October  16,  1902. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  CaRDENER. 
3G3 
An  Abnormal  Pear. 
Referring  to  the  abnormal  Pear  shown  before  the  Scientific 
Committee  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  on  September  23, 
I  recently  saw  a  fruit,  which  appeared  to  be  one  of  the  Berga- 
mottes,  bearing  a  circlet  of  small  leaves.  The  upper  portion  of 
the  Pear  was  round  and  flattisli,  shrinking  suddenly  to  a  waist- 
like  depression,  then  swelling  again  down  to-  the  base.  The 
leaves  were  growing  from  the  waist.  The  Pear  also  bore  two  eyes 
other  than  the  one  at  the  base.  These  were  located  about  half 
way  up. — W.  A.  T. 
Red  Spider  and  XL  All. 
Having  used  XL  All  vapourising  compound  since  its  first 
introduction  to  the  public,  I  myself  have  never  known  it  to 
kill  red  spider.  But  to  show  that  “  H.  D.”  is  not  the  only  one 
who  has  succeeded  in  killing  it  with  XL  All,  I  will  briefly  relate 
what  a  shrewd  and  clever  gardener  said  to  me  a  few  weeks 
ago,  and  perhaps  if  this  note  comes  under  his  notice  he  may 
give  the  readers  of  the  Journal  the  benefit  of  his  experience  in 
its  use  on  that  occasion.  I  can  give  no  details,  but  will  merely 
say  that  he  succeeded  in  killing  the  spider  by  giving  a  second 
fumigation  immediately  the  contents  of  the  fumigators  were 
exhausted,  which  second  filling  took  place  about  nine  at  night. 
In  the  morning  every  spider  appeared  to  be  dead.— J.  Eastek, 
Nostell  Priory  Gardens. 
Garden  Inventions. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  a  great  number  of  garden  tools  and 
appliances  are  capable  of  considerable  improvement.  But,  as  an 
inventor  in  a  small  way  myself,  I  would  advise  any  gardener,  who 
is  no  longer  young,  or  is  apt  to  expect  too  much,  or  be  irritable 
at  disappointment,  to  leave  the  question  of  patents,  or  “  bringing 
out  ”  his  invention  alone,  save  for  his  own  use.  It  is  a  rare  thing 
for  the  actual  inventor  of  any  improvement  toi  make  much  profit 
by  his  discovery,  and  not  a  few  have  sustained  serious  losses.  It 
seems  rather  cowardly  advice  to  give,  and  is  not  meant  for  the 
young  and  energetic,  with  a  good  deal  of  commercial  knowledge 
and  aptitude,  plenty  of  time  to  spare,  and  plenty  of  money  to 
risk  ;  but  for  those  who  are  short  of  these  requisites  I  would 
advise  selling  the  idea  as  soon  as  possible  to  someone  who  has  (or 
thinks  he  has)  got  them. — W.  R.  Raillem. 
I  have  read  with  great  interest  Mr.  J.  Barkham’s  letter  (page 
320),  which  shows,  as  I  had  expected,  that  there  are  men  in  the 
gardening  profession  with  fertile  brains,  capable,  if  given  the 
necessary  encouragement,  of  improving  most  of  the  gardening 
appliances  which  we  have  in  use  at  the  present  day.  “  Necessity 
is  the  mother  of  invention,”  and  although  I  cannot  claim  to  be 
an  inventor  myself,  owing,  perhaps,  to  my  not  having  the  good 
fortune  of  being  “  born  that  way,”  I  think  all  the  help  possible 
should  be  given  to  anyone  possessed  of  this  very  special  gift,  for 
no  one  will  deny  that  it  is  a  gift,  instead  of  having,  as  in  “  J.  B.’s  ” 
case,  to  hide  their  light  under  a  bushel,  as  it  were.  “  Squib,”  in 
his  letter  on  the  same  page,  puts  forward  three  very  novel  sugges¬ 
tions  having  for  their  object  the  improvement  of  the  spade, 
barrow’,  and  rake  respectively,  and  these  on  paper  may  look  very 
well ;  but  it  would  be  interesting  to  learn  how  they  would  work 
out  in  actual  practice.  Some  of  the  most  important  qualifications 
an  invention  should  possess  before  being  placed  on  the  market  are 
(1)  efficiency  and  (2)  durability,  each  most  important  factors  in 
any  garden  implement.  At  the  same  time,  it  should  be  as  neat 
and  as  light  as  possible,  having  due  regard  for  the  work  which  it 
is  intended  to  perform.  Above  all  these,  it  should  also  be  easily 
worked,  and  inexpensive.  It  should  also  be  borne  in  mind  that 
the  simpler  it  can  be  made’,  the  more  likely  it  is  to  take  on  when 
placed  before  the  public.  It  seems  hard  indeed,  when  a  person 
lias  succeeded  in  perfecting  some  appliance  in  daily  use,  that  lie 
should  be  denied  the  just  reward  which  his  skill  and  ingenuity 
deserve,  owing  either  to  lack  of  the  necessary  funds  or  influence. 
I  quite  agree  with  “  J.  B.’s  ”  suggestion  for  an  article  or  series  of 
articles  written  by  an  experienced  man,  showing  the  best  way  to 
patent  an  invention  and  place  it  on  the  market  in  a  proper 
manner,  so  as  to  attract  the  attention  of  all  those  whom  it  would 
be  most  likely  to  benefit.  An  article  of  this  description  would, 
I  believe,  be  read  with  great  interest  by  all  gardeners  and  nur¬ 
serymen.  Most  inventors  are  very  modest  about  their  achieve¬ 
ments,  and  very  often  only  those  living  in  the  immediate  neigh¬ 
bourhood  are  aware  of  an  inventor’s  discovery.  This  may  be 
accounted  for  in  two  ways  :  firstly,  owing  to  the  expense  incurred 
by  having  the  patent  protected,  and  the  cost  of  advertising, 
which  would  be  a  great  drain  on  a  gardener’s  all  too  slender 
purse  ;  secondly,  even  if  he  consented  to  this  initial  outlay,  there 
is  the  risk  of  ultimate  failure  and  disappointment,  owing  to  his 
invention  not  meeting  with  the  approval  of  the  public.  The  only 
remedy  that  I  can  see  in  this  case  is  to  submit  the  invention  to 
some  large  horticultural  sundriesnian,  who  might  be  induced  to 
buy  it  outright  and  take  all  the  risks  himself. — H.  Muncey. 
- - 
Leaf  Decoration. 
Respecting  the  use  of  leaves  referred  to  on  page  303,  may  I 
suggest  another  interesting  amusement,  viz.,  making  plaster 
casts?  A  plaster  worker  explained  the  process  to  me,  and  for 
studies  the  effect  is  very  fine.  An  examination  of  a  leaf  will 
show  that  the  veins  on  the  reverse  side  are  identical  with  the 
front,  with  the  difference  that  they  are  raised  instead  of  being 
depressed.  It  naturally  follows  that  a  casting  of  the  back  gives  an 
impression  of  the  front  appearance.  Selected  leaves  of  good 
form  should  be  chosen,  and  fastened  securely  to  a  board,  face 
downwards.  A  small  quantity  of  plaster  of  Paris  should  be  mixed 
to  the  consistency  of  thick  cream,  and  this  dipped  out  with  a 
spoon  and  placed  carefully  all  over  the  surface  of  the  leaf,  in  a 
very  thin  layer.  So  soon  as  it  has  set,  another  lot  should  be. 
mixed  and  added  on  top  of  the  first,  repeating  until  the  plaster 
is  sufficiently  thick  to  bear  handling.  When  well  hardened, 
remove  from  the  board  and  detach  the  leaf.  Should  it  have  stuck, 
careful  soaking  with  hot  water  will  remove  it.  This  trouble  may 
possibly  be  obviated  by  applying  a  thin  coat  of  oil,  but  it  probably 
would  affect  the  plaster,  so  I  have  not  tested  it.  A  fine  file,  or  a 
penknife  will  trim  the  outer  edge  to  the  natural  form.  These 
castings  may  be  used  for  numerous  purposes,  and  a  colour  artist 
might  further  improve  them  by  painting  the  natural  tint. — Squib. 
- - 
Fumigating  against  Scales. 
I  have  had  for  some  thirty  years  past  a  varied  experience  in 
the  treatment  of  scale  on  plants,  and  have  not,  until  very  lately, 
discovered  a  really  effectual  destroyer.  I  have  found  it  most 
difficult,  especially  at  busy  times,  to  keep  the  trees  in  a  large 
Camellia  house  clean.  Last  autumn  I  decided  to  give  Messrs. 
A.  Cross  and  Sons’  “Nocros”  vapourising  powder  a  trial,  and 
for  this  purpose  selected  various  plants  affected  with  different 
kinds  of  scale.  After  fumigating,  I  left  the  plants  until  morn¬ 
ing,  when  I  carefully  examined  them,  and  found  they  were  quite 
uninjured.  I  then  gave  them  a  thorough  syringing.  In  about, 
a  month’s  time  I  repeated  the  treatment,  this  time  with  the 
strength  of  the  liquid  increased  by  one-half.  After  letting 
another  four  weeks  elapse  I  decided  to  give  a  third  applica¬ 
tion,  this  being  more  as  a  precautionary  measure,  as  my  diffi¬ 
culty  has  always  been  in  entirely  destroying  the  scale.  This 
experiment  has  since  proved  quite  a  success,  the  plants  being 
now  perfectly  free  from  scale  and  in  a  healthy  condition.  I  have 
had  equally  good  results  on  a  larger  scale  in  the  Camellia  house 
mentioned  above,  where,  I  am  pleased  to  say,  there  is  now  not  a 
trace  of  scale  left.  Since  these  experiments  I  have  repotted 
some  Orchids  which  were  in  the  same  house  when  I  made  my 
first  trials,  and  I  was  very  agreeably  surprised  to  find  them  almost 
completely  free  from  woodlice.  I  can  only  attribute  this  to  the 
results  of  the  fumigation,  as  the  pots  have  previously  been 
infested. — W.  T.  Kipps,  Head  Gardener,  Walton  Lea,  near 
Wa rri ngt o n .  ^  ^ 
Perpetual  Fruiting  Strawberries. 
Last  year  I  nearly  decided  to  give  up  St.  Joseph,  and  grow 
St.  Antoine  de  Padue  alone ;  but  eventually  I  retained  a  bed  of 
the  former,  though  I  made  no  fresh,  plantation  of  it.  This  was 
fortunate,  as  my  St.  Josephs  have  been  for  a  month,  and  still  are, 
simply  one  mass  of  flowers  and  fruit.  They  have  been  the 
astonishment  of  all  who  have  seen  them,  although  these  same 
plants  were  heavily  cropped  in  the  summer,  having  ripe  fruits  a 
week  sooner  than  any  variety  in  the  neighbourhood.  Since  the 
summer,  when  they  bore  well,  my  St.  Antoine  plants  have  been 
a  failure,  being  badly  struck  with  mildew.  There  has  been,  and 
still  is,  plenty  of  bloom,  but  the  stem  of  each  truss  is  affected 
sooner  or  later,  and  the  fruits  spoiled.  I  should  be  glad  to  know 
of  a  cure  or  prevention  for  this.  Is  not  Royal  Sovereign,  one  of 
its  seed  parents,  rather  liable  to  it,  the  leaves  spotting  and  dying 
off  early  in  the  autumn  ?  This  does  not  matter  so  much  with  a 
summer  bearer,  but  is  fatal  with  a  perpetual.  I  am  strongly  of 
opinion  that  St.  Antoine  should  be  crossed  back  again,  into  St. 
