482 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
November  26,  1903. 
preference  to  tlie  best  from  other  lauds.  It  is  uecessarj’’,  how¬ 
ever,  to  educate  the  masses  of  our  couutrymeu  iu  regard  to  what 
are  the  best  flavoured  hind,  as  far  too  mauv  make  their 
purchases  by  appearance  alone. 
Although  we  have  had  a  particularly  unfavourable  year  for 
Apples  iu  those  places  where  cultivators  have  been  fortunate  in 
securing  a  crop,  the  fruit  has  been  good,  with  the  exception  of 
colour,  which  has  been  more  deficient  than  usual.  In  favourable 
seasons,  however,  there  is  nob  much  fault  to  be  found  with  the 
colour  of  British  Apples.  Where  the  best  varieties  are  grown, 
and  good  attention  given,  many  growers  who  have  taken  up  fruit 
growing  in  a  serious  way,  treat  their  trees  well,  and  pay 
the  necessary  attention  to  packing  and  grading  the  fruit, 
hut  there  is  yet  much  to  be  done  to  induce  the  majority 
of  cultivators  to  do  these  things.  Those  who  have  produced 
good  samples  this  year  have  had  very  little  difficulty  in  disposing 
of  them  without  sending  to  the  open  market.  The  rubbish  in 
the  inarkets  is  the  produce  of  rough-and-ready  growers,  and 
therefore  is  seen  at  a  great  disadvantage  when  compared  with 
the  good  foreign  samples.  It  is  simply  a  case  of  comparing  our 
ii'ovst  with  the  foreign  hest\  but  when  Britain  shows  her  best 
she  is  not  behind  in  appearance,  and  is  infinitely  ahead  in  the 
chief  point — flavour.  It  is,  therefore,  not  very  wide  of  the  mark 
to  say  that  the  British  Apples  are  the  best  in  the  world.— G.  C. 
- - 
Hydrocyaoic  Acid  Gas  Fumigation. 
Some  useful  pointers  on  the  use  and  effects  of  this  recently 
suggested  gas  for  fumigation  purposes,  have  been  given  in  the 
hlorists  Exchange,”  a  New  York  paper.  The  gas  has  been, 
and  doubtless  is  now,  to  a  small  extent,  used  in  conservatories 
fuid  fruit  houses  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  and  the  Journal  of 
Mnrficulfiire  described  the  methods  of  operation,  the  materials 
and  (luantities  used,  when  reviewing  Profe.ssor  Johnston’s  book 
on  ■Fimngation  Methods,”  page  379,  May  1,  1901.  We  print 
letters  from  our  American  contemporary: — 
No.  1..— “I  used  one  gallon  earthen  jars  for  the  work,  and 
only  one  jar  to  every  3,000  cubic  feet.  The  jars  were  filled  with 
one  quart  of  water,  one  quart  of  sulphuric  acid,  and  placed  in  the 
paths  at  diprent  parts  of  the  house.s.  Next  I  laid  a  stick  across 
the  path  above  the  jars,  having  it  rest  on  the  benches,  thus  being 
about  3ft  froin  the  ground.  The  cyanide  of  potas.sium 
vas  put  up  in  5-oz.  packages  (exact  weight);  these  packages 
were  tied  on  strings  .siifficiently  long  to  reach  the  next  iar,  and 
when  all  were  ready  I  again  went  to  the  further  one,  opened 
the  package  a  little  on  one  end,  hung  it  on  the  stick  just  above 
e  jai,  and  let  it  down,  after  I  had  reached  the  end  of  the  string 
and  so  on  until  a  1  the  packages  had  been  dropped.  Of  course, 
the  dropping  of  the  cyanide  of  potassium  must  be  done  quickly 
as  the  fumes  are  very  dangerous  to  man  and  beast.  The  dooVs 
and  ventilators  must  be  closed  tight.  The  fumigation  was  done 
M  at  night,  and  the  ventilators  were  opened  at  seven 
0  clock  the  next  morning.  The  white  flies  were  all  dead,  but  I 
noticed  a  few  mealy  bugs,  which  were  not  hurt  at  all. 
Ihe  houses  confined  the  following  plants:  Asparagus  plu- 
^9alyplias,  Lantanas,  Rex  and  flowering 
r>f  *3orbonica,  Kentias,  twelve  varieties 
of  Feins  including  the  Boston,  Sword  and  Maidenhair),  Mar- 
aiitas,  Selaginellas,  Hibrscus,  Heliotrope,  Cissus  di,scolor 
^npatiens  Sultain,  Oranges,  Fuchsias.  Abutilons,  &c.  The  Sword 
Ferns'  were  planted  on  the  bench.  The  path  is  very  narrow,  so 
Ibf  l.n  (directly  up  agaimst  some  of 
the  leai-es  which  were  overhanging.  The  tips  of  the  leaves  were 
veiw  slightly  hurt,  but  3ft  from  the  jar  there  were  im  .simis 
an  '' hatever.  Ihe  Asparagus  plumosus  were  in  3in 
and  4  11  pots,  and  were  very  close  to  another  jar.  These  plants 
\\  eie  hurt  a  very  little  also ;  but  the  damage  done  ivas  so  small 
that  a  week  afterward  we  could  not  notice  it.  The  remainder  of 
douh^  the  slightest  injury.  There  is  no 
doubt  but  that  many  plants  will  stand  a  stronger  fumigation 
and  I  hope  that  we  .shall  hear  more  of  it  in  the  future,  as  I  think 
it  IS  a  very  valuable  remedy.  My  first  experiment  was  an  entire 
failure,  as  the  cyanide  of  potassium  I  received  from  our  local 
st™^  have  any  strength,  and  must  have  been  old 
No.  2.— “Ill  the  first  place,  !  should  .strongly  recommend  all 
those  who  are  intending  using  the  gas  to  study  the  subject 
thoroughly  first.  _  The  old  adage,  'A  little  knowledge  is  a 
dangerous  thing,  is  especially  true  in  regard  to  this  method  of 
lumigation.  I  should  advi.se  your  inquirers  to  purchase  Professor 
Johnsnn.s  book  on  Fumigation  Methods’  (Orange  Judd  Co., 
Aev  York,  3s.  Cd.).  wherein  there  is  a  lucid  description  of  the 
ga-s  fumigation,  and  study  it  well  before  attempting  to  use  the 
gas  on  a  large  scale.  An  incomplete  knowledge  of  the  .subject 
once  caiised  ine  to  ruin  a  house  of  Violets.  I  thought  I  had 
studied  the  subject  thoroughly,  but  forgot  the  simple  fiecaution 
of  waiting  until  night  before  I  generated  the  gas.  Regarding 
the  fumigation  of  a  vinery,  last  winter  I  successfully  fumigated 
one,  with  no  apparent  ill  effects  to  the  Vines.  Tlie  operation 
was  done  in  vinter,  when  the  Vines  had  been  cleaned  and  were 
perfectly  dormant.  The  quantity  of  cyanide  of  potassium  used 
was  the  same  as  recommended  for  Violets — 0.15  gram  per  cubio 
foot.  The  house  was  kept  closed  for  half  an  hour.  On  examina¬ 
tion  the  next  day  all  the  mealy  bugs  visible  were  dead,  but  thi,s 
did  not  rid  the  vinery  entirely  of  the  pe.st.  I  fancy  the  gas  ha.s 
no  effect  on  the  eggs  of  these  insects,  so  fumigating  with  the  gas 
only  kills  the  adults  ;  and  if  this  method  were  resorted  to  to 
entirely  rid  a  vinery  of  the  pest  it  would  require  several  fumiga¬ 
tions,  at  different  times,  to  thoroughly  eradicate  the  insect.  I 
also  had  experience  last  winter  in  fumigating  a  Peach  house  for 
San  Jose  scale,  with  dire  results  both  to  the  scale  and  the  fruit 
crop.  The  quantities  used  were  the  same  as  for  the  vinery,  and 
fumigation  was  done  in  December.  Twenty  minutes  was  allowed 
for  the  gas  to  act.  On  examination  next  morning  one  or  two 
fat  mealy  bugs  were  located  on  the  trees,  appearing  as  if  nothing 
had  happened.  I  was  not  prepared  for  the  result.s  which  followed 
this  fumigation.  When  the  house  was  started  up  in  the  usual 
way.  and  with  the  usual  treatment,  neither  fruit  nor  shoot  buds 
developed  naturally.  They  .seemed  to  have  been  retarded  about 
six  or  eight  v.  eeks ;  most  of  the  fruit  buds  dropped  a.s  the  flowers 
opened.  What  flowers  remained  on  and  expanded  fully  could 
not  be  fertilised,  even  by  hand.  Not  one  tree  in  the  hou.se 
could  be  induced  to  set  fruit.  The  whole  thing  would  have  been 
a  miserable  failure,  but  for  the  fact  that  the  San  Jose  scale  wa.s 
entirely  checked,  and  on  examination  of  the  house  to-day — ten 
months  since  the  fumigation — no  trace  of  the  scale  is  to  be  seen. 
“  This  experience  with  the  Peach  house  ha.s  pu^izled  me  very 
much.  The  very  fact  that  some  live  mealy  bugs  were  discovered 
the  morning  after  fumigation  would  show  that  there  was  not  an 
overdose  of  the  gas.  The  buds  were  perfectly  dormant,  as  the 
operation  was  done  only  a  few  days  after  the  la.st  leaves  had  fallen. 
The  house  contains  both  Peach  and  Nectarine  trees,  and  if  any^ 
thing  the  Nectarines  .suffered  the  most.  One  tree  of  Early  Rivers 
took  about  six  months  to  recover  and  get  a  decent  growth.  I 
am  of  opinion  that  much  more  experimenting  ha.s  to  be  done  before 
the  hydrocyanic  acid  gas  may  be  safely  recommended  for  general 
use.” 
Trans-Atlantic  Echoes. 
At  the  monthly  meeting  of  the  Rhode  Island  Horticultural 
Society,  held  on  October  21,  at  Providence,  R.I.,  the  principal 
event  of  the  evening  was  an  address  by  J.  H.  Hale,  president  of 
the  American  Pomological  Society.  He  .spoke  in  part  as 
follows,  and  following  the  above  leader,  his  words  will  have 
treble  significance  to  British  cultivators.  Let  patriotism  stir  u.s 
to  action. 
“  In  the  old  days  of  this  country  our  forefathers  brought 
fruit  seeds  from  England  and  planted  them,  and  from  the  result 
of  this  planting  other  trees  were  obtained,  until  gradually  the 
number  of  trees  grew  ve-v  large-.  The  object  of  this  planting 
was  primarily  to  get  .something  to  drink — to  supply  the  cider 
barrel — and  the  bounties  paid  for  the  propagation  and  improve¬ 
ment  of  fruit  were  entirety  with  this  end  in  view.  From  this 
growing  for  the  cider  barrel  entirely  extended  the  small  fruit 
gardens  for  family  supply.  It  is  only  within  the  la.st  half- 
century  that  commercial  fruit  growing  has  been  taken  up  in  New 
England,  and  it  is  still  only  a  side  issue  in  the  majority  of  cases. 
The  average  land  owner  of  New  England  and  of  Rhode  Island  has 
failed  to  grasp  the  opportunities^,  existing  in  this  section  of  the 
country. 
“  Here  in  New  England  we  have  the  finest  markets  in  tlie 
world  right  at  our  doors.  We  are  right  on  the  Atlantic  coast, 
and  have  the  best  facilities  of  any  location  in  the  world  for 
supplying  the  great  English  market.  Practically  all  the  fruit 
u.sed  in  London  and  vicinity  has  to  be  imported,  and  New  Eng¬ 
land  is  the  nearest  available  point  where  this  fruit  can  be  grown. 
To  cany  on  horticulture  successfully  it  is  necessary  to  follow  out 
all  its  branches  in  a  .scientific  way.  In  the  first  place  it  is 
necessary  to  trim  the  trees  in  order  that  the  fruit  shall  reach  its 
highe.st  state  of  perfection.  Then  care  should  be  u.sed  in  harve.st- 
ing  the  fruit,  and  it  should  not  be  picked  until  it  has  reached  its 
highest  state  of  perfection.  It  should  be  carefully  graded  and 
sorted  into  sizes,  and  should  be  placed  in  the  most  attractive 
packages  po.ssible,  and  should  be  always  sold  in  good  weight. 
We  have  been  using  too  large  packages  for  our  fruit,  and  the 
next  thing  to  do  is  to  adopt  the  family  package,  so  that  the 
fruit  goes  directly  to  the  consumer  without  the  package  being 
broken  by  the  middleman.  With  the  extension  of  the  electric 
car  service  through  the  rural  districts  the  facilities  fqr'the 
delivery  of  fruit  have  been  largely  increased,  and  when  we  get 
the  parcel  post,  which  is  .sure  to  come  in  time,  they  will  be  .still 
further  increased.  The  land  in  New  England  is  cheap,  the 
opportunities  are  all  here,  and  it  only  wait.s  for  the  enterprising 
man  or  woman  to  take  advantage  of  them.” 
