386 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
are very sweet and good up to Christmas. In the ‘ Fruit Manual ’ the 
nearest approach to them is the Aromatic Russet, or Spice Apple, and 
Morris’s Nonpareil Russet. Will you kindly inform me in your Journal 
if they are one of these or have they any other name ?” The variety 
sent is Morris’ Nonpareil Russet. 
-- Gardening Appointments. — Mr. W. K. Woodcock has 
resigned the charge of the gardens of Mrs. Firth at Oakbrook, and 
Mr. John Pentland, late gardener to Miss Glyn, has been appointed 
his successor. Mr. Woodcock has taken the Syston Nurseries, near 
Leicester, and enters upon them on the 1st of November. Mr. Wood¬ 
cock carries with him the good wishes of his numerous friends in 
Sheffield and other parts of the country, and hearty desires for his 
future prosperity and success. Mr. John H. Bowden asks us to notify 
his appointment as head gardener to W. G. Spicer, Esq., Oakwood, 
Camden Wood, Chislehurst, Kent. Mr. W. Smith has succeeded Mr. 
Wm. Hewett as gardener at Oakleigh, Merstham, Surrey. 
- The Mercers’ Company, one of the oldest and wealthiest of 
the City Companies, is thinking of establishing an Agricultural 
College. A correspondent of the Times says it proposes to devote 
£60,000 to this object. According to the same authority, the intention 
is that the College shall be in Wiltshire, and that there shall be attached 
a farm of considerable extent, in which the pupils may practically apply 
the knowledge they gain, the institution being intended to benefit the 
sons of farmers and others who will be dependent on the successful 
culture of land for their future livelihood. The sum of £60,000 con¬ 
tributed by the Company would, it is hoped, be supplemented by a 
liberal donation from the Charity Commissioners, and the Company 
would of necessity be prepared to provide an adequate endowment. An 
establishment of this kind with such substantial pecuniary support 
might be rendered a most important and valuable institution. 
- Mr. C. Osman writes :—“ The 8 acres of Potatoes referred to in 
my note on page 332 are now lifted, and there is a capital crop of Red¬ 
skin Flourball. None is diseased ; of Reading Giant, Reading Hero, and 
Magnum Bonum very few. Imperator was rather more affected, about 
1 1 bushel diseased from several tons. Altogether the results were very 
satisfactory.” 
- Culzean Onions.—M r. David Murray, the grower of the 
magnificent Onions referred to on page 336 as exhibited at Banbury, 
writes :—“ The Onions were grown with Thomson’s Vine manure. I 
always turn up the Onion ground into ridges. In spring before we 
start to level them down for the seed, we give the ridges a good dressing 
with the manure, and again when the Onions commence to bulb. That 
is the treatment that they had this year. I sprinkled a good dressing 
amongst the bulbs and watered it in. I was anxious to grow six to the 
stone (14 lbs.), but I was beaten by an ounce, but if well I will have 
another try.” We hope Mr. Murray will accomplish his desire next year. 
It will be remembered the largest of the Onions referred to was 18 inches 
in circumference, and only an ounce less than 2£ lbs. in weight. 
- The Weather in North Yorkshire.—T he weather in this 
district was very severe in the first week of October. On the morning 
of the 1st inst. 6° of frost were registered. Snow fell heavily from 
8 a.m. till noon, the afternoon turned out fine. On October 2nd we 
had 13° of frost, which played sad havoc in the kitchen garden and 
flower garden. Dwarf and runner Beans were cut down. Broccoli has 
much the same appearance as it would have in March, with the excep¬ 
tion of Purple Sprouting, which is unhurt. Celery leaves are turned 
brown. Walcheren Cauliflower is not hurt in the least. All bedding 
plants were killed to the ground. Herbaceous plants also suffered 
much. Amongst shrubs the Aucuba has fared the worst, the young 
growths are black, and the young shoots of the common Laurel are also 
badly affected. Farmers in the neighbourhood have sustained a serious 
loss, as few of them had gathered their Apples or Damsons ; both are 
completely spoiled. The latter were sold in Kendal Market a week ago 
at prices ranging from 9d. to Is. 6J. per hamper of 20 lbs. Even the 
Hazel Nuts in the woods are not eatable, the kernels are quite soft. 
During the week we had a total of 62° of frost.—C. Russell, Ingmire 
Hall Gardens. 
- In a recent number of a medical serial the free use of fresh 
RIPE fruit as an article of diet is strongly recommended. Apples, 
Pears, Plums, Apricots, Peaches, Gooseberries, and Grapes are spoken of 
as being at the very summit of excellence as human food, for they 
possess the essential conditions of pleasantness, digestibility, nutrition, 
and medicinal value. With respect to Apples a late learned professor 
recommended every family to lay in a stock in the autumn, saying it 
[ Oetotier 25,1848. 
would be the most economical investment they could make. “ A raw 
mellow Apple is digested in an hour and a half, while boiled Cabbage 
requires five hours ; and if taken at breakfast with coarse bread and 
without meat of any kind fruit has an admirable effect on the general 
system, often rendering medicine quite unnecessary. It seems univer¬ 
sally agreed that, as a community, we do not eat nearly so much fruit 
as we ought to do. Some authorities say that if the consumption was 
increased tenfold it would not be too large. There is no doubt that a 
really cheap and abundant fruit supply would mean a great improvo 
ment in the national diet, with a corresponding effect upon the health of 
the community, so that it is desirable on all accounts that owners and 
occupiers of land should bestir themselves and make the orchards of the 
country an increasing source of wealth, and fruit-growing a great 
national industry. 
-The Value of California Fruit Lands.—T he question of 
land value in California is one which, in the fruit region at least, is open 
to discussion from various standpoints. A Redlands correspondent of 
the “American Garden” says:—“There are numerous instances of 
enormous profits from Oranges, yet if I were asked to say to an inquirer 
what a man may count upon I would figure 200 dollars to 300 dollars 
an acre. Orange growers are like all other farmers—one will get double 
out of an acre what another will. The Orange requires assiduous and 
intelligent culture for big results. Then it is quite the custom to suppress 
certain facts and enlarge on others. Here is a sample : A man had a 
prodigious crop of raisin Grapes—seems to me thirty tons or so on two 
acres. A raisin grower in another town could not believe it and went 
to see. The fact was as stated, but there were eighty acres in all culti¬ 
vated without irrigation. The two acres were a sort of sink hole, very 
wet, and produced three times as many Grapes as the other seventy- 
eight acres. How did the crop average ? That was not published, but 
very few keep accurate accounts. A Grape grower told me that, in re¬ 
sponse to circulars sent out by the Redlands Board of Trade asking for 
statement of expenses and results of various crop cultures, his was the 
only one sent back with accurate details. His figures on Muscat Raisin 
Grapes gave him 130 dollars per acre, the first decent crop. The second 
crop was 160 dollars, and this year he hopes to do better, and his is a 
fine vineyard. He represents the conservative side of these fruit 
yarns.” 
NOTES ON TOMATOES. 
Tomatoes are rapidly becoming everybody’s favourries. A 
medical man remarked to me the other day that they were bidding 
fair to become as generally used as Potatoes. There is no doubt 
that they are coming rapidly to the fore as an article of diet, and* 
the more they become known the greater will be the demand, 
which the supply at present does not equal. Outdoor crops this 
year in most places have been a failure, consequently they are 
higher in price, and on that account can hardly be said to be within 
the working man’s reach except as a luxury. If they could be 
grown and made to pay at 4d. per lb. there would be plenty of 
buyers. Disease is said to have attacked them badly in some dis¬ 
tricts this year. It is still unknown to us, and I have no desire to 
make its acquaintance. 
We do not attempt growing them out of doors here in this cold 
wet district of Lancashire, but can obtain fair crops under glass 
which if marketed would pay at say 6d. per lb. wholesale price. This 
year we have grown nine varieties, and a few remarks on their 
merits may not be out of place. Sutton’s Earliest of All was our 
first crop and kept in bearing from April to June inclusive. The 
flavour is good, and it is a free setter. Vicks’ Criterion is a good 
cropping variety, smooth and even in size, of good flavour, and 
well worth growing. Webb’s Sensation is another good sort; the. 
colour of the fruit is much the same as Criterion, but the fruits are 
round and larger than that. Last year this variety grown at 
Chiswick was reported to be the same as Large Red. I have 
grown the two side by side, and find they are quite distinct. It is 
a more handsome fruit than Large Red. Hathaway’s Excelsior we 
have grown for some years, and class it among the best of 
Tomatoes. The fruits set well this summer considering the dull' 
sunless days. Trophy is an old variety that I should not grow 
again. It attains a large size, but it is so coarse and ugly that it is 
not worth a place. Golden Queen we have grown for the first time 
this year and like it well. The flavour is not quite so good, perhaps,, 
as some of the others, but it is a good cropper with pale yellow 
smooth fruit, and is liked at the table mixed w r ith others. Hack- 
wood Park is a first-rate variety, and has succeeded the best of any 
here. It has set and cropped heavily, many of the fruits weighing 
half a pound and some over. We have still a number of fruits' 
hanging that will keep for some time to come. 
