578 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
December  25,  1902 
will  not  remain  upright  true  and  straight  in  the  middle  of 
the  curve,  but  straightway  goes  beyond  it,  higher  and 
further,  almost  to  the  opposite  extreme.  So  it  is  with  all 
social  human  opinion. 
People  have  now,  in  some  departments  of  horticulture, 
begun  actually  and  openly  to  look  upon  size  as  a  fault  in 
itself,  Avhich,  in  my  humble  opinion,  is  as  great  an  error 
as  the  other.  According  to  the  views  of  such  people,  a 
horticultural  product  cannot  be  good  if  it  is  big — above  the 
medium  average  size.  If  your  soil,  situation,  or  manner 
of  cultivation  is  such  that  you  cannot  get  size,  it  is  very 
easy  to  pose  as  one  who  despises  mere  bigness  and  goes  in 
for  quality  only,  leaving  it  to  be  implied  that  size  and 
quality  cannot  go  together.  Being  personally  a  man  whose 
stature  may  be  reckoned  by  yards,  I  have  heard  a  good  deal 
in  my  time  of  such  aphorisms  as  “  The  best  goods  are  done 
up  in  small  parcels,”  &c.,  and — oh !  well,  it  may  be  true 
enough  as  far  as  I  am  concerned,  but  I  demur  to  it  as  a 
universal  axiom. 
A  favourite  old  Plum  was  the  Magnum  Bonum ;  but 
according  to  some  modern  views  a  fruit  cannot  be  bonum 
if  it  is  magnum.  Perhaps  Mr.  Bunyard  can  tell  us  if  the 
reason  why  Roundway  Magnum  Bonum,  which  he  asserts 
to  be  the  best  of  all  dessert  Apples,  is  so  seldom  grown, 
seen,  or  heard  of,  is  simply  because  it  is  too  big. 
I  protest  against  the  3in  ring  rule  for  dessert  Apples, 
as  put  forth  by  the  R.H.S.,  and  now  generally  adopted. 
I  think  it  was  at  first  only  applied  to  Blenheim  Orange, 
but  (if  I  am  not  mistaken)  at  some  shows  it  governs  now 
the  whole  of  the  dessert  Apple  classes.  If  I  asked  the 
reason  for  it  I  am  told  that  large  Apples  are  no  use  for 
dessert ;  if  carried  round  no  one  would  take  them.  But  is 
the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  to  be  influenced  and  ruled 
by  butlers  and  footmen  ?  or  to  guide  them  in  their  manner 
of  offering  and  dealing  with  the  choicest  fruits?  I  never 
heard  of  any  difficulty  in  dealing  with  Pitmaston  Duchess 
Pears  or  large  Melons.  I  suppose  there  would  be  no 
difficulty  in  cutting  the  larger  Apples,  or  some  of  them, 
once  across,  or  handing  round  slices,  as  of  Melons,  for,  to 
my  taste,  an  Apple  is  a  far  better  fruit  than  a  Melon. 
But  it  will  perhaps  be  said  people  will  not  have  the 
larger  Apples  for  dessert.  Well,  if  they  are  wrong,  as  I 
think  they  are,  they  should  not  be  yielded  to,  but  gently 
educated  to  see  the  very  obvious  reasons  why  a  good  big 
Apple  is  much  better  than  a  good  little  one.  What  part  of 
the  Apple  do  you  want  to  eat?  The  rind  and  core,  or  the 
flesh  ?  I  have  seen  a  first-prize  collection  of  six  sorts  of 
dessert  Apples,  wretched  little  things,  some  of  them,  not 
much  bigger  than  Siberian  Crabs,  where  I  am  sure  I  could 
not  get  a  decent  mouthful  anywhere  without  having  at  the 
same  time  a  lot  of  core  and  pips  and  eye,  whether  the  fruit 
was  peeled  or  not ;  whereas,  with  the  half  of  a  good  big 
Blenheim  or  Ribston  you  may  get  a  real  good  and  enjoyable 
bite  of  the  finest  fruit  the  world  produces.  For  my  own 
part,  I  think  a  2in  ring  minimum  would  be  much  more  to 
the  purpose. 
Now,  if  anyone  suggests  that  this  letter  is  a  clamour  for 
size  at  the  expense  of  quality,  I  would  point  out  at  once 
that  it  is  not  so.  I  only  wish  to  assert  that  it  is  possible 
for  a  flower  or  fruit  or  vegetable  to  be  bonum  as  well  as 
magnum,  and  magnum  as  well  as  bonum,  and  that  in  some 
fruits  there  is  an  especial  advantage  in  size,  in  that  the 
edible  part  is  more  comfortably  and  conveniently  presented, 
and  more  free  from  impediment. — W.  R.  Raillem. 
- -  - 
/  , 
The  Romans  and  Soil  Fertility. 
rAt  the  last  meeting  of  the  Linnean  Society,  Dr.  George 
Henderson  called  attention  to  a  passage  in  the  Georgies  of  Virgil, 
in  which  the  poet,  after  recommending  a  system  of  fallowing, 
proposes,  as  an  alternative  means  of  restoring  the  fertility  of 
the  soil,  that  before  taking  a  second  grain  crop  the  soil  should 
be  fertilised  by  planting  it  with  a  leguminous  crop.  The  Romans 
believed  that  these  plants  actually  enriched  the  soil,  especially  if 
the  roots  were  plentiful.  It  is  remarkable  that  recent  discoveries 
regarding  the  nitrification  of  the  soil  by  the  roots  of  leguminosae 
should  have  been  foreshadowed  so  long  ago  by  a  people  who  could 
have  known  nothing  of  chemistry  or  vegetable  physiology. 
Methods  of  Propagation. 
Recently  in  looking  over  some  of  my  manuscript  papers 
on  horticultural  subjects,  which  were  written  some  years  ago 
when  Avorking  up  for  an  examination  in  horticulture,  I 
found  one  on  methods  of  propagation.  This  is  a  very 
interesting  subject,  so  perhaps  a  fewr  notes  may  not  be  out 
of  place  in  our  Journal,  and  useful  to  some  of  its  readers. 
There  are  many  Avays.  by  Avhich  plants  may  be  propagated  ; 
but,  of  course,  the  most  natural  method  is  by  seeds.  The 
great  majority  of  plants  are  reproduced  in  this  Avay,  and  a 
great  deal  might  be  written  on  this  alone.  In  these  notes, 
however,  it  is  intended  to  dwell  upon  other  methods  of 
propagation.  At  the  same  time,  a  feAV  points  to  be  remem¬ 
bered  in  connection  Avith  propagation  by  means  of  seed  may 
be  alluded  to.  All  plants,  that  bear  floAvers  may  be 
increased  by  seeds.  These  should  be  large  of  their  kind, 
heaA'y,  plump,  and  Avell  developed.  All  seeds  contain 
reserve  food  material,  Avhich  is  either  stored  in  the  embryo 
plant  itself,  or  surrounding  it.  To  produce  a  plant  from  a. 
seed  it  must  be  put  in  the  ground  to  germinate. 
The  essential  points  in  germination  are  moisture,  warjnth, 
and  fresh  air.  No  seed  will  germinate  in  a  temperature 
beloAv  freezing  point  ;  a  temperature  of  about  40deg  or 
42deg  F.  is  required,  although  the  seeds  of  many  plants 
will  germinate  in  a  lower  temperature.  Moisture  is  neces¬ 
sary  to  soften  the  tissue,  as  the  food  contained  in  the  seed 
is  in  an  insoluble  condition.  Water  enables  the  insoluble 
reserve  material  to  assume  a  soluble  form.  Fresh  air,  or 
oxygen  contained  in  it,  is  necessary  for  the  carrying  on  of 
these  chemical  changes.  If  seeds  are  buried  so  deeply  that 
air  cannot  reach  them  germination  Avill  not  take  place. 
When  germination  commences,  and  the  embryo  begins  to 
grow,  by  using  up  the  soluble  food,  several  changes  take 
place.  One  of  the  most  important  is  the  changing  of  starch 
into  dextrin,  through  the  influence  of  a  nitrogenous  sub¬ 
stance  (diastase),  Avhich  acts  as  a  ferment. 
Cuttings. 
This  is  an  easy  Avay  of  propagating  plants,  and  of 
keeping  them  true  to  the  character  of  the  parent. 
Different  parts  of  the  plant  may  be  used  for  cuttings.  Some¬ 
times  the  young,  growing,  leafy  shoots  are  best;  in  other 
cases  the  ripened  or  partly  ripened  groAvths  are  used.  Then 
there  are  leaf  cuttings  and  root  cuttings.  Roots  are  gene¬ 
rally  formed  at  a  node  or  joint,  but  some  plants  will  also, 
emit  roots  at  any  part  of  the  stem.  Softwooded  cuttings, 
as  a  rule,  require  a  warm,  moist  temperature  and  a  close 
atmosphere  to  enable  them  to  root  quickly  and  well.  Cut¬ 
tings  made  of  the  ripened  shoots  Avill  naturally  be  longer  in 
forming  roots.  In  the  case  of  fruit  trees,  Conifers,  and 
hardy  deciduous  trees  and  shrubs  are  best  inserted  in  the 
autumn,  August  and  September  being  suitable  months  for 
Conifers  and  Roses,  while  October  will  be  best  for  such 
things  as  Gooseberries,  Currants,  &c.  Cuttings  of  most 
hardy  plants  may  be  inserted  in  lines  on  an  open  border.  It 
is  a  good  plan  to  add  some  sandy  soil  in  the  trench,  on 
Avhich  the  base  of  the  cutting  may  rest,  and  the  soil  should 
be  made  very  firm  round  it.  I  find  some  plants,  such  as 
Tea  Roses  and  Conifers,  take  root  better  in  pots.  They  are 
best  stood  in  a  cold  frame  when  inserted ;  but  on  the 
approach  of  severe  weather  should  be  removed  to  a 
structure  from  Avhich  frost  is  excluded.  In  spring,  if  intro¬ 
duced  to  a  gentle  heat,  the  process  of  rooting  will  be  greatly 
facilitated.  Some  plants  may  be  increased  by  leaf  cuttings, 
such  as  Begonias  and  Gloxinias.  The  leaves  may  be 
inserted  by  the  petiole,  but  the  base  of  the  leaf  must  also  be 
in  the  soil.  Another  method  is  to  lay  the  leaves  flat  on  the 
surface  of  the  soil  ;  before  doing  so  the  main  ribs  of  the 
leaf  should  be  notched  at  intervals.  Roots  will  be  emitted 
from  these  notches,  and  several  plants  will  often  be  pro¬ 
duced  from  a  single  leaf.  An  important  point  to  bear  in 
mind  when  inserting  a  cutting  is  to  make  sure  that  the  base 
of  it  rests  firmly  on  the  soil.  Inattention  to  this  particular 
is  a  frequent  cause  of  many  plants  being  lost. — J.  S.  Upex. 
(To  be  continued.) 
- «*#•♦ - 
Malmaison  Carnations. 
Respecting  the  photograph  of  Malmaison  Carnations  re¬ 
produced  on  page  565,  we  incorrectly  stated  that  Mr.  G.  H. 
Cook,  the  sender  of  the  photograph,  Avas  head-gardener  at  Mil- 
burn.  Esher.  Mr.  Cook  is  foreman  in  the  gardens  there. 
