January 9, 1897. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
293 
The Apple is surpassed by no other fruit in the 
number of ways in which it may be prepared for 
food. 
Acacia dealbata has been in great demand in the 
Cardiff district of late, from 6s. to ios. per case of 
14 lbs. or 16 lbs. having been paid for it. 
Mistleto in good condition and well berried has 
realised from ios. to 20s. per cwt. Much of it is 
obtained from the orchards of Normandy. 
Roses in South Wales.—English blooms have been 
fetching from 2s. to 5s. per bunch of a dozen blooms, 
France sends heavy consignments which sell at 
from 3s. to 8s. per crate of 600 blooms. 
The Demand for Daffodils of good types such as 
Narcissus obvallaris, N. Emperor, N. Empress and 
N. bicolor Horsheldi, has been excellent during the 
past few months. 
A Hive Bee weighs about one-five-thousandth part 
of a pound, but when it comes in from the fields 
laden with honey or bee-bread (pollen) it weighs 
nearly three times more. 
Blackberries are propagated from roots in America, 
and the roots after being cut into small pieces are 
spoken of as “seed.” They are cut in the autumn, 
protected from frost during winter and planted out 
in spring. 
Wild Birds and Protection.—The Home Secretary 
upon the application of the London Couuty Council, 
has issued an order including the chaffinch in the list 
of birds enjoying the protection of the Wild Birds' 
Protection Act, 1880. 
Eastbourne Horticulturists were favoured, on 
December 10th, by Mr. J. Gore with an interesting 
and instructive lecture upon Melons and Cucumbers. 
The lecturer handled his subject in a practical and 
exhaustive fashion. Mr. H. J. White presided. 
Scottish Horticultural Association.—The energetic 
managers of this society are entitled to all credit for 
the manner in which they endeavour to keep the 
Chrysanthemum in evidence in all its most novel and 
useful forms. As our advertisement columns last 
week shew, 7 new classes are introduced for this year, 
whilst 5 of the old are withdrawn. The new classes 
are for blooms of the latest varieties which have 
proved their excellence, viz., Australian Gold, Edith 
Tabor, Emily Silsbury and Mrs. H. Weeks. Since 
printing our last issue we learn that the new class 
for 24 incurved should read 36 incurved. 
Charitable Horticulture.—During the last year the 
government of the United States has distributed 
gratuitously upwards of 230 tons of seeds, the cost 
of carriage alone exceeding $70,000. Enough of 
seed, we learn, was given away to plant 21,038 acres 
of Cabbage, 10,768 acres of Lettuce, and 10,712 acres 
of Tomatos, other vegetables being in similar pro¬ 
portions. The vegetable seeds alone cost the govern¬ 
ment $75,000, and transport and other expenses 
nearly doubled this sum. People who are able and 
ought to buy what they want are the ones who benefit 
by this wholesale throwing about of free seeds,and this 
fact has led the Secretary of Agriculture to say that 
he sincerely regrets this unnecessary and wasteful 
expenditure of public money, and to hope that Con¬ 
gress in good time may put a stop to it. 
Mr. Cypher’s Seventieth Birthday.—In commemora¬ 
tion of his attainment to the threescore years and 
ten, Mr. Cypher gave a dinner to his employes at 
Cheltenham on the evening of Friday, January 1st. 
The veteran horticulturist was accompanied by his 
two sons, Mr. William Cypher and Mr. Frank 
Cypher, his two nephews, Mr. John Cypher and Mr. 
William Cypher, and the heads of the various 
departments in the nursery. After an excellent 
repast, songs and speech-making were the order of 
the evening. Mr. Cypher, who was accorded an 
enthusiastic reception, said that it was thirty years 
last August since he laid the foundation of his busi¬ 
ness. It had grown to be a large place and a large 
responsibility. He was an old man, he said, and he 
had much to thank the Almighty for. He concluded 
his short speech with some excellent advice to be 
careful and saving, He himself had begun in a 
small way, and had practised strict economy, but 
perseverance and carefulness had brought their own 
reward. 
An open air demonstration in connection with the 
Horticultural class at Broadhempston, Devon, was 
held at Well House, the residence of Mr. R. Palk 
recently. 
Expensive Varieties of Hyacinths and Tulips never 
sell very readily in the European markets. Those 
varieties which are plentiful and reasonable in price 
have been pretty well cleared out. Some of the very 
best in cultivation are among the cheapest because 
common. 
Market Gardens are losing ground, as if they had 
ceased to pay, in Essex, Lancashire, Nottingham and 
Sussex. Essex and Sussex are within easy reach of 
London, and Lancashire growers are within easy 
reach of numerous large towns. 
Mary to Mistress.—"Tom, tbegardener, was trying 
to make a fool of me. He gave me some pots of earth 
and told me to put them into a dark press, but I 
wasna sae daft. I emptied them into the ash-pit.” 
Mistress (horrified) : “ Oh, Mary ! These were my 
Hyacinths.”— People's Journal. 
Pasture Experiments at Rothamsted. —The annual 
results of the pasture experiments show that the plot 
which has been manured for many years with salts 
of ammonia alone is fast approaching a condition of 
barrenness. The first crop of hay last summer was 
less than 1 cwt. per acre, and only the inferior 
grasses are now able to struggle for existence. 
The Medicinal Value of Apples, —The Bulletin of 
Pharmacy states that, “ Although the Apple is such a 
common fruit, very few persons are familiar with its 
remarkably efficacious properties.” To eat an Apple 
just before retiring for the night is the very best thing 
to do to obviate indigestion. To many this may seem 
rank heresy, but the Bulletin goes on to assure its 
readers that no harm can come, even to a delicate 
system, by the eating of a ripe and juicy Apple the 
last thing before going to bed. The Apple is excellent 
brain food, because it contains a greater quantity of 
phosphoric acid in an easily digestible form than 
other fruits. It stimulates the action of the liver, 
promotes sound and healthy sleep, and disinfects the 
mouth. Moreover, it is a grand preventive for throat 
diseases. We are here reminded of the old 
couplet— 
If you eat an Apple going to bed, 
You’ll let the doctors beg their bread. 
Profitable Vegetable Culture.—There .comes to hand 
an account of an individual who saved /2 by supply¬ 
ing his family with fresh vegetables grown upon the 
ungenerous soil and unfavourable aspect of the 
Newcastle Town Moor. Commenting upon this one 
of our contemporaries suggests the provision of 
allotments for town dwellers, and says that if allot¬ 
ments can be found in London they can in other 
places. It goes on further to state that “ there are 
comparatively few metropolitan houses but which 
have a strip of land attached, and that most of these 
strips are cultivated.” We wonder what sort of a 
London house the writer has been imagining. Land 
in London is-well! land, and the houses in 
which many working men live have often scarcely a 
back yard let alone a garden. 
Brixton Hill Wine.—Most of us at one time or 
another have heard of the large Fig tree on the walls 
of Lambeth Palace. More recently we recorded the 
case of a Vine in the Old Kent Road or close in the 
vicinity of that populous thoroughfare. Now we 
hear of a “ Brixtonian” brand of wine and champagne 
being made by a resident at Brixton Hill. Well, 
the main thoroughfare there is wider and the gardens 
larger than in the neighbourhood of the Old Kent 
Road. When the wine was converted into sparkling 
champagne, the beverage was considered beyond re¬ 
proach and certainly superior to many of the brands 
in the market. Brandy was also distilled from the 
wine, and was quite equal to some of the French 
brandies. Wines of rare worth have also been pro¬ 
duced from Mulberries by the same experimenter. 
Both the Grapes and Mulberries were grown in his 
garden at Brixton Hill. There is, however, nothing 
new about the production of home-made wine from 
Grapes grown in English gardens, seeing that itjaas 
been made from Grapes grown upon cottage walls at 
Kew more than ten years ago. People never know 
what they can do with, or get out of, their gardens 
till they try. 
An enclosure has been placed round Cannon 
Heatb by Lord Falmouth, and the local officials at 
Wateringbury have resolved to take action to compel 
him to remove it. 
Emily Henderson is now well-recognised as the 
best pure white Sweet Pea in European cultures. It 
grows vigorously and produces three or four flowers 
on a raceme. 
Figs are both abundant and cheap in Matagorda 
County, Texas, and sanguine natives hope soon to 
see the day when Figs will become one of the 
important crops of the state. 
Cut Flowers from Holland.—Those growers of 
Dutch bulbs, v/ho were so injudicious as to send 
over cut flowers by the ton to compete with those 
raised from their bulbs in this country, are now 
rather depressed by the heavy stock of bulbs on 
hand. They are thus being boycotted. 
Sub-irrigation of Cannas.—Dr. Saunders gave the 
results of some interesting experiments in irrigating 
Cannas at the last annual meeting of the Ontario Fruit 
Growers’ Union, held at Kingston, Ontario. A tile 
under drain had been laid between the rows with an 
occasional one at right angles. Large amounts of 
water were poured into these. The vigour of the 
plants was greatly increased thereby, and they not 
only produced larger flowers, but bloomed earlier. 
Statue of Charles Darwin.—This statue which is 
to stand in front of the great naturalist’s old school 
near the Shrewsbury Free Library is to be of bronze, 
and to be 6 ft. 6 in. in height. It will be mounted 
upon a granite pedestal. The whole of the esti¬ 
mated cost, /i,ooo, will be defrayed by the Shrop¬ 
shire Horticultural Society. This body has placed 
the execution of the proposed work of art in the 
hands of Mr. Horace Montford, director of the 
newly-established school of sculpture at South 
Kensington. 
Free Horticultural Library.—The Corporation of 
Worthing have recently opened a free library in 
which the books of horticultural interest which have 
been got together form a most important and special 
feature. The commendable action of Worthing in 
thus recognising the value of horticulture is a most 
happy venture, and we trust is an example that will 
soon be followed by other corporations. The 
majority of our public libraries are very deficient in 
horticultural literature, in spite of the fact that it is 
to horticulture that we have to look for assistance in 
solving that great problem of how to feed the people. 
Dwarfing Trees.—This art is commonly practised in 
China and Japan, and although many different 
methods may be employed they have all one end in 
view—viz , the retarding of the flow of the sap. 
Pruning, confining the roots in a small space, with¬ 
holding water, and bending and twisting the stem 
and branches are some of the most common ways 
of coercion. When a tree has been chosen to 
operate on, its main stem and rootsare twisted in a z ! g- 
zag form ; itsrootsareconfined within a narrow space, 
and no more water is given than is absolutely 
necessary to sustain life. 
Devon and Exeter Gardeners’ Association.—The 
annual supper held by this society took place on 
January 1st at St. Martin’s Castle Hotel, Exeter. 
The chair was taken by Mr. G. H. Lansdale. 
Messrs. J. Weeks, W. Andrews, F. W. Meyer, W. 
Street, C. Berry, H. Webber, W. Mackay, and A. 
Hope were also present. After the usual loyal 
toasts had been honoured, the chairman proposed 
the “ Devon and Exeter Gardeners’ Association.” 
The society had been in existence for five years, and 
had done good work among gardeners. During its 
existence about sixty papers had been read, deal¬ 
ing with all sorts of subjects, from which a good 
deal of information must have teen obtained by 
the members. He coupled with the toast the 
names of Messrs. W. Mackay and C. H. Clarke. 
Both of these gentlemen replied, both of them 
asserting their belief in the power of the society 
for good. Mr. F. W. Meyer next proposed the 
“ President, Vice-Presidents, and Committee.” He 
averred that a good deal of the success that they 
had achieved as a society was due to the energy and 
fitness of their officers. With this toast he coupled 
the names of Messrs. W. Andrews and J. Weeks. 
In responding, Mr. Andrews thanked the company 
for the honour that had been done the officials, and 
paid a high tribute to the secretary, Mr. A. Hope, 
who took the greatest trouble in assisting the asso¬ 
ciation forward. 
