August  6,  1£03. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
123 
South  American  Cotton. 
An  attempt  is  being  made  in  South  Americia  to  grow  cotton 
en  a  large  scale,  and  ultimately  to  enter  the.  markets  of  the 
world.  The  cotton  grown  there  now  is  of  different  variety  from 
that  grown  in  North  America.  It  grows  on  a  very  tall  bush, 
almost  as  large  as  a  small  tree,  and  lasts  in  its  iiroduction  from 
seven  to  ten  years.  The  seeds  are  very  difficult  to  separate 
from  the  fibre,  because  they  stick  firmly  to  it.  It  is  also  diffi¬ 
cult  to  pick,  and  rain  and  frost  are  said  to  turn  it  yellow. 
The  Pope’s  Knowledge. 
Leo  XIII.  was  devoted  to  gardening.  On  one  occasion  he 
summoned  his  gardener  and  complained  about  some  Ivy  which 
appeared  in  a  pitiable  condition.  “  Why  did  you  let  this  plant 
die?”  the  Pope  asked.  “The  soil  is  so  bad.”  “You  do  not 
know  what  you  are  talking  about,  or  else  you  think  that  we 
believe  evei-ything  you  may  be  pleased  to  tell  us.”  Then,  says 
“  The  Tatler,”  followed  a  regular  lecture,  which  made  the 
mortified  gardener  exclaim  when  the  Pope  had  departed  :  “  He 
can  teach  everyone,  from  the  cardinals  to  his  own  gardener ;  you 
can’t  get  over  him.”  The  late  Pope’s  knowledge  was  almost  as 
encyclopaedic  as  Mr.  Gladstone’s,  but  the  recluse  had  naturally 
much  fewer  opportunities  for  displaying  it  than  the  great  Liberal 
statesman  had. 
Bare  Orchards. 
Past  is  St.  Swithin’s,  and  the  Apples  are  justly  .supposed  to 
have  been  duly  christened ;  but  it  is  many  yeai*s  since  growers 
visiting  their  orchards  have  seen  so  little  fruit.  The  keen 
frosts  this  spring  made  havoc  with  the  large  proportion  of 
Apple  buds  that  had  loosened  their  winter  garments,  while 
where  the  trees  were  very  robust,  and  the  bloom  was  not  killed, 
the  rain  that  succeeded  the  frosts  was  so  cold  and  heavy  that 
the  bees  were  unable  to  carry  out  their  part  of  the  wmrk  of 
fertilisation,  or  the  wind  to  blow,  or  the  birds  to  sufficiently 
shake,  when  alighting  on  the  branches,  the  pollen  from  bloom 
to  bloom  by  reason  of  the  excessive  moisture,  so  that  nearly  all 
the  table  and  culinary  varieties  failed  to  fruit  at  all.  It  was 
hoped  that  the  late  trees  would  have  fared  better,  but  ungenial 
weather  retarded  them  until  their  bloom  matured  just  in  time 
for  the  heavy  dow’npour  of  early  June,  and  in  the  few  orchards 
where  these  set,  the  gales  and  late  rains  have  destroyed  a  lot  of 
the  fruit.  In  consequence  there  will  be  a  considerable  shortage 
of  cider,  while  there  will  be  j)ractically  no  perry  of  1903  vin¬ 
tage.  Not  having  any  fruit  to  develop,  the  Apple  trees  this 
season  are  putting  forth  their  energies  to  the  production  of 
growth,  so  that  there  is  the  prospect  of  a  considerable  amount 
of  soft  wood. — (“  Pall  Mall  Gazette.”) 
liiming. 
Clay  soils,  when  wet  by  rains,  are  not  porous  enough  to 
allow  the  water  to  pass  through  tliein  with  sufficient  rapidity. 
In  consequence  they  become  water-logged,  and  the  air  which  is 
necessary  for  the  healthful  development  of  plant  roots  within  the 
.soil  is  excluded.  In  dry  times  such  .soils  cake  readily.  Liming 
is  an  effective  preventive  or  remedy  for  all  of  these  conditions. 
Upon  certain  loamy  soils  containing  considerable  clay,  liming 
often  renders  the  surface  more  friable  and  less  liable  to  form  a 
crust  upon  drying.  The  improvement  of  drainage  brought 
about  by  liming  is  one  of  the  most  effective  means  of  preventing 
.surface  washing.  When  heavy  rains  occur  on  limed  soils  the 
water  sinks  into  the  soil  instead  of  rushing  over  the  surface. 
Soils  which  are  composed  of  siliceous  sand  are  frequently 
benefited  by  being  rendered  more  compact  by  liming.  On  such 
soils  carbonate  of  lime  is  preferable  to  air  or  water  slacked  lime, 
owing  to  the  caustic  nature  of  the  latter,  and  the  best  material 
to  employ  where  it  is  obtainable  is  a  clay  marl  containing  a  fair 
amount  of  carbonate  of  lime.  The  clay  as  well  as  the  lime  tends 
to  materially  improve  the  physical  condition  of  the  soil.  It 
should  also  be  the  aim  to  increase  the  amount  of  organic  matter 
in  such  soils  by  the  use  of  muck  and  stable  manures,  or  by  the 
cccasicnal  ploughing  under  of  a  green  crop  or  of  sward. 
A  Giant  Spruce. 
The  largest  tree  in  Oregon  was  felled  recently  to  be  .sent  as  a 
curiosity  to  the  World’s  Fair.  It  is  the  Aberdeen  Spruce,  and 
stood  nearly  300ft  high,  40ft  around,  and  118ft  from  the  ground 
to  the  first  limb.  Its  age  is  calculated  at  440  years,  being  a 
good-.sized  tree  when  Columbus  discovered  the  land  that  was 
afterwards  called  America. 
An  Arboreal  Sphinx. 
A  curious  tree,  named  Ddei'wen  Grop,  is  situated  on  the 
right-hand  side  of  the  public  footpath  in  Dynevor  Park,  Llan- 
dilo,  Carmarthenshire.  The  tree  is  a  fine  specimen  of  the 
W’^elsh  Oak,  and  is  greatly  admired  by  all  who  visit  Dynevor 
Park.  It  is  the  property  of  Lord  Dynevor,  who  lives  at  Dynevor 
Castle.  A  peculiarity  about  this  tree  is  that,  when  looked  at 
from  two  sides,  the  shape  of  a  man’s  face  is  visible,  the  features 
being  quite  distinct.  "The  trunk  is  9ft  in  length,  and  its 
]arge.st  circumference  is  21ft  lOin.  The  portion  which  resembles 
the  face  of  a  man  is  5ft  Gin  in  length.  The  tree  is  nearly  40ft 
in  height,  and,  although  very  ancient,  its  foliage  is  rich,  both  in 
quality  and  tint. 
The  Clock  Plant. 
The  Clock  Plant  is  a  native  of  Borneo,  and  in  that  country 
even,  it  is  said  to  be  as  rare  as  in  other  sections  of  the  world. 
The  plant  derives  its  name  from  its  peculiar  habits,  which  are 
known  to  but  few  who  have  not  studied  the  plant  from  a 
scientific  standpoint.  The  plant  has  leaves  of  two  sizes,  one  of 
which  acts  in  the  capacity  of  a  minute  hand,  which  keeps  moving 
until  four  o’clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  the  other  keeps  going 
until  morning.  The  larger  leaves  act  as  the  hour  hands.  Start¬ 
ing  in  a  position  when  all  of  the  leaves  lie  close  to  the  stem, 
with  the  points  hanging  down,  they  rise  gradually  until  they 
turn  toward  the  top,  and  then  they  drop  to  their  former  posi¬ 
tion.  It  takes  the  smaller  leaves  about  one  minute  to  go 
through  this  performance,  and  the  longer  leaves  just  about  an 
hour. 
Failure  of  Fruit  Crops. 
The  failure  of  the  fruit  crop  in  England,  which  is  without 
parallel  in  the  memory  of  the  oldest  Covent  Garden  stallholder, 
is  affording  an  opportunity  to  American  and  Continental  rivals 
of  home  fruit-growers  which  is  being  eagerly  acted  upon. 
According  to  “  The  Daily  Mail,”  exceptionally  large  consign¬ 
ments  are  arriving  from  Germany,  where  the  weather  this  year 
has  been  much  more  conducive  to  fruit  culture  than  in  England. 
Owing  to  the  destruction  of  va.st  crops  of  Plums,  Pears,  Cherries, 
and  Apples  throughout  the  home  counties,  English  fruit  is  four 
times  the  price  it  is  in  average  years.  Plums  and  Green  Gages, 
which  usually  sell  at  from  £8  to  £16  a  ton,  are  fetching  from 
£32  to  £64.  Dealers  are  fearful  lest  foreign  fruit,  which  is 
generally  excellent  in  quality,  should  eventually  oust  home¬ 
grown  products.  The  first  consignment  of  Californian  Pears, 
comprising  10,000  cases,  has  arrived  at  Covent  Garden,  and  is 
realising  about  10s.  per  case  of  seventy  Pears, 
Quinces. 
There  is  not  a  finer  fruit  in  existence  than  the  Quince.  It 
ripens  late,  when  cool  nights  and  temperate  days  succeed  the 
summer’s  heat.  Housekeepers  then  have  time  to  preserve  and 
jelly  the  ripe  Quinces.  The  varieties  are  more  limited  than 
Pears,  Apples,  Figs,  or  other  fruits.  Not  more  than  five 
varieties  of  Quinces  are  quoted,  but  all  of  them  are  good.  The 
Chinese  is  the  most  monstrous  in  size.  As  a  rule,  abnormally 
large  fruits  are  not  so  much  in  the  aggregate  as  medium  or  small 
sizes.  A  tree  that  bears  as  the  Chinese  Quince  such  large  single 
specimens  will  be  sure  to  have  the  number  limited.  For  general 
planting  the  old  Orange  Quince  is  as  good  as  any.  The  Cham¬ 
pion  is  larger  than  the  Orange,  and  every  w’ay  a  fine  fruit. 
Owing  to  the  scarcity  of  Quinces  in  market  they  sell  for  three 
times  the  price  of  Apples  and  Pears.  The  Quince  is  not  a 
difficult  fruit  to  grow.  It  reproduces  itself  rapidly.  The  scions 
come  up  freely  and  form  surface  roots.  These  can  be  annually 
cut  off  from  the  main  root  and  set  in  the  orchard.  They  will 
bear  fruit  the  third  year,  and  in  turn  each  tree  reproduces 
itself  by  scions.  These  suckers  from  the  main  root  do  not  come 
up  anywhere  except  close  around  the  tree.  Quinces,  if  let 
alone,  will  grow  in  clumps.  They  are  more  prolific  and  a 
better  quality  when  kept  to  one  trunk.  They  make  fine  trees.— 
(“Southern  Fruit  Grower.”) 
