422 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  ANL  COTTAGE  GARDENER.  November  7,  1901. 
The  Yellow-fruited  Yew. 
Probably  few  readers  are  aware  of  this  species,  yet  of  the  many 
bright-fruited,  hardy  plants  this  is  certainly  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  in  seasons  when  a  good  crop  of  fruit  is  borne.  This 
year  it  has  set  fruits  particularly  freely  at  Kew,  and  makes  a 
conspicuous  object  among  its  red-fruited  neighbours.  The  fleshy 
cups  which  surround  the  little,  hard,  brownish-green  nuts  are 
in  tliis  case  larger  than  those  of  the  red  fruits,  and  are  corre¬ 
spondingly  more  conspicuous.  Though  pleasant  to  look  on  at 
any  time,  the  golden  fruits  are  most  attractive  when  the  sun 
is  shin  ng  on  the  plant.  Although  it  differs  so  in  colour  of  fruit 
from  the  common  Yew,  it  is  but  a  variety  of  that  species,  the 
correct  name  being  Taxus,  baccata  var  fructu-luteo. — D. 
Early  Dessert  Apples. 
The  article  under  the  above  heading  that  appeared  in  the 
fruit  number  of  October  10,  from  Mr.  H.  Richards,  draws  my 
attention  to  an  old  variety  but  seldom  mentioned,  namely,  the 
Summer  Thorle.  Though  I  have  not  seen  it  for  some  years,  I 
have  a  vivid  recollection  of  several  old  trees  and  the  capital  crops 
of  handsome  and,  for  an  early  Apple,  well  flavoured  fruit  they 
bore.  The  fruit,  as  I  remember  it,  was  below  medium  size, 
slightly  flat,  with  a  perfectly  round  outline,  and  was  beautifully 
coloured.  The  flavour  was  also  good,  especially  when  well 
ripened  upon  the  tree,  and  possessed  a  certain  briskness  which  is 
lacking  in  several  of  the  better  known  early  varieties  of  to-day. 
Of  its  keeping  properties  after  being  gathered  I  should  not 
like  to  speak  positively,  but  it  would  keep  some  little  time  and 
still  be  good,  which  is  more  than  could  be  said  of  most  earlies. 
My  appetite  is  whetted  by  the  description  of  Washington  Apple 
by  Mr.  Orchard.  Can  anyone  else  corroborate  his  description 
from  experience? — J.  C.  A.,  E.  Yorks. 
Gardeners'  Mutual  Improvement  Societies. 
It  has  often  been  said  that  the  gardener  belongs  to  one  of 
the  most  intelligent  classes  of  men;  and  the  remark  is  certainly 
quite  justifiable,  as  evidenced  by  the  numerous  reports  from 
week  to  week  of  gardeners’  mutual  improvement  meetings.  The 
reader  cannot  but  notice  the  steady  growth  of  these  influential 
societies,  and  the  very  great  interest  that  is  taken  in  them  by 
the  gardening  fraternity  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of 
the  country.  There  is  not  a  possible  doubt  that  they  are  doing 
a  grand  work  in  bringing  closer  together  the  workers  of  the  soil. 
I  have  olten  heard  it  remarked  that  we  gardeners  are  a  selfish 
lot,  not  caring  to  enlighten  our  fellow  men  out  of  our  own  book 
of  knowledge,  and  what  we  know  we  carefully  keep  wrapped  up 
within  ourselves.  This  slur  can  be  easily  answered  and  exploded 
by  visiting  one  or  more  of  the  now  numerous  meetings  of  our 
mutual  improvement  bodies,  which  are  held  at  regular  intervals 
throughout  the  year.  I  visited  one  of  these  meetings  only  last 
week,  and  was  struck  to  observe  the  eager  desire  to  learn  any¬ 
thing  fresh  which  was  evinced  by  those  present.  Every  word 
the  essayist  read  was  carefully  heard,  and  mentally  made  note 
of  ;  and  after  the  paper  was  finished,  the  discussion  which  fol¬ 
lowed  was,  to  my  mind,  sufficient  to  put  aside  any  feeling  of 
se'fhhness  or  jealousy  which  our  friends  would  have  us  believe 
existed  amongst  gardeners. 
Our  profession  is  one  in  which  something  always  can  be  learnt, 
and  it  behoves  all  young  men  to  make  a  special  study  of  their 
business,  whether  they  pursue  the  art  of  floral  and  plant  culture, 
or  any  other  calling.  To  gain  practical  knowledge,  I  would 
advise  all  young  gardeners  (ay !  and  the  old  ones,  too)  to  join 
the  nearest  Mutual  Improvement  Association,  vdiere,  at  the 
meetings,  he  will  hear  of  “  something  to  his  advantage.”  Read- 
mg  books  on  horticulture  is  imperative  to  every  lover  of  plant 
hfe,  in  which  he  will  find  gold  mines  of  information.  The 
horticultural  papers  are  always  well  worth  their  money  (far  before 
the  trashy  literature  which  is  so  thick  upon  the  market  at  the 
present  time),  and  are  a  boon  to  the  gardener  of  to-dav,  wyho  has 
many  difficult  problems  to  grapple  with.  Where  will  one  find 
more  interesting  articles  than  are  to  be  found  in  our  better-class 
gardening  papers  issued  at  prices  within  the  reach  of  all?  A 
"  04  gardening  paper,  then,  is  indispensable  in  the  gardener’s 
library. 
But  these  gardeners’  improvement  societies  provide  a  means 
of  a  ring  ones  opinions  and  hearing  each  other’s  experiences — 
when  are  various- — and  by  comparing  notes  a  very  great  deal  of 
valuable  information  is  gained.  Now,  it  is  not  every  man.  w'ho, 
able  as  he  may  be  as  a  eardener  and  successful  as  an  exhibitor. 
can  put  hia  thoughts  on  paper,  and  read  his  essay  before  his 
fellow  gardeners.  He  is  usually  afraid  of  its  being  pulled  to 
pieces,  so  to  speak,  by  his  audience.  To  my  mind,  this  is  a  very 
good  ordeal  to  undergo.  When  a  man  sits  down  to  write  a  horti¬ 
cultural  paper,  before  lie  takes  up  his  pen  he  must  of  necessity 
read  and  study  his  subject  in  every  detail.  This  freshens  up  his 
knowledge  and  gives  him  new  ideas  to  think  out,  and,  above  all, 
makes  him  enter  into  it  with  a  determination  to  master  the 
points.  I  therefore  say  that  writing  a  paper  is  undoubtedly  one 
of  the  best  means  to  make  one  become  acquainted  with  a  subject, 
and  to  possess  accurate  information  on  that  subject. 
There  is  another  good  point  in  favour  of  gardeners’  societies, 
and  this  is  that  the  subscriptions  are  not  usually  large.  The  one 
to  which  I  belong  necessitates  only  2s.  6d.  per  year.  This  includes 
a  course  of  eighteen  lectures  on  all  subjects  interesting  to  horti¬ 
culturists.  When  one  thinks  of  the  enormous  amount  of  informa¬ 
tion  given  in  these  eighteen  lectures  by  practical  men,  who  is 
surprised  that  these  societies  flourish  as  they  do  ?  Our  own 
syllabus  for  the  coming  half-year,  from  now  to  April  next,  com¬ 
prises  the  following  papers  : — “  Climbing  Plants,”  “  The  Dahlia,” 
“  Lawns  and  Pleasure  Grounds,”  “  Insects  ”  (by  the  society’s  ow  n 
consulting  entomologist,  wdio  gives  his  services  gratis) :  “  Stove 
Plants,”  “Chemical  Manures,”  Tuberoses  and  Primulas,” 
“  Rosaceee,”  “  Violets,”  “  Cinerarias,”  and  “  Vegetables.”  What 
more  could  one  want  for  his  half-crown  ?  He  must  be  greedy 
indeed  wdio  grudges  this  outlay ! 
I  maintain  that  the  information  to  be  gained  by  attending 
this  course  of  lectures  is  worth  pounds,  shillings,  and  pence  to  all 
who  love  their  plants  and  their  profession.  What  advantages  are 
placed  before  the  young  gardener  of  to-day  compared  with  our 
forefathers!  There  is  no  wonder  that  we  see  young  gardeners 
rising  to  the  topmost  rung  of  the  professional  ladder  when  they 
have  the  help  of  gardeners’  Mutual  Improvement  Associa¬ 
tions.— H.  K. 
Young  Gardeners’  Testimonials. 
“  Toot,”  on  page  396,  raises  an  interesting  question,  but  I 
think  he  is  somewhat  inclined  to  magnify  the  importance  of 
testimonials.  I  believe  there  are  very  few  head  gardeners  in 
these  days  who  require  to  know  anything  further  about  a  young 
man  than  where  he  was  last,  and  what  he  did  there,  and  how 
he  conducted  himself.  These  particulars  can  best  be  procured 
from  his  late  chief  direct,  as  I  know  from  experience.  Some 
years  ago,  from  the  fact  of  a  young  man  having  applied  to  me  for 
a  situation  which  I  had  vacant,  and  he  sent  on  such  excellent 
testimonials  that  I  engaged  him  at  once,  without  taking  the 
trouble  to  write  to  the  various  head  gardeners  he  had  been  under. 
A  short  experience  of  his  character  and  abilities  was  sufficient 
for  me.  I  then  wrote  to  the  last  address,  and  found  that  the 
gardener  had  given  him  a  good  character  because  he  “  did  not 
like  to  do  otherwise  when  giving  it  to  the  young  man  personally.” 
This  was  his  own  expression.  Had  he  been  writing  to  me  direct 
he  would  have  had  “  a  different  tale  to  tell.”  Since  then  I  have 
never  asked  for  testimonials  in  engaging  a  young  man,  nor  would 
I  give  one  unless  it  were,  particularly  desired.  No,  “Toot,”  a 
few  lines  in  confidence  between  gardeners  is'  of  more  importance 
to  a  young  man  than  a  dozen  fulsome  testimonials. — Head 
Gardener. 
♦  •- 
Regarding  Apples. 
Recently  we  did  our  best  to  name  a  variety  of  Apple  sent  us 
by  the  Northumberland  correspondent  whose  interesting  letter  is 
appended.  Without  further  introduction  we  submit  the  remarks 
by  Mr.  Fordyce.  “  Your  note  reached  me  yesterday  re  Apple  to 
name,  and  which  you  named  ‘  Beauty  of  Kent.’  I  think  there  is 
a  mistake  somewhere,  as  I  grew  a  tree  for  some  years  which  I  got 
from  Messrs.  Rivers  and  Son,  Sawbridgeworth,  named  Beauty  of 
Kent,  and  they  are  usually  exact  in  naming  their  trees. 
“  The  fruit  is  like  the  Apple  1  sent  you,  but  yet  is  distinct. 
My  tree  of  Beauty  of  Kent  grew  and  fruited  very  well  for  a  few 
years;  then  it  got  into  a  bad  state  of  health,  became  cankered, 
and  ceased  to  bear,  owing,  I  think,  to  the  climate  being  too  cold 
for  it.  I  therefore  cut  it  down  two  years  ago,  and  regrafted  it 
with  a  hardier  variety.  The  late  Dr.  Hogg  would  doubtless  have 
known  the  Apple  very  well,  as  it  was  a  very  popular  variety  on 
the  Tweed  side  sixty  or  seventy  years  ago,  and  brought  a  better 
price  in  the  market  than  any  other  variety  of  Apple  in  this  dis¬ 
trict,  owing  to  its  size  and  colour. 
“  The  trees  that  I  have  seen  of  it  are  all  large  and  old ;  I 
should  say  not  less  than  a  hundred  years  old  at  least,  and  are  all 
‘  worked  ’  on  the  Crab  stock.  There  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  any  trees  worked  on  the  Paradise  stock  since  it  began  to  be 
used  in  this  part  of  the  country,  and  that  is  about  fifty  years  ago. 
Why,  I  cannot  understand,  as  the  tree  is  hardy  and  a  constant 
bearer.  Owing  to  the  time  the  fruit  ripens  (about  the  latter  end 
of  August  or  beginning  of  September),  the  tree  gets  ‘  braced  up  ’ 
again  before  the  winter.  I  am  sorry  that  I  cannot  send  another 
fruit  this  year,  as  the  one  sent  was  the  last  I  had ;  but  should  I 
be  spared  for  another  year,  I  will  endeavour  to  send  you  two  or 
three. — John  Fordyce.” 
