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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER.  September  iO,  i9oo. 
The  Hangred  Man. — There  is  an  Orchid  called  the  “Hanged 
Man;”  it  is  Aceras  anthropophora,  which  is  found  nearly  everywhere 
in  France,  on  sandy  ground  or  on  limestone  ;  in  Belgium  in  the  lime¬ 
stone  region  of  Plorze,  near  Aywaille,  and  in  the  sandy  claystone 
region  of  Wemmel.  It  is  easy  to  see  why  the  anthropophora  is  called 
the  “  Hanged  Man,”  since  it  grotesquely  resembles  the  figure  of  a  man 
suspended  by  the  neck.  If  you  wish  to  see  the  resemblance  for 
yourself,  go  to  the  localities  mentioned,  in  May  or  June,  and  probably 
yon  will  find,  on  the  shady  side  of  the  woods,  the  “  Hanged  Man.” 
—  (“  La  Semaine  Horticole.”) 
^pple  Xady  Sudeley. — As  a  standard  this  comparatively  new 
Apple  cannot  be  too  much  grown  for  early  autumn  dessert  use.  I  am 
familiar  with  two  or  three  trees  that  have  this  year  borne  fair  crops. 
The  yellowish  skin  beautifully  striped  with  crimson  makes  the  tree  very 
attractive.  Its  rich  spicy  flavour  and  melting  flesh  render  it  the  gem 
of  all  early  Apples.  In  pruning  the  knife  must  be  very  sparingly  used, 
and  then  only  to  thin  out  and  regulate  the  branches,  as  it  is  one  of 
those  varieties  which  bear  cn  the  terminal  points  of  the  shoots  as  well 
as  upon  spurs.  We  are  indebted  to  Messrs.  Geo.  Bunyard  &  Co.  for 
the  introduction,  in  1885,  of  this  valuable  addition  to  our  early  autumn 
dessert  Apples. — W,  Gardiner. 
Fruit  In  Kent. — The  fruit  orchards  of  Kent  are  looking  at  the 
height  of  their  harvest  beauty  just  now,  and  not  at  any  time  since  the 
blossoming  of  spring  have  they  been  so  well  worth  a  journey  to  see. 
In  spite  of  the  heavy  rains  and  gales  at  the  period  when  the  fruit  was 
setting,  there  is  a  very  abundant  crop  of  most  kinds  of  stone  fruit. 
Damsons  especially  are  very  prolific  in  their  yield  this  year.  The  ripe 
fruit  is  hanging  in  such  clusters  that  strong  branches  have  broken  and 
given  way  under  their  heavy  load.  It  is  the  same  with  Plums,  and  the 
orchards  are  bright  with  the  rich  colour  of  the  ripe  Plums  and  ruddy - 
skinned  Apples.  To  those  who  kn%w  only  the  straggling  unkempt 
orchards  of  counties  were  fruit  growing  is  subsidiary  to  the  other  farm 
work,  and  where  the  fruit  is  left  to  take  its  chance,  a  visit  to  the 
orchard  country  in  the  garden  of  England  is  a  revelation.  Even  the 
Apple  orchards  of  the  west  do  not  compare — for  size  and  ordered 
cultivation — with  those  of  Kent.  Here,  says  a  contemporary,  they  are 
of  huge  dimensions,  every  inch  of  ground  is  utilised,  the  trees  are 
planted  in  perfectly  symmetrical  rows,  and  under  the  larger  trees  the 
ground  is  literally  filled  with  the  smaller  shrubs  of  Gooseberries  and 
Currants.  Those  who  have  never  paid  a  visit  to  the  heart  of  Kent  at 
this  time  of  the  year  would  be  amply  rewarded  in  the  rich  beauty  of 
the  landscape  in  its  fruit  and  Hop  harvest  period. 
Tbe  Best  Plums. — All  descriptions  of  Damsons,  Bullaces,  and 
inferior,  small,  or  common  seedling  Plums  have  this  season  fruited  so 
marvellously  that  it  is  no  matter  for  surprise  to  read  of  fruits  rotting  on 
the  trees,  although  that  is  hardly  correct  to  state  so  early  in  the  season. 
That  such  may  be  the  case  later  is  probable,  for  finding  a  market  for 
such  enormous  quantities  seems  impossible.  Thus  this  year,  with  the 
Plum  crop  the  best  for  the  past  ten  seasons,  we  see  profits  which  should 
be  considerable  dwindling  down  to  a  mere  song,  or  disappearing 
absolutely  because  of  the  overwhelming  abundance  of  inferior  fruit  in 
the  market.  What  a  pity  it  is  that  so  much  room  will  be  given  to  these 
inferior  varieties.  No  one  wants  half  a  hundred,  or  even  half  a  score, 
of  common  Plums.  On  walls  where  the  very  begt  of  dessert  Plums, 
including  the  delicious  Gages,  can  be  had  in  their  best  quality,  then 
numbers  of  varieties  matters  less,  as  in  that  case  they  can  be  made  to 
give  a  long  season.  But  market  Plums  do  not  come  from  walls,  or 
hardly  even  from  bushes,  they  come  mostly  from  standards,  and  of 
these  did  we  restrict  our  varieties  to  Eivers’  Early  Prolific,  Czar, 
Victoria,  Monarch,  Emperor,  and  Archduke,  with  Bradley’s  King  and 
Frogmore  Damsons,  the  latter  having  fruits  of  the  largest  size,  what  a 
gain  it  would  be.  Small  fruiting  Plums,  Damsons,  or  Bullaces  are 
enormous  croppers,  but  the  cost  of  gathering  them  is  great,  whilst  they 
severely  exliaust  the  trees.  When  these  small  fruits  fetch  only  Is.  per 
bushel  no  profit  results,  and  they  simply  help  to  drag  down  the  market 
prices  of  superior  Plums. — A.  D. 
Where  Kltrate  comes  from. — All  the  nitrate  of  soda  in 
commerce  comes  to  us  from  South  America,  where  vast  deposits  of  this 
salt  occur  in  the  dry,  rainless  regions  which  form  such  a  striking 
feature  of  certain  parts  of  Chili,  Bolivia,  and  Peru.  At  the  present 
time  the  consumption  of  nitrate  of  soda  as  a  manure  exceeds  over 
1,000,000  tons  per  annum.  Roughly  speaking,  nitrate  of  soda  supplies 
about  15  per  cent,  of  nitrogen,  and  to  this  is  solely  due  its  value  as  a 
fertiliser,  as  the  soda  which  it  contains  is  of  no  practical  manorial  value-. 
Packing-  Choice  Plums. — In  all  questions  arising  on  the  subject 
of  marketing  fruit  it  will  be  generally  admitted  that  packing  is  one  of 
the  most  important  elements  towards  success.  On  every  hand  most 
excellent  fruit  is  grown  in  this  country,  and  some  of  it  having  been 
graded  is  skilfully  and  honestly  packed  before  consignment  to  the 
salesman,  who,  with  his  customers,  soon  recognises  these  points,  and 
marks  that  grower  as  worthy  of  encouragement.  As  illustrative  of  the 
most  approved  method  of  packing  choice  Plums  for  market,  Mr.  R. 
Lewis  Castle,  P.R.H.S.,  of  the  Duke  of  Bedford’s  experimental  fruit 
farm  at  Ridgmont,  recently  sent  ns  a  box  of  Dennieton’s  Superb. 
Each  individual  fruit  was  wrapped  in  soft  tissue  paper,  of  which  there 
were  three  or  four  thicknesses  between  the  two  layers  of  fruits  in  the 
box,  and  rather  more  on  the  top  immediately  beneath  the  lid.  Having 
recognised  the  absolute  necessity  for  perfect  firmness  in  packing,  there 
had  not  been  the  slightest  movement  in  transit,  with  the  result  that 
every  fruit  was  as  firm  and  shapely  as  when  they  were  placed  in  the 
box..  We  congratulate  Mr.  Castle  upon  the  good  work,  and  feel  assured 
that  if  every  grower  exercised  equal  care  with  choice  fruit  they  would 
be  more  than  repaid  by  the  higher  returns  forthcoming  for  their 
products. 
The  Harvest  of  the  Herbs. — In  addition  to  the  harvest  of  hay 
and  of  corn,  of  fruit  and  of  Hops,  there  is  another  harvest  reaped  in 
Great  Britain,  which,  though  small,  is  useful  and  important — viz.,  the 
harvest  of  herbs.  It  may  not  "be  widely  known  that  grounds  exist  at 
some  places,  among  them  being  Banbury  and  Hitchin,  for  the  purpose 
of  growing  herbs,  such  as  Hyosoyamus  and  Peppermint,  from  which 
drugs  are  manufactured.  Other  herbs  are  collected  from  the  hedge¬ 
rows  and  coppices.  Among  the  wild  herbs  are  Agrimony,  Burdock, 
possibly  Belladonna  and  white  Bryony,  Marsh  Mallow,  Coltsfoot,  and 
Dandelion,  in  which  quite  a  large  trade  is  conducted,  not  always,  we 
fear,  for  that  sedate  drug  known  as  taraxacum,  but  also  for  less 
legitimate  use  as  an  adulterant  of  coffee.  These  herbs,  and  numerous 
others,  are  dried  by  the  air,  and  sold  to  wholesale  houses,  whence  they 
are  vended  in  packets,  or  drugs  are  made  from  them.  It  must  be 
understood  that  there  are  numbers  of  herbalists  in  this  country  who 
sell  herbs  together  with  simple  drinks  and  medicines  made  therefrom, 
while  a  great  demand  exists  among  the  iron  puddlers  of  the  black 
country  for  slightly  tonic  beverages  made  from  herbs.  But  the 
collection,  and  even  cultivation  of  herbs,  seems  to  be  declining  in 
Britain,  quantities  being  imported  from  the  Continent  and  from 
America.  Thus,  although  some  Camomile  flowers  are  grown  at  Ring- 
wood,  in  Hampshire,  nearly  all  used  in  Britain  come  from  Belgium  and 
Saxony. 
H.  Good  Cabbage. — Amidst  the  numerous  awards  made  from  time 
to  time  at  the  Drill  Hall  by  the  various  committees,  the  granting  of  a 
first-class  certificate  to  a  Cabbage  is  something  of  a  novelty.  The 
Fruit  Committee  now, and  then  gets  pretty  well  abused — first,  becanse 
it  ventures  to  recognise  the  merits  of  some  good  old  thing  too  long 
neglected,  the  virtues  of  which  time  has  tested  over  and  over  again ; 
and  second,  because  awards  are  made  to  new  things,  the  merits  of 
which  are  not  easily  discernible  to  the  ordinary  man.  But  there  could 
be  no  mistake  as  to  the  good  qualities  of  this  Cabbage.  I  have  seen 
large  breadths  of  it  growing,  and  can  vouch  for  its  great  excellence.  A 
week  ago  Messrs.  Cannell  &  Sons  sent  sixty  heads,  every  one  as  if  made  in 
in  the  same  mould,  and  as  perfect  in  form,  hard  and  clean,  with  few  outer 
leaves  as  anyone  could  desire.  Every  head  was  good  enough  to  secure 
a  high  award  at  any  exhibition.  No  one  need  desire  a  larger  variety. 
It  seemed  to  combine  all  the  excellencies  of  Ellam’s  Early  and  Lea 
Etampes,  and  that  is  high  praise.  It  is  unfortunate  that  the  variety 
is  named  Defiance,  as  there  is  another  and  larger" Cabbage  of  that 
name  in  commerce,  and  presently  there  may  be  an  unpleasant  mix. 
Remembering  that  good  Cabbages  have  long  lives,  for  this  one  may  bo 
widely  grown  twenty  or  even  fifty  years  hence,  no  award  less  than  a 
first-class  certificate  would  do  it  justice.  The  award  is  well  deserved, 
for  great  pains  have  been  taken  for  several  years  to  produce  a  pure 
stock,  and  now  the  result  is  seen. — Observer. 
