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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
July  26,  1900. 
Recent  Weather  In  'Xondon. — Though  we  have  not  had  a 
repetition  during  the  past  few  days  of  the  extraordinary  heat  of 
Monday,  the  16th  inst. ,  the  Metropolis  continues  oppressively  hot. 
Every  day  the  shade  temperature  exceeds  80°,  and  everyone  is  more  or 
less  bathed  in  perspiration.  The  terrific  thunderstorms  that  have 
prevailed  in  many  parts  of  the  provinces  have  not  visited  London  yet, 
but  there  are  daily  indications.  Nothing  beyond  a  few  heat  drops  have 
fallen  for  several  days. 
Royal  Horticultural  Society. — The  next  Fruit  and  Flower 
Show  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  will  be  held  on  Tuesday, 
July  31st,  in  the  Drill  Hall,  James  Street,  Westminster,  when  special 
prizes  will  be  offered  for  Cacti.  A  lecture  on  “Cherries  and  Plums” 
will  be  given  by  Mr.  H.  Somers  Rivers  at  three  o’clock. 
A.  Glut  of  Bush  Fruit. — Owing  to  the  heavy  crops  of  bush 
fruit  this  year,  says  the  “  Sheffield  Daily  Telegraph,”  the  South 
Lincolnshire  markets  are  glutted,  particularly  with  Gooseberries, 
which  are  selling  as  low  as  4d.  and  6d.  a  stone.  Some  markets  have 
been  so  greatly  overstocked  that  quite  50  per  cent,  of  the  supplies 
have  been  returned  as  unsaleable.  It  is  feared  that  Plums  will  be 
equally  as  bad  a  trade,  as  the  crop  this  year  is  one  of  the  heaviest 
known. 
American  Apple  and  Peach  Crop, — The  condition  of  the  Apple 
crop  in  the  United  States  is  officially  reported  to  be  exceptionally 
good.  It  is  stated  that  the  whole  of  the  fourteen  States,  having 
3,000,000  or  upward  Apple  trees  in  bearing  at  the  last  census  are 
considerably  above  their  ten-year  averages.  The  present  prospects  of 
the  Peach  crop  are  described  as  nothing  less  than  phenomenal,  almost 
every  important  Peach-growiug  State  reporting  a  condition  far  above 
the  average. 
Potash  for  Potatoes. — In  the  experiments  which  have  been  in 
progress  for  some  years  past  in  connection  with  the  Agricultural 
Department  of  the  Durham  College  of  Science,  at  Newcastle-on-Tyne, 
it  has  been  found  that  as  a  source  of  potash  for  Potatoes,  muriate  of 
potash  has  given  distinctly  better  results  than  kainit.  In  almost  every 
case  in  which  it  was  tried  the  results  from  the  muriate  were  better 
than  those  from  the  kainit.  The  net  advantage  in  favour  of  the  muriate 
was,  it  is  true,  comparatively  small,  but  still  it  was  something,  and 
conclusively  showed  that  better  results  can  be  obtained  with  muriate  of 
potash  as  a  potassic  dressing  for  Potatoes  than  with  kainit. 
In  the  Markets. — There  is  at  present  an  abundance  of  vegetables 
and  of  fruit.  Warrington  Gooseberry  and  the  common  red  are 
on  sale  almost  everywhere  at  2d.  a  pound ;  very  fair  white  English 
Cherries  can  be  had  at  4d. ;  English  Grapes  range  from  Is.  to  38.  a 
pound,  and  Muscats  can  be  had  for  4s.  Spanish  Melons  at  6d.  each 
are  within  the  reach  of  most  people,  and  those  who  aspire  after  a 
higher  quality  may  have  English  grown  and  French  Rock  Melons  at 
anything  from  four  to  eight  times  as  much.  Peaches  and  Nectarines 
at  28.  to  4a.  a  dozen  are  also  plentiful.  The  large  consignment  of 
Californian  Pears  made  the  Central  Hall  at  Covent  Garden  busy 
recently,  and  with  them  came  some  really  choice  Oregon  Plums,  the 
forerunners  of  what  is  likely  to  be  a  heavy  season. — (“Daily  Express.”) 
Gardening  under  Difficulties  —Mr,  J.  H.  Stephen,  superin¬ 
tendent  of  the  Government  Horticultural  Gardens,  Nagpur,  in  the 
Central  Provinces,  writes  to  “  Indian  Gardening”  under  date  June  18th  : 
“  Just  a  few  lines  to  tell  you  of  the  difficulties  we  have  passed  through 
this  hot  weather.  During  March,  April  and  May  the  heat  was  most 
intense,  and  you  may  be  sure  that  gardening  was  rather  uphill  work. 
To  make  matters  worse,  our  tank,  which  supplies  the  garden  with 
water,  ran  dry,  and  theu  we  had  only  two  wells  to  help  us  along,  these 
only  give  us  enough  of  water  to  keep  pot  plants  and  ground  shrubs 
alive.  We  have  lost  nearly  all  our  well  established  Orange  trees,  a  few 
large  grafted  Mango  trees,  all  our  Casuarinas  died,  an  avenue  of 
Cypress,  besides  numbers  of  shrubs.  However,  we  can  replace  the 
most  of  them  as  our  nurseries  are  all  right,  but  it  will  take  years  before 
the  garden  again  recovers  itself.  The  weather  still  remains  hot  and 
dry,  and  there  is  no  sign  of  rain,” 
To  Garland  Dull  Windows. — A  flower  show  in  connection  with 
the  St.  George’s-in-the-East  Window  Gardens  Association  was  opened 
recently  by  the  wife  of  the  chairman  of  St.  George’s  Vestry.  Out  of 
600  plants  given  out  to  members  for  cultivation  over  300  were  exhibited 
in  flower. 
The  Hampton  Court  Vine. — The  famous  Vine  in  the  gardens 
of  Hampton  Court  Palace  is  looking  as  healthy  as  ever,  and  has  a  crop 
of  some  1200  bunches  of  Grapes.  The  vigour  of  this  Vine  is  really 
remarkable,  but  much  of  the  excellent  condition  must  be  credited  to  the 
treatment  to  which  it  is  subjected. 
The  Food  Value  of  Rice  and  Bananas. — In  India,  China, 
Japan,  and  adjacent  countries  are  about  400,000,000  people,  strong, 
active,  and  long-lived,  who  eat  no  meat.  The  porter  on  a  daily  ration 
of  rice  and  Dates  will  jog  along  with  bent  back  under  a  load  that 
would  crush  a  western  man.  Darwin  tells  us  that  the  Andean  natives 
do  a  day’s  work  of  400  foot  tons,  nearly  twice  the  work  of  an  ordinary 
labourer,  on  a  diet  of  Bananas. 
Medicinal  Value  of  the  Honeysuckle  and  Morning  Glory. — 
Along  one  of  the  side  streets  of  Philadelphia,  near  the  Reading 
Terminal,  the  passer-by  may  be  attracted  to  a  modest  and  well-worn 
show  case  filled  with  samples  of  various  wares  of  an  “  Herb  Doctor  ” 
that  aie  calculated  to  cure  about  all  the  ills  to  which  the  human  body  may 
be  subject.  Judging  by  the  labels  attached  to  the  various  mixtures, 
and  by  the  cards  soliciting  their  use,  the  “  Doctor’s  ”  illiteracy  is 
about  as  strong  as  his  medicine,  and  will  be  certain  to  cure  anyone  too 
ill  to  laugh.  One  of  his  most  prominent  prescriptions  is  Honeysuckle 
and  Morning  Glory,  which  is  held  as  a  sure  cure  for  asthma  and  colds 
generally. —  (“  Meehan’s  Monthly.”) 
The  Flower  Trade  In  India. — The  trade  of  the  florist,  pure  and 
simple,  is  a  very  ancient  one  in  India,  where  the  sale  of  flowers  has 
been  carried  on  as  a  profession  for  ages.  A  visit  to  the  native 
quarter  of  Calcutta,  or  any  large  town  in  India,  will  show  how  far 
this  profession  of  the  florist  is  carried  on.  In  Calcutta  we  have  the 
Municipal  Market  where  flower  stalls  on  the  European  model  are 
fairly  numerous.  Some  of  the  proprietors  of  these  stalls  own  gardens 
up  the  line  of  railway,  whence  consignments  of  flowers  are  daily 
received.  That  the  profession  is  a  lucrative  one  admits  of  no  doubt. 
The  trade  is  as  yet  confined  to  natives ;  but  there  is  no  reason  why 
Europeans  should  not  take  to  it.  Last  cold  season  the  demand  for 
flowers  exceeded  the  supply,  and  record  prices  were  paid  for  bouquets 
1.50  rupees  being  demanded  and  paid  for  a  single  bouquet  for  Lady 
Curzon’s  drawing  room. — (“  Indian  Gardening.”) 
Importation  of  Plants. — A  complaint  has  been  made,  says  the 
“  Times,”  by  a  correspondent  that  postal  packets  containing  plants 
tendered  at  Swiss  post  offices  for  transmission  to  England  were  being 
refused  on  the  ground  that  the  plants  would  not  be  permitted  to  enter 
England,  the  secretary  of  the  Royal  Agricultural  Society  of  England 
placed  himself  in  communication  with  the  Board  of  Customs  on  the 
subject,  and  has  now  received  the  following  reply  : — “  Custom  House, 
London,  June  30th,  1900.  Sir, — I  am  directed  by  the  Commissioners  of 
Her.  Majesty’s  Customs  to  inform  yon,  in  reply  to  your  letter,  dated 
the  25th  inst.,  that,  so  far  as  this  department  is  concerned,  there  is  no 
objection  to  the  importation  of  plants  from  Switzerland.  A  repre¬ 
sentative  of  the  Swiss  Consulate  who  has  been  interviewed  by  an  officer 
of  this  department  on  the  subject,  states  that  there  are  no  regulations 
governing  the  exportation  of  plants  from  Switzerland,  adding  that  he 
had  seen  statements  in  the  newspapers  to  the  effect  that  the  English 
Post  Office  was  refusing  to  receive  flowers  from  certain  places  abroad, 
and  mentioning  Cannes  as  one  of  the  places  coming  under  these 
restrictions.  So  far  as  the  Swiss  Government  is  concerned,  there  is  no 
impediment  to  this  traffic  at  the  frontier.  From  inquiries  which  have 
been  made  at  the  General  Post  Office,  it  appt^ars  that  there  are  no 
restrictions  imposed  by  that  department  upon  the  transmission  of 
plants  and  flowers  from  abroad,  either  through  the  parcel  post  or  the 
letter  post,  but  that  flowers  are  refused  when  tendered  for  transmission 
through  the  sample  post.  Some  time  since  an  arrangement  was  made, 
in  the  interests  of  growers  in  the  South  of  France,  under  which  flowers 
were  admitted  through  the  sample  post;  but  at  the  last  Postal  Con¬ 
vention  it  was  agreed  that  this  concession  should  not  be  continued. 
The  revised  regulation  has  resulted  in  the  refusal  of  a  large  number  of 
packets  presented  for  transmission  as  samples,  and  the  impression  seems 
to  have  been  made  on  the  public  mind  that  the  importation  of  flowers 
through  the  post  is  not  allowed.  I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant— 
R.  Henderson.  Sir  Ernest  Clarke.” 
