42-2 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
May  19, 1904. 
ot  gardening,  ne  liave  a  high  sense  of  admiration.  The  excellent 
rvoi  k  they  are  doing  meets  with  well-merited  appreciation.  For 
ourselves  we  are  content  to  say  little.  Our  now  ancient  motto, 
“For  gardeners  and  gardening,”  is  ever  to  the  forefront,  and 
we  endeavour  to  make  these  pages  as  agreeably  interesting  as 
human  imperfection  will  allow. 
There  is  apparently  an  endless  supply  of  standard  works  and 
text  books,  together  with  revised  editions  of  older  publications. 
'I’he  marvel  is  that  there  appears  room  for  so  many  ;  yet  that 
there  is  a  steady  demand  is  very  evident,  and  this  .serves  to  prove 
Iiow  great  and  widespread  is  the  interest  taken  in  all  matters 
connected  with  horticulture.  The  low  price  at  which  some  of 
these  books  are  issued  might  induce  a  supposition  that  their 
contents  would  be  of  a  corre.sponding  value.  Such  an  e.stimate 
is  cjuickly  dispelled  upon  consideration  of  their  pages,  with  a 
perusal  of  the  names  of  the  writers  or  compilers. 
Certain  societies  or  associations  have  their  cjuota  to  add  to 
this  mass  of  literature.  Pamphlets  here  and  pamphlets  there  ; 
circulars,  too,  setting  forth  the  di.sea.ses  and  cure  of  the  special 
subject  for  the  advancement  and  protection  of  which  they  have 
l)een  formed.  Government  leaflets,  too,  from  the  Board  of 
Agricidture,  printed  in  lucid  language,  and  giving  genuinely 
instructive  information.  These  might  with  advantage  be  more 
V  idely  read  and  known.  iVIany  persons  even  now  are  unaware 
that  such  leaflets  exist,  and  many  more  still  have  not  the 
slightest  idea  where  or  how  they  are  to  be  obtained ;  though 
the  needfid  information  has  been  set  forth  on  many  occasions 
in  gardening  journals. 
With  all  this  evidence  of  strenuous  effort  and  progress  before 
us  in  connection  with  the  printed  work  of  horticulture,  it  is  at 
once  surprising  and  regrettable  to  find  the  Journal  of  the  Royal 
Horticultural  Society  still  issued  in  an  uncut  state.  This 
work,  which,  considering  its  selling  price,  and  also  the  intrinsic 
value  of  its  contents,  ought  to  be  to  the  fore  in  every  possible 
way,  is  content  to  lag  behind  in  this  respect.  A  small  matter, 
possibly,  but  to  the  bu.sy  man  a  truly  exasperating  one.  Not 
everyone  will  find  the  volumes  placed  upon  his  desk,  cut  and 
ready  for  use,  as  nowadays  falls  to  our  lot ;  but  there  was  a 
time  when  this  attention  was  not  vouchsafed  us,  and,  looking 
back  through  earlier  numbers,  we  find  many  pages  uncut,  and 
no  doubt  much  treasure  of  information  unused.  We  rather 
suspect  that  if  a  plebiscite  of  the  Fellows  could  be  taken  on  this 
question,  there  would  be  a  very  large  majority  in  favour  of  the 
guillotine. 
In  conclusion,  it  may  be  said  that  much  could  have  been 
added  in  reference  to  the  publications  of  other  nations,  but  the 
subject  is  sufficiently  wide  in  relation  to  the  work  in  our  own 
land  ;  far  udder,  in  fact,  than  can  be  efficiently  treated  within 
the  limits  of  a  single  article. 
— — - - - - - 
Extra  Garden  Fruits. 
There  are  several  fruit  products  of  our  gardens  or  the 
grounds  contiguous  thereto,  which  may  be  described  as  occa¬ 
sional  occupants  therein  as  distinguished  from  the  ordinary  and 
regular  inmates,  which  one  expects  to  meet  with  everywhere. 
A  cursory  glance  at  each  in  order  may  in'ove  of  interest.  Fir.st, 
then,  let  us  take  the  Fig,  which  is  a  native  of  Palestine,  as 
all  readers  of  the  Scriptures  are  likely  to  know,  and  largely  in 
evidence  in  Holy  Writ.  To  sit  under  one’s  Fig-tree,  indeed, 
was  synonymous,  in  those  days,  of  peace  and  prosperity.  It 
flourishes  still  more  or  less  in  that  retrograde  and  bygone  his¬ 
torical  land,  as,  too,  in  various  other  Eastern  countries.  I 
have  found  it  largely  about  the  environs  of  Con.stantinople, 
most  gardens,  whether  large  or  small,  having  a  Vine  or  Fig 
trellised  into  a  summer-house  or  arbour,  the  large  spreading 
leaves  forming  a  delightful  cool  retreat  from  the  midday  sun. 
Vith  us  it  thrives  fairly  well  in  favoured  districts,  but  chiefly 
in  the  south  and  western  counties,  as  warmth  is  a  great 
desideratum  naturally.  A  corner  of  a  south-west  wall  will  often 
produce  a  fine  gi’owth  and  good  fi’uit,  while  in  gardens  near  the 
seaside  it  appears  sometimes  happy  in  its  condition  and  fruit- 
fulne.ss. 
Coming  to  the  Almond,  were  it  not  that  I  have  twice 
expeiienced  lipe  fruit  from  this  highly  oiuiamental  spring 
blossoming  tree,  it  would  hardly  have  struck  me  as  finding  a 
place  under  the  heading  of  these  notes.  Born,  shall  we  say, 
in  the  East,  and  also  in  Africa,  it  may  now  be  said  to  abound 
pretty  well  over  the  whole  .south  of  iCurope,  and  is  a  pleasing 
and  familiar  object  at  blo.ssoming  time  to  winter  and  spring 
travellers  in  the  south  of  France,  Italy,  Corsica,  the  northern 
coast  of  the  IVlediterranean,  and  parts  of  Pale.stine.  Grown  as 
it  is  with  u.s  for  its  lovely  and  earliest  bloom,  when  winter  has 
barely  died,  just  as  the  Cherry.  Peach,  and  Plum  is  cultivated 
by  the  Japanese  lor  spectacular  or  floral  decorations,  we  have 
httle  or  no  arriirc  ja-nxcr  for  the  Almond’s  autumn  fruit. 
Nevertheless,  under  favourable  conditions  fine  matured  nuts  are 
sometimes  produced.  Some  few  years  ago  a  young  tree  of  mine, 
bouglit  from  the  local  nursery,  acting  apparently  on  the  admir¬ 
able  principle,  his  daf  qui  ciio  dot,  the  very  next  summer  pro¬ 
duced  about  half  a  dozen  perfect  nuts,  and  formed  a  choice 
little  dish  at  dessert  one  winter  evening,  while  a  few  years  later 
Fortune  gave  me  a  .solitary  almond,  equally  good,  grown  from 
a  similar  young  tree  the  .second  sea.son  after  planting:  only 
in  this  case  it  was  up  in  midland  Warwickshire  where  it  had 
perfected,  the  former  being  in  Somersetshire,  and  the  tree 
would  doubtless  have  matured  several  others  had  they  not 
suddenly  disappeared,  cleared  off,  no  doubt,  by  some  predatory 
rook. 
The  glorious  golden  Quince  has  been  considered  by  many 
to  belong  to  the  Pyrus  family.  It  is  better,  however,  to  treat 
it  as  a  distinct  fruit,  obtaining  its  name  from  Cydon,  in  Crete, 
being  indigenous  in  Per.sia,  and  perhaps  also  in  Greece  and 
the  Crimea.  It  was  in  olden  times  popularly  supposed  to  ward 
off  the  evil  eye.  Though  hardly  to  be  recommended  to  be 
eaten  au  naturcl,  it  makes  a  splendid  rich  preserve  or  a  delicious 
adjunct  when  stewed  with  its  kinsman,  the  Pear. 
The  iMedlar,  that  odd  fruit  which  is  generally  described  as 
rotten  before  you  can  eat  it  (but  is  it  not  in  reality  merely 
ripe?),  like  the  last-named,  is  a  comparatively  rare  occupant  of 
our  orchards.  It  is  while  young  a  splendid  bearer,  and  the 
tree,  which  grows  umbrella  shape,  is  elegant  and  symmetrical  in 
form.  It  is  a  native  of  European  woods  and  Western  Asia,  and 
is  to  be  found,  tliough  hardly  indigenous,  in  hedgerows  in  the 
south  of  England,  it  was  well  known  to  the  ancients,  and  we 
have  mention  of  it  both  by  the  Greek  Theophrastus  (/tesTriATj)  and 
the  Roman  Pliny. 
As  to  the  Mulberry,  of  which  several  kinds  are  closely  allied 
to  the  Fig,  we  must  go  to  the  other  end  of  the  world  for  some 
of  its  vai'ieties,  Japan  and  the  South  Sea  Islands  being  its 
ancient  abodes,  though  the  iMorus,  or  Mulberry  proper,  is  found 
in  temperate  regions  of  Asia  and  America,  and  hilly  regions  of 
the  tropics. 
Regarding  the  iMelon  and  Cucumber  as  somewhat  akin,  both 
may  be  held  as  natural  products  of  sub-tropical  Asia,  though 
I  fancy  there  is  no  real  knowledge  of  the  former  in  its  wild 
state.  The  Water  Melons  of  South  Africa  and  parts  of  America 
are  much  prized  for  their  juicy  coolness,  while  the  seeds  of  an 
Indian  kind  are  expres.sed  into  oil. 
Taking  the  Walnut  next,  its  proper  home  seems  to  have 
been  in  Persia  and  the  Himalayas.  Anyhow,  like  many  other 
fruits,  it  was  introduced  centuries  ago  into  Europe  by  the 
Romans,  and  was  cultivated  in  the  time  of  Tiberius.  So 
valuable  at  one  period  was  the  wood  of  old  trees  that  as 
much  as  £600  has  been  given  for  a  single  tree.  As  regards 
their  cropping  powers,  it  is  prodigious,  and  once  in  every  three 
or  four  years  the  crop  of  full-sized  trees  in  their  prime  is  simply 
colossal.  But  for  the  fact  that  they  necessarily  take  some 
time  before  coming  into  bearing,  and  accordingly  being  a  case 
of  planting  for  your  heirs,  it  seems  a  pity  that  plantations  or 
single  specimens  are  not  more  often  put  in. 
Imstly,  of  the  Chestnut,  though  this,  as  in  a  lesser  degree 
the  Wahiut  also,  savours  perhaps  more  of  the  park  than  the 
garden.  Later  even  than  the  last-named  in  consuramating  its 
produce,  and  requiring  the  tree  to  be  of  a  goodly  size  to  bear 
matured  fruit  at  all,  we  may  devote  a  few  remarks  upon  this 
stately  arboreal  product  and  its  rich  brown  nut.  It  came, 
perhaps,  originally  from  Castanum  in  Thessaly  (whence  its 
name),  being  an  indigenous  growth  of  Asia  Minor,  but  long 
naturalised  in  the  south  of  Europe,  where  it  forms  an  article  of 
food,  and  is  ground,  indeed,  into  bread.  Corsica,  Spain, 
France,  and  Italy  are  especially  renowned  for  the  quantity  and 
quality  of  this  nourishing  nut,  which  Londoners  are  so  familiar 
with  of  a  winter  afternoon  in  the  streets,  “done  brown,”  and 
wonderfully  appetising-looking  (thoirgh  we  do  not  often  have 
the  courage  to  buy  them)  upon  the  harrows  of  hawking  vendors. 
In  Italian  cities  this  is  naturally  a  still  inore  familiar  sight,  and 
many  a  meal  in  your  hotel  or  jioision.  will  be  found  to  include 
the  Castagna  or  ^larron  in  some  form  or  other.  In  the  south 
of  England  many  of  these  showy  trees  attain  a  remarkable 
degree  of  fruitfulness  and  size  as  regards  their  glossy  nut. 
The  grand  growths  of  the  Heepdene  estate  in  that  sylvan  dis¬ 
trict  of  Surrey  yield  some  seasons  splendid  fruit,  especially  the 
variety  which  may  be  termed  the  Spani.sh  Chestnut  par 
excellence,  and  many  is  the  liberal  bagful  the  writer  when  a  boy 
has  garnered  in  under  those  spreading  trees  in  the  beautiful 
home  county. 
It  is  probably  veiv  uncommon  to  find  all  the  above  fruits  in 
any  one  garden  of  average  pretensions.  But  a  month  since, 
however,  I  was  so  fortunate  as  to  see  every  single  kind  men¬ 
tioned  in  these  notes  doing  their  respective  duty  in  an  old- 
fashioned  rectory  garden  in  Suffolk.  There  wei’e  Melons  and 
Cucumbers  luxuriating  in  frames,  single  specimens  of  the 
Medlar,  Quince,  ^lulberry,  and  Almond  dotted  about  the  fine 
old  lawn,  a  grand  Fig  in  a  very  cosy  corner  between  two  warm 
walls,  while  in  the  shrubbery  skirting  the  roadway  were  two 
superb  \Yalnuts  and  a  promising  young  Chestnut. — J.  A. 
Carnegie-Cheales. 
