HORTICULTURAL JOTTINGS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XL, Issue 12212, 6 March 1903, Page 7

HORTICULTURAL JOTTINGS.

It is said that tomatoes will rou3e a torpid liver, and do the work of a doctor's prescription.

A scientist has found that apricots contain saccharose, invert sugar, and glucose. Onions are said to be a tonic for the nerves, but people will be for ever prejudiced because of their odour. It has been remarked that Mr. Chamberlain need not bo deprived of his daily orchid while in South Africa, as earthgrowmg orchids of several varieties are common in Natal. ■ __ ~ , It is estimated that the bees of the United States produced during last year 7,000,000 dollars' worth of honey and wax. A couple of oak trees were planted. in Knaresborough Castle grounds to commemorate the Coronation of King Edward VII. Upon representations to the effect that South Australia was free from the phylloxera Queensland has decided to allow of the importation of South Australian grapes. Saxony, it is reported, has one of the oest related systems of forestry in the world, the net profits from the forests amounting annually to over 2,000,000 dollars. ■ ■ . . , Among its many products South Africa includes the " sneezewood" tree, which take its name from the fact that one. cannot cut it with a saw without sneezing, as the fine dust has exactly the effect of snuff. An American authority estimates that on the average an apple tree, twenty years old, should produce from 25 to *0 bushels of fruit annually, a pear tree 15 : ears <-ld from 20 to 30 bushels, and a peach tree four years old from four to 10 bushels. Public forests in Sweden are estimated to cover some 18,000,000 acres. Of this area 12,500,000 acres are under scientific management. There is a central bureau of forestry with forestry corps at work in the fields. These field workers consist of nine inspectors, 83 chiefs of range, besides a large number of foresters and watchmen. The total income to the Government from the State forests amounted to more than £500,000 last year. «--...-. — - , The method of ripening onions adopted by not a few American growers appears to.be worth a trial. It is said to be as follows: — After lifting the bulbs are tied in bunches and hung in the open as long as the weather permits, or.in an open shed. They are then suspended over a stove constructed entirely of bricks, in a temperature of 150deg. The heat ripens. them thoroughly, and the-quality of the onions is unimpaired. j\ l Experiments have conclusively proved that leguminous plants have the property, through the agency of bacteria in their roots, of assimilating nitrogen, a power not possessed by plants generally. After this discovery i* was naturally supposed that the application "of dung, and of nitrogenous manures generally, was, if not directly unnecessary, at least proportionately so. But the last word has not been spoken' on this subject;. Gardeners are not likely to relinquish the use "of dung for their peas and beans, , arid .they will be confirmed in their-opinions by some experiments of Dr. Bernard Dyer, which show I that whereas the produce of dwarf beans on a plot manured with dung, f phosphates, and potash, but no nitrate, amounted to 2 tons "13cwfc,in 1900 the' yield; on a ; similar" plot similarly treated, but. with the addition of 2cwt of nitrate of soda, was 4 tonsfcwt. • ' ' A.GBICOLA.