December 19, 1903. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
1037 
DECEMBER 19, 1903. IChe Gardening World. 
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EDITORIAL NOTES. 
'rizes for Potatos 
In. order to encourage the raising of new 
arieties of Potatos which shall he disease- 
jesisting, Mr. Dennis, of Kirton, is offering 
rizes of 200 guineas and 50 guineas to the 
rowers who can produce the largest crop' 
rom 5 cwt. and 1 cwt. respectively of 
Northern Star. The two ideas here ex¬ 
pressed seem to' US' to be rather antagonistic, 
the prizes are offered for the heaviest crops 
f a Potato to be grown from a, given weight 
if seed. Now, to do this, it is necessary to 
make the very utmost of the seed—that is, 
he tubers—in cutting them into' single eyes; 
Iso from the winter shoots and by means of 
uttings taken from the green stems. Those 
O 0 
who are skilled propagators will no doubt 
cut their Potatos to the utmost, both in, the 
initial stages, and later on when, the Potatosi 
are in full growth. In our opinion, this will 
have the effect of ruining Northern Star, 
and thus, spoiling it so far asi its present 
value a,s, a, disease-resister is concerned. The 
prizes, in, our opinion, should have been 
offered rather for new seedlings of a disease- 
resisting character. 
—o— 
Mistletoe Losing in Favour. 
For many years past there has been, little 
demand amongst the upper classes of people 
for Mistletoe, at Yuletide, and at present the 
trade may be described as nil from that 
quarter. The demand amongst the London 
poor has created the greatest necessity for 
this article in recent years, but Coventl 
Garden, merchants are rather desponding at 
present, a,s they are of the opinion that 
Mistletoe will be too great, a luxury for the 
poorer people to buy on this occasion,, as 
their money will mostly he spent upon ne¬ 
cessities. For some years past the Mistletoe 
grown in this country, being in very small 
quantity, has been used locally. . Coven,t 
Garden Market has; been depending upon 
Normandy and other parts of France for itsi 
supply in recent years,. During the past 
summer we learn,t that Mistletoe in the 
orchards of Normandy was being destroyed 
wholesale. The failing demand in the 
British market would no doubt account for 
this, the people in France finding that it is 
more profitable to grow Apples rather than 
Mistletoe upon, their trees. The failing de¬ 
mand for Mistletoe is no doubt due in a large 
measure to a change, of custom amongst the 
people' at. Christmastide. 
—o—- 
Grape Reine Olga. 
That it was possible to ripen any bunches 
of this variety in the open air during such a, 
season as the past is something gr'eiatly in its 
favour a,s an out-door Grape for this country. 
For some years past the variety lias been! 
brought into prominence by Mr. Will Tayler, 
of Hampton, Middlesex. The full name of 
the variety is Reine Olga de W intern berg. 
It was planted on the south gable of hisi 
house, and has been increasing in value and 
size ■ every year. About three-quarters of a 
pound would be the average weight of a 
bunch, but this year some of the finer bunches 
ranged from 1 lb. to 2 lb. in weight. The 
berries are reddish-purple', similar in shape' 
and size to those of Black Hamburgh when 
heavily cropped with fruit. For out-door 
culture the flavour is very good, and would, 
no' doubt, improve if grown under glass, 
where it would be properly matured. Its 
chief value resides, however, in its being 
suitable for out-door culture in the more 
favoured parts of Britain, particularly in the 
south and west. A good crop was again 
harvested this year, and although thei 
bunches were not counted, they must have 
been similar in, number to those of last year 
—namely, 146. The best-ripened bunches 
are suitable' for table use, and the rest may 
he utilised in the making of home-made wine, 
which finds favour with an increasing 
number of people in this countiy. 
Polluted Watercress 
The recent discovery of Dr. J. King Warry, 
the Medical Officer of Health for Hackney, 
has aroused the attention, of the people of 
London! to a, source of danger from a trivial 
article of food grown under unsuitable con¬ 
ditions. The outbreak on two occasions last 
summer of typhoid or enteric fever amongst 
the inhabitants of Hackney stimulated the 
Medical Officer of Health to ascertain from 
whence the source' of the illness had arisen. 
He had 'Seventeen samples of Watercress 
which were being exposed for sale in different 
parts of Hackney, and found that all of them 
were polluted with organisms more or less 
detrimental to health, and no doubt includ¬ 
ing the micro-organism which is guilty of 
producing typhoid fever. He also obtained 
a sample of water, and found that- each cubic 
centimetre contained fifty of these organisms 1 , 
so that one may calculate what an enormous 
number would be present in a, single pail of 
water. Following up bis clue, he found that 
all these samples of Watercress were obtained 
from certain sources which he named. In 
one case the Watercress was being .grown in 
undiluted sewage. We wonder if the grower 
was accustomed to use his own Watercress for 
tea, and if disinclined to do so he ought 
also, to have declined to put such dangerous 
garbage on the market. One of the sources 
from which the Watercress, was obtained sur¬ 
prises us that such a number of organisms 
were present, because wei know that they are 
grown in water of one of the purest streams 
in Surrey, with no possibility of being pol¬ 
luted, except from a few private dwellings in 
its upper reaches. If water is capable of 
being polluted under such conditions, the 
danger from water which passes through 
densely populated districts must be very 
great. It would be well for county councils 
to exercise supervision of Watercress beds or 
farms, so that none without a perfect bill of 
health should he allowed to exist for the 
supply of Cress to the London markets. We 
have on previous occasions and some of our 
correspondents also have shown that per¬ 
fectly good and perfectly clean Watercress 
can be cultivated in a cold -frame'. It can 
also he grown in large quantities for market 
under similar conditions without the aid of 
running or stagnant water. 
