528 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTIGULTURF  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
December  2,  IS&T-. 
-  Potato  Keliance. — One  of  the  most  promising  Potatoes  of 
recent  introduction— either  for  exhibition  purposes  or  for  the  daily 
supply  of  the  household — is  Buttons’  Reliance  ;  an  enormous  cropper  of 
true  kidney  shape,  with  shallow  eyes  and  a  robust  constitution  The 
tubers  here,  in  a  moist  climate,  were  perfectly  free  from  disease,  while 
other  varieties  in  close  proximity  were  nearly  all  diseased.  Such  are  its 
merits,  that  we  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  when  better  known  it  will  drive 
away  from  our  markets  others  of  inferior  c^ualit}',  and  will  prove  valuable 
alike  to  cottagers  and  gardeners. — C.  Foster,  Aherpergwm. 
-  A  Gardener’s  Mistake. — We  are  sorry  to  learn  that  Mr. 
T.  II.  Grasp,  late  gardener  to  the  Right  Hon.  F.  J.  S.  Foliambe  at 
Osberton,  had  last  week  to  meet  a  charge  before  the  Worksop 
^Magistrates  of  not  accounting  for  (“embezzling”)  certain  monies, 
amounting  to  £8  5s.,  which  he  had  received  for  the  sale  of  garden 
produce.  Mr.  Wilson,  in  defence,  said  Mr.  Grasp  was  astonished  when 
he  found  the  four  amounts  had  not  passed  through  the  books.  It  rvas 
all  a  pure  mistake,  and  better  men  than  his  client  had  made  mistakes. 
He  also  wanted  to  show  that  his  client  had  bought  for  IMr.  Foliambe 
goods  to  the  amount  of  over  £100,  for  which  he  had  not  been  paid.  He  was 
perfectly  willing  to  go  to  trial  to  establish  his  client’s  innocence. 
Defendant  was  formally  committed  for  trial  at  the  Nottingham  Assizes 
on  December  3rd,  bail  being  allowed  as  before,  himself  in  £50,  and  two 
sureties  in  £25  each. 
-  Watercress  in  Pots. — This  useful  and  w'holesome  salad  may 
be  grown  in  pots  throughout  the  autumn  and  wdnter  months.  In 
September  we  fill  about  four  dozen  32-size  pots  with  a  compost  consisting 
of  equal  parts  loam,  leaf  soil,  and  old  potting  soil,  with  a  liberal  admixture 
of  mortar  rubble,  taking  care  to  previously  well  drain  the  pots.  The 
cuttings  are  inserted  2  inches  apart  and  well  watered.  They  are  placed 
in  a  cold  frame,  kept  close  and  shaded  until  well  rooted,  and  then 
gradually  iuured  to  more  light  and  air.  At  the  same  time  abundance  of 
moisture  must  be  maintained  both  at  the  roots  and  overhead,  keeping  the 
plants  cool  at  all  times,  in  severe  weather  covering  the  frame  with  mats, 
or  in  the  event  of  exceptionally  sharp  weather  remove  to  a  greenhouse, 
placing  the  plants  on  a  stage  Avhich  has  a  layer  of  shingle  or  similar 
material  thereon.  By  this  method  abundance  of  ymung  shoots  may  be 
obtained  throughout  the  season. — H.  T.  IM.,  Stoneleigh, 
-  Thinning  Fruit.— In  a  paper  on  Thinning  Fruit  read  before 
the  Hudson  Valley  Horticultural  Society,  Professor  S.  A.  F>each  gave  an 
account  of  experiments  in  thinning  fruits  on  Apple  trees.  In  the  first 
experiment  two  heavily  fruited  Baldwin  trees  were  selected,  and  all  the 
knotty,  wormy,  and  otherwise  inferior  fruit  was  picked  off  one  of  the  trees, 
leaving  one  fruit  of  a  cluster.  Of  marketable  fruit  the  thin  tree  yielded 
nine  and  four-fifths  per  cent,  more  first-grade,  and  four  and  one-half  per 
cent,  less  second-grade  fruit  than  the  un thinned  tree.  Six  Baldwin  and 
six  Greening  trees  were  used  in  the  second  experiment.  Three  trees  of 
each  kind  were  thinned  by  taking  off  all  poor  fruit  and  leaving  the  fruit 
on  the  trees  at  least  4  inches  apart.  The  Baldwin  trees  which  had  been 
thinned  gave  26  per  cent,  less  of  marketalde  fruit,  but  22  per  cent,  more  of 
it  graded  No.  1  than  of  the  fruit  from  the  unthinned  Baldwins.  Or, 
differently  stated,  although  the  unthinned  trees  carried  above  a  fourth 
more  fruit  altogether,  they  actually  each  yi^led  1|  bushel  less  No.  1 
fruit  than  the  thinned  trees.  With  the  Greenings  this  difference  was 
even  more  marked,  for  the  thinned  Greening  trees  on  an  average  produced 
2J  bushels  more  No.  1  fruit  than  the  unthinned  trees.  Two  trees  of 
Hubbardston  were  used  in  the  third  test.  On  one  tree  the  fruit  was 
thinned  to  at  least  6  inches  apart.  The  thinned  tree  bore  seventeen  and 
four-tenths  per  cent,  more  of  No.  1  Apples  than  the  unthinned  tree,  and 
seventeen  and  one-tenth  per  cent,  less  of  No.  2  grade.  In  all  these  tests 
fewer  Apples  dropped  from  the  thinned  trees,  and  their  fruit  was  superior 
in  quality  and  more  highly  coloured,  and  was  worth  from  10  to  15  per 
cent,  more  in  market.  The  thinning  and  picking  took  about  twice  the 
time  required  for  picking  alone.  The  second  method  in  these  tests  proved 
superior  enough  to  the  first  to  more  than  pay  for  the  extra  work  involved  ; 
that  is  to  sa}',  the  work  paid  best  where  it  was  thoroughly  done.  From 
the  figures  now  at  hand  a  satisfactory  comparison  of  the  second  and  third 
methods  cannot  be  made,  nor  of  the  effect  of  thinning  the  fruit  on  the 
succeeding  crop.  In  a  season  of  an  enormous  crop,  as  in  1896,  when  many 
growers  did  not  realise  returns  sufficient  to  cover  the  cost  of  packages  and 
of  jiicking  and  handling,  thinning  early  in  the  season  might  be  expected 
to  decrease  the  yield  of  low-grade  fruit  and  increase  the  amount  of  first 
grade,  with  a  consequent  advance  in  prices.  Relieved  of  the  drain  of 
excessive  bearing,  the  trees  could  ripen  a  fairly  large  crop  of  sui)erior 
fruit,  and  better  develop  fruit  buds  for  the  following  year.— (“  Garden  and 
Forest.”) 
-  Distribution  of  Seeds  from  Kew.  —  The  issue  of  the 
“  Kew  Bulletin,  ’  comprising  the  seeds  for  distribution  from  the  Gardens, 
has  just  come  to  hand.  The  brief  introduction  says  ;  “  The  following  is 
a  list  of  seeds  of  hardy  herbaceous  annual  and  perennial  plants,  and  of 
hardy  trees  and  shrubs  which,  for  the  most  part,  have  ripened  at  Kew 
during  the  year  1897.  These  seeds  are  not  sold  to  the  general  public,  but 
are  available  for  exchange  with  Colonial,  Indian  and  Foreign  Botanic 
Gardens,  as  well  as  with  regular  correspondents  at  Kew.  No  application, 
except  from  remote  Colonial  possessions,  can  be  entertained  after  the  end 
of  March. 
-  Beet  for  Sugar  Production. — The  following  has  been 
sent  to  us: -“Some  8,000,000  tons  of  Beetroot  are  annually  turned 
into  bounty-fed  sugar  for  consumption  in  this  country.  Why  should 
not  British  farmers  grow  it .’  There  seems  to  he  every  reason 
why  they  should  do  so,  if  experiments  recently  made  in  Essex,  a 
county  by  no  means  an  agricultural  Paradise,  may  be  taken  as  a 
sample  of  what  may  be  done  on  a  larger  scale.  A  farmer  there  has  grown 
Beetroot  alongside  Mangold  Wurtzel,  and  treated  it  exactly  in  the  same 
way.  Analysis  has  shown  that  the  root  grown  contains  14‘01  per  cent,  of 
saccharine,  against  13'97  per  cent,  for  this  year’s  German  crop,  which  is 
regarded  as  a  record  one.  Moreover,  the  English  crop  weighs  out  at  over 
16  tons  to  the  acre,  whilst  German  crops  average  13  tons.  Yet  Germany 
is  considered  the  champion  country  for  Beetroot.” 
-  Sun  Pictures  of  the  Norfolk  Broads. — The  third  edition 
of  this  cliarming  publication  has  reached  us  from  the  Great  Flastern 
Railway  Company,  and  a  perusal  of  its  letterpress  b}"  E.  R.  Suffling,  with 
an  examination  of  the  photographs  by  Payne  .Jennings,  accentuates  our 
opinion  of  the  beauty  of  the  Norfolk  Broads.  As  holiday  resorts,  the 
many  places  on  these  Broads  are  decidedly  recommendable,  for  they 
possess  varied  attractions  to  the  visitors.  True,  there  are  not  many  things 
that  may  be  found  at  Lowestoft  or  Yarmouth,  but  if  care  be  taken  one 
may  choose  a  resting  place— such,  for  example,  as  Oulton  Broad — which 
adds  to  its  own  native  attractions  the  advantage  of  lining  within  easy 
walking  distance  of  the  first-named  town.  Those  interested  in  fishing  or 
yachting  will  find  enough  here  to  satisfy  them,  while  the  seeker  for  the 
calm  peacefulness  of  rural  England  has  his  want  filled  to  the  letter.  “  Sun 
Pictures  of  the  Norfolk  Broads  ”  is  an  excellently  printed  book  of  101 
pages  and  100  splendidly  executed  illustrations. 
-  Sweet  Peas. — I  notice  in  his  excellent  paper  on  these  flowers 
Mr.  Stanton  expresses  himself  as  gratified  that  they  are  not  to  be  classed 
amongst  florists’  flowers.  I  have  in  reading  that  expression  wondered 
how  far  that  inclusion,  were  it  so,  would  affect  the  status  of  the 
Powers  in  the  least.  Called  by  what  appellation  we  majq  the  Sweet 
Pea  would  remain  a  Sweet  Pea  still.  It  is  none  the  less  observable  that 
what  improvements  have  been  made  in  Sweet  Peas  have  been  effected 
on  florists'  lines.  Thus  we  see  now  much  larger,  stouter,  and  more 
erect  standards,  and  equally  finer  and  bolder  wings.  These  are  exactly 
the  qualities  the  florist  would  seek  for.  Possibly  some  growers  may 
prefer  those  having  drooping  standards.  I  dislike  these  because  the 
flowers  wear  the  aspect  of  being  in  a  condition  of  staleness,  and 
flagging.  It  will  not  be  a  matter  for  surprise  if  the  erect  standard 
does  not  displace  the  falling  one  some  ten  years  hence.  Of  variety  we 
have  enough,  but  we  may  yet  see  much  expansion  of  size  and  stoutness. 
For  what  has  been  done  great  thanks  are  due  to  that  unhonoured  raiser 
Mr.  H.  Eckford.-D. 
-  Inscriptions  on  Gourds  and  Melons.— Herewith  I  forward 
for  your  inspection  jiortion  of  a  skin  of  a  Gourd  with  an  inscription 
upon  it.  We  have  practised  this  sort  of  thing  for  some  years  now  on 
Melons,  Marrows,  and  Gourds.  Melons  with  their  names  inscribed  on 
them  are  always  of  some  interest  on  the  dinner-table.  Gourds  and 
Marrows  with  suitalile  mottoes  or  texts  upon  them  are  a  useful 
addition  to  church  decoration  at  harvest  festivals.  It  was  for  this 
purpose  our  first  was  prepared.  The  operation  is  a  simple  one.  When 
the  oliject  to  be  written  upon  is  about  one-third  of  its  natural  size  mark 
with  a  large  pin  whatever  words  are  required.  The  clearer  they  are 
written  the  better  they  come  out.  Mr.  ,lohn  Snell,  our  foreman,  has  done 
ours  for  years  past,  including  the  one  sent.  I  do  not  think  there  is  any¬ 
thing  \  ery  new  or  very  important  in  the  matter,  but,  to  say  the  least, 
such  fruits  are  interesting.— H.  .1.  C.,  Grimsion,  Tadcaster.  [The  prac¬ 
tice  is  by  no  means  new.  We  have  occasionally  seen  inscribed  Gourds  at 
cottagers’  shows,  and  once  at  a  Crystal  Palace  Show  ;  but  ive  have  not 
seen  any  of  such  writing  so  well  done— in  bold,  clear,  “  large  hand  ” — as 
by  Mr.  Snell  on  the  samples  before  us,  wishing  “  Success  to  the  Yoj  k 
Chrysanthemum  Show,”  and  to  “  The  Ancient  Society  of  York  Florists.”] 
