258 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 
March 21,1895. 
the Guava, a fruit which, in Scotland at least, is too seldom seen ; the 
Sultan, Monarch, Green Gage, and Victoria Plums ; the Duke, Early 
Elvers, and Bigarreau Cherries, and all the more prolific modern 
Apples and Pears. Mr. McMicking, the superintendent of the gardens, 
is thoroughly conversant with the subject of fruit cultivation. He had 
the great advantage when a young man of being assistant to the 
late Mr. Fowler, head gardener to the Earl of Stair at Castle Kennedy, 
who made this fascinating form of culture a great speciality, though 
he was also an authority on tropical plants and flowers. Mr. McMick- 
ing’s favourite pomologist, many of whose finest creations he has, 
like myself, been recently acquiring, is Mr. T. Francis Rivers. I have 
for many years been confident of this, that without a considerable 
number of the invaluable fruit trees which have orginated at Sawbridge- 
worth, no collection would be complete. 
As an instance of Mrs. McDouall’s deep interest in fruit culture in 
all its aspects, it may here be recorded that during last summer she made 
a pilgrimage to King’s Acre, Hereford, distant at least 300 miles from 
Kirkmaiden, in order to inspect the extensive orchards there; and she 
has often subsequently spoken of that visit as one of the most interesting 
within the range of her remembrance. She was also much impressed 
on that occasion with Mr, Cranston’s collection of Roses. 
Mrs. McDouall’s genial and accomplished husband, who is almost 
equally interested in horticulture, though the science of astronomy is 
his predominating theme, is one of the most extensive proprietors in the 
south of Scotland. . His father was colonel of the 2nd Life Guards, and 
was, I understand, a great favourite of Her Majesty the Queen. He was 
an eminent agriculturist, and made the desert rejoice and blossom with 
the Rose, or at least with the scarlet Poppy that grows among the corn. 
Mrs. McDouall is a daughter of the late Sir Thomas Hepburn, Bart., of 
Smeaton Hall in Haddingtonshire. She is, like several contemporary 
horticulturists, among whom is Mr. Harry Turner of Slough, a highly 
accomplished instrumental musician ; and though she plays the piano¬ 
forte with infinite expressiveness, she is more deeply attached to the 
English concertina. Her master passions are music and the love of 
horticulture. Her life is divided between the daily practice among the 
destitute and the suffering of unobtrusive beneficence, and the cultivation 
of those noble and gracious arts.— David R. Williamson. 
LIVERPOOL NOTES. 
On Saturday evening Mr. T. White presided over a very good atten¬ 
dance of members at the William Brown Street Museum, the subjects 
for the evening’s discussion being “ The Cultivation and Judging of the 
Pea,” by Mr. J. Smith, Waterdale, St. Helens, and “ Two Methods of 
Preserving French Beans,” by Mr. J. Fairhurst, Aigburth. 
Pea Cultuee. 
Mr. Smith stated that to grow the Pea to perfection it was essential 
that the ground be well drained and deeply trenched. Notwithstanding 
the many varieties catalogued, he considered the two best to be Ne Plus 
Ultra and General Windham. Should it happen that too many were 
coming in at one time, he advocated stopping two or three times as the 
case might warrant. He was not in favour of the largest Peas when 
judging, but preferred a moderate sized, well-filled pod of fine flavour, 
the latter he considered the greatest point in the test. An interesting 
discussion followed, Mr. Mercer strongly advocating the dwarf varieties 
for small gardens, Mr. Stoney favouring the tall growing varieties for 
abundance of crop. 
Pkeseeving Feench Beans. 
Mr. Fairhurst, in referring to this subject, suggested two methods, 
the first being to procure earthenware jars about 20 inches deep and 
across. Cut the Beans as usually served to table, placing a layer of 
them 2 inches deep at the bottom, then 1 inch of salt alternately, until 
the jar was filled. Place on the top two or three Vine leaves, then 
cover with a piece of wood or earthenware lid, on the top of which, 
as pressure, place a heavy stone. In a day or two remove the covering, 
fill up again with Beans, remove the Vine leaves, covering as before. 
When wanted for use take out the Beans required for the day, and 
steep in cold water two or three hours before using. 
The second method was to have earthenware bottles with good sized 
necks, run them through boiling water, then dry thoroughly. Place 
a piece of sulphur on a plate and set it on fire, placing a funnel over 
it. Hold the necks of the bottles on to that of the funnel for about a 
minute to sulphur the bottles inside, corking them to keep in the 
sulphur. Cut the Beans as mentioned in the first method, and boil for 
about fifteen minutes with sufficient salt to season, taking care of the 
liquid. Fill the bottles three parts full of Beans, and the remainder 
with the liquid. Cork tightly, place in a pan of water, boil for a short 
time, taking care that no water enters the bottles. A bottle of Beans 
should be used when opened, as they will not keep for any length of 
time. The usual votes of thanks were carried unanimously.—R. P. R. 
FORCED STRAWBERRIES. 
Aveeage Weight of Fegit Pee Pot. 
On page 234 “ Saynor,” with that keenness which gardeners have 
long associated with the name, manages, in a very plausible way, to 
advance a rather ticklish question for my consideration. It is not an 
unusual occurrence for Strawberry forcers to record in the horticul¬ 
tural press the weight of some abnormally heavy crop, but any attempt 
to define “ a fair average crop per pot ” has been left for the fertile 
brain of a “ Saynor” to suggest, and a humble “ Fragaria ” to act on. 
So now to the talk. 
At the commencement 1 shall take my stand on the conviction that 
the mere weight of fruit produced per pot gives no definite idea of its 
value for commercial purposes or for private use. Undersized fruits 
are not valued by employers, and will only be purchased by the public 
at very low rates. This points out clearly that our aim must be to 
produce as many large fruits per pot as the plants are able to perfect. 
To accomplish this we must confine our attention to crown flowers only ; 
side flowers should therefore be removed as soon as they appear. 
In early Strawberry forcing it is generally a difficult matter to induce 
more than six crown flowers to expand within a few days of each other, 
and I find that if the plants are kept under conditions favourable for 
securing fertilisation tor only a few days longer to allow other flowers 
to open the earlier fertilised flowers fail to swell their fruits satis¬ 
factorily, the somewhat dry conditions necessary to fertilisation having 
caused the skins of the young fruits to toughen. Under these circum¬ 
stances I maintain ic is better to be content with a good half dozen 
fruits than to spoil their chances of developing properly by waiting for 
other flowers to set. 
From the present time onwards the setting of the flowers is a com¬ 
paratively easy matter, and it is not difficult to obtain from twelve to 
fifteen fruits on a large per-centage of plants ; but these will scarcely 
ever be uniform in size, and it is a well-known fact that those which 
are comparatively small when they commence swelling will exhibit the 
same characteristics when ripe, and I maintain that if nine of the 
largest and best formed fruits are retained the extra size they will grow 
to will fully compensate for lack of numbers. 
In regard to the weight per pot, if we take such varieties as Sir 
C. Napier, Noble, or James Veitch, if well grown, but few of the fruits 
should weigh under 1 oz., and one-third of the number will usually be 
considerably heavier. Making due allowances for pots having less than 
nine fruits, and for fruits weighing less than an ounce, my estimate for 
a fair “ average weight of fruit per pot ” is 5 ozs., and those who can 
maintain such an average will be no mean adepts in the art of Straw¬ 
berry culture. 
As to the query, “ What per-centage of plants may be expected 
from good culture to be worthy of retention at the final stage ? ” the 
answer to this depends largely on two important matters—viz., the care 
exercised in selecting the runners at layering time, and the precautions 
taken not to force the plants on too rapidly in the early stages of growth. 
If these matters receive due attention, 93 per cent. If they are neglected 
the per-centage will often fall as low as 70 or 80. 
I have given you what you asked for, “ Saynor.” Now cut it to 
pieces with your keen-edged blade.— Feagaeia. 
SPRING SHOWS. 
CRYSTAL PALACE.— Maech 16th. 
The first show of the year at the Crystal Palace was held on the 
above date, and cannot be termed a great success. The classes pro¬ 
vided numbered twenty-eight, but in many of these there were no 
entries, whilst in others there were only one or two. This is not very 
encouraging for the Crystal Palace Company, who, with Mr. Head, do 
their utmost in the way of advertising and offering of substantial 
prizes; and they certainly deserve far more support. We trust at 
the corresponding show in 1896 that not only will there be a very much 
larger number of entries, but that the quality of the exhibits will be 
much better than was the case this year, when it was, with few excep¬ 
tions, decidedly below the average. We append a list of the prize¬ 
winners in the chief classes in which there were exhibits. 
One of the principal classes was for thirty-six Hyacinths, and despite 
good prizes there were only two competitors, of whom Mr. Jas. Douglas, 
gardener to Mrs. Whitbourn, Great Gearies, Ilford, was an easy first, 
though not showing quite so well as he has done in previous seasons. 
Amongst the varieties staged, the following were noticed as being the 
best and having the finest spikes and the richest coloured flowers :— 
Grandeur a Merveille, Garibaldi, Princess Mary of Cambridge, King 
of the Blues, Etna, Lord Derby, Princess of Wales, Mont Blanc, Captain 
Boy ton, Vuurbaak, Sir Henry Barkley, Electra, Koh-i-Noor, Souvenir de 
J. H. Veen, Gigantea, La Grandesse, Czar Peter, Charles Dickens, and 
the Sultan. Messrs. Jas. Winter & Sons, West Norwood, were a very 
poor third, no second prize being accorded. 
The chief Tulip class was for thirty-six, three bulbs in a pot, and 
here again Mr. J. Douglas seeured the premier position. The plants 
were dwarf, sturdy, strong, and carrying handsomely formed flowers of 
good size and strikingly rich colours. Particularly prominent were 
Keyser’s Kroon, Ophir d’Or, Duchesse de Parme, Vermilion Brilliant, 
Joost Van Vondel, Proserpine, White Joost Van Vondel, Fabiola, and 
Van der Neer. The only other competitor was Mr. W. Howe, gardener 
to H. Tate, Esq., Park Hill, Streatham Common, who received the 
second prize. His plants was somewhat tall and leggy, but carrying 
very creditable flowers; Keyser’s Kroon, Chrysolora, Van der Neer, 
Vermilion Brilliant, and Proserpine were conspicuous. 
The same exhibitors as in the previous class were opposed in that 
for twenty four pots of Polyanthus Narcissi, and the same order with 
regard to prizes was maintained. Mr. Douglas’ stand comprised Mont 
Cenis, Grand Monarque, Gloriosa, Adonia (a handsome, free blooming. 
