290 
journal  of  horticulture  and  cottage  gardener. 
April  3,  1902. 
lectiu’es  given  indoors,  manual  lessons  likewise  carrying  cer¬ 
tificates,  and  supervised  by  experts.  Notwithstanding, 
somehow,  I  repeat,  the  ball  rolls  slowly,  it  cannot  be  said 
Vim  acquirit  eundo  ;  the  movement  does  not  gain  strength. 
Now,  how  is  this?  I  suggest,  as  an  illustration,  a  picture, 
not  accepted  by  the  Academy.  My  readers  boo,  eh  ?  Fore¬ 
ground,  a  few  ill-defined  objects,  and  in  too  bold  relief  ; 
middle  distance,  weak,  even  to  vagueness  ;  background, 
much  left  to  the  imagination. 
Here  I  would  humbly  offer  my  reasons  as  to  the  “  why 
and  wherefore  ”  no  real  progress  is  being  made,  and  at  once 
refer  the  one  insurmountable  obstacle  to  the  well-nigh  im¬ 
possibility  of  securing  land  eligible  for  fruit  production,  at 
least  on  a  scale  at  all  commensurate  with  so  important  a 
project.  This,  I  repeat,  is  the  main  reason  why  the  move¬ 
ment  is  not  more  thorough  and  extensive,  and  I  will  add 
this  has  been  the  opinion  for  some  time  of  high  authorities 
on  such  subjects.  Only  lately,  a  few  weeks  ago,  I  met  in 
iT>"  parish  Mr.  S.  Wright,  the  able  superintendent  at  Chis¬ 
wick,  who  happened  to  be  present  as  judge  at  one  of  the 
County  Council’s  experimental  circuits,  who  mentioned 
several  instances  in  striking  corroboration  of  my  views  ; 
one,  indeed,  so  interesting  and  to  the  point  that,  wuth  your 
permission,  I  will  repeat  it.  It  was  the  case  of  a  wealthy 
gentleman  from  Virginia,  U.S.,  who  had  come  over  to 
England,  and  applied  to  him  to  institute  inquiries  for  the 
purchase  of  land  on  a  large  scale  suitable  for  fruit  produc¬ 
tion,  at  the  same  time  stating  his  intention  of  residing  in 
this  country,  and  devoting  his  time  and  capital  to  that 
object.  The’  result  proved  a  complete  failure  ;  only  three 
offers  of  land,  none  of  them  satisfactory.  The  gentleman 
from  Virginia  recrossed  the  Atlantic,  and  is  now  cultivating 
Ins  own  fruit  farms,  where  he  has  incomparably  higher  wages 
to  give,  and  in  many  other  respects,  especiallv  as  regards 
lower  home  markets  and  inferior  varieties  of  fruit,  is  stand¬ 
ing  at  a  great  disadvantage  from  what  he  would  have  been 
in  his  projected  migration. 
By  a  curious  coincidence  I  may  be  allowed  to  mention 
another  instance,  also  on  Mr  Wright’s  initiative,  which 
came  under  my  own  observation,  in  the  case  of  an  applicant 
an  energetic  young  fellow,  who  after  thoroughly  learning 
his  business  at  Rivers  Nurseries,  came  into  Herefordshire 
to  purchase  land  for  fruit  production,  and  who,  after  wasting 
several  months  in  personal  inquiries,  completely  failed  in  his 
object,  and  i  hear,  is  now  expending  his  superfluous  energies 
at  the^  front  These  I  believe,  to  be  quite  specimen  cases 
out  of  numbers.  The  question  follows.  Need  they  exist  ? 
1  maintain  they  speak  volumes  against  the  tyrannous  and 
runious  systeni  under  which  a  vast  proportion  of  the  land  in 
iis  country  IS  held,  where  millions  of  money  are  lost,  and 
thousands  of  acres  grown  to  waste,  or  only  within  a  mere 
traction  of  their  value,  owing  to  their  restrictive  tenure  and 
consequent  archaic  method  of  cultivation. 
^^^’^f^l’dshire,  a  typical  county  as  regards  fruit 
t,rowiiv,  I  would  here  more  especially  confine  myself,  run- 
h^flJ  I’espect,  where  land' is  largely 
held  by  corporate  bodies,  as  the  Ecclesiastical  Commis- 
sioners,  and  by  charitable  institutions,  as  Guy’s  Hospital, 
pWW  the  latter  are  doing  in  some  counties),  and 
resu'lt  ^  wlb^^T  ’  incomparably  better  financial 
fn^  the  land  set  free  can  be  cropped  and  marketed 
taimoie  economically  than  is  being  done  either  in  America 
f ^  capacity  of  supplying  fruit,  if  the  needful 
opportunities  were  on  y  given,  I  had  almost  said  in  Here- 
oidshire  alone  for  the  requirements  of  England.  Many 
false  starts  doubtless  are,  and  will  be,  made  with  us  in  fruit 
.growing.  Land  utterly  unsuitable  not  infrequently  is 
chosen  ;  old  usages  die  hard  ;  a  more  open  mind  is  wanted  ; 
indeed,  Englishmen,  rightly  or  wrongly,  are  credited  with  the 
c  laracteristic  notion  that  they  know  everything,  and  so 
lav'e  nothing  to  learn  from  other  countries.  In  point  of 
act,  there  is  generally  noticeable  ia  lack  of  intelligence  and 
^horoughne^ss,  both  in  organisation  and  matters  of  detail, 
ab  ovo  ad  gallinam,”  such  as  planting  and  pruning,  sizing 
and  packing,  &c.,  qualities  absolutely  essential  to  success 
It  a  popular  and  regular  market  is  to  be  created  and  mono¬ 
polised. 
TVT  ^  ’fiot  these  drawbacks  all  our  own  1 
J\eed  they  exist?  A  crying  want  appeals  to  us.  It  is  for 
us  to  meet  it,  and  I  hold  we  can  meet  it.  But,  then.  I  can 
tanc”  one  or  more  of  my  readers  here  objecting.  All  very 
veil.  Your  wiseacre  is  a  bit  of  an  optimist,  is  he  not"? 
lakes  too  much  for  granted,  eh?  How  about  the  railways? 
Unfortunately,  there  is  a  good  deal  in  such  an  objection. 
The  railways,  in  their  dealings  with  home  commodities,  are 
unspeakably,  helplessly  incorrigible  !  But,  after  all,  they  but 
follow  in  the  wake  of  our  State  policy,  and  are  more  likely 
to  keep  lowering  their  rates  to  the  foreign  producers  than 
helping  home  industries,  save  in  such  infinitesimally  trivial: 
concessions  that  we  really  have  to  thank  them  for  nothing. 
They  don’t  see  their  way.  That  is  the  gist  of  the  answer 
every  British  fruit  producer  gets,  and  seemingly  will  get. 
Nevertheless,  is  it  altogether  a  dream  that  the  railway  com¬ 
panies  are  not  beginning  to  have  their  ideas  on  the  subject? 
I  fancy  I  can  detect  some  slight  signs  of  a  change,  not  Jarn- 
dyce-like,  from  the  East,  but  from  the  kindly  West.  A  drift 
in  the  current,  so  long  set  in,  unfavourably  for  our  interests, 
across  the  Atlantic.  A  straw  sometimes  shows  which  way 
the  wind  blows. 
The  London  and  North-Western  Railway,  usually  the 
pioneer  in  any  important  movement,  has,  I  hear,  in  course- 
of  completion  at  their  huge  goods  station  at  Crewe,  some 
seventy  acres  of  sidings  and  goodsheds,  &c.,  equipped  with 
overhead  traversing  cranes  wherewith  to  pick  up  goods  im¬ 
mediately  at  the  arrival  of  each  train,  and  there  and  then 
to  despatch  them  on  their  journey,  without  a  minute’s 
needless  delay.  This,  whatever  the  application  afield,  I 
hold  to  be  a  healthy  sign  ;  at  any  rate,  it  will  help  to  remove 
that  diurnal  nightmare  most  business  men  suffer  under^  in 
consequence  of  the  disgraceful  uncertainty  through  delay 
to  which  theii-  goods  are  subjected.  I  venture  to  credit  this 
railway  company  with  being  wise  in  its  generation.  The 
signs  of  the  times,  in  the  shape  of  motor  goods  vans,  electric 
trains,  narrow  railways,  &c.,  connecting  our  manufacturing 
centres,  are  quite  a  new,  but  eloquently  significant  new, 
order  of  things,  and  all  pointing  in  one  direction,  though 
we  old  folk  cannot  expect,  perhaps,  to  see  further  than  how 
it  trends,  requiring  only  the  hand  of  time  to  put  into  its 
proper  place  ;  sooner  or  later  to  inaugurate  a  breakdown  in 
the  monopoly  of  the  railway  system  ;  most  probably,  and  far 
better,  to  be  taken  over,  like  the  Post  Office  and  the  Tele¬ 
graphs,  by  the  Government. 
Such  is  the  sketch  I  venture  to  offer  to  the  readers  of  the 
Journal  of  Horticulture.  If  they,  as  very  probable,  consider  it 
chimerical,  and  beyond  their  powers  to  the  extent  of  their 
being  asked  to  run  their  heads  against  a  stone  wall,  I  wdll  go 
back  to  my  first  proposition  ;  one,  they  must  grant,  depend¬ 
ing  on  themselves,  which  is,  to  use  the  remedy  they  hold  in 
their  own  hands  in  making  one  long,  strong  pull  and  pull 
together,  to  reduce,  and  gradually  cut  off,  the  foreign  fruit 
trade  by  raising  at  home  the  abundant  necessaiw  supply 
annually  needed.  This,  I  repeat,  we  have  it  in  our  power 
to  do,  when  the  same  result  will  follow  in  this  age  of  rapid, 
almost  instantaneous,  communication,  as  in  the  case  of 
other  commodities  all  the  world  over,  viz.,  that  when  prices 
are  found  to  be  unremunerative,  supply  ceases  to  follow  de¬ 
mand.  In  patience,  hope,  and  perseverance  let  us  possess- 
our  souls.  Ne  cede  mails,  sed  contra  audentior  ito. — Here-. 
EORDSHIRE  INCUMBENT. 
■ - - 
Ferns  for  the  Greenhouse. 
Lygodium  japonicum  is  one  of  the  climbing  Ferns,  and  re¬ 
quires  wire,  sticks,  or  string  for  the  fronds  to  twine  round.  As 
the  name  implies,  it  is  a  native  of  Japan,  and  is  deciduous,  losing 
its  foliaere  in  winter.  Another  variety,  L.  scandens,  is  ever¬ 
green  and  grows  freely,  the  fronds  being  light  green.  The  latteu 
is  an  Indian  species.  An  ordinary  compost  of  loam,  leaf  soil, 
peat  and  sand  in  equal  parts  will  suit.  Nephrodium  molle,  a 
native  of  the  tropics,  but  does  well  in  the  greenhouse,  is  fre¬ 
quently  met  with.  It  has  erect,  feather-shaped  fronds  of  deep- 
green  colour.  The  Polystichums  include  some  handsome  Ferns. 
P.  viviparum,  1ft  high,  from  the  M^est  Indies,  produces  gracefully 
arched  fronds.  P.  proliferum  is  a  Tasmanian  Fern  growing 
2ft  high,  and  is  one  of  the  most  useful.  Grow  them  in  loam, 
peat,  sand  and  charcoal.  Being  evergreen,  they  remain  con¬ 
stantly  attractive,  but  are  especially  so  when  throwing  up  new 
fronds.  From  collections  of  greenhouse  Ferns,  Pterises  must  not 
be  omitted.  P.  cretica  Mayi  is  a  beautiful  green  and  white  varie¬ 
gated  kind  with  crested  fronds.  P.  c.  albo-lineata  is  an  older 
variety,  but  the  fronds  are  not  crested,  though  prettily  varie¬ 
gated.  The  varieties  of  P.  serrulata  are  all  beautiful,  and 
amono;  the  most  useful  of  decorative  Ferns  of  an  evergreen 
character.  Another  good  basket  Fern  is  Woodwardia  radicans, 
a  large  growing  Fern  with  long  drooping  fronds,  a  native  of 
South  Eurojie.  It  will  grow  well  in  equal  parts  of  loam  and  leaL 
soil  or  peat.— S. 
