526 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
June  20,  1901. 
Gadding  and  Gathering. 
“Here  awa’.  There  awa’.” 
Waterer’a  Rhododendrons. 
The  Rose  Bay,  the  old  English  name  for  the  earlier-known  Rhodo¬ 
dendrons,  requires  no  praise ;  its  own  splendour  is  sufficient  to  win  a 
way  for  it.  There  may  be,  and  is,  a  need  for  the  newer  and  more 
np-to-date  varieties  to  be  known  and  grown,  and  that  is  the 
purpose  of  the  following  list.  The  varieties,  by  the  way,  were  noted 
amongst  those  shown  by  Messrs.  John  Waterer  &  Sons,  Limited,  the 
American  Nursery,  Bagshot,  Surrey,  in  the  Royal  Botanic  Society’s 
Gardens  at  Regent’s  Park  a  week  ago.  Confining  these  notes  to  lines 
of  strict  utility,  I  will  at  once  name  and  describe  a  number  of  the 
choicer  sorts.  Arranged  alphabetically,  they  include— album  elegans, 
soft  white,  of  good  form,  and  Butterianum,  another  fine  white,  which 
is  faintly  tinged  with  pink  ;  this  is  a  splendid  variety,  sure  to  be  much 
prized.  Canon  Furse  furnishes  a  splendid  rose  colour,  with  dark  eye, 
distinct  and  striking  ;  Concessum,  again,  affords  a  light  variety,  the 
flower  margined  with  lively  rose ;  it  is  one  of  the  best.  Then  comes 
the  light  rosy  crimson  Countess  of  Clancarty,  nicely  marked,  and  having 
large,  bold  trusses ;  Countess  of  Tankerville  presents  a  delioate  clear 
rose.  There  is  not  now  a  preponderance  of  any  one  colour,  though,  of 
oourse,  shades  of  reds,  purples,  and  whites  form  the  ohief  array. 
Another  good  white  is  that  of  Duchess  of  Connaught,  with  lemon 
coloured  markings  on  the  flowers  of  its  large  trusses.  All  the 
“  Waterer  ”  varieties  may,  at  the  outset,  be  noted  as  of  the  first  water — 
I  mean  those  bearing  the  name  of  any  of  the  Waterere.  First,  I  may 
bring  Gomer  Waterer  to  notice  ;  this  is  a  lovely  blush  white,  and  has 
huge  trusses.  Grand  Arab  is  a  brilliant  crimson ;  J.  Marshall  Brooks, 
scarlet  with  a  bronze  eye ;  and  then  Kate  Waterer,  of  a  clear  rosy 
crimson  hue,  with  large  yellow  throat,  blotched,  and  without  doubt  one 
of  the  handsomest  and  most  attractive  of  hardy  Rhododendrons. 
As  an  early  flowering  sort,  Lady  Eleanor  Cathcart,  a  lovely  clear 
rose  variety  with  conspicuous  crimson  spots,  may  well  be  chosen. 
Madame  Carvalho  has  elsewhere  been  noted  ;  it  is  charming,  to  say  the 
least.  In  Michael  Waterer  we  have  a  variety  of  ihe  brightest  crimson- 
scarlet,  and  splendid  form.  Madame  H.  Croux  ought  not  to  be  missed  ; 
this  is  a  magnificent  white,  as  is  Mrs.  John  Clutton,  and  all  of  these 
whites  vary  in  greater  or  less  degree  from  one  another.  Furthermore, 
they  all  seem  too  good  to  leave  out  of  any  selected  list  that  may  be 
made.  Any  one  of  them,  however,  can  be  confidently  reoommended. 
The  beautiful  Mrs.  Tom  Agnew,  a  great  favourite  with  me,  has  large, 
massively  built  trusses,  white,  with  conspicuous  yellowish  upper  throat- 
colour.  Though  words  of  praise  have  not  been  spared  on  afore¬ 
mentioned  whites,  I  hope  I  may  yet  be  able  to  obtain  notice  for  the  new 
variety  “  Mum,”  with  enormous,  splendidly  built  trusses,  firm  and  compact 
yet  elegant,  the  beautiful  white  corollas  having  each  a  lemon  eye. 
Pink  Pearl,  which  won  such  deserved  encomiums  when  exhibited  from 
Bagshot  last  year,  is  an  early  flowering  sort,  and  has  done  well  in 
different  gardens,  to  my  personal  knowledge,  this  year.  At  Kew  a 
considerable  stock  of  it  has  been  grafted.  Few,  if  any,  hardy 
pink  Rhododendrons  equal  it  in  beauty  and  effectiveness.  And  I 
would  only  refer  to  two  more,  Sir  Henry  Mildmay,  very  bright  rosy 
orimson,  and  William  Ewart  Gladstone,  deep  rose,  with  immense 
trusses,  a  most  telling  variety.  These  are  a  few  from  a  collection 
embracing  over  200  distinct  varieties,  and  these  are  only  the  more  recent 
introductions.  Favoured  with  good  weather,  the  glorious  display 
under  canvas  at  Regent’s  Park  is  being  largely  visited  by  ladies  and 
gentlemen  in  London  and  the  country  around.  I  was  told  that  on 
Monday,  June  10th,  2000  visitors  inspected  the  Messrs.  J.  Waterer  and 
Son’s  exhibition. 
A  Cider  Exhibition  at  Croydon. 
At  the  show  held  from  May  22nd  to  27th,  at  Croydon,  by  the  Bath 
and  West  and  Southern  Counties  Society,  there  was  a  cider  exhibition. 
The  exhibits  of  bottled  cider  were  arranged  in  classes,  in  proper  order, 
each  lot  distinct  by  itself,  on  wooden  shelves,  as  in  a  fruit  store  room, 
and  all  duly  ticketed  and  labelled.  The  cider-producing  counties  all  set 
up  samples  of  their  manufacture,  and  Somerset  won  first  honours.  On 
the  cards  attached  to  each  entry  the  following  questions  were  requested 
to  be  answered,  each  query  being  numbered.  The  questions  were  : — 
“  1,  What  county  was  the  cider  made  in  ? 
“  2,  From  what  varieties  of  fruit  was  the  oider  made  ? 
“  3,  What  proportion  of  each  variety  was  used  ? 
“  4,  When  was  the  fruit  ripe  P 
“  5,  Was  the  crop  above,  or  below,  the  average  !J 
“  6,  Are  the  trees  usually  good  bearers  ? 
“  7,  What  was  the  average  weight  of  the  Apples  P 
“  8,  What  was  the  specific  gravity  of  the  juioe  ? 
“  9,  What  nature  is  the  soil  of  the  orchard  ? 
“  10,  Has  the  orchard  been  manured,  and,  if  so,  when  P 
“  11,  What  manures  have  been  used  thereon  ? 
“  12,  Give  any  other  information  you  may  think  useful.” 
Those  who  may  have  an  interest  in  cider  and  its  production  will  be 
the  better  able  to  judge  of  the  worth  of  answers  to  such  questions  as 
the  above.  I  may  add,  however,  that  the  replies  were  very  unsatis¬ 
factorily  given,  and  many  queries  were  left  without  any  answer. 
At  one  end  of  the  cider  shed  were  exhibited  coloured  drawings  of 
the  best  known  and  most  liberally  cultivated  varieties  of  Apples 
employed  by  oider  makers.  The  following  were  included  : — Red  Streak, 
Broad-leaf  Gins,  Hereford  Black  Foxwhelp,  Old  Foxwhelp,  Kingston 
Black,  Strawberry,  Lester’s  Bitters,  and  Hereford  Catswhelp.  Amongst 
others  with  these  delightfully  rustic  and  primitive  appellations  were 
Cherry  Hereford,  Pip  Jersey,  Cherry  Pearmain,  Royal  Jersey,  Royal 
Wilding,  Lottisham  Bitters,  Siloox  Seedling,  Barton  Bitters,  Broadolyst 
Red,  Sour  Hereford,  Yellow  Bittersweet,  Brown’s  Apple,  Late  Bloomer, 
Hereford  Beefing,  Painsfora,  Revised  Foxwhelp,  and  Deptford  Bitter¬ 
sweet.  I  venture  to  say  the  bulk  of  Journal  readers  never  before  heard 
of  such  names  for  Apples  as  these.  The  addresses  of  the  principal 
oider  Apple  growers,  as  noted  at  the  Croydon  Show,  are  here  furnished 
for  reference  by  anyone  who  may  wish  such  addresses  at  some 
succeeding  date: — Mr.  John  Watkins,  Pomona  Farm,  near  Hereford ; 
Mr.  Jaines,  Staverton,  near  Totnes  ;  Mr.  W.  Rendell,  Staverton  ;  Mr. 
Geo.  Lloyd  Baker,  Hardwicke  Court,  Gloucester;  Mr.  F.  J.  Hayes, 
West  Pennard,  Somerset ;  and  Messrs.  James  Watts  &  Co.,  Blaokwell, 
near  Bristol. 
It  only  now  remains  to  say  a  few  words  on  the  process  of  cider 
manufacture.  The  Apples,  as  a  rule,  are  first  of  all  placed  in  heaps, 
after  being  taken  from  the  trees,  a  plan  which  greatly  assists  the 
ripening  stage.  Later  on  they  are  brought  to  the  mill,  are  mercilessly 
torn  with  teeth,  smashed  and  pulverised  between  granite  rollers,  after 
which  the  press  is  called  into  use,  by  means  of  which  the  lusoious  juice 
is  extracted  from  the  pulp.  This  juioe  is  then  stored  in  oasks,  and  the 
natural  fermentation  begins.  Then  is  the  need  for  attention,  and  all 
the  skill  of  the  maker  is  brought  into  play,  for  this  stage  deoides  the 
future  merit  of  the  cider — the  quality  of  the  drink  that  is  to  be. 
At  this  period  the  Apple  juice  is  raw,  requiring  no  expert  to  deteot 
the  difference  between  it  and  the  after-ripened  liquor,  which  comes  only 
as  a  result  of  careful  storing.  The  cider  is  then  stored  away  in  port 
wine  pipes  within  substantial  houses,  often  with  reeded  roofs,  having 
a  certain  suitable  temperature.  The  length  of  storage  is  a  matter  of 
taste  and  opinion,  but  when  after  two  years  the  matured  cider  is  taken 
from  the  wood,  the  trace  of  rawness  has  departed,  and  a  choice,  dry 
flavour  has  taken  its  place,  requiring  an  epicure  to  distinguish  it  from 
the  better  class,  light  continental  wines. — Wandering  Willie. 
Early  Cauliflowers. 
Notwithstanding  the  desire  on  the  seedsmen’s  part  to  produce 
Broccoli  that  will  extend  the  season  until  the  latest  possible  date, 
there  is  associated  with  it  the  same  keenness  to  obtain  Cauliflowers  as 
early  as  circumstances  permit  ;  and  these  same  ends  are  equally  the 
aims  of  the  gardener.  There  is  apparently  a  mutual  co-operation 
between  the  seedsmen  and  the  gardeners  in  this  common  aim  and 
object.  This  season,  with  the  absence  of  rain,  and  the  counter 
influence  of  the  abnormal  sunshine,  has  had  a  damaging  effect  on  the 
early  Cauliflowers,  and  in  like  manner  the  latest  Broccoli  suffered 
proportionately.  Where  glass  accommodation  exists,  the  custom  usually 
obtains  of  sowing  the  earliest  batch  of  Cauliflowers,  and  forwarding 
them  in  fruit  houses,  when  these  are  only  gently  forced,  bringing 
them  on  gradually,  by  the  aid  of  pots  or  boxes,  until  they  can  be 
safely  entrusted  in  the  open-air  borders.  In  some  years  these  overlap 
the  Broccoli  season  by  some  days,  without  any  particular  effort  being 
made.  Such,  however,  is  not  a  desirable  feat,  but  weather  forecasts 
being  an  out-of-reach  item  of  knowledge,  dependance  must  to  some 
extent  be  placed  on  chance  at  the  time  of  sowing  early  Cauliflowers. 
While  many  depend  on  the  new  year’s  sowing  lor  the  supply  of 
matured  heads  in  early  June,  others  are  fortunate  in  their  treatment 
from  an  autumn  sowing.  The  past  winter  and  present  season  have 
been  favourable  for  these,  when  the  date  has  been  well  chosen.  Frost 
was  not  severe  enough  to  destroy  them,  and  the  winter’s  rainfall  has 
not  oeen  such  as  to  give  rise  to  unfavourable  effects  in  decaying  roots 
and  stems.  Since  planting  them  out  in  March,  these  Cauliflowers 
have  made  remarkably  good  growth,  and  show  much  less  the  strain 
inflicted  on  the  January  sown  stock  in  the  droughty  weather 
experienced  of  late.  Erfurt  Mammoth,  sown  under  a  sheltering  wall 
at  the  end  of  August,  left  undisturbed  until  the  middle  of  March,  were 
then  planted  on  a  well-manured  early  border,  and  growth  progressed 
steadily  until  June  7th,  when  the  first  cutting  commenced.  At  this 
date  only  a  few  Broccoli  remained,  and  by  the  time  the  autumn-sown 
stock  of  Cauliflowers  become  exhausted  the  spring-sown  plants  will 
be  advancing.  Hand-lights  are  not  used,  but  the  warmest  spots 
available  are  selected  for  planting. 
In  some  seasons  there  is  a  distinct  element  of  uncertainty  about 
the|  results  of  this  autumn  sowing,  at  any  rate  without  the  aid  of 
hand-lights  ;  if  they  do  not  become  destroyed  by  frost  they  “  button  ’  ’ 
prematurely  in  spring.  It  is  this  trait  in  these  autumn  Cauliflowers 
that  has  given  rise  to  the  practice  of  sowing  under  glass  in  January 
or  February,  and  a  race  of  dwarf-growing  and  early-maturing  sorts 
introduced  towards  the  close  of  the  last  century  has  furthered  this 
