September  3,  189 1 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
227 
,,  Events  of  the  Week. — Much  intercBt  is  apparent  amongst  Dahlia 
growers  regarding  the  show  of  these  flowers  that  is  to  be  held  at  the 
Crystal  Palace  on  Friday  under  the  auspices  of  the  National  Dahlia 
y,  Society.  The  Committees  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  are  to 
j  meet  at  the  Drill  Hall  on  Tuesday  next. 
-  Weather  in  London. — Though  there  have  been  many  hours 
j/  of  sunshine  during  the  past  week,  rain  has  fallen  on  each  day.  The 
ground  must  now  be  getting  moist  enough,  and  some  persons  will 
V;  probably  soon  be  crying  out  for  fine  weather.  On  Monday  and  Tuesday 
i  nights  the  downpours  were  particularly  heavy. 
^  - -  French  Cider  Making.  —  The  Grape  crop  declining  in 
France,  the  cultivators  have  turned  their  attention  to  Apples  and  cider^ 
Official  statistics  show  that  G78  million  gallons  of  cider  were  produced 
^  last  year  in  the  country,  being  an  increase  of  197  million  gallons  over 
c  the  preceding  year,  and  of  .865  million  gallons  over  the  average  for  the 
ten  preceding  years.  As  to  ferments,  the  French  have  a  proverb, 
“  No  good  cider  without  good  fermentation  and  good  ferments,”  and 
to  produce  good  cider  the  fruit  mast  be  ripe  and  fragrant,  averaging 
from  2  to  4  per  1000  of  acidity,  containing,  with  some  mucilage,  a 
^  notable  quantity  of  tannin— 3  to  4  per  cent. — and  a  large  proportion 
iof  saccharine  matter,  say  15  per  cent.  It  is  generally  a  good  rule  to 
mix  several  varieties  of  Apples,  so  that  the  merits  of  one  may  compensate 
for  or  attenuate  the  defects  of  another.  Care  in  gathering  and  storing 
preparatory  to  crushing  seem  also  to  be  of  great  importance. — 
("  Echo.”:) 
-  Fruit  in  New  York. — Mangoes  from  the  West  Indies  are 
j;  rather  more  common  in  the  fancy  fruit  stores  than  usual  this  year,  but 
I  whether  it  is  because  only  inferior  varieties  are  sent  here,  or  because  | 
c  the  fruits  are  picked  too  green,  the  fact  is  that  none  of  the  samples  j 
^  which  reach  this  city  justify  the  high  esteem  with  which  this  fruit  is 
^  held  in  the  tropics.  As  a  rule,  in  the  West  Indies  little  care  is  taken  to 
!;  select  and  improve  varieties,  and,  no  doubt,  the  seedlings  of  this  tree, 
I  Mangifera  indica,  vary  quite  as  much  as  Apples  do.  Mammee  Apples 
of  fair  size  are  also  now  to  be  had,  and  are  often  4  or  5  inches  in 
\  diameter.  In  its  native  habitat  the  fruit  is  often  as  big  as  a  child’s 
f  head,  and  of  a  beautiful  yellow  colour.  The  flesh  has  an  aromatic 
^  flavour,  and  as  received  here  it  is  palatable  when  served  with  wine  and 
;  sugar.  Alligator  Pears,  the  fruit  of  Persea  gratissimum,  come  here  in 
^  much  better  condition  than  the  two  fruits  named  above,  and  there  is  an 
;  increasing  demand  for  them  on  account  of  their  firm  marrow-like  pulp, 
I  which  is  more  often  served  here  as  a  salad  than  in  any  other  way. 
'  — (”  Garden  and  Forest.”) 
I  - Wakefield  Paxton  Societt.  — On  Saturday  the  22nd  ult. 
I  the  members  of  the  Paxton  Society  were  favoured  with  a  visit  by  the 
6  Rev.  F.  D.  Horner  of  Kirkby  Lonsdale,  whose  lectures  are  always 
f  much  appreciated  on  account  of  his  special  knowledge  of  the  plants 
he  treats  upon  as  an  enthusiastic  florist  from  his  youth.  Major  Taylor, 
the  President,  was  in  the  chair,  and  there  was  a  good  attendance  of 
■  members.  After  describing  the  ingenious  trick  of  the  “  Monkey  Nut  ” 
by  a  specimen  he  had  grown,  Mr.  Horner  proceeded  to  give  an  eloquent 
account  of  the  “  Florists’  Auricula,”  a  plant  which  he  has  cultivated 
with  passionate  devotion  all  his  life.  No  flower  he  thought  so  expres- 
f  sive,  except  perhaps  the  Pansy,  It  had  a  face  with  distinctive  features, 
■  now  sadly  winsome,  then  so  gay  and  bright,  that  it  seemed  to  speak 
to  you.  The  lecturer  described  the  difference  between  “  eelfs  ”  and 
“  edges,”  and  how  he  had  obtained  fixity  of  form  and  colour  from 
‘  seedlings.  How  the  zones  and  rays  bad  varied  in  the  course  of  experi- 
,  ments  was  very  interesting.  The  mode  of  planting  and  potting  was 
described.  This  spring  Alpine  perennial  liked  a  dry  air  and  plenty 
i;  of  air  to  its  roots.  He  had  shown  as  many  as  a  dozen  and  seventeen 
j:  “  pipS(”  with  petals  as  large  as  a  penny,  on  one  stalk.  He  had  crossed 
it  with  the  Polyanthus  with  a  curious  result  in  colouring.  To  get  rid 
1  of  its  pests  vapourisation  was  the  best.  In  the  course  of  his  remarks 
^  Mr.  Horner  often  referred  to  the  services  of  his  colleague,  Mr.,  ’'en 
[  Simonite  of  Sheffield.  When  a  discussion  was  invited,  Mr.  Geo.  Gill 
was  the  only  person  who  was  disposed  to  offer  remarks  upon  the  subject, 
^  and  he  agreed  with  the  lecturer  that  form  must  take  precedence  of 
' ;  colouring. 
-  Gardening  Appointment.— Mr.  James  Watson,  for  the  last 
twenty-two  years  gardener  to  the  late  Henry  Rition,  Esq.,  Sea  View, 
Sunderland,  has  been  appointed  head  gardener  to  Mrs.  Backhouse, 
Ashbourn  Hall,  Sunderland,  and  takes  over  his  duties  in  the  beginning 
of  November. 
-  CORYDALIS  LUTEA. — It  is  somewhat  surprising  that  this 
interesting  and  useful  hardy  herbaceous  plant  has  not  received  the 
amount  of  attention  it  so  well  deserves,  especially  as  a  rockery  plant. 
As  a  marked  instance  of  its  utility  and  effect  I  may  remark'  that 
bordering  a  portion  of  the  carriage  “  ring  ”  in  front  of  a  gentleman’s 
residence  there  are  several  yards  in  length  of  the  plant  growing  on  the 
rock  edging,  and  which  has  been  in  full  bloom  throughout  the  summer, 
and  is  at  the  present  time  in  beautiful  array  with  elegant  pleasing 
bright  green  coloured  foliage  and  charming  yellow  inflorescence.  Not 
the  least  of  its  merits  is  the  fact  that  when  once  established  it  involves 
no  further  trouble  during  the  season  of  growth,  there  being  no  decayed 
flower  stems  or  foliage  requiring  to  be  removed  in  the  way  of  tidiness. — 
W.  G.,  Harhorne. 
-  Strawberry  Industry  in  Hants.— The  Technical  Educa¬ 
tion  Committee  of  the  Hants  County  Council  has  been  devoting  itself  to 
an  industry  which  promises  to  have  interesting  results.  It  was  repre¬ 
sented  to  the  Committee,  says  the  “  Sussex  Daily  News,”  that  enormous 
quantities  of  baskets  required  for  packing  Strawberries  in  were  every 
year  imported  from  the  Continent,  and  they  decided  to  add  basket 
making  to  their  list  of  subjects.  Last  winter  half  a  dozen  classes  were 
fairly  well  attended  by  cottagers  and  their  sons  interested  in  Strawberrjr 
growing.  The  materials  and  tools  required  for  making  these  baskets  are 
of  a  simple  character,  and  the  County  Council  believe  the  cottagers 
might  profitably  employ  the  winter  months  in  this  industrv.  The  chief 
d;  fficulty  arises  from  the  fact  that  no  Osiers  grow  in  the  district,  but 
this  would  not  apply  in  many  parts  of  Sussex. 
-  Consumption  of  Fruit  in  America.— The  immense  increase 
in  the  consumption  of  fruits  is  the  best  insurance  for  the  future  of  horti¬ 
culture.  Every  city  in  America  consumes  far  more  fruit  now  than 
formerly.  In  some  planes  it  is  believed  that  the  consumption  of  fruits 
especially  of  berries,  is  several  times  as  much  per  head  of  population 
now  as  it  was  twenty  years  ago.  This  rate  of  increase  seems  to  be  kept 
up  from  year  to  year.  With  it,  however,  goes  a  more  exacting  demand. 
People  insist  on  having  fruit  of  the  finest  appearance.  The  average  con¬ 
sumer  gauges  quality  by  looks  rather  than  by  taste.  Nor  does  it  appear 
that  the  competition  of  southern  fruit  is  injuring  northern  grown.  Mr. 
J.  H.  Hale  reports  that  the  immense  shipments  of  Peaches  from  his  own 
and  other  orchards  in  Georgia  and  North  Carolina  from  June  to  August 
had  no  apparent  effect  on  ihe  marketing  of  his  Connecticut  Peaches  in 
September  and  October.  He  maintains  that  it  is  very  rare  that  the 
markets  are  sufficiently  supplied  with  fruit  of  absolutely  perfect  quality, 
but  are  glutted  much  of  the  time  with  stuff  of  poor  quality.  He  has 
never  yet  found  a  time,  unless  it  was  for  a  day  or  so,  when  thoroughly 
perfect  fruit  would  not  sell  at  profitable  prices.— (“  American  Agri¬ 
culturist.”) 
-  Castanea  dentata. — The  American  Ch'&stnut  is  one  of  the 
small  number  of  our  forest  trees  of  the  first  size  which  is  conspicuous  for 
its  flowers,  and  since  it  blossoms  in  midsummer  when  it  has  no  rivals  in 
this  respect  it  attracts  still  more  attention.  These  flowers,  which  appear 
in  tassel-like  masses,  are  made  up  of  aments  from  G  to  8  inches  long;  the 
green  stems  covered  for  the  whole  length  with  crowded  flower  clusters. 
Their  cream-coloured  blossoms  show  to  the  best  advantage  among  the 
dark  green  leaves,  and  in  early  July  Chestnut  trees  in  flower,  whether 
standing  by  themselves  or  in  the  forest,  are  striking  objects  in  the  land¬ 
scape.  But  the  Chestnut  is  beautiful  at  every  season,  and  a  full-grown 
tree,  with  its  broad,  dome-like  head  and  massive  trunk,  appears  as  sturdy 
as  any  Oak.  The  foliage  is  rich  glossy  green,  and  it  is  rarely  injured  by 
fungous  diseases  or  insects.  No  tree  grows  so  rapidly  on  the  dry  gravelly 
hillsides  of  the  north-eastern  States,  and  for  various  purposes  it  is  one  of 
our  most  useful  timber  trees.  It  has  the  peculiar  merit,  too,  of  throwing 
up  shoots  from  the  trunk  which  become  large  enough  for  fence  posts  or 
railway  ties  in  a  few  years,  so  that  a  Chestnut  forest  can  be  cut  over 
every  thirty  or  forty  years,  and  continue  productive  for  generations. 
The  abundant  nuts  of  this  tree  are  much  better  in  flavour  than  those  of 
the  Japanese  or  European  trees,  and  there  is  little  doubt  that  by  proper 
selection  a  strain  of  nuts  of  large  size  could  be  produced,  and  when  the 
population  of  this  country  increases,  says  the  “  Garden  and  Forest,”  so 
as  to  make  it  necessary  to  husband  our  home  food  supply,  our  own 
Chestnut  tree  may  become  as  important  for  the  production  of  nuts  as  its 
near  relatives  in  southern  Europe. 
