April 5, 1894 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
261 
- Presentation to a Dundee Horticulturist. — Oa 
Wednesday evening in last week about sixty horticulturists met in Mr. 
Straton’s rooms, 18, Eeform Street, Dundee, and entertained to supper 
Mr. J. G. Wilkinson, foreman to Messrs. Storrie & Storrie, nurserymen, 
Dundee, who is leaving the city to take charge of the nurseries of 
Messrs. Kent & Brydone, Darlington. Mr. Robert Wilkie, President of 
the Dundee Horticultural Association, presided. During the evening 
Mr. David Storrie presented Mr. Wilkinson with a handsome copy of 
Messrs. W. & A. K. Johnston’s Royal Atlas, with a beautifully engraved 
inscription, at same time referring to the esteem in which Mr. Wilkinson 
is held by his many friends.—J. M. C. 
- South African Fruit. —We learn from the “Cape Times” 
that “ since the commencement of the fruit season close upon 100 tons 
of fruit have been shipped to England by the Castle and Union Com¬ 
panies’ boats. Recent cable advices as to the condition of the fruit on 
its arrival have been very satisfactory to exporters, and the prices on the 
London market have been correspondingly gratifying. Most of the 
fruit is being consigned through the Cape Orchard Company to Mr. 
•George Munro of Co vent Garden. The Cape Orchard Company, it will 
be remembered, secured most of the space in the cool chambers of both 
lines of steamers, though they are by no means monopolists, as farmers 
may still ship on their own account. There is abundance of fruit now 
on the market. Local prices still rule high for all kinds of fruit except 
“Grapes. Large quantities are now being forwarded in the refrigerating 
cars to Johannesburg, though, as pointed out by a correspondent 
yesterday, the excessive railway fares from Vereeniging absorb nearly 
every farthing of profit. As things stand at present, it is cheaper and— 
•always granting that the fruit arrives in marketable condition—pays 
better to ship to Covent Garden than to send to the Goldfields.” 
- Fruit Growing in England.—A ccording to the official 
returns for 1893 of the Board of Agriculture there has been “ a steady 
•development of the acreage returned as occupied by small fruit of the 
nature of Strawberries, Raspberries, Gooseberries, and Currants, and it 
is noteworthy that the increase of this form of culture has been con¬ 
tinued in the past year. Minute as the aggregate of such figures 
appears in comparison with the millions of acres under corn, roots, or 
grass, it is yet satisfactory to find that the 62,148 acres returned in 
1892 have risen to 65,487 in 1893, in the counties of Kent, Essex, 
Cambridge, Sussex, Gloucester, Norfolk, Hants, and Devon, showing 
the largest increments under this head in the past season. The total 
acreage returned as under small fruit in Great Britain has increased 
from 36,724 acres in 1888, when this heading was first included in the 
returns, to 65,487 acres, or by nearly 29,000 acres in five years. The 
extent of orchards may also he alluded to in this connection as again 
showing a rise of from 208,950 acres to 211,664 acres, the five English 
counties of Kent, Gloucester, Hereford, Cambridge, and Sussex alone 
accounting for two-thirds of the year’s increase. Of the entire area 
now under orchards, much more than one-half lies in the contiguous 
group of counties formed by Devon, Somerset, Gloucester, Worcester, 
and Hereford.” 
-Eule-of-Thumb Gardening.— “ R. M.’s ” (page 240) style of 
controversy is not such as to encourage any intelligent correspondent to 
run a tilt with him. It looks very much like a case of pouring water on 
a duck’s back, and that is a far milder simile than might well have been 
employed in this case. I just refer to Mr. Castle’s very admirable and 
all too short paper on Grape culture (page 234) in last week’s number as 
affording admirable evidence of what may be called intelligent as com¬ 
pared with rule-of-thumb practice. No mere adopting of old methods 
because old, no preaching of cultural doctrines because recognised 
dogma, but a clear statement of methods borne from good sound 
experience and observation, with a mind open for the reception of all 
that is good, come from what source it may. We have had enough of 
the old forms of sermonising in gardening, and, whilst most desirous of 
keeping all that is sound, none the less have for old methods or practices 
no reverence or respect simply because old, no more blind adoption of 
them because previously practised. We want to see gardeners working 
intelligently, having sound reasons and understanding them for all they 
do. That is the reverse of rule-of-thumb practice. No man embarking 
in a higher profession or vocation can be a success unless he has all the 
later developments in those walks of life at his fingers’ ends. We want 
to see the same thing operating in gardening. It is not enough that any 
practice in horticulture should be successful to justify that practice. It 
is essential that reasons for its adoption should be clearly understood 
and demonstrated. That may be called the new gardening, but, at any 
rate, it is not by rule of thumb.—A. D. 
- Colloquial Plant Names. —A Shropshire correspondent 
writes :—“My son was quite amused in reading in the Journal of Hor¬ 
ticulture (March 29th) the notes on Colloquial Plant Names ; but less 
pleased on seeing in the “ Shrewsbury Chronicle” of Friday last (March 
30th) so ignorant a mistake under the heading of Ludlow town as to the 
name of Lilies. I enclose herewith the cutting from the paper. The 
Journal comes to us as a friendly paper, and I have taken it for many 
years.” [The cutting referred to states the church was decorated with 
Harem Lilies ; a shocking rendering of Arum Lilies (B,ichaidias).j 
- Earliness of the Season. — A Scottish correspondent 
writes :—“ Since the year 1861 I have kept note of the dates on which 
leaves have first appeared on certain trees around my house, among 
others of a common Plane or Sycamore (Acer pseudo-platanus), standing 
in an exposed situation 520 feet above sea level. First leaves appeared 
on this tree on March 29th. Taking the average of the last thirty-three 
years I find that the tree as a rule comes into leaf at the end of the 
third week of April. Last year’s first leaves showed on April 8th, and 
the earliest date in its record is April 3rd, 1871. Thus the tree is this 
year fully three weeks in advance of its average and five days ahead of 
its earliest previously recorded date. In this quarter (Selkirk) other 
trees, shrubs, and flowers are equally far advanced with the Plane in 
question ; and while there is little wisdom in indulging in confident 
meteorological prediction either in the natural or in the political sphere, 
surely we may reasonably anticipate for the present year a renewal of 
last year’s favourable summer and autumn weather. In 1888 the tree 
referred to lagged in its first leaves until May 1st, and in 1891 until 
May 10th.” 
- Ivy on Church Walls. — Climbing plants add much to the 
beauty of a dwelling house, as also does Ivy to an old church tower ; 
but I think those persons who plant them should first consider what 
they are about to do. Should climbers be neglected for a few years 
they exclude from view many fine examples of architecture. The 
following extract from a local paper will show my meaning. A corre¬ 
spondent writes :—“ Rambling about the pretty old church and church¬ 
yard of Newtonkyme (Yorks) lately, to see the restoration now almost 
completed, I noticed that the old ‘Ivy-mantel tower ’ was denuded to 
some extent of its wealth of Ivy, which had not been pruned for years, 
and the excessive growth of its shoots had obliterated the belfry 
windows and other parts of the tower. The removal of this Ivy led to 
an unexpected discovery. I observed a small shrine or minute window 
about 18 inches high and 9 across. This weather-beaten masonry con¬ 
sists of a semi-circular arch, built flat with the chancel wall, and is 
supported by three pieces of dressed stone on eich side, and a flat base 
to the whole. The inside of this niche, arch, or shrine, is filled with 
rubble which dates, no doubt, from Reformation times or afterwards. 
The shrine itself seems very antique work, probably the same age as the 
church, and may have contained a statuette of the patron saint or of 
the Virgin. This architectural and ecclesiastical curiosity has been 
buried in vegetation for many years.”—J. Snell, Grimston Gardens, 
- OxALis CRENata as A VEGETABLE. — A few weeks ago a 
box of tubers was received by a Covent Garden salesman from the 
Azores, unaccompanied by any information except that the sender knew 
they were good eating, and might “take” in England. Not knowing 
what they were, he sent some to Kew for identification, where they 
were recognised as the tubers of this Oxalis, which has been tried in 
France as a substitute for the Potato, and which is much esteemed as a 
vegetable in some countries. The tubers are cylindric, from 2 to 3 inches 
long, thicker than a man's thumb, marked with numerous eye-like 
depressions, and coloured externally bright crimson. They are white- 
fleshed and sweet to the taste when raw. Cooked they were not 
particularly palatable, possibly because they had not been properly 
cooked. According to Vilmorin, this is the “Oka” of the Peruvians, 
and is highly esteemed in Peru and Bolivia, being largely used there. 
The tubers are acid when first gathered, but by putting them in woollen 
bags and exposing them to the action of the sun, in a few days they 
become floury and sweet. The tubers do not swell till late in the season, 
and they are not dug until after frost has destroyed the tops. They are 
planted in May in light rich soil in rows 3 feet apart. Two varieties 
are grown in France, the yellow and the red, and a third variety with 
white tubers has been raised there. The stems of the plants are fleshy, 
reddish, prostrate, and the leaves are succulent and trifoliate. It is 
possible, says Mr. W. Watson in the “Garden and Forest,” that this 
Oxalis may yet become a favourite vegetable. It is well worth trying. 
The tubers are good to look at, which is a point to be considered in a 
new vegetable. 
