252 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
March  30,  1899. 
average  prices  during  the  last  twenty  or  thirty  years,  and  also  data 
showing  the  amount  of  land  under  fruit  in  England  throughout  this 
same  period — which  latter  would  show  how  far  this  increased  demand  has 
been  responded  to  by  English  growers — but  without  success,  and  I  fear 
that  such  data  as  have  been  collected  are  not  applicable  for  this 
purpose.'^  The  annual  importation  of  market  Apples,  however,  during 
the  last  ten  years  amounts  to  from  three  to  six  million  bushels,  and  is 
probably  equal  to  or  greater  than  the  total  amount  of  English-grown 
Apples  marketed  thirty  years, 
“  There  is  no  doubt  that  we  have  lostj  markets  which  might  have 
been  captured,  and  are.  likely  to  lose  others,  which  are  at  present 
scarcely  affected  by  foreign  competition.  For  this,  I  fear,  we  have 
only  ourselves  to  blame.  It  is  in  the  truit  trade,  as  in  almost  every 
other,  our  want  of  adaptation  to  the  requirements  of  customers,  and 
our  obstinate  adherence  to  traditional  practices,  however  antiquated, 
which  lead  us  to  be  ousted  by  the  more  observant  and  painstaking 
foreigner.  The  careless  way  in  which  English  fruit  is  generally  picked 
and  handled  before  it  is  sent  to  market  is  sufficient  to  prevent  it 
from  ever  realising  high-class  prices,  and  the  niceties  of  grading  and 
packing  it,  so  that  it  may  not  only  travel  without  damage  ljut  present 
a  tempting  appearance  to  the  purchaser,  are  almost  wholly  unknown 
to  English  farmers.  It  is  lamentable  to  walk  through  Covent 
Garden  IMarket  and  see  the  prices  asked  for  foreign  Aj^ples  and  Pears, 
and  compare  them  with  those  fetched  by  the  generality  of  English 
produce,  especially  when  Ave  know  that— as  regards  the  former  at  any 
rate — we  can  produce  fruit  equalling,  if  not  excelling,  any  foreign 
produce,  both  in  quality  and  appearance,  while  we  have  all  the 
advantages  of  short  distances  to  the  market.” 
But  here  come  the  causes — the  complaint  against  the  railway 
rates,  which  are  “  no  doubt  capable  of  improvement  in  favour  of  the 
grower ;  but  those  Avho  inveigh  most  strongly  against  them,  and 
contrast  the  rates  paid  for  sending  English  produce  a  short  distance 
with  those  paid  for  foreign  produce,  are  apt  to  forget  that  small 
packages  of  fruit  sent  occasionally  cannot  possibly  receive  such  favour¬ 
able  treatment  as  large  and  regular  consignments.  Cases  have  also 
come  under  my  knowledge  of  railway  companies  having  taken  the 
initiative  in  trying  to  induce  farmers  to  adopt  some  sort  of  co-operation 
for  placing  goods  on  their  line  in  bulk,  so  as  to  secure  lower  rates,  and 
I  rnay  notice  the  instance  of  the  Great  Eastern  Railway  Company 
taking  the  initiative  in  helping  small  producers  by  supplying  wooden 
boxes  at  a  cost  less  than  that  at  which  they  could  be  made,  except  in 
a  large  quantity.  I  am  glad  to  learn,  through  the  courtesy  of  the 
Company,  that  this  step  seems  to  have  been  appreciated  to  a  marked 
extent,  and  that  the  annual  sale  of  these  boxes  now  reaches  nearlv 
130,000.” 
THE  BEST  PEACHES. 
The  variety  Dymond  I  have  never  grown  under  glass,  but  have 
invariably  found  it  excellent  on  the  open  walls.  It  bears  well,  and  the 
fruits  are  large,  handsome,  and  of  the  best  quality.  Waterloo  has  proved 
the  best  of  the  earlies.  Early  York  and  Hale’s  Early  following  with 
Dymond  and  the  midseason  varieties,  then  Gladstone,  Sea  Eagle,  and 
Princess  of  Wales  as  the  'atest.  With  regard  to  flavour,  much  depends 
on  the  management  of  trees  and  the  way  they  are  cropped.  It  is  my 
practice,  and  has  been  for  some  years,  not  to  crop  merely  for  quantity  ; 
fewer  fruits,  larger  in  size,  and  better  in  flavour,  should  ever  be  kept  in 
view. 
As  yet  I  am  at  a  loss  to  know  the  real  cause  of  Peach  trees  when 
early  forced  shedding  a  portion  of  their  buds.  Even  when  the  golden 
rules  are  strictly  adhered  to  the  buds  will  drop  more  or  less.  We  have 
been  told  that  lifting  the  roots  and  relaying  them  in  fresh  soil  nearer 
the  surface  will  in  a  great  measure  prevent  the  malady.  One  does  not 
dispute  this,  but  if  the  borders  have  been  properly  made,  the  compost 
suitable  and  sweet,  the  depth  feet,  surely  the  roots  should  be  safe  and 
ri^ght  for  some  few  years  and  require  no  disturbing.  Then  we  are  told  if 
the  trees  be  subjected  to  too  high  a  temperature  when  starting  them  into 
growth  the  buds  will  fall,  and  so  they  will  at  times,  no  matter  how  careful 
you  are  and  have  been,  which  satisfies  me  that  the  mischief  is  done 
before  the  starting  time.  Goshawk  I  must  not  omit  to  mention,  as  it  is  a 
first-class  Peach.— II.  Markham,  Wrothnm  Park,  Barnet. 
above  was  written  I  have  received,  through  the  courtesy  of 
Jlajor  Craigie,  of  the  Board  of  Agriculture,  a  collection  of  data  relating  to  the 
amount  and  value  of  imported  fruits,  from  which  I  have  drawn  the  following 
summary  as  regards  Apples  : 
looo  1  •  Bushels  imported.  Value.  Value  per  bushi 
1883— 1890  inclusive .  22,509,195  £6.268,586  5s.  8d. 
1891—1898  „  .  33,218,561  9,457,891  Ss.  8-3d. 
j  when  these  two  periods  of  eight  3'ears  are  compared  with  each  othe 
vre  find  that  the  imports  have  increased  by  50  per  cent,  without  appreciab' 
attecting  the  value  per  bushel.  At  the  same  time,  however,  I  must  remark  thi 
these  data  are  deserving  of  a  more  careful  analysis  than  it  is  possible  to  gir 
them  here,  and  that  any  general  conclusions  drawn  from  them  without  such  a 
analysis  should  be  accepted  with  some  reservation,  especially  as  the  ‘valuef 
are  those  declared  by  the  consigners,  and  not  the  prices  realised  in  tl 
nurket. 
KINGSTON  CHRYSANTHEMUM  SOCIETY. 
At  a  meeting  of  the  Committee  of  this  Society,  held  on  Friday 
evening  last,  to  revise  the  schedule  for  the  next  November  show,  the 
Chairman,  Mr.  W.  Drewett,  was  enabled  to  announce  that  Sii 
J.  Whittaker  Ellis,  High  Sheriff  of  Surrey,  not  only  had  consented  to 
become  the  President  for  the  year,  but  would  also,  for  himself  and 
Lady  Ellis,  offer  a  prize  of  5  guineas.  It  was  later  agreed  to  make 
this  sum  the  first  prize  in  the  miscellaneous  group  of  plants  class,  and 
should  help  to  create  severe  competition.  Arising  out  of  what  took 
place  last  year,  the  Committee  agreed  to  bar  from  the  class  all  such 
accessories  as  cork  and  mirrors.  It  was  also  agreed  to  introduce  a 
dinner  table  class  for  lady  amateurs.  The  champion  class  now  to  be 
for  thirty-six  Japanese,  distinct,  instead  of  the  old  cup  class  for 
Japanese  and  incurved,  entrance  into  which  was  a  costly  item,  will 
now  be  open  to  all  at  one-half  the  previous  charge.  It  was  further 
agreed  to  retain  the  old  “  incurved  ”  classes,  but  practically  leaving  to 
exhibitors  their  own  interpretation  of  the  term,  quality  still  being  the 
leading  element,  and  also  to  introduce  a  class  for  recognised  incurved 
Japanese,  and  a  similar  one  for  Japanese  refiexed,  in  the  hope  that 
these  may  help  to  arouse  greater  interest  in  the  Show.  The  Com¬ 
mittee  fully  realised  that  constant  repetition  of  the  stereotyped  classes 
leads  to  monotony  and  to  stagnation.  It  is  hoped,  therefore,  that  the 
introduction  of  new  features  will  in  this  way  help  to  arouse  new 
interest  in  the  Society’s  exhibitions. 
EUCHARIS  AMAZONICA. 
Having  read  t’ne  Journal  of  Horticulture  for  twenty-five  years  I  must 
admit  nothing  gives  me  greater  pleasure  than  to  see  a  few  lines  appear 
respecting  the  cultivation  of  this  plant.  I  am  at  one  with  Mr.  J.  Shalford 
in  his  able  article  on  page  162.  What  with  loam,  leaf  mould,  decayed 
manure,  sand,  soot,  paraffin  and  water  combined  with  consideration,  we 
are  as  strongly  fortified  as  the  “  mite  ”  itself.  To  follow  the  method  Mr. 
Shalford  adopts  will,  I  think,  put  us  in  a  fair  way  to  do  just  as  we  please 
in  respect  to  flowering  the  Eucharis  at  any  season  of  the  year.  1  have 
had  to  do  with  the  Eucharis  plant  a  few  years  longer  than  I  have  had 
with  the  Journal,  but  still  I  read  the  Journal  first  and  attend  to  the 
Eucharis  plants  as  soon  as  possible  afterwards,  as  by  so  doing  I  think  I  am 
more  likely  to  steer  clear — by  the  valuable  hints  now  and  again  thrown — 
of  the  dreaded  mite. 
The  present  time,  perhaps,  is  opportune  for  me  to  give  an  account  of 
the  only  Eucharis  plant  under  my  charge  at  present.  I  may  say  that 
when  I  took  charge  of  these  gardens  a  little  over  two  years  ago  I  found 
at  one  end  of  a  span-roofed  house  a  pot  about  8  inches  in  diameter, 
over  the  sides  of  which  were  hanging  a  few  dead  leaves.  I  could  see  it 
was  nothing  more  than  a  pot  of  Eucharis  in  trouble,  so  determined  to  kill 
or  cure.  I  procured  an  old  round-mouthed  shovel,  which  I  took  to  the  field, 
dug  a  turf,  and  placed  it  on  the  fire  till  it  was  nearly  red  hot.  I  next 
went  to  where  a  fire  had  been  burning  a  few  days  previously  and  secured 
some  charred  ashes,  then  some  sand  and  soot,  all  of  which  were  thoroughly 
mixed.  It  was  very  dry,  so  1  took  a  two-gallon  canful  of  water,  into 
which  I  put  two  wineglassfuls  of  paraflSn,  and  watered  the  compost 
through  a  rose  until  in  a  fit  condition  for  potting. 
Then  the  suprtosed  dead  plant  was  fetched,  knocked  out  of  its  pot, 
and  eight  or  nine  bulbs,  minus  of  roots,  were  disclosed.  I  examined  them 
through  my  glass,  and  could  see  a  number  of  very  small  white  grubs.  I 
placed  them  in  a  rather  strong  solution  of  paraffin  and  water  for  ten 
minutes,  and  afterwards  in  pure  water  for  the  same  time.  They  were 
then  put  in  a  10-inch  pot,  with  the  result  that  growth  soon  commenced, 
and  at  the  present  time  1  am  pleased  to  tell  you  the  plant  is  looking  the 
picture  of  health,  carries  splendid  foliage,  and  is  promising  to  give  a  good 
display  of  bloom  in  the  coming  season.  As  I  adopt  Mr.  Shalford’s  culture 
with  the  exception,  perhaps,  of  one  or  two  instances,  such  as  watering  at 
the  roots  with  paraffin  and  soot  water,  also  syringing  over  the  foliage 
with  this  mixture,  I  think  success  is  bound  to  follow.  To  my  mind  nothing 
is  more  pleasing  to  the  gardener  than  to  see  the  beautiful  spikes  rising 
from  this  plant,  as  the  blooms  are  so  valuable. 
And  now  I  would  speak  a  word  about  a  good  Eucharis  grower.  On 
April  23rd,  1885,  page  337,  are  some  notes  from  my  pen,  and  the  plants 
then  referred  to  have  been  seen  many  times  since,  as  also  has  the  grower, 
who  looks  almost  as  well  as  his  plants.  However,  I  must  be  content  to 
say  that  at  Cardiff  Castle  Gardens  there  are  six  of  the  finest  plants  of 
Eucharis  I  ever  had  the  pleasure  lo  see.  I  once  happened  to  just  catch 
them  at  their  best,  and  they  put  me  very  much  in  mind  of  a  snowstorm 
when  the  sun  was  shining.  The  plants  were  moi.ster--,  and  I  require  no 
further  proof  that  Mr.  Pettigrew  it  a  thorough  master  in  the  art  of 
Eucharis  culture. — H.  Mitchell,  Druidstone. 
