December  22,  1898. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
477 
-  MISTLETOE. — I  was  much  amused  in  reading  “Amateur’s” 
horticultural  proceedings,  page  453.  I  believe  his  parasitic  lodger  is 
quite  capable  of  helping  its  host,  which  has  not  borne  leaves.  When  my 
master’s  youngest  son  was  a  boy  he  wished  to  try  his  hand  at  growing 
Mistletoe,  so  he  rubbed  some  seeds  into  the  bark  of  some  of  the  Apple 
trees.  However  only  one  grew,  and  that  -was  on  the  branch  of  an  old 
Kentish  Pippin.  Four  summers  ago  that  branch  appeared  to  be  dead, 
and  I  feared  that  the  parasite  would  be  starved,  and  die  also  ;  but 
although  that  particular  branch  has  not  since  borne  a  leaf,  the  Mistletoe 
is  still  flourishing.  On  examining  it  to-day  I  find  that  the  branch  is  still 
alive  below  the  Mistletoe,  showing  clearly,  I  think,  that  the  parasite  has 
the  power  to  appropriate  the  sap  of  its  host,  although  this  is  leafless. 
— D.  W. 
-  “  My  Garden  Diary'.” — Under  this  simple  but  expressively 
appropriate  title,  we  have  received  an  extremely  chaste  and  useful  annual 
from  Messrs.  Sutton  &  Sons.  On  the  left-hand  side  pages  are  set  forth  a 
series  of  seasonable  reminders  of  what  needs  doing  in  the  garden  ;  on  the 
right  is  an  almanack  and  space  for  memoranda  ;  at  the  foot  are  average 
monthly  readings  of  the  barometer  and  thermometer,  as  wrell  as  the 
amount  of  rainfall,  as  registered  at  Greenwich  over  a  period  of  fifty-four 
years.  Towards  the  end  winter  vegetables  and  winter  flowers  are  put,  so 
to  say,  in  a  nutshell.  No  small  amount  of  thought  must  have  been 
exercised  in  the  production  of  this  little  table  ornament,  which  seems  to 
be  equally  suitable  to  the  whitewashed  cottage  of  the  thrifty  peasant  and 
the  drawing-room  of  the  aristocrat  or  millionaire.  It  is  all  this  without 
a  picture  in  it,  and  that  is  something  to  have  achieved  in  these  garish 
days. 
-  Sutton’s  Early  Giant  Pea. — When  I  was  lecturing  the 
other  day  on  pod-bearing  plants  a  member  of  the  audience  asked  me  to 
mention  the  finest  first  earl}r  Pea.  I  at  once  gave  Early  Giant,  for  the 
splendid  sample  of  this  Pea  shown  by  Messrs.  Sutton  &  Sons  at  the 
Temple  in  May  last  has,  for  a  first  early  variety,  never  been  equalled. 
Gradus  is  fine  too  ;  butEarlv  Giant  so  far  seems,  to  use  a  common  phrase, 
to  take  the  cake.  Of  course,  the  splendid  samples  of  the  variety  shown 
at  the  Temple  were  grown  under  glass  ;  but  then  the  product  would  have 
been  just  as  fine  outdoors  a  month  later.  Then  the  sample,  and  the 
information  given  me  by  the  growers,  served  to  show  what  a  future  in 
forced  Pea  culture  was  opened  up  by  the  introduction  of  such  a  variety 
into  commerce,  and  better  knowledge  of  growing  for  early  picking  in 
large  light  airy  houses.  Possibly  some  persons  will  ask,  “  Can  glass 
house  culture  of  Peas  be  made  to  pay  1”  I  am  assured  that  so  long  as 
the  price  per  pound  in  shell  does  not  fall  below  Is.  that  it  does  pay.  Still,  it 
is  a  matter  of  quantity  and  quality.  If  imported  Peas  fetch  high  prices 
in  May  and  June,  surely  such  a  superb  sample  as  Early  Giant  was  in  May 
last  would  fetch  treble  the  amount  paid  for  such  poor  things  as  are 
imported.  No  doubt,  where  market  growers  have  erected  such  immense 
ranges  of  glass  houses,  as  Mr.  A.  Smith  has  at  Feltham,  some ‘two  miles 
of  25  feet  span,  one  object  in  view  is  early  Pea  production.  That  even 
without  heat  produce  of  the  finest  character  can  be  obtained  under  glass 
some  two  or  three  weexs  earlier  than  could  be  got  outdoors  is  certain. 
Then  the  crop  soon  off,  makes  way  for  Tomatoes,  and  so  the  houses  are 
fully  occupied. — A.  D. 
-  A  Useful  Christmas  Present. — Happy  should  be  the  man 
who  burthened  with  three  or  four  Christmas  holidays — always  a  grievous 
burthen  to  the  man  of  energy'  and  earnestness  of  life — if  he  has  a  piece  of 
ground,  whether  garden  or  allotment,  in  which  he  can  profitably,  healthily', 
and  happily  spend  a  few  hours  daily  in  pleasant  labour.  If  the  Christmas 
season  remains  as  it  is  at  the  present  moment  of  writing,  it  will  be  as  non- 
traditional  and  unconventional  as  well  could  be — more  resembling  April 
in  a  genial  mood  than  midwinter.  What  wonder  if  such  weather  invites 
to  garden  labour.  How  happy  the  man  who  can  so  utilise  his  spare 
time.  What  does  he  gain?  If  he  does  a  few  hours’  trenching  daily  he  is 
laying  the  foundation  of  abundant  success  for  .several  years  of  crop  pro¬ 
duction.  He  has  the  unqualified  happiness  of  knowing  that  time  has  been 
profitably  spent,  and  that  his  leisure,  doubtless  enforced,  has  made  him 
and  the  nation  richer  rather  than  poorer.  He  is  healthier  for  his 
exertion,  and  unlike  many'  of  his  compeers  at  that  holiday  season,  not 
only  does  not  suffer  from  dyspepsia  or  repletion,  but  has  a  splendid 
appetite,  and  enjoys  his  food  thoroughly.  He  has  also  found  in  his  work 
intellectual  occupation,  for  it  is  one  of  the  special  charms  of  gardening, 
however  elementary  the  labour,  that  it  furnishes  food  for  thought.  To 
cultivate  the  soil  is  to  be  also  cultivating  the  brain,  the  particular  portion 
of  the  human  frame  which  at  present  with  the  bulk  of  humanity  gets  least 
culture,  and  most  sadly  needs  it.  Verily  it  is  difficult  to  suggest  for  any 
holiday  keeping  working  man  a  more  desirable  Christmas  present  than  is 
a  garden. — Inspector. 
-  HAICEA  SUAVEOLENS. — An  example  of  this  Australian  Protead 
is  in  flower  in  the  temperate  house  at  Ivew,  and,  though  it  can  hardly  be 
said  to  meet  the  requirements  of  an  estabishment  where  decorative  plants 
only  are  grown,  it  is  an  interesting  plant,  and  is  worth  including  in  a 
collection  of  hardwooded  plants,  particularly'  in  botanical  gardens.  It 
makes  a  sturdy  growing  bush  with  sharp-pointed,  pinnatifid  leaves,  and 
produces  its  flowers  in  short  dense  racemes  from  buds  near  the  apex  of 
the  current  season’s  growth.  The  individual  flowers  are  small,  cream- 
coloured,  and  sweetly  scented.  It  grows  well  in  sandy  peat,  and  requires 
no  more  fire  heat  than  will  serve  to  exclude  frost. 
-  The  Variegated  Periwinkle. — According  to  Mr.  Meehan 
there  are  few  more  valuable  plants,  suited  to  ornamentation  in  window 
and  conservatory  culture,  than  the  Variegated  Periwinkle,  Vinca  major 
variegata.  As  its  growth  in  pot  culture  is  always  drooping,  it  is  admir¬ 
ably  suited  for  placing  on  brackets  or  shelves  in  connection  with  loftier- 
growing  plants  ;  while  the  creamy  white  of  the  variegation,  in  contrast 
with  the  remaining  green  portion  of  the  leaf,  renders  it  very  attractive. 
The  large  blue  flowers  are  very  showy’,  though  produced  sparingly. 
What  is  more  in  its  favour,  with  those  who  have  no  great  amount  of 
horticultural  knowledge,  is  that  it  is  willing  to  put  up  with  almost  any 
treatment  and  to  thrive  in  almost  any  situation — in  sun  or  shade,  in  a  dry 
atmosphere  or  a  moist  one  it  makes  itself  at  home. 
-  Beet  Sugar. — While  the  inhabitants  of  Great  Britain  consume 
86  lbs.  of  sugar  per  head  the  Russians  are  credited  with  only  8|  lbs.  A  recent 
official  report  states  that  the  Beet  sugar  industry’  was  carried  on  in  Russia 
as  tar  back  as  the  year  1800.  In  1 897  the  production  of  sugar  in  Russia  was 
644,900  tons,  of  which  484,000  tons  were  required  for  her  own  popula¬ 
tion ;  and  in  1896  some  150,000  tons  were  exported  to  Europe,  most  of 
which,  of  course,  found  its  way  to  London.  A  very  encouraging  report 
of  the  analyses  of  sugar  Beet  grown  at  Romney  Marsh,  Kent,  has  been 
given  recently  by  a  firm  of  sugar  refiners  of  Liverpool.  Experiments,  it 
appears,  have  been  conducted  at  the  place  named  under  the  cognisance  of 
the  Board  of  Agriculture,  and  the  results  tend  to  prove  that  the  district 
is  highly  suitable  for  the  sugar  industry. — (“Knowledge.”) 
-  Wood  Ashes  and  Charcoal  as  Fertilisers.— The  value 
of  wood  ashes  as  a  manure  has  long  been  known  to  gardeners.  Mr. 
Harding,  Curator  of  the  Botanic  Gardens  at  Toowoomba,  Australia, 
in  a  letter  to  an  Australian  paper  says  that  long  observation  and  study  lead 
him  to  the  conclusion  that  ashes  and  charcoal  must  be  classed  among  the 
most  natural  and  economic  manures  that  can  be  applied  to  plants.  These, 
when  used  as  fertilisers,  not  infrequently  produce  a  great  increase  of 
crop.  Fifty  pounds  of  the  ashes  of  an  Apple  tree,  Mr.  Harding  calculates, 
will  contain  4  lbs.  of  potash,  which  must  be  the  substance  most  largely 
absorbed  by  the  tree.  The  power  of  the  potash,  Mr.  Harding  says,  to 
liberate  nitrogen  from  humus  is  well  known,  and  this  action  in  making 
available  the  nitrogen  in  the  soil  is  strikingly  shown  when  land  recently 
cleared  of  timber  is  put  into  crop.  Wherever  a  heap  of  logs  or  brushwood 
has  been  burned  down,  there  the  vegetation  is  rank  and  luxuriant.  [It 
would  be  interesting  to  know  from  the  Rev.  Professor  Henslow  or  other 
authorities,  if  Mr.  Harding  indicates  the  real  cause  of  the  bene6t  resulting 
from  burning  vegetable  matter  in  heaps  on  the  land,  seeing  that  tbe 
effects  of  such  burning  often  appear  as  marked  on  the  subsequent  crop  on 
sandy  or  clayey  land  weak  in  humus  as  on  that  which  contains  a  large 
amount  of  decayed  vegetable  matter.] 
_  Quality'  in  Potatoes. — In  the  interesting  article  on  ‘‘Trials 
of  Field  Potatoes”  in  your  “Home  Farm”  column,  I  note  that  out  of 
nineteen  varieties  there  mentioned,  my  favourite  Potato — White  Beauty  of 
Hebron— is  not  mentioned  Where  quality  is  the  essential  point,  this 
Potato  stands  quite  at  the  top  of  any  list  of  varieties,  long  or  short.  No 
other  can  in  my  opinion  equal  this,  let  alone  surpass  it,  when  you  consider 
the  length  of  time  its  quality  from  a  cooking  point  is  taken  into  account. 
In  August  few  are  superior,  and  in  April  following  none  is  better.  The 
flesh  is  white,  the  flavour  good,  and  the  eyes  few,  thus  there  is  hardly  any 
waste. in  peeling.  As  a  market  Potato  it  realises  top  price.  I\  hite 
Beauties  ”  will  sell  when  others  will  not.  As  a  disease  resister  it  is 
equal  to  many  others  with  a  high  reputation  in  this  respect.  T  he  height 
and  quantity  of  its  haulm  is  a  distinct  point  in  its  favour,  as  in  this  respect 
it  is  below  the  average,  thus  enabling  the  rows  to  be  closer  together.  I 
have  sung  its  praises  somewhat  loudly'  ;  surely  it  has  a  fault  some  will 
suggest.  It  has,  and  a  serious  one  too,  when  looked  at  from  a  market 
point  of  view — viz.,  that  of  being  alight  cropper,  which  it  undoubtedly  is. 
I,  however,  am  prepared  to  accept  its  failings,  and  provide  an  extra  acre 
of  land  to  make  up  the  deficiency  in  quantity  for  the  sake  of  its  inimitable 
quality. — E.  Molyneux. 
