JOURXAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AUD  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
11 
July  2,' 1896. 
- —  Sydney  Botanic  Gardens.— We  are  informed  that  Mr. 
J.  n.  Maiden  has  been  appointed  Government  Bijtaniat  and  Director  of 
the  Botanic  Gardens  at  Sydney  in  succession  to  Mr.  Charles  Moore,  who 
has  recently  retired  after  a  service  in  these  capacities  of  nearly  half  a 
century. 
-  Drying  Raspberries. — The  cultivation  of  Raspberries  in  the 
United  States  has  greatly  extended  of  late  years,  and  one  of  the  chief 
centres  of  the  Raspberry  growing  industry  is  in  the  western  part  of  the 
York  State.  In  this  State  large  quantities  of  this  fruit  are  produced, 
mainly  for  drying  or  evaporating,  in  which  form  it  is  consumed,  not  in 
New  York  State,  but  west  and  north-west  of  Chicago,  chiefly  in  lumber 
and  mining  camps,  and  on  the  plains,  where  fresh  fruit  is  scarce. 
Raspberries  are  grown  for  drying  to  an  important  extent  in  Southern 
Illinois  and  Michigan,  and  in  Arkansas.  They  are  not  exported  ;  for 
some  that  were  exported  to  France  met  with  no  sale.  It  is  stated  that 
these  dried  or  evaporated  Raspberries  have  as  much  merit  in  cookery  as 
the  fresh  berries,  but  of  this  we  have  grave  doubts,  and  they  are  used 
in  the  same  way  for  pies  and  fl,avouring.  Enormous  quantities  of  Rasp¬ 
berries  are  evaporated  in  Wayne  county,  New  York  State,  which  is 
styled  the  home  of  commercial  fruit  evaporation.  There  are  reported 
to  be  2200  fruit  evaporators  in  this  county.  This  industry  has,  says  a 
contemporary,  been  developed  during  the  last  twenty-five  years,  and 
owes  its  beginning  to  the  introduction  of  a  small  evaporator  from  Ohio, 
which  dried  5  bushels  of  Apples  in  eight  to  ten  hours.  About  1000  tons 
of  evaporated  Raspberries  are  produced  annually  in  Wayne  county. 
When  they  were  first  introduced  Is.  3d.  to  Is.  8d.  per  lb.  were  common 
prices,  but  for  the  last  three  or  four  years  the  price  has  averaged  about 
8d.  or  8Jd.  per  lb.  About  4  lbs.  of  berries  are  required,  on  the  average, 
.  to  make  1  lb.  of  evaporated  fruit,  and  the  cost  of  evaporating  is  about 
1  Jd.  per  lb.  Therefore  it  would  hardly  pay  fruit  growers  in  England  to 
evaporate  Raspberries,  unless  the  price  of  the  fresh  fruit  should  fall. 
At  present  the  average  price  made  of  fresh  fruit  is  about  2id.  per  lb., 
which  would  make  the  evaporated  fruit  coat  lOd.  per  lb.  before  it  could 
be  put  on  the  market.  Of  course,  if  tne  price  of  fresh  Raspberries  fell 
considerably,  or  if  there  were  a  glut  of  this  fruit  in  any  season,  it  might 
pay  well  to  evaporate  it,  but  so  far  Raspberries  have  made  fairly 
remunerative  prices  in  this  country,  and  at  present  their  evaporation 
does  not  appear  likely  to  be  of  any  great  advantage  to  growers. 
-  Reading  Gardeners’  Improvement  Association.  — 
A  party  of  about  100  members  of  the  Reading  and  District  Gardeners’ 
Mutual  Improvement  Association  paid  a  visit  to  Messrs,  Sutton  &  Sons’ 
seed  trial  grounds  on  Thursday  evening,  June  25th.  The  visit  was 
arranged  to  see  the  Pea  trials,  it  being  thought  by  the  Association  that 
they  would  be  of  great  interest  and  profit  to  the  members.  Consent 
was  obtained  from  the  firm,  and  on  Thursday  evening  Mr.  Leonard 
G.  Sutton  was  present  to  welcome  the  members.  Before  proceeding  to 
inspect  the  trials  the  company  sat  down  to  an  excellent  tea,  kindly 
provided  by  the  firm.  Afterwards  the  party,  being  a  large  one,  was 
divided — one  portion  going  to  view  the  culinary  Peas  first,  the  other  to 
inspect  the  Sweet  Pea  trials.  In  drawing  the  attention  of  the  visitors 
to  the  culinary  Peas  it  was  pointed  out  that  the  trials,  which  numbered 
590  and  comprised  334  varieties,  were  all  sown  on  the  same  day, 
grown  under  ordinary  treatment  and  with  no  artificial  watering.  They 
had  not  been  grown  to  see  what  size  pods  could  be  obtained,  but  to 
compare  one  variety  with  another  on  exactly  equal  terms,  therefore 
there  were  many  of  the  older  varieties  growing  alongside  the  more 
recent  introductions  of  the  firm.  The  sorts  that  attracted  most  atten¬ 
tion  were  the  large-podded  first  early  wrinkled  Peas,  Buttons’  Seedling 
and  Excelsior  ;  and  many  of  the  members  present  who  had  successfully 
grown  Buttons’  Bountiful  agreed  that  this  variety  was  one  of  the  most 
suitable  for  early  work.  It  being  early  in  the  season  only  the  first  and 
second  earlies  were  seen  at  their  best,  although  a  hasty  glance  through 
the  later  kinds  showed  that  there  were  some  useful  seedlings  which  the 
firm  had  in  hand,  notably  two  or  three  of  the  Duke  of  Albany  type. 
The  Sweet  Peas  consisted  of  125  trials,  all  represented  by  different 
names,  and  filled  350  rows  16  feet  long,  the  following  being  perhaps 
those  that  claimed  most  attention  : — Buttons’  Double  White,  Emily 
Henderson,  Mrs.  Sankey,  Duchess  of  York,  Buttons’  Giant  Primrose, 
Lady  Beaconsfield,  Buttons’  Delicate  Rose,  Delight,  Duke  of  York,  Mrs. 
Joseph  Obamberlain,  Apple  Blossom,  Princess  Beatrice,  Mrs.  Glad¬ 
stone,  Her  Majesty,  Buttons’  Brilliant  Scarlet,  Countess  of  Radnor,  and 
Boreatton.  Before  dispersing  a  hearty  vote  of  thanks  was,  on  the 
proposition  of  Mr.  Neave,  accorded  to  the  Messrs,  Sutton  &  Sons  for 
their  kindness  in  not  only  allowing  them  the  opportunity  of  spending  a 
'  most  pleasant  and  profitable  time  amongst  the  various  trials,  but  also 
for  their  hosoitality. 
■ - Normalene. — Such  is  the  name  of  a  plant  food  that  was  put 
on  the  market  by  the  Sharon  Chemical  Manure  Co.,  Ltd.,  Little  Chester, 
Derby,  Difflcult  of  accomplishment  as  it  is,  the  manufacturers  have 
endeavoured  to  compound  a  mixture  which  will  be  suitable  as  far  as 
possible  to  all  plants,  and  if  it  proves  to  be  thoroughly  reliable  it  should 
attaia  to  wide  popularity.  The  manure  is  put  up  in  small  tins  at  a 
reasonable  price,  and  readers  would  probably  find  it  to  their  advantage 
in  the  improvement  of  their  plants  to  give  it  a  trial. 
-  Carnations.— The  Carnation  begins  so  early  and  endures  so 
long  that  they  seem  to  be  ever  in  season  ;  indeed,  it  is  rare  of  ordinary 
border  or  tree  varieties  forced  that  some  are  not  in  bloom.  But  the 
season  of  outdoor  Carnations  is  at  hand,  and  then  we  may  hope  to  have 
an  abundance  of  sweet  smelling  flowers.  I  am  not  so  exacting  as  to 
require  that  all  flowers  shall  have  perfume.  It  is  too  much  to  expect, 
and  indeed  were  all  scented  would  make  life  in  a  garden  somewhat 
intolerable.  But  we  do  look  for  perfume  in  Carnations,  and  are  rather 
disappointed  when  it  is  absent.  Now  size  or  body  of  petals,  and,  as  in 
the  Malmaison,  too  often  very  rough,  crowded,  lumps  of  petals  also, 
seems  to  be  the  dominant  requirements  in  Carnations,  and  the  development 
of  perfume  a  very  minor  one.  No  doubt  some  fanciers  of  the  big  flowers 
will  regard  this  objection  as  carping,  but  I  have  never  evidenced  any 
enthusiasm  for  big  Carnation  blooms  any  more  than  I  have  for  the 
dressed  flowers  and  paper  collars  of  the  florist.  I  have,  however,  great 
fondness  for  flowers  of  good  medium  size,  such  as  we  are  accustomed  to 
find  in  good  Carnations,  in  which  the  petals  are  not  crowded  or 
crumpled,  but  are  stout,  flat,  and  well  developed,  and  yet  with  some 
natural  regularity.  When  to  these  features  is  added  sweet  perfume, 
such  as  we  find  in  the  Clove  Carnation,  then  1  think  we  have  beautiful 
flowers  indeed.  Great  enthusiasm  seems  to  be  shown  by  some  growers 
over  pot-grown-  Malmaisons,  such  as  were  seen  recently  at  the  Temple 
and  Drill  Hall  shows.  But  after  all,  what  is  presented  but  strong  plants 
in  6-inch  pots,  carrying  stout,  robust  grass  in  plenty,  but  only  one 
bloom,  aud  a  rather  ugly  bloom  at  the  best?  That  sort  of  thing  seems 
to  be  reducing  Carnation  culture  in  pots  to  an  absurdity.  Happily  we 
have  plenty  of  varieties  that  will  give  from  similar  plants  numerous 
useful  sized  and  most  pleasing  flowers.  I  should  all  the  same  like  to 
see  some  of  the  energy  now  devoted  to  the  raising  of  large  flowered  Car¬ 
nations  more  worthily  applied  in  the  production  of  those  which  give 
prominently  sweet  perfume. — A.  D. 
-  Preservation  of  Rare  Cape  Plants. — The  “  Agricultural 
Gazette  ”  of  Cape  Colony  publishes  a  letter  sent  by  Sir  Ferdinand  voQ 
Mueller  to  Sir  Hercules  Robinson,  the  Governor  of  the  Colony,  and 
appealing  for  a  reserve  ground  for  the  preservation  of  rare  Cape  plants. 
As  the  veteran  botanist  of  Victoria  points  out,  the  vegetation  of  South 
Africa  is  the  richest  in  the  world,  not  only  as  to  number  of  species,  but 
also  as  containing  an  astounding  variety  of  plants  of  special  and  peculiar 
type,  aggregated  chiefly  in  the  south-western  provinces  and  occurring 
nowhere  else.  Hundreds  of  these  are  quite  local,  and  restricted  to  very 
circumscribed  areas.  They  are  sure  to  be  swept  out  of  existence 
altogether,  unless  special  provision  is  made  for  their  preservation  ;  and 
it  is  on  that  account  that  the  appeal  is  made  for  a  wild  garden  or 
reserve  for  the  conservation  of  Cape  plants  in  areas  where  they  can  be 
maintained  for  the  knowledge  of  generations  to  come.  It  may  be  said 
that  botanic  gardens  exist  already  in  several  parts  of  the  Colony  j  but 
in  a  report  upon  Baron  von  Mueller’s  proposal,  Prof.  Mac  Owan 
remarks  ;  “These  places  can  only  exist  by  making  themselves  into  a 
lounge  or  pleasaunce  of  idle  hours  for  the  population  living  close  by. 
I  speak  as  one  who  knows,  for  it  was  my  lot  to  ran  one  of  these  for 
fourteen  of  the  hardest  and  most  unsatisfactory  years  of  my  working 
life.  The  conditions  of  support  compelled  the  place  to  grovel  down 
into  a  nursery  garden  on  commercial  lines,  in  order  to  get  money  enough 
to  keep  it  presentable  for  the  daily  stroller.  Nor  did  I  ever  dare  to 
plant  up  any  single  portion  of  it  with  typical  representatives  of  our 
Flora.  The  public  would  have  taken  the  alarm  at  once.  They  care 
nothing  for  the  special  prehistoric  flora  of  the  land  they  live  in,  com¬ 
pared  with  the  newest  hideous  abortion  in  Chrysanthemums.  .  .  So  that 
some  of  the  gardens  which  we  complaisantly  call  botanic,  have  it  in 
them  to  stand  between  the  living  and  the  dead,  and  stop  the  slow  and 
sure  extinction  of  the  most  ancient  and  interesting  part  of  our  Cape 
Flora.  This  state  of  things,  brought  home  to  me  yearly  as  I  traverse 
the  same  solitudes  each  season,  and  note  the  increasing  scarcity  of  rare 
plants,  has  been  much  in  mind  ;  but  I  do  not  see  any  other  way  of 
dealing  with  the  matter,  than  by  the  reserve,  now  recommended,  of 
chosen  localities  for  all  time  and  inalienable.”  But  much  as  this  is  to 
be  desired,  Prof.  Mac  Owan  has  to  confess  that  the  idea  is  not  likely  of 
even  approximate  fulfilment. — ("  Nature.”) 
