August  30,  1900. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
201 
Mischievous  Birds. 
Tlje  Colouration  of  Apples. 
A  TEAR  or  two  ago  I  wrote  to  the  effect  that  up  to  the  end  of 
September  (I  think  it  was)  my  Apples  were  singularly  lacking  in  colour. 
Then  came  a  cold  week  with  a  touch  of  frost,  and  directly  that  was 
over  the  colour  came  on  the  fruit  at  once.  This  year  we  have  had  in 
the  first  ten  days  of  August,  an  unusually  cold  spell  after  great  heat. 
Now  that  the  heat  has  returned  I  notice  that  the  colour  has  come  on  my 
Apples  to  an  unusual  extent  for  the  time  of  year.  I  am  forced  to  the 
conclusion  that  a  cooler  time  after  heat  is  required  for  the  colouring  of 
Apples.  Is  that  idea  at  all  corroborated  by  science  ? — W.  R.  Raillem. 
A  LITTLE  while  ago,  I  think,  someone  stated  in  the  Journal  that  he 
did  not  believe  birds  ever  acted  for  pure  mischief.  How  does  he 
account  for  the  following  ?  I  and  some  others  have,  in  certain  places 
in  our  churchyard,  troughs  of  water,  in  the  shape  of  crosses  and 
wreaths,  periodically  filled  with  freshly  cut  flowers.  The  majority  and 
sometimes  all  these  flowers  are  almost  always  pulled  out  within  twenty- 
four  hours  by  birds.  And  it  is  because  the  poor  things  want  to  get  at 
the  water,  is  it  ?  Well,  not  only  does  a  good  clear  river,  with  plenty  of 
easy  shallow  drinking  places,  actually  bound  the  churchyard,  but  I 
put  a  little  pot  of  water  with  no  flowers  in  it  by  the  side  of  my  cross. 
It  is  of  no  use,  the  flowers  are  scattered  about  just  the  same.  I  have 
only  once  seen  it  done.  The  culprit  was  a  blackbird.  He  lighted  by 
the  cross,  and  with  wonderfully  quick  action,  quite  as  quick  as  I  could 
do  it  myself,  beginning  at  the  bottom,  threw  out  right  and  left  every 
flower.  He  saw  me  when  about  half-way  through  and  flew — he  did  not 
attempt  to  drink.  Can  anyone  explain  or  help  ? — W.  R.  Raillem. 
- - 
Nertera  depressa. 
This  charming  little  plant,  with  its  crimson  bead-like  berries  close 
to  the  ground,  forms  a  dainty  cushion  for  a  carpet  bed  in  summer, 
and  is  likewise  ornamental  in  pots  for  the  front  of  a  stage.  I 
was  pleased  to  note  some  remarks  of  “  V.  T.”  on  it  in  the 
Journal  a  little  while  ago.  My  plants  are  now  showing  their  tiny 
pink  flowers  in  profusion,  and  I  am  sanguine  that  a  rich  crop  of 
fruit  will  follow.  The  plants  were  wintered  in  a  cold  frame,  the 
glass  having  had  no  covering,  and  since  March  they  have  been 
plunged  in  ashes  in  the  open  border,  receiving  no  protection  what¬ 
ever.  Other  plants  grown  under  glass  are  about  perfecting  their 
berries,  and  I  cannot  imagine  any  low-growing  plants  more  con¬ 
spicuously  beautiful.  Plants  are  readily  increased  by  division,  keeping 
them  regularly  and  continually  moist ;  also  from  seeds,  sowing  as 
soon  as  n'pe  in  a  damp  shaded  frame,  never  permitting  the  soil  to 
approach  a  state  of  dryness.  The  three  prime  essentials  in  the 
cultivation  of  this  plant  are  coolness,  light,  and  water.  With  a  bed 
of  ashes  in  which  to  plunge  the  pots,  and  a  hand-light  or  frame  to 
afford  shelter  in  severe  weather,  anyone  may  grow  Nertera  depressa 
if  he  will  but  water  it  freely. — W. 
- ♦.♦h - 
Late  Apples. 
Some  little  time  ago  I  read  some  remarks  in  the  Journal  upon  the 
increase  in  the  number  of  late  Apples  for  home  consumption.  I  quite 
agree  with  the  remarks  there  made,  that  there  is  too  often  an  insufli- 
ciency  of  desirable  fruit  to  carry  over  the  supply  until  the  end  of  April 
say.  I  am  convinced,  however,  that  late  Apples  for  profit  as  a  market 
commodity  are  a  mistake,  in  my  part  of  the  country  at  any  rate.  As  I 
have  more  than  once  said  in  the  Journal,  the  moment  the  good  samples 
of  American  Apples  can  be  bought,  even  at  a  higher  price,  it  is  useless 
to  offer  English  grown  fruit  and  expect  remunerative  returns.  There 
appears  to  be  such  an  allurement  in  the  attractive  appearance  of  the 
Baldwins,  and  the  firm  flesh  of  Newtown  Pippins,  that  even  Cox’s 
Orange  Pippin  fails  to  meet  with  its  just  demands.  What  with  the 
trouble  of  storing,  and  the  loss  in  consequence,  coupled  with  the  low 
prices,  I  have  given  up  the  growth  of  late  sort  planting  and  gone  in 
wholly  for  the  increase  in  early  varieties,  whether  for  kitchen  or  dessert 
use.  The  latter  for  preference,  though,  as  I  am  yearly  convinced, 
there  is  a  scarcity  of  dessert  fruit  as  well  as  variety  grown. 
With  regard  to  the  culture  of  late  sorts,  I  quite  agree  with  “  B.” 
that  the  trees  are  allowed  to  carry  too  many  branches  as  well  as  fruit. 
We  only  have  to  look  at  the  very  fine  examples  of  espalier  trained  trees 
roped  with  fruit,  as  they  are  to  be  seen  repeatedly,  and  be  convinced 
that  such  trees  by  the  increase  of  light,  air,  and  sun  the  branches  obtain 
has  much  to  do  with  such  results.  When  one  sees  so  much  blossom  as 
the  trees  are  carrying  this  year,  one  is  tempted  to  ask  why  should  each 
tree  have  so  many  branches  as  we  invariably  see  bushes  furnished  with  ? 
Where  trees  are  grown  in  limited  numbers  and  for  home  consumption 
only,  the  work  of  thinning  the  fruit,  as  well  as  strict  attention  to  summer 
pruning  or  pinching,  is  time  well  spent.  The  better  the  maturity  of  the 
fruit  the  longer  it  will  keep,  given,  of  course,  suitable  conditions  as  to 
storage. — E.  M. 
- - 
Gloxinias  Attacked  by  Rats. 
When  inspecting  recently  a  fine  collection  of  Gloxinias  in  a  notable 
establishment  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Birmingham  I  was  surprised  to 
observe  that  nearly  every  expanded  flower  had  been  mutilated, 
apparently  by  cockroaches,  but  was  informed  that  the  delinquents  were 
rats,  and  who  were  observed  in  the  act.  Their  modus  operandi  was  to 
bite  a  large  piece  out  of  one  side  of  the  flower — nearer  the  base  than 
the  apex,  and  without  injuring  either  the  pistil  or  the  stamens,  a  marked 
feature  being  the  almost  uniform  size  of  the  hole  bitten  in  each  flower — 
thus  suggesting  that  it  afforded  a  ready  ingress  for  possible  extraction 
of  any  nectar  at  the  base  of  the  flower ;  otherwise,  why  not,  if  the 
corolla  alone  afforded  the  food  sought,  have  devoured  the  latter  whole- 
sale,  instead  of  merely  biting  a  hole  in  each  so  systematically  ? 
The  portion  bitten  out,  however,  was  evidently  eaten.  I  was  cognisant 
of  the  fact  that  mice  and  cockroaches  have  been  known  to  attack 
Gloxinia  flowers  in  a  somewhat  similar  manner,  but  not  in  such  a  whole- 
sale  onslaught  as  by  the  rodent  in  question.  The  plants  were  of  the 
erect  flowering  strain. — W.  G. 
Carnation  Urs.  T.  H.  Lawson. 
I  notice  in  your  issue  of  August  9th,  page  133,  a  comment  upon . 
the  American  Carnation  Mrs.  T.  M.  Lawson.  You  no  doubt  know 
from  my  name  appearing  at  many  shows  that  I  am  a  very  great 
enthusiast  with  Carnations,  and  I  received  this  variety  from  a  lady  and 
gentleman  from  America  in  the  spring  with  very  great  pleasure, 
looking  forward  to  something  extraordinary  in  the  way  of  bloom.  This 
came  into  bloom  with  me  in  the  month  of  June,  and  I  must  say  if  ever 
I  was  disappointed  with  a  Carnation  with  such  glorious  and  marvellous 
account  I  was  disappointed  with  this.  The  only  good  thing  about  it 
in  my  opinion  is  its  colour;  the  size  is  nothing  at  all  extraordinary, 
in  fact  some  of  the  flowers  are  very  little  better  than  Marguerite  Pinks 
as  grown  with  me.  The  flower  is  very  rough  on  the  petal,  more  like  a 
sawed  edge  than  the  beautiful  smooth  edge  which  we  look  for  in 
English  flowers ;  and  as  to  the  scent,  with  the  first  flowers  with  me  it 
was  conspicuous  by  its  absence,  although  the  flowers  that  are  now  in 
bloom  certainly  are  a  little  sweeter  scented.  For  my  own  part,  as  a 
Carnation  grower,  I  can  hardly  realise  it  is  worth  the  room  it  takes  up, 
and  if  I  grow  it  at  all  it  will  be  merely  as  showing  what  the  American 
paid  30,000  dollars  for  rather  than  for  its  own  merit. — Robert  Sydenham 
- «  t - — 
Tije  Poet  Cowper  as  a  Gardeper. 
In  the  delightful  article  on  Cowper  the  writer  in  mentioning  the 
difficulty  of  determining  old  plant  names  gives  two  examples — 
“  Amomum  ”  and  “  Ficoides.” 
“  Th’  Amomum  there  with  intermingling  flow’rs 
And  Cherries  hangs  her  twigs,” 
is  not  Myrtus  Pimenta,  but  the  well  known  decorative  plant,  Solanutn 
oapsicastrum.  It  was  known  by  a  yariety  of  names,  and  appears  in  all 
the  older  books  on  gardening,  most  often  as  Amomum  Plini,  under 
which  designation  it  is  figured  and  described  in  Gerardo’s  “  Herball  ” 
and  in  Parkinson’s  “Paradisus;”  while  in  James’  “Theory  and 
Practise  ”  it  is  referred  to  as  “  the  Amomum  or  Solanum.”  “  Winter 
Cherry  ”  is  another  of  its  forgotten  designations,  now  appropriated 
solely  by  Physalis  Alkekengi.  “Ficoides”  was  the  name  given  by 
Tournefort  to  the  Mesembryanthemum  {Linn.),  and 
“  The  spangled  Beau, 
Ficoides,  (which)  glitters  bright  the  winter  long,” 
is  the  common  Ice  Plant.  It  is  described  in  many  works  in  the 
eighteenth  century,  but  Hill’s  in  “  Eden  ”  will  suffice  to  show  what 
plant  the  poet  had  in  his  mind.  “  The  spangles  with  which  it  is 
adorn’d,  which  cover  it  with  a  glossy  whiteness  in  the  shade,  and 
glitter  in  the  sun,  have  caused  it  to  be  call’d  after  various  suppos’d 
resemblances,  &c.”  The  plant  was  regularly  treated  as  a  greenhouse 
one  during  winter. — R.  P.  Brotheeston. 
