April  1897. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER . 
271 
-  Sale  of  Fruit  Pulp. — A  sale  by  auction  of  fruit  pulp  was 
held  at  Lenham,  near  Maidstone,  a  few  days  since,  when  1400  tons 
passed  under  the  hammer.  We  learn  from  a  Kentish  paper  that  there 
was  a  good  attendance,  and  although  the  prices  obtained  were  not 
particularly  high  there  was  a  brisk  competition  for  the  various  lots. 
The  leading  prices  obtained  for  the  pulp  in  bulk  were — Damson,  32s.  to 
40s.  per  ton  ;  green  Gooseberry,  37s.  to  55s. ;  red  Gooseberry,  37s.  6d.  to 
67s.;  Raspberry,  £18  to  £19;  Black  Currant,  £18  to  £45;  and  for  the 
same,  two-thirds  whole  fruit,  £26  to  £27;  Red  Currant,  72s.  6d.  to 
125s. ;  Morello  Cherries,  pulped,  25s. ;  the  same,  whole  fruit,  32s.  6d.  to 
37s.  6d. ;  Blackberry,  27s.  6L  to  30s. ;  Black  Diamond  Plum,  30s.  to 
55s. ;  Victoria  Plum,  45s.  to  87s.  6d.  ;  Green  Gage  Plum,  303.  to  50s.  ; 
Mogul  Plum,  30s.  to  32s.  6d. ;  Orleans  Plum,  30s.  to  35s.;  and  Apple, 
25s.  to  35s.  per  ton. 
-  Amusing  Claim  for  Plants. — The  Cardiff  Burial  Board 
recently  purchased  some  land  for  the  purpose  of  enlarging  the  cemetery) 
and  three  of  the  tenants  claimed  compensation.  One  of  the  claims  was 
for  £500,  and  the  specified  items  included  the  following  : — Two  hundred 
Michaelmas  Daisies,  eleven  Polyanthuses,  five  roots  of  Anemones,  three 
Jacob’s  Ladders,  six  Aule  major,  one  Evening  Primrose,  4  feet 
Father  Before  Bon,  two  Lilacs,  eleven  pink  Carnations,  one  Sunflower, 
four  hundred  and  twenty  Daisies,  one  Pansy,  two  Musks,  two  Noah’s 
Arks,  a  further  two  Michaelmas  Daisies,  and  two  Gladioli.  Our 
knowledge  of  Welsh  plant  names  is  not  sufficient  to  enable  us  to 
identify  “Aule  major”  or  “Father  Before  Son,”  and  none  of  the 
dictionaries  of  plant  names  that  have  a  place  on  our  bookshelves 
afford  us  any  assistance.  “Jacob’s  Ladder”  is,  of  course,  Polemonium 
cceruleum,  and  “  Noah’s  Ark  ”  is  Cypripedium  pubescens. — (Gardeners’ 
Magazine.) 
-  Pear  Bloom. — There  is  every  promise  of  a  wonderful  bloom 
on  Pear  trees  shortly.  I  could  wish  it  were  not  quite  so  abundant,  and 
that  the  buds  were  rather  less  precocious.  I  do  not  think  the  organs 
of  fertility  in  Pear  blossom,  or,  indeed,  in  any  fruits,  are  helped  by 
slow  expansion.  Too  often  a  long  cold  dull  spell  of  weather,  which 
keeps  the  buds  in  check,  is  inimical  to  fertility.  It  is  intensely  dis¬ 
appointing  to  see  trees  literally  masses  of  blossom  and  then  a  few  days 
later  it  has  all  disappeared,  and  a  very  poor  set  of  fruits  left  behind. 
Does  so  great  an  abundance  of  bloom  by  so  far  exhausting  the  tree — for 
bloom  expansion  usually  precedes  leaf  expansion — so  far  exhaust  the 
trees  that  pollen  grains  lack  the  elements  of  fertility  ?  It  would  be  a 
capital  plan  were  those  who  have  numerous  Pear  trees  that  are  so 
abundantly  set  with  blossom  buds  to  cut  off  one-half  of  the  clusters, 
leaving  the  spurs,  to  see  what  was  the  ultimate  effect  on  the  cropping  of 
the  trees  as  compared  with  others  of  similar  varieties  not  so  thinned. 
According  to  present  appearances  the  bulk  of  the  trees  should  be  masses 
of  snowy  whiteness  by  the  end  of  the  month.  That  is  too  early,  and 
there  would  be  more  hope  for  a  good  set  a  fortnight  later.  However, 
in  such  case  it  is  not  possible  for  us  to  set  back  the  course  of  Nature, 
though  by  the  aid  of  some  dull  cold  weather  Nature  may  doiit  herself. 
We  have  had  three  or  four  very  sharp  white  frosts,  but  some  of  the  day 
hours  have  been  warm. — A.  D. 
-  Chelsea  Physic  Garden. — The  suggestions  that  the  Chelsea 
Vestry  should  apply  to  Lord  Cadogan  to  have  conveyed  to  them  the  old 
Chelsea  Physic  Garden  on  the  Embankment,  near  Cheyne  Walk,  in  com¬ 
memoration  of  the  Diamond  Jubilee,  seems  to  offer  a  faint  hope  of  a  satis¬ 
factory  termination  of  a  long-standing  agitation  ;  but  unfortunately  the 
matter  does  not  rest  with  Lord  Cadogan,  but  with  the  Apothecaries’ 
Company.  The  case  affords  a  striking  example  of  how  the  objects  of  the 
pious  founder  may  be  frustrated,  and  mischief  done  where  good  was  in¬ 
tended.  The  garden  was  conveyed  in  1721  by  Sir  Hans  Sloane,  then 
Lord  of  the  Manor  of  Chelsea,  to  the  Apothecaries’  Company  by  deed  of 
gift,  on  condition  that  it  should  at  all  times  be  continued  as  a  physic  garden 
for  “  the  manifestation  of  the  power,  and  wisdom,  and  goodness  of  God 
in  creation,  and  that  the  apprentices  might  learn  to  distinguish  good 
and  useful  plants  from  hurtful  ones.”  But  the  Royal  Botanic  Garden,  as 
it  is  officially  called,  is  now  surrounded  by  houses,  and  is  really  no  use 
for  these  purposes  ;  and  though  there  is  a  greenhouse  and  a  medical 
library  there,  the  growing  of  medical  herbs  has  come  to  be  a  mere 
formal  compliance  with  the  terms  of  the  gift.  Science  would  certainly 
lose  little  by  converting  this  quaintly  pretty  spot,  with  its  statue  of  the 
worthy  Sir  Hans,  and  its  magnificent  old  Cedars  of  Lebanon,  into  a 
pleasure  garden  open  to  the  public.  At  present  it  is  hidden  from  sight 
on  one  side  by  a  high  and  particularly  ugly  brick  wall,  and  on  the 
other  can  only  be  dimly  discerned  through  a  close  set  iron  railing. — 
(“Daily  News.”) 
-  Nitrate  of  Potash. — Nitrate  of  potash  accumulates  in 
valuable  quantities  in  the  organically  rich  alluvial  plains  of  India  and 
China,  the  nitrate  rising  to  the  surface  with  the  moisture  by  capillary 
attraction  in  the  hot  dry  season.  There  have  been  discoveries  made 
lately  in  South  Africa  of  nitrate  deposits  of  a  high  degree  of  purity,  and 
said  to  be  in  enormous  quantities,  derived  from  the  direct  putrefaction 
of  animal  excreta. 
-  Birmingham  Gardeners’  Association.— A  very  interesting 
paper  on  “  Hardwooded  Plants”  was  read  by  Mr.  Walter  Jones, 
gardener  to  Thos.  Gladstone,  Esq.,  Edgbaston,  on  the  29th  ult, ,  before 
an  appreciative  assembly  of  the  members.  The  essayist  is  a  well-known 
old  local  exhibitor  of  stove  and  greenhouse  plants.  The  subject,  which 
was  treated  in  an  excellent  manner,  was  followed  by  an  interesting 
discussion. 
-  Baked  Bananas. — South  Americans  say  baked  Bananas  are 
an  excellent  substitute  for  meat.  They  travel,  fish,  and  hunt  solely 
upon  a  Banana  diet.  For  those  weary  of  meat  or  unable  to  eat  it 
(during  the  warm  weather  nearly  all  of  us  would  gladly  do  without  it) 
it  would  be  well  to  try  the  baked  Banana.  Each  end  should  be  cut  off, 
the  jackets  being  left  on,  after  the  fruit  is  washed.  From  twenty  to 
thirty  minutes  are  needed  for  baking.  They  are  placed  upon  the  table, 
and  one  served  to  each  person,  instead  of  his  usual  piece  of  roast  or 
fowl.  They  should  then  be  slit  lengthwise  and  buttered  ;  the  butter 
greatly  improves  the  flavour. 
-  Nitragen.— Prof .  W.  Somerville  has  carried  out  a  series  of 
comparative  experiments  to  test  the  value  of  the  pure  cultures  of  the 
several  varieties  of  bacteria  that  inhabit  the  roots  of  our  more  important 
Papilionaceous  plants,  now  sold  under  the  head  of  “nitragen.”  The 
investigation  was  described  before  the  Botanical  Society  of  Edinburgh 
on  January  14th.  Experiments  were  made  with  Peas,  Broad  Beans, 
Lucerne,  and  broad  Red  Clover.  Only  in  the  case  of  the  Peas  did  the 
application  of  nitragen  result  in  an  increase  in  the  yield,  and  even  then 
the  variations  in  the  weights  of  produce  were  too  small  to  make  it 
possible  to  say  definitely  that  the  inoculating  substance  affected  growth 
either  one  w«.y  or  another.  The  experiments  were  carried  out  in  a 
garden  attached  to  the  Durham  College  of  Science,  in  which  it  may  be 
assumed  that  Peas  and  Beans  have  frequently  been  cultivated  during 
recent  years.  As  the  soil  was  thus  well  supplied  with  the  bacteria  that 
associate  with  the  roots  of  these  plants,  Prof.  Somerville  agrees  that  it 
is  not  surprising  that  the  application  of  a  pure  culture  of  these  bacteria 
should  have  been  inoperative.  But  as  regards  Red  Clover  and  Lucerne, 
neither  of  these  plants  has  ever  been  cultivated  in  the  garden,  and  the 
probability  is  that  not  a  siugle  plant  of  Lucerne  ever  grew  in  the  garden, 
or,  indeed,  in  any  fields  in  the  neighbourhood.  The  conditions,  there¬ 
fore,  were  to  be  regarded  as  distinctly  favourable  for  exhibiting  the 
action  of  the  specific  bacteria  of  these  plants,  and  yet  they  failed  to 
produce  any  effect.  Apparently  some  improvements  are  required  in  the 
methods  of  manufacture  or  application  in  order  to  make  nitragen  of 
service  in  agriculture  and  horticulture. — (“  Nature.”) 
LINES  ON  HEADING  A  SEED  LIST. 
Let  others  sing  the  Lily  and  the  Rose, 
Or  scented  secret  of  the  Violet  praise, 
To  me  the  meanest  Broccoli  that  blows 
Is  more  deserving  of  a  laureate’s  lays. 
And  I  would  sing  the  Celery’s  stately  ways, 
The  mysteries  of  Chili  and  Cardoon, 
With  laud  of  Leek  and  Lettuce  fill  my  days, 
And  sing  the  Mushroom  to  the  mild  May  moon. 
What  is  a  flower,  when  all  is  said  and  done  ? 
’Tis,  to  the  eye  of  sanity,  a  weed. 
Look  rather  kindly,  fructifying  sun. 
On  my  Savoy  and  Scorzonera  seed  ! 
O  mother  Earth,  from  thy  rich  bosom  feed 
My  Parsley  and  my  Parsnips  and  my  Peas, 
To  glorious  growth  my  Gourds  and  Marrows  lead, 
And  my  Shallots  shall  breath  your  eulogies. 
Who  sings  of  flowers  ?  Mesembryanthemum 
Shall  pale  before  the  Radishes  I  sow  1 
Clianthus,  Coleus,  and  Chrysanthemum— 
My  Cucumbers  shall  shame  them  at  the  show. 
Kohl  Rabi,  sprout  1  Endive  and  Egg  Plant,  grow  1 
Thus  watered  by  a  poet’s  lyric  tear, 
And  let  the  haughty  horticulturist  know 
The  kitchen  garden  is  the  Muse’s  sphere  1 
— (“  Pall  Mall  Gazette.”) 
