June 29, 1889. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
689 
Improved William I., every season upon sticks, so that 
the most thorough selection may take place. The fine 
stock thus created is sent out to farmers to he grown 
by contract, the firm in all cases supplying their own 
stock. More than that, Messrs. Hurst & Son have at 
this season of the year half-a-dozen or so of men, who 
are about the counties of Essex, Cambridgeshire, 
Suffolk, Lincoln, Kent, and others, whose business it 
is to go through the Pea crops, and pull out all that 
are deemed rogues, that is, plants which have run out 
of character, or stray plants of other sorts, which may 
have put in an appearance. It is in this way that 
stocks are kept pure, and too much praise cannot be 
given to our leading seed houses for their efforts in 
this direction. The keen competition which exists 
among the seed trade is a strong incitement towards 
obtaining absolute purity of strains or stocks of seeds, 
and the general gardening public have much reason to 
rejoice that it is so.— R. D. 
-->3X>-- 
NEW OR RARE PLANTS. 
CvpripEdium de Witt Smith, nov. hyb. angl. 
This is a hybrid between C. Lowii and C. Spicerianum, 
the former being the seed parent. The new production 
is intermediate between the two parent species. The 
potency of C. Lowii is seen in the two or more flowered 
scape, with large bracts subtending the blooms, in the 
petals and the upper sepal. The latter is obovate, 
acute, somewhat hooded, pale-coloured, and suffused 
with pale brown and green on the basal half. The 
petals are somewhat intermediate in character, but 
certainly most nearly resemble C. Lowii. They are 
2 ins. to 2 J ins. long, horizontal or nearly so, and 
rather finely spotted with purple on a green ground on 
the lower half, broader upwards and purple at the 
apex. Neither are they undulated on the upper 
edge like those of C. Spicerianum. The labellum 
is brown, moderate in size, and resembles that of the 
pollen parent. The leaves are linear or strap-shaped, 
coriaceous, and deep green like those of C. Spicerianum. 
The flower-spike developed very slowly. A plant was 
exhibited at Regent’s Park on June 19th by Messrs. 
Hugh Low& Co., Clapton, when a Botanical Certificate 
was awarded to it.— J. Fraser. 
Masdevallia Ellisiana, nov. hyb. angl. 
This hybrid, which has recently come into flower in 
the nursery of Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, Chelsea, was 
obtained by them from the hybridisation of M. 
Harryana with pollen of M. ignea, and the resulting 
production is intermediate between the parents in 
several particulars. It is dwarf in stature, but being 
still quite young, may alter greatly as it becomes more 
established. The leaves are lanceolate, petiolate, tri- 
cuspidate, channelled along the centre, leathery, and 
from 3 ins. to 6 ins. in length. The brownish purple 
glabrous scape is one-flowered, and about 8 ins. high. 
The perianth or sepaline tube is slightly curved, about 
| in. long, yellow at the base, and rose upwards, with 
purple nerves. The free part of the upper sepal is rose 
coloured, suddenly tapering into a tail 1 | in. long, of 
the same hue, but tipped with yellow. The lateral 
sepals are obliquely oblong-oval, tapering into a tail 
about 4 in. long, and are of a fiery orange-red, with 
three deep purple nerves on each. The small, blunt, 
erect, white petals slightly exceed the column in 
length, and the oblong, blunt, creamy yellow lip is 
spreading above the middle. The column is edged 
with purple. The leading and distinguishing features 
of the hybrid are that the structure of the flower, in¬ 
cluding the tails of the sepals, is that of M. Harryana, 
the seed parent, but the upper sepal projects forward 
in a nearly erect position. In M. ignea it folds down 
over the flower. The colour of all the three sepals is 
almost that of M. ignea, the lateral ones being of a 
deep fiery red shaded with orange, and traversed with 
three rich purple veins. The name of Ellisiana has 
been given in honour of Lady Howard de Walden, 
Mote Park, Maidstone. The specimen was shown by 
Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, Chelsea, at the last meeting 
of the Royal Horticultural Society, when the Orchid 
Committee awarded it a First Class Certificate.— 
J. Fraser. 
Pteris cretica nobilis. 
A large plant of this exhibited at Regent’s Park on June 
19th by Mr. H. B. May, Upper Edmonton, formed a 
dwarf dense mass of dark green fronds ranging from 
6 ins. to 12 ins. in height. The segments or divisions 
of the fronds were very broad, but their most distinct 
and characteristic features consisted in the broad and 
robust tassels or crests in which the leaf terminated. 
A Botanical Certificate was awarded to it. 
Lilium Wallichianum superbum. 
A specimen of this Central Himalayan Lily was shown 
at the Drill Hall, Westminster, on Tuesday last, by 
Messrs. Hugh Low & Co., Clapton. Although grown 
in a small pot it stood 5 ft. 8 ins. high. The narrowly 
linear leaves are much more numerous than in the 
type, which usually bears fifty or sixty. In the axils of 
the upper ones are small bulbils, by which the variety 
may be propagated. Terminating this lengthy stem are 
two very large drooping trumpet-shaped flowers, 
measuring 9 ins. in length. In shape they resemble 
L. longiflorum, but are, of course, much longer. The 
outer surface of the tube is pale yellow, whereas in the 
type it is greenish. Internally it is of a clearer but 
pale yellow, and the spreading limb is white. The 
anthers are orange. As a variety it differs from the 
type in its larger flowers with clearer better defined 
colours, and in the absence of green. A First Class 
Certificate was awarded to it. 
-«>-K--— 
PICKING, PACKING, CARRIAGE 
AND MARKETING.* 
I have been asked to give my views on the subject of 
the packing, carriage, and marketing of fruits, and as I 
have had considerable experience in the business I have 
jotted down a few hints which I hope may lead to con¬ 
sideration by those who are most interested in the 
subject—that is, the growers of fruit. 
Anyone can grow good fruit if they have the trees, 
the land, and the climate, but it is not everyone who 
can make the best price of it by judicious marketing, 
as there is much art in that. There is picking and 
the packing, as well as the choice of the market and a 
salesman. We are all aware of the old adage, “Put 
the best side towards London,” and know pretty well 
what “ toppers ” mean, but you may depend upon it 
that it is very unfair to the salesman and customer in 
town to top or face the baskets of produce sent to the 
market with a few of the best fruit to cover the idleness 
in packing, or carelessness in storing the fruit before 
sending to market. This is often the reason of many 
of the complaints of certain growers receiving bad 
prices, as shop-keepers if once bit will be very shy of 
buying those growers’ produce again unless at such 
prices as will make them some recompense for 
their loss on their former outlay. Now in France 
they manage much better, but perhaps it may be said 
that their dwarf pyramid trees, and their cordon system 
of growing facilitates the picking, as there is no 
climbing or shaking of trees, and no dropping of fruit 
by the moving of ladders. This, I will admit, is a great 
advantage, and the fruit must be much freer from 
bruises than ours ; but does the English fruit-grower 
ever trouble whether the fruit is bruised or not \ I say 
no ; he cares not. In nine cases out of ten, all he 
* Paper read by Mr. Samuel Ravvson, Bull Ring, Birmingham, 
at the Fruit Growers’ Conference, held at the Crystal Palace, 
September 7tli, 1SSS. 
cares about is getting it off the trees and sending it to 
market, and in many cases without even studying 
whether this or that sort ought to go to market first. 
Now the Frenchman does not do this; he carefully 
hand-pucks, selecting the finest of his fruit and pdacing 
it separately, either on racks specially fitted round his 
fruit room, or laying it thinly on straw apart from the 
main crops, which, of course, he offers for sale first. 
Should the market prove to be brisk, he will often sort 
his fruit over two or three times, leaving only the very 
smallest to be sold in large packages. The others are 
made up into small packages, marked with the number 
of fruits and the initials of the packer. Thus one 
grower’s packing will fetch double the price of another 
if ho has gained the reputation of being an honest 
packer ; but in cases of small growers, or persons who 
want cash at harvest time and cannot afford to store 
fruit, their produce is sent into the towns where there 
are fruit buyers or shippers, who treat the fruit as 
before described. The French fruit grower studies how 
he can improve his produce by planting sorts that 
command a sale, and also by adopting small packages. 
By this method he often realises more for one ton of 
his fruit than we do for two tons. Why is this ? 
Good and Bad Packing. 
The French do not begrudge employing labour, while 
the English grower growls and grumbles if he employs 
a few extra hands. I say labour will and must pay, 
and farmers would do better by employing more of it. 
I give you an instance: I was in Cornwall, I think it 
was three seasons ago. A grower was about to send me 
some Apples for sale ; they were early ones. I think 
there was about a ton of Keswick Codlins, and half a 
ton of Quarantines. I was grieved when I saw him 
packing them, for both kinds were really fine clear 
fruit. I said, “Why did you not hand-pick those 
fine Codlins ? ” “ Oh,” he said, “it wouldn’t pay to do 
so; I have not time.” I said, “ Why did you pick 
the Quarantines 1 ” He said, “ Because we could not 
shake them off.” He was packing them in large rough¬ 
looking oval baskets, the class of baskets generally used 
in that part to hold 80 lbs. or 100 lbs. He was using 
neither straw nor paper at the bottom to prevent the twigs 
of the baskets from bruising the fruit. I told him they 
would fetch more than double the price if they had 
been picked, and were packed in smaller baskets. I 
advised him to go to Penzance, and buy a lot of small 
baskets such as are used in picking the fruit from the 
ground to carry to the barns. He said he would not 
go to the expense. I therefore told him if he would 
name a price for the Quarantines I would buy them. 
He named a price that had been returned to him that 
morning for some fruit similarly packed and sent to 
another market. I consequently bought the fruit, 
obtained some smaller baskets, had lids made for them, 
and packed the twelve baskets I bought of him into 
thirty-six of the small baskets, making thirty baskets 
of firsts, and six basket of seconds. 
Now, the result was astonishing. I had twelve 
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