November 24, 1894. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
203 
tastes like chalk. Then there is what we may call 
a “ taste improver” in West Africa (Sideronglia), a 
second cousin to the gutta percha family, which 
heightens the sensitiveness of the palate, especially 
to acid fruits, for several hours. 
In tropical America, at a certain season of the 
year, the natives turn a bright yellow all over. This 
means that they have been drinking of the vintage 
of the Moritia Palm, which is obtained from the 
pulpy fruit, and constitutes the principal native 
drink for the whole of the fruiting season. The wild 
Tamarind of Jamaica, which is largely browsed by 
horses, has the startling effect of causing their manes 
to drop off and their tails to become barren of hair. 
But the natives take no notice of the scarecrow 
appearance of the horses, to whom this novel food 
is otherwise quite nutritious. Jelly making plants 
are common in the tropics. The leaves of Cyclea 
if placed in water speedily convert the fluid into a 
solid jelly. They abound in " pectose ”—a sort of 
mucilage. But one of the most serious characters 
is the Pisonia of New Zealand, which is shockingly 
carnivorous. It hangs out seed pods covered with 
a sort of bird lime, which first attracts flies to their 
doom, and then fixes the birds which come after the 
flies. It may be remarked that cats are fond of 
studying the phenomena here presented. These are 
only a few of the curious facts Mr. Morris vouched 
for in his interesting lecture. 
PLUMS ON SANDY SOIL. 
A rather careful inspection of the plum wall, with 
the view to ascertain (before pruning and nailing 
begin) whether any varieties may be the better for 
lifting or root pruning, has led to a few notes which 
may be of interest with the planting season at 
hand. The notes, it may be added, are from trees 
growing on an easterly wall, soil a light sandy loam, 
subsoil a damp sand. There is a wonderful differ¬ 
ence in the habit of different varieties here, some 
making hardly any growth, whilst others are inclined, 
unless kept within bounds by occasional root prun¬ 
ing, to be far too strong. Of dessert plums on this 
wall the most serviceable are Oullin's Golden, 
Greengage, Transparent Gage, and Coe’s Golden 
Drop. Growth on three of these is very evenly 
balanced, plenty of wood made, but small, firm, and 
of the right sort. The old Greengage is the exception. 
This makes hardly any growth, and is rather inclined 
to gum. Reine Claude de Bavay and Deniston’s 
Superb are also grown, but neither is quite satisfac¬ 
tory, unless root pruning is practised every second 
year. Jefferson’s is also grown a fine plum; but it 
does not bear with me quite so well as the Gages and 
Golden Drop. The most profitable cooking plums, 
to take them in the order of ripening, are Early 
Prolific, Czar, White Magnum, Victoria, Pond's 
Seedling, and Imperial de Milan. There is no mis¬ 
take about the cropping qualities of Early Prolific, 
and the trees seldom fail. The annual growth is 
proportionately lacking in vigour; indeed, a shoot 
anything over 6in. in length is quite exceptional. 
Both for annual growth and crop, Czar and Victoria 
leave nothing to be desired. In speaking a short 
time back to a gardener whose experience dated from 
1840, he told me that he was working in the Brixton 
nurseries when Victoria was introduced to the pub¬ 
lic, and that Denyer always claimed it as a seedling 
of his own—a statement which, as one gathers from 
the ” Fruit Manual,” was not strictly true. All one 
can say in the matter now is, that whoever was 
responsible for raising Victoria, deserves the hearty 
thanks of the fruit-growing community, as a more 
useful plum, whether for the large or small garden, 
does not exist. The only old trees left on our plum 
wall (all the rest having being planted in 1888) are 
White Magnum Bonum, a great and consistent 
cropper, and useful where a pale fleshed cooking 
plum is in request. I have seen Pershore strongly 
recommended. Is this any better than White Mag¬ 
num ? Imperial de Milan is a capital late plum, the 
tree free growing and a great cropper, necessitating, 
as in the case of early Prolific and Victoria, rather 
severe thinning to get fair size fruit. Besides Pond's 
Seedling, I have a couple of trees each of Prince 
Engelbert and Diamond, both apparently good 
croppers, and the fruit above the average in size. 
The least satisfactory plum on this soil is Washing¬ 
ton, a rampant grower, but very shy, not really 
worth the room on the wall.— E. Burrell, Claremont, 
in The Field. 
GLASGOW BOTANICAL GARDENS. 
The citizens of Glasgow are under considerable 
obligations to Mr. D. Dewar, the Curator of our 
Botanic Garden, for inaugurating what are called 
" Chrysanthemum days ” in the gardens. The 
City Councillors provide excellent music for the 
thousands who throng the Kibble Palace where the 
Chrysanthemums are set up, and the success 
achieved testifies to the wisdom of the new depar¬ 
ture. Last year a very fair start was made, and as 
many as 17,000 persons visited the gardens on the 
gala day. This season Mr. Dewar, having now 
everything in good working order, has been able to 
provide a display that would be very difficult to 
surpass. The City Council recognising this, pro¬ 
vided a band on the second day, so that large num¬ 
bers who had not had an opportunity of seeing them 
on November 10th, could do so on the 17th. It is 
computed that between Saturday and Sunday some¬ 
thing like 30,000 people visited the gardens, and last 
Saturday and Sunday the crowd was nearly as 
great. 
The principal group consisted of 800 plants, the 
majority of which were “ cut backs,” and carried 
from three to seven blooms. They were arranged in 
pyramid form under the entrance dome, and had a 
most inspiring effect. The blooms were large and 
well coloured, and the varieties were well up to date. 
Among Japanese the following were very fine:—Gloire 
du Rocher, Louis Boehmer (white), G. C. Schwabe, 
Sunflower, Wm. Tricker, Beauty of Exmouth 
(very fine), Viviand Morel, and Col. Wm. B. Smith. 
The incurved sorts were most effectively arranged in 
the main transept. Trained up the roof, the golden 
balls of Mr. Bunn, Mrs. Dixon, and G. Glenny, 
hang very charmingly, being well set off by the 
introduction of numerous pretty heads of Mrs. G. 
Rundle. On either side of the door at the entrance 
were the Anemone forms of Old Gluck, Lady 
Margaret, Mrs. Laing, and Miss A. Corrie. The 
single sorts were well represented in grand bushes 
of Gus Harris, Scarlet Gem, and Miss Rose. The 
collection is made up of about 300 varieties, 
and 2,500 plants were grown. The show Mr. 
Dewar had of the Desgranges varieties in Sep¬ 
tember was superb, and filled two large span- 
roofed wings of the Kibble Palace. The crowds of 
people that visit the gardens now are of themselves a 
tribute to the excellent condition of all the various 
subjects that flower during the season, and this must 
be very gratifying to Mr. Dewar.— R. 
--*•- 
CULTURE OF THE CRAN¬ 
BERRY. 
There are two species of Cranberry, namely, Oxy- 
cocus palustris, inhabiting marshy woods, particu¬ 
larly in the north of Britain, and O. macrocarpus, 
a native of America. The fruits of our native species 
are gathered in the wild state, but the American 
species is extensively cultivated in the United 
States and occasionally upon a small scale here ; 
but the fruit comes regularly into Covent Garden 
market during autumn. The two species are often 
included under Vaccinium, of which there are about 
100 species, but they are fairly distinct in habit and the 
flowers are structurally different. Mr. William 
Saunders, the inspector of Agricultureat Washington, 
published a small pamphlet recently on the culture 
of the large-fruited Cranberry (O. macrocarpus), 
which grows wild in the marshy lands of the 
northern States of the Union, in some parts of 
Canada, as well as the coast-line marshes and 
in the forests of the Alleghanies, as far as Virginia, 
and the north of Carolina. It is a dwarf, trailing, 
shrubby, evergreen plant with acid and edible fruits, 
of which the colour varies from red to rose and deep 
purple. 
Its culture, Mr. Saunders says, was commenced in 
the first quarter of this Century ; for about forty 
years it was done on a very restricted scale. To-day 
it spreads into New England, New Jersey, the neigh¬ 
bourhood of Cape Cod, Michigan, Wisconsin, Min¬ 
nesota, Iowa, the north of the Ohio and Indiana, 
American Cranberries are the largest of their kind, 
the richest in colour and the most perfumed arriving 
in the markets of Europe. In a wild state the plant 
chooses humid localities and a peaty soil, sometimes 
silecious, always devoid of lime. Peat favours its 
development, but the presence of silex is necessary 
for its fertility and the production of better fruit. That 
ingredient aids the hardening of the wood by pre¬ 
venting too vigorous growth. Its cultivation is 
effected with the greatest success between the 39th 
and 42nd degree of latitude. Yet those limits can 
be much extended to the south on the flanks of the 
Alleghanies, and for 13 0 at least towards the north 
on the west coasts where the oceanic currents 
exercise a beneficial influence upon the climate. 
Once established in good condition, a plantation 
of Cranberries endures for years, and gives returns 
as regular as any other culture. It demands much 
labour and money as well as patience to wait for the 
produce; but once it commences to bear, the owner 
can think himself happy to have a culture so 
desirable and remunerative. The preparation of the 
soil depends upon its nature. The best ground for 
it is a silecious sand overlaid with a bed of 12 in. of 
peat, itself covered with grass. It will be sufficient 
to dig it, bringing to the surface about 4 in. of sand. 
If the peat bed is deep and covered with grass, it 
will be sufficient to turn the soil just under the roots 
of the grasses and to spread on the top a bed of 5 in. 
to 12 in. of silecious or quartzose sand. The employ¬ 
ment of sand counteracts the development of bad 
weeds, which render the plantation partly unproduc¬ 
tive. Earth on the margin of springs, or upon the 
banks of rapid water-courses, contains much sand 
of light weight and may serve for this plantation. 
Lands which are inundated during certain periods 
of the year, as the Savanahs, about to be utilised, 
are surrounded with a sort of Irish wall 4 ft. to 
4J ft. wide and high. The soil is worked and 
cleansed. On the inner side a ditch is made; 
bordering upon these ditches, and traversing the 
ground, ridges are dug parallel, and these permit 
the irrigation of the same in winter and summer, 
and to drain it rapidly when necessary. Even the 
marshes can be utilised for this culture, provided 
that dams or continuous ridges can be established 
at regular intervals. The expense of these works 
naturally differ according to the place as one finds 
it and according to the materials employed. Culti¬ 
vators attach the greatest importance to the quality 
of the sand. That must be clean and large in the 
grain to suit Cranberries. It is necessary also that 
the ground be permeable at least for 12 in. under 
the surface. 
The methods of planting are various. Originally 
balls of turf lifted with the plants, the moss 
and the peat from the place of origin, were 
planted in a soil whether it was prepared or not. 
Following that came the plantation upon knolls. 
Several plants put together in trenched spaces of 
2 ft., but those tufts had a tendency to dry up and 
hardly succeed. When it is not necessary to add 
sand and the ground can be worked, the best plan 
is to turn up by means of the plough spaces at a 
yard apart. Plants are distributed in the hollow 
along the furrows, one or two at a place. They are 
inclined somewhat, leaving a portion of 4 in. to 6 in. 
above the surface, then the furrows and the roots 
are covered up. On other better prepared lands 
lines are made with a tracer; at a foot apart in these 
lines one or two plants are placed at an equal space 
of a foot, and they are covered with earth by the 
spade, leaving the top exposed. Elsewhere, again, 
the Cranberry plants are passed through a chaff- 
cutter to cut them in pieces and sow the cuttings in 
very small pieces, as Oats are treated. Then the 
whole bed is covered with a shallow bed of sand. 
This method of proceeding is only applicable in 
spring and upon a humid soil, otherwise the cuttings 
are not well rooted before the advent of the heat of 
summer. Much attention is given to the choice of 
plants, and those are rejected which do not give 
sufficiently large berries, and whose colour leaves 
nothing to be desired. 
The planting can be done at any season ; yet it is 
better to operate at the beginning of spring to 
ensure success. It is recommended to irrigate the 
plantations from the first of November to the first 
of May ; 16 in. to 20 in. of water are sufficient. 
After that period the water is allowed to run away, 
and the plants, under the influence of the moisture 
and the heat, cover themselves presently with their 
whitish-rose flowers, and the fruits show themselves 
not long after. At Cape Cod, in Massachusetts, the 
cultivators take advantage of the winter to cover 
their irrigated plantations with sand while under the 
ice. The sand is spread upon the latter in a uniform 
bed. Naturally, when the ice melts, the sand covers 
the Cranberries. Guano is considered an excellent 
