February 23, 1695. 
JOURNAL OF HORTIGULTUhE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
185 
- American Pomological Society, —The bieanial convention 
of this Society in California was a very successful affair. The visiting 
delegates were entertained with liberal cordiality. The papers and dis¬ 
cussions at the meetings were mainly of interest to the Pacific coast. 
The Society re-elected the old list of ^officers, including P,J, Berckmans of 
Georgia, President; B, G, Smith of Massachusetts, Treasurer; and 
G. C, Brackett of Kansas, Secretary, 
Honour to a North Country Horticulturist, —The 
Corporation of Sunderland, by virtue of the 62nd Clause of the New 
Local Government Act, has taken the whole of the Sunderland 
cemeteries under its charge. These consist of Sunderland, Bishop 
Wearmouth, and Mere Knolls, containing 112 acres. The Corporation 
agreed to have one chief official for all, the office to be termed “ Chief 
olerk and General Superintendent of Cemeteries,” and without adver¬ 
tising the Cemetery Committee decided to offer Mr. W, J. Bolam, 
F.E.H.S,, Superintendent and Registrar of Sunderland Cemetery, the 
position, which he has accepted. Mr. Bolam was for many years manager 
for the late Mr. Harrison, the noted Rose grower at Darlington, and has 
been for the last twenty years Superintendent and Registrar of the Sunder¬ 
land Cemetery ; he is also Chairman of the Sunderland Horticultural 
Mutual Improvement Association. He will have responsible duties to 
perform, but he is an accomplished book-keeper, a skilful horticulturist, 
and an expert in cemetery management, therefore well qualified to 
discharge the duties. The salary commences at £180 per annum, with 
free house, coals, gas, garden, and water. He will have an office in the 
Town Hall, Sunderland, and telephonic communication with the officials 
in charge of the cemeteries to assist him in carrying out the various 
details of his duties.— Bernard Cowan, F.R.H.S. 
- Moving Trees.— In “Meehan’s Monthly” for February the 
sound advice is given to dig a trench before spring growth begins 
around large trees which are to be moved. The inside of the trench 
should be 2 feet f^om the butt or more, according to the size of the tree. 
It should be deep enough to cut off most of the roots 2 feet at least, and 
the trench should be carefully filled up with good soil, which should be 
firmly packed about the ball. Next autumn many new roots will have 
been formed, and the transplanting of the tree will be much more easy 
and more certainly successful. When the trench is dug the top of the 
tree should be pruned back, though not as severely as if the planting 
was to take place immediately. 
F.A.L9E Pretences. —At the Southwark Police Court last week 
Charles Samuel Robinson, a farmer of Pinchbeck, near Spalding, Lin¬ 
colnshire, was charged with obtaining the sum of £73 Ks. from Messrs. 
Cooper, Taber & Co. (Limited), seed merchants, of 90, Southwark Street, 
by fahse pretences. Mr. J. P. Grain (instructed by Mr. Chas. Butcher) 
appeared for the prosecution, and Mr. Stile, solicitor, of Spalding, 
defended, Mr. Stile said the prisoner would plead guilty to the charge, 
and wished to have the case settled here. Mr. Slade said he had no 
power to deal with it, and that the prisoner must be committed. It 
appeared that prior to 1892 the prosecutors had done business with 
Messrs. Robinson, farmers, of Lincolnshire, who were relatives of the 
defendant. In July, 1892, Messrs. Cooper, Taber & Co, received a letter 
from the defendant asking them if they wanted any Turnip seed grown 
that year, as he (the prisoner) had 20 acres of land ready for the 
purpose. A contract was entered into by which the prosecutors were to 
supply prisoner with seed to sow the 20 acres, and the produce of the 
seed, when gathered, was to be sold to the prosecutors at lls. 6d. per 
bushel. Subsequently the prisoner represented to the prosecutors that 
part of his land he had found unsuitable for sowing the seed, and he 
had sub-contracted with a neighbouring farmer named Orbell to sow 
part of the seed, which he asked the prosecutors to take from him at 
13s. 9d. per bushel, so that he might realise a profit. This they agreed 
to do, but eventually the prosecutors received a further intimation from 
the prisoner that Orbell would not part with his produce under £1 a 
bushel, as he had received even a better offer than that. Owing to the 
defendant s representations the prosecutors were induced to take the 
whole of Orbell’s growing, which amounted to 246 bushels, for which 
they paid the prisoner. In 1894 Orbell happened to have an interview 
with Mr. H. T. Huggins (prosecutors’ manager), when this transaction 
was first brought to Orbell’s knowledge. The latter then said that he 
had fulfilled his part of the contract with Robinson, whose cheque he 
received for 246 bushels at the rate of 138. 9d. per bushel. He had 
never demanded £1 a bushel, and the whole story of the prisoner was a 
fabrication. The prisoner was committed for trial at the March sessions. 
Mr. Slade offered to take bail, the prisoner in £200, and two sureties of 
£100 each. 
- The Argentina Vineyards. — These have been largely 
extended during the past few years, and wine-producing has already 
become an important industry. The principal Vine grown is the 
French Cot-Rouge, and in the Cuyo provinces of the Argentine 
Republic the pests known as mildew, black rot, and phylloxera do not 
occur in consequence of the dryness of the climate. It has been 
estimated that there are, in round numbers, 82,500 acres of vineyards 
in the Republic. These, when fully established, or within three years’ 
time, should yield on an average some 329,500 tons of Grapes per 
year. These figures, according to French averages, should be equal to 
42,800,000 gallons of wine. 
- Oriental Lilies. — I recently wrote to Mr. J. G. Baker, 
asking him what Lilies succeeded best at Kew. The following is his 
reply, which will, I know, prove interesting to the readers of the 
Journal;—“ I think the Lilies that make the finest show at Kew are 
longiflorum, tigrinum splendens, superbum, and pardalinum, all of 
which are grown in great numbers here. The soil, however, is very 
sandy, and consequently not well adapted for Lily cultivation. Lilium 
Henryi is a very fine plant, and has now become fully established. The 
first to flower here are L. pyrenaicum and L. testaceum. Lilium Harrisi 
is merely longiflorum taken out to Bermuda, where it seems to have 
taken on a new lease of strength and vitality, and then sent back to 
Europe. The latest introductions are the three species from Upper 
Burmah (L. Lowi, L. sulphureum, also called Wallichianum superbum, 
and L. nepalense), of which sulphureum is succeeding much the best. 
It is a very fine, tall species, but requires shelter even here. I have 
received information from Paris of ten or a dozen new species lately 
found by the French missionaries in the Western Chinas, none of which 
has yet been introduced alive.” I have nothing to add to Mr. Baker’s 
interesting communication, unless that, having cultivated sulphureum 
and its beautiful Indian companion nepalense, I have discovered that 
they are not adapted by Nature for open-air culture, requiring at any 
rate in the first place to be forced into activity by a warm conservatory. 
It is quite possible, however, that after being started in this artificial 
manner sulphureum might, under favourable conditions, be transplanted 
to the garden with some prospect of success.— David R. Williamson. 
- Preserving Potatoes. —One of the obstacles to the preserva¬ 
tion of Potatoes is the sprouting of the tubers. As soon as the tuber is 
put into any place favourable in temperature and moisture the tuber 
will begin to grow, and therefore deteriorates as an article of food. 
A growing Potato is always more or less a loss, and is not so well able 
to feed either man or animal. The nutritive matter is slowly consumed 
by the germ, and the tuber subsequently becomes a source of danger to 
man as well as beasts. There was only known one way of stopping the 
growth. This consisted of taking out the eyes with a knife, a proceed¬ 
ing which is very slow ; and very frequently in doing it the tuber was 
bruised. For three years now, says the “ Mark Lane Express,” Mons. 
Schaibau has tried at the French Agronomic Institute another mode, 
which has been found effectual. It consists of treating the Potatoes 
with sulphuric acid. Take a large tub and fill it three parts full with 
water, add sulphuric acid to make a 2 per cent, solution. The Potatoes 
are placed in the solution, and kept there for about twelve hours ; they 
are then withdrawn and dried, and their preservation is absolutely 
secured. If the solution is stronger a less time is required ; with a 
3 per cent., five to eight hours’ immersion is sufficient, and with a 
4 per cent, solution three to six hours’ immersion will be effectual. 
The dissolved sulphuric acid attacks the germs on the surface, and quite 
kills them. Some persons have objected to this method, stating that it 
was dangerous both for man and animals, but this fear is said to be 
chimerical, because the amount of sulphuric acid remaining on the 
surface of the Potatoes is very slight, and the seltzer water used daily 
by thousands of people contains considerably more of this acid. 
Furthermore, Potatoes are used as human food without the skin, and 
the acid does not penetrate into the flesh. 
THE CHARLES COLLINS’ FUND. 
We have pleasure in announcing the following subscriptions received 
during the past week by the Treasurer towards this very deserving 
case :— 
£ 
s. 
d. 
£ 
8 . 
d. 
Amount previously ac¬ 
R. Lye . 
... 0 
2 
6 
knowledged . 
54 
7 
0 
P. Sander & Co. ... 
... 1 
1 
0 
T. F. Rivers . 
0 
10 
6 
J. Grice . 
... 0 
5 
0 
J. R. Pearson & Sons 
I 
1 
0 
A. F. Barron 
... 0 
10 
0 
G. Wythes. 
0 
10 
0 
Sir Edwin Saunders 
... 2 
2 
0 
A. P. Christie . 
0 
2 
6 
J. Smith . 
... 0 
5 
0 
