503 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
Juiie  12,  1902. 
tlien  salt  is  .sprinkled  over.  Much  care  hag  to  be  given  to  that 
important  item.  Rose  petals.  Gathered  by  the  basketful,  they 
an''  laid  out  upon  hempen  cloths,  not  more  than  3in  thick,  and  at 
tlK'  first  opportunity  they  are  pulled  through  the  fingers,  to 
separate  them  as  much  as  possible.  Lavender  must  be  laid 
thinly,  and  turned  nov  and  then;  it  should  be  cut  when  the 
flowers  near  the  base  of  the  spike  are  ivell  expanded.  Sweet 
Geranium, Miss  Jekyll  savs.  should  have  its  leaves  stripped  at  once 
from  the  stalks,  and  all  but  the  smallest  broken  into  three  or  four 
pieces.  The  leaves  of  Verbena,  llosemai'y,  and  Bay  are  generally 
put  into  tlie  jars  .at  once.  Spices  and  gunis  are  added  after, 
when  the  process  is  completed,  these  being  first  mixed  in  a  large 
Imwl.  These  arc-  specified  as  Orris  powder,  allspice,  mixed  spice, 
mace.  Cloves,  Benzoin,  and  Styrax.  A  brick  floor  is  suitable  for 
the  concluding  operations.  Some  energy  is  needful  to  clear  out 
the  pressed  stuff,  which  has  repeatedly  to  be  forked  and  stabbed  ! 
— J.  B.  S.  C. 
The  Question  of  the  Fruit  Supply. 
One  of  the  best  articles  I  have  ever  seen  in  any  of  our  leading 
horticultural  or.  for  that  matter,  agricultural  papers  in  relation 
to  fruit-growing  as  an  industry  is  the  one  in  your  issue  of 
April  24  signed  '•  H.  D.”  The  invitation  to  capital  to  enter  upon 
what  is  virtually  an  utterlj'  deserted  field  of  human  activities  is 
most  meritorious  and  opportune,  for  I  call  top-fruit  growing  in 
Great  Britain  (Cherries  alone  excepted)  a  mi.serable  failure, 
wlicreas  small  fruits  are  comparatively  successful,  and  fruit 
“  under  glass  ”  challenges  the  world.  Early  vegetables  are 
another  coanparative  failure,  because  we  utterly  ignore  tlie  pro¬ 
blem  of  “site”  in  relation  to  such,  as  well  as  to  adequate 
top-fruit  production. 
Capital  would  not  displace  the  actual  hardy  fruit  grower. 
What  capital  Avould  displace,  on  proper  management,  is  fruit 
grown  abroad  with  foreign  capital,  and  that  is  precisely  what  we 
want  to  do.  No  need  of  “  protection.”  Choose  “  protected  sites  ” 
now  wasting,  and  the  battle  is  Avon  !  It  is  a  beautiful  incongruity 
of  the  times  that  land  is  so  largely  in  hands  of  unprogre.ssive 
ownership,  not  unlike  that  preA'ailing  in  French  Tahiti,  AA'here 
^he  native  landowners  Avill  neither  part  with  their  soil  nor  culti- 
A^ate  it  themselves.  It  is  scarcely  a  commendable  attitude  for 
British  OAvnership,  of  Avhich  I  had  practical  experience  a  feAv 
years  ago  Avhen  separately  addre.ssing  seA’eral  dozen  mighty  naines 
and  others  in  the  kingdom,  for  the  purpo.ses  here  under  discus.sion, 
Avithout  any  results,  through  their  languid  ineptitude. 
The  difficulty  of  getting  men  Avith  capital  to  embai’k  in  fruit 
groAving  to  anything  like  an  adequate  extent,  is  Avell  characterised 
by  “  H.  D.”  He  hits  the  nail  in  no  less  effectual  a  manner  by 
deprecating  Avhat  I  should  call  the  rule-of-thumb  man.  avIio 
in.sists  upon  Kent,  Worce.stershire,  and  Herefordshire  as  the 
alpha  and  omega  of  all  success.  Avhereas  there  need  not  be  many 
letters  of  the  alphabet  omitted,  each  representing  a  county  for 
top-fruit  production,  if  intelligence  rises  to  the  level  of  Avhat  is  a 
good  site,  on  Avhich  all  depends.  I  put  this  factor  as  No.  1,  and 
at  No.  2  I  say  again,  “a  good  .site,”  ready  made,  or  that  can  be 
made  so  by  means  of  Avincl-breaks.  All  the  rest  comes  of  itself 
to  a  man  Avho  under.stands  the  business,  Avhich  A’cry  fe-AV  do  on 
up-to-date  lines,  or  Avhat  I  should  call  superior  to  up-to-date,  or 
is  there  perhaps  no  reason  Avhy  Ave  are  so  backAvard  in  this  simple 
indu.stry,  as  is  proved  by  the  enormous  annual  importatimis  ? 
Foreign  nations,  Avho  supplant  us  in  our  oAvn  markets  even,  liaA’e 
only  partially  adopted  the  right  plans,  of  Avhich  our  islands  are 
especially  favoured  to  be  able  to  grant  the  exploitation,  but  Avhicli 
is  utterly  ignored  for  convenience. 
Who  are  the  foreign  groAvers  avIio  can  command  the  market, 
by  the  brand  distinguished  Avith  grade!'  Very  feAv  indeed.  The 
Avell-knoAvn  brand  of  Californian  NcAvtoAvn  Apples,  in  ca.ses,  is 
perhaps  the  nearest  approach.  It  is  easy,  hoAvever  excellent  the 
NcAAtoAvn  is  in  its  season  (best  in  February-March),  to  beat  the 
style  at  home,  if  busine.ss  principles  are  alloAved  to  preAmil,  such 
as  apply  to  factories,  and  a  package  (but  let  us  hear  no  more  of 
our  grandmotherly  bushel  basket.s)  contains  exactly  Avhat  it 
purports  to  contain.  What  a  gulf  betAveen  this  ideal  and  the 
grandmoiherly  emblem  of  torture  having  a  flattened  top  and  pigs’ 
food  beneath.  Fntil  large  home  groAvers  solve  the  questioAi  by 
being  able  to  command  the  market  and  succeed  in  selling  on  the 
“  brand  ”  and  “  grade,”  our  efforts  uAust  be  called  inadequate. 
There  is  reference  made  to  the  egg  trade  in  the  recent  cor- 
rc'spondence  on  fruit.  Perhaps  “  H.  I).”  Avill  excuse  me  if  I  differ 
from  him  in  alloAving  this  picture  to  preA'ail  as  a  relcAmut  one. 
I  contend  that  the  average  quality  of  foreign  eggs,  at  tAventy  a 
shilling  retail,  is  not  only  on  a  par  Avith,  but  .superior  to.  average 
British  top-fruit  in  bushels,  ancl  that  unless  Ave  raise  a  sufficiency 
of  good  Apples  exceeding  the  present  aA'erage  by  not  less  than 
that  by  Avhich  British  ncAv-laid  eggs  exceed  the  aA'erage  foreign 
eggs,  our  top-fruit  growers  Avill  remain  in  a  submerged  condition. 
“  H.  H.”  is  also  perfectly  right  in  discountenaticing  select  soils 
for  fruit.  Do  not  .select  an  altogether  uncongenial  cold  medium  ; 
but  as  to  soil,  it  mmst  be  made  on  the  spot,  if  not  pre.sent  on  a 
site.  Only  compare  the  method  of  the  groAA'ers  of  superior  vege¬ 
tables  round  Paris.  If  they  must  move,  through  extemsion  of  tlie 
toAvn  or  other  causes,  they  cart  their  entire  garden  to  the  iioav 
place,  soil  and  all,  so  precious  has  it  become  by  AA'orking.  The 
gulf  between  this  proposition  and  Avhat  men  at  home  Avould  do  to 
proA'e  their  perseverance  is  as  great  as  betAveen  the  two  orders  of 
Apples  and  eggs  referred  to. 
As  to  capitalists,  “H.  D.”  is  also  again  thoroughly  in  the 
right  in  affirming  the  security  of  a  fruit  plantation  Avell  ordered 
under  an  expert  as  a  highly  satisfactory  iiiA'cstment.  Hoav  any 
money  can  be  lost  upon  it  is  an  enigma.  Freeholds  comprising 
sites  Avere  never  cheaper,  trees  are  a  very  moderate  expense,  ancl, 
unless  mismanaged,  loss  is  A'irtually  impossible,  as  trees  are 
groAving  into  money  “  aa  bile  you  sleep,”  as  the  Scotch  laird  opined, 
Avhich  can  be  said  Avith  so  much  good  faith  for  feAv  investments. 
The  extension  of  .such  enterprise  to  national  requirements,  if 
done  Avith  intercropping,  folloAved  up  by  increasing  size  of 
holdings  and  other  items,  giving  opportunity  for  keeping  up  Avith 
the  times  by  introducing  unexceptional  novelties,  Avould  .signify 
the  gradual  banishment  of  barely  foreign  produce,  AA'orth  ten 
millions  sterling  annually,  uoav  imported.  The  rural  exodus 
AA'ould  be  thereby  largely  neutralised,  and  if  other  factors  in  tiiis 
country,  characteri.stic  of  colos.sal  AA-aste  by  omission  and  com¬ 
mission,  Avere  ecpially  attended  to  by  Governments,  yet  ignorant 
cf  national  economics  as  a  science,  the  stream  to  tOAAUi  Avould  be 
reversed  to  the  oppo.site  course. 
Our  official  returns  give  some  220,000  acres  under  top-fruit. 
That  all  but  20,000  acres  of  these  should  be  felled  and  new  sites 
selected  elscAvliere  may  seem  drastic ;  but  CA’en  indiAuduals  are 
compelled  to  have  their  teeth  extracted — analogous  to  the  typical 
farmers’  orchard,  his  step-child  on  Avhich  all  the  indignities  in 
the  Avorld  have  been  heaiAod — before  they  obtain  fresh  ones 
alloAving  them  to  masticate  and  prolong  life.  Nothing  impre.sses 
so  Avell  in  a  lecture  as  objects  thrown  on  a  screen.  A  Avealthy 
man  coming  from  Virginia,  as  “  Herefordshire  Incumbent  ” 
relates,  and  limiting  his  supply  of  localities  under  the  inspira¬ 
tion  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  to  certain  crack  localities, 
already  deprecated  by  “  H.  D.”  and  by  myself,  and  causing 
applicant  to  return  unsuccessfully,  and  start  his  venture  of  fruit 
groAving  in  America,  is  hardly  a  matter  to  be  ignored,  for  that 
object  throAvn  on  a  .screen — that  object-lesson  to  this  nation  cf 
an  American  groAver  propo.sing  to  do  Avhat  Briti.sh  capitalists 
refuse  to  do — is  needed  far  too  emphatically  for  the  purpose  of 
the  nation  being  “  AA’akened  up.” 
As  to  patriotism  to  be  imported  into  the  question,  as  is  done 
on  page  388,  in  your  is.sue  of  April  17,  by  Air.  Iggulden,  the  point 
is  irrelevant  in  connection  Avith  business  matters,  quite  as  much 
in  country  industries  as  in  matters  of  city  concerns,  which  it 
absolutely  is  in  practice.  I  AAas,  not  Auilikely,  guilty  of  a  great 
misdirection  of  purpose  in  Avriting  four  years  ago  that,  unless  our 
top-fruit  groAvers-  Avoke  up  betimes,  our  splendid  sites  AA’culd  be 
picked  up  by  foreign  capitalists  to  groAv  fruit  for  us  at  our  own 
homes.  A  large  and  Avell-knoAvn  fruit-groAving  concern,  for 
export  to  Great  Britain,  actually  took  a  City  office  in  London, 
opposite  the  Bank  of  England,  five  years  ago,  in  order  to  bo 
enabled  to  obtain  the  assi.stance  in  London  of  extra  capital  fro’u 
British  inve.stors  for  the  extension  of  their  Avell-conducted,  highlj' 
prosperous  ccncern  of  groAving  fruit  in  France  for  the  fastidious 
British  consumer. 
“Herefordshire  Incumbnit  ”  cites  another  similar  example, 
obtained  from  the  same  society,  AA'here  an  un.successful  applicant 
disposed  cf  hiuAself  elseAvhere  instead  of  .succeeding  in  finding  a 
seller  of  land,  a  condition  of  things  Avhich  my  repeated 
experiences  in  relation  to  excellent  freehold  sites  in  soutlieni 
counties  absolutely  traverses.  The  capital,  insufficient  for  th  > 
purpose  I  have  in  mind,  Avas  the  stumblingblock,  although  figures 
demanded  Avere  altogether  reasonable.  When  “  Herefordshire 
Incumbent  ”  says  he  thinks  that  he  believes  these  to  be  quite 
.specimen  cases  “  out  of  numbers,”  the  matter  is  only  aggraA'ated 
to  the  di.sparagement  cf  savcir  faire. 
I  admire  “Herefordshire  Incumbent’s”  thrust  at  our  ruling 
State  policy  in  favouring  the  foreigner  at  the  cost  of  the  British 
citizen,  the  grosse.st  example  of  Avhich  incompetence  is  notably 
the  free  importation  of  flour,  the  actually  ju.st  imposed  trifle 
being  a  mean  and  meaningless  measure,  Avhile  that  on  Coni  is  a 
blunder.  The  village  Corn  mills,  of  Avhich  18,000  have  been  placed 
hors  de  combat  over  the  quixotic  Free  Trade  craze,  has  done 
immeasurable  harm,  and  is  responsible  for  a  large  proportion  of 
the  disappeai’ance  of  village  life  and  the  rural  exodus. 
When  Mr.  Molyneux,  on  page  322  of  your  issue  of  April  10, 
under  “  Grafting  Apple  Trees,”  .speaks  of  cutting  doAA'u  200  bush 
trees  cf  Fcklinville  Seedling  Apple  trees  eight  years  planted, 
therefore,  say,  ten  to  eleven  years  old,  such  prolific  bearers  .should 
make  splendid  returns.  Air.  Alolyneux  states  that  he  found  the 
Apples  difficult  of  .sale  in  his  part  on  account  of  complaints  of  tiie 
manner  in  Avhich  the  seft  .skin  of  this  Apple  becomes  disfigure:! 
by  the  frequent  handling  neee.ssary  in  a  fruiterer’s  .shop,  Avith  th? 
result  that  he  cut  the  trees  doAvn  and  grafted  1,200  grafts  of  tlm 
more  .saleable  sorts.  Considering  the  prime  productiveness  of 
