January  10,  1901. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
29 
require  a  solidifying  or  retentive  principle  to  be  added  to  tbem,  and 
this  quite  irrespective  of  the  question  of  manure. 
I  would,  moreover,  -impress  upon  the  small  and  the  amateur 
gardener  the  necessity  of  taking  up  all  business  promptly,  and,  if 
possible,  in  advance  of  the  season.  The  working  of  the  soil  and  the 
collection  of  manure,  the  cleaning  of  crops  and  the  extirpation  of 
weeds,  must  not  be  put  off  for  other  more  agreeable  employments.  In 
the  collection  of  manure  the  horticulturist  should  ever  be  indefatigable. 
Guano  and  other  highly  concentrated  fertilisers  are  not  within  the 
reach  of  everybody,  but  there  are  other  methods  by  which  middens 
may  be  increased  ;  and  if  in  the  frosty  weather  other  work  should 
flag,  the  busy  man  can  always  profitably  direct  his  thoughts  to  the 
augmentation  of  the  manure  heap. — Mac. 
- •«♦«»>» - — 
Unprofitable  Fruit  Growing. 
During  these  recent  years  of  agricultural  depression  and 
unprofitable  farming  much  has  been  said  and  written  of  means 
whereby  the  distressed  tiller  of  the  soil  may  revive  his  waning 
fortunes.  Statisticians  in  the  press  have  compiled  striking  tables 
showing  the  vast  quantities  of  Apples  imported  into  this  country 
annually,  the  total  value  of  which  would  almost  make  the  revenue 
look  foolish.  All  of  this  fruit,  it  has  been  pointed  out,  might  be 
grown  at  home  with  beneficial  pecuniary  results  to  both  producer  and 
consumer,  and  the  poor  farmer  has  been  accused  of  being  old-fashioned, 
indifferent  to  his  own  interests,  something  more  than  dull-witted,  and 
so  attached  to  the  old  routine  as  pursued  in  more  prosperous  times  by 
hie  forelathers  as  to  be  unwilling  to  forsake  his  conservatism  and 
launch  out  into  new  and  more  renumerative  speculations  such  as  fruit 
growing. 
Why,  it  has  been  frequently  asked,  does  not  the  British  farmer, 
instead  of  growing  Wheat  at  prices  that  will  never  pay,  and  hay  that 
will  be  scarcely  worth  the  labour  of  cutting  if  the  season  be  at  all 
unfavourable,  move  with  the  times  and  plant  some  of  his  land  with 
Apple  trees,  whereby  he  may  gather  year  after  year  a  rich  harvest  of 
fruit,  which  will  soon  place  him  far  beyond  all  fear  of  poverty  and 
bankruptcy?  Why  not?  He  is  told  on  all  hands  that  there  is 
money  in  it,  and  in  many  cases  it  has  proved  a  success,  and  so  one  fine 
day  he  determines  he  shall  no  longer  be  accused  of  want  of  enterprise, 
but  will  endeavour  to  divert  some  of  the  huge  profits  to  be  made  out 
of  fruit  farming  in  his  own  direction.  Forthwith  he  girds  his  loins 
and  betakes  himself  to  the  nearest  nurserymen,  his  chief  qualification,' 
in  some  instances,  being  his  profound  ignorance  of  all  matters  relating 
to  fruit  culture. 
He  is  under  the  firm  conviction  that  all  that  is  necessary  is 
to  stick  the  trees  in  the  ground  and  wait  for  tnem  to  turn  themselves 
into  money.  You  plant  the  tree  and  Nature  does  the  rest,  is  his 
theory,  and  the  first  business  obviously  is  to  obtain  the  trees.  If  he 
has  some  knowledge  of  trees  and  the  value  of  different  varieties,  well 
and  good,  but  more  or  less  frequently  it  is  the  case  that  the  worthy 
agriculturist  knows  just  as  much  of  fruit  trees  as  the  trees  know  of 
him,  one  variety  is  the  same  as  another ;  an  Apple  tree  to  him  an 
Apple  tree  is  and  nothing  more.  No  grower  of  any  repute,  whose 
business  in  life  is  to  raise  fruit  trees  with  a  view  to  disposing  of  them 
at  a  profit,  would  take  advantage  of  his  customer’s  ignorance  to 
persuade  him  to  purchase  anything  but  clean,  strong,  healthy  trees  of 
the  very  best  varieties,  and  in  the  selection  of  the  trees  themselves, 
and  of  the  varieties  the  would-be  grower  is  wise  when  he  accepts 
what  is  recommended  to  him.  At  any  rate,  if  the  farmer  only  looks  in  the 
right  place  he  can  doubtless  find  that  which  is  best  for  his  particular 
purpose,  and  having  bought  his  trees  off  he  goes,  and  now  they  have 
only  to  be  planted,  and  the  farmer  can  stand  and  watch  them  turn 
themselves  into  money,  as  it  has  ere  now  been  expressed. 
Much  has  been  said  and  written  of  the  best  method  of  planting, 
and  numerous  indeed  are  the  rules  and  instructions  laid  down  for  those 
about  to  plaut,  but  an  enterprising  farmer  has  no  need  of  these. 
Has  he  not  put  in  any  number  of  gateposts,  and  perhaps  even  a  beam 
to  support  the  stable  or  cow-shed,  and  should  he  be  told  how  to  plant 
an  Apple  tree  ?  All  that  is  wanted  is  a  man  with  a  spade  and  a  pair  of 
substantial  boots,  and,  orders  given,  the  man  with  the  spade  commences 
in  spirited  fashion,  and  delves  down  through  soil  and  subsoil  with  such 
mighty  industry,  that  one  might  be  led  to  inquire  if  he  expected  to 
strike  a  coal  seam.  The  hole  made,  the  roots  and,  as  likely  as  not,  a 
goodly  proportion  of  the  stem  are  crammed  in,  and  without  more  ado 
back  goes  the  soil,  stones,  gravel,  clay,  or  what  not,  and,  for  fear  the 
tree  should  suddenly  develop  powers  of  locomotion,  first  the  back  of 
the  spade  and  then  the  feet  of  the  planter  are  requisitioned  to  make 
solid  and  doubly  solid  the  soil  round  about,  till  it  appears  that  nothing 
short  of  a  full  grown  earthquake  could  ever  disturb  its  foundations, 
and  then  the  tree  is  safely  started  on  the  way  towards  making  money, 
or  firewood  ;  probably  the  latter. 
With  regard  to  pruning  there  are  two  systems;  one  is  not  to 
prune  at  all,  the  other  is  to  clip  the  tree  symmetrically  all  round,  as 
though  lessons  had  been  taken  in  a  hairdresser’s  shop.  Whichever 
manner  is  adopted,  the  results  are,  of  course,  eminently  unsatisfactory ; 
and  another  individual  is  to  be  found  who  will  mournfully  assert  that 
fruit  growing  for  farmers  is  a  hopeless  failure — there  is  really  no  money 
in  it. — A.  W.  D. 
EncUaris  aipazonica. 
This  plant  has  become  most  deservedly  popular  during  the  past 
few  years.  A  walk  at  this  season  through  the  grand  row  of  Covent 
Garden  Market  would  be  sufficient  to  prove  the  fact,  even  to  those 
who  have  no  opportunities  for  seeing  and  knowing  the  extent  to 
which  the  plant  is  grown  in  private  establishments.  It  is  scarcely 
possible  to  conceive  a  more  beautiful  object  for  vases,  or  for  the  centre 
of  a  hand  bouquet;  I  am  particular  in  saying  the  centre,  because, 
except  in  a  large  bouqUet,  the  flowers  are  too  large  for  other  places, 
but  if  a  large  and  massive  biuquet  is  to  be  made,  they  have  a 
beautiful  effect  as  an  outer  edge. 
The  Buchans  is  a  genus  of  Amaryllidaceae  containing  few 
species,  the  one  under  notice  beiug  perhaps  the  most  beautiful  and 
useful  of  the  whole  family,  although  I  hold  E.  Candida  in  great 
estimation  on  account  of  its  producing  smaller  blooms;  it  is  even  more 
useful  for  bouquet  making  than  E.  amazonica,  but  as  a  plmt  it  lacks 
that  majestic  appearance  which  is  such  a  distinguishing  character  of 
the  latter  species. 
Eucharis  amazonica  is  a  native  of  the  low  moist  regions  on  the 
borders  of  the  river  Amazon,  and  upon  this  knowledge  of  its  natural 
habit  I  base  my  treatment ;  for  if  the  plant  inhabits  such  places  in  a 
state  of  nature,  the  roots  will  seldom  or  never  become  dry  at  any 
season.  I  have  grown  this  plant  in  considerable  quantities,  both  as 
large  specimens  and  as  small  plants  suitable  for  placing  in  ornamental 
vases  for  the  embellishment  ot  the  drawing-room  and  boudoir,  and 
under  my  system  they  have  proved  almost  perpetual  bloomers. 
Although  I  cannot  agree  with  those  who  practise  the  drving-off 
system,  it  is  undeniable  that  plants  so  treated  produce  good  crops  of 
flowers ;  I  maintain,  dowever,  that  those  plants  will  never  prove  such 
perpetual  bloomers  as  mine;  and,  moreover,  that  my  plants  not  only 
produce  a  much  greater  number  of  flowers  during  the  season,  but 
they  are  always  handsome  and  presentable — a  feature  which  cannot  be 
claimed  by  those  who  put  them  to  rest  at  certain  periods. 
The  soil  for  the  successful  culture  of  E.  amazonica  should  be  turly 
loam,  fibrous  peat,  and  good,  rich,  but  thoroughly  decomposed  manure 
in  about  equal  parts,  to  which  must  be  added  a  fair  proportion  of 
sharp  river  sand.  The  plant  enjoys  liberal  supplies  of  water  and 
t-irong  moist  heat  to  any  degree,  therefore  the  drainage  must  be  kept 
in  thorough  working  order  to  prevent  any  stagnation.  I  am  not  an 
advocate  for  very  much  pot-room,  but  prefer  renewing  the  surface  soil, 
say  once  or  twice  during  the  season,  and  feeding  the  plants  frequently 
with  artificial  manure,  and  by  no  means  allowing  them  to  suffer  from 
•  he  want  of  either  heat  or  water.  In  order  to  maintain  a  succession  of 
the  noble  Narciss-like  flowers  it  will  be  well  to  place  the  plants  as 
they  pass  out  of  bloom  in  a  somewhat  cool  stove,  or  in  some  situation 
where  the  temperature  is  lower  than  that  of  the  house  in  which  they 
are  grown  ;  but  do  not  keep  them  dry. 
The  bulbs  of  Eucharis  amazonica  must  be  planted  below  the  soil. 
From  these  bulbs  the  leaves  usually  arise  in  pairs;  they  are  ovate, 
spreading,  somewhat  fleshy  or  leathery  in  texture,  from  12  to  18 
inches  long,  and  of  a  very  dark  green  ;  the  flower-spike  is  stout  and 
erect,  usually  attaining  the  same  height  as  the  leaves,  and  bearing 
upon  the  summit  some  five  or  six  delicately  fragrant  pure  whfie 
flowers,  which  last  a  long  time  upon  the  plant.  When  cut  and  placed 
in  water,  and  set  in  a  vase  with  a  few  sprays  of  Maidenhair  Fern, 
the  flower  is  a  gem  of  the  first  water,  being  at  once  chaste  and 
effective. — 0. 
- <♦#.> - 
Names  of  Plants  and  Fruits. — Pomologists,  like  botanists,  find 
it  impossible  to  enforce  the  rules  of  priority  in  names  of  fruits  and 
flowers.  In  fruits,  the  names  of  Bartlett  for  a  Pear,  and  Telegraph  for 
a  Grape,  have  not  been  changed  in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  leading 
pomologists  and  pomological  societies  to  support  prior  names.  Those 
who  lead  in  these  good  efforts  forget  that  the  only  law  for  language  is 
the  law  of  custom.  In  a  famous  grammar  we  are  told  “  the  English 
language  requires  the  pronoun  it  for  all  inanimate  objects  ;  but  custom 
has  so  firmly  made  the  sun  a  he,  and  the  moon  a  she,  that  we  have  to 
accept  it.”  Thus  it  will  ever  be.  To  secure  the  adoption  of  a  prior 
name,  says  Mr.  Meehan,  reformers  must  bestir  themselves,  before  custom 
gets  possession  of  the  field. 
/ 
