February  28,  1901. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
175 
Tlje  Dahlia. 
Me.  Brotherston,  in  his  very  interesting  article  on  the  Dahlia, 
mentions  Holland  House  and  the  first  successful  importation  of  the 
flower  into  England.  Holland  House  suggests  the  Lady  Holland  of 
1804,  a  great  lady  of  the  period,  and  a  very  greatly  admired  one.  Her 
mention  suggests  that  graceful  tribute  of  admiration  from  her  husband 
alike  to  the  lady  and  the  beautiful  new  flower. 
The  Dahlia  you  brought  to  our  isle, 
Your  praises  for  ever  shall  speak  ; 
Mid  gardens  as  sweet  as  your  smile, 
Seedling  Apples. 
When  looking  through  orchards  and  fruit  plantations  it  is  impossible 
not  to  notice  that  a  number  of  the  trees  one  meets  with  are  evidently 
seedlings  or  grown  from  grafts  of  chance  seedlings.  Quite  a  number 
have  been  noticed  lately,  and  last  autumn  I  had  an  Apple  brought  me 
that  is  not  a  Blenheim  or  a  Ribston,  but  had  the  characteristics  of  each 
so  strongly  marked  that  I  could  only  come  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was 
a  hybrid  between  these  two  excellent  kinds.  There  are  many  of  these 
that  would  defy  anyone  to  name,  and  I  can  only  account  for  them  in 
this  way. — H.  R.  R. 
- .  » « »  » - 
Successful  Trapping  of  Wireworms. 
A  correspondent  writes  to  us  as  follows  : — Finding  that  some  of 
my  Tomato  plants  in  two  hothouses  were  being  destroyed  by  wire- 
worms  a  few  days  after  they  were  set  out,  I  cut  some  Carrots  and 
garden  Beets  into  wedge-shaped  pieces,  and  stuck  one  into  the  soil 
2  or  3  inches  off  each  plant.  After  three  days  I  had  these  traps 
taken  up  with  a  trowel,  and  from  1157  traps  on  the  soil  close  to 
these  we  gathered  a  few  over  700  wireworms.  The  traps  were  set 
again,  and,  no  doubt,  we  shall  catch  many  more  of  these  pests.  The 
Beet  seems  to  do  as  well  as  the  Carrot,  and  presumably  the  common 
Mangold  would  serve  equally  well.  In  some  of  the  pieces  there  were 
several  wireworms,  fourteen  having  been  obtained  in  one  case.  In 
future  I  shall  stick  a  piece  of  Carrot  or  Beet  near  to  every  plant  at 
the  time  of  planting.  It  is  desirable  to  place  the  pieces  3  inches  from 
the  plant,  so  as  not  to  disturb  the  roots  when  taking  it  up  to  examine  it. 
- «*••> - 
Late  English  Apples. 
A  cautious  man  is  “  W.  S.,  Wilts,”  who  knows  how  to  wield  the  pen 
in  such  a  way  as  to  show  how  others  “  must  agree  ”  with  various 
remarks  advanced,  and  then  add  a  word  of  warning — or  delicate 
criticism — himself.  On  page  130  ‘‘W.  S.”  has  surpassed  himself  in 
handling  the  delicate  question  of  our  fruit  supply  without  wounding  the 
susceptibility  of  anyone.  “  Many  will  and  must  agree  that  a  better 
Bupply  of  good  late  English  Apples  is  needed.”  The  canny  ”  “  W.  S.” 
does  not,  however,  venture  to  admit  that  he  thinks  so  himself.  But 
he  evidently  does  think  that  if  late  varieties  are  planted  largely  they 
will  in  time  beoome  unprofitable.  Thus  the  matter  resolves  itself  into 
the  usual  question  of  supply  and  demand.  How  well  we  all  know  that 
although  much  has  been  done  to  advance  fruit  culture  during  recent 
years,  there  is  still  a  scarcity  of  good  home-grown  Apples  from 
Christmas  onwards.  The  average  samples  seen  in  our  markets  cut  but 
a  sorry  figure  in  point  of  appearance  when  compared  with  foreign 
supplies,  and  yet  the  grand  exhibits  continually  staged  by  some  of  our 
English  trade  firms  show  beyond  a  shadow  of  a  doubt  that  this  country 
can  still  produce  the  finest  Apples  in  the  world,  not  only  in  point  of 
flavour,  but  also  in  appearance. 
This,  then,  clearly  shows  that  we  have  still  a  weak  point  in  our  armour. 
We  must  grow  samples  of  better  quality  generally,  which  can  only  be 
brought  about  by  planting  approved  varieties,  and  paying  more 
attention  to  pruning  and  feeding.  The  time  may  come  when  our 
markets  are  so  well  supplied  with  well-grown  English  Apples  that 
further  planting  for  a  time  may  not  be  justified.  That  time  has 
certainly  not  yet  arrived,  nor  will  be  reached  until  we  have  considerably 
reduced  the  huge  importations  which  each  year  come  to  ns  from 
aoross  the  seas. 
Land  in  Britain  is  certainly  cheap  enough  to-day  to  enable  us  to 
successfully  compete  with  Apple  growers  whose  produce  travels 
thousands  of  miles  to  find  a  market.  The  difficulty  about  railway 
rates  is  one  which  undoubtedly  will  be  successfully  grappled  with  in 
the  future,  and  the  men  who  plant  suitable  varieties  now,  and  cultivate 
well,  will  reap  a  fuller  reward  than  procrastinators  who  “  wait  ”  to 
have  matters  set  right  before  they  bestir  themselves.  There  is  also 
room  for  improvement  in  regard  to  late  varieties  of  dessert  Apples. 
We  want  one  which  combines  the  good  keeping  qualities  of  Sturmer 
Pippin  with  the  flavour  of  Cox’s  Orange  Pippin  and  the  appearanoe  of 
Gascoyne’s  Scarlet  Seedling.  Fortunate  will  be  the  man  who  raises 
such  a  variety.  If  it  comes  soon  “  W.  S.,  Wilts”  will,  I  think,  be  one 
of  the  first  to  plant  it. — H.  D. 
- - 
Immature  Tomatoes. 
I  noticed  in  a  contemporary  that  two  correspondents  had  recently 
submitted  examples  of  immatured  Tomatoes  for  examination  as  to  the 
pale  green-coloured  patches  present  in  the  skin  of  the  fruit,  it  being 
the  editor’s  opinion  that  the  hard  patches  present  on  the  otherwise  ripe 
fruit  were  due  to  excess  granulations  of  one  of  the  constituents,  the 
result  being  caused  by  lack  of  potash  in  the  soil;  that  sulphate  of 
potash  removes  the  complaint,  and  that  kainit  should  not  be  used.  I 
have  examined  a  few  of  the  affected  fruits  grown  by  the  person  who 
submitted  those  in  question,  and  he  had  attributed  the  cause  to  an 
overdose  of  a  compound  manure  concocted  by  himself,  and  in  which 
kainit  formed  one  of  the  ingredients.  Another  local  grower  whose 
Tomatoes  were  similarly  affected  was  inclined  to  the  opinion  that  the 
defect  was  owing  to  a  low  and  damp  temperature  and  atmosphere  ;  but 
evidently  that  was  not  the  cause,  inasmuch  as  the  affection  in  question 
is  not  of  a  fungoid  nature,  whilst  the  former  grower’s  treatment  coincides 
with  the  analytical  dictum.  In  addition  to  the  cases  mentioned  I  have 
recently  particularly  noticed  baskets  of  market  Tomatoes  similarly 
affected.  The  rind  of  the  unripened  patches  assumes  a  shrivelled 
appearance,  and  the  flesh  of  those  portions  remains  hard,  hence  together 
naturally  affecting  the  sale  of  the  fruit,  and  also  renders  it  unfit  for 
exhibition  purposes.  Perhaps  other  of  your  correspondents  may  give 
their  experience  and  opinion  of  the  matter  in  question. — W.  G. 
- <♦•*< - 
Pharmaceutical  Society  v.  White. 
The  First  Blow  at  a  Monopoly. 
This  was  an  appeal  by  the  council  from  a  decision  of  a  Divisional 
Court  affirming  a  judgment  of  the  County  Court  judge  of  Worcester¬ 
shire.  The  Society  sought  to  recover  a  penalty  against  Mr.  White 
for  selling  to  the  informant  a  two  gallon  drum  of  a  weed-killer  manu¬ 
factured  by  the  Boundary  Chemical  Company  (Ltd.).  Liverpool.  The 
defendant  was  a  florist  carrying  on  business  at  Worcester,  and  was  in 
the  habit  of  taking  orders  for  this  weed-killer.  He  told  customers 
they  could  write  direot  to  the  Boundary  Company,  enclosing  the 
money,  or  he  would  take  the  money  and  forward  on  to  the  com. 
pany  the  purchaser’s  order.  It  appeared  that  he  had  never  kept 
for  sale  any  of  the  weed-killer  on  his  premises,  and  that  he  had 
an  agreement  with  the  chemical  company  whereby  he  reoeived 
25  per  cent,  of  the  price  of  the  weed-killer  sold  through  him  as 
commission.  The  County  Court  judge  held  that  under  this  agree¬ 
ment  the  respondent  was  a  mere  agent.  From  this  decision  the 
Society  appealed.  Mr.  Danckwerts,  K.O.,  and  Mr.  Grey  appeared  for 
the  Society,  and  Mr.  Cavanagh  for  the  respondent.  The  Master  of  the 
Rolls  said  the  Act  imposed  a  penalty  on  anyone  selling  an  article 
containing  poison  who  was  not  a  duly  registered  pharmaceutical 
chemist  or  chemist  or  druggist.  In  this  case  there  was  no  question 
either  that  the  weed- killer  was  not  a  deadly  poison — for  it  contained 
arsenic  to  a  large  extent — or  that  the  respondent  was  not  a  qualified 
person  under  the  Act  for  the  sale  of  such  a  poison.  The  County 
Court  judge  had  found  as  a  fact  that  White  was  not  the  seller,  but  only 
a  mere  agent  for  the  vendors.  Having  referred  to  the  evidence  of 
what  took  place  at  the  sale  in  question,  his  Lordship  said  it  was  dear 
that  the  respondent  told  the  informant  that  he  had  none  of  the  weed¬ 
killer  on  the  premises,  and  that  he  would  take  an  order  on  behalf  of 
the  company,  or  the  would-be  purchaser  could  send  the  order  himself 
direct  to  Liverpool.  The  informant  said  he  would  rather  give  the 
respondent  the  order  and  pay  for  it  then.  Thereupon  White  made 
out  a  receipt  on  paper  supplied  by  the  company,  and  signed  by  himself 
as  their  agent.  On  such  evidence  it  could  not  be  said  that  there  was  no 
evidence  to  support  the  judgment  appealed  from.  The  appeal 
accordingly  would  be  dismissed  with  oosts.  The  Lords  Justioes 
concurred.  Mr.  Cavanagh  Baid  the  appellants  had  been  ordered  to  give 
an  indemnity  for  all  costs  incurred  by  the  respondent  as  a  condition 
for  leave  to  appeal,  and  he  asked  that  the  appeal  should  be  dismissed  on 
those  terms.  The  application  was  granted. 
Xxora  Regina. — We  omitted  to  say  that  the  block  of  Ixora  Regina 
on  page  159  was  reproduced  by  the  kindness  of  Mr.  Wm,  Bull. 
