April 6, 1901. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
511 
few leaves. These thinnings may be pricked out in 
other lines if they are likely to be required. Patches 
may be sown upon the rockery where they are to 
remain, after loosening up and breaking the soil 
with a fork. When the seeds are ripening upon the 
rockery the soil may be again loosened on the sur¬ 
face, and seedlings will spring up naturally when the 
autumn rains come to their assistance. 
«l - 
POPPY THE CARDINAL. 
Poppies are notoriously fragile and fugitive, though 
less so than the flowers of Cistus. Nevertheless it 
has been abundantly proved that Poppies may be 
rendered highly serviceable for garden decoration 
and equally so for table decorations in the form of 
cut flowers. Double Poppies are more durable but 
are better adapted for garden decoration than for cut 
flower work. The accompanying illustration lent us 
by Messrs. J. Carter & Co., High Holborn, London, 
shows a double and at the same time a very remark¬ 
able form of Papaver somniferum. The myriads of 
stamens have.become transformed into long, narrow, 
wedge-shaped or spathulate petals deeply cut or 
fringed at the apex. The whole form a large globu¬ 
lar mass, suggestive of some of the double forms of 
Oriental Paeonies, but presenting a more refined 
appearance, and a brilliant scarlet colour that does 
not exist amongst the darkest red Paeonies we have. 
The base and reflex of the petals in this Poppy are 
white. Seeds may be sown in the open in April, 
for this Poppy is very hardy. 
-- 
FRUIT AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTS 
FROM OTHER LANDS. 
{Continued from p'. 495.) 
Cloves are the undeveloped flowers of the Clove 
tree (Caryophjllus aromaticus, L.) a slender Myr- 
taceous tree allied to the Pimento which yields All¬ 
spice. The buds of the Clove tree are not usually 
taken till the latter has reached its fifteenth year, 
and it continues to crop and furnish flower buds till 
about seventy-five years of age. The tree is a 
native of the Molucca Islands but, like the Rubber, 
Tea, Coffee and Cocoa plants it is now disseminated 
and cultivated in every part of the world having 
conditions suitable to its growth. 
One tree yields from 5 lbs to 20 lbs. of spice ; the 
crops are dried under shade so as to preserve their 
fragrance; and the harvest is gathered in the 
tropical spring months of November and December. 
The best Cloves come from Aboyna. 
Currants. —The fruit sold by grocers under the 
name of Currants has nothing whatever to do with 
Black Currants, although one might very easily 
mistake them for dried berries of the latter bush 
fruit. Instead, they are the fruit of a delicate 
species of Vine (Vitis vinifera var. corinthiaca) 
which requires a good deal of careful management 
and is grown largely in southern Greece. It will 
give some idea of the enormity of the crops when I 
state that 40,000 tons are imported, on an average, 
annually. Its sphere of successful culture seems to 
be very limited indeed, for it has been introduced to 
Malta, Sicily and Spain only to find that it 
degenerates to a useless wild Vine. The fruit is 
harvested during August and is at once conveyed to 
the drying ground, where, after being exposed to the 
sun for two or three days, the little Grapes fall from 
the stalks and are collected for shipment. As the 
Currant growing districts are subject to severe and 
sudden thunderstorms the period during which the 
Grapes are being dried is an anxious one, because 
the fruit would be deteriorated in quality by being 
wetted, and furthermore it might be washed from 
the bunch and become soiled. As a rule the first 
shipments arrive in this country about the middle of 
September. 
Raisins are the Grapes of other varieties of the 
European Vine (V. vinifera). Raisins are of 
different kinds usually receiving their distinctive 
names from their special connection with some 
locality, or province, or country. Thus the grocers 
sell us Muscatels, Sultanas, Valencias and so on. 
They are all dried Grapes, that is, Raisins. 
Muscatels are chiefly grown in Spain on ridges 
sloping to the sun, and in the springtime when in 
flower, they are covered over every night. The 
berries are cured in from four to five days and the 
bunches are thinned out sufficiently to allow them to 
lie flat when packed. The thinned-out Grapes are 
the loose Muscatels. The dryness of the district in 
which the Grapes are cured has a marked effect on 
the quality of the Raisins. Valencias also come 
principally from Spain and are said to be prepared 
by the Grapes being dipped into a boiling lye made 
of ashes of the Vine and soda, and are then sun- 
dried. Sultanas are seedless Grapes whose dried 
fruit (Raisins) usually sells at a higher figure than 
other kinds. They are largely cultivated around 
Smyrna, though a few are also grown in Greece and 
Persia. The new season s stock arrives in the 
months of September and October. 
Prepared Ginger (Zingiber officinalis, Roscoe ) is 
of different sorts, but in any case ginger is the root 
of the plant I name, and which is a native of China 
and the East Indies, though its culture for com¬ 
mercial purposes has been successfully attempted in 
the West Indian Islands. Ginger is one of the best 
condiments one can employ, and the crystallised 
ginger of the confectioners ought to be eaten in pre¬ 
ference to a great many of the other sweetmeats. 
Grocers sell ‘‘yellow" and "blue" ginger, though 
the "yellow" is the better root, being brittle and 
more pungent that the "blue," which is tough and 
fibrous. These again are subdivided into “ plant " 
and " ratoon " giDger—the former is ginger planted 
each season; while the latter is a return crop 
secured by leaving a part of the rhizome in the 
ground at harvest time. The ginger that cooks use 
is prepared from green rhizomes (roots) which, after 
being scalded in hot and then cooled in cold water, 
are peeled. They are then placed for a while in a 
thin syrup, and are finally sealed up into jars along 
with some richer syrup. The dry ginger is of two 
sorts, white and black; the former being prepared 
with the greatest care from selected roots. 
The Pulse tribe, or order, affords us Haricots, 
which are the beans of Phaseolus vulgaris. Broad 
Beans are not a grocer's commodity. The latter 
belong to the genus Faba, which is distinct from 
Phaseolus. Lentils are different from either, being 
the seeds of Lens esculenta, Moencli. Considering 
that Lentils are of high nutritive value, and are 
richer in casein than either Peas or Beans, it is a 
wonder that English people do not consume more of 
them. There are three chief varieties of Lentils :— 
Egyptian, a red kind, imported from Syria and 
Egypt; French, and German, a brown kind, which 
is considered the best; while the third is a coarse 
sort whose seeds are mostly used for cattle food. 
Linseed is the shiny seeds of the Flax (Linum 
usitatissimum, L.), and is largely imported from 
Russia. The Flax, of course, is a useful fibre plant. 
Linseed oil is obtained by hydraulic pressure, and the 
residue furnishes the cakes for feeding cattle. The 
seeds, when ground down, also furnish the linseed 
meal. 
Pepper is the powdered fruits of Piper nigrum, 
L., a climbing plant largely cultivated all throughout 
the tropics. (It may be pointed out in passing that 
many of the Pipers are very ornamental stove 
climbers or procumbent plants, to which more 
attention might be given.) White pepper is pre¬ 
pared from the same species as the black pepper by 
rubbing off the husk or pericarp of the berry 
Cayenne pepper, on the other hand, is derived from 
distinct Solanaceous plants, that is Capsicums. 
Dutch Long Pepper, Kava, and Betel Pepper are 
properly enough, the products of different species of 
Pipers. The plants that yield these latter peppers 
commence to bear in the third year, and continue 
bearing for about ten years. The fruit grows 
abundantly in spike-shaped clusters, each bunch 
bearing from twenty to fifty berries, about the size 
and colour of our Holly berries. The Pepper plants 
bear two crcps every year. 
Capers are the pickled flower buds of Capparis 
spinosa, L , a bush which grows freely in Southern 
Europe The unripe fruits of the Garden Nastur¬ 
tium (Tropaeolum majus, L ), are sometimes used 
instead. 
Chicory is the root of the wild Endive, carefully 
washed, sliced, and kiln-dried : after which they are 
roasted and ground. 
Mustard is the ground seeds of one or two kinds 
of Brassica, which are cultivated both in this coun¬ 
try and abroad. Many hundreds of tons are usually 
ground-up each year. 
{To be continued.) 
THE APIARY. 
Breeding should be well advanced in all stocks by 
this time. In most hives there will be brood on two 
or three frames, and more in strong stocks. Now 
that the month of April is arrived all stocks should 
received a thorough overhaul the first fine day or 
two that occurs. If a clean, empty hive is handy so 
much the better, because we can shift the bees into 
it while examining them, placing it on the old stand. 
The hive they were in may be cleaned and prepared 
for the next stock, and so on, until all are gone 
over. In overhauling a stock give the bees a puff of 
smoke at the entrance, remove roof and upper quilts, 
roll back under quilt, giving a puff of smoke duriDg 
the while, but no more than is absolutely neces¬ 
sary. 
Remove the dummy and all frames that bees do 
not cover, placing the same at back of dummy in 
clean hive. Lift each frame with adhering bees 
Poppy The Cardinal. 
