THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, Afbil 19, 1859. 
35 
BRITISH POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY". 
{Continuedfrom,page 23.) 
Of Kitchen Apples were Gooseberry Pippin, Ping of 
Pippins (flat), Yorkshire Greening, JJumeiow’s Seedling 
(under both its synonymes, Wellington and Normanton 
Wonder), Royal Musset, Norfolk Meaufin, and, apparently, 
good late-keeping Apples—probably local varieties, sent 
erroneously under the names of Northern Greening, 
Winter Queening, Winter Pearmain, and Kirk's Scarlet 
Admirable. 
Tbis collection also contained two valuable kitclien 
varieties, not hitherto described in catalogues,— Castle 
Major, a medium-sized oblately spherical Apple ; average 
diameter about three inches ; eye open, clean ; stalk long, 
rather slender, deeply inserted; colour pale greenish- 
yellow, rather densely covered with whitish spo.ts, tipped 
with brown-russety specks ; flesh firm, juicy, aud briskly 
acid. Poor Man’s Profit, a large, haudsome, oblately 
conoid fruit; colour pale lemon, much striped with red 
on sunny side ; average diameter three inches and a half. 
Evidently a first-class late kitchen Apple. 
The second prize was awarded to Mr. M'Laeen (gar¬ 
dener to S. C. Whitbread, Esq.), Cardington, near Bed¬ 
ford, whose collection contained two varieties of Pears 
and twenty-three of Apples. No particular pains had 
been taken with the keeping; the fruit having been 
thinly spread in a loft, with a little wheat-straw under 
some of the best of them. (It may here be mentioned, 
that it was quite easy to distinguish which kinds had 
been kept on the straw. Fruit-growers do not appear to 
be aware, that choice fruits absorb the flavour of straw, 
moss, hay, or any strong-smelling vegetable matters which 
they are laid upon, or even packed in, for a very short 
time.) Mr. M'Laren’s Pears were Paster Beurre, melting, 
juicy, and sweet, the best dish of the kind which had 
come under the Society’s notice during the season ;—and 
Beurre Ranee, large, very melting, and good-flavoured. 
Some of the Apples in this collection were evidently over¬ 
ripe, and far beyond their possible season—such as Ribston 
Pippin, and other late autumn and early winter varieties. 
Of kinds in season, however, some were very good, espe¬ 
cially the following :— Barcelona Pearmain, described in 
a former report, and now recognised as a synonyme of 
Speckled Golden Rcinetle; Golden Nonpareil under the 
name of Scarlet Nonpareil, firm, juicy, and very rich; 
as also was Golden Reinette, which was sent under the 
name of Golden Russet, Court of Wick If J and Wyken 
Pippin( 0 ) were good, juicy, and well-kept; the rest of the 
varieties were kitchen Apples, in good condition, but of 
the same kinds as those mentioned in the previous col¬ 
lections. 
Mr. Holdek, of Reading, contributed a large and inter¬ 
esting collection, containing upwards of thirty varieties 
generally in very good state of preservation. They had 
been kept in round hampers, in an open airy barn, and 
covered over with sacks, or a little straw, in cold weather. 
Amongst the Peaks, Ne plus Meuris was very juicy and 
melting, but not high-flavoured; Beurre Ranee, very fine, 
and promising to be good, but not ripe. Of the Apples, 
the best were the Old Nonpareil, and a variety very nearly 
identical, called Broivn Nonpareil: both were in excellent 
condition, juicy, tender-fleshed, and good in flavour; 
Scarlet Nonpareil, misnamed Golden Russet, in excellent 
order for the season; and the true Golden Russet, under 
the name of Orange Russet, good in flavour, but dry. 
Amongst Kitchen Apples were very good dishes of the 
Royal Russet, under the synonymes of Buff Russet and 
Silver Russet. The remaining dishes were of the same 
leading varieties as are enumerated in some of the other 
collections, and not sufficiently remarkable to be specially 
detailed. 
Mr. Newton (gardener to G. J. Graham, Esq.), brought 
a collection of fifteen varieties of Apples, which exhibited 
the results of some experiments he had made in different 
methods of keeping. Most of the examples were remark¬ 
ably plump and fresh in appearance; and even such 
varieties as Golden Pippin and Ribston Pippin were 
barely past condition. Mr. Newton stated, that, after 
gathering, the fruit was laid on shelves in the fruit-room 
for about a month, to allow of a partial evaporation; and 
then the best were selected and packed in layers, with 
lieigate sand amongst them, in old butter-tubs. Some of 
the kinds were packed in sand, just as it was dug out of 
the pit, and containing its natural moisture; others were 
packed in similar sand from which the moisture had been 
expelled by baking. Those in the naturally damp sand 
had kept in excellent condition and flavour, and were rich 
and juicy ; but those in the dried sand had lost all their 
flavour and part of their juiciness. Mr. Newton men¬ 
tioned, however, that last season he made a similar experi¬ 
ment with dried sand, but enveloped each fruit in a piece 
of thin tissue paper, and that they had kept their flavour 
much better. He proposes, however, next season to take 
equal samples of fruit of the certain kinds, and preserve 
them in each of the three ways above mentioned, that the 
Society may estimate exactly the results of each. The 
varieties he exhibited in best condition were Screveten s 
Golden Pippin, firm, juicy, and rich in flavour ; Pearson’s 
Plate, nice, brisk, and very juicy ; Butch Mignonnc, good, 
but rather shrivelled, ns if gathered too early ; and a very 
good aud little-known variety called Holland Pippin, 
which, with one or two others, were specially asked for 
on another occasion for better identification. 
Josiah Moobiian, Esq., of No. 1, Portland Place, 
Clapham, sent a nice collection, comprising five dishes of 
Pears. Old Colmar and Easter Beurre, melting and juicy, 
but not high-flavoured. Jean de Witte, very melting, 
sugary, and delicious. Knight’s Monarch, promising to 
be melting and very good, but barely ripe. Ne plus 
Meuris, melting, juicy, and very rich. They had been 
carefully placed on open lath shelves in a fruit-room. 
Mr. Swineed (gardener to John Swinford, Esq.), 
Minster Abbey, Isle of Thanet, Kent, sent an interesting 
collection of about twenty kinds, including four Pears, of 
which Passe Colmar, and Beurre Ranee, were good, but 
not high-flavoured. Easter Beurre, under-ripe ; and 
Winter Crassane, past. The Apples were plump and 
tender-fleshed, but not juicy or high-flavoured, the best 
were Court-pendu Plat, under the name of Bn Corfu; 
and Sam Young, under the name of Russet Nonpareil. 
Mr. Swinerd sent the following particulars concerning 
the mode in which they had been kept:— 
“ The room that the Apples and Pears have been kept in, is 
part of the old Abbey, the walls of which are two feet thick, and 
fourteen feet from the ground. The north and east walls are ex¬ 
posed, and the south and west are built against with other build¬ 
ings. The window is in the east wall, and has got an air-tight 
shutter to keep the frost out. The top is covered in with a tank, 
that holds sixteen butts of water; so that it is impossible for the 
frost to come through at the top (?). The room is entered by a 
trap-hatch, which shuts down air-tight. The room is fitted all 
round with shelves, aud I never use anything but old newspapers, 
to lay the fruit on. 
“ A stoke-hole and boiler for vinery are fitted up under the 
room : and by opening the trap-door of the Apple-room, and 
shutting the door of the stoke-hole, I can keep the frost out, and 
have the room at what temperature I please.” 
Mr. Wighton (gardener to Lord Stafford, Cossey Hall, 
Norfolk) sent a collection of seven Pears and ten Apples 
—generally as examples of fruit kept in the long grass 
under the fruit trees, where they had remained since they 
fell off' naturally. The fruit was all firm and sound, 
though the skins of some were damaged and bruised. 
The flavour was not high; but many of them were 
sugary ; and the Pears would, probably, have been very 
good if they had been ripened in a warm room. This 
remark applies equally to at least nine-tenths of the Pears 
which are exhibited in winter; and the inattention to this 
most important consideration is probably the result of the 
