1010 
THE OA RDENING WORL D, 
December 10, 1904. 
Tiie Latest Version.— For some time past the Strawberry, 
wild and tame, has been the sea serpent of the lay press. South- 
port has been tickled, however, by a novelty of its own produc¬ 
tion under the title of “ Strawberries in winter.” A dish of them 
-was announced as a feature of the Chrysanthemum Show. Then 
the reporter says that, .strictly speaking, these Strawberries were 
Loganberries, a cross between a Strawberry and a Raspberry. 
It would not be difficult to give an additional explanation by 
calling them Blackberries. 
* * * 
Exmouth Chrysanthemums. —Concerning the errors that had 
crept into the report of the Exmouth Chrysanthemums, as 
pointed out by R. Barnes, on p. 986, our correspondent writes 
to say that Chrysa.nthemiste Montigny is the correct name of 
the variety which ho saw. In the hurry of note-taking a slight 
phonetic mistake was made in spelling “Calvat” as “ Kelvie.” 
The name should have been written Chryanthemiste Montigny 
(Calvat), Calvat’s. Chrysanthemiste Montigny, or Chrysanthe- 
miste Montigny of Calvat. The statement that J. H. Silsbury 
originated in Australia was a mere slip of the pen, which some¬ 
how managed to run the gauntlet of the reader without being 
detected. 
Register of Nurseries, Market Gardens, etc.— The 
November and December number of this Register, issued by 
Messrs. Protheroe and Morris, shows the number of places now 
to be disposed of in one way or another for market gardens, 
nurseries, and similar businesses. They lire classified alpha¬ 
betically under the heading of the counties in which they are 
situated. We note that a considerable number of them are in 
the home counties, and within reasonable distance of London. 
Those which are decidedly within the London area are classified 
under that heading. Particulars of each place for disposal are 
given, in the form of paragraphs. 
* * * 
Potato Faixure in the West of Ireland. —Not since 1879 
lias there been such a failure of the Potato crop along the west 
coast of Ireland from Clifden to Ballina. Small wonder, then, 
that this fact should be causing the greatest anxiety to the 
peasantry and the workers in the many districts, whose lot is 
at the best of times none too happy. They look to the crops, 
and when there is failure destitution inevitably results. Not 
only is the Potato, their staple food, gone, but the Turnip, 
Mangold, and Oats crops have also sadly disappointed. From 
most of the households one or more of the family go to England 
or Scotland to earn the rent by harvest work there. 
* * * 
Glasgow to Tax Fruit and Flowers.— Hitherto the muni¬ 
cipal authorities in Glasgow have been considered amongst the 
foremost in improving the appearance and advantages of the 
great city under their care, but according to. rumour they are 
stated to have a proposal in hand for taxing various products 
which may be imported to the city markets. Amongst garden¬ 
ing products likely to be. put to. this, inconvenience' are fruits., 
vegetables, and flowers. It is stated that from ^d. to 4d. will 
be charged on every package of fruit exposed for sale. Bananas 
will have to. pay 4d. per bunch, flowers will be taxed Id. per 
bushel, and pot plants 2d', or 3d. per dozen. Mistletoe and 
Holly will be taxed 4d. a hundredweight. Naturally there is. a. 
great amount of outcry against this by those growers and dealers 
living outside the city boundary, a.nd they think this is a case of 
returning to the commercial conditions of the Middle Ages. 
* * * 
Large-fruited Grass.— Every gardener is familiar with the 
general character of the fruit or seed of all the common grasses, 
such as Wheat, Oats, Barley, and Rye Grass. Very few, however, 
have seen a larger fruit of the grass kind, than that of Maize’ 
(Zea Mays). “ Knowledge and Scientific Newis. ” gives a short 
account of an extraordinary grass that was brought before the 
Linnean Society some time ago by Dr. Otto Stapf. This was a 
fruit of Melocanna bambusoides, belonging to the Bambuseae 
tribe of the grass family. The fruit is sometimes 5in. long and 
2in. thick, being globular or egg-shaped. The whole of the 
interior is occupied with the embryo 1 , because there is only a 
very small quantity of endosperm present, and as that i.s crushed 
into a corner by the embryo, it may be disregarded. There is a 
lack therefore of the starch which is such a feature of the reserve 
matter in the seed of Wheat or Oats. The huge fruit in ques- 
rion is further remarkable in sometimes germinating while still 
hanging upon the plant. This remarkable grass is a tree-like 
subject, attaining a height of 50ft. to 70ft. in its native home of 
Eastern Bengal and Burma. The walls of the fruit are largely 
developed, and serve, in a measure, as a storehouse of reserve 
material. Thus does Nature provide compensation for the lack 
of the usual reserve material. 
Mr. H. Cameron, gardener for the last twelve years to Lady 
Majoribanks, Lees, Coldstream, has been appointed in a similar 
capacity to the Earl of Clonmel, Bishopscourt, Straffan, Ireland. 
* * * 
Recipe foe a Christmas Plum Pudding.— The ingredients for 
this may consist of lib. breadcrumbs, lib. currants, gib. raisins, 
-gib. butter, -gib. moist sugar, 2oz. candied peel, 4 eggs, g pint 
ini 1 k, a little nutmeg and lemon juice. Rub the butter into the 
breadcrumbs, add the fruit, sugar, and candied peel, then the 
eggs well beaten ; put the milk with the eggs, mix the whole 
together, and boil four hours,—“ Vegetarian Messenger.” 
* * * 
Notes from Glasgow, Tollordss Park.— The display of Chry¬ 
santhemums this season has been exceptionally good in the park, 
and still look very well and are quite as worthy of commendation 
as those of the parks that have had honourable mention in your 
columns. The great feature of the show house this autumn has 
been the magnificent specimens of that charming Begonia Gloire 
de Lorraine. No such grandly grown and beautifully flowered 
plants have been seen in any of the city parks, or, for that 
matter, in the West. The plants have only one stake, conse¬ 
quently they have a most natural and graceful appearance. The 
white varieties and two shades of pink make up a pretty picture. 
^ ■X ■Jt 
Scales for Gauging the Merit of New Chrysanthemums.—- 
The committee of the Chrysanthemum Society of America have 
prepared scales by which to judge new varieties of Chrysanthe¬ 
mums, both for commercial and exhibition purposes, which may 
be brought before them. For commercial purposes colour is to 
have 20 points, form 15, fulness 10, stem 15, foliage 15, sub¬ 
stance 15, and size 10, making a, total of 100 points. The scale 
for exhibition varieties is judged on quite a different standard. 
Colour will have 10 points, stem 5, foliage 5, fulness 15, form 15, 
depth 15, and size 35, making a total of 100 points. This system 
would answer very nearly the method pursued in this country 
in judging between exhibition and market varieties. 
* * * 
Cheap Sultana Raisins. —Now that the supplies of our 
home-grown fruits of all descriptions, including Apples, are 
becoming exhausted, it is satisfactory to note that all kinds 
of dried fruits this season are particularly cheap, notably 
Sultanas, the highest esteemed cooking Raisin, which are now 
obtainable at 3d. to 7d. per lb. This abnormally low range 
of values is not owing to any over-supply of the present crop, 
but to that of last year, resulting in a very large cany-over. 
Manufacturing bakers and confectioners take bright old fruit 
in preference to new, as the fruit, being more fully matured, 
gives better results for cooking. The quantity, however, this 
year is too great for them ; the consequence is that the 1903 
crop of bright coloury Sultanas are being offered by active and 
up-to-date grocers and stores everywhere at the unheard-of 
prices of 3d. and 4d. per lb. 
* * * 
The Potato Crop of 1904.—According to the Board of Agri¬ 
culture, Potutos in Great Britain occupy an area of 570,209 
acres, or 5,923 more than in 1903. This increase has taken place 
almost entirely in Scotland, where there are 6,371 acres (of which 
1,089 are in Perth) more than last year, while in Wales there is 
a decline of 483 acres. The majority of English counties show 
a decline in area (amounting to as much as 1,488 acres in Cam¬ 
bridgeshire), balanced by gains of 4,674 acres in Lincoln (the 
most considerable Potato-growing county), 1,122 acres in 
Stafford, 867 acres in Lancaster, and smaller increases in a few 
other counties. The substantial increase in Lincolnshire is 
partly attributed by the collectors to the encouragement afforded 
by the success, of certain new varieties. No doubt the substantial 
increase in Lincolnshire, says “ The North British Agricul¬ 
turist,” is correctly enough attributed to the encouragement 
afforded by the success of certain new varieties. Probably the 
substantial increase in Scotland, and particularly in Perthshire, 
might be largely attributed to the same cause. Certain it is, 
at any rate, that a number of very enterprising growers in Perth¬ 
shire have this year harvested large areas which have been 
planted with the new varieties. In Ireland, on the other hand, 
there is a decrease of 1,853 acres on the area under this crop. 
In this connection it is important to notice that Ireland, with a 
total area of 15,230,124 acres under crops and grass, grows 
618,540 acres of Potatos, whereas Great Britain, with a total 
area of 32.317,610 acres under crops and grass, grows only 
670,209 acres of Potatos. The Irish growers are beginning to 
wake up to the possibilities of increasing their yield of crop by 
the use of newer varieties of seed and better systems of cultiva¬ 
tion and manuring, so that in all probability an increased yield 
of the Potato crop on the large acreage annually planted in 
Ireland may be expected in future. 
