506 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
April 10, 1886. 
liimself believed that 500 distinct kinds were in 
cultivation. 
The orchards of Herefordshire were considerably 
increased, not only in number but in extent, by the 
introduction of a quantity of the best cider Apples of 
France, by Lord Scudamore, the British ambassador at 
the French court, in the reign of Charles II. The 
celebrated John Ray, in 1688, was informed that there 
were seventy-eight sorts grown in the London nurseries. 
Miller, Abercrombie, and others, enumerate and des¬ 
cribe many kinds, and Forsyth, in 1806, describes 176 
kinds. In 1831, Mr. G. Lindley minutely and clearly 
described no less than 214. How that number increased 
is shown from the fact that the last edition of the Fruit 
Catalogue of the Royal Horticultural Society presented 
a list of 1,400, three-fourths of which were regarded as 
synonymous, or sorts scarcely worthy of being grown. 
Since then, by means of the horticultural press, fruit 
manuals, carefully compiled catalogues, and especially 
the Apple Congress of 1884, a great deal has been done 
in the way of correct nomenclature, and also in weeding 
out inferior sorts. And, despite our increased informa¬ 
tion, there is much in the present day to justify the 
remark of the late Mr. Loudon, that “ Some individuals 
who have cultivated, fruited, or studied extensive col¬ 
lections of Apples, Pears, or Plums, may know at sight 
a considerable number of varieties ; j but, in general, 
only a very few sorts are known by one individual, 
and, in the great majority of cases, a gentleman’s 
gardener can speak with confidence regarding those 
sorts only which are under his care. The reason of this 
is that the shades which distinguish varieties are so 
fleeting as not to be retained in memory, or only to be 
retained to a very limited extent. An Apple may be 
distinguished from twenty other Apples, all very much 
alike, when the whole twenty are placed together before 
the eye ; but any one of the twenty, taken apart and 
delineated or described, however perfectly, will hardly 
present marks sufficiently distinctive to be remembered 
and by which it may be recognized with any degree of 
certainty.” 
“Many ancient rites and ceremonies connected with 
the Apple as a mystic tree are still practised in certain 
parts of the country, whilst others have of late become 
obsolete. In remote districts the farmers and peasantry 
in Herefordshire, Devonshire, and Cornwall still pre¬ 
serve the ancient custom of saluting the Apple tree on 
Christmas-eve. In some places the parishioners walk 
in procession, visiting the principal orchards in the 
parish. In each orchard one tree is selected as the 
representative of the rest; this is saluted with a certain 
form of words wdiich have in them the air of an incan¬ 
tation, and then the tree is either sprinkled with cider 
or a bowl of cider is dashed against it, to ensure its 
bearing plentifully the ensuing year. In other places 
the farmer and his servants only assemble on the 
occasion, and after immersing cakes in cider they hang 
them on the Apple trees. Then they sprinkle the trees 
with cider, and, encircling the largest, they chant the 
following toast three times : — 
‘ Here’s to the old Apple tree, 
Whence thou may’st bud, and whence thou may’st 
blow ; 
And whence thou may’st bear Apples enow ; 
Hats full ! caps full ! 
Bushel, bushel-sacks full ! 
And my pockets full, too ! 
Huzza ! huzza !’ 
‘ ‘ After this the men dance round the tree, and return 
to the farm-house to conclude, with copious draughts 
of cider, these solemn rites, which are undoubtedly 
relics of Paganism. 
“ In Sussex the custom of ‘worsling’ or wassailing 
o o 
Apple trees still exists. Formerly it took place, 
according to the locality, some time between Christmas- 
eve and Twelfth-day. The most popular wassail rhyme 
was similar to the above ; but others were sung by the 
‘ howiers. ’ At Chailey this verse is used : — 
‘ Stand fast root, bear well top, 
Pray that God send us a good howling crop ; 
Every twig, Apples big ! 
Every bow, Apples anow ! 
Hats full ! caps full! 
Full quarters, sacks full!’ ” 
(Folkarcl's Plant Lore, <L-c.) 
Other customs prevail in different parts of the 
country ; the two foregoing will serve as examples. 
In fact, an immense amount of mythic lore has gathered 
about the fruit, a great deal of which Mr. Folkard has 
gathered together in his interesting book. 
The Apple is a very wholesome fruit, either raw as a 
dessert fruit, or when baked or boiled. In Normandy 
the Pippins are dried whole in the sun, and in America 
by the same means when cut into quarters, in which 
state they are preserved for a considerable time. Dr. 
Johnson, as an instance of the nutritious qualities of 
this fruit, tells us that he knew a clergyman ol limited 
income who brought up a large family fed chiefly on 
Apple dumplings. Apropos of Apple dumplings, an 
old gardener has just become a pensioner of the Gar¬ 
deners’ Royal Benevolent Institution, whose grand¬ 
mother was the cottager to whom King George the 
Third expressed his wonder how the Apple got into the 
dumpling !— R. D. 
■ -- 
SOOT AND THE ONION MAGGOT. 
A correspondent signing himself “ Con.,” writing 
on this subject at p. 490, says he has no -wish to cast 
any doubt on my statements, and that he “must say 
at once that he cannot agree with me, as his ex¬ 
perience of the use of soot would not justify him in 
doing so.” Furthermore, he says, that “he is not so' 
narrow-minded as to think that any fixed remedy or 
method can be set down as a rule for everyone to go 
by,” adding, by way of confirming this inconsistent 
statement, that he “should he just as ready to believe 
that one kind of medicine -would cure every patient that 
suffered from the same disease, when most people’s 
experience leads them to the contrary (?)” It is indis¬ 
putably bad logic on the part of “Con” to say that 
he is not so narrow-minded (I do not dispute the 
correctness of the adjective) as to think any “fixed 
remedy” or method can be set down as a rule for every¬ 
one to go by, because there are “fixed remedies” 
which are had recourse to by all practical gardeners for 
certain diseases, and which they use in a greater or 
lesser degree, according to the circumstances surround¬ 
ing each individual case ; and with regard to your 
correspondent’s illogical reference to the same kind of 
medicine curing every patient that suffered from one 
and the same disease, I would remind him that it is 
but taking a common-sense view T of the matter to 
assume that every duly qualified medical practitioner 
would administer the same kind of medicine in every 
case for the same kind of pronounced disease, varying 
the quantity and strength of the same according to the 
age and condition of the individual patients. 
Though the above illustrations were evidently given 
by your correspondent with the view of supporting his 
own theory and unsuccessful experience of the use of 
soot as an antidote for the Onion-maggot, they only go, 
if they go for anything, to prove to the contrary, viz., 
that the ingredient used by your correspondent was 
either bad, insufficient in quantity, or that the method 
of its application to the soil was wrong, or all three 
together. This is about the sum total of your corre¬ 
spondent’s failure, and the letter shows conclusively 
enough that he had not tried soot in “every possible 
way” with the view of eradicating the Onion-maggot. 
And I would here remind your correspondent that in his 
anxiety to support the views of “W. C. ” in reference to 
the use of closet manure for the Onion crop, that his 
advocacy of its use is somewhat inconsistent with the 
description he gives a few lines higher up in the same 
column, of the crop of Onions that he himself secured 
from his garden. I may here be permitted to inform 
“Con.,” that I have no wish to either prove his or any 
other gardener’s practice to be wrong, nor to convert 
them to my way of thinking, but simply, as stated in 
a previous communication, to show those who are 
“willing” to succeed in eradicating the Onion maggot, 
how 7 they may do so (see pp. 358 and 394). 
Although your correspondent “fails to see that the 
same remedy (soot) can be expected to apply to all soils 
and climates,” if he refers to pp. 394 and 426, he will 
see that it is not only “expected to apply,” but that it 
actually succeeds when applied in wddely different soils 
and climates, as testified by Mr. G. Baskett, in the neigh¬ 
bourhood of Bournemouth, on the one side, and Mr. 
R. Stevens, in the county of Northumberland on the 
other. In both these cases practical results, and the 
publication of their respective names and addresses, 
justify the assumption that the soot had been judiciously 
applied, and that the other cultural details were skilfully 
carried out and that their statements are absolutely 
correct. In conclusion, I may as well tell “Con.,” 
that it is in order to prevent him, or anybody else, 
from casting any doubt on the correctness of any 
statements that I make, that I invariably attach my 
name and address to my communications ; as by so 
doing, I afford not only my own men, but also mv 
friends and neighbours who are in the habit of visiting 
these gardens, an opportunity of verifying my state¬ 
ments. Hence it is that I consider it necessary for 
anyone making a statement, if borne out by practical 
results, but the correctness of which might, neverthe¬ 
less be questioned by inexperienced readers, to give his 
name and address, and equally desirable is it, that 
those who endeavour to disprove such statements should 
attach their names and addresses, as by doing so they 
would give more or less weight to what they have to 
say.— If. TV. Ward, Longford Castle, Salisbury. 
Discussions on garden pests, such as that on 
soot and the Onion maggot, should prove very 
interesting, if carried on in a friendly spirit, and 
each confines himself to his own practice. I hope when it 
is felt that the Onion maggot has been worried enough, 
contributors will take to other garden pests and serve 
them the same. For several seasons I have endeavoured 
to find something that will exterminate the Onion 
maggots. My line of attack is as follows :—My bed 
will be on rather heavy soil, with no dung put in at 
the time of sowing the seed. I dress the bed with well 
charred rubbish from the rubbish yard, this is well 
scarified into the soil with an iron rake ; drills are 
drawn, and these dusted with dry wood ashes before 
sowing; then after the seed is sown we dust again with 
wood ashes. As soon as the Onions are observed to be 
well up, a canvas bag is partially filled with dry soct 
and fresh slacked lime in equal parts, and by slightly 
jerking the bag a good dusting is given (I need not say 
do not face the wind), this dusting is kept up until the 
ground is covered, and carried out twice a week. Every 
fortnight we sow on the bed two quarts of gas lime, 
and at the beginning of June I dress the bed with one 
bushel of fresh slacked lime, this is immediately watered 
in with 200 gallons of sewage; next morning again dusted 
with soot and lime. I should mention that the bed in 
question is three rods, and that the above soot and 
liming, &e., is continued until the Onions are the size 
of walnuts ; the bed is hoed as often as possible. 
Occasionally it had some good soakings from sewage 
water ; with all this we made it a rule to examine the 
bed once a week and carefully lift any attacked with 
maggots, of which we found many—sometimes many 
dozens. I should add that I had a good crop of Onions, 
and as hot as possible in flavour ; these were not thin¬ 
ned. Now as to soot being an infallible remedy I may 
say that it does not show that it has been such in my 
practice, although it has proved valuable against other 
pests. Adjoining the bed in question I had autunn 
sown Queen Onions, which were not attacked by 
maggot. I have tried various experiments with a view 
to bring about a crop of Onions from autumn soivn 
seeds, to take the place of our spring sown ones. I 
have sown a variety as" the Queen, which should keep 
good till the following May, when the true Queen is 
again ready. But after all my pains I have found that 
I have not the Queen at all, but anothervariety, growing 
about 12 ins. in circumference, and which goes wrong 
soon after being stored. Nothing is more provoking 
than to find one has been supplied with seeds under a 
wrong name, especially when one has an object in 
view.— R. Hall, Fox Warren, Cobham. 
The discussion on the subject of soot and the 
Onion maggot has elicited from your correspondent, 
“Con,” a statement to the effect that soot will not 
prevent the ravages of the Onion maggot. Your 
correspondent says that he has tried soot in every 
possible way, so I take it for granted that he tried the 
method recommended by Mr. "Ward, on p. 35S. In 
that case, though in both instances the soot was ad¬ 
ministered in the same way, the result has been totally 
different. Thus it proves, as other records have done, 
that one thing may be effectual in one locality, but 
ineffectual in others. Theory tells us that old gardens 
are more conducive to the ravages of this pest than new 
ones ; but Mr. Ward is of opinion that the maggot is to 
be found more abundantly in new soils. According to 
my experience, the maggot is as plentiful in old garden 
soils as in new ones, and, certainly, such is the case in 
this part of Surrey. Upon these sandy soils, the effects 
of last summer’s dr< ght was recently felt, consequently 
the maggot was pre sminant. In the garden (which is 
many years old) from which I write, we secured a good 
sound crop of Onions, for this destructive pest did not 
make its appearance ; and this fact is more singular 
