532 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 24, 1891. 
Holly and Mistletoe stand pre-eminent, but this season the supplies 
are not so extensive as usual. The Holly has in most cases a fair 
quantity of berries and is nearly all home grown ; the Mistletoe, 
on the other hand, is almost exclusively French, chiefly from the 
Apple orchards of Normandy, where it is said to yield a substantial 
return and not to injure the trees in any appreciable degree. Some 
years ago the Rev. F. H. Arnold seriously suggested that the 
culture of this plant should be tried in the southern counties. 
“ If Mistletoe can be sold in London at Christmas at prices 
varying from 10s. to 25?. or 30s. per crate, it may be queried 
whether it might not be profitably cultivated at home, instead of 
our obtaining such large supplies from abroad. It may be asked 
why should we be mainly dependent on France for our supplies of 
Mistletoe. Why, if it can be cultivated there, should it not be 
cultivated here, in the Somerset, Sussex, and Hampshire orchards 
and hedges, from which crates of this valuable commodity could 
be so easily forwarded to town without the cost of the Channel 
transit. Were I to buy a sprig of Mistletoe, with its bright white 
glistening berries at Christmastide, I must say that I would prefer 
it of home growth, and not have of foreign production one of 
the most ancient amenities in our English folk lore, which from 
the times of the Druids to present day has always been a favourite 
with our ancestors, is still so with ourselves, and will doubtless 
continue to be so when ‘ a thousand years are gone.’ ” 
For cut flowers, again, we seem to be largely dependent upon 
our continental neighbours who are sending us from the South of 
France and Italy large quantities of Violets, Roses, Roman 
Hyacinths, early Narcissi, and White Lilac. Of home grown 
produce in this department Lilies of the Valley, Richardias, Roses, 
Camellias, Eucharis, Chrysanthemums and Orchids constitute the 
chief items. In the plants, Palms, Ferns, and others valued for 
their foliage preponderate, but brightly berried Solanums, forced 
Tulips, Lilies of the Valley, and Hyacinths are conspicuous.—C. 
SOLANUM CAPSICASTRUM WEATHER ALLI. 
Those who have a good stock of plants of this fine subject will 
find them of immense value during the festive season of Christmas, 
provided they are carrying a good crop of well-coloured berries ; 
but I fancy many will have some difficulty in getting the berries 
coloured by that date this year, where the usual plan of planting 
the young plants in the open air during the summer months has 
been followed. I hear from various quarters that few berries have 
set this season, and those were small at the time the plants 
were potted up. All things considered I think it a much better 
plan to plant out in a pit or frame ; the cultivator can then to a 
great extent be independent of the weather. During bright 
weather the lights can be left entirely off, and throughout dull or 
very wet periods they may again be placed over the plants, which 
will then be kept steadily growing. 
Another advantage derived by adopting the frame system of 
culture is, that when planted out the lights can be kept closed and 
shaded, and by so doing enable the plants to start into growth more 
quickly, which is a distinct advantage, the great point to be aimed 
at being to get a good crop of berries set early, so that they may 
ripen by the required time. I have proved this season Solanums 
will bear without injury a much greater amount of heat than I had 
previously considered they would do. Our plants when lifted from 
the pit they had occupied during the summer months were thickly 
studded with berries ; they were potted up by the end of September, 
and placed in a pit, where they were kept close, but received no 
fire heat till well established. By the end of October I found I 
should require the berries to be perfectly coloured early in 
December, so heat was applied in such a way as to keep the hot- 
water pipes constantly warm, a little air being left on night and 
day. This treatment was continued for a couple of weeks, and a 
slight tinge of colour was beginning to be visible on the majority 
of the berries ; but I considered the treatment they were then 
receiving would not effect the desired result. The temperature 
was then gradually raised till it reached 60° to 65° at night, with a 
rise of 5° in the daytime, air being kept on constantly. The tops 
of the plants were only 24 inches from the glass, and they were well 
syringed once a day. This treatment was persevered in, and we 
had the satisfaction of getting the berries well coloured by the end 
of the first week in December. While so much fire heat was given 
green fly gave considerable trouble, but this pest was eventually 
overcome by regular fumigations once a week, and occasional 
syringings with a solution of aoftsoap. 
While being subjected to so great an amount of heat the plants 
grow very freely, and if allowed to go unchecked the abundant 
growth has the effect of retarding the ripening of the berries con¬ 
siderably, and also prevents many of them from being fully seen. 
It is, therefore, an excellent practice to pinch out the majority of 
the young shoots as soon as the berries commence colouring ; the 
light and air is thus let in to every portion of the plant, which 
undoubtedly has the effect of accelerating the colouring process, 
and also enables the berries to be fully seen when wearing their 
bright scarlet colour. If this operation is performed at the time 
indicated other young shoots will be quickly formed, which, by 
the time the plants are ready for use, will furnish a sufficient number 
of leaves to show up the berries to advantage, and hide the parts 
to which the former shoots were stopped. 
As soon as the berries show signs of shrivelling some of the 
most promising should be gathered and placed in a dry position, 
and when thoroughly ripe, which should be the case in about a 
fortnight, the seed should be removed from the husk, and after 
being spread out thinly for a few days may be sown thinly in 
shallow boxes and grown on in gentle heat till May, when if a 
pit or frame recently cleared of bedding plants can be devoted to 
them, with proper attention they will make fine plants, and be 
ready for lifting by the time the frame is wanted for bedding 
plants again in September. A good loamy soil with a little leaf 
soil added suits Solanums admirably. The great point is to give 
the individual plants plenty of room to develop into shapely plants 
without crowding each other, and with liberal treatment in the 
matter of watering they will require to be planted 1 foot apart 
each way. Although the seedlings may be small when planted out 
do not be influenced to place them closer together, or before the 
growing season is over any good cultivator will perceive the com¬ 
mon mistake of planting too closely has been made. 
A few of the old plants should be retained, as they make 
capital specimens for filling large vases. They should be pruned 
back as soon as the berries are past their best, so as to give them a 
long season of growth ; and when the young growth is a quarter of 
an inch long shake out and re-pot in pots two sizes larger, and, of 
course, the plants should be kept in a close house or pit till they 
have recovered from this operation, after which, an ordinary green¬ 
house temperature will be found to suit them. Unless the summer 
is very hot the plants will well repay for being kept under glass 
throughout the year, although I have seen excellent specimens 
produced by placing them in the open air during the summer 
months. 
The uses to which well grown plants of this showy Solanum 
may be put are manifold. For placing in vases they are thoroughly 
seasonable and attractive, and when associated with flowering plants 
they supply a colour not generally too plentiful in the depth of 
winter, and single berries with a small shoot attached look effective 
and novel when arranged with Roman Hyacinths in vases or 
shoulder sprays, and one of the most charming and suitable arrange¬ 
ments for a Christmas dinner table can be worked out by using 
Solanum plants of various sizes, standards and bushes being 
interspersed. The plants should be turned out of their pots and 
placed in saucers, the surface of the soil and the receptacle holding 
it being entirely covered with Lycopodium denticulatum. A grace¬ 
fully curving scroll design should also be worked out with small 
sprays of the same Lycopod, and be dotted at intervals with 
Solanum berries. Although this arrangement will not require a 
single flower to be added, the effect produced will not be deficient 
in either beauty or brightness, and the cheerful scarlet of the 
glossy berries will instinctively remind each beholder of Christmas- 
tide.—H. Dunkin. 
FRUIT GROWING IN COLORADO. 
At the Conference on the Culture of Fruit convened by the 
Royal Botanical and Horticultural Society of Manchester, held in 
Manchester on the 21st October, I see by the English papers that 
the Eirl of Derby, who presided, said, as to fruit growing in 
England :— 
“ As to the return, no certain average can be taken where soil and 
climate vary so widely. The figures which I have obtained relate to 
Kent and come from good authority. Strawberries are taken as giving a 
gross return of £27 per acre and a nett return, after all expenses are 
paid, of between £6 and £7 ; Raspberries, £21 gross return and £7 nett 
profit; Currants, £30 gross, nett £11 ; Apples, Plums and Cherries, £25 
gross returns, nett profit about £5. But these last, especially Apples, 
give no returns for five years at least. The average of several seasons 
has been taken, so as to allow for losses as well as for exceptional 
gains.” 
As the readers of the Journal of Horticulture and Home 
Farmer are naturally interested in fruit growing in other countries 
and the methods adopted and profits made, and perhaps some of 
