542 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  ANL  COTTAGE  GARDENER.  December  12,  1901. 
Apple,  Norfolk  Beauty. 
In  September  last  I  saw  the  trees  of  this  Apple  laden  with  the 
fruit  you  comment  upon  in  the  Journal  of  last  issue,  page  518, 
and  since  then  I  have  had  an  opportunity  of  tasting  the  fruit 
both  cooked  and  uncooked,  and  find  it  exactly  what  you  say.  I 
look  upon  Norfolk  Beauty  as  quite  one  of  the  best  Apples  in 
cultivation  for  the  kitchen.  The  flavour  of  the  fruit  is  so  diffe¬ 
rent  to  that  of  Warner’s  King  as  to  at  once  dissipate  any  idea  of 
its  being  identical  with  that  variety.  The  flesh  of  the  latter  is 
quite  white,  while  in  the  new  comer  it  has  quite  a  creamy  tint. 
All  the  trees  I  saw  of  it  were  fruiting  heavily,  and  this  in  a  season 
when  Apples  were  scarce,  especially  in  the  Norfolk  region  ;  and 
this  fact  should  render  its  extended  cultivation  a  certainty. — 
E.  Molyneux. 
Christmas  on  Duty. 
I  imagine  I  hear  some  poor  journeyman  exclaim,  “  Oh,  dear ! 
don’t  mention  it.  I  never  spent  a  more  miserable  day  in  my  life  !” 
I  have  heard  this  expression  uttered  time  after  time  regularly 
as  Christmas  comes  round.  Now  very  shortly  it  will  be  with  us 
again,  and  no  doubt  before  this  the  almanac  has  been  carefully 
and  fearfully  studied  with  the  object  of  finding  out  who  will 
have  the  unenviable  distinction  of  being  “  on  duty  ”  that  day, 
and  many  will  be  the  sighs  of  relief  or  vain  regret  uttered  in 
every  botliy  throughout  the  land  upon  ascertaining  the  fate  in 
store  for  them  on  that  particular  day.  I  have  known  some  young 
fellows  who  would  be  able  to  name  the  unfortunate  one  quite 
twelve  months  beforehand,  so  eager  were  they  to  gratify  their 
curiosity. 
Undoubtedly  the  bothy  is  not  the  best  place  in  which  one 
would  choose  to  spend  the  festive  season,  especially  in  those 
bothies  where  some  of  the  fortunate  inmates  are  near  enough  to 
go  home,  leaving  one  or  two  less  favoured  ones  behind  to  pass 
the  time  away  as  best  they  can.  But  still  there  are  some  who 
will  make  themselves  happy  even  under  these  adverse  circum¬ 
stances,  and  if  he  is  possessed  of  sufficient  forethought  he  can, 
with  the  outlay  of  a  few  shillings,  get  together  a  goodly  store  in 
readiness  for  the  eventful  dav.  Such  seasonable  things  as  nuts, 
oranges,  cigars,  the  inevitable  roast  beef  and  plum  pudding,  and 
last,  but  not  least,  a  wee  drop  o’  something  “  short,”  with  which 
to  drink  the  health  of  absent  friends  both  far  and  near.  These, 
with  the  aid  of  one  or  two  old  cronies  specially  invited  for  the 
occasion,  will  make  Christmas  not  a  day  to  look  forward  to  with 
dread,  but  rather  with  happy  anticipation.  Greater  cheerfulness 
may  also  be  imparted  to  the  bothy  by  fixing  sprigs  of  Holly  round 
the  walls  and  over  the  fireplace,  not  forgetting  a  piece  of 
Mistletoe  hung  up  in  some  convenient  place  under  which  the 
ancient  custom  may  be  duly  observed  should  the  occasion  arise. 
Thus,  by  adapting  himself  to  circumstances,  the  unfortunate  one 
may  have  a  real  jolly  good  time,  although  he  be,  like  me, 
“  on  duty.”— J.  H.  M. 
[A  very  seasonable  letter,  and  full  of  a  good  spirit. — Ed.] 
“Hardy”  Fruit  Growa  Under  Glass. 
Mr.  J.  T.  Thurston,  writing  from  Stowmarket,  Suffolk,  brings 
tc  notice  a  letter  that  was  published  in  the  East  Anglian  “  Daily 
Times  ”  for  November  16,  which  letter  refers  to  an  exhibit  of  fruit 
staged  at  the  Ipswich  Horticultural  Show  on  November  12  and  13. 
In  the  interests  of  exhibitors  of  hardy-grown  fruit,  we  think 
that  Note  VII.,  as  printed  in  the  schedule  for  the  fruit  exhibi¬ 
tion  yearly  held  under  the  auspices  of  the  Royal  Horticultural 
Society  at  the  Crystal  Palace,  should  always  be  applied  to  ex¬ 
hibits  of  open  air  (or  hardy)  fruit.  The  note  we  mention  ex¬ 
plains  :  “  By  ‘  grown  in  the  open  air  ’  it  must  be  understood  that 
the  trees  have  both  flowered  and  set  their  fruit,  as  well  as  ripened 
it,  without  any  other  protection  beyond  netting  or  a  coped  wall.” 
This  limits  the  exhibitor  pure  and  simple  to  stage  “  open-air  ” 
fruit.  All  exhibitors  and  officials  of  horticultural  societies  should 
make  themselves  acquainted  with  the  “Rules  for  Judging,” 
1899  Code,  Is.  6d.  post  free;  from  R.H.S.  Office,  117,  Victoria 
Street,  S.W.  What  exhibit  is  meant  in  the  letter,  part 
of  which  we  give  below,  we  know  not,  but  the  question  is  asked 
“  whether  it  was  altogether  satisfactory  from  the  point  of 
view  of  those  who  wish  to  encourage  the  cultivation  of  hardy 
fruit?  Indeed,  to  put  the  question  briefly,”  continues  the 
writer,  “  I  should  like  to  ask  whether  the  Apples  and  Pears  ex¬ 
hibited  were  really  hardy  fruits,  and  did  not  owe  much  of  their 
excellence  to  the  fact  that  they  had  been,  to  some  extent,  nursed 
under  glass.  It  is  well  known  that  there  is  a  system  of  nursing 
the  trees  and  feeding  them  with  a  pap-boat,  by  which  fruit  can 
be  obtained  twice  the  size  of  that  grown  under  the  ordinary 
conditions  of  the  garden.  A  young  tree  is  planted  in  a  large 
pot  or  tub  with  perforated  sides,  and,  after  being  kept  all  the 
winter  in  an  enclosed  house,  it  blossoms  two  or  three  weeks 
before  the  usual  time,  the  fruit  thus  getting  a  great  advantage 
at  the  start.  The  tree  may  or  may  not  be  taken  outside,  when 
the  fruit  is  well  set,  and  placed,  still  in  the  pot,  in  rich  soil, 
so  that  straggling  roots  may  help  in  nourishing  the  tree.  About 
this  time  the  pap-boat  comes  into  use,  and  the  tree,  its  fruits 
thinned  perhaps  to  three  or  four,  is  stimulated  with  vanous 
artificial  mixtures,  amongst  which  a  solution  of  iron,  for  giving 
colour,  plays  its  part.  It  is  wonderful  what  can  be  done  by 
such  a  system.  Apples  and  Pears  21b  or  over  in  weight  are  pro¬ 
duced  when  it  is  difficult  to  get  them  up  to  lib  on  trees  grown 
under  more  natural  conditions.  Such  fruit  is,  no  doubt,  very 
interesting  at  shows;  but  is  it  exactly  what  ought  to  be  en¬ 
couraged?  Does  it  not  tend  to  dishearten  those  who  have  no 
orchard  house  ?  And  would  it  not  be  better  if  it  is  impossible 
to  have  different  classes  for  fruit  grown  under,  or  not  under, 
el  ass  to  let  the  exhibit  cards  state  that  it  is  grown  under  glass, 
partially  under  glass,  or  in  the  open?”  Naturally,  these  ques¬ 
tions  are  of  importance,  and  care  on  all  hands  must  be  exercised 
when  exhibits  of  hardy  fruit  are  considered  at  exhibitions. 
Araucaria  imbricata  from  Seed. 
In  answer  to  “  H.  M„”  page  524,  concerning  the  rearing  of 
Araucaria  imbricata  from  seeds,  I  beg  to  state  that  about  five 
years  ago  plants  were  reared  from  seeds  taken  from  a  tree  fruited 
in  the  pleasure  grounds  at  Osborne,  Isle  of  Wight ;  also  a,  year  or 
two  previous  to  the  above  date  plants  were  raised  at  Nash  Court, 
Faversham,  Kent,  from  a  “  Monkey  Puzzle,  which  bore  fruit 
there.  In  both  of  the  above  cases  the  seeds,  which  somewhat 
resemble  a  very  thin  Tulip  bulb,  were  sown  under  glass.  After 
germination,  which  took  place  in  the  course  of  a  few  weeks,  they 
were  potted  off  singly  into  small  pots,  and  grown  on  in  a  gieen- 
house  temperature  for  a  couple  of  years,  after  which  they  were 
planted  in  the  open.  According  to  my  experience,  their  growth 
is  somewhat  slow  during  the  first  two  years  of  their  existence 
but  after  reaching  the  planting-out  stage  they  quickly  go  ahead 
on  becoming  established. — Wilmot  H.  \ates,  The  Gardens, 
Rotherfield  Park,  Alton. 
Apple,  Barnack  Beauty. 
A  local  newspaper  is  responsible  for  the  following  interesting 
account  of  the  above-named  Apple,  taken  from  the  Fruit  Trade 
News”-— “We  know  of  few  Apples  that  equal  this  grand  late 
dessert  variety.  Certainly  none  surpass  it,  so  a  few  details 
about  its  culture  on  pyramid  trees  wall  be  read  with  interest  by 
many  thousands  of  growers  and  planters  of  the  king  of  fruits 
especmUy^ave  too  many  useless  varieties  of  fruit  trees  on  the  fruit 
lands  of  the  United  Kingdom.  Among  those  we  advise  should 
be  grown  none  will  give  greater  satisfaction  than  Eainack 
Beauty.  The  fruit  weighs  from  four  to  six  ounces  each,  the  bulk 
possibly  coming  out  at  four  ounces  when  well  grown.  Ihus  *or 
marketing  in  boxes  they  are  perfect,  on  account  of  their  ric  1 
sweet  vinous  flavour,  their  size  and  colour.  . 
“  We  should  like  to  see  10,000  boxes  of  evenly  graded  Apples 
of  this  variety  put  on  sale  for  the  Christmas  trade.  They  would 
make  as  much  money  as  the  famous  Newtown  Pippins.  there 
is  no  Apple  grown  all  the  world  over  that  will  surpass  it.  Wit 
these  and  several  other  high-grade  varieties  we  can  easily  hold 
our  own  against  outside  competition  from  any  quarter.  England 
is  the  true  home  of  the  Apple.  We  have  said  that  Barnack 
Beauty  is  a  splendid  cropper.  In  corroboration  of  this  a  fruit- 
grower  sends  us  samples  of  the  fruit  he  has  raised,  ,  w it h  tie 
significant  information  that  from  ten  trees  he  gathered  over  one 
ton  of  fine  fruit.  Reckoning  441b  to  the  bushel  we  shall  have  as 
near  as  possible  25  bushels  to  the  ton.  Now,  if  we  put  the  value  of 
the  Apples  at  10s.  a  bushel  in  the  markets,  the  ton  will  be  worth 
£12  10s.  The  trees  from  which  the  fruit  was  gathered  are 
pyramids,  and  reckoning  193  trees  to  the  acre,  that  is,  having 
them  set  15ft  apart  each  way,  we  should,  if  the  yield  was  pro¬ 
portionate  to  the  ten  trees  referred  to,  get  Apples  of  the  value 
of  £237  10s.  from  an  acre  of  land.  .  .  , 
(i  Now,  we  have  taken  care  to  under-estimate  tilings  m  tne 
above  in  every  item,  so  that  it  is  absolutely  clear  that  if  every  ten 
trees  on  an  acre,  when  the  trees,  after  ten  years,  had  got  into 
wood  fruiting  condition,  yielded  a  ton  of  fruit  between  them,  t  le 
monetary  output  would  astound  at  least  the  ordinary  agncu  - 
turist,  who  pins  his  faith  to  Carrots  and  Corn.  We  always 
avoid  over-estimating  probable  crops  or  profits,  we  never  base 
any  argument  in  favour  of  fruit-growing  upon  what  has  been  on 
a  small  or  restricted  area  of  land,  or  from  a  few  fruit  trees  , 
at  the  same  time,  we  insist  that  the  lessons  we  give  are 
object  lessons  of  sound,  practical  and  undoubted  value,  and  even 
if  we  say  that  an  acre  of  Barnack  Beauty,  or  kindred  profitable 
kinds  of  the  fruit  trees  we  commend  will  give  a  return  oi  less 
