October 24, 1896. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
123 
The time of gathering would largely be decided, 
not only by the season, but by the state of the 
market. Early soft-fleshed Apples such as Ecklin- 
ville Seedling and Lord Suffield should be gathered 
before they are quite ripe, and marketed as soon as 
possible. These would then be disposed of before 
foreign fruit glutted the market. Mid-season sorts 
might also be picked, and sold with the early ones, 
or allowed to hang on the trees as long as possible, 
gathered and kept with the later ones until after the 
foreign ones had been disposed of when a much 
better price would be obtained. As an instance of 
what we might expect this year in the way of 
American Apples, Mr. Watkins stated there were 
one and a half millions of barrels of good fruit in 
Canada waiting to be shipped, and England was 
looked upon as the best market. 
It should be borne in mind that late Apples will 
not keep fresh and plump for long if gathered before 
they are ripe. In a hot season much of the fruit 
gets grubby and falls from the trees, thus deceiving 
growers as to the forwardness of the crop. He 
advised the marketing of windfalls at frequent 
intervals. He also recommended a thinning of the 
fruit before it had reached its full size, the thinnings 
also being sold. The remainder of the crop would 
be much improved thereby, and would fetch more 
money than would have been obtained if no thinning 
had been given, and, moreover, the trees would be 
greatly relieved. The experience of twenty-five 
years had convinced him that fruit need not be dry 
when gathered, a little dampness did not affect its 
keeping qualities, provided it was not stored in such 
thick layers as to cause it to heat. 
In gathering, great care was necessary, and it 
should be remembered that fruit is very easily 
bruised. Shallow baskets, holding only a single 
layer were the best receptacles to use for the best 
fruit. The practice of tying a bag round the body 
of the operator for the purpose of holding the fruit 
was a bad one. Long light ladders would be 
required in dealing with tall standards, whilst 
for tall bushes or short standards three light 
ladders fastened at the top by hinges to a triangular 
piece of iron admitted of the fruit being easily 
gathered without the trees being damaged. Mr. 
Watkins exhibited a model of this apparatus by way 
of illustration. 
The essayist then went on to consider the question 
of storehouses. For high class fruit a properly con¬ 
structed house was necessary, a good model one being 
in Messrs. Geo. Bunyard & Co.’s establishment. This 
was built of wood, and had a thatched roof, with 
arrangements at the apex for ventilating. It was 
furnished with double doors and windows, and he 
believed cost /30. His own storehouse had been an 
old “ silo.” In order to keep Apples properly, a low 
uniform temperature was necessary—just above 
but not below, freezing point was best. A damp 
atmosphere was also desirable. For the 
first three or four weeks after gathering, Apples 
should be freely ventilated, but after this they 
would keep better if light and air were excluded. 
Double walls, doors, and windows were excellent 
contrivances for excluding frost. If by any chance 
the fruit was frozen it should be allowed to thaw 
gradually in the dark, and must on no account be 
handled ; for every place where it was touched whilst 
in this condition decay would subsequently set in. 
A very useful kind of storing had lately been 
patented by Mr. Orr, of Bedford, which would 
doubtless come largely into use. 
In marketing, it was needful, continued the 
essayist, to study the varieties somewhat. It was no use 
to send anything but good fruit to Covent Garden, 
although some of the coarser sorts as Catshead, 
found a ready sale in other parts. Cox’s Orange 
Pippin again was more eagerly sought after in 
London than it was farther north, where its merits 
were not so well known ; Whiting Pippin commanded 
a good sale in Birmingham, but was not known much 
elsewhere. 
On the subject of grading, Mr. Watkins was most 
emphatic. He believed the practice of this was one 
of the secrets of the success of the foreign trade, 
and if English growers wished to make fruit growing 
pay they must do likewise. If the fruit was mixed, 
or not graded, only a third-rate price would be 
received for it; whereas by sorting it into first, 
second, and third qualities ; first-class, second-class, 
and third-class prices would be received respectively. 
As an instance of this he remembered seeing boxes 
of selected fruits of Peasgood’s Nonsuch sell at 
4s. 6d. and 5s. a box, and this to dealers, whilst 
ungraded fruit only fetched as much per bushel. 
Third-class Apples could easily be disposed of for 
jam making, and thousands of tons annually were 
utilised thus for sale in some of the more thickly 
populated districts. 
In addition to “grading,” every grower should 
“ brand ” his fruit, and in packing should learn to 
pack attractively but fairly. The practice of 
" topping up ” as it was commonly called, i.e., 
putting the best fruit at the top, was entirely out of 
date, although a cynic had confidentially informed 
him that a grower who did not “ top up ” deserved 
to be canonised. 
If barrels or boxes were used for packing purposes 
they should be uniform in size and weight, also the 
fruit they contained. In packing in barrels the fruit 
was gently forced into the barrel so that no room for 
" play ” was given. The material known as “ wood 
wool ” was very suitable for wrapping the fruit up in. 
Firm packing was essential. It might be of service 
if he quoted the resolution recently passed by the 
American Shippers’ Association with regard to first- 
grade Apples. These were required to be free from 
worms or defacement of skin, of good and normal 
colour, uniform size, and shapely form. 
The Rev. P. Clementi-Smith, F.R.H.S., stated 
that in Canada the general plan was to loosen the 
rings of the barrels when packing, and to tighten 
them up when full. Mr. Roupell also added to the 
discussion, fully endorsing Mr. Watkins' remarks 
anent grading and packing. He had had io° of 
frost in his fruit room on occasion, but as he had 
taken care not to touch the fruit whilst frozen, but 
little harm had been done. He also spoke of finding 
in his boyhood’s days, samples of Mannington 
Pearmain Apple in the grassy furrows of the 
orchards, the fruit being little, if any, the worse for 
lying out under the snow all the winter. 
A vote of thanks to Mr. Watkins was proposed by 
the chairman, and being carried unanimously, the 
series of lectures came to a close. 
- 
GAS LIME NOT A CURE FOR 
CLUBBING. 
Some time ago I ventured in your columns to 
question the efficacy of gas lime as a cure for 
clubbing. In every instance in which I have found 
it had been used, all the plot had been treated alike 
and not a patch left undone for comparison. I have 
before me a report of experiments conducted by the 
Lancashire County Council at Aughton, near Orms-- 
kirk, for the clubroot and other diseases and insects. 
"As much has been written ” the report says “con¬ 
cerning the cure of land infested with the Anbury 
Fungus (Plasmodiophora Brassicae) by special dress¬ 
ings, acid or alkaline, or other germ destroyers, we 
made experiments on a piece of land very badly infested 
and placed at the disposal of the class by Mr. John 
Prescott, Brookfield Farm, Aughton. Plots of one 
perch each were marked out on the fallow land, and the 
dressings applied at the rate of 5 cwt. per acre, except 
superphosphates, which were pro rata 10 cwt. per acre 
and lime and gas lime unmeasured, but a good dress¬ 
ing. The applications were as follows—dressed on 
the 24th April, the soluble salts dissolved and spread 
by a watering can. 
Plot A.—Superphosphate, 26 per cent, soluble. 
,, B.—Sulphate of copper. 
,, C.—Superphosphate. 
„ D.—Saltpetre (nitrate of potash). 
,, E.—Chloride of lime. 
,, F.—Sulphate of iron. 
,, G.—Borate soda (borax). 
,, H.—Soda (sub-carbonate). 
,, I.—Carbonate of ammonia. 
,, K.—Alum. 
,, L.—Nil (witness plot). 
,, M.—Lime. 
,, N. —Gas Lime. 
,, O.—Nil (witness plot). 
The land was turned over by the plough, manured 
in the ordinary manner, and drilled up and planted 
and sown with Cauliflower (late and early), Brussels 
Sprouts, Swedes, and early Cabbage, in separate 
drills, running lengthwise through the dressed 
breadths. 
" On the 9th July, a demonstration was held and 
the result appeared very dubious. The Brussels 
Sprouts and early Cauliflowers on plots A to F and 
also on M alone showed any symptoms of vigour 
Borax (plot G) seemed to be a plant poison. The 
Swedes on it died soon after sprouting, and the other 
plants were pining. The final demonstration was 
held on the 26th September and all details may be 
spared, as the result showed that not one of the 
dressings achieved the purpose of its intention, as a 
cure of badly infected land, whatever might be their 
respective virtues as preventives. Every plant 
examined was clubbed and the general yield miser¬ 
able.” 
Gas lime it will be seen made not the slightest 
difference, and those who contend that it is a cure 
for clubbing, cannot have given it a comparative 
trial, and have simply related what they have read 
or heard in its favour.— W. P. R. 
-- 
COLTNESS, WISHAW, N.B. 
With the accompaniment of a Scotch blizzard with¬ 
out, methought it not an unfitting time to make a 
few notes of this charming place as far as under 
cover is concerned, or, to speak in garden parlance, 
all that is to be seen under glass, all of which is, of 
course, under the culture and direction of that 
amiable and courteous dispenser of that talent in his 
profession with which he is possessed, Mr. Graham. 
On Thursday the 8th inst., my, for the nonce, 
business proclivities, betook me to this charming 
residence, the abode of James Houldsworth, Esq., 
situated on the upper verge of Wishaw, N.B. A 
somewhat imposing entrance gate and a not un¬ 
becoming lodge greeted me on my entrance to a drive 
which seemed the best part of half a mile before the 
gardener’s cottage hove in sight. As hinted at in 
my opening remark, the weather was such, that a 
great temptation was thrown in my way to take a 
closer inspection of all that is to be seen there in the 
wealth of houses, that is at Mr. Graham’s command, 
and of which he makes the best possible use. The 
wind without was blowing half a gale, the rain with 
which it was associated, together with the frigidity 
of the atmosphere, making agreeable travelling for 
the time being, quite out of the question; and so I 
took a few notes of those things with which Coltness 
abounds, and at sight of which I oftimes marvelled, 
taking into consideration the atmosphere with which 
this district is infested, and the comparative absence 
of sunshine that according to Mr. Giaham, his fair 
place is blessed with. 
Following up the instructions received as to the 
whereabouts of the gentleman of whom I was in 
quest, I plunged into the Melon pits, there to 
perceive the object of my search, bared up to the 
elbows at work as the Scotch gardener knows how to 
do with a will. 
The first thing that met my eye here, was a plant 
of Tecoma Smithii in bloom, the first one I have seen 
flowered so well, revealing a truss of flowers not 
unlike the Java Rhododendron in form, the foliage 
such as will vie almost with Grevillea robusta for 
decorative properties. This fact considered, there¬ 
fore, it can assuredly be said to be a distinct 
desideratum as an advancement on the uses to which 
the old Grevillea is put, on account of the bloom. 
The pit, I may say, is a spacious one in two compart¬ 
ments, taken up chiefly with some well-grown 
Cinerarias just coming out of the bud—early for¬ 
sooth—for the exigencies of Mr. Graham’s employers 
are such that a wealth of bloom is required early, on 
account of their migration soon after the advent of 
the new year. 
A lovely house of richly - coloured Crotons, 
splendidly furnished from pot to tip, meets the eye 
as the way is led to a neat little span-roofed house 
about 18 ft. by 12 ft. In an adjoining house the eye 
is dazzled with a veritable blaze of Clerodendron 
fallax, well-trussed in 48-size pots, for the seed of 
which, I was informed, friends from far and near 
make constant demands. Immediately following 
these gorgeous flowers came a mass of splendidly- 
bloomed Primula obconica, flanked with a well- 
flowered strain of P. sinensis. Clean and full of buds 
was a large batch of Gardenia floribunda for which 
there is a great request for buttonhole work. 
And now for the early vineries, in some of which 
were being arranged at my visit, a healthy mass of 
well-budded Chrysanthemums, which by the way 
are not grown here for exhibition purposes, but are 
managed so as to give the greatest amount of bloom 
in the shortest possible time. Though such is the 
case, many of the latest introductions in the Chry- 
