276 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
December 29, 1900. 
the lack of soil and the impossibility of 
keeping it moist. Even in this case, how¬ 
ever, with the aid of a continuous and 
natural supply of water some interesting 
features in the way or rockwork may yet be 
developed. In a state of nature dripping 
rocks, or those continuously moist through¬ 
out the year just suffice to keep numbers 
of beautiful and interesting plants alive 
and happy even on the perpendicular face 
of rocks, where the seams or crevices are 
just sufficient to afford a nidus for a small 
quantity of scil and the roots of the plants. 
Little seems to have been attempted in this 
way as yet ; but we think the plan is 
capable of being developed. In speaking 
of a dripping well it must not be assumed 
that the water or any great amount of it is 
intended to fall upon plants. Falling spray, 
if light, and only continued intermittently, 
may not only be harmless, but beneficial to 
Ferns and other moisture loving plants ; 
but any great weight of it would soon make 
the bulk of plants unhappy, eventually 
killing them at no distant date. On the 
other hand water oozing through the seams 
of rocks, and not stagnant would provide 
situations for growing such interesting 
plants as Saxifraga aizoides, S. oppositi- 
folia, S. stellaris, the Golden Saxifrages, 
Asplenium viride, and many others which, 
at present, are considered difficult of culti¬ 
vation, particularly in the south. With 
plenty of moisture at the roots a southern 
exposure would not be too much for them, 
whereas on a dry rockery they would sooner 
or later succumb. 
A bog garden, or bed, with a supply of 
water would be most easy of formation, 
and might consist of a layer of peat, 18 
ins. in depth, excavating the natural soil 
to receive it. A small stream, meandering 
through it, would supply the necessary 
moisture for plants; and at one end might 
flow into a basin or pond, of a size propor¬ 
tionate to the area at command. This latter 
would serve for the culture of Water Lilies, 
Cape Pond-weed, Butomus umbellatus, 
Sagittarias, and various others. The banks 
of this or parts of the bog garden itself 
would be suitable positions for Osmunda 
regalis, Calthas, including the ordinary 
double form which flowers grandly when 
overhanging water, with its roots dipping 
into the same. Parnassia palustris, Carda- 
mine pratensis flore pleno, Anagallis ten- 
ella, Primula japonica, P. rosea, Orchis 
foliosa, O. latifolia, Cypripedium spectabile, 
and other terrestrial Orchids are merely a 
few examples of the subjects that may be 
planted in the bog garden. The Bog Bean 
(Menyanthes) seems to prefer a boggy 
situation to deep water ; and when seen at 
its best is really handsome. A dry peat 
bed will afford a suitable home for quite a 
different class of plants, including Heaths, 
Menziesia, Andromeda polifolia, various 
species of Ledum, Lilies of suitable height, 
Trillium grandiflorum, and many others 
which delight in cool though fairly dry 
quarters. There is a host of smaller sub¬ 
jects that the plant lover could locate in 
such situations. The bog bed and peat bed 
would form pleasing adjuncts to the rockery 
proper, and could be made in the bays or 
small valleys of the same. All this goes to 
show that the rockery builder should have 
some clear idea of the requirements of 
plants, or must be under the guidance of 
one who does. 
-—««*- 
Singapore is a great centre of the tinned Pine¬ 
apple industry. As the Pineapple crops cover the 
hills within easy reach of the large establishments 
that have been erected for the business, everything 
is carried through with facility and dispatch. 
Cocoanuts are also largely grown in various islands 
of the Straits Settlements. 
Hippeastrums (Amaryllis) are in flower at Kew. 
Standard Varieties of Chrysanthemums . — The 
Florists' Exchange in a supplement names seven 
standard varieties of Chrysanthemums that are 
largely soldin New York market in the early part 
of November. These include Major Bonnafon, 
Modesto, Mrs. H. Weeks, Col. D. Appleton, Presi¬ 
dent Smith, Pennsylvania, and Golden Wedding. 
French competition in Cider.—The French 
government has been establishing experiment 
stations in the chief cider producing districts in 
order to promote the cultivation of good vintage 
fruit, and to improve the quality of the cider pro¬ 
duce. This, it is understood, is being done for the 
express purpose of producing an article fit for expor¬ 
tation to England. Our own growers, however, are 
looking after them, for the ma’.ter came up at the 
last meeting of the Hereford Association of Fruit 
Growers. A resolution was then passed that it was 
essential that similar pomological stations should 
be established in this country. It was decided to 
forward this resolution to the proper quarters. 
Wintering Apples, Roots, &c.—A writer in a con¬ 
temporary some time ago announced that he had 
proved the pitting of Apples to be a most commend¬ 
able practice. It seems to be reversing all past 
teaching to pit Apples just as.we do Potatos ; 
yet this is what he (the writer) approves of. Each 
winter a portion of his Apple supply is so treated. 
“ This method seems to keep all the flavour and all 
the crispness in the Apple intact, and perhaps is the 
simplest and safest of all ordinary uses. The Apple 
is less susceptible to injury from freezing than 
Potatos. The Apples are piled conically from an 
underlayer of clean straw, and are finished off 
exactly in the way that Potatos are treated. A plug 
of straw should be inserted about the middle of the 
pit of fruits, and should be carried upwards to prc- 
vide a sort of funnel for airation. We would much 
rather see all Apples stored on dry ashboard shelves 
in proper storehouses where the bad fruits can be 
picked from the good ones, as often as they are 
detecled. 
/ 
The Value of Spraying Mixtures. — Though the 
various spraying experiments that are being carried 
out by practical and scientific men all over the 
world do not affect the growers of an acre or two of 
mixed vegetables and fruits, that is, the average 
gardener, yet gardeners like to follow the trend of 
things. Spraying has, in the majority of cases where 
properly carried out, been an unqualified success. 
That’s one fact to remember. In connection with 
this it has been found out that only the best mixtures 
are worth the using. No matter how many laws are 
passed to suppress or stamp out adulteration, there 
are always one or two dishonest sellers. A case was 
mentioned in an Irish paper recently, where a man 
had bought Bordeaux Mixture from two tradesmen. 
The results which the solutions from the two have 
given, under the same conditions, prove that the 
mixture from A. has always yielded an advantage of 
20 per cent, and up to 35 per cent, over B.’s mixture. 
It is well for buyers to recognise that inferior stuff is 
offered, and there should be no hiding the matter 
when adulteration or inferiority has been proved. 
Nature’s Clocks. — The intelligent observer of the 
flowers of the field, hedgerow and wood can form a 
fairly accurate guess as to the hour of any sunny 
day. At a few minutes past seven in the [morning 
the Scarlet Pimpernel opens its petals and closes them 
again a little after two in the afternoon. The Star 
of Jerusalem, known better as " Jack-go-to bed-at- 
noon,” hardly ever varies in opening at three in 
the morniog, and has become tired of the day’s 
business by noon. The Dandelion unfolds at four 
on sunny mornings; at five out comes the Hawk 
beard ; and somewhere near six o'clock (for Nature is 
not particular to a minute or two) the Viper’s 
Grass blossoms. At seven the Lettuce " spreads 
its petals,” eight is marked by the opening of Venus’ 
Looking-glass ; nine, by the bloom of the Creeping 
Hawkweed ; at eleven the Star of Bethlehem 
" strikes ”; and, as we have seen, Jack-go-to-bed, by 
his sleepiness tells the hour of noon. At one the 
Succory opens ; at two the Squill expands ; at three 
the Marigold betrays her beauty to the sun and so 
on ; the evening Primrose opens into smiles as the 
labourer returns from his toil at six o’clock. 
Christmas Trees.—The practice of having parties 
and Christmas trees laden with toys, is a German 
custom, introduced to England by Her Majesty 
Queen Victoria, who had the first Christmas tree at 
a party at Windsor in 1846. 
Holly and Mistleto.—Practically no Holly comes 
from abroad. It differs in this respect from its 
traditional partner, the Mistleto, the greater part of 
which is furnished from the Apple-growing districts 
of Normandy and Brittany. 
Flax.—In Ireland there is reckoned to be 50,000 
acres of Flax under culture. The question whether the 
industry can be made to pay the agriculturist is at 
present seriously engaging the minds of our Irish 
neighbours. 
Illness of Mr. S. Cooke.—The many friends of 
our esteemed correspondent Mr. S. Cooke, who is 
head gardener to de Barri Crawshay, Esq., Rose- 
field, Sevenoaks, will learn with regret that for some 
time he has suffered severely from rheumatic gout. 
Mr. Cooke contracted a severe chill during October, 
and although he had only made slight recovery he 
showed little or no diminution of activity on the 
occasion of the Sevenoaks Chrysanthemum Show 
when he again performed the duties belonging to 
his honorary post of secretary to this society. 
Though his Christmas may not be merry, we, and 
all his friends, sincerely trust that the New Year's 
week will find him well on his way to strength and 
activity. 
The Orchard Area.—The continued expansion of 
our orchard area is one of the most gratifying facts 
revealed in this year's agricultural returns. An 
addition of 3,526 acres has now raised the area to 
232,129 acres ; and when it is found that in 1892 the 
total was but 208,950 acres, it will be seen that since 
that time an increase has occurred amounting to 
over 11 per cent. In 1893 the total was 211,664 
acres, in 1894 it rose to 214,187 acres, in 1895 to 
218,428 acres, in 1896 to 221,254 acres, in 1897 to 
224,116 acres, and in 1898 to 228,603 acres. Thus 
during the past eight years the orchard area has been 
increasing at the average rate of 2,900 acres per 
annum, and the present area in England alone 
exceeds that in Great Britain a couple of years ago. 
Practically, however, the expansion of area is 
restricted to England, and if we pick out the twelve 
counties of Great Britain, which possess the 
largest extent of orchard land, it will be found that 
these all lie in the south or south-west of our island. 
Leaving out of consideration the county of Kent, 
which grows a greater variety of fruit than any of the 
others, we find that the counties of DevOD, Hereford, 
Somerset, Worcester, and Gloucester have an aggre¬ 
gate orchard area of 119,650 acres. These five 
counties of the west and south-west of Eogland— 
constituting in one continuous area what is essentially 
the cider country of our island—embrace therefore 
rather more than half of the entire orchard area of 
Great Britain. There are eight English counties 
with less than 1,000 acres each of orchards —Bed¬ 
ford, Cumberland, Durham, Huntingdon, London, 
Northumberland, Westmoreland, and the East 
Riding of York —and one, Rutland, with less than 
100 acres. The largest orchard areas in Wales are 
in the two counties adjoining Hereford—Brecon 
with 1,180 acres and Radnor with 705 acres; at-the 
other extreme is Anglesey, with an orchard area of 
only 19 acres. Lanark takes the lead among the 
Scottish counties, with 734 acres. Perth and 
Haddington following with 579 and 123 acres 
respectively. No official returns are available con¬ 
cerning the orchards of Ireland, but according to a 
report of the Department of Agriculture the fruit 
industry has not received the attention it deserves 
in that country. The only localities at present 
largely identified with fruit culture as an industry 
are the Drogheda district (Balbriggan, Gormans- 
town, Julianstown, and Duleek) and the Armagh 
district (Richill, Markethill, and Annaghmore). In 
the former the grower bears the cost of picking, 
packing, and shipping, but in the north, what is 
known as the Scotch system is largely employed— 
that is, the sale of the fruit While growing, the 
buyer being responsible for picking and marketing. 
An inquiry by the Irish Agricultural Organisation 
Society into the prospects of the Drogheda district 
has resulted in the proposal to establish a factory 
for the manufacture of preserves, whereby, it is 
hoped, increased profit will accrue to the grower.— 
Midland Counties' Herald. 
