November 1, 1888. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
409 
and Beurrd Diel,Duchesse d’Angouleme, Doyennedu Comice, Chaumontel, 
Glou Morgeau, and Easter Beurrd are more often met with than other 
varieties ; and amongst culinary Pears the Belle de Jersey (Syn. Belle 
Angevine), and Catillac, or Pound Pear, are considered the best. 
A rich, strong loam suits the Quince stock best, a lighter soil suits 
the free stock for Pears. The advantage of growing Pears on the Quince 
as a stock is early fructification, whereas the generally accepted axiom 
respecting Pears grafted on the free or Pear stock is, that— 
" He who plants Pears, 
Plants for his heirs.” 
There are but few large Pear trees on the island, occasionally one or 
two are met with, towering above the Apple trees in the orchards, but 
such trees are the exception ; and land is so expensive in Jersey that no 
room can be spared for unproductive trees (which is the case whilst the 
tree is growing). 
The Jersey farmer, cultivating 20 acres of land, and making A com¬ 
fortable living off so small a surface, cannot afiord to allow a single 
perch of it to remain unproductive, and every square yard is made to 
contribute towards the general expenses. The space allotted to kitchen 
gardening and fruit culture is generally near the homestead, the path¬ 
ways being planted on either side by bush Apple and Pear trees, Cur¬ 
rant and Gooseberry trees filling up the intervening spaces in the rows 
until the trees have grown sufficiently large to cover the whole space. 
These highly cultivated and richly manured pieces of ground are made 
to produce crop after crop in rapid succession. No sooner is one crop 
off the ground than another replaces it (organic, and not artificial 
manures being used). The trees get the benefit of these repeated 
dressings and the manipulation of the soil. 
FRUIT CULTURE ON SMALL FARMS OR 
ALLOTMENTS. 
By Mr. S. Bawson. 
It is a well-known and acknowledged fact that spade culture pays, 
and pays well. An Italian proverb says, “ The plough has a share of 
iron, the spade has an edge of gold.” That land so cultivated is better 
for the digging and double digging, and more remunerative than larger 
holdings, which are susceptible only of the ordinary farming operations, 
goes without saying, as results have proved all through this country, and 
fact demonstrates again that hand labour is now as necessary to the 
tillage of the soil, at any rate in this country, as ever it was before the 
introduction and application of steam power to land culture, and that 
the profits from the cultivation of small holdings pay better than any¬ 
thing else, and for this reason that there is more attention paid to a 
small area of land of which the tenant has to take the benefit than is 
usually given to the large farms. 
If the landlords would help their cottagers, or holders of, say from 
1 to 10 acres of land, assist them by lending them their implements and 
tools, supplying them with seeds, and if necessary with labour, surely 
with the extra productiveness of the soil there would be extra profit, 
and it would be to the advantage of the tenant to share it with his 
landlord, and on the other hand to the latter a benefit to receive a con¬ 
sideration for the use of his money and implements, at the same time 
knowing that under the circumstances the value of his land was being 
improved. 
So much for the assistance and opportunity to the small holder. 
Now as the disposition of his produce when grown. In this again his 
landlord might help him as the landlord at the same time might help 
himself. The landlord generally in fruit-growing districts is a man of 
means, able to send his produce to market either by road or rail as may 
be preferable to him. Not always having a full load, why could he not 
carry his tenants’ small quantities to market if by road, or if by rail in¬ 
clude them in the consignment of his own and save the small grower 
the difference in the rate of carriage between large and small consign¬ 
ments 1 There seems no reason why it should not be done, at any rate 
whilst railway rates are as they are. Upon an improvement in that 
direction the small cultivator may be able with good luck to get his 
goods to market at something like a reasonable tariff. 
There is another way, as I have often pointed out, to enable the 
small growers to market their goods— i.e., by a combination among 
themselves to make up, say a truck load for instance, to be consigned 
at their joint expense to market, instead of taking them by road. I am 
not now speaking of growers who attend market, and who have the 
means of transporting goods by road, but the “ smaller fry ” who cannot 
afford to go to market, and there are thousands who cannot, but who 
would be only too glad to turn their bit of land to better account but for 
the trouble and expense of sending to market, and of the indifference 
of their larger growing neighbours to accommodate them either by 
carrying their parcels to market or even buying from them, the former 
having too much on their own hands unsold to enable them to buy, and 
the disposal of their own goods occupying their whole time whilst the 
market is on. 
In country districts, therefore, the Companies or Associations of 
which I have previously suggested the formation, could by their agents 
collect and provide the means of conveying in bulk the produce of small 
growers, and sending direct to the Company for sale in this manner 
save the cost of extra carriage. There is no need to remark upon pack¬ 
ing in this instance, for the smaller the grower, my experience teaches- 
me, the greater the care bestowed upon the picking and packing. 
Coming to the question of collecting in country districts where the- 
railway stations are far apart, I think the system of roadside tramways 
would be very useful. I remember some years ago finding one be¬ 
tween Shipston-on-Stour and Stratford-on-Avon (Warwickshire) of 
great utility, and which obviated the necessity of sending by cart to 
a railway station about four miles distant (Moreton-in-the-Marsh).. 
This made a vast difference to the small growers from whom a great 
portion of the produce was purchased, as having the means of sending 
the goods at a very low rate per ton, better prices could be paid for the 
goods if bought, or if sold on commission better returns might be 
made. In country districts the means of transport might be made- 
much easier and cheaper by the adoption of a similar system at a trifling 
cost (in a primitive way) as that I have mentioned. For instance, 
nearly treble the weight of goods may be carried on tram lines by the 
same horse power than can possibly be done on the road by ordinary 
cart or waggon conveyance. 
Another mode of transit is the parcels post, which certainly is a. 
most convenient and speedy system, and especially useful to the ordinary- 
consigner of small quantities, but the limit, 11 lbs., is too low to allow 
of its being generally beneficial to small growers. Taking the limit, 
11 lbs. postage, Is. 3d., and comparing it with the present rates by 
passenger trains, although a parcel of that weight may be sent to any 
place for Is. 3d., still supposing that it has only to be sent thirty miles 1 
the railway company will take it and deliver it for 6d.; for fifty miles, 
8d.; for one hundred, Is.; for two hundred, Is. 6d.; and for any distance 
above that Is. 8d. So considering that most of the small parcels do not,, 
as a rule, travel over the longer distances the advantages of carriage by 
the railway companies are eminently paramount. In considering this 
part of the subject I have not had regard to the “ dealer's rates,” which- 
by passenger train would be about half the above-mentioned railway 
rates. I do not, however, see why the parcels post could not be more 
extensively adapted to the general requirements of the small growers. 
There is an existing staff, horses, vehicles, and everything to cope with 
the carriage of parcels of increased weight, and if the railway com¬ 
panies can carry 28 lbs. for 2s. Id., why should not the parcels post, who; 
have far greater advantages than ordinary consigners, give the public 
the advantage of part of the profit, and carry parcels of greater weight 
at reduced rates, even below those of the railway company, whose 
machinery they are bound to use? I may mention here once more the 
grievous subject of railway rates that I have recently had experience 
between home and continental rates of carriage. A short time ago I 
bought large quantities of fruit and vegetables at Lichfield, near 
Birmingham, i I consigned 10 tons in one day, and I find that comparing 
the rates with’those charged from Rotterdam or Antwerp for the same- 
class of goods the carriage of one ton from either of the latter places at 
the same-rate as charged from Lichfield to Birmingham, taking mileage 
into account, would amount to about £15 for fruit, and for a ton of 
vegetables, £8 15s. The charge from Lichfield to Birmingham per ton. 
for fruit is 12s. 6d.; from Rotterdam, £1 12s. 6d. For vegetables, 7s. 
from Lichfield ; from Rotterdam, 22s. Distance from Lichfield to Bir¬ 
mingham sixteen miles, and from Rotterdam to Birmingham about four 
hundred miles. This I can at once evidence by carriage notes. In 
noticing my small book, “The Producer and Consumer,” Mr. Gladstone 
to whom I am much indebted for his remarks upon it at Hawarden, on 
the 23rd of August last, said, “ That if truck hire were charged without 
classification at a mileage rate it would no doubt be a good thing for the 
growers, but that he was not aware that such a system had ever pre¬ 
vailed.” I may say that it was certainly a custom years ago, inaugurated 
by my late father, in the Worcestershire district, and if again resorted 
to would be doing good to growers without in any way injuring the 
railway companies. __. 
NOTES ON BIRDS. 
It is a long time since I sent a note to the Journal, as it is. 
easier to read the notes of others than to take part in the work 
but if all acted on the same principle the interest in the Journa. 
would be much curtailed. 
