Association, and that there were now upwards of 400 members, with 
several affiliated societies. According to the financial statement, too,, 
there is a satisfactory balance in hand, and this, with an excellent 
syllabus for the ensuing year, augurs well for the future success of the 
Association. A Fellowship of the Association was conferred on Mr. G. 
McLeod of Chingford for valuable services rendered, this being the first 
distinction of its kind bestowed on any member since the inauguration 
of the institution. 
- Eoyal Meteorological Society.—A t the ordinary meeting 
of this Society, to be held at 25, Great George Street, Westminster, on 
Wednesday, the 15th instant, at 7 p.m., the following papers will be- 
read :—“ Eeport on the Phenological Observations for 1892,” by Edward 
Mawley, F.E.Met.Soc. ; “ Eelation Between the Duration of Sunshine, 
the Amount of Cloud, and the Height of the Barometer,” by Williami 
Ellis, F.E.A.S.; “ Winter Temperatures on Mountain Summits,” by 
W. Piffe Brown. 
- “ Karri ” Wood for Pavements.—A t a recent meeting of 
the Eoyal Botanic Society of London, it was announced that the 
donotions included specimens of the Karri wood, a hard reddish-coloured 
timber produced by one of the Australian Gum trees, Eucalyptus diversi¬ 
color, and now imported to a large extent for paving roads. The 
Secretary stated that, though Australia abounded in useful timbers, few 
of them had been utilised to any extent in England. 
-Value OF A Cherry Tree.—“A question as to the value of 
a Cherry tree,” says the Kolnische Zeitwig, “ has just been decided at 
Niederlahnstein, in Germany. The ground whereon this Cherry tree 
stands is required for the widening of a railway station at that place. 
The owner of a tree put in a claim for £180, which he said was the 
amount he obtained yearly from the fruit the tree yielded. After some 
spirited contention on both sides the owner somewhat reluctantly 
consented to accept £120.” Is not this a “ chestnut?” 
- Tobacco Culture in Australia.—I t is rather surprising 
that Tobacco has been so little cultivated in Australia. The Agricultural- 
Gazette of New South Wales has taken up the matter, and in a recent 
number devotes to it a comparatively long and interesting paper. The 
writer of the article thinks that the climate of New South Wales is- 
admirably suited to the growth of Tobacco, and hopes that a sufficient- 
quantity of it may hereafter be produced not only to satisfy local 
demands, but to open up a large and lucrative export trade. 
- A Carnation Number. — Our excellent transatlantic con¬ 
temporary, The American Florist, keeps well to the front. A few weeks 
since we referred to its special Chrysanthemum issue, and now we have 
a Carnation number before us. It is replete with pithily written useful 
information about these beautiful flowers. The illustrations, moreover, 
are plentiful and admirably executed. The portion of an article on 
raising seedling Carnations, which we reproduce with the accompanying 
illustrations elsewhere in the present issue, will doubtless be appreciated 
by our readers. 
-Amalgamated Horticultural Society for Gravesend. 
—At the Town Hall, Gravesend, a meeting was recently held to inau¬ 
gurate the newly consolidated orticultural Society, which was formed 
upon the dissolving, by mutual agreement, of the three old Associations, 
the North Kent Chrysanthemum, the Gravesend Horticultural Improve¬ 
ment, and the Gravesend and Northfleet Horticultural. The Mayor 
(Mr. G. M. Arnold) presided, and there was a large attendance. The 
amalgamation will be known as the Gravesend, Northfleet, and District 
Horticultural Society. 
- CORBRIDGE AND DISTRICT GARDENERS’ SOCIETY. —A meet¬ 
ing of this Society was held in the Town Hall on Monday, January 23rd, 
Mr. Charlton, Farnley Grange, presiding. Mr. W.J. Watson, Corbridge, 
read a paper entitled, “ My Experiences as an Exhibitor of Spring 
Flowers.” Having been a successful exhibitor for many years at New¬ 
castle and other Shows, Mr. Watson’s account of the various exhibitions 
he has attended was most interesting. He gave some good information 
on bulb growing, which was much appreciated by all present. Mr. 
Bell proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. Watson for his excellent paper, 
also to the Chairman who so ably presided. 
