568 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
December  19,  1896. 
It  may  be  expected  that,  for  marine  consumption  alone,  the 
demand  for  this  wholesome  and  ever  necessary  food  must  be  very 
great.  It  is  true  that  roots  can  be  stored  in  a  natural  state  for 
several  weeks,  but  green  vegetables  cannot,  and  even  the  roots, 
of  necessity,  take  up  enormously  more  space  because  of  the 
90  per  cent,  water  they  contain  than  they  do  when  that  amount 
is  dissipated,  while  the  substantial  elements  and  essential  food  con¬ 
stituents  remain,  the  water  being  easily  restored  in  the  preparation 
for  cooking.  It  is  not,  however,  for  their  use  on  ships,  or  for 
occasional  “  expeditions  ”  alone,  that  dessicated  vegetables  must 
be  in  demand,  but  for  use  in  dry  tropical  countries,  where  the 
green  vegetables  so  common  with  us  are,  under  wholly  different 
conditions,  regarded  more  in  the  nature  of  luxuries. 
For  instance,  there  are  districts  in  Africa  where  wealth  abounds, 
but  vegetables  do  not  flourish,  and  where  the  populations  are  certain 
to  increase  year  by  year.  Not  long  ago  a  gentleman,  on  his  return 
from  the  Diamond  Fields,  told  us  that  the  arrival  of  a  bullock- 
waggon  of  Cow  Cabbages  set  the  people  in  a  ferment,  and  the  hard, 
and  more  or  less  dry  heads  were  “  fought  for  ”  at  Ss.  each  ;  that  he 
had  felt  himself  lucky  to  get  a  “  decent”  Cabbage  for  Ts.  6d.,  and 
many  times  had  been  glad  to  give  10s.  for  one.  Still  more  recently 
a  lady,  who  had  returned  from  Johannesburg,  assured  us  that  she 
had  seen  Cauliflowers  sold  at  all  prices,  between  10s.  and  SOs.  each. 
In  the  face  of  such  facts  it  is  reasonable  to  presume  there  must  be 
good  openings  in  the  world  for  vegetables  in  a  dried  state,  and  yet 
we  are  told,  when  our  Government  needs  a  supply  fit  for  the 
troops,  this  supply  cannot  be  obtained  in  England,  but  must  be 
purchased  from  Germany. 
We  do  not  apprehend  that  there  are  greater  difficulties  in 
drying  vegetables  in  England  than  on  the  Continent,  where  the 
process  is  artificial.  It  is  a  question  of  machinery  and  methods,  of 
knowledge  and  enterprise.  When  herbs  are  properly  dried  they 
retain  their  essential  distinctive  properties,  and  so  do  vegetables. 
Some  few  years  ago  samples  of  various  kind#  were  submitted  to  the 
Fruit  and  Vegetable  Committee  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  ; 
Potatoes  and  Carrots  reduced  to  chips.  Cabbages,  Cauliflowers, 
Kidney  Beans,  and  others  to  smaller  fragments,  but  when  soaked 
the  requisite  time,  though  they  may  not  have  taken  up  the  whole 
volume  of  water  of  which  they  had  been  deprived,  they  took 
up  sufficient,  and  when  cooked  were  quite  tender,  of  good  quality, 
colour,  and  flavour.  We  forget  whether  they  were  made  in 
Germany  or  not,  though  we  think  some  were  dried  at  Chiswick 
when  fruit-drying  experiments  were  in  progress  there.  Be  that  as 
it  may,  it  appears  somewhat  anomalous  that  in  a  great  and  good 
vegetable-growing  country  like  ours  the  Government  should  have 
to  send  abroad  for  supplies  of  the  nature  indicated. 
Whether  the  requisite  attention  will  ever  be  given  in  this 
country  or  not  to  the  drying  of  vegetables  and  fruit  that  will  be 
equal  in  commercial  value  to  imported  samples,  we  do  not  know  ; 
but  we  have  a  rather  strong  impression  that  we  shall  not  be 
formidable  rivals  to  the  Continentals  if  we  are  content  to  dry  our 
ordinary  unsaleable  rubbish,  while  they  studiously  choose  the  best 
of  those  varieties  which  are  the  best  adapted  to  the  purpose  in 
view.  This  aspect  of  the  case  has  not  been  fully  considered  in 
this  country.  We  hear  little  about  drying  Apples  or  Plums  except 
in  “glut”  years,  and  then  the  papers  are  filled  with  charges  of 
imbecility  against  the  possessors  of  scrubby  Apples  and  trashy 
Plums  too  bad  for  sale,  because  they  do  not  dry  them,  and  so 
compete  with  French  Prunes  and  American  Apple  rings  in  our 
markets.  It  is  much  easier  to  give  advice  than  to  carry  it  out 
successfully.  Numbers  of  our  softer  varieties  of  Apples  will  never 
pay  for  drying,  and  as  for  our  soft-fleshed  Plums— ill- fed  fruit 
from  ill-fed  exhausted  trees— there  could  be  little  left  when  dried 
but  stones  and  skins  of  the  lowest  commercial  value,  if  any  value 
at  all.  It  is  with  dried  fruits  as  with  fresh,  the  best  samples  are 
remunerative,  the  inferior  relatively  valueless. 
A  good  deal  has  to  be  learned  in  England  before  fruit  drying 
will  be  a  profitable  industry.  In  the  Chiswick  trials  we  have  yet 
to  be  convinced  that  out  of  all  the  varieties  tried  there  was  more 
than  one  variety  of  Plum  and  one  variety  of  Apple  which  in  the 
dried  form  would  have  done  more  than  meet  the  expenses  involved 
in  the  process  and  preparation  for  market.  If  the  contrary  can 
be  proved  we  shall  be  glad  to  have  the  evidence,  or  evidence  of 
the  practice  of  fruit  drying  having  proved  remunerative  anywhere 
in  this  country  except  in  the  case  of  special  samples  and  varieties. 
In  vegetable  drying  we  suspect  we  have  produced  as  good  examples 
for  the  purpose  as  can  be  found  elsewhere,  and  yet  if  the  Govern¬ 
ment  want  supplies  for  the  army  they  have  to  obtain  them  from 
Germany.  We  cannot  congratulate  ourselves  as  a  nation  on  this, 
and  will  not  be  so  churlish  as  to  withhold  credit  from  the  better 
educated  and  more  enterprising  Germans. 
FLOWERS  FOR  CHRISTMAS. 
Where  convenience  exists  and  cultivators  look  ahead  early 
enough  in  the  year  there  need  be  no  scarcity  of  flowers  during 
Christmas  and  the  new  year.  These  notes  may  not  be  in  time  to 
correct  mistakes  that  may  have  been  made  in  not  keeping  those 
festive  seasons  sufficiently  in  view,  yet  probably  they  will  stir  up 
some  persons  to  greater  energy  in  the  future,  or  at  the  least  prove 
helpful  to  beginners. 
Abundance  of  flowers  can  be  produced  without  resorting  to 
the  hard  uphill  work  of  forcing,  and  even  those  that  need  this 
treatment  in  order  to  bring  them  into  bloom  before  their  natural 
time  may  be  trained  to  do  so  without  injurious  results.  If  when 
the  days  are  lengthening  and  sun  heat  increasing,  the  plants  are 
assisted  instead  of  being  carelessly  returned  to  cool  quarters  they 
naturally  complete  their  growth  many  weeks  earlier,  ripen  and 
harden  their  wood,  form  their  flower  buds,  and  commence  to 
develop  them.  All  cannot  be  accomplished  in  a  solitary  season, 
but  much  can  be  done. 
The  enormous  strides  that  have  been  made,  both  in  the  culture 
of  Chrysanthemums  and  the  numerous  excellent  varieties,  have 
largely  postponed  forcing  operations  for  a  period  of  two  months. 
I  shall  not  enter  into  particulars  of  varieties,  as  so  much  depends 
on  the  taste  of  those  for  whom  the  flowers  are  grown,  but  what  a 
grand  bush  Viviand  Morel  makes,  and  can  be  bad  in  full  beauty 
throughout  December.  W.  H.  Lincoln  is  a  splendid  late  yellow,  and 
J.  S  Dibben  cannot  well  be  despised  for  yielding  globular-shaped 
flowers  late  in  the  season.  Last  season  we  had  blooms  of  Lady 
Lawrence  in  February,  but  although  a  beautiful  flower,  it  is  too 
uncertain  for  general  cultivation.  The  Chrysanthemum,  then, 
must  be  ranked  first  and  amongst  the  most  useful  of  Christmas  and 
new  year's  flowers.  The  attention  needed  for  late  flowers  is 
mainly  in  pinching  the  plants  a  little  later  and  then  protecting 
them  outside  as  long  as  possible  before  housing.  During  hot 
weather,  such  as  we  had  in  October,  the  plants  are  better  removed 
if  possible  where  the  full  force  of  the  sun  will  not  strike 
on  them,  but  in  the  majority  of  seasons  no  such  care  is  needed. 
The  protection  of  tiffany  will  ward  off  several  degrees  of 
frost  when  arranged  on  a  rough  framework  of  wood.  This 
season  sharp  frost  compelled  us  to  house  earlier  than  usual,  but 
the  plants  were  again  stood  outside,  and  the  rough  and  ready 
method  resorted  to  of  laying  them  down  and  protecting  them 
with  mats. 
The  Violet  is  one  of  the  most  popular  flowers,  and  in  many 
localities  easily  produced.  I  have  grown  many  varieties,  but  for 
continuous  flowering  none  equals  Marie  Louise,  All  through  the 
severe  weather  of  last  winter  we  were  never  without  blooms.  Hot¬ 
beds  are  not  needed  for  the  production  of  Violets  in  the  winter, 
and  heat  from  artificial  sources  proves  ruinous  to  the  plants.  My 
method  is  a  simple  one.  Young  plants  are  raised  annually,  care 
being  taken  to  keep  them  clean  and  grow  them  into  strong  plants 
on  a  north  border.  Early  in  September  they  are  lifted  with  large 
balls  of  soil,  and  placed  at  once  into  frames.  One  frame  of  five 
or  six  lights  has  a  position  that  is  somewhat  sheltered  from  the  sun 
during  the  winter  for  late  spring  flowers.  The  remainder,  twenty 
lights,  are  practically  stood  on  the  surface  of  Vine  borders,  on 
which  1^-inch  boards  have  been  arranged  to  form  the  frame.  The 
space  between  the  plants  is  filled  in  with  fertile  soil,  whilst  if  dry 
weather  follows  watering  and  syringing  may  be  necessary.  The 
lights  are  placed  on  closely  together,  and  the  plants  shaded  for  a 
few  days.  Afterwards  abundance  of  air  is  given,  and  the  plants 
exposed,  except  during  rain  or  frost.  Flowering  commences  at 
once,  and  continues  for  some  time.  No  frost  is  ever  allowed  to 
reach  the  plants.  The  back  of  the  border  is  filled  in  with  litter; 
two  mats  thick  is  placed  over  the  frames,  then  an  oiled  covering  of 
