103 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
October 17, 1896. 
Two systems of manufacture have sprung out of 
the various endeavours to obviate this difficulty. 
The first is the more Datural one, the fermentation 
beiDg checked when it had gone far enough, the 
bottled off liquor retaining much of its natural 
sweetness, with a very low alcoholic percentage. By 
the second method the liquor was fermented nearly 
to “dryness,” the whole of the sugar being con¬ 
verted into alcohol. Thiswasthe easier method, but 
both have thetr votaries. 
He recommended cider to all as a natural, pleasant, 
and refreshing drink of low alcoholic strength. Dry 
cider would contain about ten per cent, of alcohol, 
but ordinary sweet cider rarely contains as much as 
four per cent. The latter, therefore, he considered 
to be a temperance drink, and preferable to all so- 
called temperance drinks, as it contained less alcohol. 
(A voice, No, No). The lecturer then went on to detail 
the medicinal value of cider, which, by all accounts, 
uncommonly resembles a box of patent pills ; in that 
it is a remedy for all the ills to which flesh is heir. 
It was good for gout, because the malic acid it con¬ 
tained, did not form precipitates of lime or chalk, as 
did the tartaric acid of wine. It was good for 
cholera and diarrhoea, and according to an article 
recently appearing in the Lancet, it is possessed of 
the faculty of prolonging, and yet intensifying 
digestion. The people of Hereford were among the 
longest livers in the country, of course, because they 
drink so much cider. Here the lecturer proceeded 
to emphasize bis remarks by taking a draught of the 
wondrous elixir himself. 
Proceeding, the value of cider Apples was stated to 
be from £5 to 30s. per ton, whilst good varieties will 
fetch from 5s. to 6s. per cwt. Perry made from 
some varieties of Pears, as, for instance, the 
Longman, was almost indistinguishable from cider. 
With regard to the threatening nature of American 
competition, Mr. Radcliffe Cooke believes it to be 
pure " bluff.” English cider was of better quality 
than American, and he adduced cases of where the 
imported stuff had been refused when it was 
substituted for English. He had obtained the latest 
returns from the Board of Trade about this matter, 
and they certainly did not tend to show that the 
import trade was on the increase. In 1893, America 
sent us 537,000 gallons, and we received about 
20,000 gallons from other sources; 1894, 409,000 
gallons came from America; in 1895, 579,000 
gallons, and in 1896, up to August 21st, 246,881 
gallons. A comparison of these figures would tell 
its own tale. 
Meanwhile, he should strenuously advise the 
renovation of the orchards, as many of them were 
in a bad state. Forty years ago, French orchards 
were in a deplorable condition, but the state came to 
the assistance of cultivators. The eradication of 
insect pests was another important point. Greasing 
the trees in autumn, and spraying them in spring, 
should be practised extensively, although it was of 
not the slightest use for one cultivator to do it, if his 
neighbours did not. There must be concerted 
action. In Tasmania, laws were passed to compel 
cultivators to take the necessary steps to keep their 
orchards clean ; also in Germany, where inspectors 
were sent round every two or three years, and the 
delinquents fined heavily. It would be well if like 
measures were taken in England. 
Instruction in the science underlying the practice 
of cider making should also be given, and he should 
recommend the establishment of two fruit farms, 
stocked with the necessary plant; one in Hereford, 
and the other on the borders of Devon and Somerset. 
At present, the question of distribution was a serious 
drawback, for railway rates generally were so heavy 
that they cost the consumer from 4d. to 5d. per 
gallon. He thought that the state should acquire 
the canals, and work them to the public advantage. 
Mr, Radcliffe Cooke concluded a most interesting 
lecture by inveighing very stroDgly against adultera¬ 
tion. He would have all adulterated stuff declared 
upon a label attached to the bottles. 
In the discussion that followed, Mr. Watkins, and 
Mr. Gaymer, both well-known in the cider 
industry, added their testimony to the value of the 
lecture, and gave some interesting facts of their own 
experience. In answer to a question by Mr. A. 
Dean, the lecturer said that cider was not at present 
an excisable article. Mr. Dean also condemned the 
sweeping assertions that had been made as to the 
presence of alcohol in aerated waters, as they were 
totally erroneous. 
PLEROMA ELEGANS. 
This, although a native of Brazil, and often treated 
as a stove plant, succeeds better in a warm green¬ 
house ; and during the summer months, well 
established plants are better in the open air. This is 
one of the most beautiful of tender stove and green¬ 
house plants, known. Its large glossy purple flowers 
are of a colour possibly unequalled by anything 
among the many beautiful shrubby plants in culti¬ 
vation. Introduced in 1842, it was for a long time a 
very popular plant with exhibitors in the palmy days 
of specimen plant growing. Its culture is very 
simple, as it roots as easily as a Pelargonium from 
half-ripened shoots during July. The cuttings 
succeed best inserted siDgly in small pots well 
drained and filled with a mixture of peat, loam, and 
sand, passed through a fine sieve. Cover with a bell 
glass, keep moist and shaded ; and an ordinary hot 
bed is the most suitable place for the operation. 
Here they will root in a few weeks; after which 
remove the bell glass, and pinch out the points of 
the shoots to induce side growths, and subject them 
to greenhouse treatment during the winter. The 
following summer place out of doors, where they will 
be shaded from the mid-day sun. As they grow, 
give when required a shift into larger pots, using a 
mixture of fibrous peat, good yellow loam and coarse 
silver sand. Plants in from 8-in. to 10-in. pots are 
large enough for general purposes, and with a view 
to this, a stock of fresh plants should be propagated 
every other year at the least. With this treatment 
they are generally pretty free from insect pests, and 
will bloom freely from nearly every shoot. A nice 
well-grown plant of this is, when in flower, second to 
none of a similar-character in cultivation.— W.B.G. 
-- 
Hardening §[iscellany. 
PEAR BEURRE HARDY. 
I was pleased to see your able correspondent, “ Mr. 
Stogdon,” writing so highly of this variety. I, too, 
can vouch for its fine flavour. I have one tree on the 
Cordon principle in the open, which has carried an 
excellent crop of very fine fruit that was in use the 
third week in September. I don’t know its origin, 
though, if my memory serves me right, I have heard 
we are indebted to the French for its introduction, 
as we are for a host of other good varieties.— Bicton. 
BEGONIA GRACILIS MARTIANA. 
A correspondent sends us a flowering spray of this 
old fashioned Begonia, the typical form of which 
was originally introduced from Mexico in 1829. He 
received it from Scotland and considers it well worth 
growing, and with that we agree. The flowers are 
produced in small clusters all along the stem, and a 
large proportion of them being open at 1 the same 
time, they are very effective. The colour is a rich 
rose fading towards the centre of the flower. The 
green stems are slender, upright, green, and bear a 
cluster of small bulbils in the axil of each leaf, by 
which the plant may be propagated to any extent. 
The bulbils are so small that they may be sown like 
seed, and the plantlets grown to flowering size. The 
variety B. g. martiana differs from the type in having 
much larger and more showy flowers. The leaves 
are small, bright green and shining, and add to the 
gracefulness of the plant. 
SOME GOOD DECORATIVE DAHLIAS. 
Cactos Dahlias have been taken up by Dahlia 
growers so enthusiastically of late, and we have, as a 
result, so many charming varieties from which to 
pick and choose that a reconsideration of the points 
which should belong [to a true Cactus variety was 
necessary. In consequence of this many varieties 
have been relegated to what is known as the 
“ decorative ” section. This class of flowers lacks 
the narrow pointed, and involute or revolute floret of 
the true Cactus form, but is possessed of no mean 
share of beauty and usefulness. A boxful of decora¬ 
tive Dahlias recently forwarded us by Messrs. Town¬ 
send Bros , Bloxham, Oxon, well merits a word of 
commendation. Several forms, including rosy- 
magenta, orange-buff, and pale amaranth flowers, 
were of considerable merit. Naturally, the season 
is too far advanced to expect very large blooms, 
especially when we take into consideration its 
unfavourable character, but still in point of size the 
blooms were fair. The varieties in question are 
stated to be very free flowering, and of fixed 
character, having been thoroughly tested for three 
years. A somewhat striking single form accompanied 
them, the petals of which are white, edged with old 
gold. 
ORCHID PEAT. 
The character and quality of Orchid peat is deter¬ 
mined by the amount of fibre it contains. Various 
plants other than Orchids are potted in peat of a 
variable nature, but that for Orchids must leave little 
room for variation, otherwise there would be a great 
waste of material by the picking out of the fibre. A 
very fine sample has been sent us by Messrs. Wood 
& Son, Wood Green, London. It consisted of a cube 
whose side was 4J in., and this seemed to have been 
cut by a knife or other sharp instrument, for the 
sides were perpendicular and the angles quite sharp. 
The whole piece consisted of an interlacing mass of 
fibres, mostly Bracken roots, so much in request for 
this kind of work. When this is broken up, there 
cannot in the nature of things be much waste, that 
is, the loose material when the roots are shaken out 
must be small in quantity. The lightness of the 
mass also furnished evidence of the small quantity of 
earthy matter present. 
BEGONIAS AT LEIGHTON BUZZARD. 
Until quite recently a fine display of tuberous 
Begonias might have been seen at Holmeside, 
Leighton Buzzard, the residence of Edward Edwards, 
Esq., who grows many thousands of them. In the 
garden behind the house were some thousands of 
double varieties. Some excellent samples of selected 
ones grown under glass we have also seen. The 
single varieties were grown in a field in front of the 
house, quite close to the main thoroughfare leading 
to Woburn. Many of the varieties grown here 
might very well be considered as approaching per¬ 
fection, each according to its kind. Flowers of a 
great variety of types might have been seen—flat, 
perfectly circular, serrated, fringed, crimped, and 
beautifully wavy, as well as the smooth-edged types. 
Richly-coloured flowers varied from pure white to 
the deepest velvety-crimson and nearly black. Way¬ 
farers going to and from the old market town had 
no difficulty in getting a full view of this gorgeous 
display of tuberous Begonias set out by Mr. Edwards. 
--4-- 
AN ELECTRIC FARM. 
Though experiments in the growth of vegetables 
have been conducted at several of the experiment 
stations in the United States, the first farmer to turn 
it to practical account was Mr. Thomas Fleming, of 
Jones River, New Jersey. His farm consists of 
fifty acres of land lying on either side of a stream 
flowing into the river. He dammed the stream at 
three points and put in turbine wheels, by which the 
electricity was generated. From the power house 
moveable cables ran to the greenhouse and other 
points on the farm. Electric motors attached to the 
cables worked a plough which turned over six furrows 
at a time. The plough was procured from Vienna. 
Rakes, harrows, reapers, and mowers are worked by 
these motors, which receive the current from over¬ 
head and ground wires which run in all directions 
over the farm, 
Sowing and the spreading of fertilisers are effected 
in the same way. Wire netting, heavily charged 
with electricity, is dragged over the ground and 
between rows of plants, so that the ground is kept 
clean of weeds in this way. Horses are not required 
at all. The greenhouse is kept lighted at night by 
electricity, and by the sun during the day. Amber 
globes to the lamps prevent injury to the plants. 
Other houses are also lighted by this means. Wires 
buried at a depth of 2 in. in the soil, supply a 
stimulus to the growth of the plants, independently 
of the lamps 
Lettuce, Spinach, Radishes, and other subjects 
are raised in this way, and are said to be matured in 
half the time. The Radishes attain a large size. 
Flowers had their petals injured by the light at first; 
but the glare of the lamps was toned down and 
softened till perfectly harmless. Nevertheless, the 
flowers are said to last for a shorter period of time 
than those reared in the ordinary way, though they 
are larger, more brilliant, and answer the purpose of 
decoration under artificial light during the evening. 
As soon as the seed is sown, the current is turned on 
the underground wires, and germination started, and 
the process of hastening carried on till the crop is 
ready for harvesting. The production is 50 per cent, 
greater than under ordinary circumstances. 
Cabbages have been produced 2 ft. in diameter, 
Lettuces 3 ft. high, and egg fruits six pounds in 
weight. The daily working of the farm in this way 
costs less than the board of four horses. The initial 
cost of the machinery, etc., was £5,000. 
