366 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ October 20, 1892. 
attempted. In the near future such green vegetables as winter 
greens, Brussels Sprouts, and Savoys will only hold a place, 
and that a very secondary one, amongst vegetables for table 
use in winter. In the United States of America the evaporation 
of fruit has proved so successful and so profitable that vege¬ 
tables have also been brought under the process, all kinds of 
vegetables being now evaporated. Peas, Broad Beans, Potatoes, 
Pumpkins, Vegetable Marrows, Carrots, Parsnips, Kidney 
Beans, and Tomatoes are all successfully passed through 
evaporators, the water being thus driven out, and all the nutritive 
properties retained in them. Vegetables so treated are available 
for use at all seasons of the year, being wholesome, nutritious, 
and palatable after ordinary cooking. 
In the last quarterly number of the “Journal of the Royal 
Agricultural Society” Mr. Charles Whitehead has an article on 
“New Modes of Disposing of Fruit and Vegetables,” in which 
he explains what is being done to extend the preserving of such 
produce. The matter is so important that we at once call 
attention to it, and we gladly acknowledge our indebtedness to 
Mr. Whitehead for much valuable information upon the 
subject. 
Schemes for the extension of fruit farming are now being 
carried out, the land is in course of speedy preparation so as to 
be ready for the planting immediately after the leaves fall. 
What is the object in view of the planter ? The general answer 
would probably be to obtain fruit for market. But that is not 
enough. Fruit growing, solely for market as fresh fruit, has 
often led to such a glut of one sort or other that profit has 
been impossible. No, the scope of the fruit grower must be 
much more comprehensive. It must include the sale of fresh 
fruit in the best way, fruit evaporation, jam, and fruit canning 
or rather the packing and preserving in the glass jars with metal 
lids which are fast taking the place of tin cans in the United 
States, because they do not impart any unpleasant flavour or 
taint of any sort to the fruit. These glass jars vary in capacity 
from a pint to two quarts. 
Jam-making and jam factories are now in full force among 
the fruit farms of Kent and other counties; fruit-bottling is 
also making its way. Both things are well done. We have 
tasted several sorts of jam from an Essex factory, a’l of which 
were excellent, and there was none of the disgusting slime 
which is present in so much of the cheap jam now sold by 
grocers in London and elsewhere. With the growing demand 
for jam, adulteration has laid its foul grip upon the preserving 
pan. Let fruit farmers see to this, and by keeping genuine 
jam well before the public enable it to discriminate between 
the good and bad, and buy directly from farm factories. The 
Essex Company does this by sending the jam in large or 
small quantities, carriage paid. The fruit vans of the Swanley 
factories go far and wide into other counties as well as in 
Kent ; that is precisely what is wanted—fruit well grown, 
skilfully preserved, profitably sold, a genuine article cheap and 
pure to the purchaser, profitable to the producer, untouched by 
the middleman. Co-operation tells here again ; fruit growers 
combine, form a company, establish a factory, emp’oy travellers, 
and thus sell their own fruit. 
Well, let us go on then, this is only the beginning of things. 
Before us is fruit evapoi’ation with all its marvellous possibilities, 
a large and ever-growing demand by the consumer, relief from 
the pressure of agricultural depression by the producer, employ¬ 
ment for tens of thousands of our rural population. There is 
nothing vague or uncertain about it; climate, soil, and markets 
are all here. There is no doubt about the demand, a prompt 
and profitable sale is a certainty. Who will lead the way ? 
Mr. Whitehead explains how the matter is wisely being taken 
up in Australia, and says, “ The Queenslanders have been quick 
to see the advantages of the various systems of dealing with 
fruit and vegetables that have been described, which are so 
profitably practised by the Americans, and there is no reason 
why they may not be successfully adopted in this country, 
both upon a large scale in factories and buildings for the purpose, 
as well as upon a small scale in the homes of the people.” 
We have no space for the details of fruit-canning this week ; 
it must be explained in another paper, as it enters largely into 
every comprehensive scheme of fruit farming. It will suffice 
to add now one word of encouragement to fruit planters this 
season, and that is to remind them of an ever-increasing demand, 
of the probability of the growth of facilities for preserving 
fruit, so that fears of an overstocked market need not hinder 
them from planting. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
A recent journey through Derbyshire, Yorkshire, and Cheshire has 
enabled us to see how the corn harvest lingers in the north. The corn 
fields are very small, so small that the clearance of the crop strikes a 
visitor from the large corn-growing districts as a trifling thing, yet the 
work appears to proceed in a slow and unsatisfactory manner. Broken 
weather tells, but the first week of the present month was one of very 
fine weather in Derbyshire, and as we write this note in a Derby 
farmhouse, the weather is perfect. Our object in mentioning this is to 
remind dairy farmers of the importance of thorough cultivation of the 
small quantity of arable land they have. Curious, but true is it, that 
a small thing like this is so generally badly done on most farms. Take 
the large corn farms of East Anglia, and there the poorest land on the 
farm is almost invariably the few acres of permanent pasture. On dairy 
farms the same thing happens with the few acres of arable land. Yet 
rightly treated this particular portion of the farm should be so produc¬ 
tive as to be of material use always, and a special resource in times of 
drought. 
Late-sown Swedes are a light crop, but the roots, thoughi small, are 
heavy and will winter well. Only in exceptionally cold districts would 
we clean and place them in heaps. In light or mixed soil on uplands 
this crop is most useful if left out till early spring for the ewes and 
lambs. There is then in ordinary seasons a nice crop of leaves for the 
lambs to run forward and eat before the ewe folds are made, and the 
labour involved in hoeing up root bottoms and setting folds is well 
repaid by the enrichment of the land. A slight browning of the tops 
of green Maize by frost is a reminder to use up the remainder of this 
useful green crop as speedily as possible. It has answered well this 
year, has helped to ease pastures a bit, so that there is a fair bite of 
grass now, and not the bareness which has already set some of our 
neighbours looking forward to difficulties about winter food for cows 
and store cattle. Well indeed will it be if they can be induced to 
bring their head of live stock well within the scope of their means, to 
sell all surplus or inferior animals at any sacrifice, and so to winter their 
store beasts that at turn-out time in spring they may go to grass in 
such fresh condition as to be ripe for the butcher by autumn. If money 
is to be made out of cattle now there must be systematic management 
so as to fatten on pasture and not in winter stalls. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
Oamden Square, London. 
Lat. 51° 32' 40" N.; Long. 0° 8' 0" W.; Altitude, 111 feet. 
Date. 
9 A.M. 
In the day. 
.3 
A 
1892. 
October. 
| Barometer 
j at 32°, and 
Sea Level. 
Hygrometer. 
Direc¬ 
tion of 
Wind. 
Temp, 
of soil 
at 
1 foot. 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
Sun. 
On 
Grass. 
Inchs. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
Inchs. 
Sunday .. 
9 
29-412 
50-7 
49-7 
S.W. 
49-4 
55-0 
40-4 
91-9 
35-0 
0.118 
Monday .. 
10 
29-7G3 
48-9 
46-0 
W. 
48-8 
57-7 
44-0 
101-9 
38-1 
— 
Tuesday .. 
11 
30-057 
43-8 
41-3 
w. 
48-1 
54-7 
34.4 
922 
29-2 
— 
Wednesday 
12 
30-085 
44-3 
42-9 
N.E. 
47-2 
539 
37-6 
93-2 
29 9 
0.019 
Thursday.. 
13 
29-924 
49-9 
47-7 
N.E. 
47-7 
54-9 
44-1 
72-9 
38-7 
0.278 
Friday 
14 
29-662 
48-3 
47-2 
S. 
48-1 
52-8 
47-0 
80-7 
41-9 
— 
Saturday .. 
15 
29-852 
48-3 
48-3 
E. 
48-1 
54-1 
37-3 
81-4 
31-2 
— 
29-822 
47-7 
46 2 
48-2 
54-7 
40-7 
87-7 
34-9 
0-415 
REMARKS. 
9th.—Wet from 4.30 A.M. till 10 A.M., then a little sun and a storm rain 0.30 p.M. 
frequent sunshine in afternoon ; clear night. 
10th.—Generally sunny in morning; spots of rain at 2.30 P.M.; sunny again later. 
11th.—Sunny all day ; fine night. 
12th.—Bright sunny day, occasional cloud in afternoon ; slight showers at night. 
13th.—Occasional sunshine, but generally overcast and spots of rain at noon. 
14th.—Steady rain from 2.30 A.M. to 9 A.M., then generally overcast, but occasional 
gleams of sun; spots of rain in evening. 
15th.—Fog till 10 A.M. (dense early), then sunny. 
A seasonable week, with a fair amount of sunshine. Temperature remarkably 
similar to that of the preceding week.—G. J. Symons. 
