December 5, 1891. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
211 
ing, no hills or cliffs rising to break the dreary 
monotony. The coast, too, is washed by a tremen¬ 
dous surf, a long white line of breaking surf being 
visible for miles. I next went ashore at Accra, and 
there had the pleasure of landing for the first time 
on a surf-beaten shore. The sensation was grand, 
exciting, and perilous. The surf boat shoots sud¬ 
denly into the midst of the boiling surf, and the 
natives seize you and bear you on their shoulders 
high and dry to the beach. The place is made up 
principally of native mud huts, with some houses of 
European residents. I paid a visit to the Rev. Mr. 
-a retired missionary who at one time was a 
gardener in England. He is a half-caste, has mar¬ 
ried an African, and is now living in patriarchal state 
surrounded by children and grandchildren. In his 
little garden he had Vines, Tomatos, Egg plants, 
Cabbages, Parsley, and other things growing most 
luxuriantly, Tomatos especially. 
“ Leaving Accra the coast line became even more 
flat and depressing than before. One longed for a 
sight again of the bold cliffs, the verdure clad hills 
and pleasant valleys of Madeira—lovely Madeira, 
where every prospect pleases and only man is vile, 
and sometimes very vile at that earthly paradise. 
On Wednesday, October gth, I landed at Akassa, 
twenty-six days out from England. Akassa is the 
depot through which every thing passes on its way 
up the river. It consists of two dwelling houses, 
one for the white men and one for the black clerks, 
a long line of stores, and a billiard room. I spent 
ten days here waiting to be sent up the river, and 
started, on the 20th, on board the steamer " Kuka.” 
" The river Niger was at its full tide. It was the 
close of the rainy season, and the river had risen 
40 ft. above its level in the dry season. The Niger 
delta covers an immense tract of country, and all 
the district was covered with water, enormous 
volumes of which rushed out of every available 
creek and river. It is here that the Mangrove 
swamps abound, a weird fantastic jungle of inter¬ 
lacing stems and roots through which no human 
being could force his way. The navigation of this 
delta is exceedingly intricate and difficult, being in 
fact a perfect network of waterways, through 
which it takes an experienced and careful pilot to 
find his way. 
" As we went further up the river, the vegetation 
slowly changed in character. The country still 
remained level, but the Mangrove gave way to the 
Coco Nut and Oil Palm (Elaeis guineensis), and then 
as we proceeded onwards the Giant Silk Cotton tree 
(Bombax sp.), reared its colossal head above the 
surrounding vegetation. While the Niger flora 
seems to lack the lofty grandeur which one almost 
involuntarily associates with the tropics, yet the 
compact and dense masses of Palms alternating and 
intermixed with trees of a sturdier habit, from the 
branches of which hang pendent climbers, gives the 
scene a charming appearance peculiarly its own. 
The eye looks in vain for a bold striking effect, and 
one is perforce obliged to pick out and admire the 
individual beauties of leaf, frond, and stem. 
"When we got past the creeks of the delta we 
emerged into the Niger proper. Here the true 
width and volume of the river at once manifests 
itself. We were on a rolling, rushing flood in width 
varying from two to six miles, and not a bank to be 
seen. It is while the river is at the flood that banks 
are swept away, aye and native towns entirely obli¬ 
terated. The native always builds close to the 
water, for here he grows his little plantation of 
Yams and Plantains, and does his bit of fishing. It 
was about the second day that I first really under¬ 
stood what a tornado meant. The steamer was 
towing a steam launch moored amidships, and in 
which were three men. In the middle of the 
afternoon a tornado struck us with fearful and 
unexpected fury, making the ship reel, and lifting all 
light articles on deck overboard/ The fury of the 
wind and rain was terrible. Suddenly there came a 
dreadful cry from the side, and looking over we saw 
that the launch was rapidly sinking, and it was 
almost incredible the quickness with which she went 
down. Two of the men managed to scramble on 
board, but the engineer was swept away. The surf 
boat was at once manned and sent after him, but the 
poor fellow was lost. The rain fell in torrents, but 
in fifteen minutes all was over. 
" It took three days to get to Abutshi, where I 
write this letter. I found Woodruff here, he having 
shifted from Asaba, the latter station being totally 
unfit for a Botanic garden, the soil being mostly sand, 
consequently he has started here and has made 
good progress. The plants and.seeds I brought out 
arrived in excellent condition except Eugenia malac- 
censis, which had lost all its leaves. As we have 
others of the same that will not matter. There is 
not as yet much variety in the station, but time will 
improve all that. Coffee is doing very well; Cocoa 
fairly. Bixa Orellana (Arnatto dye), Cotton, and Jute 
all seem to take kindly to the soil. I am staying 
with Woodruff at present, but we shall not be to¬ 
gether long, though plans are not definitely settled yet. 
" The work of the day commences early out here 
and also all over the West Coast. At 5.30 the bell 
rings and all the “boys" (black labourers) turn out 
and work till 10, when they stop for an hour for 
" chop," commencing labour again at 11 and working 
on till 6 o’clock. In effect this means working from 
dawn to dark. We have to keep much the same 
hours but have a different arrangement for meals : 
thus, after turning out the 11 boys," or before if we 
prefer it, there is early tea ; breakfast at 10; lunch at 
2 p.m. ; and dinner at 6.30. So far I like the life very 
well, but of course there is always the contingency 
of fever to guard against. I had my first attack last 
week, but it was soon over, and in two days I was out 
in the plantation again. The worst time of the year 
is now approaching—the dry season. The most use¬ 
ful articles of wearing apparel out here are singlets 
(very thin undershirts) and pyjame suits. These are 
cheap and are worn night and day. A pith helmet is 
also very necessary. To keep in health out here one 
must perspire freely and copiously ; the first cessation 
of perspiration is the first sign of fever, and then arti¬ 
ficial means have to be resorted to to start it again.’ 
--jo- 
SCOTTISH NOTES. 
Potatos.— While the crops of Potatos in our district 
have been abundant the continuous heavy rains have 
rendered the quality very inferior. The tubers are 
very full of moisture, and the flavour is very un¬ 
pleasant. I would suppose that Potatos which are so 
close and watery cannot be wholesome as food, 
but in any case much can be done to improve their 
quality by mashing and drying them. Sutton's 
Abundance has come greatly into favour of late 
years, both in gardens and on farms. The crops are 
invariably heavy, the quality very fair, and the 
tubers more disease-resisting than many others. 
Magnum Bonum is also much valued as a heavy 
cropper, and is still very free from disease. Jubilee 
has been somewhat disappointing, being more diseased 
than many kinds. The Champion is still much 
valued by farmers for latest crop. It resists the 
disease, and when used very late is of fair quality. 
Immense breadths of Regents are grown, and I notice 
at agricultural exhibitions that the highest awards 
are generally given to that old favourite. The agri¬ 
culturists seem to retain the idea that a Potato 
should be valued according to their success with its 
cultivation in the district where they reside; nursery¬ 
men exhibit fine collections of handsome tubers at 
these shows, which are unnoticed, no matter how hand¬ 
some the tubers are. I think this is a great mistake, as 
some might become new favourites and be of more 
value as market kinds than those which have long 
been considered " unapproachable.” To get Potatos 
floury and of fine quality, I think the system (which 
we have seen so much in practice around Dublin) 
of " lazy-bed ” culture very advantageous.— Stifling. 
Tomatos. —Among some new varieties of Tomatos 
which I have tried this season, the two best proved 
to be Acquisition, which I have already noted in 
your columns, and Northern Beauty, which I had from 
Messrs. Dickson, Brown & Tait, Manchester. It is 
an excellent cropper, large, deep scarlet in colour 
and of beautiful form. There was not the slightest 
sign of disease about the plant. A high temperature 
and a moist, close atmosphere, and a loose compost 
mixed with rank manure, both seem to be conditions 
highly favourable to the development of disease. 
Good loam mixed with old lime rubbish, charcoal 
and wood ashes makes a suitable compost for To¬ 
matos, and if manure must be mixed with the soil, 
Thomson’s answers first-rate. Clear soot water is 
also an excellent stimulant, but liquid manure should 
not be given until the roots are abundant.— Stirling. 
On Strawberry Culture. —I have several times 
met with amateur growers who wondered very 
much as to whether they ought to dig between the 
rows of their Strawberry plants or simply to remove 
the runners and afterwards lay on a mulching of 
manure as a winter dressing. With reference to this 
uncertainty of action it may be pointed out that 
most excellent crops of fruit are produced as the 
result of both systems, but some discrimination 
may be exercised according to the varying charac¬ 
ter of soils in certain instances. In one particular 
garden we have in our mind’s eye, abundant crops 
from plants growing in clayey loam, which was 
annually dug over without applying manure, were 
regularly obtained ; and from similar soil left un¬ 
dug we have noted the same results. From, 
soil of medium texture with liberal dressings 
of rotten manure dug in or simply laid on the sur¬ 
face as a mulching, we have obtained equally good 
crops, the berries however being a trifle smaller than 
from a more-holding soil. In the case of the heavier 
class of soils, one of the chief advantages of the dig¬ 
ging system is the pulverizing effects of weather 
influences which is thus secured. 
Where very light, porous or sandy soil has to be 
dealt with, unless there is a command of abundance 
of manure, Strawberry growing, except indeed on a 
very limited scale, is not advisable, but with such 
valuable aid fair crops may be gathered. In the winter 
treatment of such plantations digging is not to be re¬ 
commended, as the plants would suffer much less 
from severe spring droughts on a solid bed well 
mulched with rich manure. Records are not want¬ 
ing of fine crops being produced from land originally 
very poor, but liberal treatment amply rewarded the 
growers afterwards. 
Referring shortly to old plantations it appears to 
be still a vexed question with some amateurs 
whether plants which have fruited for three or four 
years should not be rooted out or trenched down. 
Here again much depends on the texture of the soil 
and also to the weight of the produce they have 
recently yielded. From plantations upwards of six 
years old, growing in soil of medium texture and 
annually dug and manured, I have gathered even 
superior crops as compared with the yield from more 
recent plantations. We have a few rows of the 
Elton Pine which have occupied the same plot for at 
least ten years, from which last season we picked one 
of the best crops I have ever seen, the individual 
fruits being also remarkably fine for dessert purposes. 
The runners from the plants which had a number of 
years ago been allowed to grow into each other, were 
removed leaving stools about a foot in diameter, and 
with liberal treatment they are now in a thoroughly 
rejuvenated and fruitful condition. Of course I have 
been referring more to exceptional instances of pro¬ 
longed vigour and fruitfulness in Strawberry planta¬ 
tions than to a general rule, but my main object has 
been to warn inexperienced growers against destroy* 
ing old beds which are bearing good crops of fruit, 
lest it should afterwards prove to have been a 
meaningless sacrifice.— D. M., Ayrshire. 
, -» r 
COVERING VINE- 
borders. 
I think it an error to cover the surface of Vine- 
borders thickly during winter with close, damp-hold¬ 
ing manure. Protection, if needed, by the use of 
dry litter or fern is much better than the ordinary 
mulching, so commonly applied, which shuts out the 
action of air, and tends to sour the soil. Dry leaves 
thatched keeps the border warm and dry. I know 
some very successful exhibitors who never cover 
their borders at all, and year after year have Grapes 
of the finest quality. I also know where there are 
borders which are annually covered to exclude frost 
and where the Grapes are never satisfactory—this 
does not refer to very early forcing—as the fruit is 
often badly coloured and frequently shanked. 
I notice that some Vines under my own care have 
found their way out of the house into a gravel path ; 
they are not covered or mulched at any time, but 
the Vines bear abundantly, the fruit becomes highly 
coloured, and is superior in flavour to the Vines ccn- 
fined to the ordinary borders. The shrivelling of 
Muscats, so often complained of, is I think increased 
to a large extent by placing close coverings of manure 
over the roots ; the action of the sun being excluded, 
the border remains cold and. the roots become in¬ 
active, and their functions impared. Most of the 
Muscats which I have seen lately on exhibition tables 
have been poor, and, like black Hamburghs, do not 
have the high culture they deserve.— Stirling. 
