581 
December  25,  1902. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE 
GARDENER . 
The  Education  Bill. 
We  should  much  esteem  the  favour  of  an  early  intimation  in 
your  columns  that  the  St.  Bride’s  Press,  Limited — who  are  the 
proprietors  of  “  The  County  Council  Times,”  the  official  organ 
of  the  county  councils  and  of  various  educational  associations — 
will  publish  on  the  first  day  of  the  New  Year  a  weekly  paper,  to 
be  called  “  Education,  Primary,  Secondary,  and  Technical,”  which 
will  deal  mainly  with  the  work  of  the  authorities  under  the 
Education  Bill. — The  St.  Bride’s  Press,  Limited. 
Christmas,  1902. 
How  hurriedly  the  weeks,  and  the  months,  and  the  years  pass 
by !  And  one  seems  ever  to  be  planning  to  give  the  swift  recur¬ 
ring  events  the  attention  they  properly  deserve,  but  one’s 
endeavours  often  lack  completion  before  the  subject  of  the  day 
is  upon  us  and  passing  into  history.  It  is  so  with  gardeners,  as 
it  i-,  with  editors.  It  is  the  reply  of  honest  workers  that  they  do 
their  best,  and  it  should  be  a  watchword  with  everyone.  We  are 
now  at  Christmas,  1902,  and,  while  the  period  is  one  of  Christian 
rejoicings,  it  is  also  a  time  at  which  we  all  look  forward  on  the 
work  of  another  year.  May  this  New  Year  be  completed  with 
very  happy  recollections  and  satisfaction  in  the  minds  of  each 
Journal  reader,  and  at  this  present,  may  Christmas  be  really 
Christmas  to  all. 
Luther  Burbank  of  Santa  Rosa,  Cal. 
Luther  Burbank,  who  may  well  be  given  the  title  of  America’s 
most  practical  hybridist  and  plant  breeder,  now  of  Santa  Rosa, 
Cal.,  is  a  native  of  the  East  LT.S.,  having  been  born  in  Lancaster, 
Worcester  County,  Mass.,  March  7,  1849.  Wherever  plant  im¬ 
provement  is  known  and  studied  there  Burbank’s  fame  goes  also. 
He  seems  to  be  possessed  of  a  genius  for  breeding  plants,  and  it 
was  a  source  of  universal  regret  that  this  great  exponent  of  the 
art  could  not  arrange  to  have  been  present  at  the  International 
Conference  on  Plant  Breeding  and  Hybridisation  which  lately  was 
held  in  the  city  of  New  York.  He  contributed,  however,  to  the  pro¬ 
ceedings  of  the  conference  a  very  interesting  and  suggestive  paper, 
in  which  lie  wished  to  show  how  the  question  of  plant  breeding 
was  as  yet  merely  touched  upon  by  those  who  were  interested  in 
it.  The  few  statistical  observations  he  made  are  appalling  in 
their  significance.  To  think  that  one  grain  per  ear  of  Wheat 
would  add  to  the  yield  of  the  country  fifteen  million  extra 
bushels,  and  that  one  Potato  more  to  each  hill  would  increase  the 
yield  by  twenty-one  million  bushels!  Luther  Burbank  was  the 
thirteenth  child  of  the  fifteen  born  to  Samuel  Walton  Burbank, 
his  father,  a  man  widely  known  in  business  relations  in  his  native 
place.  Professor  Wickson,  of  the  University  of  California,  re¬ 
cently  wrote  an  appreciative  series  of  articles  in  the  “  Sunset 
Magazine.”  Professor  Wickson  says  that  “  Luther  Burbank  is 
descended  from  an  ancestry  of  indoor  people  chiefly  active  in 
pedagogical  and  manufacturing  affairs,  and  disclosing  no  notable 
taste  for  outdoor  pursuits.”  Evidently  the  characteristic  traits 
of  this  man  have  been  inherited  through  his  mother’s  family.  His 
maternal  grandfather,  Peter  Goff  Ross,  was  a  grower  of  seedling 
Grapes,  and  other  members  of  the  family  indulged  in  horticulture. 
Of  the  mother’s  family,  also,  were  the  Burpees,  of  whom  a  well- 
known  seedsman  of  to-day  is  a  present  representative.  Evidently 
“  Mendel’s  Law  ”  is  illustrated  here  ;  the  influence  of  the  maternal 
ancestors  was  “  dominant.”  To  continue  quoting :  “  His  start 
upon  life  was  not  strong ;  he  was  slight  of  build,  rather  serious 
in  manner,  and  retiring  in  disposition.  At  a  very  early  age  he 
began  to  make  playmates  of  plants,  and  his  doll  was  a  Cactus 
plant  fondly  carried  about.  In  school  he  was  a  diligent  pupil, 
but  was  never  able  to  overcome  the  fear  of  the  sound  of  his  own 
voice.  He  was  very  apt  with  the  pen,  and  free  in  composition.” 
As  a  boy  Luther  worked  in  the  shops  of  the  Ames  Plow  Company, 
and  during  his  half  holidays  spent  his  time  among  his  uncle’s 
seedling  Grapes  and  Rhubarbs.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  deve¬ 
loped  an  improvement  in  the  woodworking  machinery  of  the  fac¬ 
tory,  which  led  to  the  concern  offering  to  retain  him  at  more 
than  twenty-five  times  his  then  wage  if  he  would  work  as  an  in- 
Arentor;  but  he  decided  on  a  horticultural  career.  A  question  of 
plant  improvement  was  first  brought  to  his  notice  by  a  discussion 
on  Potatoes.  Becoming  convinced  that  California  offered  a  more 
suitable  climate  for  his  work,  he  moved  to  Santa  Rosa  in  the  fall 
of  1875.  Since  that  time,  concludes  “  American  Gardening,”  his 
work  has  been  critically  watched  by  students  and  business  men 
throughout  the  country,  and,  indeed,  the  whole  world. 
Mistletoe  Plentiful. 
Covent  Garden  market  is  receiving  its  consignments  of  Holly 
and  Mistletoe.  Hampshire  has,  as  usual,  sent  a  good  supply  of 
Holly,  and  Normandy  is  not  behind  in  its  contribution  of  Mistle¬ 
toe,  which  is  plentiful.  A  groat  proportion  of  the  Holly  branches 
are  well  laden  with  berries.  Prices  being  fairly  moderate,  there 
is  a  good  demand. 
Byron  Bay,  New  South  Wales. 
Byron  Bay,  on  the  northern  coast  of  New  South  Wales,  forms 
the  little  known  threshold  of  a  beautiful  district,  rich  in  tropical 
or  semi-tropical  vegetation.  “Here  may  be  seen,”  remarks  an 
observant  visitor,  “all  sorts  of  splendid  trees,  shrubs,  creeping 
plants,  and  Vines,  growing  in  wonderful  luxuriance.  Perhaps  the 
most  beautiful  of  all  is  the  bean  tree,  Castanospermum  australe, 
well  known  for  its  handsome  dark  timber.  This  tree  sometimes 
attains  a  height  of  about  200ft.  Some  of  the  gigantic  nettle 
trees  attain  an  equal  height,  with  a  diameter  sometimes  of  about, 
8ft.  In  the  magnificent  brushes  grow  also  numbers  of  other 
handsome  trees — the  Teak  tree,  or  Flindersia ;  the  Rosewood, 
Dysoxylon  Fraseranum,  which  has  a  red,  rose-scented  timber; 
the  native  Beech,  Gmelina  Leichhardtii,  the  silky  Oak,  Grevillea 
robusta,  a  most  valuable  timber  tree ;  the  red  Cedar,  Cedrela 
toona ;  immense  Figs,  whose  huge  thin  buttresses  extend  from 
their  stems  for  yards  in  all  direction;  and  numbers  and  numbers 
of  other  plants  too  numerous  to  mention.  The  beautiful  grace¬ 
ful  bungalow  Palms,  which  bear  the  ponderous  botanical  name 
Ptycliosperma  Cunninghamii  may  be  met  with  in  thousands. 
The  cabbage  tree  palm,  Livistona  australis,  also  in  many  places 
abounds ;  and  the  beautiful  little  walking  stick  palm,  Iventia 
monostachya,  the  Midgimbill  of  the  natives,  grows  here  in 
millions.  This  is  one  of  the  prettiest  and  most  graceful  of  the 
plants,  especially  when  its  bright  red  fruit  is  ripe.  It  grows 
sometimes  to  a  height  of  20ft,  with  stems  not  more  than  an  inch 
or  two  in  diameter.” — J.  P. 
Pineapple  as  an  Aid  to  Digestion. 
Under  this  head  the  “  Agricultural  News,”  which  is  a  fort¬ 
nightly  review  of  the  Imperial  Department  of  Agriculture  for 
the  West  Indies,  has  a  note  which  has  an  important  bearing 
on  the  trade  in  tinned  Pineapples.  The  flavour  of  these  fruits 
and  their  price,  as  compared  with  that  of  the  fresh-grown  fruit 
have  gained  for  them  a  very  wide  reputation,  and  tinned  Pine¬ 
apples  are  not  despised  even  on  the  tables  of  the  upper  classes, 
so  that  Pineapples  in  this  form  have  become  a  very  large  article 
of  import,  both  from  the  West  Indies  and  from  the  Straits 
Settlements.  The  fact  of  their  containing  a  digestive  ferment, 
to  which  the  “  Agricultural  News  ”  draws  attention,  is  another  and 
a  strong  recommendation  to  their  use  as  a  dessert  fruit.  For  a 
long  time  the  Papaw  (Carica  papaya)  has  been  known  to  contain 
a  valuable  ferment  known  as  papain,  used  as  an  aid  to  digestion, 
and  the  “  Agricultural  News”  now  refers  to  the  fact  that  brome- 
lin,  the  ferment  of  the  Pineapple,  is  almost  identical  in  its 
action  with  papain.  Quoting  from  the  “  Lancet,”  it  is  stated 
that  “  the  partaking  of  a  slice  of  Pineapple  after  a  meal  is  quite 
in  accordance  with  physiological  indications.”  Bromelin  exerts 
a  powerful  action  on  proteids,  digesting  1,000  times  its  own 
weight  within  a  few  hours.  Fibrin  disappears  entirely,  the  white 
of  eggs  is  digested  slowly,  whilst  albumen  of  meat  is  transformed 
first  to  a  pulpy  gelatinous  mass  to  be  completely  dissolved  later. 
Cooking  destroys  the  activity  of  the  ferment,  but  the  “  Lanoet  ” 
is  of  opinion  that  unless  the  Pineapple  is  preserved  by  heat,  there 
is  no  reason  why  the  tinned  fruit  should  not  retain  its  digestive 
power.  On  this  the  “  Agricultural  News  ”  says  :  “  Unfortunately 
for  this  hope,  Pineapples  are  sterilised  by  steam-heat  during  the 
process  of  canning,  the  ferment  being  almost  certainly  destroyed. 
Unlike  pepsin,  the  digestive  principle  of  the  Pineapple  will 
operate  in  all  acid,  neutral,  or  even  alkaloid  medium,  according 
to  the  kind  of  proteid  to  which  it  is  presented.  '  It  may  therefore 
be  assumed  that  the  Pineapple  enzyme  would  not  only  aid  the 
work  of  digestion  in  the  stomach,  but  would  continue  that  action 
in  the  intestinal  tract.  Pineapple,  it  may  be  added,  contains 
much  indigestible  matter  of  the  nature  of  woody  fibre,  but  it 
is  quite  possible  that  the  decidedly  digestive  properties  of  the 
juice  compensate  for  this  fact.”  With  such  important  pro¬ 
perties  in  the  fresh*fruit,  it  seems  that  there  is  an  opening  for 
someone  to  try  his  hand  in  preparing  Pineapples  for  exportation 
without  the  aid  of  heat. — John  R.  Jackson,  Claremont,  Lymp- 
stone,  Devon  (in  the  “Tropical  Agriculturist”). 
