140 
THE GARDENING WORLD . 
February 13, 1904. 
Instead of cutting down the canes to a height of 2 ft. to 
21- ft., they ought, at least, to be allowed to run up to a, height 
of 6 ft., and grown in tire form of stools, tied to, stakes or else 
to wire® stretched along the whole length of the ground. A 
cane of 6 ft. would certainly produce much more fruit than 
when rigidly cut down as above described. Tall canes would 
also serve to shade the ground on which they grow, and thereby 
reduce the necessity for mulching, although we have evidence 
that even ini Scotland it pays 1 to mulch the ground, even with 
nothing richer than decaying leave® or cut grass. 
In Perthshire they seem to have grasped this essential idea, 
and a syndicate has purchased the estate of Drummellie and 
Essendy, about three miles from Blairgowrie, and sold it in 
lots, ranging from 5 acres, to 25 acres, at a price which 
works out at about. £6 an; acre, payable over ten years. Good 
fruit land in the Blairgowrie district is rented at from £10 
to £12 pea' acre, for ten or twelve years, after which the 
tenant Iras not longer control over it unless he can succeed 
in renewing his lease. They intend to run other industries 
in connection with fruit, including dairying, poultry, and bee- 
farming, bottling and preserving fruit:, and' barrel-making. 
We think that is certainly a. business way of setting about 
the matter. 
During the fruit-picking season they send to Glasgow for 
help. There was a, dearth of labour last year, when the 
Women’s Trade Council in Glasgow was anuroaebed, and 80 
girls were sent down to Blairgowrie to pick fruit. That recall® 
the hop-picking season in Kent, when, the poor people of London 
practically take a holiday, ea,ruing good wages all the time 
if the season is fairly favourable. House® will shortly be 
erected at Westfield®, and a thousand people will be necessary 
to undertake the work in that neighbourhood. The linen 
and jute industry of Blairgowrie had gone down considerably, 
and the town would have practically been non-existent if it 
had not. been for the fruit trade. 
The Strawberry industry in Kent and Hampshire is more 
remunerative than, the Raspberry one, because the drier 
climate enables the fruit® to. be harvested with more certainty. 
The fruit, nevertheless, ha® a. difficulty in attaining it® full 
size in dry seasons, and there are moister parts in, the country 
where Strawberries can, be grown with profit, in, average seia- 
sons. In the far North, such aisi Kincardineshire and Aber¬ 
deenshire., where the climate Is not of the best, the cultivation 
of Strawberries i® carried on extensively, and i® a, paying 
industry. The fruit ripen® much hlter there than in the more, 
sunny South, and if we were a, practical people we should 
amend' the laws of the count,ry in. such, a, way that fruit, could 
be conveyed to the South at reasonable rates after the crop® 
in the South had been consumed or made Into jam. If such 
an arrangement were made Strawberry culture would come 
to he carried on much more extensively in Northern counties 
than it Is at, present, and we should be! able to get home .sup¬ 
plies from different, parts of the country, thus greatly extend¬ 
ing the season. Such a, plan is in operation in America,, 
where the early crops, of the. South are sent off northwards 
to furnish the'first supplies there, and the cooler Northern 
States come to the rescue in the course of some weeks later. 
Price of Vegetables at Bulawayo.— Mr. A. So utter, the 
market master, writes to the editor of the Bulawayo 
Chronicle” as follows:-“I regret to feel compelled to write 
to vour paper re the above as the only means of letting the public 
know what they are losing by not attending the morning market. 
Vegetables of all kinds are being practically thrown away 
every morning, and any person can buy one slnllmgsworth as 
a minimum of any particular kind, which allows the small house¬ 
holder to buy a varietv which would last him a week for 5s. 
Many people scoffed at the mayor’s idea of exporting vegetables 
to Kimberley and elsewhere, but, by comparison of prices, 1 can 
assure the public that at the present time they could be exported 
with advantage, to the gardener. There is no encouragement 
here for a gardener to produce more than what he thinks wilt 
sell at a fair remuneration, and. according to the prices we are 
getting, it does not pay to cart them to the market. 
Nicotiana sylvestris. 
{See Supplement.) 
Our reader® are familiar with the night-scented Tobacco N. 
alata,, better known as N. affinis, which is highly appreciated 
for cultivation in the open air and under glass. It, has one 
drawback, however, and that is 1 during the day the flowers 
often appear more or less* limp, half closed, and less decidedly 
scented than during the early morning or in the evening. 
Owing to the habit the flowers have of partly closing during 
the day they are less effective for garden, decoration than they 
woi id 0 .then wise be. 
In 1898 a new species was brought under our notice in N. 
sylvestris, a native of Argentina,, from whence it was intro¬ 
duced by Messrs. Dammann and Co., o,f Naples. This is alto¬ 
gether a larger plant than N. alata, but the flowers are smaller, 
though they are, produced in much greater abundance. The 
plant varies in height from 3-|- ft. to 6ft., according to the 
condition® under which it, has: been grown. The leave® are 
oblong-elliptic, densely clothing the lower part, of the stem. 
The peduncle, or flower stalk, rises clear of the foliage, and 
bears an oblong panicle of many white flowers. The lamina 
is of moderate size compared with that of the night-scented 
Tobacco, but, the tube is .slender and of great length, adding 
considerably to the ornamental effect of the plant. 
Our illustration represents a, large bed of the plant as grown 
in, Kew Gardens last year. From this, the reader will glean 
an idea of the dense habit, of the plant and its suitability for 
that kind of work. There is another method, however, of 
producing a, sub-tropical effect, in the. garden, by spacing the 
plants thinly over the bed, with just sufficient room between 
each for a, groundwork of dwarfer flowering plant®. That, 
would be akin to the, method so, frequently employed in parks 
at, the present day, and which is termed mixed bedding. 
Under such conditions the plant would have more scope and 
be encouraged to throw up, more of its side branches from 
amongst the leaves. If the, bed was in good heart, and plenty 
of moisture supplied in, summer, the plants would attain 
greater height, giving more of a sub-tropical aspect to the 
garden. 
Both of these plans, might very well be adopted in gardens 
with satis,facto,ry and even novel results, for the capabilities 
of this plant have not yet been fully exploited. The species 
could be employed for the same purpose as the common 
Tobacco, and it would certainly be more effective at a distance 
even in bright or dull weather, and even late in the evening, 
when the gloaming is falling. Such would, of course', apply 
to the night-scented Tobacco, but that is always a dwarfer 
plant and less massive in, build than, the new comer from the 
Silver State. 
Those who wish t,o, make the most of this plant during the 
present season, should sow seeds at, once in a, stove, -and rear 
them under conditions similar to that given to Gloxinias in the 
early stages. Growth is rather slow for a, time, and the 
seedlings should be pricked off after they have become well 
established and perhaps showing the first rough leaf. That 
would be more necessary if the soil in the seed pan: was. at, all 
inclined 1 to become, sour. As soon as they have made decent 
little specimens, with a few leave®, they may be potted off 
singly in 60-size pots, and grown under favourable, conditions 
as to light to prevent them becoming in any way drawn. 
If very large plants are desired it would be worth while to 
pot, on, tlie plants again before they become root-bo,und. 
During May they should be gradually hardened off, and at 
the, end of that month put in, the open,, provided the weather 
is sufficiently mild, hut, otherwise delaying the operation for a 
week or so until the. weather is more sea son,able.. Well-estab¬ 
lished plant® make rapid growth after being planted out in 
the open in a, rich, friable, and well-drained soil, and the effect 
will he in proportion to the skill of the planter in choosing 
suitable situations, and in attending to small details of culture. 
