398 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
October  31,  1001. 
NOTES 
OTICES 
Royal  Warrant. 
The  Royal  Warrant  of  seedsman  to  His  Majesty  the  King  has 
been  conferred  on  Mr.  John  K.  King,  seed  grower,  Coggeshall, 
Essex,  and  Reading,  Berks.  Mr.  King’s  business  was  founded 
in  1793. 
Mangoes 
A  good  steady  increase  was  shown  in  Queensland  in  the  area 
rnder  this  delicious  fruit  for  the  past  as  compared  with  the 
previous  year,  the  area  for  1899  being  245  acres,  returning 
191,074  dozen,  which  increased  in  1900  to  411  acres,  yielding 
277,444  dozen.  Of  this  area  349  acres  were  productive,  whilst 
62  acres  were  non-productive,  not  having  yet  come  into  bearing. 
All  the  northern  portion  of  the  State  on  the  seaboard  seems  to  be 
well  adapted  to  the  growth  of  this  fruit,  which  can  be  produced 
there  in  any  required  quantity,  but  the  drawback  seems  to  be  the 
difficulty  of  finding  a  suitable  market.  It  is  quite  true  that 
much  of  the  fruit  grown  and  sent  to  market  is  from  trees  bearing 
inferior  Mangoes,  and  no  one  would  readily  acquire  a  taste  for 
this  fruit  if  only  the  fibrous  varieties,  with  strong,  unpleasant 
flavour,  were  presented  for  their  use.  But  there  are  Mangoes  of 
most  delicious  flavour,  and  free  from  fibre,  which  can  be  grown  as 
easily  as  the  worthless  kinds ;  and  if  these  are  properly  gathered 
and  packed  they  should  be  saleable  in  any  market.  The  total 
production  in  1900  was  277,444  dozen. 
Pavings  for  Streets. 
To  our  gardener  friends  and  others  with  country  leisure  might 
we  be  permitted  to  bring  to  notice  a  subject  which  is  of  great 
importance,  and  which  seems  to  be  occupying  considerable  con¬ 
sideration  from  Westminster  citizens?  The  question  is  that  of 
paving  for  streets,  and  as  our  readers  have  much  to  do  with 
pavings,  or  road-making  at  least,  the  subject  may  raise  sugges¬ 
tions.  A  writer  to  a  daily  paper  wishes  asphalte  in  place  of  wood 
paving.  He  says  :  “  It  is  smoother,  more  durable,  and  much  less 
dirty  and  dusty.  Perhaps  it  may  be  more  slippery,  but  there 
cannot  be  much  to  choose  between  them  on  this  score.  If  you 
look  along  any  of  our  great  wood-paved  thoroughfares  on  a  dry 
sunny  day,  you  see  what  looks  like  a  mist  stretching  from  end  to 
end,  but  a  mist  composed  of  the  filthiest  and  most  irritating  dust 
imaginable,  injurious  to  eyes,  lungs,  and  clothes,  and  damaging 
to  many  kinds  of  goods  exposed  in  shops.  With  asphalte,  on  the 
other  hand,  there  is  little  or  none  of  this,  but  I  do  not  mean  to 
contend  that  it  is  perfect.  The  truth  is,  we  want  a  new  pave¬ 
ment,  free  from  the  defects  of  asphalte  and  wood,  and  whoever 
can  invent  one  will  confer  an  inestimable  benefit  on  the  public.” 
Asphalte  would  be  useless  in  warm  weather. 
Field  v.  Indoor  Mushrooms. 
Mushrooms,  i.e.,  field  Mushrooms,  are  plentiful  in  the  country, 
and  to  some  extent  they  are  a  drug  on  Covent  Garden  Market. 
They  can  be  bought  wholesale  at  a  sum  which  approximately 
figures  out  at  Hd.  to  2d.  per  pound  to  buyers  of  such  a  mass  of 
Mushrooms  as  constitutes  a  ton.  Retail,  they  can  be  sold  at  a 
profit  from  3d.  to  4d.  But  they  are  short-lived,  inferior  fungi, 
and  the  Bond  Street  fruiterer  will  have  none  of  them  “  It  is 
not  too  much  to  say,”  Mr.  Edward  Monro,  of  Geo.  Monro  and 
Co.,  who  are  large  dealers  in  Mushrooms,  said  to  a  daily  paper’s 
representative,  “  that  Mushrooms  are  an  absolute  curse  to  Covent 
Garden.  How  is  that?  Well,  Mushrooms  come  to  us  from  all 
over  the  country.  From  Wales,  Cornwall,  Berkshire — anywhere. 
The  life  of  the  field  Mushroom,  after  it  is  picked,  is  about  twenty- 
four  hours.  After  that  it  has  to  be  consigned  to  the  Strand 
Board  of  Works  cart.  The  consequence  is  that  the  fungus  has  to 
be  sold  very  cheap.  A  high-class  fruiterer  will  not  touch  the 
field  Mushroom.  He  buys  Mushrooms  grown  in  Mushroom  beds, 
indoors — Mushrooms  which  last  two  or  three  days,  and  which 
retail  at  6d.  or  9d.  a  pound.  Not  one  in  a  hundred  of  the  field 
Mushrooms  goes  to  the  ordinary  consumer.  The  large  propor¬ 
tion  of  the  Mushrooms  fit  for  consumption  upon  reaching  the 
Metropolis  go  to  the  ‘smasher’ — the  man  who  makes  ketchup.” 
Cassell’s  Dictionary  of  Gardening. 
Part  6  (price  7d.  net)  of  this  new  publication  is  issued.  A 
coloured  illustration  of  “  Some  High-class  Cannas  ”  adorns  the 
front  portion.  The  “  part  ”  embraces  from  Cortaderia  to  Deppca. 
Variorum. 
In  “Chambers’s  Journal”  for  September  28,  Mary  Georges 
contributes  an  appreciative  article  on  the  bulb  farm  of  Messrs. 
Hogg  and  Robertson.  *  *  A  Pumpkin  used  n  the  decoration 
of  Appledore  Wesleyan  Chapel  at  the  harvest  thanksgiving 
services  on  Sunday  measured  18in  in  diameter,  and  was  esti¬ 
mated  to  weigh  at  least  561b.  *  *  The  Metropolitan  Public 
Gardens  Association  (London)  have  decided  to  offer  to  plant  trees 
on  Brixton  Parade,  in  the  Dulwich  Road,  in  the  Highgate  Road, 
and  in  the  Norfolk  Square  churchyard. 
Pine  a  pp  es  from  A  stralia. 
The  area  of  gruond  under  Pine  Apples  in  Queensland  was  less 
for  1900  than  for  1899,  the  areas  being  939  acres,  yielding 
424,835  dozen  in  1900  against  994  acres,  yielding  401,692  dozen  in 
1899,  so  that  whilst  there  was  a  reduction  of  35  acres  thero 
was  an  increase  in  the  yield  of  23,143  dozen.  The  total  produc¬ 
tion  in  1900  was  403,710  dozen.  In  addition  to  yielding  in  large 
quantities  a  product  that  under  careful  cultivation  is  one  of  the 
most  delicious  of  all  fruits,  from  the  leaf  of  this  plant,  either  in 
its  wild  or  its  cultivated  state,  a  fibre  may  be  obtained  surpassing 
flax  for  strength,  fineness,  and  glossy  appearance.  Their 
relative  strengths  wTere  found  to  be  as  26  is  to  35  ;  it  is  also  founl 
to  possess  special  qualities  for  rope-making,  it  being  a  good  damp 
res  stant,  and  from  the  fineness  of  its  fibre  it  is  considered  by 
some  experts  that  it  would  offer  special  advantages  for  mixing 
with  cotton  or  wool.  As  the  plant  grows  so  freely  in  Southern 
Queensland  it  is  possible  that  a  little  investigation  might  lead  to 
its  further  utilisation  in  this  direction. 
Sh'rley  (Southampton)  Gardeners’  Improvement  Association 
The  monthly  meeting  of  the  above  society  was  held  at  the 
Pound  Street  Mission  Room,  Shirley,  on  Monday,  October  21, 
when  Mr.  F.  W.  E.  Shrivell,  F.L.S.,  F.R.H.S.,  gave  a  most  in¬ 
teresting  lecture  on  “  Chemical  Manures  for  Kitchen  Gardens, " 
in  the  course  of  which  he  said  it  was  a  wonder  to  him  that  gar¬ 
deners,  who  were  so  smart  in  most  things  that  concerned  their 
profession,  should  not  master  the  elementary  knowdedge  of 
manures,  which  would  be  so  useful  to  them,  and  could  be  learnt 
in  a  very  short  time.  Though  called  artificial,  the  chief  manures, 
nitrate  of  soda,  superphosphate  of  lime,  and  kainit,  were  all 
natural  productions.  Natural  nitrates,  for  example,  were  formed 
in  this  country.  If  it  was  a  hot  summer,  and  a  dry  winter,  they 
kept  in1  the  soil  till  the  spring  came,  and  as  a  consequence  every¬ 
thing  in  the  ensuing  season  seemed  to  do  well ;  but  if  we  had  a 
wet  winter,  these  valuable  nitrates  were  washed  away  into  the 
subsoil,  and  they  had  a  season  that  they  called  unkindly,  for 
nothing  did  well.  Nitrates  are  plentiful  in  Chili ;  superphos¬ 
phate  of  lime  used  to  be  found  in  Cambridgeshire,  where  they 
were  supposed  to  arise  from  the  bones  or  excreta  of  animal  life. 
Kainit,  or  potash,  was  dug  out  at  a  depth  of  10ft  in  a  part  of 
Prussia  which  w’as  supposed  at  one  time  to  have  been  covered 
with  water,  which  had  evaporated,  and  these  salts  left  behind. 
Nitrogen  was  a  tissue  builder,  also  phosphoric  acid,  and  kainit 
was  used  to  balance  the  two.  A  good  dressing  for  bush  fruits 
is  101b  superphosphate  and  101b  kainit,  sown  broadcast  in  the 
autumn,  and  from  71b  to  101b  nitrate  of  soda  in  the  spring,  to  100 
square  yards.  For  the  kitchen  garden,  superphosphate,  141b, 
kainit,  101b,  with  half-load  farmyard  manure  dug  in,  in  the 
autumn,  and  101b  of  nitrate  of  soda  in  two  dressings  in  the  spring. 
For  a  lawn  manure,  “  basic  slag  ”  141b,  kainit  91b,  to  100  square 
yards  put  on  in  the  autumn,  and  2£lb  nitrate  of  soda  in  the  first 
week  in  March.  The  members  made  a  very  fine  exhibition  at 
this  meeting  with  fruit  and  flowers.  First  prize  for  dessert  and 
kitchen  Apples,  Mr.  J.  Hallett;  second,  Mr.  J.  Biggs.  First 
dessert  and  stewing  Pears,  Mr.  J.  Biggs;  second,  J.  Hallett. 
Mr.  F.  Snellgrove,  first-class  certificate  collection  of  fruit  and 
flowers ;  ditto,  Mr.  Thomsett.  Mr.  Wilcox,  certificate  for 
Michaelmas  Daisies.  Mr.  B.  Ladhams,  F.R.H.S.  (chairman), 
had  a  grand  display  of  cut  blooms,  which  were  vhc.  One  new 
member  was  made.  A  vote  of  thanks  to  the  lecturer,  chairman, 
and  exhibitors  closed  a  very  interesting  evening.- — J.  M. 
