October  iO,  1902. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
403 
Plums. 
Respecting  Monarch  referred  to  by  “Wandering  Willie,”  I 
have  found  it  one  of  the  finest  of  all  late  Plums,  although  this 
season  produced  a.  very  scanty  crop  ;  but  even  then  it  scored  over 
Rivers’  Prolific,  Denniston’s,  Transparent  Gage,  and  Angelina 
Burdett,  which  were  utterly  bare.  Emperor  and  Czar  were  the 
only  fruiters  with  me  this  year  other  than  the  first  mentioned 
variety. — Squib. 
The  Keeping  Property  of  Fruit  this  Autumn. 
I  should  greatly  like  to  know  what  is  the  general  experience 
of  growers  as  to  the  keeping  property  of  Apples,  Pears,  Plums, 
Cherries,  Grapes,  Figs  and  fruit  generally,  in  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland?  I  am  a  small  amateur  grower  with  little  more  than 
twenty  varieties  of  the  first  three,  but  I  claim  to  be  a  pretty  close 
observer,  and  my  notes  so  far  go  to  show  that  Apple's  and  Pears 
specially,  never  kept  worse,  although  kept  cool  and  dry  and 
tenderly  handled  in  an  open  shed,  and  so  far  at  a  temperature 
not  exceeding  55deg  Fahr.  I  attribute  the  comparatively  inferior 
flavour  and  bad  keeping  properties  to  the  limited  sunshine  and 
ripening  the  fruit  received. — W.  J.  Murphy,  Clonmel. 
Vegetable  Pesls. 
I  enclose  a  few  stems  of  Savoy  Cabbages  which  I  believe  are 
affected  with  the  Cabbage  root-eating  fly,  Anthomyia  brassicse. 
The  attack  is  very  general  this  season1  over  a  wide  area  of  the 
Cabbage  growing  district  of  Ormskirk  (Lancashire),  where  every 
farmer  grows  some.  Almost  every  grower  is  more'  or  less  affected. 
The  field  from  which  the  roots  were  drawn  is  about  seven  acres 
in  extent ;  it  was  Oat  stubble  ploughed  up  last  autumn  and 
winter,  or  rather  early  spring,  worked  in  the  usual  wTay ;  there 
had  not  been  a  previous  crop  of  the  Brassica  family  on  the  field 
for  at  least  a  generation  ;  the  farm  is  a  large  one. 
At  planting  out  time  it  was  given1  a  liberal  dressing  of  what 
is  known  as  Yankee  Manure,  that  is,  manure  that  is  taken  from 
cattle  boats  plying  between  Liverpool  and  America.  The  supply 
running  short,  the  last  acre  had  to  be  planted  without  manure. 
Drills  were  drawn  out  the  usual  distance — 28in  apart— the 
manure  spread  at  the  bottom,  then  covered  up,  and  the  plants 
set  out  about  18in  apart.  The  seed  was  obtained  from  a  neigh¬ 
bouring  farmer  and  was  home  saved,  and  the  plants  were  all 
taken  from  the  same  seed-bed.  I  may  here  mention  that  it  is 
the  custom  of  the  growlers  to  go  over  the  entire  seed  bed,  drawing 
all  the  plants  of  an  even  size  first,  then  following  on  with  the 
smaller  plants  afterwards. 
Now  for  results.  The  first  three  acres  or  so  that  wre  planted 
are  a  good  healthy  lot,  the  remaining  portion  of  the  field  are 
very  irregularly  affected.  There  will,  perhaps,  be  a  patch  of  two 
or  three  drills  wide  for  twenty  yards  or  so  on  which  there  is  only 
one  here  and  there  any  good,  followed  by  about  half  a  dozen 
healthy  plants,  and  so  on  through  the  remainder  of  these  drills. 
Next  will  come  a  fairly  good  drill,  perhaps  only  to  be  followed 
by  a.  couple  that  are  equally  as  bad,  so  that  the  last  four  acres  of  the 
field  may  be  described  as  patchy.  There  is  no  difference  perceptible 
in  the  attack  on  the  portion  that  had  no  manure  from  the  rest  of 
the  field,  but  there  is  a  marked  difference  in  the  growth  of  the 
unaffected  plants  growing  on  two  portions.  When  asked,  I  told 
the  farmer  that  probably  the  first  lot  had  got  a  start  into  growth 
with  little'  or  no  check,  perhaps  having  had  the  benefit  of  a  shower 
when  newly  planted,  thereby  enabling  them  to  resist  the  attack 
of  the  grub,  as  he  calls  it;  whereas  the  others  may  have  had  a 
check  from  want  of  rain.  I  had  that  theory  soon  knocked  on  the 
head  by  the  experience  of  another  farmer  whom  I  afterwards  met ; 
he  said  his  plants  got  away  splendidly  after  being  planted  for 
some  time,  then  suddenly  they  turned  a  bluish  colour  and  fell 
over  on  their  sides  if  touched.  I  thought  I  had  found  an  explana¬ 
tion  of  the  cause  ini  this  way  ;  this  fly  is  very  similar  to  the  Onion 
fly  in  its  habits.  Now  it  is  a  well-known  fact  to  many  gardeners 
that  if  they  thin  out  their  Onions  in  dry,  hot  weather  they  are 
simply  courting  an  attack  of  fly  if  the  ground  be  at  all  strong. 
I  thought  the  fly  here  got  a  foothold  after  the  first  lot  of  plants 
had  been  drawn,  and  my  idea  was  strengthened  by  farmer  No.  l’s 
plants  of  the  first  “pulling”  being  all  right;  now  farmer  No.  2 
said  his  first  “  pulling  ”  wrere  the  worst,  the  latter  lots  not  being 
so  badly  affected.  Strange  to  say,  it  is  the  early  Savoys  that  are 
the  worst,  the  later  kind  and  Cabbage  and  some  Cauliflower  are 
not  so  badly  affected. 
I  am  afraid  it  is  too  late  now  to  check  the  evil,  the  plants 
being  too  far  gone;  but  can  you  suggest  anything  to  prevent  a 
recurrence  of  the  attack  next  season? — John  Rylance. 
- *»€»•► - 
October  Chrysanthemums. 
Unlike  “H.  D.,”  I  have  not  found  Market  White  fade  to  any 
extent  after  cutting.  I  have  used  the  blooms  for  buttonholes 
considerably,  and  for  the  purpose  I  class  them  as  very  fine.  Its 
purity,  fine  form,  and  size  make  it  a  variety  that  will  take  some 
beating. — T.  W. 
- - 
Fruitless  Forest  Trees. 
I  observe  that  the  Eastern  and  Western  Planes,  Oaks,  Horse 
Chestnuts,  and  Spanish  Chestnuts  are  practically  without  fruit 
this  year.  I  have  also  particularly  noticed  that  numerous  of 
the  latest  partially  developed  leaves  on  several  large  old  trees 
of  Planes  in  this  district  were  shrivelled  up,  apparently  owing 
to  late  frosty  weather ;  the  Fir  and  Larch  trees  which  are  grown 
hereabouts  are  also  devoid  of  cones  this  year.  Probably  such 
an  unusual  general  absence  of  fruition  of  the  above  subjects  in 
this  district  was  owing  to  the  inclemency  of  the  late  spring 
weather.  Strangely,  however,  such  as  the  Filbert,  Cob.  and 
other  varieties  of  Nuts  have  never  been  known  to  be  more  abun¬ 
dant. — W.  G.,  Harborne,  Birmingham. 
- - 
A  Seedling  Carnation. 
I  send  to  you  a  bloom  of  a  seedling  Carnation  raised  by  one 
of  my  men  here,  Holland,  Sussex.  It  is  a  Thee,  and  I  have  named 
it  Lady  Betty.  As  you  will  see,  the  colour  is  very  much  the  same 
as  Joliffe,  blit  the  bloom  is  larger,  more  compact,  and  altogether 
a  great  improvement  on  that  variety ;  also  it  is  clove-scented. 
Kindly  give  me  your  opinion  of  its  mercantile  value. — 
C.  H.  Mathews. 
[The  flower  was  so  withered  from  having  been  packed  in  dry 
tissue  paper,  in  a-  very  small  box  and  with  a  short  stem,  that  its 
merits  could  not  be  correctly  gauged.  The  colour  is  pleasing, 
fragi-ance  delightful,  and  size  fair;  it  also  has  a  good  calyx,  and 
generally  seems  strong.  Its  mercantile  value  will  depend  greatly 
on  its  floriferousness  and  vigour.  A  trade  grower  would  be  better 
able  to  inform  you  on  this  point. — Ed.] 
South  African  Gardening. 
In  your  issue  of  September  4  last,  an  interesting  article 
appears  on  “South  African  Market  Gardening;”  and,  of  course, 
the  Rand  is  the  principal  centre  of  attraction.  No  doubt  there 
is,  and  will  continue  to  be,  a  great  demand  for  fresh  vegetables 
in  Johannesburg  if  the  population  continues  to  increase  as  it  is 
doing.  I  shall  quote  a  few  instances  of  the  prices  given  for 
vegetables  at  the  market  there:  Three  Cauliflowers,  13s. 
(but  that  was  exceptional);  three  Cabbages,  7s.  Gd. ; 
Lettuce,  3d.  each;  Leeks,  4d.  each;  Turnips,  4d.  each; 
Onions,  3d.  each;  Green  Peas,  Is.  per  pound.  This 
sounds  well,  and  better  too,  if  digested  with  the  article 
mentioned  beforehand.  Mention  is  made  about  cheap  labour, 
viz.,  natives  at  15s.  a  month  and  some  cheap  food  allowed.  I 
should  like  to  see  the  grin  of  the  Kaffir  or  the  independent  look 
of  the  Coolie  when  such  a  wuge  was  offered  him.  No,  do  not 
expect  that,  but  be  prepared  to  pay,  at  the  lowest,  from  £3  to 
£4  10s.  a  month  with  rice  for  the  Coolie,  and  mealies  and  some 
meat  for  the  Kaffir.  Then  another  important  point  is  that  the 
prices  above  stated  for  vegetables  are  procured  at  the  worst  time 
of  the  year  for  production.  I  mean  winter  and  early  spring, 
when,  to  produce  these  vegetables  a  plentiful  supply  of  water 
must  be  under  control,  and,  further,  nearly  all,  if  not  all  of  the 
springs  are  already  commandeered  outside  the  Rand,  principally 
by  the  Portuguese,  who  work  from  early  morn  to  night,  and  at 
a  lower  wage  than  Englishmen  would  care  to  work  for.  Of  course, 
that  matter  can  be  easily  remedied  by  going  twenty  miles  or  so  out 
of  town;  but  there  is  a  need  for  more  railways  throughout  the 
land  to  convey  the  produce  to  the  towns.  At  present  much  of 
the  produce  comes  from  Natal  and  Cape  Colony,  but  fresh  goods 
undoubtedly  take  the  highest  price.  The  postscript  by  the. editor 
after  the  article  gives  a  true  account  of  the  land,  the  climate, 
and  the  difficulties  to  be  met  with.  To  anyone  having  a  mind  to 
come  and  start  market  gardening  at  the  Rand,  kindly  take  a 
hint  and  have  a  good  supply  of  money  to  fall  back  on  ;  if  you  don  t' 
do  so,  you  will  find  out  your  mistake  when  it  is  too  late,  as 
fortunes  can  be  lost  and  made  herein  market  gardening  as  well 
as  at  home  — S.  A.,  Johannesburg. 
