148 
JOURNAL  OF  HOB.TICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
February  23,  1899. 
THE  SHERWOOD  CUP. 
It  having  been  represented  to  the  Council  of  the  Eoyal  Horticultural 
Society  that  the  terms  in  which  the  Sherwood  cup  is  offered  for  compe¬ 
tition  on  page  h2  of  the  Society’s  Arrangements  for  1899  are  not 
sufficiently  definite,  the  following  additional  regulations  are  made  ; — 
1.  No  exhibitor  may  stage  more  than  100  dishes  in  all. 
2.  I  he  loo  (or  less)  dishes  may  be  divided  between  the  two  meetings 
in  any  proportion  the  exhibitor  pleases, 
3.  Special  regard  will  be  given  to  quality  and  to  variety. 
4.  As  with  all  other  exhibits  for  prize.®,  all  the  e.xhibits  must  have 
been  actually  grown  by  the  exhibitor  in  his  own  cr  his  employer’s 
garden. — W.  Wilks,  Secrelari/. 
By  order  of  Council,  February  11th,  1899, 
.  WINTER  PRUNING. 
A  Novel  Competition. 
Some  fifteen  or  more  years  ago,  the  late  Earl  Beauchamp,  with  a 
view  to  the  encouragement  of  the  hardy  fruit  growing  industry  on 
the  estate  and  the  improvement  of  the  property,  decided  to  set  apart 
a  few  acres  of  land  for  the  raising  in  quantity  of  hat dy  fruit  trees. 
These  were  prov(  d  to  he  the  most  .suitable  for  the  locality,  and  then 
distributed  gratuitously  to  his  tenantry,  both  small  and  great.  The 
number  of  trees  thus  disposed  of  varied  from  1000  to  2000  trees  per 
aunuiu. 
It  will  thus  he  understood  that  this  increased  area  of  young 
orcharding  meant  some  attention  in  the  shape  of  pruning.  Here 
began  the  difficulty,  for  outside  the  garden  proper  a  workman  suffi¬ 
ciently  skilled  could  not  be  found  ;  and  as  for  the  conceited  jobbing 
gardener,  his  services  weie  obviously  worse,  if  judged  by  the  work 
one  sees  him  do  in  suburban  gardens.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the 
art  of  pruning  in  our  rural  districts  is  nearly  defunct,  and,  ns  a  mattir 
of  fact,  our  old  orchards  are  living  demonstrations  of  the  truth 
of  this. 
In  order  to  improve  this  state  ofthineswith  other  simil.ar  deficiencies, 
a  club  or  society  was  formed  some  half-dozen  years  ago,  having  for  its 
object  the  encouragement  and  improvement  of  labour  in  our  rural 
districts  by  spreading  technical  instruction  from  various  experts.  The 
Club  was  fortunate  in  obtaining  the  services  of  the  jrresent  Lord 
Beauchamp  for'  its  jiresident— a  nobleman  who  occupies  a  seat  as  a 
Progressive  member  of  the  London  School  Board,  and  who  takes  the 
deeprst  interest  in  technical  education  of  all  kinds,  and  who  was  conse¬ 
quently  able  to  bring  considerable  tact  and  experience  to  bear  upon 
the  organisation  at  every  opportunity.  At  first  the  Club’s  funds  only 
were  available  for  providing  a  series  of  lectures  and  demonstration.®, 
held  in  the  orchards  by  myself,  but  of  late  years  the  County  Council 
have  made  gr-ants  in  assistance  thereof. 
Amongst  other  competitions  of  this  year  a  pruning  exhibition  was 
arranged,  and  which,  if  taken  as  a  test  value  ot  the  instruction,  has 
certainly  proved  a  signal  success,  and  extremely  encouragir  g  towards 
the  Continuance  of  tire  ex|ieriment.  The  competition  took  place  on 
February  IGth  in  a  10  acre  orchard  of  young  flourishing  tree®  about 
ten  years  planted.  The  farm  h.aving  been  in  hand  the  trees  had 
hitherto  received  fair  attention.  Two  classes  were  arranged.  Class  A 
for  farm  hands  only,  and  class  B  open  fur  all ;  20s.,  IOl,  5s.  w'er'o 
offered  in  each  class.  The  cotd  tions  ran  : — To  the  person  who  shall 
prune  with  knife,  saw,  chisel,  or  other  suitable  tool,  irt  not  more  than 
three  hours,  four  yoitng  trees  in  the  best  manner;  time  also  will  be 
considered.  Unsuccessful  competitors  to  receive  Is.  each. 
The  trees  were  previously  selected  as  nearly  equal  in  all  nspecls 
as  possible  by  an  appointed  steward;  two  Apple  and  two  Pear  trees 
tor  each  cempetitor,  with  numbered  cards  attaclnd  in  consecutive 
order.  Coriesponding  cards  were  prepared  and  kept  for  balloting 
purposes. 
Sixteen  competitors  answered  the  roll  call.  The  ballot  took  ]  lace, 
each  competitor  drawing  a  card  from  the.  steward's  hands,  which 
identified  his  list  of  trees.  At  a  given  signal  the  wmrk  commenced, 
and  as  soon  as  each  competitor  finished  he  returned  hi®  number  to  the 
steward,  who  was  stationed  ready  to  receive  it  and  resister  the  time  ; 
the  card,  with  the  time  stated  on,  being  afterwards  handed  to  the 
J udges  for  point  value.  The  Judges — Messrs.  Coleman  of  Ea.stnor,  and 
AVaid  of  Stoke  Edith  — carefully  watched  the  progress  of  the  work, 
and  summed  up  the  points  at  the  competition. 
Vaiious  styles  were  adopted,  and  the  cld  primitive  chisel  was  used 
in  one  case.  The  general  character  of  the  work  was  above  average 
merit,  ai  d  extra  prizes  were  awarded  in  each  class.  Some  of  the 
competitors  were  in  too  great  a  hurry  to  make  neat  skilful  work, 
while  others  failed  to  smooth  saw  cuts.  One  of  the  most  gratifying 
features  was  that  nearly  all  the  prizes  were  awarded  to  co.mparatively 
young  men,  who  had  followed  clo.sely  to  the  instructions  given  at  the 
demonstrations  and  lectures. 
The  event  created  the  greatest  interest  and  enthusiasm  within 
the  radius  of  the  Club,  and  a  goodly  number  of  anxious  spectators 
watched  the  proceedings  throughout,  and  patiently  waited  to  hear  the 
results.  After  so  successful  an  experiment  doubtless  the  competition 
will  be  repeated  and.  extended. — W.  Crump,  Madresfield. 
THE  BEST  PEACHES. 
By  way  of  response  to  “II.  P.”  (page  119),  in  reference  to  the 
conditions  most  favourable  to  the  successful  cultivation  of  that 
exquisite  Peach  Noblesse,  I  beg  to  say  that,  in  my  own  practice,  I 
was  never  able  to  produce  it  in  such  perfection  as  at  Archerfield,  in 
East  Lothian.  The  soil  and  water  at  that  iJace  weie  so  strongly 
impregnated  with  lime  that  neither  Camellias,  Heaths,  Bhododendrons, 
nor  other  hairy  rooted  plants  would  live  in  it.  The  Camellia,  of 
course,  is  not  a  hairy  rooted  plant,  but  it  did  no  good  under  the 
limey  influence. 
The  Peaches  did  remarkably  well,  and  especially  Noblesse,  and 
seemed  to  be  in  a  most  congenial  element.  It  bore  freely,  and  brought 
to  maturity  much  finer  fruit  than  I  have  ever  seen  it  .produce  in  any 
other  district.  Perhaps  these  remarks  will  come  under  the  eye  of 
someone  who  may  remember  the  collection  of  fruit  I  put  up  for 
“The  Gardeners’  Chronicle”  prize  at  the  Great  International  Fruit 
Show  in  Edinburgh  in  1865,  in  which  collection  there  was  a  dish  of 
this  Peach  that  one  of  your  contemporaiies  described  as  absolutely 
perfect. 
The  soil  of  the  place  referred  to  produces  all  Peaches  in  very  fir>e 
form,  and  Noblesse  in  particular.  This  leads  to  the  suggestion  that  it 
is  questionable  if  Peaches  in  general  get  as  much  lime  as  is  good  for 
them.  I 
With  regard  to  the  varieties  “  11.  D.’’  recommends  little  or  no 
fault  can  be  found.  Violette  Hative  and  Bellegarde  are  two  old 
varieties  that  may  be  said  to  be  almist  faultless,  and  the  same  may 
be  said  of  Boyal  George  where  it  is  net  given  to  mildew.  Where  it 
is  any  trouble  in  this  respect  Pymopd  is  a  splendid  substitute.  Even 
where  Eoyal  George  succeeds  Dymond  is  worthy  of  a  place.  It  is 
equal  in  cropping  Ireely,  of  fine  flavour,  and  larger. 
Alexandra  Noblesse  is  a  grand  second  early  Peach  producing  large 
handsome  Noblesse-like  fruits  of  good  quality.  It  is  rather  a  shy 
bearer  when  in  a  late  cool  house,  and  is  inclined  to  grow  strongly,, 
calling  for  periodical  lifting. 
Eaymaekers  is  also  a  fine  second  early  variety  producing  very  large 
fruits,  in  other  respects  having  a  strong  resemblance  to  Noblesse,  but 
considerably  larger. 
I  can  endorse  all  “  H.  D.”  says  of  Sea  Eagle  as  a  late  variety.  It 
is  a  most  fertile  variety,  and  one  of  the  few  that  can  be  kept  in  the 
fruit  room  in  good  condition.  This  and  tire  old  Walburton  Admirable 
are  two  fine  late  varieties;  the  latter,  however,  is  not  so  free  as  Sea 
Eagle. — D.  Thomson. 
PHYSIANTHUS  ALBENS. 
The  white  Bladder-Bloom  is  a  member  of  the  Asclepias  family,  and 
was  first  described  by  Van  Martins  in  his  work  on  Brazilian  plants,  from 
specimens  which  that  botanist  collected  in  the  woods  of  A'panema  in  the 
province  of  St.  Paul’s.  Seeds  were  sent  to  this  country  in  1830  by  Mi. 
Tweedie  of  Buenos  Ayres,  and^the  plants  produced  flowered  freely  in 
1831,  from  which  an  illustration  was  prepared  for  the  “Botanical 
Magazine”  (t.  3201,  1832).  A  few'  years  alter  examples  of  tho  same 
plant  were  sent  to  Mr.  Bindley,  then  Editor  of  the  “Botanical  liegister,”  with 
the  statement  that  they  had  been  received  from  Mexico  apparently  in 
mistake,  as  was  explained  when  the  flowers  were  figured  in  the  work 
named  (t.  1759,  1836).  In  Decandolle’s  “Prodromus,”  vol.  viii.,  page  533, 
this  Physianthus  is  referred  to  the  genus  Arauja,  which  has  been  adopted 
by  several  authors  since,  with  it  being  associated  A.  scricca  (formerly 
known  as  Apocynum  Peruvianum),  A.  calycina,  and  A.  angustifolia,  all 
natives  of  Brazil  or  neighbouring  districts. 
In  cultivation  the  Ph3'sianthu8  has  always  been  scarce,  b“ing  confined 
to  botanic  gardens  or  a  few  private  gardens  where  curiosities  are  prized. 
This  is  probably  due  to  the  fact  that  it  cannot  claim  a  prominent  place  on 
account  of  its  beauty,  though  the  white  flowers  possess  a  powerful  fragrance^ 
and  when  the  plant  is  bearing  its  largo  twin  fruits  (fig.  30)  it  is  very 
remarkable.  Like  many  of  its  relatives  it  is  of  twiring  habit,  producing 
the  white  flowers  in  small  stalked  clusters  (usually  four  each)  from  near 
the  axils  of  the  opposite  bright  green  leaves.  Before  the  corollas  expan'i 
they  have  a  curious  inflated  appearance,  and  to  this  it  owes  the  generic 
name,  popularly  rendered  “Bladder-Bloom.”  The  fruits  are  rarely 
