November 30, 1889. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
197 
flowers, grottos, rockeries, garden utensils, tents, trellis- 
work or fences, fuel for greenhouses, also greenhouses, 
kiosks, and rustic work. When dealing with cutlery, 
M. Joly says that Paris maintains its superiority over 
the provinces for fineness of workmanship, although 
some of the provincial towns manufacture their wares 
at a considerably lower price. There 'was no foreign 
competition of importance in this class. The gardens 
of the Trocadero lent themselves admirably to the 
construction of rockwork, of which there were some 
wonderful samples. The last chapter of the brochure 
deals with insecticides and insect powder-distributing 
machines. 
Effects of London Fogs on Cultivated Plants.— 
The Scientific Committee of the Royal Horticultural 
Society, with a view to obtaining the results of obser¬ 
vations made this winter, have issued a printed form, 
which it is requested may be filled in and returned by 
the end of March next. The observations required are 
the effects of fog, I.—On foliage : (1) young leaves, (2) 
matured leaves. II.—On flowers: (1) buds only, (2) 
expanded flowers. III. — What species of plants 
appear to suffer most from London fogs ? In what 
respects do they suffer, and are you aware of any 
methods by which it might he mitigated? IY.—In 
any particular case of severe fog have you observed any 
difference in effect in the case of plants under glass and 
in the open air ? V.—Are the injurious effects of fog, 
as far as your experience goes, increasing in London 
and the neighbourhood (a) in intensity, (w) in fre¬ 
quency ? YI.—In any case of severe and prolonged 
fog, do you attribute the injurious effect to mere want 
of light, or to the presence of injurious components of 
the fog. YII.—Have you observed any difference in 
the effects of fog in successive months of the year ? 
YIII.—General observations. 
Blue Chrysanthemums.—According to Le Jardin 
several of its contributors are of opinion, judging from 
Japanese paintings, that blue varieties of Chrysan¬ 
themums do exist in Japan. Profiting by the presence 
of two learned Japanese horticulturists—viz., Messrs. 
Kasawara and Tokuda, the editors made inquiries of 
those gentlemen whether any such Chrysanthemums 
existed. They replied that they knew of several varie¬ 
ties with blue flowers, but that all had small blooms. 
They could not say whether the varieties painted on 
vases existed in Japan, as they had not seen the paint¬ 
ings referred to. They could, however, readily inform 
the inquirers if such varieties existed, if shown the 
vases. If the statements of those horticulturists can 
be relied upon, surely blue Chrysanthemums, whether 
large or small, cannot much longer be immured in 
Japanese or any other gardens for any great length of 
time. If once the desired colour could be obtained it 
would be a smaller matter to transfer the coveted hue 
from one variety to another. 
Chiswick Gardeners’ Mutual Improvement Asso¬ 
ciation.—Mrs. S. A. Lee, of Chiswick, has again, with 
her usual liberality, off ered ten guineas, to be distributed 
in prizes for essays on horticultural subjects, to be 
competed for by members of this association. The 
essays for which prizes are offered have been arranged 
in three classes, in the first two of which all ordinary 
members may compete. The subject of the first is 
“The Selection and Cultivation of Hardy Herbaceous 
and Alpine ,Plants ” ; that of the second, “The best 
Essays on any Horticultural subject, at the discretion 
of the competitors.” Members under the age of twenty- 
one only may compete in class 3, the subject being 
“The Best Reports on the Work of the Session.” The 
prizes here will consist of books. In connection with 
the recent concert in aid of the Gardeners’ Orphan 
Fund, it may be stated that the actual amount raised 
for the fund was £12. It had been previously arranged 
that any member selling tickets to a certain amount 
would be made a life member, and Mr. J. Barry, the 
secretary of the association, was the only one eligible. 
-- 
THE WELSH POLYPODY AND 
THE HARD FERN. 
Evergreen Perns are always more leathery in cha¬ 
racter and frequently less graceful than the deciduous 
kinds ; but their merits are all the more appreciated in 
winter, when they are made to do service in the cool 
Fernery, the greenhouse of the amateur, cool conser¬ 
vatories generally, as well as the windows of dwelling- 
houses. The Welsh Polypody is merely a variety of 
the common one (Polypodium vulgare), and is charac¬ 
terised by its broad, deeply and twice-divided leaves. 
The latter are late in starting into growth in summer, 
and retain their bright green colour until fresh ones are 
produced, if the plants can enjoy the protection of a 
greenhouse during winter. A notable feature of this 
variety is that the leaves are perfectly barren and 
devoid of the hemispherical sori so conspicuous on the 
type during August and September. From twelve to 
eighteen very distinct forms of the common Polypody 
are cultivated in different parts of the country. The 
Welsh variety is represented by our illustration, as 
well as the ordinary form of the Hard Fern, which is 
characterised by having two distinct kinds of fronds, 
narrow, erect and fertile ones, and broader, barren, 
spreading and truly evergreen ones. Of this species 
there are some two dozen or more varieties in culti¬ 
vation, some of which are very pretty. 
-- 
PLUMS.* 
The Plum is, I think, destined to be one of the most 
important of our economic fruits, if we can establish 
the fact that fruit growing will be a profitable source 
of income in these islands ; there is, however, little 
doubt that a fair profit is derived and will be derived 
from the employment of land for this purpose, although 
orchards can never take the place that seems to be 
claimed for them by those who have never practically 
undergone the expenditure of capital necessary to suc¬ 
ceed in this as in other occupations, which depend 
upon the millions rather than upon private consumers 
for the disposal of produce. Theoretically an orchard 
containing seme 500 trees, planted, as I think they 
Blechnum spicant. 
may be planted, 9 ft. row from row, and 6 ft. in the 
rows, will produce, after a certain period of years, from 
i to 1 bushel per tree, worth 6s. to 10s. per bushel, ac¬ 
cording to the season in w r hich it is sent to market, the 
early and late Plums realising a higher price than the 
mid-season fruit. Theoretically also one grain of 
Wheat will produce three or four ears, each ear con¬ 
taining some 30 to 40 grains. Altogether the gross 
produce, therefore, of a grain of Wheat seems to promise 
an enormous return, but the returns of the cultivators 
of land do not, however, show the enormous profit 
which in theory they ought to receive, and I may say that 
the practical cultivation of fruit will disappoint the 
theorists who are unhappy enough to embark a large 
capital under the idea that'certain crops will be realised. 
It is, however, very certain that with a suitable soil 
the cultivation of the Plum will give a handsome 
return, but the first condition of success must be in 
the choice of soil. It is perfectly well known to all 
practical cultivators that a calcareous soil is absolutely 
*A paper read by Mr. T. Francis Rivers, atthe Horticultural 
Club, on Tuesday, November 12tli. 
necessary, and although lime can be supplied by arti¬ 
ficial means, the non-calcareous soil cannot compete 
ultimately with that in which lime is a natural 
ingredient. This is recognised by Andrew Downing in 
his exhaustive book, the Fruit and Fruit Trees of 
America. In a paragraph treating of soil he says, “ The 
Plum will grow vigorously in almost every part of this 
country, but it only bears its finest and most abundant 
crops in heavy loams, or in soils in which there is a 
considerable mixture of clay. In sandy soils the tree 
blossoms and sets plentiful crops, but they are rarely 
perfected. It is also undoubtedly true that a heavy 
soil is naturally the most favourable one. In certain 
parts of the valley of the Hudson, near Albany, where 
the soil is quite clayey, the Plum is healthy, productive 
and delicious, while in adjacent districts of rich sandy 
land it is a very uncertain bearer—convincing proofs 
of the great importance of clayey soil for this fruit..” 
By clayey soils I think we may read calcareous. He 
also says, “We have found common salt one of the 
best fertilisers for the Plum tree, as it greatly promotes 
its health and luxuriance.” I confess that I have 
never had the courage to apply common salt to my 
trees, considering the disastrous effects of salt generally 
upon fruit trees. 
Varieties of Plums. 
People are, however, more interested in sorts of 
Plums than in the niceties of cultivation, and it i3 
generally supposed that a Plum tree will grow any¬ 
where ; and, as a matter of fact, when planted for the 
supply of an ordinary household, both for the kitchen 
and dessert, the choice of sorts is an important matter, 
the Plum being so generous when well preserved that 
it will provide the table with a wholesome and delicious 
fruit all the year round. I will for convenience divide 
the use of the fruit into two sections—-the dessert and 
the still room. Taking the dessert first, the earliest 
of these, which ripens when the Bigarreau Cherries have 
become a source of regret, as things to look back to, is 
the Jaune Hative, or White Primordian, a pretty 
little yellow Plum, which surprises from its precocity, 
but is not valuable for any other quality, and has now 
almost fallen out of cultivation. Rivalling this sort in 
precocity, and infinitely superior in flavour, we have 
the Early Favourite. This is a delicious Plum, which 
in warm seasons will ripen on a pyramid at the end of 
July, and on a wall during the middle of the month. 
The Early Green Gage is a very pleasant addition to 
the Plums of this month. It is not quite equal in 
flavour to the recognised Green Gage, but it is exceed¬ 
ingly good. I have lately been able to make an 
addition to July dessert Plums by the Stint. This is 
very rich and good, and is so dwarf in its habit that it 
takes no more room than a good-sized Gooseberry bush. 
The Preeoce de Bergthold, Early Mirabelle and St. 
Etienne are all pleasant early Plums, but too small for 
useful cultivation. 
In August we are well provided with dessert Plums. 
The earliest to ripen is The Czar, followed hy the De 
Montfort, Early Transparent Gage, the Oullins Golden 
Gage, Denniston’s Superb, Mallard, McLoughlin’s, 
Yellow Imperatrice, and Green Gage. The Oullins 
Golden Gage is sometimes placed as a market Plum, 
and therefore a culinary fruit. Grown on a wall it 
attains a very large size, and is one of the most 
delicious, being singularly delicate in flavour. It was 
imported some years since from France, and was raised, 
I believe, in the district of Oullins, near Lyons, in 
France. The tree grows rapidly and vigorously, and a 
specimen tree produced some years since about 10 
bushels of fruit, which was sold at 9s. per sieve. This 
was about twenty years since. The profit derived from 
one tree, multiplied by 200, seemed to promise very 
fairly. They were planted, and in a few years the 200 
trees were as large as the original, and are now capable 
of bearing the same quantity. These trees have never 
paid their expenses. The fruit is too soft for carriage, 
and the wood in this country never appears to be 
capable of ripening enough to give the necessary vigour 
to the bloom, while my 200 trees, instead of producing, 
as they ought, £4 10s. per tree, will have to be 
destroyed to make room for other kinds. These are 
some of the chances of fruit growing. The dessert 
Plums of September are numerous. The Green Gage 
will not be over, and we have the Bryanstone Gage, a 
later variety of the Green Gage ; Golden Esperen, the 
Purple Gage, the Jefferson, Kirke’s Violet de Galopin, 
Angelina Burdett, Decaisne, Reine Claude de Comte 
Atthems, a very fine Plum of recent introduction ; 
Guthrie’s Late Gage, Boulouf, Abricote de Brauneau, 
and Transparent Gage. All theso are fine dessert 
Plums, and will certainly suffice for the dessert table 
