JGUnXAr.  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
23  J 
March  31, 
Apple,  Golden  Russet. 
This  excellent  dessert  Apple  is  curiously  omitted  from  the 
“  Fruit  Garden,”  and  mauv  less  meritorious  kinds  are  described. 
The  fruit  is  of  medium  size,  2iiu  wide  and  2iiu  high,  coloured 
dingy  yellow  russet,  the  skin  being  rough,  thick,  and  scaly  on 
the  shaded,  side  and  round  the  base,  and  sometimes  with  a 
l)right  flame  of  varnished  red  on  the  side  next  the  sun.  Ihe 
flesh  is  pale  yellow,  crisp,  sugary,  and  aromatic,  but  not  abouncl- 
ing  in  juice.  Its  season  of  use  is  from  December  to  ^Vlarch. 
The  tree  is  healthy,  and  an  excellent  bearer,  but  recpiirse  a 
warm  situation  to  luing  the  fruit  to  perfection. 
Earliest  Fig  Trees  in  Pots. 
Early  Violet  and  St.  John’s,  though  small,  are  excellent  first 
early  varieties,  and  now  as  they  advance  towards  ripening  luust 
he  kept  drier.  This  applies  both  to  the  foliage  and  roots.  Vater, 
however,  should  be  supplied  to  the  roots  so  as  to  maintain  the 
foliage  in  health.  Trees  of  Brown  Turkey  swelling  their  fruits 
need  full  supplies  of  water  and  lic|uid  manure  until  ripening  com¬ 
mences,  when  a  circulation  of  warm  air  will  be  necessary  to  secure 
well  ripened,  high  (luality  fruit.  'fhe  temperature  should  be 
maintained  at  bOdeg  to  (lodeg  at  night,  TOdeg  to  7odeg  by  day  from 
fire  heat,  SOdeg  to  87deg  or  !)0deg  with  sun,  admitting  air  or 
increasing  it  from  7bdeg,  closing  the  house  early  so  as  to  advance 
5deg  to  lOdeg  afterwards, 
Planted  =  out  Fig  Trees. 
These  often  grow  too  luxuriantly,  and  are  frequently  trained 
to  walls  at  a  considerable  distance  from  the  glass,  so  that  they 
produce  wood  instead  of  fruit.  This  can  be  overcome  by  training 
the  growths  down  the  roof,  .securing  to  a  trellis  about  a  foot  from 
the  glass.  Or  the  excessive  luxuriance  may  be  checked  by  lifting 
the  tia.'es,  restricting  the  roots,  and  training  the  growths  thinly. 
When  tho  foliage  ha.s  abundance  of  light,  and  the  roots  are  plenti¬ 
ful  in  borders  of  limited  area,  the  trees  reepure  liberal  feeding. 
Fig  trees  with  abundance  of  fibrous  roots  will  take  almo.st-  any 
amount  of  liquid  manure  without  prejudice  to  the  crop. — Gkower. 
Strawberries  in  Pots. 
The  north-easterly  winds  have  not  been  favourable  to  plants 
in  flower,  mildew  flourishing,  and  sulphur  is  much  less  effective 
against  it  in  winter  than  in  summer.  In  dull  weather  it  is  well  to 
shake  the  flowers  occasionally  when  the  pollen  is  ripe,  and  to 
remove  the  smallest  and  least  desirable,  leaving  the  boldest, 
which  are  msually  the  first  to  expand,  and  they  generally  afford 
the  largest  fruit.  Thin  the  fruits  after  they  are  set,  leaving  the 
number  on  each  plant  it  is  calculated  to  mature  well.  Colour  and 
size  are  the  chief  points  in  a  forced  Strawberry,  and  a  relatively 
few  good  .fruits  are  better  than  man.y  indifferent.  The  plant.s 
should  be  examined  twice  a  day  for  water,  supplying  it  when 
needed  liberally,  affording  liquid  manure  two  or  three  times  a 
week  when  the  fruit  is  swelling.  Steady  progressive  growth  is 
most  favourable  for  Strawberries  until  after  flowering,  then  they 
swell  better  in  a  high  temperature,  and  moist  but  not  very  close 
atmosphere. — G.  A. 
Fruit  Growing  in  Nova  Scotia  :  Model  Orchards. 
Fruit  growing  in.  this  favoured  province  of  the  Dominion  is 
an  indmstry  of  the  first  importance.  The  Nova  Scotia  Govern¬ 
ment  by  the  establi.shment  of  twenty-five  model  orchards— in 
every  comity  of  the  province-  is  wisely  influencing  the  range 
of  profitable  fruit  cultivation.  The  possibility  of  growing  Peaches 
on  a  commercial  basis  in  Nova  Scotia  has  always  been  a  very 
debatable  subject,  but  the  results  now  obtained  on  systematic 
lines  go  far  to  prove  Peaches  can  be  made  an  important  asset 
in  the  fruit-growing  industry.  The  most  successful  varieties 
are  the  Elriv  and  the  Elrose,  and  crosses  of  the  Elberta  and 
Early  Rivers,  and  Elberta  and  IMountain  Ro.se  respectively.  In 
late  Plums,  Cox’s  Emperor  and  the  Late  Orange,  imported 
originally  from  England,  have  now  been  demonstrated  to  be 
valuable  market  sorts  for  Nova  Scotia  ;  the  former  ripened  by 
October  1,  while  the  Late  Orange  was  not  ripe  until  October  10, 
and  was  .still  in  good  condition  by  December  1.  The  latter 
variety  should  prove  valuable  for  canning  purposes,  as  it  comes 
hate  in  the  season  when  most  of  the  other  kinds  are  gone. 
At  these  model  orchards  much  valuable  information  is  being 
accumulated  and  di.stributed  on  such  matter  as  spraying  witH 
different  in.secticide  solutions  ;  the  seeding  down  orchards  with 
cover-crops  of  nitrogenous  and  non-nitrogenons  plants,  such  as 
Clovers,  Vetches,  Alfalfa,  Buckwheat.  The  prevention  of 
winter  killing  of  trees,  which  is  mainly  confined  to  the  Peach 
and  Apricots,  is  being  succes.sfully  overcome  .by  getting  t)'ee.< 
into  a  dormant  state  early  in  the  autumn,  by  stopping  cultiva¬ 
tion  late  in  June,  and  sowing  a  cover-crop.  There  is  alo  the 
Government  School  of  Horticulture  at  Wolfville  where  the 
tuition  is  free. 
- »  I - 
Societies, 
R.H.S.  Scientilic  Committee,  March  22n(l. 
Present:  Dr.  AI.  T.  Alasters,  F.R.S.  (in  the  chair);  Alessr?. 
Shea,  Holmes,  Gordon,  Bowles,  Massee,  Worsley,  and  .Michael ; 
Profe.ssor  Boulger;  Revs.  W.  ^\'ilks  and  G.  Henslow,  hon.  sec. 
Spuinotails. — Mr.  Allan,  Ashurst  Park,  Tunbridge  Wells, 
sent  specimens,  observing  that  he  always  found  them  on  the 
ground  round  about  the  glass  houses  in  spring  and  summer 
during  showery  weather.  IMr.  Saunders  reports  as  follows:  —  ‘‘  In 
reply  to  the  letter  from  ”  J.  R.  Allan,”  the  little  in.sects  are 
specimens  of  one  of  the  .springtails  ”  or  Poduridie,  and  belong  to 
the  genus  Podura.  These  little  creatures  may  often  be  found 
in  very  large  numbers  together.  Out  of  doors  they  are  not,  a.s 
a  rule,  the  cau.se  of  much  mi.schief  to  plants.  They  sometimes, 
however,  injure  the  roots  of  Potatoes,  Carrots,  Cabbages,  Ac. 
In  Alushroom  beds  they  are  often  the  cause  of  much  injury  to 
the  Mushrooms  when  they  are  quite  young;  in  Cucumber  frames 
they  attack  the  young  Cucumbers,  gnawing  off  the  outer  skin, 
and  causing  the  fruit  to  shrivel.  They  are  difficult  to  de.stroy, 
as  it  is  in  many  cases  impos.sible  to  apply  an  in.secticide  without 
injuring  the  plant  on  which  they  are  found.  Where  it  is  pos¬ 
sible  to  use  such  a  remedy,  the  .simple.st  way  of  destroying  them 
would  be  to  pour  very  hot  water  over  them.  A  strong  solution 
of  salt  or  nitrate  of  soda  would  probably  be  just  as  efficacious. 
The  springtails  are  very  intolerant  of  drought,  and  are  generally 
only  found  in  damp  situations.” 
Acaui  in  JIark. — 3Ir.  Barclay,  of  Stevenage,  sent  specimens, 
describing  them  as  being  ”  under  every  bit  of  loose  bark  and  in 
all  crevices  of  the  fruit  trees.”  IMr.  Michael  observes:  ”  They 
belong  to  the  genus  Oribata,  possibly  O.  orbicularis  or  0.  lapi- 
daria.  From  a  gardener’s  point  of  view  they  are  practically 
harmle.ss  and  may  be  disregarded.” 
Ipswich— Bacteria  of  the  Soil.  • 
The  winter  session  of  the  Ipswich  Alutual  Improvement 
Society  was  brought  to  a  successful  conclusion  on  .March  17, 
when  Air.  H.  de  Beer,  a  member  of  the  Ipswich  Scientific  Society, 
gave  a  lecture  illustrated  with  lantern  slides  on  “  The  Bacteria 
of  the  Soii.”  Mr.  C.  H.  Snipston,  vice-pre.sident,  occupied  the 
chair,  and  in  introducing  the  lecturer,  commented  upon  the 
intere.st  now  excited  in  the  subject  among  all  up-to-date  culti¬ 
vators  of  the  soii.  Air.  H  de  Beer,  in  commencing  his  lecture, 
said  he  could  lay  claim  to  no  great  knowledge  of  gardening,  but 
still  he  might  be  able  to  say  something  of  interest  concerning 
tho.se  minute  members  of  the  vegetable  world  which  the  develop¬ 
ment  of  the  microscope  had  revealed  to  ns.  He  then  proceeded 
to  explain  at  considerable  length  how  the  higher  plants  obtained 
their  food  and  bnilt  up  their  substance,  from  the  organic  and 
inorganic  elements  and  compounds  in  the  soil  and  air,  pointing 
out  in  this  connection  the  work  of  the  bacteria  in  converting 
ammonia  into  nitrates.  The  presence  of  oxygen  was  noted  as 
important  for  the  life  of  the  bacteria  in  soil,  showing  the  value 
of  thorough  tillage.  The  power  possessed  by  the  bacteria  occur- 
ing  in  the  root  nodules  of  Leguminous  plants  to  absorb  free 
nitrogen  from  the  atniosphere  was  mentioned,  and  the  value  of 
this  circumstance  pointed  out.  The  lecturer  concluded  by  re¬ 
ferring  to  the  ti'eatmcnt  of  sewage  by  bacteria,  .showing  several 
photographs  of  the  systems  of  beds  and  tanks  in  use  at  Alan- 
che.ster  and  other  places.  .4  hearty  vote  of  thanks  was  accorded 
Mr.  de  Beer  for  his  lecture,  which  was  much  appreciated.— 
E.  C. 
Hull  and  District:  Cactaceous  Piants. 
At  a  meeting  of  the  Hull  and  Di.strict  Horticultural  A,s.so- 
ciation  held  on  Alarcli  22,  Air.  J.  P.  Leadbetter  in  the  chair, 
an  e.ssay  was  read  by  Dr.  Mhlson,  Al.A.,  of  South  Cave  on 
“  Cactaceous  plants  and  their  Culture.”  Cacti,  said  Dr.  ’Wil¬ 
son,  were  a  I'emarkable  instance  of  the  way  plants  are  adapted 
for  the  climate  in  which  they  are  found,  and  it  becomes  the 
cultivator  to  a.s  far  as  possible  imitate  those  conditions.  Cacti 
are  mo.stly  tropical,  and  are  found  in  dry  di.stricts.  The  growth 
is  made  during  the  rainy  period,  and  moisture  conserved  by  the 
plant  to  withstand  the  drought.  Cactaceous  plants,  as  a  rule, 
are  put  in  some  odd  corner  out  of  the  way,  and  scarcely  any 
attention  afforded  them. 
Propagation  could  be  effected  by  .seeds,  cuttings  or  grafting. 
