262 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
December 25, 1886. 
expanded. Mr. Turner states, that Camellias will 
not hear much forcing, as their buds fall off so, while 
the flowers are quite as valuable late as they are early. 
In another house could be seen a capital lot of Poin- 
settia pulcherrima ; their scarlet bracts rich in colour. 
In another house were Chinese Primroses, double and 
single, the former including the double purple and the 
double white, and a pale rosy purple seedling ; of the 
latter there were some excellent varieties. By these 
was a batch of Heliotropes, emitting a delightful 
fragrance ; they were spring-struck cuttings in large 
60-sized pots, and in the generous warmth they were 
flowering freely, and were found very useful for cutting 
purposes. Plere, also, was another group of Bouvardias 
in flower, including the new double crimson variety. 
In another house were the last of the Chrysanthemums, 
and I imagine from what I have seen, and what I hear, 
there is much greater difficulty in keeping Chrysanthe¬ 
mums this winter than last. The mild weather during 
October, no doubt, brought them on very rapidly at 
the time, and as the racing men would say, “they have 
been deficient in staying power.” 
Lastly came the winter-flowering Carnation house. 
If it were not that cut flowers were in so great demand 
that they are compelled to gather the blooms before 
anything like a general display can be secured, this house 
would have been very gay. That tree Carnations will 
bloom in mid-winter there can be no doubt. First of 
all a large batch of seedlings that were lifted from the 
open ground in October, and potted up to perfect their 
flowers under glass. Mr. Turner said that fully 90 per 
cent, of these had double flowers, and that there were 
few really inferior ones among them. Then there is a 
large batch of named varieties, and these were pro¬ 
ducing numbers of flowers on strong plants. But 
success in winter-flowering of these is to a great extent 
a question of early striking of cuttings ; the sooner 
they can be struck in March the better. Of that there 
can be no doubt. I may add that only sufficient fire- 
heat is given to prevent harm from damp, and to keep 
out frost.— II. D. 
-->X<-- 
THE “GREEN FRUIT” TRADE. 
Under the shadow of the Monument, not long since, 
a man, perched upon a mass of brickwork, steadily, 
with each stroke of his pick, knocked away the bricks 
from beneath his feet. The labourer w'as engaged in 
demolishing buildings which had in part stood since 
the great fire of London, and which were last used as 
fruit warehouses. Room was wanted for the new street, 
and so they had to come down. Some time prior to 
1769, cut in stone against a house in Pudding Lane, 
there was an inscription recording that “ here began 
that dreadful fire,” which the same tablet ascribed 
to “the malicious hearts of barbarous Papists” ; but 
the annoyance produced by idlers gathering round the 
house to read the writing upon the stone, led to its 
removal. In some neighbouring cellar, it is said, that 
relic lies forgotten. The house itself has not survived 
the wholesale destruction which has taken place in 
Pudding Lane during the past year, and the only clue 
to its site is the Latin inscription upon the pedestal of 
London’s “tall bully,” which says that the great con¬ 
flagration which devastated 436 acres in 1666, broke 
out 202 ft. eastward of the column. 
It is in this historic quarter, hard by Billingsgate, 
and intersected by Fish Street Hill, that the green 
fruit trade of the metropolis is carried on. A bird’s-eye 
view from the Monument affords much to engage and 
bewilder the eye. There is a medley of tortuous and 
narrow lanes, with an expanse of unpicturesque roofs, 
bounded on the one side by the modernised Eastcheap, 
on another by the ever busy approach to London 
Bridge, and on the south by the muddy current of the 
Thames. In Monument Yard there are vans, carts, 
barrows, horses, ponies, donkeys, men and boys in 
apparently inextricable confusion. Running out and 
in, diving into alleys, emerging from dark openings, a 
crowd of human ants, each laden with his store, pass 
from van to van in one scarcely ever-ending procession. 
Shoulder-Knot Porters. 
Grains of Corn these busy people do not carry, but 
barrels, boxes or cases, cleverly balanced upon their 
heads and shoulder-knots. You may see them bringing 
the packages ashore from the black and red steamers 
which sound their shrill whistles at the wharves, and 
the sight is always an attractive one to the loungers upon 
London Bridge ; they never seem tired of watching the 
cranes drag from the vessel’s hold the trim chests 
bursting with their golden contents ; and it is amusing 
to note the rapidity with which each case is seized by 
the waiting porter, who, with sure foot, nimbly speeds 
with it down a narrow plank, and thence, by ladders, 
cautiously descends to the quay. One man promptly 
succeeds another—let the procession once stop and 
collision seems inevitable. Like boys upon a slide, the 
safety of all rests in keeping the game going ; and they 
say that qualities of body and mind are required to fit 
a man for this kind of labour which are not possessed 
by all. "Whatever the state of the wage market may 
be, there is nearly always a greater demand for shoulder- 
knot porters than there is a supply. 
These men accomplish some smart feats. One 
Saturday afternoon recently, a schooner, one of three 
ships dealt with in like manner arrived in the Thames 
with 2,000 cases aboard. In six or seven hours the 
whole lot was deposited in the warehouses, and ne¬ 
cessarily on a short December afternoon very little of 
the work had been despatched by daylight. The cases 
were landed at Fresh "Wharf. A stranger who ventures 
into this locality may be pardoned if he wanders in 
mistake upon the staging of St. Katherine's adjoining, 
but if he sees fruit there he may be told that it is 
German “soft” and not “green,” and it is intended 
to be sold not in Pudding Lane, but at Covent Garden 
or on the spot. Similarly, there are other wharves 
close by, which more properly belong to the dried fruit 
and to the Tea trades. The steamers which bring our 
Oranges and Grapes from sunny Spain or more favoured 
St. Michael, are generally berthed alongside Fresh and 
Nicholson "Wharves, and hemmed closely between them 
are cumbersome lighters, which have conveyed goods 
from the docks further down the river. Drays belong¬ 
ing to the several railway companies are backed up 
close to the water’s edge. How they have got there is 
not at all clear, nor is it easy to say how they will get 
out, for the surrounding storehouses, dark and towering, 
provide at first sight no means of exit from the yards. 
But a closer inspection presently discovers tunnel-like 
approaches, through which may be seen a vista of a 
crowded street beyond. 
The Great Warehouses. 
There are other gullets, many of them new lined with 
glazed bricks, which swallow up the porters as they 
quit the wharves. Following them w r e come upon a 
maze, in which, without a pilot, one would speedily 
lose his way. Lofty buildings, sheds and cellars are 
utilised similar to each other ; indeed, it is the likeness 
which the arrangements of one bear to those of its 
fellow, that adds to the risk there is of going astray. 
The walls are whitewashed, the partitions formed of 
rough scantling with wide gaps between each plank for 
better ventilation, and the stairs are steep, and well 
nigh perpendicular. There is a fruity atmosphere, 
whether it be on the fifth floor, or in the lowermost 
cellar. In one chamber hundreds of cases of Oranges 
are waiting the morrow’s sale, another is stored with 
St. Michael’s Pines in boxes, a third with Nova Scotian 
Apples in barrels, a fourth with bags of Redan Chest¬ 
nuts and Grenoble Walnuts, and a fifth with Spanish 
Onions. Passing from one vault to another there is 
suddenly heard the rumble of traffic overhead. "We are 
in the cellars formed by the lower range of arches which 
constitute the fouudations of London Bridge on the 
Middlesex shore ; and as we go from arch to arch, a 
sharp look-out is necessary to avoid a contusion from a 
corner of a case borne on the head of a perambulating 
porter, who sings out by way of warning ‘ 1 Head’s up. ” 
Yery necessary these vast ranges of warehouses are to 
the green fruit brokers, though it is the theoretical 
rule of the trade, and at such a busy season as Christmas 
it is the practice, to dispose of the consignments a few 
hours after they arrive. For instance, the cargo of 
2,000 cases, which has been already mentioned as 
having been discharged on the Saturday, was duly set 
down for sale by auction on the Monday following, and 
for delivery on the Tuesday ; but it may happen that 
some parcels require to be kept for a while, although 
not for long. 
Some Statistics of the Trade. 
During the past season, dating from the first 
arrival on September 7th to the last on November 
24th, there have been imported into London from 
Lisbon and Almeira 200,000 barrels of Grapes—that is 
to say, ten times the quantity w'hich was imported 
twenty years ago. Ten days ago, the 11 remainder of 
stock, ex sundry ships,” were offered, and this aggre¬ 
gate was a little short of 20,000 barrels. This one 
item will give an idea of the magnitude of the business 
transacted. It would be somewhat misleading to quote 
the imports of Oranges for the present year, as from 
some cause the numbers have fallen much below those 
of 1885, and, in consequence, there is hardly the same 
activity roundabout the Monument as at last Christmas. 
But it is interesting to observe the vast augmentation 
which has taken place since styeet and sour Oranges 
were first sold by the candle at Garrawav’s Coffee 
House, in Change Alley. Brokers’ catalogues, dated 
1776, are yet preserved, in which the Spanish Oranges 
were classed as “sour” and “China,” a distinction 
which is still retained, the sour meaning bitter— such 
as marmalade and wine-makers use — and the China 
being the sweet for eating. Statistics have been kept 
of the imports of the latter only, and to take 18S4 as a 
specimen year, of 805,000 cases of “Chinas ” sold in 
London, the bulk, 625,000, came from Spain, and of 
the remainder, St. Michael's, in the Azores, sent 80,000, 
the rest coming from Portugal and Sicily. Apples 
from America and Canada have been arriving in huge 
quantities, and the consumption of Cocoa or “Coker” 
Nuts is enormous ; for not less than 10,000,000 are 
annually brought in London, and quite lately a ship 
with 340,000, and another with 305,000, were in the 
docks. Of Spanish Nuts there are enough and to 
spare, and the cargoes in bulk range from 1,800 to 
6,000 bushels, which have been conveyed from Gijon 
in the holds of small Devonshire craft. 
The Method of Sale. 
By what system are these immense imports sold ? 
The question is easier to answer than might be 
imagined. The wholesale green fruit trade is prac¬ 
tically confined in the first instance to four firms of 
brokers. In years gone by each broker sold on his own 
premises, but three or four years since a limited liability 
company w T as formed,and a magnificent sale-room erected 
by it in Monument Yard. On sale days, which are 
frequent, the rostrum is occupied from 11 a.m. until 
sometimes 7 and 8 at night by the four firms, each 
taking their turn of about two hours. The privilege 
of selling first and the disadvantage of selling last are 
evenly allotted, a “share and share” alike principle 
being enforced by the expedient of altering the rota 
each month. A broker may have on his catalogue from 
10,000 to 12,000 packages to knock down at the ham¬ 
mer each day, so that it needs pretty rapid work to 
accomplish the task. Such a catalogue would be 
divided into about 500 lots, varying in description 
according to the article. The catalogue gives these 
and other particulars : (1) the import mark or brand ; 
(2) the name of the ship ; (3) the docks or warehouse 
where the fruit is waiting delivery ; (4) the nature of 
the package, and whether to be sold by weight or bags 
or cases (or if Cocoa Nuts by the 100) ; (5) the number 
in each lot. 
Armed with his catalogue, the buyer proceeds to the 
several show rooms, where he may see Malaga Figs in 
“frails” ; Persian Dates in boxes ; Turkey and Cocoa- 
nuts in bags ; Chestnuts and Walnuts in ditto ; St. 
Michael’s Oranges in flat boxes ; Yalencia Oranges 
in cases ; Spanish Onions in cases ; and American 
Apples and Almeria Grapes (in cork dust) in barrels. 
A St. Michael's box of Oranges weighs from 1 cwt. 
12 lbs. to 1 cwt. 20 lbs. ; and Yalencia cases from 
1J cwt. to 11 cwt. ; but a Yalencia case of one size may 
contain 420 large Oranges, 490 a little smaller, and 714 
smaller still. The St. Michael’s fruit is wrapped in 
Maize leaves, and Spanish in white tissue or fancy- 
coloured wrappers. In the show rooms there may be 
to-day displayed a vast quantity of Onions, to-morrow 
a great array of Apples, with the heads of the barrels 
knocked off; and in other rooms may be viewed Grapes, 
shot out of the barrels upon low staging, representing 
perhaps 3,000 or 4,000 packages. It is in the im¬ 
provement of the show rooms that the latest develop¬ 
ment of enterprise is most discernable, and their erection 
has, to a large extent, accounted for the architectural 
improvement of Pudding Lane. Those of Messrs. 
Keeling & Hunt in Botolph House are very large, well 
ventilated, and what is the greatest recommendation of 
all, splendidly illuminated, not merely by the aid of 
gas jets which give light at any angle required, but by 
reflected light from the walls, which are tiled, and which 
■with the ceilings are of the purest white ; for, as Mr. 
Knott, the firm’s courteous representative remarks, 
“light in judging fruit is a great essential.” 
