December 26, 1903. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
1053 
DECEMBER 26, 1903. Whe Gardening WorlcL 
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EDITORIAL NOTES. 
Cranberries. 
Last mouth the “ British Canadian Re- 
'iew ’ had an article on the orchards of Nova, 
pcotia,, relating chiefly to fruit exports. A 
Portion of that article referred to Cranberries 
ultivated around Berwick, Waterville, 
Lubura, Aylesford, and Cambridge, all towns 
n a valley of Nova Scotia,. The soil con- 
ists largely of one or more feet of peaty 
pil overlying sand, and is moist, but the 
ater is not stagnant. Such soil is similar 
o that of the United States', or such por- 
ions in which the Cranberry thrives. The, 
ult-ivation of Cranberries is evidently on the 
increase,^ and at present the markets for 
hat fruit are certainly satisfactory. In 
189G there were only about 200 acres of land 
under Cranberries, but in 1897 we learn that 
these furnished 2,500 barrels of fruits, which 
sell in London at 25s. to 35s. per barrel. The 
value of such a fruit io those who live a,t a 
distance from their market is fully demon¬ 
strated by the fact that Cranberries keep well 
for fully nine months in the barrel. When 
about to be shipped, they are sorted and 
cleaned by hand as well as by machinery. 
The plants take about four years to come 
into bearing, but are said to last for forty 
years. When in full bearing they are 
estimated to furnish about, forty barrels 
per acre. Mr. Hooper believes that 
Cranberries would prove remunerative as 
a crop on Heather land in England. 
We believe plantations are now and 
again made privately, and many years 
ago plantations mast have been made in the 
West of England, for the American Cranberry 
was recorded in some British Floras as having 
become naturalised. In some of the deer 
forests of the far North of Scotland our 
native Cranberry grows wild in large quanti¬ 
ties, and the natives are permitted to enter 
the forest and gather the fruits on certain 
days of the year, this annual event being of 
great importance to the people, who gather 
and preserve them for future use. 
- , (y ... ■- 
Shelling Walnuts. 
This occupation is a very dirty one for 
those who are obliged to remove the nut from 
its green outer shell. The “ American 
Botanist, ” mentions a very simple and ready 
way of shelling Walnuts quickly without 
staining the fingers. This is done by getting 
a, piece of Maple or other hard wood, and 
boring a hole in it slightly larger than the 
hard shell of the Walnut, but not so large as 
to allow the green shell to pass through. 
The nuts are then driven through this hole, 
which has the effect of parting the two shells 
and setting the Walnut at liberty in its hard 
coat ready for storing or sending to market. 
This operation is much more easily and 
quickly performed than when a knife is em¬ 
ployed to remove the hull or outer shell. 
Frost Flowers 
Should the present weather continue, we 
are not likely to see many or very well- 
developed frost flowers or ice flowers in the 
latitude of London this year. The “ English 
Illustrated ” has gone to the Continent, how¬ 
ever, for some admirable examples of these 
perishable flowers, which form on every 
object exposed in high alpine ranges during 
the winter. Some frost flowers shown upon 
the surface of the ice on St, Moritz Lake are 
very striking and peculiar, but not half so 
ornamental or handsome as those on what 
appears to be a grassy hillside. These take 
the form of small tufts like isolated bushes 
of Heather, veiy much ramified, several 
inches high, and evidently formed by the de¬ 
posit, to moisture under the influence of a very 
low or freezing temperature. They are, of 
course, very much like hoar frost, but very 
much magnified by long continued deposit of 
these light and airy particles of moisture. In 
this country many of us are familiar with 
beautiful ice or frost flowers which form upon 
the glass of windows or unheated green¬ 
houses. Some of these ice flowers repre¬ 
sented are 10 in. in diameter, and resemble 
a wreath of Fern fiends of a very finely- 
divided character. The deposit of rime on 
the top of a fence reaches 5 in. in height 
during three days’ growth. The twigs or 
bushes assume a massive appearance from 
the deposit of these fog crystals. In many 
cases they are of a veiy ornamental charac¬ 
ter, depending upon the plants on which the 
deposit takes place. 
Ealing and District Gardeners. 
The meeting of this society takes place bi¬ 
monthly from the third week of September 
to some date early in April, the last being 
the annual dinner and distribution of prizes 
won for t- says or exhibits at the meetings. 
Several of these meetings have already taken 
place, as we have indicated, for some weeks 
past. Further papers will be read on “ Some 
Curious and Interesting Facts in Relation to 
Cultivated Plants,” “ Roses,” “ Primulas,” 
“ Annuals,” “ Flower Gardening,” “ Glox¬ 
inias,” and “ Tuberous Begonias,” Most of 
these papers are read by members of the 
society, but outsiders are occasionally brought 
in by way of a change. The session now pro¬ 
ceeding is the sixteenth since the society was 
established. 
—o— 
Fungoid Diseases in Australia. 
It is astonishing how the pests of culti¬ 
vated plants get carried about to all parts 
of the world along with the plants on which 
they feed. It seems that so long as the 
plants themselves can be cultivated in 
any particular or specified country their 
enemies are capable of getting there and 
living upon them. This is well brought out 
by the “ Journal of the Department of Agri¬ 
culture ” of Western Australia for August 
last. Many of the fungoid diseases which 
trouble fruit trees in Britain and America 
have evidently found a home in Western 
Australia. The dry climate of that country 
should serve, however, to largely keep these 
fungoid pests from multiplying so rapidly 
as they do when in this country. The long 
season of growth induced by the high tem¬ 
perature and the lack of winter is evidently 
favourable to> the continued growth of these 
enemies, so that it is necessary for cultivators 
to be on the alert to keep them in check. 
