344 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
April  21, 1904. 
Apple,  Cox’s  Orange  Pippin. 
No  variety  ot  Apple  cnltivated  in  English  gardens  or  orchards 
is  better  known— by  reputation,  at  least— than  is  the  one  we 
h'nire  this  week.  “  This  excellent  variety  was  raised  at  Coin- 
brook  Lawn,  near  Slongh,  Bucks,  by  a  Mr.  Cox,  who  was  for¬ 
merly  a  brewer  at  Bermondsey,  and  who  retired  to  Colnbrook 
liawn,  where  he  devoted  the  remaining  years  of  his  life  to  gar¬ 
dening  pursuits.  The  Apple  originated  in  1830,  and  is  said  to 
have  been  from  a  pip  of  Ribston  Pippin”  (Dr.  R.  Hogg). 
Though  raised  in  1830,  it  seems  not  to  have  been  introduced  to 
commerce  till  1854.  •  ,  i 
Cox’s  Orange  Pippin  is  purely  a  dessert  Apple,  with  the 
reputation  of  being  the  best-flavoured  kind  at  present  grown. 
Certainly  it  is  one  of  the  best,  and  fruits  from  scraggy  old  trees, 
when  “primed”  under  the  conjoint  influences  of  sun,  wind, 
and  rain,  are  deliciou.sly  sweet,  juicy,  and  aromatic.  The  flesh 
is  creamy  coloured  and  tender.  The  skin  is  slightly  rough,  of  a 
rich  orange,  bronzy  red,  .sometimes  scarlet,  on  the  sunny  side. 
The  fruits  are  in  season  from  November  till  February,  and  can 
be  kept,  if  in  proper  storehouses,  till  April. 
The  tree  is  a  medium  grower,  forming  a  well-shaped  pyramid, 
with  plenty  of  spurs  when  on  the  Paradise  .stock. 
In  the  colder  parts  of  Scotland  it  requires  a  wall,  but  this  is 
not  necessary  in  sheltered  gardens  or  in  the  mildei'  districts. 
“  Bearing  freely,  there  is  no  better  sort  for  market  culture  as  a 
hush  on  tlie  Paradise  stock  ;  in  congenial  (not  cold)  soils,  it  forms 
a  neat  orchard  tree”  (Fruit  Garden).  It.  is  unwise  to  plant 
large  patches  of  this  variety  by  itself. 
Grape,  Madresfield  Court. 
In  the  cultivation  of  this  fine  summer  Grape  there  attaches 
much  that  may  be  described  as  mysterious.  Many  may  grow  it 
quite  successfully  up  to  a  certain  point,  and  then  just  as  signally 
and  promptly  fail,  while  others  find  no  difficulty  in  supplying 
superb  examples  in  every  desirable  detail — weight  and  .shape  of 
Imnch,  size  of  berry  or  finish.  It  is  said  by  some  that  to  cul¬ 
tivate  the  Madresfield  Court  Grape  snccessfuily  a  separate 
structure  is  necessary;  while  others  may  give  ocular  pi’oof  that 
such  is  by  no  means  essential. 
Reasons  a.ssigned  to  the  common  failures  have  been  many, 
and  yet  the  real  cause  has  yet  to  be  defined.  The  question  has 
l)een  frequently  given,  and  perhaps  just  as  often  evasively 
answered,  but  among  the  great  many  Journal  readers  who 
de.sire  to  excel  in  Grape  culture,  there  is  .still  the  lingering  hope 
that  some  day  they  may  find  the  clue  to  sncce.ssful  culture.  The 
greatest  puzzle  of  ali  is  splitting  of  the  berries  ju.st  as  they  liave 
reached  that  ci’itical  stage  of  colouring,  and  up  to  which  time 
all  have  gone  so  well.  Some  will  advise  a  droughty  state  of  the 
border  from  this  period  onward,  while  others  adopt  just  the 
opposite  course.  The  suggestion  of  growing  this  variety 
separate  from  all  others,  of  course  may  easily  be  made  a  means 
of  evading  excess  of  root-moisture;  but  in  so  many  cases  it  is 
not  po.ssible  to  do  this.  AVhile  a  dry  border  and  a  comparatively 
dry  atmosphere  are  sometimes  a  means  of  success,  we  can  point 
to  instances  where  this  abstemious  cmstom  has  been  just  as 
studiously  avoided,  and  instead  of  withholding  water  they  have 
been  given  alternate  daily  solutions  of  clear  and  diluted  manurial 
liquids,  and  this  cour.se,  opposed  though  it  .seems  to  common- 
sense  practices,  resulted  in  the  maturation  of  some  of  the  best 
Madre.stields  we  have  seen.  Thus,  two  courses  as  opposed  as  it 
is  possible  for  them  to  be,  have  been  the  means  of  secni'ing  the 
same  ends. 
The  question  that  arises  is,  How  is  it  pos.sible,  or  why  should 
it  be  so?  The  answer  cannot,  certainly,  be  a  very  convincing 
one,  because  the  opposition  of  the  forces  is  so  absolute. 
Buoyancy  of  atmosphere,  elevation  of  the  structure  and  sur¬ 
roundings,  nature  of  the  soil,  .and  perfect  construction  of  the 
bouse  occupied  may  form  some  of  the  essential  points  that  com¬ 
bine  to  produce  perfect  examples  of  this  fickle,  but  high-class 
Giape.  A  sharply-pitched  and  drip-proof  roof  is  one  strictly 
nece.ssary  provision,  for  in  .showerv  times  and  an  atmosphere 
more  heavily  charged  with  moisture  ju.st  at  this  critical  time 
at  once  sets  up  splitting  of  the  hei'ries,  and  with  it  ruined 
))rospects.  It  is  most  distracting  when,  after  they  have  pro¬ 
gressed  to  a  partial  colour,  and  almost  a  complete  growth  of 
berry,  the  splitting  cannot  be  stopped  owing  to  structural  defect.s. 
Planting  neai'  the  end  of  the  house  ;  souares  of  glass  removed 
and  the  spaces  filled  in  with  perforated  zinc;  coverins  of  the 
roots  so  as  to  keep  them  free  from  rain  storms,  all  failed  in  their 
influence  to  give  sati.-faction.  Incismns  made  in  the  Laterals,  or 
a  puncture  with  gimlet  just  behind  the  bunch  have  been  tried 
without  gain,  so  that  under  ordinary  conditions  of  culture  luck, 
rather  than  science,  .seems  a  dominating  rule  in  securing  per¬ 
fect  bunches. 
No  difficulty  pre.sents  ihself  in  the  growth  of  the  Vine,  not 
so  much,  in  fact,  as  is  given  with  Gros  Colman  .sometimes,  and 
it  .sets  its  berries  perfectly  with  only  slight  aids  to  fertilisation. 
The  thinness  of  the  skin,  and  its  non-eiasticity  probably  account 
for  such  frequent  rupture  of  the  ripening  berries,  but  there  is 
in  the  constitution  of  the  pulp  something  very  sensitive  and 
highly  perishable,  because  the  smallest  damage  to  one  berry 
quickly  effects  great  rents  in  the  most  perfect  of  bunches.  If 
the  noble  character  of  the  Madresfield  could  only  be  blended 
with  the  good  and  reliable  Hamburgh  by  the  scientific  hybridist, 
what  a  gain  to  cultivators  and  consumers  would  follow  in  after 
years!  This,  however,  seems  an  imaginative  thought  more  than 
possible  of  actual  attainment,  since  it  has  lived  so  long  without 
giving  light  to  a  new  birth. — AV.  S. 
- - 
The  New  Soil  Science  and  Its  Resnlts,* 
( Concluded  from  page  327 ) . 
Let  us  refer  to  one  more  soil  element — iron.  At  the  Dalmeny 
experimental  station  we  have  been  for  years  using  ferric  oxide — 
and  with  great  advantage — where  we  ^nd  by  analysis 
that  the  soil  requires  this  available  but  non-poi,sonous  form  of 
iron.  I  have  never  heard  of  such  treatment  being  systemati¬ 
cally  followed  before,  and  yet  we  have  been  called  in  question  by 
a  newspaper  correspondent,  who,  along  with  several  others,  has 
tried  hard  for  some  time  to  draw  the  badger,  but  hitherto  with¬ 
out  success  ;  and  this  critic  says  there  is  nothing  new’  in  this 
treatment,  because  he  knows  that  so-and-so  u.sed  iron  many  years 
ago.  I  am  as  well  awai’e  of  that  as  my  critic  is,  and  it  is  per¬ 
fectly  veil  known  that  many  others  have  used  iron — but  in  u-Jint 
form  ^  The  answer  to  that  is  most  convincing  of  the  ignorance 
of  the  expeiimentei's,  because,  to  add  the  poisonous  and  diffus- 
able  sulphate  of  iron  at  the  soil  surface  must  of  necessity  be  as 
disastrous  as  would  be  the  bringing  up  of  ferrous  salts  from  sub¬ 
soils  by  tho.se  capillary  pipes,  whose  works,  as  pictured  in  books, 
nre  so  wondrous. 
All  the  experimenters  of  whom  I  can  think  at  this  moment 
— except  at  Dalmeny — have  used  as  a  source  of  iron  this  poi¬ 
sonous  ferrous  sulphate,  and  it  is  no  wonder  its  n.se  was  discon¬ 
tinued,  for  they  were,  as  usual,  working  by  rule  of  thumb — AA’e’ll 
ti-y’  this,  and  we’ll  try  that,  and  we’ll  ti'y  the  other  thing;  but 
they  had  no  true  science  to  guide  them,  and  their  fate  was 
inglorious. 
I  should,  perhaps,  here  refer  for  a  moment  to  the  functions  of 
farmvard  manure.  That  has  been  lepresented  as  valuable, 
mainly  becau.se  of  containing  a  few  pounds’  weight  per  ton  of 
phosphates,  iDotash,  and  nitrogen,  but  that  is  pure  nonsense. 
Farmyard  manure  gives  several  phy.sical  advantages  to  soil;  it 
holds  water  in  the  .soil,  it  contains  most  of  the  essential  consti¬ 
tuents  for  the  advantageous  soil  organisms;  and  it  is  the  great 
seat  of  bacterial  development  and  change. 
At  the  time  of  the  creation  of  the  new  soil  science  I  had 
experiments  going  on  on  my  own  bit  of  land  at  home.  The  doc¬ 
trines  I  had  proved  correct,  and  was  enunciating  to  my  .students 
were  questioned  by  Professor  AAallace,  who  lidiculed  our  views. 
I  was  challenged  to  put  the  doctrines  to  the  test  on  a  practical 
scale — half  an  acre  not  being  enough  in  the  opinion  of  my  chal¬ 
lenger — and,  as  I  had  nothing  to  fear,  and  loved  the  truth,  I 
applied  to  my  old  pupil,  Mr.  A.  L.  Dry.sdale,  who  had  just  about 
that  time  become  factor  to  Lord  Rosebery  at  Dalmeny.  Our 
experiinents  were  started  on  several  fields,  and  they  proved  so 
successful  that  in  the  following  year  the  research  station  was 
started,  with  the  full  and  willing  con.sent  of  Lord  Rosebery,  and 
they  have  been  conducted  ever  since  under  such  conditions  as 
have  left  nothing  to  chance.  The  Dalmeny  plots  have  been 
visited  l)y  scores  of  agricultural  societies,  by  many  scientists  from 
at  home  and  abroad,  and,  notwithstanding  the  numerous  reports 
of  the  work  which  have  appeared  in  the  leading  newspapers  of 
Britain  and  elsewhere,  not  one  single  syllable  of  adverse  criticism 
has  been  heard  until  after  the  visit  this  autumn  of  the  Galstoii 
Fai'tners’  Club. 
One  anonymous  critic  got  a  .scurrilous  letter  publi.shed  in 
the  Scotsman.  He  did  not  discuss  one  single  point  in  science, 
he  did  not  even  sugge.st  any  error  in  our  woi’k,  but  he  raved, 
and  made  some  obscure  reference  to  Holy  Moses.  There  is  no 
doubt  in  my  mind  as  to  the  author.  He  was,  if  I  mistake  not, 
an  admiring  nnpil  or  at  least  behaved  like,  and  pretended  to  be, 
a  disciple.  He  was  so  excitable  and  erratic  that  I  often  ques¬ 
tioned  his  sanity.  He  did  not  succeed  as  he  hoped  to  do  in 
Scotland.  He  has  been  toadying  to  some  of  the- experimentalists 
in  the  south  for  years  back,  and  presumably  he  considered  he 
was  doing  well  in  attempting  to  ridicule  good  work  without  being 
able  to  call  in  (juestion  any  single  statement  we  have  ever  made, 
if  thereby  he  improved  his  situation  as  an  nnca  wise  man. 
*  Pnper  read  before  rb“  Renfrew.shire  Agricultural  Society  at  Paislsy  bv 
Mr.  .John  Hunter,  F.UC.,  r.C.«.,  Edinburgli. 
