504 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
Dpc?mber  7,  1899. 
BAHMIAS. 
\  Referring  to  the  reply  given  on  page  437  to  a  correspondent  who 
desired  information  about  Bahmias,  Sir  Charles  Strickland  writes : — 
“  The  eastern  vegetable  ‘  Bahmia  ’  is  the  half-ripe  pod  of  Hibiscus 
‘esculentus;  ’  we  used  to  like  it  well.  It  has  a  peculiar  mucilaginous 
consistence,  and  is  often  used  stewed  with  meat  like  potatoes  in  an 
Irish  stew.  It  is  interesting  to  learn  that  it  has  been  grown  success¬ 
fully  out  of  doors  in  England.  I  brought  seeds  from  Constantinople 
and  tried  to  grow  them  in  a  warm  house,  but  they  came  to  nothing. 
I  would  try  it  again  if  I  could  get  seed.  I  do  not  suppose  that  the 
plants  will  ever  ripen  seed  in  England.” 
We  are  much  obliged  for  the  information,  and  if  “  E.  Id.”  should 
be  able  to  send  us  a  few  seeds  we  will  gladly  forward  them  to  Sir 
Charles  Strickland.  In  Dr.  Hogg’s  “Vegetable  Kingdom”  we  find 
the  following  notes  on  Hibiscus  esculentus,  and  we  reproduce  them, 
as  they  will  be  of  interest  to  at  least  some  of  our  readers  : — 
“  Hibiscus  esculentus  (Abelmoschus  esculentus)  is  the  Ochro  or 
Okro  of  the  West  Indies,  the  Gombard  or  Gombo  of  France,  the 
Bandikai  of  Madras,  and  the  Bamturai  and  Dhenroos  of  Bengal. 
This  plant  is  cultivated  as  a  pot  herb  in  the  warm  countries  of  Asia, 
Africa,  and  America ;  and  also  in  some  parts  of  the  South  of  Europe 
and  the  Levant.  The  parts  used  are  the  long  pyramidal  young  seed 
pods,  gathered  when  green,  which  are  filled  with  a  large  proportion 
of  nutritious  mucilage,  and  form  a  jelly  with  water.  They  are  used 
for  thickening  soups,  and  when  buttered  and  spiced  make  an  excellent 
dish.  The  seeds  are  used  in  soups  in  the  same  way  as  we  do  barley, 
and  they  have  also  been  recommended  when  roasted  as  a  substitute 
for  coffee.  Besides  as  an  ingredient  in  soups,  the  Ochro  is  thus 
employed:  Before  the  pods  have  arrived  at  maturity,  of  whatever  size 
they  may  be,  they  are  first  boiled  in  water,  then  dried  a  little,  and 
allowed  to  cool,  after  which  they  are  cut  transversely  into  two  equal 
parts,  retaining  the  seeds.  They  are  then  placed  in  layers  one  over 
the  other,  and  oil  poured  over  them,  and  seasoned  with  pepper  and 
salt..  After  being  boiled  they  may  also  be  eaten  with  the  gravy  of 
meat.  These  pods,  which  are  from  2  to  6  inches  Ion?,  are  the  chief 
ingredient  in  the  celebrated  Pepper  Pot  of  the  West  Indies,  which  is 
considered  a  rich  dish,  the  other  ingredients  being  either  flesh,  or 
dried  fish  and  capsicums.  As  a  medicine,  Ochro  is  employed  in  all 
cases  where  emollients  and  lubricants  are  necessary.  The  bars  of 
this  plant  abounds  in  fibre,  which  is  of  fine  quality.  H.  (Abelmos¬ 
chus)  bammia  is  the  African  Ochro,  which  Dr.  Royle  seems  to  think 
does  not  differ  materially  from  the  preceding  ;  but  G.  Don,  who  was 
acquainted  with  and  had  partaken  of  both  species  in  their  native 
situations,  regards  them  as  distinct.  Speaking  of  the  Bammia ,  he 
says  : — “  We  have  seen  it  cultivated  with  the  Okro,  or  H.  esculentus  ; 
it  is  called  the  autumnal  Okro,  and  the  young  pods  are  used  to 
make  Okro  soup.  It  differs  from  H.  esculentus,  in  the  leaves  not 
being  so  deeply  lobed,  and  in  the  pods  being  much  longer.” 
APPLES  AND  GRAPES  IN  BUFFALO. 
A  VERY  long  and  quite  peculiar  season  is  about  to  close.  The 
climate  is  especially  kind  to  us  in  Buffalo,  chiefly  on  account  of  the 
influence  of  Lake  Erie,  from  which  the  prevailing  winds  come.  It  is 
often  the  middle  of  November,  as  now,  before  the  frosts  come  close 
to  the  lake  shore,  although  this  immunity  does  not  extend  much  more 
than  a  mile  from  it,  so  that  this  season  there  have  been  severe  frosts 
in  the  interior  of  the  State  as  early  as  September,  in  some  instances 
injuring  the  Grape  crop.  The  last  recorded  frost  in  the  spring,  as  I 
learn  from  the  weather  bureau,  was  on  April  17th,  which  thus  gives 
us  practically  seven  months  of  full  growing  season. 
The  shore  of  Lake  Erie,  on  the  American  side  only,  is  just 
passing  the  novelty  of  an  established  centre  of  Grape  growing,  and 
the  exact  reason  for  the  especial  adaptability  to  this  crop  and  the 
reason  for  not  discovering  it  sooner  are  still  unexplained.  The  most 
favoured  region  .is  about  fifty  miles  in  extent,  all  in  sight  of  the  lake. 
It  is  a  comparatively  poor  gravelly  soil,  seldom  producing  other  crops 
in  satisfactory  amount,  and  still  largely  covered  with  bushes  and 
weeds  where  not  planted  with  Vines.  How  the  poorest  soil  in  this 
section  of  the  State  should  suddenly  develop  such  capacity  for  Grape 
growing,  and  that  practically  without  manure,  is  quite  a  wonder 
to  us. 
Reports  from  the  Association  of  Grape  Growers  at  Brocton,  N.Y., 
the  centre  of  this  district,  state  that  already  4500  cars  of  the  fruit  have 
been  shipped,  and  that  fully  5000  cars  of  first-class  fruit  would  be 
marketed  this  season  by  the  Association  alone,  which  does  not  include 
a  large  amount  of  second-class,  aod  the  shipments  of  non-members  of 
the  Association,  which  is  also  large.  Oar  loads  run  as  high  as  15  tons. 
The  cold  storage  system  is  now  extended  to  Grapes,  so  that  the 
Catawba  variety,  our  best  keeping  Grape,  is  now  kept  all  winter  in 
good  condition.  For  general  crop  the  old  Concord  holds  its  own, 
though  the  newer  Niagara  follows  closely  on. 
Second-class  Grapes  and  all  that  arrive  in  market  in  poor  condition 
are  now  as  a  rule  sold  to  wine  makers  at  moderate  prices.  This  new 
industry  appears  to  be  growing  fast,  and  in  a  way  hardly  expected. 
Many  private  householders  buy  them,  extract  the  juice  without 
machinery,  and  put  it  into  air-tight  cans,  where  it  is  the  basis  of 
excellent  summer  drinks  by  merely  adding  sugar  and  water,  fermenta¬ 
tion  not  being  allowed.  Larger  users  run  the  Grapes  through  a  cider 
press,  and,  especially  if  in  the  liquor  trade,  do  not  use  the  wine  till  it 
is  fermented,  always  trying  to  keep  it  long  enough  to  become  somewhat 
ripened  by  age. 
There  has  been  a  serious  loss  on  the  part  of  dealers  in  Apples  this 
season.  As  often  happens,  the  size  of  the  crop  was  under-estimated, 
and  more  was  paid  early  for  fruit  than  could  be  realised.  Then  the 
warm  autumn  has  ruined  a  great  part  of  the  poor-keeping  fruit  and 
hastened  the  ripening  of  the  best  winter  sorts  at  least  a  month,  so  that 
an  immense  amount  of  it  has  been  thrown  on  the  market  sooner  than 
was  expected,  breaking  down  prices  seriously.  Apples  that  readily 
brought  2  dols.  50  cents  a  barrel  at  picking  time  now  sell  to  dealers  as 
low  as  1  dol.  75  cents,  and  are  a  drug  at  that. 
Buffalo  is  not  rated  as  a  great  fruit  centre,  in  spite  of  the  vicinity 
of  the  Grape  district  on  Lake  Erie  and  the  larger  Grape,  Peach,  Apple 
and  general  fruit  district  on  the  southern  shore  of  Lake  Ontario. 
There  is  still  a  disposition  to  bring  in  the  inferior  fruit,  sell  it  without 
name,  and  ship  the  better  pickings  to  the  seaboard,  or  abroad  if  it  will 
bear  the  journey.  On  the  other  hand  all  fruit  is  comparatively  cheap, 
for  this  is  the  northern  limit  of  shipments  from  the  south.  A  system 
of  telegraphic  direction  of  fruit  in  transit  has  been  established  of  late, 
by  which  it  can  be  reconsigned  whenever  it  appears  likely  to  arrive 
at  a  city  that  is  for  the  day  over-supplied  and  the  price  is  consequently 
low.  Buffalo  being  at  the  rnd  of  the  routes,  gets  many  remnants  of 
good  fruit  and  vegetables  that  must  be  sold  here  at  the  going  price, 
and  no  alternative. 
California  fruit  also  comes  in  here,  often  to  the  serious  embarass- 
ment  of  the  market,  as  the  rate  of  freight  is  the  same  for  all  points 
east  of  the  Mississippi  River,  an  extreme  breadth  of  1200  miles. 
Sometimes  this  fruit  meets  such  sharp  home  competition  that  it  sells 
for  barely  enough  to  pay  transportation,  all  of  which  is  to  the 
immediate  interest  of  the  consumer,  no  matter  how  badly  it  may 
demoralise  the  production  of  further  crops. — J.  C.,  Buffalo,  N.Y. 
LONDON  GARDENS  OYER  FIFTY  YEARS. 
No.  16. 
The  life  of  mo§t  people  gives  proof  of  the  fact  that  we  generally 
reap  what  we  have  sown,  but  it  is  also  true  that  many  reap  what 
others  have  sown,  for  good  or  evil.  It  is  quite  certain  that  market 
gardeners  about  London  suburbs,  busy  in  raising  as  heavy  and 
numerous  crops  as  was  possible,  had  no  idea,  years  ago,  that  they  were 
sowing  seeds  of  disease,  or  even  death,  for  future  inhabitants  of  the 
localities.  But  there  seems  to  be  no  reasonable  doubt  that  such  has 
often  been  the  case.  Houses  have  been  run  up  since  by  the  jerry 
builder  with  alarming  rapidity.  It  uBed  to  be  said  of  one,  that  he 
started  upon  a  house  at  the  beginning  of  a  month,  and  when  the  next 
came  he  was  going  for  his  rent  !  This  was  an  exaggeration,  but  the 
speed  of  building  cheap  houses  led  to  scamping  of  much  of  the  work, 
and  a  good  foundation  was  seldom  laid.  Thousands  on  thousands  of 
houses  have  been  run  up  with  scarcely  any  excavation  of  the  soil ;  if  it 
happened  to  be  a  former  market  garden,  warmth  and  moisture  in  time 
evolved  unwholesome  gases.  The  earth,  saturated  by  a  succession  of 
manures,  should  have  been  removed  and  a  foundation  made  of  dry 
brick  rubbish,  or  some  such  material,  better  still,  of  concrete. 
Nobody  would  think  of  holding  market  gardeners  responsible  for 
the  results  of  building  operations  on  land  they  had  occupied,  rightly 
enough;  they  got  all  ihe  produce  they  could  by  stimulating  growth  on 
the  methods  formerly  approved.  Herein  we  perceive  a  great  change 
during  the  fifty  years.  Animal  and  vegetable  manures  have  been  to  a 
great  extent  superseded  by  new  chemical  compounds,  more  effective 
as  manures,  and,  I  should  say,  cheaper  taken  generally.  Then,  though 
most  persons  did  not  mind  how  vegetables  were  grown,  provided  they 
were  fresh  and  moderate  in  price;  there  were  some  who  did  object  to 
those  raised  by  the  heavy  application  of  manure,  especially  animal. 
For  instance,  with  sundry  varieties  of  Cabbage,  folks  asserted  it  was 
quite  perceptible  in  boiling  them  whether  they  had  been  grown  near 
London  under  stimulus  or  raised  more  slowly  at  a  distance  from  the 
metropolis.  However  that  might  be,  I  do  think  the  manures  formerly 
used  could  not  have  been  healthful  to  the  workers  in  the  gardens, 
though,  during  the  cholera  epidemic  fifty  years  ago,  it  was  asserted 
that  gardeners  got  off  lightly,  some  said  because  many  of  them  ate 
more  fruit  than  other  people. 
It  was  quite  a  common  sight  about  market  gardens  formerly,  to 
see  pits  or  trenches  in  which  manure  was  put  to  decompose  ere  it 
was  made  use  of ;  we  do  not  often  come  upon  these  now,  they  were 
