THE GARDENING WORLD 
333 
Ipril 23, 1904. 
QardeningA^brld. 
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medicinal 
or 
The stinging Nettle is 
Many of these possessed 
nutrient properties, 
said to be becoming more and mere an article 
of commerce, and to- find its way into Covent 
Garden in increasing quantities. One ounce 
of the flowers fetches 4s., and a similar weight 
of leaves Is. It is said to be used as a 
medicine, having diuretic and astringent 
qualities:. In olden times infusions of the 
young top® were used in many parts of 
Britain for making Nettle tea or broth. 
Quite recently we have seen people: gather¬ 
ing Hop-tops in the hedges in spring, and we 
may state that Nettles may be used in, the 
same way, using the young shoots which 
rise from the soil. It is stated that the 
Romans consumed the Nettle extensively as 
the Swedish do at the present day. Dande¬ 
lion leaves are being brought into market 
for use as a salad. It would seem that many 
of the herbs brought into market come from 
Germany and France, and we hope it will 
continue so rather than that people in this 
country should up-root Balm, Heart s^ease, 
Horehound, Marshmallow, Pennyroyal, Pep¬ 
permint and Wormwood. Peppermint 
would, however, be obtainable from field 
cultures. 
•—o—• 
The Currant Bud Mite on 
Horseback. 
One of our lay contemporaries seems to 
have solved a problem about the locomotion 
of the Gdrrant bud mite in a way that should 
make the conductors of experiment stations 
■wince at their failures in this direction. 
According to this description the mites have 
been seen at certainseasonsoftheyear taking 
themselves to the top of the Currant shoots, 
standing on their hind legs, and waving 
their fore legs in the air, so that when a moth 
goes that way they jump aboard, and so fly 
away to fresh fields and pastures new. By 
this means they can go> from bush to bash 
and from plantation to plantation. The poor 
degenerate mite, for such it is by comparison 
with its more or less distant relations, has 
no hind legs, having lost all four of them. 
It has a very long and narrow body, with 
four front legs, but no hind ones. It thus 
has four legs less than its relatives, and 
situated a long way from the tail end of the 
creature. With this explanation, those who 
have been trying hard to find the mite out 
of doors with a. chance of destroying it, may 
now draw their breath again. 
EDITORIAL NOTES. 
loney in Herbs. 
In speaking of paying trades neglected by 
‘itish people, the “ Daily Express” men¬ 
tis many British Herbs which were either 
ltivated in olden times,, or, as frequently 
thered from plants in the wild state. 
Britain’s Foreign Tomato Fields. 
La,st year the imports of Tomato® to this 
country' were described as amounting to 
1,068,435 cwt., valued at £951,499. This 
is considered the largest sum that has been 
paid for Tomato® in any one year. At one 
time the bulk of'the foreign Tomatos were 
imported from Spain, say about thirty years 
ago. At that time the Tomato was a, shape¬ 
less, corrugated, or ribbed fruit. Since then 
it has been greatly improved, and the smooth 
fruits may be round or plum-shaped. They 
are also put up in small boxes instead of 
case®, as in the early days of importation. 
The trade with Spain is ; , therefore, greatly 
revived. Guernsey also grows and sends us 
a great quantity of Tomato®. The first im¬ 
ports the other week were sold at Is. 6d. a 
pound. That would mean, of course, that 
the fruits are much finer in condition than 
those obtained from Spain and the Canary 
Islands. In Guernsey many of the Tomato 
houses are 200 ft. or 300 ft. in length, 40 ft. 
in width, and 20 ft. in height. With houses 
of such height, they can run up their Tomato 
plants to a greater height than those who 
build low-roofed houses. We also obtain 
Tomato® from Jersey and France, but, 
although Jersey grows Tomatos well, the cul¬ 
tivators in that island seem to lay more stress 
upon their new Potato cultures. The: Toma¬ 
tos from the Canaries come in boxes of 
14 lb. each. They are suitable for culinary 
purposes, but their flesh is not so firm as 
fruit® grown in the Channel Islands, or at 
home. The Scotch growers have also 1 suc¬ 
cessfully attempted the raising of Tomato® 
of fine quality, and it is expected that Irish 
cultivators will presently enter into the com¬ 
petition in English markets. 
Belfast Fruit Importers’ 
Association. 
In order to protect their own interests 1 , the 
fruit and vegetable importers of Belfast have 
formed an association for that purpose. The 
membership embrace® all the leading firms 
connected with the importation of fruit to 
their city. The association has also' become 
affiliated with the National Federation of 
Fruit and Potato Trades Associations (in¬ 
corporated). This latter federation was only 
established last year, but has already a. mem¬ 
bership of nearly 1,000, including the prin¬ 
cipal traders in the United Kingdom. The' 
reason for this combination is that importers 
were dissatisfied with the arrangements for 
transhipping goods: from Liverpool to Bel¬ 
fast, and also with the rates charged. 
Already it has had the result that an impor¬ 
tant agreement has been concluded with the 
Belfast and Mersey Steamship Co. and 
Messrs. Samuel Lawther and Sons, Belfast, 
for the transhipment of all goods from 
Liverpool to' Belfast. The contract has been 
made for a year, and it represents about 
£6,000 in freight. At present f he steam¬ 
boat service is earned on three times a week. 
An organisation of .fruit and flower importers 
has been wanted for some time, but there 
is nothing in it of a- financial combination, as 
the firms prefer open competition. 
