October! 6, 1900. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
85 
Blue Tomato.—A nurseryman of Long Island. 
America, has produced, so rumour goes, a blue 
Tomato. This he has named Pres. McKinley. It 
is very prolific, and of good flavour. 
A Seedsman Returned to Parliament.—Col. W. 
G. Webb has been returned unopposed Member of 
Parliament for the Kingswinford Division of Stafford¬ 
shire. Col. Webb is the senior partner in the firm 
of Webb & Sons, the Queen’s Seedsmen, Wordsley, 
Stourbridge. 
Clematis Jackmanni has been flowering hand¬ 
somely and profusely for some weeks past in the villa 
gardens along the sides of some of the main streets 
of the newer portions of the city of Aberdeen. The 
plants are Pained against the gray, granite walls of 
the Silver City by the sea ; but the sun is never too 
powerful for the Clematis here, the foliage and 
flowers being perfect. 
Crimson Rambler Rose.—Mr. Jackson Dawson, 
of the Arnold Arboretum, near Boston, has, says 
Gardening (American), a number of pretty little 
"Ramblers" in 4 -in. pots. Each plant is bearing 
two or three large clusters of buds. These are but 
eight weeks' old, having been two-eye grafts on 
pieces of Manetti root early in January. 
China Teas.—The total shipments of Teas from 
China to London last year were 3 , 000,000 lbs. weight 
in excess of the previous year, but this was because 
the India and Ceylon Teas were scarce. It is said 
that the taste for China Teas is decreasing. Australia 
and Africa also seem to prefer the India and Ceylon 
varieties ; while America and Canada are importing 
more of the China sort. 
Experiments in the growth of Sugar Beet.— 
The Sugar Beet Committee of the Central Chamber 
of Agriculture has completed arrangements for a 
limited number of experiments in the growth of 
Sugar Beet during the forthcoming seasoD. Each 
plot shall be at least one acre in extent. In all there 
will be, says the Irish Farming 'World , about thirty- 
three different experiments. Of these, twenty-five 
are situated in England, four in Scotland, and four 
in Ireland. The methods usually adopted to obtain 
a crop of Mangels will, as a rule, succeed in the case 
of the Beet crop. 
The Food of Plants,—Mr. Pearson writes as 
follows in Knowledge for October :—“ The fact that 
roots grow downwards is so well kt o vn that mention 
of it may seem superfluous. This habit is due to the 
influence of gravity. It is easily noticed that the 
main root (produced by the continued growth of the 
radicle), is more strongly influenced by the force of 
gravity than are its side branches, for while it s'.rikes 
a course which is, in the main, towards the earth’s 
centre, its branches make a considerable angle with 
it, and frequently grow in a horizontal direction. 
Consequently the roots a r e able to exploit a much 
larger area of soil than would be possible if the 
branches and the main root were equally amenable 
to gravity. A further peculiarity in the growth of 
most roots is that they shun the light, and take the 
shortest course to dark or shady places. Oa an Ivy 
stem the clinging roots by which it is attached to the 
wall or tree all emerge on the shady side of the stem 
and proceed at once to bury their sensitive tips in 
the nearest hollows of that support. There are, on 
the other hand, roots which behave like stems, in 
that they bid defiance to gravity and grow erect and 
show no tendency to hide themselves from the light. 
These, however, are quite exceptional, and as a rule 
serve the plants which produce them in other ways 
than by the absorption of food. These two charac¬ 
ters possessed by most roots—viz., a tendency to 
grow ( 1 ) in the direction of gravity and ( 2 ) away 
from the light—cause them to penetrate the soil in 
which their quest (mineral food) is to be found. . . . 
The roots of many plants not only absorb mineral 
food from the soil, but are also manufactories in 
which the transformation of free nitrogen into an 
oxidised state occurs. It has long been known that 
agricultural land is improved by ploughing into it 
the remains of previous crops, and that the benefit 
derived is greater in some cases than in others. 
Nearly 300 years ago Bacon wrote ' The Fourth 
Helpe of Ground is the Suffering of Vegetables to 
die into the Ground ; And so to Fatten it; As the 
Stubble of Corne, Especially Pease. ’ ” 
Agricultural Training in Yorkshire.—The Joint 
Agricultural Council in the East and West Ridings 
of Yorkshire are promoting an extensive scheme for 
the study of agriculture in the coming winter and 
onward. The Yorkshire College at Leeds is adopted 
as the centre, and a new scheme of instruction is in 
vogue. At the Manor Farm, Garforth, near Leeds, 
the practical experiments are carried on and special 
exhibitions are offered so as to enable farmers’ sons 
to take the winter course of instruction at the York¬ 
shire College. 
Esparto Grass Trade.—The price paid in Britain 
for Esparto Grass has fallen so low during the last 
few years that the Arabs find it almost impossible to 
pluck Esparto and bring it down from the moun¬ 
tains to the coast with any profit to themselves. 
The present price in the British Isles is £3 a ton. 
Esparto grows on the mountainous districts near the 
coast, in Tunis, a country in Northern Africa. Any¬ 
one who has lived or is living near any of the 
British east coast seaports know how great our 
Esparto trade is. 
——-- 
HARVEST THANKSGIVING BY 
DEAN HOLE. 
Harvest thanksgiving services, a modern Christian 
institution corresponding to the Jewish feast of in¬ 
gathering, are growing amongst us. The only 
parellel to the custom existing amongst our fore¬ 
fathers was that of blessing the first fruits of every¬ 
thing as they came. On Thursday or Saturday 
before Easter, honey and milk were blessed in some 
places ; on Easter Day they blessed a lamb symbolic 
of all flesh or meat, and eggs, herbs, cheese, butter, 
and small loaves; then on Ascension Day followed 
the blessing of various fruits, as Grapes, Beans, and 
Apples. 
The harvest home, under any circumstances, may 
be said to touch the springs of religious life, and 
looked at from this point of view the two are 
brought into appropriate relationship in such a 
cathedral as that of Rochester, whose ministrations 
are guided by so famous a gardener as Dean Hole. 
Last Sunday evening he preached the harvest 
festival sermon to a crowded congregation, farmers 
and soldiers predominating among the men. 
Pulpit and lectern were simply garlanded with Hops 
and Virginia Creeper; Grapes and corn were also 
introduced into the decoration. Again, he said, 
they had seen the coronation of the year in a bounti¬ 
ful and beautiful harvest, and again thousands of 
grateful hearts had sung the oratorio of the creation. 
Assuredly, he went on, the harvest was not only one 
of the greatest of mercies, but one of the greatest 
of miracles. Fields, orchards, gardens are now bare 
or rapidly becoming so, but within twelve months 
the valleys would again stand so thick with corn 
that they would seem to laugh and sing. The 
miracle, too, of a single grain of corn was wondrous. 
No scientific man could produce one for the farmer 
to grow. 
Corn, indeed, was sent as a special gift from God 
to men. Not in all the rocky records stored up 
within the earth before man came is there one 
single trace of corn or wheat. Not till mau came 
did it make its appearance. Strange and instructive, 
too, is the fact that though it is almost ubiquitous it 
will not grow without cultivation, without toil and 
labour, in fulfilment of the curse that had been 
turned into a blessing, “ In the sweat of thy face 
thou shalt eat bread.” That was the immutable law 
of labour, for God would not look upon lazy, 
slovenly work. 
The Dean then read his congregation a lesson 
upon the diginity of honest labour, whether by hand 
or head, and upon the paltriness of shrinking from 
the title of servant, and of seeking an evasion in the 
French word employe. Why, too, should they be so 
eager to be called Esquire, a title to which none 
had a right save those that bore a coat of arms. 
NOTES FROM NEWQUAY. 
The annual respite from work and worry led me to 
look about for some quiet, yet invigorating spot, 
where the forces of rural nature might help to make 
amends for the rack and ruin of urban activity. And 
so, after mature reflection, me-thought of Newquay ; 
to me :— 
A " foreign ’’ Eden by a rocky shore 
Where waves, in ceaseless cadence, roll and roar; 
Where rocks of adamant and cliffs sublime, 
Hurl back the ocean, and defy old Time. 
Newquay itself is situated on the cliffs, but sheltered 
by higher ground from the all too-prevailing 
westerly and south-westerly gales, against which 
nothing but solid masonry can stand. The visitor, 
however, can hardly lose his way in Newquay, as it 
is comprised, roughly speaking, of one principal 
street about a mile long, in the form of an arc, round 
about and above the beautiful bay of the same 
name. Newquay is a name to conjure with. It is 
not new—the modern part excepted—for it takes its 
name from a quay built in the i 6 tb century. 
It has, however, considerably increased in size 
since the railway was opened in 1875 , and appears to 
be advancing by leaps and bounds, although I am 
informed that it will not do to give too much 
credence to the building fiends. ' Anyhow, New¬ 
quay has now an established reputation as a health 
resort. This is consequent upon its fine position on 
the north coast of Cornwall, its grand rocks, its 
magnificent sandy bays, its efficient water supply, 
but, above all, its pure air, which comes right off the 
Atlantic in an invigorating and unsophisticated 
form. 
But it is not for me to " boom ” Newquay and 
its environs, except as a happy hunting ground for 
naturalists of all sections and shades of colour. To 
those, however, who love nature in all her moods, 
the wild scenery, the bold headlands, the quaint 
caves, the majestic cliffs, the palpitating ocean, the 
flecks of scarlet and white, and green and black in 
the weather-worn rocks, the ultramarine of the deep 
waters and the clear pale green of the shallows, the 
vegetation on shore and on the cliffs, the ozone in 
the air, and the “ white horses ’’ on the waves which 
break with majesty on the sand-strewn beach ; these 
are the things which satisfy the philosophic mind, 
and give health and vigour and tone to the physical 
faculties ; these are the things which render New¬ 
quay one of the most favoured and salubrious of 
health resorts. 
But what of the vegetation ? Iq a district so wild 
and wind swept, no tree can raise its head ; no shrub 
—the Tamarisk excepted—can hope to attain its 
majority on this rock-bound coast. Inland, however, 
and in sheltered places, luxuriance prevails. A 
retired resident told me that he could grow almost 
any greenhouse plant out of doors, but—it must have 
protection from the Atlantic gales ! And this gentle¬ 
man used to cultivate a roof garden in Cornhill 
where it was necessary to wash the plants twice a 
day ! 
Extremes are sometimes like comparisons—odious, 
altnough it ought not to be a far cry, in this case, 
from Cornhill to Cornwall. With protection certain 
shrubs, such as Escallonias, Euonymuses, Veronicas, 
&c., do remarkably well; while the Laurustinus is 
positively expanding its corymbs of rosy-tinted 
flowers. Fuchsia Riccartoni, F. macrostemma, F. 
Rose of Castille, and even F. fulgens, stand out all 
the year round; as do likewise Pelargoniums, the 
Ivy-leaved variety attaining huge proportions. 
Many of the house fronts are gay with this popular 
plant, aDd in some cases it has ascended to adorn 
the bedroom windows. The lemon scented Verbena 
(Aloysia citriodora) is in full bloom on the walls, 
and the Scarboro Lily (Vallota purpurea) in the 
herbaceous borders. Hydrangeas, too, exhibit much 
floriferousness, and Lobelia cardinalis is a garish 
delight. In the macter of colour, flowers at the sea¬ 
side seem to attain a greater brilliancy than those 
further away from maritime influences, the reason 
probably being a clearer atmosphere, as colour is a 
property inherent in light. 
Another favourite plant of the natives, suspended 
in pots, is the trailing Bellflower (Campanula iso- 
phylla and C. i. alba) which I have never seen in 
better form or colour. In fact, it is a rare experience 
for me to see the blue one in such request, the white 
being generally preferred. C. fragilis is often grown 
in this way, but C. isophylla has hitherto been to me 
a vara avis. I hope no one will be led to assume 
from what I have here stated that the Newquayans 
are all gardeners ! Such is certainly not the case, 
for there is little or no attempt—except in rare 
instances—to make the most of the soil, the situation 
or the sheltered parts. At Trenance, just behind 
Newquay, the conditions are altogether different. It 
lies in a deep, sequestered valley and is, as a con¬ 
sequence, a veritable Eldorado. Although so close 
