December  31,  1903. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GABDENER. 
605 
tlie  presence  of  His  Worship  the  Mayor  (Conneillor  Jno.  Heywood 
M.A.)  In  an  approximate  financial  statement,  Mr.  Smith  said  that 
the  receipts  for  the  year  amounted  to  £392  16s.  9d.,  and  the  expendi¬ 
ture  to  £274  lOs.  7d.,  leaving  a  credit  balance  of  £18  6s.  2d.  There 
was  an  accoxmt  of  £10  to  be  considered  by  the  committee.  On  tlie 
first  day  of  the  show  £21  19s.  9.1.  was  taken  at  the  doors,  ‘and 
£80  10s.  6d.  on  the  second  day^  the  total  being  a  decrease  of  over 
£6  on  last  year.  In  subscriptions,  £160  was  raised,  and  .£145  13s.  6d. 
was  given  in  prize  money. 
Fruit  Notes. 
Fruit  at  Christmas. 
The  festive  season  of  1903  finds  us  all  too  badly  provided 
Avith  supplies  of  home-grown  hardy  fruit.  Many  of  us  must  look 
in  vain  for  the  Blenheims  and  Cox’s,  or  the  NeAvton  Wonders, 
for  the  kitchen.  Sad  also  is  it  to  note  the  absence  of  our  old 
friend  Glou  Morceau  and  other  late  varietie.s  of  Pears  that  have 
been  Avont  to  lie  on  our  stone  shelves  at  this  festival  time. 
That  gardeners  have  commiserated  Avith  each  other  upon  the 
dearth  of  fruit  generally  is  Avell  knoAvn,  and  it  may  seem  scarcely 
necessary  to  enlarge  upon  an  anything  but  cheerful  subject  at 
Avhat  Khould  be  the  most  joyful  of  occasions.  Living  in  a  fruit- 
groAving  district,  where  as  a  rule  Apples  may  be  purchased  at 
a  A’ery  Ioav  rate,  it  is  certainly  not  inspiriting  to  find  they  cannot 
be  bought  at  less  than  fourpence  per  pound.  What  the  retail 
price  of  good  English  Apples  must  be  in  large  towns  I  have  no 
means  of  knoAving;  doubtless  the  foreign  supplies  prevail,  but 
in  small  centres  sales  are  too  sIoav  for  vendors  to  deal  with  these 
in  bulk.  Pears  are  conspicuously  absent  from  the  AvindoAvs  of 
local  shops,  yet  the  price  of  those  from  abroad  does  not  appear 
prohibitive  in  the  Avholesale  inarket.s  if  one  scans  the  lists  of 
prices  in  various  publications. 
Turning  from  the  .scarceness  of  hardy  fruit,  it  mu.st  be  matter 
for  congratulation  to  the  consumer  to  find  really  good  home- 
groAvn  Grapes  at  the  Ioav  figure  of  but  one  shilling  per  pound. 
Really  capital  black  Grapes  can  be  procured  for  this  small  sum  ; 
Avhether  the  groAAers  are  to  be  congratulated  on  their  returns 
is  a  question  open  to  some  doubt.  Heav'y  crops  may,  and  pro¬ 
bably  do,  afford  a  small  margin  of  profit  at  such  a  price  ;  com¬ 
pare  this,  hoAvevei’,  Avith  Apples  at  fourpence,  and  it  is  not 
difficult  to  decide  Avho  has  the  advantage  in  the  Avay  of  profit — 
comparing  the  groAver  of  Grapes  and  the  groAver  of  Apples  ;  but 
this  year  is  exceptional,  and  happy  indeed  is  he  avIio  holds  a 
feAV  bushels  of  really  first-rate  dessert  or  culinary  Apples.  And 
this  is  Avhere  the  foreigner  steps  into  the  breach,  sending,  us 
heavy  comsignments  and  reaping  a  rich  harvest  of  British  money. 
There  is  some  compensation  to  the  poorer  members  of  1  lie 
community  to  find  dried  fruit.s — Avhich  form  so  large  an  addition 
to  our  C'hristmas  fare — are  cheap  and  good.  From  time  im¬ 
memorial  it  has  been  onr  custom  to  import  these,  not  alone,  it 
is  true,  for  this  sea.son,  but  for  Amrious  dietary  purposes  through¬ 
out  the  Avhole  year,  but  more  especially  in  Avinter,  Avhen  our  own 
fruit  supplies  are  usually  at  a  Ioav  ebb.  Many  of  these  dried 
fruits  Ave  shall  doubtless  continue  to  buy  from  foreign  sources, 
but  some  of  them  we  ought  to  bo  able  to  dry  and  preseiwe  our¬ 
selves.  Why  can  Ave  not  so  treat  our  Plums  in  years  of  glut 
that  ample  stores  may  be  at  hand  for  disposal  at  this  period.^ 
Of  course  Ave  all  knoAv  the  ansAver  to  such  a  question.  But 
surely  Ave  ought  to  be  able  to  dry,  store,  and  vend  at  an  equally 
loAv  rate  Avith  our  Continental  rivals,  Avho  not  only  do  this,  but 
send  the  fruit  hundreds  of  miles  by  sea  and  land  to  market. 
No!  Ave  go  on,  year  after  year;  the  .same  old  arguments  are 
trotted  out,  for  and  against.  In  the  meanwhile,  in  seasons  of 
plenty-  or  ov'er-supply,  tons  of  fruit  rot  upon  the  ground  Avliich 
at  thi.s  and  other  times  Avould  form  a  most  AAholesome  article 
of  food. 
It  is  to  be  feared  I  am  in  some  measure  digressing,  hut  a 
little  latitude  may  Avell  be  alloAved  at  Christma.stide  ;  and  Avhile 
upon  the  subject  of  preserving  fruit,  I  should  like  to  refer  to 
Hie  short  article  by  Miss  Bradley  in  the  last  R.H.S.  Journal  on 
bottling  Amrious  fruits.  We  are  here  shoAvn  that  for  Avhat  cannot 
fairly  be  called  a  heaA'y  initial  outlay  we  may  provide  ourselves 
in  years  of  surplus,  very  cheaply,  Avith  fruit  for  times  of  shortage. 
It  has  been  conclusively  proved  that,  Avhen  successfully  bottled, 
fruit  Avill  keejA  fresh  and  good  for  many  months.  Putting  aside 
the  market  aspect,  there  is  here  gir^en  us  much  to  reflect  upon 
from  the  point  of  vieAV  connected  Avith  private  use.  Why  should 
the  Briton  continue  to  pay  a  lieaA-y  price  for  what  he  can  groAv 
and  preserve  for  his  own  use  at  very  little  more  expense  than 
the  cost  of  one  of  the  machines  depicted  in  the  article  to  AAliich 
I  haA’e  referred  ? 
Granted  that  in  some  foAv  large  establishments  there  is  a 
certain  amount  of  bottled  fruit  at  hand  for  almost  any  occasion, 
yet  the  great  majority  of  i>eople,  if  they  Avished  to  indulge  them¬ 
selves  Avith  a  Gooseberry  tart  on  Cbristmas  Bay,  Avould  cer¬ 
tainly  need  to  buy  from  a  foreign  source,  even  though  the  fruit 
came  through  their  family  grocer.  Apricots,  Peaches,  Tomatoes, 
Currants — in  fact,  all  kinds  of  fruit — may  be  so  treated  at  home 
as  to  be  available  in  all  times  of  scarcity;  and  .still  Ave  go  on, 
buying  from  abroad  Avhen  it  is  so  unnecessary  and  the  money  is 
needed  in  our  OAvn  land. — Santa  Claus. 
(To  be  continued.) 
Productive  Tomatoes. 
A  variety  of  Tomato  that  has  e.stablished  a  good  record  for 
both  market  and  private  use  is  Lister’s  Prolific.  No  vmriety  that 
I  haA'e  yet  groAvn  or  seen  surpasses  this  for  indoor  culture,  and 
for  outdoor  use  Holmes’  Supreme  makes  an  excellent  companion. 
In  a  small  span-roofed  house  Avhich  accommodated  thirty  plants 
in  nine-inch  pots,  and  these  trained  up  the  roof  Avires,  something 
like  4001b  of  fruit  have  been  gathered,  all  of  good  quality,  shape, 
and  colour  (see  illustration).  The  first  picking  AA-eighed  601b, 
and  in  the  same  Aveek  a  quarter  of  a  hundredAveight  more  Avere 
added.  The  pots  .stood  on  a  corrugated  iron  staging  covered 
Avith  cinders,  and  these  being  kept  moist  from  the  groAvth  of 
other  plants  in  summer  beneath  the  Tomatoes,  afforded  an 
auxiliary  feeding  ground  for  the  'Tomato  roots. 
It  is  doubtful  Avhether  the  same  quantity  of  fruit  Avould  have 
resulted  from  planting  in  the  border  at  the  regulation  distances 
apart  and  supported  Avith  stakes  or  string;  and  Avhile  a  good 
crop  of  Tomatoes  has  been  provided,  there  has  been  a  use  for 
the  stages  permitted  for  the  groAvth  of  other  pot  plants  Avithout 
hindrance  all  the  season  through.  This  little  .structure  measures 
but  20ft  long  by  12ft  Avide,  running  north  and  south,  and  for 
Tomato  culture  affords  the  requisite  conditions  for  setting  and 
ripening  to  a  remarkable  degree.  They  Avere  sown  in  January 
and  photographed  at  the  end  of  July,  and  by  the  end  of  Septem¬ 
ber  cleared  out  again  for  plant  accommodation  during  the  Avinter 
months. — W.  Stkugnell. 
Tomato,  Lister’s  Prolific. 
