May  14,  1903. 
JOUnNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AXD  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
423 
‘  Four  Good  Late  Broccoli. 
There  is  always  more  clifRciilty  in  restricting  than  extending  a 
selection  of  Broccoli,  whether  it  be  for  the  early,  midseason,  or 
later  terms  of  winter.  It  is  not  my  purpose  to  attempt  an  ex¬ 
haustive  list,  for  in  anything  this  becomes  wearisome  to  the 
general  reader.  The  four  that  just  now  occupy  a  prominent 
place  in  my  memory  are  Ledsham’s  Latest  of  All,  Model,  Late 
Queen,  and  Dickson’s  June  King.  If  Journal  readers  can  sub¬ 
stitute  better  for  the  two  latest  months  of  the  Broccoli  season. 
May  and  June,  I  am  sure  the  editor  will  be  as  pleased  to  place  the 
selection  before  his  readers  as  the  latter  will  be  to  accept  and 
act  upon  the  advice  furnished.  Ledsham’s  is  an  old,  though  an 
excellent.  Broccoli,  and  probably  has  been  employed  as  one  of 
the»parents  of  other  and  newer  varieties.  It  is  of  dwarf  growth, 
so  important  as  affording  protection  to  the  stems  of  the  plants, 
the  heads  well  protected  by  infolding  leaves,  the  colour  pure,  and 
its  season  of  use  an  extended  one,  certainly  four  good  points  for 
any  .strain,  whether  old  or  modern,  to  po.ssess.  Veitch’s  Model 
is  a  very  di.stinct  Broccoli,  easily  recognised  by  its  crimpled 
leaves  and  dwarf  growth,  and  is,  like  the  last  named,  very  hardy. 
Late  Queen  is  equally  well  known  and  distinct.  June  King  is 
not  so  familiar  because  of  more  recent  origin,  but  its  name  has  a 
convincing  definition  of  its  sea.son,  and  has  a  tendency  in  its 
purity  of  colour  and  lateness  of  maturity  to  lower  the  standard 
value  of  the  earliest  summer  Cauliflower.  With  a  good  .stock  cf 
this  Broccoli  the  gardener  can  afford  to  give  the  CaulifloAver  seed 
a  longer  rest  in  the  seed  packet. — W.  S. 
Fine  Strawberries. 
A  visit  to  the  Box  Hill  Gardens,  near  Bath,  recently,  revealed 
Avhat  is  the  finest  lot  of  pot-grown  Strawberries  I  have  seen  for 
some  time  past.  The  variety  w’as  Royal  Sovereign,  a  kind  so 
universally  cultivated  in  pots  for  forcing.  The  pots  were  those 
of  6in  diameter,  and  each  plant  carried  .several  berries,  ranging 
from  2^02  doAvnward.  Tavo  large  house  Avith  roof  and  side  shelves 
Avere  filled  Avith  these  StraAvberries  in  varying  degrees  of 
maturity,  and  all  have  the  .stamp  of  high  culture  conspicuously 
displayed.  The  soil  of  these  gardens  being  of  a  heavy,  clayey 
nature,  furnishes  an  ideal  medium  for  both  indoor  and  outdoor 
groAAdh,  and  all  varieties  seem  to  do  equally  Avell  in  the  open 
beds,  including  the  newer  Laxton,  Fillbasket,  Trafalgar,  and 
Climax  among  others.  In  pots  some  1,800  have  been  groAvn,  and 
in  the  large  and  roomy  houses  the  floAvers  are  bold  and  stiff- 
stemmed,  needing  no  artificial  aid  to  fertilise  them.  Mr.  Viloen, 
and  his  gardener,  Mr.  Button,  are  both  to  be  congratulated  on 
the  succes.s  of  their  efforts.  The  cold  nature  of  the  situation 
neceiS.sitates  as  a  greater  means  of  safety  that  the  plants  are  win¬ 
tered  in  a  cold  house.  This  course,  hoAvever,  though  having  dis¬ 
tinct  and  desirable  recommendations,  is  not  alw^ays  practicable, 
becau.se  the  convenience  does  not  ahvays  exist.  If  ever  a  need 
of  gla.ss  protection  AA’as  necessary  it  surely  liappens  in  April,  Avhen 
the  prevalent  frost  and  cold  Avinds  de.stroyed  so  much  valuable 
blossom.  Many  Avho  left  their  Strawberries  unprotected  outside 
as  a  means  of  retarding  them  Avill  have  paid  the  penalty  in  the  loss 
of  many  of  the  first  floAvers,  and  consequently  the  largest  pro¬ 
spective  fruits. — W. 
Perfumes. 
At  a  meeting  of  the  Royal  Institution,  Dr.  Adolf  Liebmann 
gave  a  lecture  on  “Perfumes:  Natural  and  Artificial.”  Tracing 
the  history  of  their  manufacture,  he  said  it  was  probable  that 
the  art  of  preparing  them  from  flowers  and  sweet-scented  spices 
by  extraction  and  distillation  was  known  to  the  Chinese,  Hindus, 
Persians,  Egyptians,  and  other  ancient  peoples.  In  the  Middle 
Ages  great  progress  in  the  art  was  made  by  the  Moors ;  biit  the 
next  stage  in  its  history  Avas  reached  when  modern  chemistry 
began  to  ascertain  the  components  of  the  various  c.s.sential  oils 
that  were  obtained  empirically,  and  to  dis'cover  the  nature  of 
the  chemical  compounds  contained  in  them.  As  a  result  of  this 
know'ledge  it  became  possible  artificially  to  build  up  essential 
oils  identical  with  the  natural  product.s,  the  component  substances 
being  obtained  in  the  cheapest  Avay — either  from  oils  in  aa  hich  they 
naturally  cccurred  or  by  synthetical  means.  Thu'^  artificial 
attar  of  Roses,  said  to  be  equal  in  every  respect  to  the  distillate 
from  Rose  petals.  Avas  noAv  an  ordinary  product  of  commerce. 
Many  chemical  indiA-iduals  Avero  uoav  being  manufactured  by 
synthetic  processes;  and  this  fact  had  proved  a  boon  for  many, 
particularly  economic,  reasons.  Vanilliue.  for  instance,  in  187G 
Avas  Avorth  about  £1.50  per  pound  ;  in  1880  the  price  Avas  reduced 
to  about  £2-0,  and  to-daj'  it  was  only  £1  10s.  But  chemistry  had 
gone  still  further,  and  not  content  Avith  simply  reproducing  the 
originals  of  the  master-artist  Nature,  had  produced  aromatic 
oempounds  that  Avere  artificial  in  the  full  sense  of  the  word. 
Examples  were  artificial  musk  and  artificial  violet,  ionone, 
an  isomer  of  irone,  the  natural  carrier  of  the  A’iolet  aroma.  In 
conclusion,  the  lecturer  commented  on  the  backAvardness  of 
England  in  this  branch  of  industi\y.  The  deficiency  of  technical 
instruction  had  been  blamed  as  the  cause;  but  in  his  opinion 
technical  education  Avas  being  overdone,  and  we  too  frequently 
tried  to  infuse  knowledge  into  minds  not  sufficiently  prepared  to 
receiv^e  it.  He  Avas  inclined  rather  to  blame  the  English  manu¬ 
facturer,  Avho  in  consecjuence  of  a  long  run  of  undisturbed 
supremacy,  had  begun  to  lack  the  qualities  of  knoAvledge,  per¬ 
severance,  and  enterpri.se,  without  which  no  indu.stry  could  be 
succes.sful. 
Potato,  Sir  John  Llewelyn. 
This  Potato  (says  the  “Irish  Farming  W^orld  ”)  Avas  sent  to 
l;he  Royal  Horticultural  Society’s  trial  grounds  at  ChisAvick,  in 
1900,  to  compete  Avith  forty-tAvo  other  varieties  that  Avere  to  be 
tested,  some  ncAv  and  some  Avell-knoAvn  varieties,  such  as  Sutton’s 
Ashleaf,  Myatt’s  Ashleaf,  Beauty  of  Hebron,  Ninetyfold,  Ac.  The 
AA’hole  of  the  forty-tAvo  varieties  AA’ere  planted  on  April  19 ;  ail 
made  excellent  groAvth,  and  Avith  tAvo  exceptions  all  produced 
good  crops  free  from  di.sea.se.  On  September  11  the  committee 
Avere  present  to  judge  the  trial,  and  the  official  report  Avas  as 
folloAvs:  Sir  John  LleAvelyn,  kidney,  Avhite,  eyes  shalloAV,  hand¬ 
some  ;  the  heavie.st  crop  in  the  collection,  free  from  disea.se,  haulm 
tall  and  robust  ;  aAvard  of  merit. 
The  same  year  the  raiser  of  this  neAv  variety  greAV  at  SAvansea, 
South  Wales,  the  remarkable  crop  of  tAventy-three  tons  to  the 
acre  of  .sound  tuber.  This  Acas  a  record  in  itself.  In  addition  to 
all  the  good  qualities  .stated  above,  it  is  one  of  the  be.st  table 
A'arieties  for  Avinter  u.se,  being  Avhite  and  floury.  Messrs.  Horne 
and  Sons,  Cliffe,  Roche.ster,  Kent,  distributed  this  Amrietj’  in  1901 
at  £40  a  ton.  In  1902,  although  there  Avere  as  many  more  pro¬ 
duced,  they  realised  £40  a  ton,  Avhile  in  January,  1903,  they 
made  the  same  figure.  We  are  pleased  to  say  Ave  have  noAV  got 
this  grand  variety  groAA'ing  in  our  country,  as  Messrs.  Horne  haA'e 
been  good  enough  to  send  six  101b  packages  gratis  and  carriage 
paid  to  .six  of  the  principal  Potato  groAvers  for  the  Dublin 
market.  They  are  confident  it  Avill  prove  one  of  the  most  valuable 
Potatoes  eA'er  groAvn  in  Ireland. 
Anthurium  Andreanum. 
This  is  undoubtedly  one  of  the  finest  and  most  shoAvy  of  all  the 
Anthuriums,  and  the  many  improved  varieties  Avhich  have 
emanated  from  it  of  recent  years  Avill  at  no  distant  date  play  an 
important  part  for  stove  decoration  and  at  horticultural  shoAvs. 
But  it  is  not  in  all  establishments  that  it  is  seen  at  its  best,  leaves 
of  a  sickly  pale  yelloAV  and  stunted  floAver  stalks  being  often  the 
rule.  This  can  be  traced  in  almost  every  instance  to  a  compost 
too  heaA^y,  and  insufficient  drainage,  and  to  those  Avho  have  plants 
such  as  these  I  should  strongly  advise  them  to  at  once  try  re¬ 
potting  Avith  the  idea  of  getting  a  fair  season’s  groAvth.  Anthu¬ 
riums  like  a  free  open  compost,  one  that  suits  them  admirably 
consisting  of  about  three  parts  best  fibrous  peat  Avith  a  liberal 
addition  of  broken  crocks,  coarse  sand,  and  chopped  sphagnum.  , 
Previous  to  potting,  the  plants  sliould  be  carefully  examined,  and 
any  decayed  roots  cut  completely  aAvay,  a  condition  Avhich  is  often 
overlooked.  Drain  the  pots  thoroughly,  placing  the  rougher  por¬ 
tions  of  the  compost  over  it,  and  fill  to  almost  the  level  of  the 
rim.  Deep  potting  is  to  be  avoided,  as  thq^ nearer  the  surface  the 
roots  can  be  kept  the  better  the  plants  can  be  attended  to  and 
kept  in  condition.  After  placing  the  plants  in  position  a  flight 
top-dressing  of  good  sphagnum  moss  AA'ill  save  much  Avateriiig,  and 
if  syringed  Avill  supply  .sufficient  moisture  until  a  strong  root 
action  takes  place.  A  moist  A\arm  atmosphere  is  Avhat  they  de¬ 
light  in,  and  Avhen  in  active  groAvth  Aveak  liquid  manure  occa¬ 
sionally  Avill  give  tone  and  colour.  To  preserve  the  foliage  a  slight 
shade  from  strong  sunshine  must  be  adopted. — R.  P.  R. 
