March 18, 1899. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
455 
Sugar Beet in Kent.- The report of the analyses of 
the sugar Beet grown at Romney Marsh, in Kent, 
recently given by a firm of sugar refiners in Liver¬ 
pool, is both satisfactory and encouraging to those 
who promoted the experiments at Romney Marsh 
These experiments, we learn, were conducted under 
the auspices and with the approval of the Board of 
Agriculture, and the results prove that the district is 
well suited for the production of high-class roots for 
the sugar refiner. 
A reputed Irish Carex.— At the meeting of the Lin- 
nean Society of London, on March 2nd, Mr. G. C. 
Druce, F.L S., read a paper on the reported occur¬ 
rence in Ireland of Carex rhynchophysa, and gave 
reasons for believing that Carex rostrata var. lati- 
folia had been mistaken for it. Typical specimens 
of both were exhibited, and also a coloured drawing 
by Mr. N. E. Brown, A.L.S., of one of the plants 
collected by Mr Lloyd Praeger near Mullaghmore 
Lough, Armagh. Some further remarks were made 
by Mr. C. B. Clarke, more especially with reference 
to the descriptions of plants believed to be new to 
the British Flora. 
London and Paris. A Contrast.—In these days 
when so much attention is beiDg called to the value 
of fruit and vegetables as food it is interesting to 
note the differences in the food of nations. English¬ 
men are known the whole world over as great meat- 
eaters, and this receives additional proof, if such 
were required, by a comparison drawn as to the fruit 
and vegetables consumed by a Londoner and a 
Parisian. The Londoner consumes per annum as 
follows :—Apples, 65 lb. 6 oz.; Asparagus, 1 lb. 3 oz.; 
Carrots, 7 lb. 3 oz.; Celery, n oz.; Cherries, 2 lb. 
13 oz.; Onions, 33 lb. 9 oz.; Pears. 39 lb. 5 oz.; 
Peas, 3 lb. 8 oz.; Plums and Damsons, 17 lb. 12 oz.; 
Potatos, 173 lb. 4 oz.; Raspberries, 4 oz.; Straw¬ 
berries, 3 lb. 10 oz. ; Tomatos, 57 lb. 4 oz. Against 
■ this, the record of the Parisian is—Apples, 145 lb.; 
Asparagus, 5 lb. 4 oz.; Carrots, 37 lb. ; Celery, 6 lb. 
23 oz.; Cherries, 20 lb. 14 oz ; Onions, 4 lb. 7 oz. ; 
Pears, 170 lb. 13 oz.; Peas, 6 lb. 15 oz.; Plums and 
Damsons, 183 lb. 4 oz.; Potatos, 49 lb. 4 oz. ; Rasp¬ 
berries, 2 lb.; Strawberries, 13 lb. 12 oz.; Tomatos, 
17 lb. 2 oz. If we lump the whole of this produce 
together, we shall find that the Londoner consumes 
405 lb. 12 oz., and the Parisian 663 2 oz., or 257 lb. 
6 oz. more than the Londoner. The Londoner eats 
more Cabbages, Cucumbers, Turnips, Potatos, 
Onions, and Tomatos than the Parisian, but of other 
vegetables and fruits the Frenchman eats more, 
whilst in the aggregate his diet will be found to 
exhibit a much greater quantity of fruit and vege¬ 
tables in proportion to meat than is seen in the case 
of the Englishman. 
Preserving Flowers for Winter Bouquets.— The 
practice of drying flowers so as to retain their shape 
and colour is necessarily limited, by reason of the 
fact that there are comparatively few flowers that 
lend themselves to the treatment. In Germany such 
subjects as Roses, China Asters, Pansies, Sanvitalia 
procumbens, Gomphrena globosa, G. aurantiaca, 
Acroclinium roseum, and Ammobium alatum are 
successfully dried. The method for the Rose is as 
follows :—The flowers are gathered before they are 
fully opened, evening being the best time. They are 
fastened together in twos, so as to hang on a string or 
rod, this string or rod being placed in a box at a dis¬ 
tance of 19 in. or 23 in. from the bottom, the flowers 
being so arranged as not to touch each other, a layer 
of sulphur about one tenth of an inch in depth 
having meanwhile been placed on the bottom of the 
box. The box is then hermetically closed, and the 
flowers are left for twelve hours in the sulphur 
fumes. Under their influence red or rose turns 
nearly white, but the colour returns after after a few 
days. To complete the process the flowers are 
placed in a dry room where the sun’s rays cannot 
reach them. China Asters are treated in much the 
same fashion, but with this difference that before 
being enclosed in the box they are dipped in water, 
in which sulphur has been placed, otherwise the 
process is the same. The Creeping Sanvitalia, the 
Crimson Amarantine, and the double zonal 
Pelargonium are preserved in very fine dry sand. 
A layer of the sand is placed in the box, the flowers 
laid on it with their stalks pointing upwards, and 
the flowers are then completely covered with sand. 
The box is then exposed to the full glare of the sun, 
by which time the drying of the flowers is generally 
completed. 
The Black Rose Again,— The Novosti, of St. Peters¬ 
burg, recently referred to those black Roses of which 
we have heard before. They are declared to be the 
results of ten years of unremitting labour by a Rus¬ 
sian florist named Fetisoff, of Woronesch. It is 
stated that some of these “ darkies ” were sent to the 
" Great White Czar ” and also that a collection has 
been forwarded to London. We shall be glad to 
see them. 
How Nitrates are Lost.—Nitrates are very soluble 
in water, and when drainage waters are examined, it 
is almost always found that they are carrying away 
considerable quantities of nitrates. Soils have thus 
a much greater holding capacity for ammonia and 
phosphoric acid. The great solubility of nitrates in 
water is a weighty reason why nitrate of soda should 
only be given to crops that are in a condition to take 
immediate advantage of it. If any great length of 
time elapses between the application of the manure 
and the time when the plants commence to utilise it, 
considerable loss is bound to occur. 
The International Exhibition of 1900 at Paris —At 
a sitting held on February 2nd, when M. Ch. Baltet 
presided, the committee to whose charge has been 
committed the management of the horticultural 
section of the 1900 exhibition accepted the proposal to 
organise an Arborticultural and a Pomological Con¬ 
gress. The desire was expressed that the congress 
should be fixed for the occasion of the grand fruit 
exhibition, or about the 25th of September, 1900. 
Memoranda treating on the following subjects 
will be received :—1. Fruit Farms; conditions, cul¬ 
tural and economic—choice of the best varieties, and 
their employment. 2. Fruit Plantations by the road 
side; 3 Harvesting and Preservation of fruits, and 
their packing; 4. Cider fruits, their culture and 
employment; 5. Atmospheric Agents ; their influence 
in forced culture of fruit trees and the Vine ; 6. Vege¬ 
table Physiology from the fruiting point of view : 
grafting and pruning; 7. Tariffs and transport 
conditions of trees and fruits ; 8. Insects, Maladies, 
Treatments; 9. Manures and improvements; 10. 
Fruit trees in connection with their propagation in 
the colonies; 11. Teaching fruit tree culture, school 
gardens, courses of public lectures, conferences, etc. 
A commission has been appointed to look after the 
organisation of the Arboricultural and Pomological 
Congress. —Nord Horticole. 
The Sherry Industry.—A most interesting, illus¬ 
trated article upon the rise, progress, and present 
condition of the sherry industry in Spain appears in 
Commercial Intelligence for February 25th. In the 
matter of natural advantages the Peninsula is " a 
land flowing with milk and honey ” but Spanish 
apathy is such that it has been left to British enter¬ 
prise to develop the industry in the sunny land of 
Spain ; in fact, three-fourths of the industry are 
carried on by the Britishers. The bad government 
of Spain, however, has not been able to spoil the 
fertile plains of Andalusia. The maritime lowlands 
on the south and south-east are characterised by the 
most luxuriant vegetation. Groves of Oranges, 
Lemons, Mulberries, Figs, and Olives are to be seen 
on every hand, whilst the vineyards are occasionally 
varied by stretches of cornfields, and the dwelling- 
houses are embowered in flowering shrubs and 
Cypresses. Jerez de la Frontera and its immediate 
neighbourhood form the centre of the wine industry. 
Jerez is pronounced “ Heretb,” and its old Arabic 
name of Sherish, it is easy to see, has given rise to 
the modern wine name, sherry. Jerez is situated on 
the banks of the river Guadalete, and with its streets 
dotted with Orange and Acacia trees is one of the 
most picturesque towns of the Old World. The Vine 
district is about 10 miles broad by 12 miles long, and 
in this area there is a considerable difference of soil. 
The best wine comes from Vines growing on the 
chalky hill slopes, where the white, close soil is called 
" albariza ” by the natives, and the coarser from 
vines in the lowlands, where the soil is of an alluvial 
nature and very dark in colour. A branch line of 
railway is seen from the centre of the shipping 
“ bodega ” or place where the wine is matured, and 
this runs to the quay in the Bay of Cadiz, whence it 
is shipped to its destination. The total shipments of 
sherry from Jerez de la Frontera in 1897 was 50,391 
butts, and last year this had grown to 54,610 butts. 
It will thus be seen that the juice of the Grapes of 
Andalusia is not losing its attractiveness for the 
peoples of the civilised world. 
White ^nts are amongst the most inveterate enemies 
of the Chrysanthemum in the United States. 
The Juice of the Pineapple is said to cut the mem¬ 
brane in the throat of a diphtheria patient when every¬ 
thing else has failed. 
- 
POOR GARDENER !! 
A George Elliott, a Charlotte Bronte, a Mrs. 
Hemans or a Mrs. Beecher Stowe, is not an every 
day gitt from Heaven to us poor mortals and luckless 
gardeners. However, when they do come they have 
the power, not only to make us appreciate them 
while in the body, but also leave with us a treasure of 
valuable wealth, that grows in its increase as time 
separates us from them. How manly those noble 
women, and yet how feminine. 
Can any living being ever estimate the wealth of 
thought embodied in the works left by those high 
aspiring writers ? Where can the finger of the un¬ 
holy scorner point to any frivolous ideas which they 
ever contented themselves to place on paper. No, 
their mission was from above; they were not of this 
earth, and that mission was too sacred to desecrate. 
How changed with the minor lights of latter days. 
I see these faintly twinkling in the abyss of space as 
if each breath of wind that carries motion to the 
atmosphere, threatens extinction. As I gaze f see 
the flickering light little by little recede away, away, 
and it is lost for ever. On the other hand how 
steady and brilliant are the stars of our celebrated 
friends enumerated at the top of this page. Nightly, 
increasing in resplendence and power. 
It is eminently ludicrous to see one of those latter 
day writers (called in Scotland kailyairders) en¬ 
deavour to raise a siege against the citadel of horti¬ 
cultural education. I am, I candidly confess, not in 
a position to form any opinion on the merits of the 
author of "Their general education is not very wide 
to begin with, etc.," as a writer ; nor am I aware of 
any who have been so much impressed by her power 
as to make her popular in this part of the world. I 
am, however, satisfied that the deficiencies of educ¬ 
ation lie more on the side of the lady writer than on 
the side of the gardener. Imagine one of my above 
authoresses writing drivel such as " And their 
training is usually in a groove," and so on. Miss 
Jekyll is clearly writing in a groove, for which she is 
imperfectly educated. Her knowledge of the pro¬ 
fession is egregiously at fault, for she clearly is not 
acquainted with gardeners or their literature. I 
would venture the opinion that few if any operative 
professions can enjoy the reputation of being in the 
possession of such a fund of able literature as 
gardeners. I think Miss Jekyll must have mistaken 
the man who aspires to the charge of the garden, 
pony, piggery, henery, shoe-hall, and sometimes the 
beer-cellar, for the gardener. For the knowledge of 
this gardening authority, I quote the following from 
•' Dr. Loudon's Suburban Gardening ” :—" There 
are few persons, we believe, who have a more 
extensive personal knowledge of British master 
gardeners than we have, and we must say that, as a 
body, we have the very highest respect for them. 
They are almost all great readers; and in conse¬ 
quence of this, the intellectual and moral powers of 
many of them have been developed in a manner that 
commands our utmost veneration. There is scarcely 
a science or an art which some master gardener of 
our acquaintance has not of his own accord taken 
up and studied from books, so as to obtain a respect¬ 
able degree of knowledge of it. We know a number 
who have taught themselves several languages, and 
one of the best Hebrew scholars in Scotland, as we 
are informed by a clergyman (a good judge), is a 
gardener, who taught himself the language without 
the assistance of a master. We know gardeners that 
excel in almost every department of mathematics 
and geometry. Some are scientific meteorologists, 
naturalists in all the departments, and a number 
are good draftsmen. Many Scotch gardeners dip 
into metaphysics, and we have long known oni 
whose library contained the best English works on 
the subject." 
Here is a fine mess in which Miss Jekyll has got 
into. If gardeners at that time (60 years ago) were 
so far ahead in the van of education, what about 
them to-day ? It is unnecessary to say, for every 
educated lady and gentleman in Great Britain knows 
that they are just the opposite of what Miss Jekyll 
states.— Hamiltonian. 
