340 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
April 22, 1905. 
Henry Eckford Testimonial. —The subscriptions to this fund 
received up to Saturday night, April 15th, aie . .Previously 
acknowledged, £12 10s. 3d. ; Mr. R. Cook, 2s. ; Mi. & B. Dicks, 
5s. ; Messrs. Haage and Schmidt, 5s. ; R., 2s. ; Mr. H. Shane, 
2s. 6d. ; Mr. J. Wright, 10s. 6d. 
* * * 
The Seedless Apple. —The company which is said to be put¬ 
ting the seedless apple into commerce sent a specimen for the 
inspection of the Bural New Yorker, but it seems that the editor 
has been guilty of publishing the truth by reproducing a photo¬ 
graph of "the Apple showing a seed in the place where seeds 
should grow. The quality of the Apple does not get any high 
recommendations. 
* * ■* 
Tree Planting at Cork. —Already some trees have been 
planted for some time in Gerald Griffin Street and the Water¬ 
works Park, where they have been flourishing and giving every 
satisfaction. Some of the local inhabitants now think that if trees 
thrive in such places they should likewise plant in Patrick 
Street and Great George Street, and even think that the stieets, 
broad and narrow, should be planted with trees. In the case of 
the new works undertaken by the Corporation tree planting is 
usually carried out on the same. 
* * * 
Cucumber Spot.— On April 8th, page 288, we gave an account 
of the Swanley Horticultural College cure for the Cucumber spot. 
This secret was divulged free gratis from the college itself. A 
contemporary last week announced that it u 7 as in possession of 
the valuable discovery of a cure for Cucumber spot which w r as 
sure and absolute. This had been discovered, according to our 
contemporary, by a market grower not a hundred miles 'from 
Swanley College, but alas ! not being a subscriber to the paper 
we are not furnished with the recipe for this valuable discovery, 
as it is only to be divulged to subscribers to the guarantee of 
£1,000 to be awarded to the discoverer for the free use of the 
treatment. Presumably there will be many discoveries of a like 
kind in the immediate future. 
* * * 
Speculation in Newtown Pippins. —It is sometimes advan¬ 
tageous to make a corner or ring in Apples as in the case of other 
subjects, but it seems that American speculators have over¬ 
reached themselves. The dealers have kept back a considerable 
quantity of fruit, and finding that the fruit was beginning to 
decay have hurried it upon the markets with all speed. The 
fruits, however, were in such a bad way that they only realised 
15s. per barrel instead of £2. The discovery relative to the con¬ 
dition of the Apples has been made in Leeds Kirkgate Market. 
At Liverpool, however, we understand that there are thousands 
of barrels wasting, and buyers fight shy of even looking at them. 
In future these dealers would do well to put their fruits on the 
market while still in good condition, that is during their season, 
if the fruits cannot be preserved in a sound and healthy condi¬ 
tion for any longer period. 
* * 45 - 
High Prices eor Orchids. —On the 12th ipst. 356 lots of dupli¬ 
cate plants of choice and rare Orchids were sold on the premises 
of W. Thompson, Esq., Walton Grange, Stone, Staffs., by 
Messrs. Protheroe and Morris. As is well known to experts, the 
collection at. Walton Grange is a very valuable one, as the owner 
has been collecting very choice varieties for many years qiast, and 
grows them well. This explains the high prices obtained for 
duplicates of plants consisting of pieces of the original speci¬ 
mens, so that hitherto many of them may only have existed at 
Walton Grange. The highest price was for a specimen of 
Odontoglossum crispum Luciani, which fetched 360 gs. O. c. 
thompsonianum brought 270 gs., and a like price was paid for 
O. maculatum thompsonianium, these presumably being unique 
as far as the outside world is concerned. 'Surely this must also 
be the case with O. crispum solum, which fetched 220 gs. O. c. 
Lindeni was knocked down at 240 gs. O. c. Queen Victoria and 
O. c. R. McVitie each brought 200 gs. at the fall of the hammer. 
Eighteen of these valuable plants totalled an aggregate of 
£2,705. Various other varieties ranged from 100 gs. downwards 
to 60 gs. a plant. 
A Snake in Ireland. —A gardener in the Ratkmines district 
of Ireland sent an animal about a foot in length to the editor of 
the “ Irish Times,” asking him his opinion about it. The 1 
editor gave the cautious verdict “ It certainly looks like a 
snake.” It would seem as if this gardener were trying the faith' 
of the editor in St. Patrick’s efficiency in driving away such 
venomous creatures from the Emerald Isle. 
* * * 
Arrival of the Cuckoo. —A writer in “ The Field ” speaks of 
having heard the cuckoo utter its familiar notes on April 1st. 
in front of Wamliam Court, Horsham. The gardeners of that 
place asserted that they had heard it the day before, that is 
on March 31st. This is rather early for the arrival of the 
popular bird, and may simply mean that our genial spring has 
tempted it northwards earlier than usual. 
* * * 
Another Opossum from America. —When Bananas are un¬ 
loaded or unpacked at Covent- Garden, we hear now and again 
of the escape of an Opossum from the crates. On this occasion 
we refer to the escape of one of these animals from a bunch of 
Bananas at Cambridge. The animal had travelled from Jamaica 
in this hiding place, and when secured was put in a rat cage, 
but being a slenderly built creature it pushed its head between 
the wires and again escaped, taking refuge in the bunch of 
Bananas. 
* * * 
A Recipe for Potato Chips.— Select the required number of 
small-sized Potatos, pare them evenly and cut into eight or 
twelve pieces, placing these in water. Get ready a saucepan 
and place in it a good quantity of fat, and when melted over a 
fire, put the Potatos in a towel to dry them before placing 
them in the fat. Here let them fry until they begin to float on 
the surface. Then remove the Potatos, allowing the fat to 
become smoking hot. Return the Potatos quickly, when they 
will become puffed out and brown. Place them on a piece of 
paper to drain, sprinkling them with salt, and serve when quite 
hot. 
* * * 
The Pai.mhouse at Budapest. —The glasshouses at the resi¬ 
dence of Emperor Francis Joseph are opened to the public at 
certain seasons of the year. The Palmliouse proves a great 
attraction to lovers of flowers, no less than ten thousand 
people visiting it the first day it was opened free. Notwith¬ 
standing this crowd, the Archduchess Maria Josepha was 
conducted through several of the departments containing i 
flowering plants. In a warm conservatory is a handsome speci¬ 
men of Brownea now in bloom, its scarlet blossoms being pro¬ 
duced from the stem and branches. More common flowers were* 
Roses, Heaths, Acacias, Lilacs, Cinerarias and others notable 
for their beautiful colours and fragrant flowers. 
•* * * 
Railway Weighbridges. —For some time past the local fruit¬ 
growers’ association in north-western Kent have been complain¬ 
ing of the want of a weighbridge at Swanley Junction. The rail¬ 
way company it seemed at first promised a weighbridge, and 
afterwards ignored the matter. The secretary of the National 
Fruit Growers’ Association writes concerning a resolution 
passed at a meeting in November last, stating that they had 
decided to opjiose in future all railway Bills unless a guarantee 
is given that weighbridges shall be provided at the various rail¬ 
way stations where goods are loaded or unloaded. It seems 
also that there is an agitation to get various other bodies to : 
support this resolution. 
* * * 
Leeds Rhubarb. —A fairy tale comes from Leeds in order to 
account for the origin of the industry which has now developed 
to such proportions in the growing and blanching of early 
Rhubarb at Leeds. It is said that the good woman of a house 
threw an old pail into the garden in December, and later on 
was astonished on lifting it to find some splendid sticks of 
Rhubarb. On telling this to her husband, the hard-headed 
Leeds man promptly discovered a mine for money-making, and 1 
it is said that he ultimately retired with a comfortable fortune. 
Another story is that some humble worker placed some roots in 
a dark cupboard, and was surprised at them- growing so much 
earlier than he expected, and in such fine form. A more likely 
story is that a market gardener possessed of some foresight 
conceived the idea of forcing Rhubarb for an early market 
supply. To such a degree have the Leeds people carried the 
art that some of them can manage to market early Rhubarb by 
the end of November. We suggest free gratis that some of 
these enterprising men should' store some tons of roots in the 
