482 
[ June 13, 1889. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
grown well under glas3 Mr. Hunter describes the fruit Beurrd Diel of 
the highest merit, and he is to be congratulated on producing what we 
believe to be the finest pair ever produced in this country. Individual 
fruits of great size have been exhibited by Mr. Haycock, but we have 
no record of their exact weight, nor have we of any specimen of the 
variety of the weight above named. It is remarkable that the two 
fruits from one stem weighed 71 oz3. 
ROSE CONDITIONS AND PROSPECTS. 
My small Rose garden is fortunately just far enough removed from 
the smoke of London to enable me to obtain fresh bright blooms in 
abundance for home use or friends, but not for exhibition. We like to 
have Roses in sufficient numbers to cut them by the basketful, and any 
systematic thinning of buds to obtain extra fine blooms would be re¬ 
garded as little less than vandalism ; in any case, sheer wastefulness. 
We do not boast a large stock either of varieties or plants, nor do 
we devote a great deal of time to their culture, but the plants are 
healthy, they flower freely, and we are satisfied. But I intended in 
this note saying a few words respecting the present condition and 
prospects of my Roses, and happily the expectations induced by an un¬ 
favourable autumn and winter have not been realised. There was much 
unripened wood at the end of last season which had to be removed, but 
growth started fairly strong in the early spring, and was not materially 
injured by the few pests experienced here. Buds showed plentifully, 
and now the blooms are expanding satisfactorily, for although the usual 
insect pests were extremely abundant a week or two back, as the result 
of the hot weather in May, the heavy storms of rain have assisted 
greatly in cleansing the plants, and these now, both Hybrid Per- 
petuals and Teas, areas fresh and clean as I ever remember seeing them 
at this time of year. My favourite, La France, seems to be especially 
good, and several plants of Gloire de Dijon have buds on nearly every 
shoot. Amidst all the wealth of hardy flowers which May and June 
bring us in the borders out of doors, we always look with the greatest 
eagerness for the advent of the Roses, and no posy seems complete with¬ 
out them.—C. M. S. 
ROYAL NATIONAL TULIP EXHIBITION. 
The annual Exhibition of Tulips in the north took place in the 
Concert Hall on Friday last in connection with the great Whitsun 
Show at Manchester. The hot weather in the previous week had told 
seriously upon the flowers, and the Exhibition not only fell much 
below its usual standard of quality in the blooms, but they were much 
less numerous than usual, and by the time night closed many of them 
had dropped their petals. 
There were but two collections of twelve rectified Tulips, two 
feathered and two flamed in each class. Mr. W. Kitchen, Stockport, 
was first with bizarres,'feathered, Lord Lilford and Typho ; flamed, Dr. 
Hardy and Sir J. Paxton ; roses, fea., Alice and Heroine ; fl., Mabel and 
Aglaia ; byblcemens, fea., John Hart and seedling ; fld., two seedlings. 
Second, Mr. S. Barlow, J.P., Stake Hill, with biz. fea., George Scholes 
and Sir J. Paxton ; fld., Dr. Hardy and Sir J. Paxton ; roses, fea., seed¬ 
lings ; fld., Annie McGregor and Lafly Catherine Gordon ; byb. fea., 
Queen of the May and Pegg’s Seedling ; fld., Nimbus and Queen of the 
May. In the class for six dissimilar Tulips, one feathered and one 
flamed in each class, there were but four competitors, Mr. Kitchen 
being again first with biz. fea., Lord Lilford ; fld., Sir. J. Paxton ; roses, 
fea., Alice ; fld., Mabel; byb. fea., Violet Amiable and flamed seed¬ 
ling. Second, Mr. James Knowles, Stalybridge, with biz. fea., John 
Radcliffe ; fld., Sir J. Paxton; roses, fea., Annie McGregor; fld., Lady 
Catherine Gordon ; byb., fea., Jeanette, and the same flamed. Third, 
Mr. S. Barlow. Fourth, Mr. J. H. Wood, Royton. The same class 
was continued for half-guinea subscribers only, and Mr. H. Housley, 
Stockport, was first with biz. fea., Lord Lilford ; fld., Sir J. Paxton ; 
roses, fea., Mabel; fld., Annie McGregor ; byb., fea., Violette Aimablc ; 
and fld., Duchess of Sutherland. Second, Mr. R. Wolfenden, Royton, 
who had biz., Sir J. Paxton, both fea. and fld. ; roses, fea., unnamed ; 
and fld. Mabel : byb., fea., Talisman ; and fld., Duchess of Sutherland. 
The best three feathered Tulips came from Mr. W. Kitchen, they 
were biz. Typho; rose, Mrs. Sanders ; and byb. Violette Aimable. Second, 
Mr. K.Wolfenden, with biz. Masterpiece : rose unnamed ; byb. Mrs. Jack- 
son. Third, Mr. S. Barlow. Mr. H. Housley had the best three flamed 
Tulips ; they were biz. Sir J. Paxton ; rose, Annie McGregor, and byb., 
Chancellor. Second, Mr. J. Knowles, with biz. Sir J. Paxton, rose 
Mabel, and byb. Queen of May. Third, Mr. W. Prescott, Lowton. 
In the class for one feathered and one flamed Tulip for maiden 
growers Mr. C. Needham, Roydon, was first; and Mr. J. W. Bentley, 
Thornham, second, with flowers unnamed. In the open class for the 
same Mr. S. Barlow was first with biz. fld. Sir J. Paxton, and byb. 
feath., unnamed. Second, Mr. A. Kitchen, with biz. fea. Lord Lilford 
and fld. Dr. Hardy. Third, Mr. D. Woolley, Stockport. 
The best "feathered bizarres were Royal Gem from Mr. R. Wolfenden, 
Typho from Mr. W. Kitchen ; Royal Gem, and Lord Lilford from Mr. 
W. Prescott; biz. fld. Sir J. Paxton from Mr. Knowles, and also from 
Mr. Kitchen, with seedlings from Mr. Barlow ; roses fea., Heroine 
from Mr. Wood, Alice from Mr. Kitchen, the others being unnamed 
or seedlings ; fld., Mabel from Mr. Housley, Henriette from Mr. Kitchen, 
Mabel from Mr. Prescott, and Madame St. Arnaud from Mr. Barlow ; 
byb. feath., the best flowers, were unknown or seedlings ; byb. fld. 
seedling from Mr. Barlow, who was third and fourth; also Queen of 
May from Mr. Knowles. 
The premier feathered Tulip was rose Mrs. Sanders, a very promis¬ 
ing new flower. The premier flamed biz., Sir J. Paxton, from Mr. W. 
Kitchen ; the premier breeder, rose Annie McGregor, also from Mr. 
Kitchen. 
The best breeder Tulips came from Mr. S. Barlow, who had biz. Dr. 
Hardy and seedling, rose Miss B.. Coutts and Mr. Barlow, and byb. 
David Jackson and seedling. Second, Mr. W. Kitchen, with biz. Sir J. 
Paxton and Sulphur; roses. Annie McGregor and Rose Hill Seedling, 
byb. Phillip I. and seedling. Mr. Barlow had the best three breeders, 
staging biz. and rose, both seedlings of Hepworth, and byb. Martin’s 
117. Second, Mr. W. Kitchen, with biz. Sir J. Paxton, rose Annie 
McGregor, and byb. seedling. Third, Mr. J. W. Bentley. The best- 
biz. breeder seedlings or unnamed from Messrs. Barlow and Wolfenden, 
the best rose breeders the same, from Messrs. Barlow, Bentley, and 
Kitchen. The best byb. breeders, seedlings from Messrs. Barlow, Wol¬ 
fenden, and Needham. 
THE COCOA NUT PALM. 
The Government Press at Madras recently issued “A Monograph 
on the Cocoa Nut Palm, or Cocos nucifera,” by Dr. John Short, which, 
the introduction tells us, was written at the request of the Director of 
Revenue, Settlement, and Agriculture. The author begins by pointing 
out the area of distribution of the Cocoa Nut tree. It is indigenous in 
the East, and is now largely cultivated on the coasts of India and 
Ceylon, and in the islands of the Eastern Archipelago. There are as 
many as 20,000,000 in the south-west of Ceylon. The Palm frequently 
grows wild in distant and isolated islands, whither the germ has. been 
borne by the sea, the thick fibrous padding around the nut protecting it- 
from the action of the water. So we constantly see that coral reefs, as 
soon as they make their appearance above the surface of the water, are 
taken possession of by these trees. The seashore is the home of the 
Palm ; it grows quite down to the water’s edge, and is in many places 
constantly washed by the waves. Thus, along the Brazilian coast for a. 
distance of nearly 280 miles, from the river San Francisco to the bar of 
Mamanguape, these trees extend. We also, however, find them far 
inland, and at the height of several thousand feet above the level of 
the sea. At Bangalore they flourish and produce fruit in abundance at 
a height of 3000 feet above the sea level. From a dietetical and econo¬ 
mical point of view the Cocoa Nut Palm is a most valuable plant \ 
sugar, starch, oil, wax. wine, resin, astringent matters, and edible fruits 
are its gifts to man. An alluvial or loamy soil is the most suitable for 
planting it, and no more than eighty plants an acre should be planted 
to get the maximum amount of fruit possible. Nuts obtainable from 
trees of from fifteen to thirty years old are the best for planting. There 
are numerous varieties of this tree, there being as many as thirty in 
Travancorc alone. One dwarf variety bears fruit when it is only 2 feet 
in height. Toddy is the sap of the Cocoa Nut Palm, and when the 
toddy-drawer wishes to get out the sap of the tree, he binds the flower 
spathe tightly with fibres of the tree, and beats it twice a day for three 
or four days with a short stick. The top is then sliced, and as soon as 
the sap begins to flow, a vessel, either earthen or made of bamboo, is- 
tied to the‘spathe to receive the sap. The spathe is kept bleeding by 
making a fresh wound in it each day. The fluid, when fresh, has a- 
pleasant taste, and is slightly aperient. When kept for a few hours it- 
ferments and becomes somewhat intoxicating, and it may then be dis¬ 
tilled into spirits or vinegar. With bakers it takes the place of yeast. 
The quantity of toddy taken out varies with the age and locality of the 
spathe, but the average quantity obtained for two or three weeks is 
three or four quarts every twenty-four hours. The liquid is also boiled 
down into a coarse kind of sugar called jaggery, which is either con¬ 
verted into molasses,'or refined before fermentation sets in into white or 
brown sugar. In some places the occupation of toddy-drawer is an 
hereditary one. Their mode of work is very simple, but is extremely 
dangerous. A thong made of bullock or buffalo hide, from 3 to 6 inches 
in width, and long enough to surround the tree and the body of the 
climber, is fastened with a peculiar kind of knot. The worker then 
stretches the thong to its utmost by throwing his whole weight on it r 
and draws up his legs. He has a ring of rope of palmyra fibres around 
his insteps, which allows him to grasp the tree between his heels. While 
his left hand is pressed against the trunk he shifts the thong up the tree 
with his right and draws his body up with it. 
“ Cocoa Nut Day ” is celebrated in most parts of India during the 
full moon in August. On that day numbers of nuts are thrown into 
the sea as an offering to the Hindu gods. Occasionally one meets with 
deformed nuts, consisting of the husk with small deformed nuts having 
no kernel inside. The natives attribute this blighting of the fruit to 
the tree frog, which, by smelling the flower, can prevent the fruit from 
coming to maturity. The kernel of the nut is frequently made into 
ornaments for the hair, or necklaces. The plants, Dr. Short says, are 
subject to disease from two opposite causes : first, from too much 
