186 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
Nov. 22nd, 1884. 
Gathering and Storing Fruit.—An inspection 
of the fruit store of a veteran gardener the other day 
forcibly reminded me that there is still too much 
ignorance and carelessness displayed in the handling 
of Apples and Pears during the operation of gathering 
and storing. This ought not to be the case, for the 
gardening papers teem with the necessary instructions 
for gathering fruit as the season comes round. Non¬ 
readers of course are not likely to be reached through 
that source, so they must continue in their careless 
ways; and in, this category I must place the “ old- 
fashioned gardener,” as he designated himself upon 
my complimenting him on the appearance of some 
of the crops in the kitchen-garden, and notably some 
Apple trees, which, being worthless kinds, had been 
cut down four years ago and grafted with well-known 
sorts, and which I was informed bore well last year 
and this. “ I am only an old-fashioned gardener, 
but I know how to do some things, and grafting is 
one of them.”. The produce of one tree was weighed 
last year, and found to be over 65 lbs. 
While in the fruit-room I picked up a few samples 
of one sort or another, and finding them much bruised, 
I remarked/ “ I suppose many of your Apples were 
blown down by the wind?” “No,” was the reply, 
“ they he sheltered too much for that, and the shoots 
will not give way much to the wind.” I then con¬ 
cluded that as he gathered them off the tree they had 
been dropped in the basket at whatever distance it 
might happen to have been from him, and from the 
gathering basket many had been unceremoniously 
thrown into hampers, and out of them on to the 
shelves in the fruit-room. Being a little deaf, the 
sound of the fall and tumbling of the Apples do not 
suggest to him what is taking place, and his defective 
eyesight fails to detect the result, but he is mentally 
concerned as to how it is his fruit does not keep like 
those of Messrs. A. and B.; and whilst the words are 
leaving his mouth two or three Apples leave his hand 
with some force back to the place from whence he 
had picked them out to show me, inflicting at least 
half-a-dozen bruises by his reckless act, and which 
lialf-an-hour’s reading might have obviated. “ That 
Apple,” I said, pointing to a fail 1 sample of Grenadier, 
“ was certificated by the Apple Congress last year ; you 
perhaps saw an account of it in the gardening papers ? ” 
No, he had not, for he did not read them. He used 
to read a little at one time, but he discovered that 
some wrote what they never practised, and he had 
no faith in that sort of teaching. “ The idea of a 
man telling you how to grow a plant that he has not 
been able to grow respectably himself! Why, I saw 
some time back a long piece copied from one of the 
gardening papers, in which the writer was giving 
instructions how to make a lawn. If he was a 
gardener, he must have had a patient master if that 
was the speed he went at,” and down went another 
Apple. “ Had he been here when I made this lawn, 
I would have shown him a different way to that. I 
do not believe the man ever made one.” 
It is not my business at present to defend or 
denounce this plain-speaking man’s statements, but 
I feel convinced that all intelligent gardeners are 
unanimously of opinion that too much care cannot be 
bestowed on gathering fruit as well as when dealing 
with it after. I am, however, persuaded that whatever 
the practice of some may be, their contributions to the 
literature of the subject have appeared defective and 
somewhat misleading. It will be observed that in 
most instances the writers on fruit-gathering tell us to 
be sure and line the baskets and hampers with hay or 
straw, so that the fruit may not be injured by the 
wicker-work. But, I ask, why name baskets at all ? I 
have long ago abandoned then- use because I discovered 
that whenever I attempted to move a basket contain¬ 
ing something like a bushel of Apples, the struggle 
between myself and the basket caused the ribs of the 
latter to give way so as to press the fruit one against 
the other with sufficient force to cause depression, 
which means bruising the cells and hastening decay. 
For the purpose of gathering I use the “ Sussex Trugs,” 
made of split wood, and their shape and construction 
has given them the name of “ Boat baskets ” in Kent 
and other parts. Some larger ones, as well as boxes, 
are used to convey the fruit on a hand-barrow to the 
store-room. I have also used flour barrels, but they 
take more time to fill and empty on account of the 
inconvenient depth the operator has to reach when 
near the bottom. 
If evidence were wanting of the advantage of 
employing boxes instead of all kinds of wicker baskets, 
we have only to examine the condition of the American 
Apples after their long journey and rough handling by 
frequent removals before they reach the retail vendor 
in this country. Many that I have inspected have 
been in better condition than some of our home¬ 
grown fruits that have only journeyed from the orchard 
to the fruit-room, a few hundred yards distant. As 
for those that are conveyed to market in sieves and 
half-sieves by the majority of English growers, it will 
be found that all the fruit in contact with the sides of 
the basket will be branded with as many depressions 
as it is possible for the wicker to execute. 
The absence of ruggedness in the barrels, combined 
with close packing, will, therefore, in a great measure 
account for the comparative i mm unity of the American 
Apples. In fact, nothing short of the shifting of the 
ship’s cargo or severe bumping of the casks in loading 
or unloading can affect them, but if the best of 
baskets were used the result would be disastrous. 
These barrels are extremely convenient to store 
Apples in if there is not sufficient accommodation in 
the fruit-room, and an amateur of my acquaintance 
made a practice of enveloping his best samples of 
late-keeping Pears and Apples in soft paper, and pack 
them in one of these, also in shallow boxes. I have 
been long convinced that every fruit-room should 
have a few close drawers, and the worse the fruit- 
room is the more desirable are such auxiliaries.— 
North. 
Apple, The Stamford Pippin.—I don’t often 
notice any remarks anent the Apple called Stamford 
Pippin, and am surprised it does not now and then 
come to the front. It possesses some excellent quali¬ 
ties, such as being a good cropper and of good quality. 
I have had it many years, and never knew it to be 
barren or anything approaching thereto. Some twelve 
years ago I budded one, it is not a very large tree now, 
but its productiveness may be imagined by the fact 
that, during the heavy gales of last summer I picked 
off the ground as many as 800 eatable-sized Apples, 
and last week I gathered off the tree upwards of 1,800 ! 
It is a capital keeper, a good cooker, and at Christmas 
time and thenceforth a capital table Apple, and it is 
sweetly coloured. The tree is, and has been from the 
beginning, perfectly free from canker.— H. Boothhy, 
Louth, Lincolnshire. 
. --Hh:- 
Wingham’s Industry Gooseberry.—I have 
grown this Gooseberry for the last twelve years, and 
can fully endorse what has been said in its favour 
by Mr. Fawkes (p. 138) so far as regards cropping 
qualities, as well as the weight and size of the berries. 
I remember a few years ago that when trying several 
varieties fora dish to exhibit for weight, this was one 
of the sorts tested, and twelve of the fruits weighed 
close upon 4 lb. It also makes a capital dish for the 
dessert, and the flavour being good, a rare quality in 
most large Gooseberries, it is much thought of here 
for that purpose, although I believe there is rather a 
prejudice against these large fruiting sorts for the 
table. The plant is a very strong grower and requires 
plenty of room, indeed to give access all round the 
bush it ought not to be planted closer than 7 ft. or 8 ft. 
It is not, however, an upright grower like the 
Champagne or Sulphur varieties, but partakes more 
of the character of the Old Scotch or Large Bed, from 
which it may be a seedling, but of this I am not 
certain. It has at least a long-standing reputation in 
this locality, where I believe it originated. It has 
one serious drawback, however, in growing for 
marketing ripe, as in wet weather it is very liable to 
crack, more so than any other sort I know, and will 
not stand so much hard pruning as is generally 
given.—I?. Stevens, Paston. 
Late Peas.— From a row of William the First, Peas 
sown in June, Mr. Henry Little, Hillingdon Place, 
Uxbridge, gathered a fine dish of well filled pods as 
late as the 18th instant. 
Seasonable Work in the Plant-houses.— 
Owing to the beautiful weather we have had this 
autumn, flowering plants generally are in good con¬ 
dition, therefore, the main aim will be to keep them 
so, and as we may now expect foggy or damp weather, 
the chief thing is to study how best to ward off the ill 
effects, especially of fog. It is only those who have 
experienced the effects of a London fog who can fully 
realize the damage it does to plant-life. We recommend 
that all houses should be kept at as low a temperature 
as is consistent with safety, and that no ventilation be 
given during foggy weather. Boses, or in fact any 
kind of plants that will not be damaged by syringing, 
should be frequently syringed with water of about the 
same temperature as that of the houses in which they 
are grown. Pelargoniums or other flowering plants 
that cannot be syringed should not be allowed to get 
quite dry at the root. Many of the early flowering 
varieties of Chrysanthemums will now be over, and 
where good cuttings can be obtained they may be put 
in at once, and thus save the trouble of storing the 
old plants. Cinerarias where required for cut flowers 
will well repay the extra trouble of potting on into 
large pots, and both these and herbaceous Calceolarias 
should be examined, and on the first appearance of fly 
should be regularly fumigated. French and Fancy 
Pelargoniums will also require attention, and the 
earliest sorts should now be in their flowering pots. 
As plenty of light is very essential to these, it will be 
a good plan to wash the glass occasionally. 
Flowers out of Season.—The dry winter of 
1883-4, the dry spring, and still drier summer which 
followed have put many things out of then course. 
We have here a good-sized bush of Bhododendron 
pontieum, bearing nearly 100 trusses of blooms, a 
singularly conspicuous object at this season. It is 
growing amongst other shrubs under some large forest 
trees and near to a large evergreen Oak. In spring 
and through the early part of the summer it flagged 
so much and the other' shrubs also that we thought 
the whole would succumb to the drought, as it was 
impossible to water everything that required it. The 
plant strove to make a little growth, but- the flower- 
buds remained hard and intact. The autumn rains 
have, however, altered the aspect of affairs and have 
caused this particular shrub to bloom as though 
it were June. Some Ferns growing on a mound 
under a large Cedar tree made no growth until the 
end of August, and were in a shrivelled state, but 
the September rains started them well into growth. 
On a Magnolia grandiflora, growing on a somewhat 
low wall, there are several buds still to open if the 
weather remains as fine as at present a little longer, 
for we have only to-day taken up our tricolor Pelargo¬ 
niums, which have been very bright lately and have 
not been injured by frost.— T. IF., North Norfolk, 
November 17th. 
Zonal Pelargoniums for winter flowering,— 
Two of the best double-flowered varieties for winter 
work are F. von Baspail and Candidissimum plenum. 
The former is of a beautiful crimson-scarlet colour, 
and the pips are large and full. It is also a good 
trusser, and may be had in flower throughout the 
winter. Candidissimum plenum is the purest white 
variety that we have seen, and the fact of its being 
grown largely for market purposes is sufficient to 
recommend it as one of the best. Of the single 
white varieties, Niphetos is one of the finest, being 
very pure, large in the truss, and of a good dwarf 
habit. It deserves to become as popular as the 
Niphetos Bose. 
Violets.—These, like most plants, are feeling 
the very mild autumn, and the Czar and other hardy 
kinds are flowering quite freely out in the open, which 
is most unusual for this time of year, and the scent 
they exhale is something delightful. Weather pro¬ 
phets say we shall suffer for all this by-and-bye, but 
let us enjoy the sweets while we may, and visit the 
Violet beds as often as we can, for they breathe 
promises of the spring yet to come. In frames, the 
