144 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
November 2, 1895. 
about eighteen months to come into bearing. The 
first harvest yields one bunch to each plant, but 
suckers arise from the rootstock and form a stool of 
stems, each bearing a bunch. 
SLOE WINE 
In many districts the fruits of Prunus spinosa, 
known as sloes, are still very abundant and well 
worth gathering. Those who know how to utilise 
this wild fruit turn their knowledge to account in 
the production of a wholesome and agreeable 
British wine. One method of doing this is to 
remove the fruits from their stalks and put them in 
a large stoneware or glass vessel that has been 
made perfectly clean. Add the same quantity of 
water as there is fruit, pouring it over the latter in 
a boiling state. Stir the sloes up once a day, and 
on the sixth day strain them off; to every gallon of the 
liquid thus obtained add four pounds of good sugar, 
and after the latter is dissolved add a pint of brandy 
to every gallon and a half of the mixture. It is now 
ready to be put into casks which should be scrupu¬ 
lously clean to avoid taintiDg the wine. Keeping 
this end in view, it is well to remember that 
damaged and decayed fruits should on no account 
be used, otherwise the flavour of the wine will be 
impaired. Keep it in the cask for one or two years 
before using, as it improves during this time. 
SOME PYRUS FRUITS. 
Under the term Pyrus are included many useful 
and ornamental trees. As flowering trees or shrubs 
several are well-known and highly appreciated : P. 
japonica perhaps figuring as prominently as any of 
them. The bright, deep scarlet flowers of this 
species are freely produced for the greater part of 
the year ; but the large, green, oval, fragrant fruits 
are not so often seen. P. Maulei is somewhat 
similar to the preceding, but while its flowers are 
rather bright red than deep scarlet, its fruits are 
golden-yellow, and possess an agreeable but in- 
discribable pungent perfume. Moreover, in this 
case the fruits are said to make an excellent con¬ 
serve. P. floribunda, as the specific name would 
imply, is free-floweriDg, and consequently more 
ornamental than many of its congeners. As a 
consequence, also, it produces fruits more freely, 
but these are less in point of size than those of the 
other species mentioned. The fruits also differ in 
shape, being more spherical. They are all of 
Japanese origin, and in a season like the past do 
much more credit to their mother-land than is usual 
in such an erratic clime as ours. These fruits came 
from Mr. G. F. Wilson's " earthly paradise ” at Wey- 
bridge, Surrey: and were exhibited by Mr. Bridges, 
of Brentford, on the 22nd ult., at an ordinary meet¬ 
ing of the Ealing and District Gardeners’ Mutual 
Improvement Society.—C. B. G., Acton, W. 
A FINE ADIANTUM FARLEYENSE. 
Seldom is this fine Adiantum found in first-class 
condition in private establishments. It is somewhat 
curious that here and there it grows well without 
any special effort, while in the majority of places it 
seems to baffle even the most careful treatment. One 
of the finest specimens that has ever come under my 
notice is in the garden of John McMaster, Esq., The 
Holt. Canterbury. Here Mr. Rye, the gardener, 
grows it to perfection. One plant, three years old, 
is at the present time 4 ft. in diameter, and several 
younger pieces bid fair to rival the older specimen 
in due course. Judging from the appearance of the 
compost used there seemed to be a preponderance 
of loam, which has much to do with Mr. Rye’s un¬ 
doubted success in growing the plant so well, but it 
would be interesting and instructive if Mr. Rye 
would place before the readers of The Gardening 
World the method of culture he adopts so 
successfully.— James Gibson. 
WORM-EATING SLUGS. 
Last week, when lifting some Pear trees from a 
south wall, we found two worm-eating slugs, each 
about half an inch in length. They presented rather 
a curious appearance when unearthed, for they had 
between them a worm,each slug having swallowed one 
extremity, and the worm connecting them. At first 
sight they appeared as one slug much thickened at 
each end, but when placed in a box one gourmand 
released his meal, disgusted, no doubt, at the treat¬ 
ment given it.— A. P. 
NUT CULTURE IN ENGLAND. 
A paper dealing with the culture of the Nut in 
England, was read by J. Omer Cooper, Esq., at the 
meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society in the 
Westminster Drill Hall, on the 15th ult., Mr. George 
Norman presiding. In his opening remarks, the essay¬ 
ist gave a fairly minute description of the general 
appearance of the plant, and referred it to its proper 
place in the system of Botanical classification, viz , 
the natural order Amentaceae. With regard to 
geographical distribution, the Hazel (Anglo-Saxon 
Hast or Hdsel) is found in Europe, Northern Africa, 
and Central Asia, and was a plant of considerable 
note among our forefathers, for we find that the 
Hazel twig was the emblem or sceptre of authority 
amongst many of the warlike tribes that once in¬ 
habited this country. Shakespeare refers to the 
hazel by making Petruccio say that “ Kate was 
like the Hazel twig.” The Hazel had also acquired 
considerable prominence in the fashioning of 
"divining rods,” which used to be so highly thought 
of, and so implicitly believed in, for the discovery of 
concealed objects, such as silver, water, etc. The 
practice of divining was even now in vogue to some 
extent, and many curious accounts of water dis¬ 
covered by this means cropped up now and again. 
The wood of the Hazel was very close and firm in 
texture, whitish-red in colour, and weighed, when 
dried, forty-nine pounds to the cubic foot. 
It was employed to some extent for purposes of 
turnery. A light charcoal was made from it which is 
used in the manufacture of crayons, and is also highly 
thought of by gunpowder makers. 
Filbert, Mr. Cooper went on to say, was the name 
given to the cultivated nut. The origin of the name 
was uncertain, but according to Junius and Skinner 
" was corrupted from full and beard ox full of beard, 
from its long beards or husks, whence it is called in 
German, bart-nuss, i.e, beard-nut; according to 
Gower from Phillis ; '* Phillis was shape into a nutte- 
tree that all men it might see; and after Phillis 
Philberd this tree was cleped in the yerd.” In German 
the name usually given it was Lambertsnusz; in 
Old German Lambertische nusz — i.e., Nut from Lom¬ 
bardy. As to the precise date of the introduction of 
the cultivated Nut or Filbert into Great Britain we 
have no means of ascertaining, possibly Kent was 
the first county into which it made its entry, but this 
was also a matter of conjecture, based however, 
upon the fact that the Filbert was more largely 
cultivated in Kent than in any other county. 
In dealing with propagation the essayist stated 
that the best plants result from layers. Grafting is 
also extensively resorted to, and plants raised in this 
way are not nearly so liable to be encumbered by 
suckers at the base as those obtained from layers. 
The soil that suits the Filbert best is a rich dry 
loam with a strong bottom, although a clayey soil 
that contains quantities of flints also suits it well. 
With regard to the space to be allowed the trees, 
different growers varied slightly. Some advocated 
planting twelve feet apart each way, whilst others 
did not give so much rcom. Another system was to 
plant the rows twenty-four feet apart, and then to 
utilise the intervening space for the accommodation 
of Apple or Damson trees, the former preferably, as 
the latter, among other disadvantages, did not pay, 
and this was after all the most important considera¬ 
tion. As a remunerative industry for farmers and 
fruit growers to take up, the culture of Nuts has 
much to recommend it. If the trees are planted 
twelve feet apart each way, about 300 will go to the 
acre. A friend of his who had planted Nuts in this 
way.during an ordinary year, had obtained a sufficient 
crop to bring him in about £140 sterling, whilst in 
another place the average crop for five years, in which 
were included one very plentiful and one very scanty 
year, had been 1,621 lbs. per acre, the produce 
selling at the rate of about £7 per 100 lbs.—not a 
bad return by any means. Mr. Cooper then 
mentioned some of the best varieties to plant, naming 
among others the Kent Cob, Redskin, and Webb’s 
Prize Cob, the last being an especially hardy and 
prolific sort. 
Of enemies the essayist assured his audience the 
Filbert had its full share, over ninety different 
insects evincing a partiality for it. Aphides and 
froghoppers were especially troublesome, as besides 
devouring the leaves they spoiled the fruit by their 
glutinous excretions, and thus considerably reduced 
its market value. Squirrels, too, were often ex¬ 
ceedingly troublesome, more especially where there 
were woods in close proximity to the plantations. 
Of birds the nuthatch was the most greedy, and the 
tap, tap, of its strong bill as it hammered away at 
the Nut, which, previous to commencing operations, 
it had adroitly fixed in the fork of a branch, might 
be heard on every hand. Tomtits, usually so 
mischievous, appeared to leave the Filbert alone— 
possibly it was too hard a nut for them to crack. 
Mention should also be made of Lathraea Squam- 
aria which was a parasite upon the roots of the 
plant. A hearty vote of thanks to the essayist con¬ 
cluded the proceedings. 
NOTICES OF BOOKS. 
A Useful Guide Book. 
The Amateur Orchid Cultivator’s Guide Book. 
By H. A. Burberry, F.R.H.S., Orchid grower 
at Highbury, Birmingham (the residence of the 
Right Hon. Joseph Chamberlain, M.P.) Second 
Edition. Price 5s. Liverpool: Blake and 
Mackenzie, Printers and Publishers, 1895. 
If the price of this book has been somewhat in¬ 
creased, the improvement upon the first edition more 
than warrants it. Four coloured plates, each repre¬ 
senting nine to twelve species of Orchids have been 
added : On the opposite page to each plate, the same 
species are outlined in black and white, with a cipher 
to each furnishing a key to its identity. The 
numerous woodcuts and process block illustrations of 
the first edition are again reproduced. Various 
corrections have been made, and some chapters of 
interest added, including a chapter on questions that 
have been put to the author by various Orchid 
growers throughout the country, and to which he 
appends ample replies. The book is consequently 
somewhat larger. The text is admirably printed and 
the editing or reading of the proofs has been more 
carefully done, though some points may still be dis¬ 
puted by the more captious critics. For instance, 
instead of Vanda coerulea, Cattleya Trianae, and 
C. Harrisoniana, we should write Vanda caerulea, 
Cattleya Trianaei and C. Loddigesii Harrisoniae, &c. 
The author, moreover, makes no pretensions at 
being perfect in literary compilation, nor that he is a 
botanist. His object is to assist the amateur in 
making a commencement at the interesting business of 
cultivating Orchids, and to place his information and 
the result of his experience before the amateur in 
such a way as to be understood and appreciated. 
In the first edition he described two dozen Orchids 
suitable for cool house culture, and as many for each 
of the intermediate and warm houses. A supple¬ 
mentary list has been added in this case, just doub¬ 
ling and bringing the number up to seventy-two. 
This should be sufficient for the beginner, for if he 
has mastered their culture successfully, he may go 
on adding to his collection indefinitely. 
In the supplementary list, Cy pripedium venustum is 
given as a warm house Orchid, whereas it is relegated 
to the intermediate-house in a lengthy and useful, 
tabulated list. We have seen it repeatedly grown in 
a cool house under the same conditions as C. insigne, 
and have no doubt it may be successfully grown 
under.either of those conditions. We are surprised 
however that Dendrobium jamesianum should have 
been allocated as a cool house Orchid, while D. 
Pierardi is placed in the warm house. The con¬ 
ditions might well be reversed. No doubt the 
author gives sound advice when he advises the 
amateur to cut off the flower spikes of Qncidium 
marshallianum every alternate year to enable a 
beautiful but troublesome Orchid to recuperate ; but 
few amateurs, we are afraid, would have the heart to 
do it. The book on the whole is handsome and 
attractive enough to place on the drawing-room 
table. 
- •%— - 
SOCIETIES. 
Royal Horticultural, October igth. —The exhibits on 
this occasion were not so numerous as was the case 
a fortnight ago, but the falling away was principally 
on the score of hot-house plants, which were doubt¬ 
lessly kept at home on account of the cold weather. 
Chrysanthemums figured largely, and Orchids more 
than held their own. Fruit and vegetables, especially 
the latter, were plentiful and in grand condition. 
Messrs. Hugh Low & Co., Clapton, staged a showy 
group of Cattleya labiata in a great variety of colour, 
some of the varieties being indeed grand, both in the 
size and rich hue of the lip. They also had Cypri- 
pedium Charlesworthii, C. arthurianum, and a 
