THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. . 
May 2; 1904 
. t : 
‘ture, but for general commercial work a 
‘temperature not higher than 32 deg. F. is 
xecommended. 
A. discussion is given of the physiologi- 
«al effects on apples in storage of freezing. 
"The injury is seen in a more translucent 
appearance of the skin of the fruit, a 
water-logged and spongy condition of the 
M#lesh, and a brownish discoloration of the 
Wlesh. ‘In the practical handling of frozen 
stock the temperature should be raised 
very slowly until the frost is withdrawn. 
If possible, the fruit should not be moved 
until it is defrosted, as it discolors quickly. 
~wherever a slight bruise occurs or even 
-where the skin is lightly rubbed. With 
these precautions observed it is often pos- 
sible to defrost stock that is quite firmly 
frozen without apparent injury to it.” 
Wrapping fruit with tissue, parchment, 
or waxed paper or unprinted newspaper 
-was found a valuable means of preserving 
apples. It appears to retard the ripen- 
ang of the fruit and to preserve it from 
decay several weeks or months longer than 
unwrapped fruit. Thus, the amount of 
decayed fruit April 29, averaged 17 .6 per 
cent. for 6 varieties when wrapped, and 
1.7 per cent. when unwrapped.  Wrap- 
ping also prevents the transfer of rot - 
throughout the package, and protects the 
fruit from bruising and discoloration due 
to rough handling. A double wrapper 
proved more effective than a single 
wrapper. No important difference was 
noticeable in the efficiency of the different 
wrappers. 
Closed packages for apples have been 
found most satisfactory. In ventilated 
packages the fruits are likely to shrivel if 
stored for any considerable time. Small 
peckages cool quickest, and are, therefore, 
most satisfactory for delicate fruits or 
fruits in which it is desired to check the 
Cold storage 
xipening process promptly. 
fruit was not found to deteriorate more 
xapidly after removal from the storage 
thouse than other apples equally ripe. 
“Apples should be in a firm condition 
when taken from storage, and kept in a 
low temperature after remoyal. <A high 
temperature hastens decomposition and 
develops scald.” 
The effect of cold storage on the de 
+ velopment of apple scald was quite: thor- 
oughly investigated. The conclusions 
reached relative to this subject are as 
follows :— : 
“The scald is probably caused by a fer- 
ment or enzym which works most rapidly. 
in 2 high temperature. Fruit picked be 
fors it is mature is more susceptible than 
highly colored, well-developed _ fruit. 
‘After the fruit is picked its susceptibility 
to scald increases as. the ripening  pro- 
gresses. The ripening that takes place 
between the picking of the fruit and its 
svorage makes it more susceptible to scald, 
and delay in storing the fruit in hot 
weather is particularly injurious. The 
fruit scalds least in a low temperature. 
On removal from storage late in the sea-. 
son the scald develops quickly, especially 
when the temperature is high. It does 
snot appear practicable to treat the fruit 
with gases or other substances to prevent 
the scald. 
the scald may be prevented to the greatest 
extent by producing highly colored, well- . 
developed fruit; by storing it as soon as 
it is picked in a temperature of 31 to 32 
‘deg. F., by removing it from storage while 
1t is still free from scald; and by holding 
it after removal in the coolest possible 
temperature.” 
TOBACCO. 
M. Dybowski, who discovered that 
tobacco, manioc, potatoes, and bananas, 
generally supposed of American. origin, 
grow in the region around Lake Tchad, 
West Africa, has been studying the African 
banana plants, and divides them into two 
distinct groups, one having a bire trunk or 
stem and bearing edible fruit (musa sapien- 
tium and musa sinensis) ; the other without 
edible fruit and merely an ornamental or 
foliage plant with leaves growing from the 
stem down to the ground (musa ensete). 
Those of the first group are Asiatic, yet 
they are represented in Upper Oubangi, and 
the mystery is how they got there. Those 
of the second group were kuown until of 
late by a single species, the banana of. 
Abyssinia (musa ensete), often seen in hot- 
houses and gardens abroad. ‘Lhe difference 
between this plant and the fruitbearing 
banana may have struck observant readers 
who have travelled. Apparently this plant 
‘is not found outside Abyssinia or Hast 
Africa, but one resembling it has lately 
been discovered in the whole of West Africa, 
where, since it yields a fruit different from 
that of the ordinary edible banana, the 
negroes regard it as a ‘‘ fetish’ or sacred, ~ 
and religiously venerate it. According to 
M. Dybowski, it is a new species, which he 
calls musa religiosa, or fetish banana. 
Another and larger fbanana similar to it is 
the musa arnoldiana of Wildeman. These 
bananas have been successfully raised at the 
From the practical standpoint — 
_ tables. 
Jardin Colonial, Nogent-sur-Marne, France.. 
They will grow in the open air under the- 
climate of Paris, and they flower under: 
glass. A fetish banana planted at Ville- 
franche-sur-Mer, in the south of France, 
has flowered in 18 months. In fact, these 
new West African bananas are compara- 
tively hardy, and may enrich European 
horticulture with a splendidly decorative 
plant. It is a fault of the banana hitherto 
cultivated for ornament that winds tear the- 
leaves; but the new fetish banana resists 
even violent gales, as shown by Professor 
Boster in the Bulletin of the Society of 
Horticulture of Luscany. 
WATERING UNDER THE SOIL. 
The Ohio Experiment Station has been. 
trying tle value of ‘‘sub-irrigation’’ in the- 
greenhouse, The idea of irrigating the soil. 
below the surface arose out of an attempt 
to prevent the wetting of lettuce by not: 
wetting the foliage. Itis cheaper than the- 
old method of surface watering; the soil 
remains in a better condition, aad the. 
plants are less apt to decay. These advan- 
tages come from the soil permitting the air 
to pass freely through it, besides supplying 
water constantly to the roots. Full particu- 
lars of the new system, with drawings of 
the construction of the greenhouse, are 
given in a recent bulletin of the Ohio Hx- 
periment Station. lLettuces grown in the- 
new way are double the size of those grown 
in the old way. 
BOY GARDENERS. 
Interesting experiments in gardening are- 
being carried out at two Norwich Board 
Schools. At one a number of boys are 
rearing, each on his plot, crops of vege- 
They sre managing it so well that 
‘a profit of £2 has been made.” For boys 
from the second school the corporation has 
granted a strip of ground sixty yards by 
thirty in the Chapel Field public gardens. 
Here these boys are cultivating flowers. 
A Musical Education for Half=a=crown. 
oOo 
The above heading will, of course, appear to most people as the height of absurdity; yet the 
absurdity is more apparent than real. It goes without saying that a finished musical education in 
the regular course cannot be had for half-a-crown, or even with several hundred additional half- 
crowns; but can it be truthfully said that the person with a sufficient knowledge of music to play 
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tion? Assuredly not. A musical education, sufficient to enable one to play accompaniments to the 
home frequently, gets and gives more pleasure from the modest accomplishment than does many on 
whose education large sums have been expended. 
To the more modest musical education the above heading applies. Such an education ‘‘The 
Australian Gardener” is now offering its music-loving readers for half-a-crown, bélieving that it is 
the greatest benefit we can give our subscribers. 
This ready-made musical education consists of Pratt’s Chart of Chords for the piano and organ, 
which is the nearest approach to the ready-made knowledge of music yet attained by science. 
It is a short cut to harmeny, and is to music what the multiplication table is to arithmetic, a 
quick method of learning to play the piano or organ without a teacher. 
With this chart any one can, with but a small amonnt of practice, become an expert pianist. It 
is a complete self instructor, enabling any one to play the piano or organ at sight. and to play, 
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This chart is the practical result of years of study by Charles E. Pratt, the noted American com- 
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Believing that the educational value of this Chart cannot be over-estimated, “ The Australian - 
Gardener” has arranged with the publishers to supply Pratt’s Chart of Chords (pnblished at 5s.) to. 
its readers at the reduced price of 2s. 6d. each, with 2d. added for postage, and in addition to the 
Chart of Chords the publishers have kindly agreed to send without extra charge a copy of the 
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rs, 
Every home that has a piano or organ, especially where there are children, should have Pratt’s 
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This offer is made for a short time only, and “The Australian Gardener” readers shoud avaik 
themselves of it without delay. - , 
Appress—** THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER,” Adelaide, 
