780 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
August 9, 18S0. 
The plants on the Manetti of Alfred Colomb, 
Baroness Rothschild, Comtesse d’Oxford, E. Y. Teas, 
La France, Louis Van Houtte, Marie Finger, Marie 
Verdier, Marquise de Castellane, and Reynolds Hole 
were found on a critical examination to he much inferior 
to those on the other two stocks. With these excep¬ 
tions, however, the plants on the Manetti are all good 
ones, although in no instance so strong as those on the 
Briar cutting and seedling Briar. On the other hand, 
in the case of Annie Wood, Beauty of Waltham, 
Camille Bernardin, Charles Lefebvre, Dr. Andry, 
Duchesse de Vallombrosa, Duke of Edinburgh, Duke of 
Wellington, Frangois Michelon, Madame Gabriel 
Luizet, Marie Rady, and Senateur Vaisse, there is 
very little to choose between the three sets of plants. 
In many instances I found it difficult to decide between 
the Briar cutting and seedling Briar plants, both being 
almost equally vigorous. In November last I took up 
at random six plants on the seedling Briar, and the 
same number on the Briar cutting and Manetti, and 
carefully examined their roots. In very nearly every 
instance the Roses had thrown out roots of their own 
round the collar of the plants, while the roots of all 
the stocks, Manetti included, remained perfectly sound 
and healthy. From the foregoing particulars, taken 
together with the results of an annual examination of 
the plants, the following conclusions may, I think, be 
fairly drawn :— 
1. That on a mellow loam of good depth, with porous 
subsoil, Hybrid Perpetuals on almost any stock will 
thrive and do well. 
2. That the seedling Briar has so far proved itself 
the best stock for the heavier soil and colder climate of 
my present garden. 
3. That the Briar cutting under similar conditions is 
but little inferior to the seedling. In fact from the 
first it has been gaining on the latter. In the autumn 
of 1886, the plants on the cutting were credited with 
but five first places against twenty-seven for those on 
the seedling Briar, whereas the most recent examina¬ 
tion accords thirteen first places to the cutting and 
twenty-one to the seedling. 
4. That the Manetti has proved itself in every in¬ 
stance inferior in a greater or less degree to the two other 
stocks, while in ten out of the thirty-four varieties in 
the experimental beds the difference is very marked. 
On the other hand, with thirteen other varieties there 
was little to choose between the three stocks. 
I find that Roses budded on these stocks flower, as a 
rule, in the following order. First come those on the 
Manetti, then those on the Briar cutting, and lastly 
those on the seedling Briar. 
For Tea Roses I have fouud the Briar cutting and 
seedling Briar excellent stocks. In dry seasons the 
latter has the advantage, and in wet ones the Briar 
cutting. The dwarf standard Briar also suits many 
Teas admirably, and some even better than either the 
seedling or cutting, and has the further advantage of 
keeping the blooms from getting splashed during heavy 
rains. It is of course, however, unsuitable for very 
cold districts, and is less enduring than dwarf Briars. 
The standard Briar also suits certain varieties of H.P.s 
better than any other stock. 
The question of stocks is a more complicated one 
than would at first appear, for in order to obtain the 
best results the soil must not only suit the stock, but 
the Rose budded on it must work harmoniously with 
that stock. The character of the subsoil has also 
almost as important an influence as the surface soil. I 
may state in passing that there are a few kinds of 
H.P.s which refuse to grow with me at all on any of 
the dwarf stocks I have mentioned. 
I had intended to touch on the subject of soils and 
their suitability to different stocks, but have thought 
it advisable, on more mature consideration, to confine 
myself entirely to a simple statement of my own 
experiences ; fcr in discussing a matter of this kind I 
think you will all agree with me that one grain of fact 
is worth any number of pounds of theory. My experi¬ 
ments have, I trust, proved useful as far as they have 
gone. I can only regret now that they could not be 
carried out on a larger scale. I am pleased, however, 
to hear from Messrs. Cocker, of Aberdeen, that they 
have during the last few years been testing stocks on 
similar lines to my own, and that they have arrived at 
some very interesting results, which will appear in the 
returns recently sent in to this society. If other 
nurserymen and amateurs in different parts of the 
kingdom would only follow their excellent example, 
we should then at no very distant date be in a position 
to arrive at some more definite and satisfactory con¬ 
clusions than in the present state of our knowledge is 
possible.— Edward Mavoley , m Journal of the Bx>yal 
Horticultural Society. 
-- >^y -- 
ROYAL HORTICULTURAL 
SOCIETY. 
The Floral Committee met at the Society’s Gardens, 
• Chiswick, on July 22nd. Present: W. Marshall, Esq., 
in the chair ; Messrs. Hibberd, Lowe, Druery, Walker, 
Herbst, Nicholson, Baines, Leach, Dean, Goldring, 
Paul, and Holmes. The committee inspected the 
collections of Carnations, Picotees, Stocks, and Pansies 
growing in the gardens, when the following awards 
were made. *** Equivalent to First Class Certificate ; 
** to Award of Merit:— 
Carnation ***Juliette (R.H.S.), bright rosy purple self. 
,, Mrs. Frank Watts (Ware), white self. 
Picotee Romeo (Paul & Son). 
,, Augusta (Paul & Son). 
,, Pica (Paul & Son). 
Carnation Juno (Paul & Son), rose self. 
,, Snowdrift (Fisher, Son, &Sibray), white self. 
,, Horace (Dean), scarlet self. 
,, Maggie Laurie (Dicksons & Co.), delicate 
blush self. 
,, Caledonia (Dicksons & Co.), bright purple. 
,, The Moor (Dean), dark crimson. 
,, Rowena (Dean), bright scarlet. 
Picotee J. B. Bryant (R. H. S.) 
,, Favourite (Turner). 
Carnation Clown (Dodwell), yellow ground. 
,, Oxonian (Dodwell), salmon self. 
,, **Beatrice (Fisher, Son, & Sibray), buff self. 
,, Fair Maid (Dean), blush. 
Pansy ***The Bride (Dobbie), creamy white, edged 
blue 
,, Duchess of Eife (Dobbie), orange, edged 
bronze. 
,, Neptune (Dobbie), dark purple, top petals 
pale. 
,, **Duehess of Sutherland (Dobbie), pale 
lavender. 
,, Marchioness of Tweeddale (Dobbie), pure 
white. 
Stocks ***Large Ten-week (Putz), brilliant rose. 
,, ,, purple. 
,, ,, ,, white. 
,> ,, ,, sulphur-yellow. 
,, Dwarf Ten-week (Putz), lilac. 
Fruit and Vegetable Committee. 
Present: T. F. Rivers, Esq., in the chair; Messrs. 
Cheal, Crowley, P. Veitcli, Balderson, Warren, Wythes, 
and Hudson. The committee inspected the collections 
of Peas growing in the gardens, and made the following 
Awards of Merit: The Daisy (James Carter & Co.), a 
dwarf wrinkled Marrow ; Boston Hero (G. Bunyard 
& Co.), a tall white-wrinkled Marrow ; Ambassador 
(H. Eckford), a tall green wrinkled Marrow. 
-->$<-- 
AMERICAN DRIED FRUITS IN 
FOREIGN MARKETS. 
Two complaints have been made against the healthful¬ 
ness of American dried fruit. The first is that when 
this product is sulphur-bleached there is a question 
whether the after-drying removes all traces of the 
sulphur, and therefore whether the fruit has absorbed 
and retains enough sulphuric acid to impair its health¬ 
fulness and flavour. The other objection is that when 
fruit is dried on galvanised wire trays it takes up a 
sufficient quantity of zinc to make it poisonous. Very 
careful chemical tests made in this country have failed 
to secure any 7 proof of the presence of free sulphuric 
acid, and Dr. Lattimore, on behalf of the New York 
State Board of Health, after testing numerous samples 
of the evaporated fruit, found no trace of zinc. 
Nevertheless, the exclusion of our fruit from certain 
European markets particularly on account of alleged 
danger from zinc is a serious matter to producers. The 
fact seems to be that traces of zinc have been discovered 
in exported fruits, and although the quantity was so 
minute as to be utterly harmless, this serves as a 
pretext for shutting out our fruits from foreign markets, 
and therefore any remedy or any method of evaporation 
which will leave the dried fruit absolutely free from 
foreign substances is much to be desired. We add a 
portion of an interesting paper which was read by Mr. 
Michael Doyle, of Rochester, at the meeting of the 
Western New York Horticultural Society last winter, 
and which has been published in the proceedings of 
that meeting. 
The agitation against evaporated fruits commenced 
in 1884 in Holland, and since then has spread to 
Germany, the largest consuming country in Europe, 
and later to the other adjacent countries. It is claimed 
by the health authorities that evaporated Apples 
contain minute portions of the oxides of zinc to an 
extent more or less deleterious to human health. Not 
a single case of illness resulting from a proper use of 
this fruit has ever been reported in this country or the 
United Kingdom, notwithstanding the fact that tens of 
thousands of tons have been manufactured and con¬ 
sumed since the business began some eighteen years 
ago. The effort on the part of the German Government 
to prevent the importation ot this class of fruit 
. has been based largely upon the desire of excluding it, 
for the object of encouraging the manufacture of the 
same class of goods in Germany. Only a few years ago 
the Hanoverian Government gave the sum of 50,000 
marks, say £2,500, for the establishment of an evapor¬ 
ating factory, the first of its kind in that country. The 
promoter of the scheme did not, however, calculate 
with much accuracy upon the large quantity of fruit 
required to keep the factory in steady operation, and he 
found it impossible to secure a sufficient supply. 
Besides, the cost was so much above the value of the 
product when offered in competition with fruit shipped 
from this country, that the manufacture was only 
continued by drawing on the subsidy of the Government 
to cover the loss. In other words, fruit was offered 
from here at about 4 d. delivered at Bremen, while that 
made at Hildersheim cost fully 5 d. per pound. Ar a 
result the evaporator was operated until the donation 
of the Government was exhausted, then stopped, and it 
has not since been reopened, for the German experi¬ 
menters have found to their satisfaction that, in the 
present condition of orchard culture in their country, 
they cannot compete profitably with America. This we 
believe to be the beginning of the alarm in that country 
over American Apples. 
It is safe to say that there is no more danger in fruit 
dried upon galvanised trays than there is from the 
employment of the ordinary tinned cooking utensils. 
At present it is almost impossible to do business with 
Germany without furnishing a sworn declaration as 
well as a chemist’s certificate, attested by the consul at 
New York, declaring and showing that the goods are 
absolutely free from zinc or zinc oxides. Goods which 
are found to contain even the most minute quantitv 
are confiscated by the Government officials and their 
value destroyed by pouring crude petroleum on the 
fruit, which renders it unfit for food. As a result the 
business is done with no little hardship, and many 
houses in Hamburg and Bremen have abandoned the 
sale of American fruit, as the penalties, not only in the 
way of confiscation of the fruit, but of heavy fines and 
long imprisonment, are sufficient to make the dealers 
extremely careful and cautious in handling the product. 
But although our fruit contains no injurious amount 
of zinc, we must prepare it absolutely free from every 
trace of the metal or -we can make no sales. Fruit 
dried on wooden trays, or those made from netting, is 
absolutely free from zinc. Recent analysis has shown 
this, and although the change was made at a rather 
inopportune time, and rather late in the season, the 
quantity of fruit produced and dried on those trays 
was quite considerable, all of which has been taken 
without objection abroad. A prompt improvement is 
necessary, either by greater care in the use of galvanised 
trays, for it has been shown that the small particles of 
zinc found in the fruit have been caused by the use of 
the iron scrapers used in removing the fruit, which 
very often adheres to the wire, or by ceasing to use 
them. The use of these sieves for three seasons has 
shown a loss of twenty-four per cent, of the weight of 
the zinc galvanism by this means alone. In order to 
retain the trade established many years ago on the 
Continent it is imperative that some other system be 
employed, for it is only by abandoning the galvanised 
trays that the prejudice necessarily created against the 
product can be successfully overcome. 
There is room for inventive genius in this direction, 
and proper remuneration will attend the successful 
efforts of the man who will offer to the manufacturers a 
satisfactory substitute for the galvanised wire now 
employed. It should possess fire-proof qualifications if 
of either wood or netting, and if metallic it should not 
be liable to oxidation, and should not discolour the 
fruit. Just now this is the only impediment to in¬ 
creased trade abroad, which will undoubtedly follow 
these much needed improvements in the manufacture, 
and ail fruit growers should be interested in pushing 
the industry to its maximum development, and thereby 
assure a remunerative outlet for our constantly in¬ 
creasing orchard products. — Garden and Forest. 
