July 13, 1895. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
725 
Messrs. Alex. Dickson & Son, NewtowDards; 
Messrs. Henderson & Son, Templeogue; Messrs. 
Ramsey, Ball's Bridge ; Mr. Hamilton Drummond, 
Dawson Street, Dublin, and the hon. secretaries of 
the show. Mr. Hugh Dickson, Jun., of Belfast, 
kindly acted as judge, and the Roses and other 
exhibits brought by him and Messrs. Alex. Dickson 
& Son were the objects of universal admiration. 
During the afternoon an attractive programme of 
music was rendered by the Gorey Orchestra, under 
the leadership of Mr. J. H. Stedman. A lecture was 
delivered during the afternoon by the Rev. Wm. 
Brews, B.A., on "Bees and Beekeeping ” in a bee 
tent, kindly lent by the Irish Beekeepers’ Association, 
and the practical illustrations with a bee in a bar¬ 
framed hive was much appreciated. 
Monster Strawberries. —Mr. W. G. McFarlane 
sends us some specimens of the fruit of a very fine 
new Strawberry seedling, raised and grown by him¬ 
self. This fine fruit is destined to enhance the repu¬ 
tation of the Alnwick Strawberry beds. They are 
not only exceptionally large in size, but of a very 
fine flavour. On being weighed it was found that 
the collection, numbering fifteen, weighed i lb. On 
the same day we exhibited another plate of equally 
large and luscious looking Strawberries, grown by 
Mr. J. Wake, on Alnwick Moor. They were a 
source of surprise and it is very gratifying to note 
that the Alnwick Moor land is capable of producing 
such fine fruit ; the specimens alluded to are alike 
undeniable evidence of the suitability of the soil, and 
the skill of the producer. We are aware that several 
enterprising farmers have turned and are turning 
their acres to account in this direction, and there is 
little doubt that their enterprise will this year be 
fully rewarded, and we wish them all success.— 
Alnwick County Gazette. 
Garden Lectures. —At Settle, on Wednesday, 26th 
ult., Dr. Clark gave the last of the series of lectures 
and demonstrations on ‘‘ Practical Gardening,” all of 
which have been well attended, and the greatest 
possible interest has been shown throughout. His 
method of teaching is very pleasing, and to hear him 
diagnose the various ailments of plants is something 
to remember. After the course of lectures given last 
winter by Dr. Clark, many of his hearers said 
" It is all very well for Dr. Clark to come lecturing 
about what could be done; we would like to see him 
try to do it.” Dr. Clark has scarcely had time in 
the ten weeks to produce much result, but we think 
he has shown that he is not only an accomplished 
gardener in theory but also in practice, and the 
regret is that more of the professional gardeners of 
the district did not avail themselves of his teaching. 
Much has been said, and is still being said, both for 
and against Dr. Clark’s teaching, but anyone seeing 
White Friars now and comparing it with previous 
years will at once see the advantages of scientific 
gardening. The following subjects have been taught: 
How to analyse sods; how to diagnose the present 
requirements of plants; seed sowing, potting, 
planting, pruning ; the uses of chemical manures; 
botany, grafting and budding. The botany was 
particularly interesting. Dr. Clark has a novel way 
when discoursing on botany ; with him plants think. 
The grafting and budding was very instructive, and 
the many cut fingers and thumbs of the ladies un¬ 
accustomed to knives and the class of knives used, 
which ranged from a pet penknife to the largest 
" cheap Jack ” pruner, afforded no little mirth. The 
afternoon lectures were given at the following 
places:—White Friars, Beech House, Marshfield, 
Langcliffe Place, Craggdale, Ingfield, and Langcliffe 
Hall. No doubt some persons have attended the 
lectures who will derive but little benefit from them. 
It is the intellectual amateur who loves gardening, 
and the few professionals who have attended who 
will be the gainers by Dr. Clark's teaching. The 
allotment is not quite as good as one would expect 
Dr. Clark’s gardening to be, but lateness in planting 
and the extreme dryness of the weather will account 
for its partial failure. Dr. Clark does not promise 
much this year. He is aiming at getting the soil in 
good trim and next year we are to see what scientific 
gardening can do. A strong feature of his lectures has 
been the answers to questions, which left nothing to 
be desired. Much credit is due to Mrs. Atkinson of 
White Friars, who has worked very hard indeed to 
make the course a success. In the afternoon a vote 
of thanks proposed by Dr. Shepherd and seconded 
by Mr. James Patterson, was accorded to the 
lecturer, and at night the vote of thanks was pro¬ 
posed by Mr. J. Roberts, second by Mr. S. Waine, 
and supported by Mr. W. G. Perfect. 
-* 5 -- 
EARLY PEAS. 
Any remorse I may have felt at having incurred the 
displeasure of your Knap Hill correspondent (p. 
677). by my coddling practices in growing early 
Peas, was tempered by the knowledge that I have 
sinned in excellent company. It struck me that 
G.T.’s opinion, like his conclusions, were somewhat 
hurriedly drawn. I stated that I sowed in pots on 
February 6th ; if G. T. will carry his memory back 
he will remember at that time we were having from 
20 0 to 30° of frost, and work outside was almost at a 
standstill. So one man was not badly employed for 
three hours in sowing a hundred or so pots. I find 
it took about one hour longer to plant them out. As 
I plant close to the wall I use no sticks. 
A few Laurel boughs were used for about a week 
when frost and cold winds threatened. 
The account of pickings show that I gathered close 
upon 2olb. before the date on which G. T. first 
picked. I was highly pleased with the result of my 
coddling practices, as also was my employer. I did 
not exhaust the crop at that date, as you will see by 
specimens sent pulled from the crop in question, and 
as a result of a second growth. I noticed, in a 
smaller degree, the same branching last year, but did 
not have such full second pods.— A. Pentney, Worton 
Hall Gardens, Isleworth. 
[Accompanying the above was a box of the Ameri¬ 
can Wonder Pea, consisting of the entire stems with 
their second crop of pods. The primary stems bore 
a few pods at the top, and which had filled up after 
the others were gathered. In this there was nothing 
singular, but close to the base of the stems a goodly 
number of the axillary buds, which usually remain 
undeveloped, had grown into short shoots bearing 
two to four well-filled pods, that might have been 
gathered for use a week before we saw them. 
Although the phenomenon is not quite new to us yet 
we presume that the second crop is seldom so good 
as that sent us by Mr. Pentney. Peas are usually 
too thickly sown to favour branching and the pro¬ 
duction of a second crop. The sender tells us that 
the Peas were planted at the foot of a south aspect 
wall, and not being staked the stems lay along the 
ground. This we have no doubt gave the impetus 
to the second growth, as may be seen in various 
other plants under similar conditions. In any case 
the Peas have repaid the time and trouble in con¬ 
nection with them.— Ed.] 
The date on which my early Peas were sown was 
the 12th of March. They were all sown on a south 
border in a very exposed garden in the north of 
Derbyshire. I might add that this garden is very 
shallow; in some places there is not 18 in. of soil. 
On the 13th I sowed in the open quarter Exonian 
(Veitch), William I., and Lightning (Carter's); the 
last was the first to turn in; Exonian was eight 
days later ; and William I. a week later. Still the 
last-named is a very good Pea where it does well, 
but it certainly does not do well here. Exonian has 
only grown 18 in. high with me this year. There 
are plenty of Peas that do no good in this garden ; 
amongst others are Dr Maclean, Duke of Albany, 
Sharp's Queen, Stratagem, and Dickson’s First and 
Best. For midsummer and late use for me there is 
none to beat Autocrat (Veitch) and Ne Plus Ultra. 
If G. T., Uritca Villa, has not tried Lightning, I 
should strongly advise him to do so, and if it does as 
well with him as it does with me he will be pleased 
with it.— Thos. Cockerill, Wirksworth, Derbyshire. 
In the issue of the 29th June, regarding early Peas 
in the south of Scotland, I may say we in the 
“ Hielands ” are not so far behind. By referring to 
my note book my early Peas (Dickson’s First and 
Best) were sown in the open border facing S.W. on 
the 8th March, and on the 21st June I sent in the 
first dish, and every day since that time I have kept 
up the supply. I also find other vegetables much 
earlier than usual. I have been sending in ready 
for the table since the middle of June, Turnips, Car¬ 
rots, Potatos, Cauliflowers, &c., all from the open 
border. During the months of April and May we 
had very mild weather, but on the 13th June in the 
gardens here we had 4 0 of frost, which damaged 
many tender things, such as Kidney Beans and some 
of the bedded-out plants.—^. T. Urqiihart, The Gar¬ 
dens, Balnagowan Castle, Park Hill, Ross-glime. 
-«*-- 
CHOCHO, OR CHAYOTES. 
The Chocho (Sechium edule) is a curious member 
of the Cucumber family, and is so named in the West 
Indian Islands, of which it is a native, and where it 
is reckoned a wholesome article of human food by the 
people there. The generic name is derived from a 
Greek word signifying " to fatten in a stall,” and 
has been given to it because reputed a fattening food 
for hogs and other animals. Besides being a native 
of and cultivated in all the islands of the West 
Indian group, it has been introduced into Madeira 
and others of the Atlantic islands, and sometimes 
finds its way, in a fresh state, into Covent Garden, 
under the name of Chayotes. The seeds, from 
which the specimen under notice was raised, were 
obtained from the West Indies by Mr. J. Haws—the 
inventor of the improved watering can—4, Glaskin 
Villas, Lea Bridge Road, Clapton, F.. The fruits 
were grown by Mr. T. Rochford, Turnford, to whom 
we are indebted for the specimen from which the 
accompanying sketch was made. It measured in. 
in length by 3J in. in breadth at the widest part, and 
was deeply five-furrowed, with broad rounded ridges 
indicating as many carpels that take part in the 
structure of the fruit. The skin was green, though 
in some cases it is cream-coloured, and covered by 
soft spines. The fruit was split open at the apex, as 
may be seen by reference to the illustration, and 
through the cleft we could see the huge solitary seed 
in the interior. The most curious point about this 
plant is that the seedling germinates in the fruit 
while still hanging upon the plant. It had already 
burst through the seed and showed itself plainly to 
anyone looking down the opening at the top. 
-- 
STUDENTS’ VISIT TO A MARKET 
GARDEN. 
The time table of the Summer School of Horticul¬ 
ture held by the County Council of Essex in their 
Technical Laboratories at Chelmsford during the 
present month, includes, as a finish to the first week’s 
