788 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
August 13, 1887. 
characterised by its free-bearing nature and 
distinct appearance, but whether it would 
beget many admirers is questionable. Golden 
Queen is a bright yellow sort, above the 
medium size, flattened, ribbed at the base 
only, and a fairly good cropper. If distinct¬ 
ness goes for anything amongst cultivators, 
then most assuredly would White Apple be 
grown ; the fruit is round and even, about 
the size of a Green Gage Plum, white, or more 
or less of a pale lemon colour, according to 
the incident rays of the light, for it is so thin- 
skinned as to be semi-transparent, and certainly 
pretty. A selection of red or scarlet varieties 
of this class might include Hathaway’s Excelsior, 
Keye’s Prolific, King Humbert, Horseford’s 
Prelude, Little Gem, Pear-shaped or Kisbet’s 
Victoria. Green Gage, and Golden Queen are 
good yellows, and White Apple should also 
be included. 
Good large varieties are more generally the 
desideratum, and are most numerously repre¬ 
sented in the Chiswick collection, as might be 
expected. The marks of distinction are 
found in size, colour, shape, whether round, 
flattened, ribbed, lobed or the reverse, whether 
the sorts are good croppers and suited for 
indoor or outdoor cultivation, good for exhi¬ 
bition purposes, and last, but not least, the 
flavour. Reading Perfection is a popular 
exhibition variety, and withal a fine fruit, 
being very large, flattened, smooth, except at 
the very base, bright scarlet, and a fairly good 
cropper. Another old and well-recognised sort 
is Trophy, a large, even, deep red, fine-looking, 
good-cropping sort, and ribbed at the base 
only. Livingstone’s Perfection is similar in 
shape to the last-named, a beautiful bright 
scarlet, fair-sized fruit, evenly and tolerably 
plentifully produced. A deeper scarlet and 
fine-looking fruit is Livingstone’s Favourite, 
but it is apparently inclined to split. A good 
and even crop is produced by A r eitch’s Per¬ 
fection, a fruit of fair size and ribbed at the 
base only ; it is a brighter scarlet than the 
Reading Perfection. 
A number of varieties of a purplish crimson, 
or red with a purple tint varying to a soft red, 
seem to constitute a distinct race, as far as 
colour is concerned, and we here class them 
together for convenience of comparison. Acme 
is the leading variety, an old favourite, and 
one of the best; the fruit is large, flattened, 
even, except at the base, a heavy cropper and 
very distinct. The Mikado is a beautiful soft 
red fruit, much more ribbed than Acme, but 
the plant is a good bearer. A heavy cropper 
with a smaller and deeper red fruit than Acme 
is Farquhar’s Early Essex, but it is apparently 
inclined to split just as it reaches maturity. 
The Pomegranate is a distinct red fruit, slightly 
flattened and ribbed at the base, but not very 
large; the plant is a good cropper, and bears 
from four to six fruits on a raceme. The fruit 
of Vick’s Criterion is rather polymorphic, 
being round, oblong, or flattened on the 
same plant; but the latter is an abundant 
bearer, one plant carrying seven racemes of 
medium-sized fruit of a red colour deepening 
to reddish crimson. 
Amongst ribbed, lobed and scarlet-fruited 
varieties there is a considerable range in size, 
and Hepper’s Goliath would be difficult to 
excel in that respect; but, although the fruits 
are of immense size, an individual plant bears 
but few. Trentham Eillbasket is somewhat 
smaller, but a prodigious cropper, and deeply 
lobed like the last-named. An old sort, 
named Conqueror, has large lobed vermilion- 
red fruit, very freely produced, and as it 
proves rather an early sort, it is one of the 
best for outdoor purposes. The same might 
be said of Large Red, which, however, is not 
so large as Conqueror. Another sort, dwarfer 
than either, and apparently adapted for the 
same purpose, is Cooper’s Dwarf Prolific; five 
racemes are borne by an unusually dwarf plant. 
Yellows are few amongst the large-fruiting 
varieties, and Blenheim Orange seems the only 
one that calls for comment; the fruit is of a 
bright yellow, even, except at the base, 
generally rather small but distinct; the plant 
is prolific, and one of them is carrying seven 
racemes. It is a beautiful Tomato, but 
apparently might be improved as to size. The 
above seem to include all or most of those 
calling for special mention at this time, 
although we may have overlooked some late- 
ripening and meritorious kinds. A selection 
of large kinds might include the following, 
namely, Reading Perfection, Trophy, Living¬ 
stone’s Perfection, Acme, The Pomegranate, 
Vick’s Criterion, The Mikado, Large Red, 
Cooper’s Dwarf Prolific, Conqueror, Trentham 
Fillbasket, Hepper’s Goliath, and Blenheim 
Orange. This will give ample variety, both as 
to size, shape, colour, and for outdoor culture. 
-- 
Me. Whellan, of Balham, has been engaged by 
the Duke of Marlborough as gardener, at Blenheim, 
in succession to Mr. Bethell. 
We understand that a Grand Exhibition of Fruits 
and Autumnal Flowers will be held at Manchester 
on the 16th and 17th of next month in the Royal Jubilee 
Exhibition buildings. Schedules will shortly he 
issued and may be had from Mr. Bruce Findlay. 
The fourth annual exhibition of the Ramsbottom 
Floral and Horticultural Society will be held on 
November 19th. 
The Jubilee celebrations are accountable for a 
marked falling off this season in the number of paying 
visitors to flower shows. At the Southampton Show 
on Bank Holiday the number who paid for admission 
is reported to have been 12,000 or 10,000 less than last 
year, and 5,000 under the average of the last five years. 
An error appears in our report of the show of the 
Oxford Carnation and Picotee Union on p. 774, 
which we hasten to rectify. The best flower in the class 
for crimson bizarres should be Hewitt’s Master Fred, 
not Dodwell’s Fred, which is a scarlet bizarre. 
Nature states that a new botanical periodical, to be 
called The Annals of Botany, is about to be issued by 
the delegates of the Clarendon Press. It will be edited 
by Professor Bayley Balfour, of Oxford, Dr. Vines, of 
Cambridge, and Professor W. G. Farlow, of Harvard 
University, Massachusetts, U. S.A. 
The Brighton and Sussex Floricultural Asso¬ 
ciation will hold their thirty-fifth exhibition on 
September 14th and 15th. 
There is in the Children’s Hospital at Sheffield a 
cot called the Rose Growers’ Cot, and which is 
supported entirely by the sale of Roses. At the Nether 
Edge Horticultural show held on Monday and Tuesday 
last, the whole of the Roses in one marquee were 
supplied from the Rose nurseries of Mr. Gilmour, at 
Sandygate, and they were all for sale. The tent 
was under the care of Mr. Duncan Gilmour, jun., who 
hoped to obtain as much as he did at the last year’s 
show—£21. 
Mr. Lucien Linden, managing director of the 
Societe Anonyme L’Horticulture Internationale, 
Brussels, informs us that we were in error in at¬ 
tributing the introduction of the beautiful Aralia 
Regina to Mr. B. S. Williams in our number for 
July 23rd, and we hasten to “render unto Caesar that 
which is Caesar’s”, by stating that the plant is one of 
the many novelties introduced from New Caledonia 
and put into commerce through the Linden establish¬ 
ment. We had overlooked the fact that the plant 
was figured and described in the Illustration Horticole 
for 1879. 
“During a recent visit to Guernsey,” writes 
“T. C. W.,” “I was shown, among other objects of 
horticultural interest, a Fig tree under glass, which the 
owner informed me was over fifty years old. Its 
branches cover a space 80 ft. long and 45 ft. wide, and 
until within two years ago it regularly bore its two 
crops a year. Since then the house has been heated, 
and three crops are now gathered : the first about 
February, the second in May, and the third in Sep¬ 
tember, when the fruits realise 12s., 5s. and 2s. per 
dozen respectively.” 
ARTIFICIAL v. NATURAL 
MANURES. 
This formed the subject of an exceptionally well- 
written paper by Mr. Samuel Heaton, gardener to 
R. Smith, Esq., of Longridge, read to the members of 
the Preston and Fulwood Horticultural Society on 
Saturday evening. There was a fair attendance. Mr. 
Edward Payne, in the absence of the president, 
E. Garlick, Esq., was voted to the chair. After the 
chairman had made a few introductory remarks, Mr. 
Heaton gave his paper. 
At the outset he remarked that the grand distinction 
of the present century from its predecessors was the 
triumph of mind over matter, of the intellect of man 
over the forces of nature. The subject for dis¬ 
cussion was one claiming the attention of all ranks of 
horticulturists—the window, cottage, amateur, and 
professional gardeners alike. Proceeding, he dealt 
with the definition of terms, and showed that manures 
were a compound material, which when added to the 
soil increased its fertility, either directly or indirectly, 
after its application, and underwent certain chemical 
or mechanical changes. Artificial manures were the 
outcome of rapid strides of science, and although they 
were strongly condemned by some, when applied with 
humus they were an invaluable addition to the 
gardens, containing in a nutshell the entire wants of 
plants. Natural manures were simply the residue of 
animal and vegetable matter. Before knowing what 
to give a plant for its growth and development, they 
should first ascertain its composition. He defined 
these, and showed that three-fourths of the nourishment 
of a plant were absorbed by the leaves. Continuing, 
he examined the analyses of manures, and explained 
that the compositions varied greatly—so much so, that 
they met the wants of all plants. He alluded to 
soot, and said that its efficiency as a manure was the 
quantity of nitrogen it contained. Blood, bones and 
night-soil were mentioned, and he urged that the latter 
should be deodorised, which could readily be done by 
the addition of charcoal, quicklime and sulphate of 
iron. An examination of various artificial manures 
followed, after which reference was made to the uses 
of both kinds. 
Natural manures were especially valuable as fer¬ 
tilizers ; they could be utilised for the making of hot¬ 
beds, -which were indispensable to successful plant 
culture. In small places and in dry weather they 
could be spread on the ground, which would prevent 
excess of evaporation and the ground from becoming 
hard, cracked, and dried up, which caused injuries to 
plants that could not be remedied. Then they acted as 
insecticides or destroyers of vermin. In the application 
of manures there were two forms, namely, in a solid 
and a liquid form ; in the latter they should be careful 
that they were free from fibrous matter, as these tended 
to clog up the pores of the soil, and thereby exclude air 
as well as become a nidus of animalcuhe. Sir J. Paxton 
told them that manure applied in a liquid form was 
appropriated to use at once with little or no loss ; 
whereas if applied in a solid form, either on the surface 
or dug in, it was dependent on various subsequent 
agencies or circumstances before it could be utilized by 
the plant or receive any benefit by its application ; by 
that time a good many of its most valuable properties 
were probably lost. Land manured by a liquid was 
said to retain its fertility with greater permanency than 
if manured with a solid, and would yield heavier and 
quicker crops. 
In referring to how manures act for the benefit of 
the plants, Mr. Heaton said they stimulated the vital 
forces. "When a proper manure was applied it en¬ 
couraged and produced root growth, which was the out¬ 
come of a suitable compost, and the matter absorbed 
was sent to all parts of the plant. Manures also acted 
for the benefit of plants by absorbing and holding in 
solution nourishment drawn from the atmosphere and 
surrounding mediums. When applying it they should 
consider both its fertilising power and absorbing 
properties ; the greater proportion of plant-food was 
not absorbed through the roots, but by the leaves. 
With regard to the results obtained by the application 
of natural and artificial manures, the lecturer remarked 
that it was not always necessary to have them for 
successful plant culture, as the soil might contain in a 
soluble form, and'in suitable proportions, the necessary 
constituents required by the plants. Having given 
the results of experiments made by Messrs. Lawes & 
Gilbert, reference was made to the value of chemistry, 
