484 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER.  November  28,  1901. 
Mr.  Brotherston  has  discovered  another  reason  for  the 
shortage  in  the  iate  winter  Apple  stocks  in  the  fact  that  the 
planting  of  popular  free-fruiting  and  mid-season  sorts  has  over¬ 
ridden  the  more  desirable  late  keepers.  There  is  a  good  deal  of 
truth,  no  doubt,  in  this  opinion,  and  is  a  teaching  that  deserves 
reiteration.  It  cannot  be  expected  that  mid-season  sorts  are 
likely  to  furnish  the  table  far  beyond  their  own  natural  time, 
except  in  extreme  instances.  Those  circumstanced  in  having 
only  maincrop  and  earfy  kinds  ought  to  remedy  this  forthwith — 
that  is,  if  late  fruit  is  wanted — and  there  are  not  many  mansions 
that  can  afford  to  be  without  a  supply  extended  as  late  in  the 
spring  as  it  is  possible  to  have  them.  If  rooting  up  of  worthless 
or  aged  trees  does  not  come  convenient,  change  them  by  grafting. 
This  can  be  so  easily  done. 
For  the  past  ten  years  I  have  not  missed  a  season  without 
grafting  some  trees  and  planting  young  ones — not  a  quantity,  of 
course — but  even  when  there  is  an  extensive  list  of  varieties,  and 
all  of  them  more  or  less  good,  I  find  abundant  means  and  neces¬ 
sity  for  yet  continuing  it.  There  are  sorts  which,  under  trial 
and  acquaintance,  prove  in  some  degree  of  lesser  value  than 
another.  It  may  be  there  are  too  many  ripen  at  one  time,  fewer 
at  another,  some  are  bad  keepers,  while  the  quality'  of  others 
do  not  come  up  to  one’s  standard.  Then,  again,  some  are  ex¬ 
tremely  shy  of  bearing.  All  these  are  faults  that  can  be  remedied 
often  by  re-grafting.  This  affords,  too.  the  means  of  catering  for 
certain  peculiarities  of  taste,  as  Mr.  Brotherston  puts  it,  for  in 
the  dessert  and  kitchen  Apples  there  is  sure  to  be  good  and 
indifferent  reports  of  varieties  as  they  pass  the  censorship  of 
employer  or  cook. 
Alfriston,  Northern  Greening,  and  Bramley’s  are  thoroughly 
good  and  reliable  sorts  for  late  use.  The  latter  is  a  good  and 
regular  bearer,  and  a  distinctly  heavy  fruit.  Norfolk  Stone 
Pippin  is  not  a  fruit  of  large  size  or  high  quality,  but  it  is  one 
.•hat  with  us  keeps  later  than  any,  and  never  fails  to  bear  a 
crop,  more  often  a  heavy  than  a  light  one.  This  year,  famous 
as  it  is  for  its  light  crops,  this  variety  needed  supports  under 
the  lower  branches.  Cockle’s  Pippin  is  another  that  is  highly 
appreciated,  as  is  also  Claygate  Pearmain.  These  are  good  in 
March.  The  first-named  bears  heavily  every  alternate  year,  the 
other  gives  regular  and  less  heavy  crops.  Both  are  deserving  of 
a  place  in  even  small  collections. 
One  of  the  least  profitable  varieties  to  us  is  Emperor 
Alexander.  There  are  two  or  three  trees  of  this  that,  though 
capable  in  the  matter  of  size  of  carrying  at  best  three  pecks  each 
of  fruit,  has  not  borne  one  peck  during  my  acquaintance  of  them. 
A  resolution  is  now  laid  down  that  their  heads  will  be  removed, 
and  others  put  on,  during  the  coming  spring.  This  is  an  Apple 
that  has  had  its  praises  loudly  sang  in  times  past,  and  I  am 
not  prepared  to  say  it  does  not  deserve  it,  for  the  fruit  is  hand¬ 
some,  good  to  eat  and  to  cook,  and  the  tree  a  healthy  grower. 
Old  trees  may  be  fertile  enough,  but  while  one  is  waiting  for 
age  qualifications,  material  is  being  lost,  and  it  cannot  be  said 
that  it  is  so. superior  that  it  is  worth  waiting  a  decade — or,  it  may 
be,  two — without  any  or  but  a  meagre  return.  Blenheims  are 
similarly  shy  in  a  young  state,  and  instead  of  planting  young  trees 
of  this  estimable  Apple,  older  ones  are  headed  down  and  re- 
grafted.  By  these  means  an  advance  is  gained  in  time  and 
fertility.  At  the  same  time,  it  is  inadvisable  to  allow  the  plant¬ 
ing  of  orchard  trees  to  lapse  because  of  this  failing,  for  there 
is  no  Apple  at  present  to  supplant  the  Blenheim  when  trees  have 
become  matured. — W.  Strtjgnell. 
- - 
Fruit  Bottling. 
Last  Tuesday,  in  the  Drill  Hall,  Buckingham  Gate,  West¬ 
minster,  before  the  Fellows  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society, 
a  lecture  was  delivered  by  Mr.  J.  E.  Austin,  of  Kingston-on-Thames, 
on  the  important  subject  of  preserving  fruit  and  vegetables  by 
the  bottling  process.  We  can  only  afford  space  for  a  summary  of 
the  lecture.  Mr.  Austin  opened  by  saying  that  fruit  preserving 
and  fruit  production  were  very  closely  allied ;  the  success  of  the 
one  vastly  affects  the  other.  The  fruit  preserver  is  the  link  be¬ 
tween  the  fruit  grower  and  the  public.  The  vast  quantities  con¬ 
sumed  make  the  subject  of  fruit  preservation  one  of  the  greatest 
importance.  Fruit  is  a  national  necessity  in  our  food  supply, 
and  this  fact  has  been  recognised  by  Continental  growers,  if  not 
by  our  own  countrymen.  Growers  in  these  islands  labour,  of 
course,  under  climatic  difficulties.  Foreigners  have  their  fruit 
crops  ripe  from  three  to  five  weeks  in  advance  of  ours  here,  and 
obtain  the  advantages  and  high  prices  of  the  early  markets,  and 
the  sharp  appetite  for  the  luxury  of  fresh  fruit  is  reduced  before 
our  own  fruits  are  on  the  markets.  So  much  as  7s.  to  10s.  per 
half  sieve  is  obtained  by  foreigners  for  earlv  Gages,  whereas 
British  growers,  coming  later,  do  not  realise  half  these  amounts. 
It  is  the  same  with  Strawberries,  Raspberries,  Black  Currants, 
which  sometimes  fetch  fabulous  prices.  Home  growers  are  ham¬ 
pered  by  exorbitant  railway  rates  and  by  the  commission  agents’ 
fee.£ ;  so  that,  after  paying  for  labour,  railway  rates,  and  commis¬ 
sions,  the  grower  frequently  has  nothing  left  for  himself.  How, 
then,  can  we  wonder  if  at  times  he  becomes  disconsolate,  and  wlij^ 
need  we  wonder  at  .  young  men  and  women  leaving  their  native - 
villages  for  town  employment? 
The  remedies  proposed  have  been  that  the  wasteland  should  be 
cultivated  and  put  under  fruit,  but  this  will  never  occur  so  long  as 
fruit  growing  is  unprofitable.  We  require  new  outlets  for  our 
fruit.  “  Does  it  not  seem  remarkable,”  asked  Mr.  Austin,  “  that 
no  attempts  have  been  made  to  preserve  the  fruits?”  The  Ameri¬ 
cans  have  taken  the  matter  in  hand,  and  so  far  they  hold  a. 
monopoly.  All  that  might  be  done  at  home  here  has  not  had 
attention.  British  fruit  has  been  bottled  for  years,  but  in  such 
a  way  that  the  samples  are  neither  so  good  nor  so  cheap  as  they 
ought  to  be.  The  new  “Vacuum”  whole  fruit  preserving  pro¬ 
cess,  however,  holds  forth  hopes  for  much  greater  success  in 
future.  First  results  under  this  system  were  not  satisfactory,, 
and  a  great  deal  of  time  and  money  were  consumed  before  correct 
results  were  obtained.  Each  kind  of  fruit  is  found  to  have  its 
special  characteristics,,  and  to  discover  these  and  treat  accord¬ 
ingly  has  been  the  aim  of  the  patentees  of  the  preserving  method 
just  referred  to.  The  advantages  claimed  are  (1)  economy  in 
time  in  the  preserving  of  the  fruits;  (2),  the  essence  of  the  fruit 
is  fully  maintained,  And  absolutely  nothing  is  added  to  give 
flavour,  while  the  kernel  is  wholly  extracted  from  stone  fruits ; 
(3),  the  fruits  are  completely  sterilised,  and  will  remain  good  for 
several  years,  and  for  three  or  four  days  when  opened  out  and 
exposed  in  warm  weather,  or  for  three  weeks  even  in  cold  winter 
weather;  (4),  fruit  bottled  by  the  vacuum  system  remains  un¬ 
altered  during  all  extremes  of  temperature.  “  It  is  the  best- 
method  of  fruit  preserving  yet  known.”  From  October  to  June 
we  have  hitherto  depended  almost  solely  on  foreign  imports  (which 
amount  to  millions  of  pounds  sterling  per  year),  but  soon  we  may 
expect  freshly  preserved  British  fruit  all  the  year  round.  It  has 
been  the  preserving  methods,  not  the  lack  of  quality  in  the  fruit 
grown  in  this  country,  that  has  been  at  fault  in  the  past. 
British  grown  fruit  is  distinctly  superior,  according  to  Mr. 
Austin.  The  lecturer  in  time  to  come  hopes  to  see  an  export, 
trade  in  “  British  fruits,”  for  there  is  that  Greater  Britain  beyond 
the  seas,  where  millions  of  our  own  countrymen  are  now  settled,, 
and  who  would  gladly  pay  for  the  fruits  from  British  orchards. 
Referring  to  a  conversation  he  had  with  a  friend  from  Buenos 
Ayres,  the  lecturer  said  that  25,000  British  people  were  there 
settled,  and  yet  they  could  not  get  British  fruits  by  any  means ; 
nothing  but  Bananas,  Pine-apples,  &c.  They  would  rejoice  to 
have  home-grown  Blackberries,  Currants,  Gooseberries,  Green¬ 
gages,  and  the  like.  Here,  then,  is  the  demand,  and  the  case 
so  far  stands  thus  :  (1),  Good  fruit  is  wanted ;  also  (2),  skilful 
bottlers  ;  and  (3),  the  public  must  be  told  of  the  facts.  The  first 
two  are  in  a  measure  secured,  and  require  expansion ;  and 
shortly,  we  will  hope,  the  public  interest  may  be  aroused. 
Upon  the  conclusion  of  the  exposition,  Mr.  Lewis  Castle, 
superintendent  of  the  Duke  of  Bedford’s  Experimental  Fruit 
Farm  at  Woburn,  rose  and  asked  Mr.  Austin  to  explain  his  (Mr, 
Austin’s)  bottling  process,  for  which  he  had  been  listening,  yet 
had  not  been  enlightened  on.  The  lecturer  candidly  replied  that 
he  must  be  excused  from  divulging  what  was  as  yet  a  trade 
secret,  and  known  only  to  three  or  four  persons.  In  a  very  short- 
time  the  method  would  be  public,  but  his  chief  purpose  in 
lecturing  had  been  to  draw  attention  to  the  opening  that  a  sound 
fruit  bottling  industry  would  give  to  rural  labour  in  this  country. 
Later  on  he  hinted  that  the  Council  of  the  Royal  Horticultural 
Society  should  take  this  matter  into  earnest  considei’ation,  in 
order  that  it  might  be  advanced.  Mr.  Joseph  Cheal,  who  occu¬ 
pied  the  chair,  satisfied  some  inquiries  as  to  how  the  surplus  fruit 
of  small  growers  could  be  preserved  by  describing  a  plan  adopted 
by  his  own  household,  who,  he  stated,  were  never  without  fresh 
fruit  all  the  year  round.  The  process  is  simply  to  place  perfectly 
sound  fruit  into  glass  jars  or  bottles,  then  place  these  in  an  oven 
for  a  few  minutes  till  they  begin  to  crack,  whence  they  are  imme¬ 
diately  taken  out,  and  boiling  water  is  poured  in  until,  when  the 
rubber  stopper  or  lid  is  tightly  screwed  on,  there  is  not  the  least 
space  for  any  air.  The  whole  secret  is  in  having  the  bottles  en¬ 
tirely  freed  from  air,  and  afterwards  hermetically  sealed.  No 
scarred  or  ruptured  fruits  should  ever  be  employed ;  nor  should 
sugar,  which  causes  fermentation.  Simply  water  and  tight  seal¬ 
ing  up. 
Death  of  a  Sylvan  Monarch. 
“  Thwaite’s  Oak,”  long  acknowledged  as  one  of  the  finest  Oaks 
in  Norfolk,  was  recently  sold  by  auction  on  Mr.  Jonathan  Boyce’s 
estate  as  Tiveshall,  where  it  grew.  The  fine  old  Oak  realised 
more  than  £90,  the  main  trunk,  19ft.  long  and  with  an  average 
girth  of  21ft.,  being  purchased  by  a  Cambridge  firm  of  church 
furnishers.  The  trunk  weighed  twenty  tons,  and  as  it  stood 
half  a  mile  away  from  the  high  road,  great  difficulty  was  naturally 
experienced  in  removing  it.  The  fallen  giant,  amid  much 
snapping  of  wire  ropes  and  chains,  was  rolled  down  a  slope,  and 
a  fourteen-horse  power  engine  took  a  day  and  a  half  to  drag  it 
over  fifty  yards  to  the  roadway.  The  laborious  journey  of  sixty 
miles  to  Cambridge  was  then  commenced. 
