November  7,  1901. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
423 
The  Loquat. 
Fruit  culture,  both  under  glass  and  in  the  open  air,  receives 
much  attention  in  England ;  yet,  though  the  varieties  of  fruits 
already  established  in  gardens  are  being  continually  increased, 
few  efforts  are  being  made  in  a  systematic  manner  to  extend  the 
number  of  distinct  kinds  in  use.  Bananas,  some  edible  Passifloras, 
and  Eugenia  Ugni,  have  in  some  cases  been  brought  into  cultiva¬ 
tion,  the  Bauana  more  generally,  yet  very  many  gardeners  totally 
the  Royal  Horticultural  Society’s  Transactions,  published  in 
1822.  A  letter  is  there  printed  which  records  the  fruiting  of  a 
tree  in  Staffordshire.  Fruits  were  produced  during  several  years, 
generally  of  very  fine  quality,  and  extremely  numerous,  as  many 
as  twenty-one  having  been  borne  on  one  branch.  The  cultural 
method  adopted  was  to  place  the  trees  out  of  doors  during  the 
summer,  removing  them  to  a  warm  tan-bed  under  glass  in 
September.  The  flowers  generally  expanded  in  December,  and 
the  fruits  were  ripe  in  April.  There  are  scarcely  any  authenti¬ 
cated  instances  of  trees  maturing  fruit  out  of  doors  in  England, 
though  in  the  south  of  France,  Malta,  and  littoral  regions,  it 
ERIOBOTRYA  JAPONICA  (THE  LOQUAT). 
neglect  them.  Many  other  famed  tropical  and  sub-tropical 
fruits  are  grown  in  a  few  establishments  more  as  curiosities  than 
for  any  practical  purposes,  and  yet  there  is  little  doubt  that  if 
mo'e  attention  were  paid  to  them  satisfactory  results  would  be 
obtained,  and  many  a  dish  of  novel  and  richly  flavoured  fruits 
could  be  added  to  the  dessert. 
The  Loquat  is  now  by  no  means  rare,  though  it  seldomly  is 
so  grown  as  to  have  edible  fruits.  In  southern  counties,  how¬ 
ever,  it  thrives  against  walls  in  the  open  air,  and  is  rarely 
injured  except  by  severe  frosts.  The  first  record  we  have  of  a 
tree  producing  fruits  in  England  occurs  in  the  third  volume  of 
produces  fruit  freely.  Perhaps  a  trial  may  now  be  made  by  many 
who  have  not  hitherto  included  this  rosaceous  shrub.  Some 
authorities  include  the  Loquat  under  Photinia. 
- - 
Jin  Extraordinary  Mushroom. 
Last  week,  a  Mr.  Walter  Warren  found,  near  Stretton-on- 
Dunsmore,  an  immense  Mushroom,  measuring  40in  round  the 
edge,  14in  across,  and  weighing  2Jlb.  It  was  well  shaped  and 
in  good  condition. 
