September 25.] 
We have before us a work which contains a mass of 
information to aid in acquiring such a guide. It is 
entitled British Pomology : or the History, Description, 
and Classification of the Fruits, and Fruit-trees, cultivated 
in the Gardens and Orchards of Great Britain. The 
author is Mr. Robert Hogg, proprietor of the Brompton 
Nursery, well-known for its vast assemblage of fruits, 
and we are aware of no one more capable, or who has 
more facilities than that gentleman to enable him to 
classify them. What “ classification” he will adopt we 
cannot say, as it does not appear in the four parts which 
have as yet issued from the press, but wo can testify 
that the work contains fuller information relative to each 
variety, so far as at present published, than any other 
English volume. It is a most valuable addition to our 
garden literature, and that our readers may judge for 
themselves, we quote what Mr. Hogg says relative to 
the best of our earliest apples :— 
JOANNETING.—H. 
Syxoxymes. —Jennetting, Coles’ Adam in Eden, 207. Junit- 
ing, Rea Pom. 20!). Jeniting, Wort. Jin. 101. Ginetting, 
or Juneting, Rail Hist. ii. 1447, 1. Juneting, or Jenneting, 
Sivitz. Fr. Gard. 134. Genneting, Lang. Pom. t. lxxiv. f. 
2. Juneting, Fors. Treat. 109. Early Jenneting, or June- 
eating, Aber. Diet. White Juneating, Jlort. Soc. Cat. ed. 
3. n. 374. Down. Fr. Amer. 78. Juneating, Lind. Guide, 
4. Rog. Fr. Cult. 27. Owen’s Golden Beauty, Hort. Soc. 
Cat. ed. 1, 717. Primiting, in Kent and Sussex. 
Figure. —Ron. Pyr. Mai. pi. i. f. 3. 
Fruit, small; round, and a little flattened. Skin, smooth 
and shining, pale yellowish-green in the shade; but clear 
yellow, with sometimes a faint tinge of red or orange next 
the sun. Eye, small and closed, surrounded with a few 
small plaits, and set in a very shallow basin. Stalk, an inch 
long, slender, and inserted in a shallow cavity, which is 
lined with delicate russet. Flesh, white, crisp, brisk, and 
juicy, with a vinous and slightly perfumed flavour, but be¬ 
coming meally and tasteless, if kept only a few days after 
being gathered. 
This is the earliest apple of the year, the first of Pomona’s 
autumnal offerings; it is in greatest perfection when 
gathered off the tree, or immediately afterwards, as it very 
soon becomes dry and meally. 
The tree does not attain a large size, but is hardy and 
healthy. It is not a great bearer, which may, in a great 
measure, account for it not being so generally cultivated, as 
its earliness would recommend it to be. If worked on the 
paradise stock it may be grown in pots, when the fruit will 
not only be produced earlier, but in greater abundance than 
on the crab, or free stock. 
This is one of our oldest apples, and, although generally 
known and popular, seems to have escaped the notice of 
Miller, who does not even mention it in any of the editions 
of his dictionary. As I have doubts of this being the 
Geneting of Parkinson—his figure being evidently intended 
for the Margaret, which in some districts is called the Joan- 
neting—the first mention we have of this variety is by Rea, 
in 1605, who describes it as “a small, yellow, red-sided 
apple, upon a wall, ripe in the end of June.” 
The orthography which I have adopted in the nomen¬ 
clature of this apple may, to some, at first sight, seem 
strange ; but I am, nevertheless, persuaded it is the correct 
one. The different forms in which it has been written will 
be found in the synonymes given above, none of which 
afford any assistance as to the derivation or signification of 
the name. Abercrombie was the first who wrote it June- 
eating, as if in allusion to the period of its maturity, which 
is, however, not till the end of July. Dr. Johnson, in his 
Dictionary, writes it Gineting, and says it is a corruption of 
Janeton (Fr.), signifying Jane or Janet, having been so 
called from a person of that name. Ray says, “ Pomum 
Ginettinum, quod unde dictum sit me latet.” Indeed, there 
393 
does not seem ever to have been a correct definition given 
of it. 
In the middle ages, it was customary to make the festivals 
of the church, or saint’s days, periods on which occurrences 
were to take place, or from which events were dated. Even 
in the present day, we hear the country people talking of 
some crop to be sown, or some other to be planted at 
Michaelmas, St. Martin’s, or St. Andrew’s-tide. It was also 
the practice, during the reign of Popery in this country, as 
is still the case in all Roman Catholic countries, for parents 
to dedicate their children to some particular saint, as Jean 
Baptiste, on the recurrence of whose festival, all who are so 
named keep it as a holiday. So it was also in regard to ; 
fruits, which are named after the day about which they came | 
to maturity. Thus, we have the Margaret Apple, so called ! 
from being ripe about St. Margaret’s-day—the 20th of July. ! 
The Magdalene, or Maudline, from St. Magdalene’s-day— 
the 22nd of July. And in Curtius we find the Joanninu, so 
called, “ Quod circa divi Joannis Baptist® nativitatem esui 
sint.” These are also noticed by J. B. Porta; he says, “ Est 
genues alterum quod quia circa festum Divi Joannis matu- 
risit, vulgis Melo de San Giovanni dicitur.” And according 
to Tragus. “ Quae apud nos prima maturantur, Sanct Johans 
Opffel, Latine, Prsecocia mala dicuntur.” 
We see, therefore, that they were called Joannina, because 
they ripened about St. John’s Day. We have also among 
the old French pears Amire Joannet—the Admired, or Won¬ 
derful Little John, which Merlet informs us was so called, 
because it ripened about St. John’s Day. If then we add to 
Joannet the termination ing, so general among our names of 
apples, we have Joanncting. There can be no doubt that 
this is the correct derivation, and signification of the name of 
this apple, and although the orthography may for a time 
appear singular, it will, in the course of usage, become as 
familiar’ as the other forms in which it has been written. 
GARDENING GOSSIP. 
Formerly, the usual great annual Dahlia Show, brought 
to London, or wherever it was held, a vast number of 
growers (amateur and professional) who never visited the 
metropolis at any other time. Last year Mr. Glenny gave 
up the management of the annual show, which he had 
conducted for many years, and some gentlemen under¬ 
took to produce one upon the same scale at Notting-hill. 
It was accordingly advertised in the almanack to take 
place at Ledbroke-square, on the 11th of September, a 
day adopted with the knowledge and acquiescence of all 
parties. Not a single announcement beyond this was 
made, and people looked in vain for schedules, or adver¬ 
tisements in the garden papers and books, and no notice 
was taken of a change until the approach of the day came 
much too close to be pleasant. Then it was that the 17th 
was mentioned, and passed round among the growers 
who were in the habit of meeting each other; but in the 
country, among amateurs, who came but once a year to 
show or see flowers, and that always at the “ great 
show,” not a word would be seen in the ordinary channels 
of information, until, in lists of the September shows, 
the 17tli was mentioned for “Notting-hill’grand Metro¬ 
politan Show.” The growers who met at Shacklewell 
on the 12th were, perhaps, made acquainted with an 
intended change; but the readers of The Cottage 
Gardener, and of the other garden papers, were kept 
in happy ignorance; and, in common with ourselves, 
saw, if they saw at all, the first intimation of it in the 
daily papers, the very day before it was to take place. 
As we, and many of the amateur growers in various 
parts of the country, look to garden papers for informa- 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
