THE GARDENING WORLD 
589 
I,? 23, 1904 
he 0cu*dening\^rld. 
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editorial notes. 
b Colorado Beetle Again. 
or the last week >or morei our daily con- 
poraries have been bristling' with the 
>rado' beetle scare, describing that- the 
had been found at Hereford, It- seems 
that. a. lady, supposed to be a fanner® wife, 
left two specimens of the Colorado beetle, at 
the Museum, Hereford, with, the, view of find¬ 
ing out, what they were. The official whom 
she wished to see happened not, to be pre¬ 
sent, and, leaving the specimens, sire disap¬ 
peared. This is the origin of the scare, and 
a great deal has been made of it during the 
time that has elapsed, since the dreaded 
specimens- were left, a,t the Museum. Itl 
seems now that five Colorado beetles,, or 
■something similar, had been, sent to. her 
English friends by an American lady. Three 
of the. beetles died, and the two others were 
left, at, the Hereford Museum. It seems that 
they were promptly despatched when the 
official came to ; recognise their identity. Wei 
presume they have not, been squashed by the! 
boot, of the official like any ordinary black 
beetle, but, that, they have been securely put 
to death and deposited in a show-case of the 
Museum for further reference and identity. 
As far as, we. have learned, the- aliens have 
n,ot, tasted Potato® since they entered the 
country. 
—o— 
The Strawberry Analysis. 
Tire well-known medical paper, the 
“ Lancet,” gives an interesting article on the 
analysis of the Strawberry. It, disagree® 
with the commonly-asserted opinion that the 
Strawberry should not be given, to those who 
suffer from gout. According to analysis, 
the composition of the Strawberry isi as 
follows;,—Water, 89.5 per cent.; soluble 
salts, including free acid, 1.146 ; lime and 
iron salts, 0.137; proteid, 0.8; sugar, 5.8; 
oily matter, 0.154; cellulo.se and seeds, 
2.463. It will thus be seen that the greater 
proportion, of the Strawberry consists of 
water, so that a feed of them would be 
like a pleasant way of taking water 
that was sweetened and somewhat agree¬ 
ably flavoured. Probably the great, est 
nourishing value would be the sugar present. 
All the other acids and substance® are pre¬ 
sent. in very small quantity. The cellulose 
and seeds would, of cours-ei, account for 
nothing, a® they would mostly pass, through 
the system. It will also be seen that the 
Strawberry contains, more water than does 
milk, notwithstanding its apparent, solidity. 
The sugar is present in a form that, is easily 
assimilated by people who are not in, very 
robust health, or even invalids, provided the 
Strawberries are used only ini reasonable 
quantity. Moisture, sweetness, and flavour, 
then, are the principal and more valuable 
constituents of the Strawberry. 
—o— 
Plant of Life. 
On July 11th the son of a Liberian king 
named Gomita made his, appearance, at the 
Cavendish Rooms, Mortimer Street, London, 
for the. purpose of showing anybody how by 
the judicious use of a plant, peculiar to the 
West Coast of Africa, he or she might add 
a, score of years to liis or her longevity. 
Some of the morning papers, announced the 
fact, that the meeting would be held, hut, 
notwithstanding Gomita’s sensational an¬ 
nouncement,, nobody turned up, except some 
reporters. Gomita had evidently expected 
to bring London to, his feet, but his disap¬ 
pointment, was great when three-quarters of 
an, hour late only reporters were present. 
From each of these he insisted upon receiv¬ 
ing 2s., after which he was still very reluctant 
to, lecture to his scanty audience. Gomita 
produced the plant whose juice he regarded! 
as the elixir of life. At the outset of hisi 
lecture lie. declared that he would not accept, 
less than £500 for a single leaf. Before 
concluding, however, lie was willing to dis¬ 
pose of the whole plant, for £5. Not another 
cent was forthcoming, and Gomita had to 
be reminded that he owed a, member of the 
audience change out of half a, sovereign. He 
angrily announced that he would return to 1 
Liberia,, taking the plant with him . 
—o— 
Botanical Gardens for the 
Straits Settlements. 
Mr. J. C. Willis, director of the Royal 
Botanical Gardens, Ceylon, was, recently sent 
by the Government of the, latter place to 
inquire into the expediency of establishing 
Botanical Gardens at the Straits, on a scale 
similar 1 to that at, Peradeniya,, Ceylon. The 
belief is that he will urge, the; advisability of 
doing SO', but although he has returned! to 
Ceylon, lie 1 declined to be closely interviewed 
upon the subject, until he had made his re¬ 
turns. to, the Straits! Government. Hisi report 
would cover the whole question of the pre¬ 
sent condition! of the Malay Straits. It is 
believed that if the report were accepted it, 
would greatly influence the flow of capital 
into that country. 
Wasted Strawberries. 
It is an, oft-repeated tale that whenever 
we have a, glut of fruit there is always certain 
to be a considerable amount, cf loss. The 
complaint is that the hot weather has 
brought the Stria,wb,ernes; on so rapidly that 
the supply is greater than the demand, and, 
consequently, prices 'have become unremu- 
nerative. It is stated that, to, save cost of 
king many tons of Strawberries would 
be. left ungathered in the field®. After all 
our previous experience,, we might calculate 
upon frequently having to meief, and make 
provision, for an occurrence, of this kind. If 
the whole of t'hei Strawberries a,t any par¬ 
ticular time, are not required for immediate 
oonsiumption, previous provision should he 
mad© with the existing jam factories for the 
proper utilising of the glut of fruit: while still 
in excellent condition. We frequently note 
this unpreparedness on the part of fruit 
growers and jam-makers alike. 
