376 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
October  23,  1902. 
Culinary  Apples. 
An  Estimate  of  a  Dozen  Varieties. 
Keswick  Codlin,  as  an  early  August  variety  for  cooking, 
still  remains  one  of  the  best.  Its  quality  is  first  class  (some 
people  like  it  for  dessert),  and  the  tree  succeeds  well  as  a  bush 
in  the  garden  or  as  a  standard  in  the  orchard. 
Stirling  Castle.— As  a  bush  tree  for  the  garden  or  the 
field,  grown  on  the  English  Paradise  stock,  this  is  one  of  the 
most  prolific  and  profitable  August  and  September  Apples 
that  can  be  grown.  A  real  poor  man’s  friend. 
Frogmore  Prolific  is  another  September  Apple  which 
should  find  a  home  in  every  garden.  It  is  one  of  the  heaviest 
and  most  consistent  cropping  Apples  we  have. 
For  October  and  November  we  have  a  wide  selection,  and 
the  following  may  be  relied  on  as  excellent  from  every  point 
of  view  :  — 
Grenadier. — A  large,  yellow,  handsome  Apple,  by  many 
esteemed  as  the  best  October  and  November  variety.  It  is 
very  prolific,  and  excellent  to  grow  for  market. 
Ecklinville  Seedling. — A  well  known  variety.  One  of 
the  heaviest  cropping  and  best  orchard  sorts  we  have. 
Stone’s  Apple.— This  is  another  large,  handsome  October 
variety.  It  is  light  yellow  in  colour,  with  a  faint  flush  of  red 
on  the  sunny  side.  It  is  a  good  bearer,  and  a  popular  market 
sort. 
From  November  to  the. end  of  January  the  following  are 
the  best :  — 
Lane’s  Prince  Albert.— One  of  the  best  known  sorts, 
■and  certainly  one  of  the  most  consistent  and  heavy  croppers 
of  any  we  have.  No  garden  or  orchard  should  be  without  it. 
Blenheim  Orange. — Grown  as  bushes  on  the  English 
Paradise  stock  it  succeeds  admirably,  crops  regularly  and 
heavily,  even  on  comparatively  young  trees.  Grown  in  this 
way  it  is  as  well  suited  for  dessert  as  it  is  for  the  con¬ 
fectionery.  When  grown  as  a  standard  in  the  orchard  on 
the  Crab  stock  the  tree  attains  to  a  great  size,  and  returns 
valuable  crops  most  years  ;  but  as  a  young  tree  in  the  orchard 
on  this  stock  it  is  usually  a  long  time  before  it  reaches  a 
state  of  fertility.  This  drawback  notwithstanding,  no 
orchard  should  be  without  this — one  of  the  handsomest  and 
noblest  of  Apples. 
Baumann’s  Red  Reinette. — A  fruit  of  medium  size,  of 
attractive  colouring,  very  prolific,  and  first  class  quality. 
From  January  to  May  the  following  are  amongst  the 
best :  — 
Royal  Late  Cooking. — A  large,  heavy,  handsome,  yellow 
variety.  The  tree  is  a  strong  grower,  prolific  cropper,  excel¬ 
lent  for  dessert  late  in  the  season,  and  will  keep  sound  and 
good  way  into  June. 
I  have  only  two  more  varieties  to  mention,  and  the  diffi¬ 
culty  I  have  in  the  richness  of  selection  at  hand  is  to  know 
which  to  leave  out  and  which  to  include.  Wellington,  as  one 
of  the  best  known  and  best  estfeemed,  naturally  suggests 
itself  as  having  claims  for  this  time  of  the  year  superior  to 
any  other.  I  am  sorry  not  to  include  it  in  my  twelve,  and 
the  reason  is  that  it  is  not  a  consistent  bearer,  and  the  tree 
is  not  an  over-good  grower  ;  but  the  strongest  reason  of  all 
is  in  the  fact  that  Wellington  and  Blenheim  Orange  between 
them,  as  parents,  have  given  us  an  Apple  which  is  in  every 
way  superior  to  Wellington,  namely  : — 
Newton  Wonder, — I  don’t  know  to  whom  the  credit  of 
raising  this  variety  belongs,  but  whoever  he  may  be  he  may 
justly  feel  proud  of  having  been  the  means  of  giving  it  to  the 
world.  [Messrs.  J.  R.  Pearson  and  Sons,  Lowdham,  Notts, 
were  the  introducers  of  it,  a  member  of  the  firm  having  dis¬ 
covered  it  at  a  Midland  show. — Ed.]  It  is  one  of  the  best 
and  most  valuable  Apples  in  cultivation.  Its  cooking 
qualities  are  very  much  like,  and  equal  to,  Wellington,  and 
its  handsome  and  attractive  appearance  equal  to  the  best 
samples  of  Blenheims,  and  this  is  saying  a  great  deal.  It  is 
one  of  the  strongest  growing  Apples  we  have,  and  for  bushes 
grown  in  the  garden  should  be  worked  on  the  Paradise  stock. 
It  is  in  season  from  March  to  the  end  of  May  .  , 
If  it  had  not  been  that  I  have  pledged  myself  to  mention 
only  twelve  sorts,  I  should  have  said  that  the  only  variety 
worth  growing  for  the  purpose  of  making  mince-pies  is  Royal 
Russet,  and  I  am  sure  your  Irish  readers  would  never  forgive 
me  if  I  did  not  include  Chelmsford  Wonder,  a  variety  highly 
esteemed  in  the  Green  Isle.  This  is  only  a  diversion,  and  I 
must  proceed  to  give  my  latest  and  last  choice  of  the  twelve, 
and  this  must  be  in  favour  of  Striped  Beaufin.  This  is  a 
handsome  and  attractive  varietv.  and  towards  March  and 
April  is  excellent  for  dessert. — O.  Thomas. 
A  SEEDLING  GOOSEBERRY. 
On  page  377  there  is  illustrated  a  single  shoot  from  a  seedling 
Gooseberry  raised  by  one  who  has  long  been  a  reader  of,  and  con¬ 
tributor  to,  this  journal.  He  writes  as  follows:  “The  enclosed 
photo  is  a  branch  from  a  seedling  Gooseberry,  with  eighty-two 
fruits  upon  it.  There  are  four  other  branches  on  the  tree  bearing 
fruit  in  a  similar  manner.  The  photo  was  taken  before  the 
fruit  was  fully  grown,  and  you  may  remember  that  I  enclosed 
the  tcp  of  one  of  the  other  branches  with  ripe  fruit  for  you  to 
see  when  I  sent  the  photo.  [A  laden  branch. — Ed.]  The  tree 
is  grown  in  the  cordon  style.  I  have  raised  a  number  of  Goose¬ 
berries,  Strawberries,  Raspberries,  Apples,  Cherries  from  seed. 
Ac.,  and  I  have  been  cross-breeding  with  a  great  number  of 
flowers.  I  have  also  tried  a  number  of  experiments,  for  the  last 
forty  years,  with  plants,  seeds,  Ac.,  and  regret  I  cannot  find 
time  to  send  more  than  occasional  notes  to  the  Journal  of  Hor¬ 
ticulture. — W.  B.” 
t  > - 
STRAWBERRIES  IN  POTS. 
Successful  Strawberry  forcing  depends  largely  tin  the  treat¬ 
ment  the  plants  are  subjected  to  during  their  preparatory 
course,  and  especially  at  what  is  known  as  the  resting  period 
prior  to  starting.  The  wintering  of  Strawberries  in  pots  by 
stacking  them  one  upon  another  in  sawdust  or  other  material 
against  a  wall,  or  housing  them  on  the  border  of  fruit  houses, 
is  not  only  unnecessary,  but  absolutely  injurious,  as  the  soil 
not  unfrequently  becomes  dry,  and  the  currents  of  air  induced 
by  the  free  ventilation,  waste  the  energies  of  the  plants.  The 
forwardest  will ‘now  have  the  crowns  well  developed  and  the 
pots  filled  with  healthy  roots.  To  preserve  them  is  a  point  of 
some  importance,  as  when  they  get  frozen  and  suddenly  thawed 
their  collapse  is  certain,  and  the  plants  start  badly  in  conse¬ 
quence.  If  intended  for  early  forcing,  they  will  be  the  better  for 
having  the  lights  of  a  frame  placed  over  them,  the  pots  being 
plunged  in  ashes  or  cocoa-nut  fibre  refuse,  or  even  tree  leaves, 
but  not  so  as  to  heat.  The  lights  must  be  withdrawn  in  mild 
weather,  and  only  used  in  case  of  heavy  rains,  when  they  must 
be  tilted,  as  in  case  of  frost. 
The  plants  should  be  regularly  examined  for  watering,  sup¬ 
plying  it  only  to  such  as  stand  in  need,  never  allowing  them  to 
suffer,  as  the  Strawberries  are  much  injured  when  allowed  to 
become  dry  at  the  roots.  Place  late  plants  in  a  raised  bed,  or 
plunge  in  ashes  or  other  material  on  the  flat  in  a  sunny  position 
to  finish  the  ripening  process,  and  they  will  require  to  be  duly 
supplied  with  water.  If  any  plants  remain  long  without  needing 
a  supply,  or  the  soil  becomes  very  wet,  examine  the  drainage, 
rectifying  it  wherever  defective,  expelling  worms  with  lime  water. 
Sun  and  sharp  frosts  ripen  the  growths  and  solidify  the  crown 
better  than  the  atmosphere  of  houses. — G.  A. 
- <.$.► - 
A  REMEDY  FOR  THE  CODLIN  MOTH. 
When  recently  visiting  Mr.  Thomas  Pendered,  at  Redwell, 
Wellingborough, ‘and  while  inspecting  his  crops  of  fruit,  he  in¬ 
formed  me  that  he  had  pretty  well  cleared  his  garden  of  the 
codlin  moth,  though  at  one  time  it  was  badly  infested  with  it,  as 
it  adjoined  a  garden  in  which  its  ravages  were  largely  apparent. 
Mr.  Pendered  stated  that  when  he  finds  it  necessary  to  take 
remedial  measures,  he  requests  a  chemist  to  mix  him  a  quantity 
of  dressing  compound,  composed  of  two  parts  of  black  sulphur  to 
one  part  of  softsoap  ;  say,  21b  of  the  sulphur  to  lib  of  softsoap;, 
it  is  then  placed  in  a  tin  ready  for  use.  A  portion  of  this  is 
placed  in  a  pail,  and  sufficient  boiling  water  poured  over  it  to  form 
a  kind  of  batter,  and  to  this  is  added  a  half  pint  of  carbolic  acid, 
and  the  whole  is  stirred  up  well  together.  It  is  also  constantly 
stirred  during  the  time  of  using,  to-  prevent,  the  sulphur  sinking 
to  the  bottom. 
The  mixture  is  applied  to  the  trunk  and  branches  of  the  trees 
bv  means  of  a  brush  at  the  end  of  a  long  handle,  such  a  brush  as 
is  employed  for  tarring  a.  fence;  and  by  means  of  the  brush  the 
compound  is  well  rubbed  into  the  crevices  in  the  bark.  This 
dressing  is  applied  during  February  and  March.  In  addition  to 
the  dressing  applied  to  the  trees,  the  soil  about  them  is  dressed 
with  one  part  of  soot  to  two  parts  of  quicklime.  Mr.  Pendered 
employs  half  a  ton  of  soot  and  one  ton  of  lime  to  an  acre  of  orchard 
trees.  A  swreep  is  employed  to  sow  the  soot  first,  and  the  lime 
is  spread  over  it.  These  are  put  on  the  soil  in  early  spring,  and 
allowed  to  remain  on  the  surface  till  washed  in  by  rains.  After 
a  time  the  surface  may  be  gently  forked  over  with  advantage. 
Mr.  Pendered  stated  that  he  had  found  this  remedy  most  success¬ 
ful.  He  states  that  lie  gathered  seven  bushels  of  Apples  from 
two  trees,  and  he  thinks  there  was  not  one  among  them  pierced 
bv  the  maggot.  The  anplication  of  lime  and  soot  is  given  once  in 
1  three  or  four  years. — R.  D. 
