Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "Frost" to "Fyzabad"
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Title: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "Frost" to "Fyzabad"
Author: Various
Release date: August 13, 2011 [eBook #37064]
Most recently updated: January 8, 2021
Language: English
Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/37064
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA, 11TH EDITION, "FROST" TO "FYZABAD" ***
Produced by Marius Masi, Don Kretz and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
Transcriber's notes:
(1) Numbers following letters (without space) like C2 were originally
printed in subscript. Letter subscripts are preceded by an
underscore, like C_n.
(2) Characters following a carat (^) were printed in superscript.
(3) Side-notes were relocated to function as titles of their respective
paragraphs.
(4) Macrons and breves above letters and dots below letters were not
inserted.
(5) [root] stands for the root symbol; [alpha], [beta], etc. for greek
letters.
(6) RN stands for Real Number symbol and (Pd) for Partial derivative
symbol
(7) The following typographical errors have been corrected:
ARTICLE FRUIT: "The covering of the seed is marked i. n is the
nucellus or perisperm, enclosing the embryo-sac es, in which the
endosperm is formed." 'in' amended from 'is'.
ARTICLE FRUIT: "It occupies the whole cavity of the embryo-sac, or
is formed only at certain portions of it, at the apex, as in
Rhinanthus, ..." 'occupies' amended from 'occupied'.
ARTICLE FUEL: "Owing to the siliceous nature of the ash of straw,
it is desirable to have a means of clearing the grate bars from
slags and clinkers at short intervals, and to use a steam jet to
clear the tubes from similar deposits." 'straw' amended from
'sraw'.
ARTICLE FUEL: "In a research upon the heating power and other
properties of coal for naval use, carried out by the German
admiralty, the results tabulated below were obtained with coals
from different localities." 'from' amended from 'form'.
ARTICLE FUEL: "C + 2H2O = CO2 + 2H2" '+' amended from '='.
ARTICLE FULHAM: "The principal thoroughfares are Fulham Palace Road
running S. from Hammersmith, Fulham Road and King's Road, W. from
Chelsea, converging and leading to Putney Bridge over the Thames;
..." 'converging' amended from 'coverging'.
ARTICLE FULLER, THOMAS: "Their eldest child, John, baptized at
Broadwindsor by his father, 6th June 1641, was afterwards rector of
Sidney Sussex College, edited the Worthies of England, 1662, and
became rector of Great Wakering, Essex, where he died in 1687."
added 'rector'.
ARTICLE FUNCTION: "When Taylor's theorem leads to a representation
of the function by means of an infinite series, the function is
said to be "analytic" (cf. S 21)." 'Taylor's' amended from
'Talyor's'.
ARTICLE FUNCTION: "or a series which converges uniformly may be
integrated term by term." 'uniformly' amended from 'unformly'.
ARTICLE FUNGI: "Parasitism.--Some fungi, though able to live as
saprophytes, occasionally enter the body of living plants, and are
thus termed facultative parasites." 'Parasitism' amended from
'Parasatism'.
ARTICLE FUNGI: "Recent experiments have shown that the difficulties
of getting orchid seeds to germinate are due to the absence of the
necessary fungus, which must be in readiness to infect the young
seedling immediately after it emerges from the seed." added
'after'.
ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA
A DICTIONARY OF ARTS, SCIENCES, LITERATURE
AND GENERAL INFORMATION
ELEVENTH EDITION
VOLUME XI, SLICE III
FROST to FYZABAD
ARTICLES IN THIS SLICE:
FROST FULMAR
FROSTBITE FULMINIC ACID
FROSTBURG FULTON, ROBERT
FROTHINGHAM, OCTAVIUS BROOKS FULTON (Missouri, U.S.A.)
FROUDE, JAMES ANTHONY FULTON (New York, U.S.A.)
FRUCTOSE FUM
FRUGONI, CARLO INNOCENZIO MARIA FUMARIC AND MALEIC ACIDS
FRUIT FUMAROLE
FRUIT AND FLOWER FARMING FUMIGATION
FRUMENTIUS FUMITORY
FRUNDSBERG, GEORG VON FUNCHAL
FRUSTUM FUNCTION
FRUYTIERS, PHILIP FUNDY, BAY OF
FRY FUNERAL RITES
FRY, SIR EDWARD FUNGI
FRY, ELIZABETH FUNJ
FRYXELL, ANDERS FUNKIA
FUAD PASHA FUNNEL
FUCHOW FUR
FUCHS, JOHANN NEPOMUK VON FURAZANES
FUCHS, LEONHARD FURETIERE, ANTOINE
FUCHSIA FURFOOZ
FUCHSINE FURFURANE
FUCINO, LAGO DI FURIES
FUEL FURLONG
FUENTE OVEJUNA FURNACE
FUENTERRABIA FURNEAUX, TOBIAS
FUERO FURNES
FUERTEVENTURA FURNESS, HORACE HOWARD
FUGGER FURNESS
FUGITIVE SLAVE LAWS FURNISS, HARRY
FUGLEMAN FURNITURE
FUGUE FURNIVALL, FREDERICK JAMES
FUHRICH, JOSEPH VON FURSE, CHARLES WELLINGTON
FUJI FURST, JULIUS
FU-KIEN FURSTENBERG
FUKUI FURSTENWALDE
FUKUOKA FURTH
FULA FURTWANGLER, ADOLF
FULCHER OF CHARTRES FURZE
FULDA FUSARO, LAGO
FULGENTIUS, FABIUS PLANCIADES FUSELI, HENRY
FULGINIAE FUSEL OIL
FULGURITE FUSIBLE METAL
FULHAM FUSILIER
FULK (king of Jerusalem) FUSION
FULK (archbishop of Reims) FUSSEN
FULKE, WILLIAM FUST, JOHANN
FULK NERRA FUSTEL DE COULANGES, NUMA DENIS
FULLEBORN, GEORG GUSTAV FUSTIAN
FULLER, ANDREW FUSTIC
FULLER, GEORGE FUTURES
FULLER, MARGARET FUX, JOHANN JOSEPH
FULLER, MELVILLE WESTON FUZE
FULLER, THOMAS FYNE, LOCH
FULLER, WILLIAM FYRD
FULLER'S EARTH FYT, JOHANNES
FULLERTON, LADY GEORGIANA FYZABAD
FROST (a common Teutonic word, cf. Dutch, _vorst_, Ger. _Frost_, from
the common Teutonic verb meaning "to freeze," Dutch, _vriezen_, Ger.
_frieren_; the Indo-European root is seen in Lat. _pruina_, hoar-frost,
cf. _prurire_, to itch, burn, _pruna_, burning coal, Sansk. _plush_, to
burn), in meteorology, the act, or agent of the process, of freezing;
hence the terms "hoar-frost" and "white-frost" applied to visible frozen
vapour formed on exposed surfaces. A frost can only occur when the
surface temperature falls below 32 deg. F., the freezing-point of water;
if the temperature be between 28 deg. and 32 deg. it is a "light frost,"
if below 28 deg. it is a "heavy," "killing" or "black frost"; the term
"black frost" is also used when no hoar-frost is present. The number of
degrees below freezing-point is termed "degrees of frost." As soon as a
mass of air is cooled to its dew-point, water begins to be precipitated
in the form of rain, dew, snow or hail. Hoarfrost is only formed at the
immediate surface of the land if the latter be at a temperature below 32
deg., and this may occur even when the temperature of the air a few feet
above the ground is 12 deg.-16 deg. above the freezing-point. The
heaviest hoar-frosts are formed under weather conditions similar to
those under which the heaviest summer dews occur, namely, clear and calm
nights, when there is no cloud to impede the radiation of heat from the
surface of the land, which thereby becomes rapidly and completely
cooled. The danger of frost is minimized when the soil is very moist, as
for example after 10-12 mm. of rain; and it is a practice in America to
flood fields on the receipt of a frost warning, radiation being checked
by the light fog sheets which develop over moist soils, just as a
cloud-layer in the upper atmosphere impedes radiation on a grand scale.
A layer of smoke will also impede radiation locally, and to this end
smoky fires are sometimes lit in such positions that the smoke may drift
over planted ground which it is desirable to preserve from frost.
Similarly, frost may occur in open country when a town, protected by its
smoke-cloud above, is free of it. In a valley with fairly high and steep
flanks frost sometimes occurs locally at the bottom, because the layer
of air cooled by contact with the cold surface of the higher ground is
heavier than that not so cooled, and therefore tends to flow or settle
downwards along the slope of the land. When meteorological
considerations point to a frost, an estimate of the night temperature
may be obtained by multiplying the difference between the readings of
the wet and dry bulb thermometer by 2.5 and subtracting the result from
the dry bulb temperature. This rule applies when the evening air is at
about 50 deg. and 30.1 in. pressure, the sky being clear. An instrument
has been devised in France for the prediction of frost. It consists of a
wet bulb and a dry bulb thermometer, mounted on a board on which is also
a scale of lines corresponding to degrees of the dry bulb, and a pointer
traversing a scale graduated according to degrees of the wet bulb.
Observations for the night are taken about half an hour before sunset.
By means of the pointer and scale, the point may be found at which the
line of the dry-bulb reading meets the pointer set to the reading of the
wet bulb. The scale is further divided by colours so that the observed
point may fall within one of three zones, indicating certain frost,
probable frost or no probability of frost.
FROSTBITE, a form of mortification (q.v.), due to the action of extreme
cold in cutting off the blood-supply from the fingers, toes, nose, ears,
&c. In comparatively trifling forms it occurs as "chaps" and
"chilblains," but the term frostbite is usually applied only to more
severe cases, where the part affected becomes in danger of gangrene. An
immediate application of snow, or ice-water, will restore the
circulation; the application of heat would cause inflammation. But if
the mortification has gone too far for the circulation to be restored,
the part will be lost, and surgical treatment may be necessary.
FROSTBURG, a town of Allegany county, Maryland, U.S.A., 11 m. W. of
Cumberland. Pop. (1890) 3804; (1900) 5274 (578 foreign-born and 236
negroes); (1910) 6028. It is served by the Cumberland & Pennsylvania
railway and the Cumberland & Westernport electric railway. The town is
about 2000 ft. above sea-level on a plateau between the Great Savage and
Dans mountains, and its delightful scenery and air have made it
attractive as a summer resort. It is the seat of the second state normal
school, opened in 1904. Frostburg is in the midst of the coal region of
the state, and is itself almost completely undermined; it has planing
mills and manufactures large quantities of fire-brick. The municipality
owns and operates its waterworks. Natural gas is piped to Frostburg from
the West Virginia fields, 120 m. away. Frostburg was first settled in
1812; was called Mount Pleasant until about 1830, when the present name
was substituted in honour of Meshech Frost, one of the town's founders;
and was incorporated in 1870.
FROTHINGHAM, OCTAVIUS BROOKS (1822-1895), American clergyman and author,
was born in Boston on the 26th of November 1822, son of Nathaniel
Langdon Frothingham (1793-1870), a prominent Unitarian preacher of
Boston, and through his mother's family related to Phillips Brooks. He
graduated from Harvard College in 1843 and from the Divinity School in
1846. He was pastor of the North Unitarian church of Salem,
Massachusetts, in 1847-1855. From 1855 to 1860 he was pastor of a new
Unitarian society in Jersey City, where he gave up the Lord's Supper,
thinking that it ministered to self-satisfaction; and it was as a
radical Unitarian that he became pastor of another young church in New
York City in 1860. Indeed in 1864 he was recognized as leader of the
radicals after his reply to Dr Hedge's address to the graduating
students of the Divinity School on _Anti-Supernaturalism in the Pulpit_.
In 1865, when he had practically given up "transcendentalism," his
church building was sold and his congregation began to worship in Lyric
Hall under the name of the Independent Liberal Church; in 1875 they
removed to the Masonic Temple, but four years later ill-health compelled
Frothingham's resignation, and the church dissolved. Paralysis
threatened him and he never fully recovered his health; in 1881 he
returned to Boston, where he died on the 27th of November 1895. To this
later period of his life belongs his best literary work. While he was in
New York he was for a time art critic of the _Tribune_. Always himself
on the unpopular side and an able but thoroughly fair critic of the
majority, he habitually under-estimated his own worth; he was not only
an anti-slavery leader when abolition was not popular even in New
England, and a radical and rationalist when it was impossible for him to
stay conveniently in the Unitarian Church, but he was the first
president of the National Free Religious Association (1867) and an early
and ardent disciple of Darwin and Spencer. To his radical views he was
always faithful. It is a mistake to say that he grew more conservative
in later years; but his judgment grew more generous and catholic. He was
a greater orator than man of letters, and his sermons in New York were
delivered to large audiences, averaging one thousand at the Masonic
Temple, and were printed each week; in eloquence and in the charm of his
spoken word he was probably surpassed in his day by none save George
William Curtis. Personally he seemed cold and distant, partly because of
his impressive appearance, and partly because of his own modesty, which
made him backward in seeking friendships.
His principal published works are: _Stories from the Life of the
Teacher_ (1863), _A Child's Book of Religion_ (1866), and other works
of religious teaching for children; several volumes of sermons;
_Beliefs of Unbelievers_ (1876), _The Cradle of the Christ: a Study in
Primitive Christianity_ (1877), _The Spirit of New Faith_ (1877), _The
Rising and the Setting Faith_ (1878), and other expositions of the
"new faith" he preached; _Life of Theodore Parker_ (1874),
_Transcendentalism in New England_ (1876), which is largely
biographical, _Gerrit Smith, a Biography_ (1878), _George Ripley_
(1882), in the "American Men of Letters" series, _Memoir of William
Henry Channing_ (1886), _Boston Unitarianism, 1820-1850_ (1890),
really a biography of his father; and _Recollections and Impressions,
1822-1890_ (1891).
FROUDE, JAMES ANTHONY (1818-1894), English historian, son of R.H.
Froude, archdeacon of Totnes, was born at Dartington, Devon, on the 23rd
of April 1818. He was educated at Westminster and Oriel College, Oxford,
then the centre of the ecclesiastical revival. He obtained a second
class and the chancellor's English essay prize, and was elected a fellow
of Exeter College (1842). His elder brother, Richard Hurrell Froude
(1803-1836), had been one of the leaders of the High Church movement at
Oxford. Froude joined that party and helped J.H. Newman, afterwards
cardinal, in his _Lives of the English Saints_. He was ordained deacon
in 1845. By that time his religious opinions had begun to change, he
grew dissatisfied with the views of the High Church party, and came
under the influence of Carlyle's teaching. Signs of this change first
appeared publicly in his _Shadows of the Clouds_, a volume containing
two stories of a religious sort, which he published in 1847 under the
pseudonym of "Zeta," and his complete desertion of his party was
declared a year later in his _Nemesis of Faith_, an heretical and
unpleasant book, of which the earlier part seems to be autobiographical.
On the demand of the college he resigned his fellowship at Oxford, and
mainly at least supported himself by writing, contributing largely to
_Fraser's Magazine_ and the _Westminster Review_. The excellence of his
style was soon generally recognized. The first two volumes of his
_History of England from the Fall of Wolsey to the Defeat of the Spanish
Armada_ appeared in 1856, and the work was completed in 1870. As an
historian he is chiefly remarkable for literary excellence, for the art
with which he represents his conception of the past. He condemns a
scientific treatment of history and disregards its philosophy. He held
that its office was simply to record human actions and that it should be
written as a drama. Accordingly he gives prominence to the personal
element in history. His presentations of character and motives, whether
truthful or not, are undeniably fine; but his doctrine that there should
be "no theorizing" about history tended to narrow his survey, and
consequently he sometimes, as in his remarks on the foreign policy of
Elizabeth, seems to misapprehend the tendencies of a period on which he
is writing.
Froude's work is often marred by prejudice and incorrect statements. He
wrote with a purpose. The keynote of his _History_ is contained in his
assertion that the Reformation was "the root and source of the expansive
force which has spread the Anglo-Saxon race over the globe." Hence he
overpraises Henry VIII. and others who forwarded the movement, and
speaks too harshly of some of its opponents. So too, in his _English in
Ireland_ (1872-1874), which was written to show the futility of attempts
to conciliate the Irish, he aggravates all that can be said against the
Irish, touches too lightly on English atrocities, and writes unjustly of
the influence of Roman Catholicism. A strong anti-clerical prejudice is
manifest in his historical work generally, and is doubtless the result
of the change in his views on Church matters and his abandonment of the
clerical profession. Carlyle's influence on him may be traced both in
his admiration for strong rulers and strong government, which led him to
write as though tyranny and brutality were excusable, and in his
independent treatment of character. His rehabilitation of Henry VIII.
was a useful protest against the idea that the king was a mere
sanguinary profligate, but his representation of him as the self-denying
minister of his people's will is erroneous, and is founded on the false
theory that the preambles of the acts of Henry's parliaments represented
the opinions of the educated laymen of England. As an advocate he
occasionally forgets that sobriety of judgment and expression become an
historian. He was not a judge of evidence, and seems to have been
unwilling to admit the force of any argument or the authority of any
statement which militated against his case. In his _Divorce of Catherine
of Aragon_ (1891) he made an unfortunate attempt to show that certain
fresh evidence on the subject, brought forward by Dr Gairdner, Dr
Friedmann and others, was not inconsistent with the views which he has
expressed in his _History_ nearly forty years before. He worked
diligently at original manuscript authorities at Simancas, the Record
Office and Hatfield House; but he used his materials carelessly, and
evidently brought to his investigation of them a mind already made up as
to their significance. His _Life of Caesar_ (1879), a glorification of
imperialism, betrays an imperfect acquaintance with Roman politics and
the life of Cicero; and of his two pleasant books of travel, _The
English in the West Indies_ (1888) shows that he made little effort to
master his subject, and _Oceana_ (1886), the record of a tour in
Australia and New Zealand, among a multitude of other blunders, notes
the prosperity of the working-classes in Adelaide at the date of his
visit, when, in fact, owing to a failure in the wheat-crop, hundreds
were then living on charity. He was constitutionally inaccurate, and
seems to have been unable to represent the exact sense of a document
which lay before him, or even to copy from it correctly. Historical
scholars ridiculed his mistakes, and Freeman, the most violent of his
critics, never let slip a chance of hitting at him in the _Saturday
Review_. Froude's temperament was sensitive, and he suffered from these
attacks, which were often unjust and always too savage in tone. The
literary quarrel between him and Freeman excited general interest when
it blazed out in a series of articles which Freeman wrote in the
_Contemporary Review_ (1878-1879) on Froude's _Short Study_ of Thomas
Becket.
Notwithstanding its defects, Froude's _History_ is a great achievement;
it presents an important and powerful account of the Reformation period
in England, and lays before us a picture of the past magnificently
conceived, and painted in colours which will never lose their freshness
and beauty. As with Froude's work generally, its literary merit is
remarkable; it is a well-balanced and orderly narrative, coherent in
design and symmetrical in execution. Though it is perhaps needlessly
long, the thread of the story is never lost amid a crowd of details;
every incident is made subordinate to the general idea, appears in its
appropriate place, and contributes its share to the perfection of the
whole. The excellence of its form is matched by the beauty of its style,
for Froude was a master of English prose. The most notable
characteristic of his style is its graceful simplicity; it is never
affected or laboured; his sentences are short and easy, and follow one
another naturally. He is always lucid. He was never in doubt as to his
own meaning, and never at a loss for the most appropriate words in which
to express it. Simple as his language is, it is dignified and worthy of
its subject. Nowhere perhaps does his style appear to more advantage
than in his four series of essays entitled _Short Studies on Great
Subjects_ (1867-1882), for it is seen there unfettered by the
obligations of narrative. Yet his narrative is admirably told. For the
most part flowing easily along, it rises on fit occasions to splendour,
picturesque beauty or pathos. Few more brilliant pieces of historical
writing exist than his description of the coronation procession of Anne
Boleyn through the streets of London, few more full of picturesque power
than that in which he relates how the spire of St Paul's was struck by
lightning; and to have once read is to remember for ever the touching
and stately words in which he compares the monks of the London
Charterhouse preparing for death with the Spartans at Thermopylae.
Proofs of his power in the sustained narration of stirring events are
abundant; his treatment of the Pilgrimage of Grace, of the sea fight at
St Helens and the repulse of the French invasion, and of the murder of
Rizzio, are among the most conspicuous examples of it. Nor is he less
successful when recording pathetic events, for his stories of certain
martyrdoms, and of the execution of Mary queen of Scots, are told with
exquisite feeling and in language of well-restrained emotion. And his
characters are alive. We may not always agree with his portraiture, but
the men and women whom he saw exist for us instinct with the life with
which he endows them and animated by the motives which he attributes to
them. His successes must be set against his failures. At the least he
wrote a great history, one which can never be disregarded by future
writers on his period, be their opinions what they may; which attracts
and delights a multitude of readers, and is a splendid example of
literary form and grace in historical composition.
The merits of his work met with full recognition. Each instalment of his
_History_, in common with almost everything which he wrote, was widely
read, and in spite of some adverse criticisms was received with eager
applause. In 1868 he was elected rector of St Andrews University,
defeating Disraeli by a majority of fourteen. He was warmly welcomed in
the United States, which he visited in 1872, but the lectures on Ireland
which he delivered there caused much dissatisfaction. On the death of
his adversary Freeman in 1892, he was appointed, on the recommendation
of Lord Salisbury, to succeed him as regius professor of modern history
at Oxford. Except to a few Oxford men, who considered that historical
scholarship should have been held to be a necessary qualification for
the office, his appointment gave general satisfaction. His lectures on
Erasmus and other 16th-century subjects were largely attended. With some
allowance for the purpose for which they were originally written, they
present much the same characteristics as his earlier historical books.
His health gave way in the summer of 1894, and he died on the 20th of
October.
His long life was full of literary work. Besides his labours as an
author, he was for fourteen years editor of _Fraser's Magazine_. He was
one of Carlyle's literary executors, and brought some sharp criticism
upon himself by publishing Carlyle's _Reminiscences_ and the _Memorials
of Jane Welsh Carlyle_, for they exhibited the domestic life and
character of his old friend in an unpleasant light. Carlyle had given
the manuscripts to him, telling him that he might publish them if he
thought it well to do so, and at the close of his life agreed to their
publication. Froude therefore declared that in giving them to the world
he was carrying out his friend's wish by enabling him to make a
posthumous confession of his faults. Besides publishing these
manuscripts he wrote a _Life of Carlyle_. His earlier study of Irish
history afforded him suggestions for a historical novel entitled _The
Two Chiefs of Dunboy_ (1889). In spite of one or two stirring scenes it
is a tedious book, and its personages are little more than machines for
the enunciation of the author's opinions and sentiments. Though Froude
had some intimate friends he was generally reserved. When he cared to
please, his manners and conversation were charming. Those who knew him
well formed a high estimate of his ability in practical affairs. In 1874
Lord Carnarvon, then colonial secretary, sent Froude to South Africa to
report on the best means of promoting a confederation of its colonies
and states, and in 1875 he was again sent to the Cape as a member of a
proposed conference to further confederation. Froude's speeches in South
Africa were rather injudicious, and his mission was a failure (see SOUTH
AFRICA: _History_). He was twice married. His first wife, a daughter of
Pascoe Grenfell and sister of Mrs Charles Kingsley, died in 1860; his
second, a daughter of John Warre, M.P. for Taunton, died in 1874.
Froude's _Life_, by Herbert Paul, was published in 1905. (W. Hu.)
FRUCTOSE, LAEVULOSE, or FRUIT-SUGAR, a carbohydrate of the formula
C6H12O6. It is closely related to ordinary d-glucose, with which it
occurs in many fruits, starches and also in honey. It is a hydrolytic
product of inulin, from which it may be prepared; but it is more usual
to obtain it from "invert sugar," the mixture obtained by hydrolysing
cane sugar with sulphuric acid. Cane sugar then yields a syrupy mixture
of glucose and fructose, which, having been freed from the acid and
concentrated, is mixed with water, cooled in ice and calcium hydroxide
added. The fructose is precipitated as a saccharate, which is filtered,
suspended in water and decomposed by carbon dioxide. The liquid is
filtered, the filtrate concentrated, and the syrup so obtained washed
with cold alcohol. On cooling the fructose separates. It may be obtained
as a syrup, as fine, silky needles, a white crystalline powder, or as a
granular crystalline, somewhat hygroscopic mass. When anhydrous it melts
at about 95 deg. C. It is readily soluble in water and in dilute alcohol,
but insoluble in absolute alcohol. It is sweeter than cane sugar and is
more easily assimilated. It has been employed under the name diabetin as
a sweetening agent for diabetics, since it does not increase the
sugar-content of the urine; other medicinal applications are in phthisis
(mixed with quassia or other bitter), and for children suffering from
tuberculosis or scrofula in place of cane sugar or milk-sugar.
Chemically, fructose is an oxyketone or ketose, its structural formula
being CH2OH.(CH.OH)3.CO.CH2OH; this result followed from its conversion
by H. Kiliani into methylbutylacetic acid. The form described above is
_laevo_-rotatory, but it is termed d-fructose, since it is related to
d-glucose. Solutions exhibit mutarotation, fresh solutions having a
specific rotation of -104.0 deg., which gradually diminishes to -92 deg.
It was synthesized by Emil Fischer, who found the synthetic sugar which
he named [alpha]-acrose to be (d + l)-fructose, and by splitting this
mixture he obtained both the d and l forms. Fructose resembles d-glucose
in being fermentable by yeast (it is the one ketose which exhibits this
property), and also in its power of reducing alkaline copper and silver
solutions; this latter property is assigned to the readiness with which
hydroxyl and ketone groups in close proximity suffer oxidation. For the
structural (stereochemical) relations of fructose see SUGAR.
FRUGONI, CARLO INNOCENZIO MARIA (1692-1768), Italian poet, was born at
Genoa on the 21st of November 1692. He was originally destined for the
church and at the age of fifteen, in opposition to his strong wishes,
was shut up in a convent; but although in the following year he was
induced to pronounce monastic vows, he had no liking for this life. He
acquired considerable reputation as an elegant writer both of Latin and
Italian prose and verse; and from 1716 to 1724 he filled the chairs of
rhetoric at Brescia, Rome, Genoa, Bologna and Modena successively,
attracting by his brilliant fluency a large number of students at each
university. Through Cardinal Bentivoglio he was recommended to Antonio
Farnese, duke of Parma, who appointed him his poet laureate; and he
remained at the court of Parma until the death of Antonio, after which
he returned to Genoa. Shortly afterwards, through the intercession of
Bentivoglio, he obtained from the pope the remission of his monastic
vows, and ultimately succeeded in recovering a portion of his paternal
inheritance. After the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle he returned to the court
of Parma, and there devoted the later years of his life chiefly to
poetical composition. He died on the 20th of December 1768. As a poet
Frugoni was one of the best of the school of the Arcadian Academy, and
his lyrics and pastorals had great facility and elegance.
His collected works were published at Parma in 10 vols. in 1799, and a
more complete edition appeared at Lucca in the same year in 15 vols. A
selection from his works was published at Brescia in 1782, in 4 vols.
FRUIT (through the French from the Lat. _fructus_; _frui_, to enjoy), in
its widest sense, any product of the soil that can be enjoyed by man or
animals; the word is so used constantly in the Bible, and extended, as a
Hebraism, to offspring or progeny of man and of animals, in such
expressions as "the fruit of the body," "of the womb," "fruit of thy
cattle" (Deut. xxviii. 4), &c., and generally to the product of any
action or effort. Between this wide and frequently figurative use of the
word and its application in the strict botanical sense treated below,
there is a popular meaning, regarding the objects denoted by the word
entirely from the standpoint of edibility, and differentiating them
roughly from those other products of the soil, which, regarded
similarly, are known as vegetables. In this sense "fruit" is applied to
such seed-envelopes of plants as are edible, either raw or cooked, and
are usually sweet, juicy or of a refreshing flavour. But applications of
the word in this sense are apt to be loose and shifting according to the
fashion of the time.
Fruit, in the botanical sense, is developed from the flower as the
result of fertilization of the ovule. After fertilization various
changes take place in the parts of the flower. Those more immediately
concerned in the process, the anther and stigma, rapidly wither and
decay, while the filaments and style often remain for some time; the
floral envelopes become dry, the petals fall, and the sepals are either
deciduous, or remain persistent in an altered form; the ovary becomes
enlarged, forming the _pericarp_; and the ovules are developed as the
seeds, containing the embryo-plant. The term fruit is strictly applied
to the mature pistil or ovary, with the seeds in its interior; but it
often includes other parts of the flower, such as the bracts and floral
envelopes. Thus the fruit of the hazel and oak consists of the ovary
enveloped by the bracts; that of the apple and pear, of the ovary and
floral receptacle; and that of the pine-apple, of the whole
inflorescence. Such fruits are sometimes distinguished as _pseudocarps_.
In popular language, the fruit includes all those parts which exhibit a
striking change as the result of fertilization. In general, the fruit is
not ripened unless fertilization has been effected; but cases occur as
the result of cultivation in which the fruit swells and becomes to all
appearance perfect, while no seeds are produced. Thus, there are
seedless oranges, grapes and pineapples. When the ovules are
unfertilized, it is common to find that the ovary withers and does not
come to maturity; but in the case of bananas, plantains and bread-fruit,
the non-development of seeds seems to lead to a larger growth and a
greater succulence of fruit.
The fruit, like the ovary, may be formed of a single carpel or of
several. It may have one cell or cavity, being _unilocular_; or many,
_multilocular_, &c. The number and nature of the divisions depend on
the number of carpels and the extent to which their edges are folded
inwards. The appearances presented by the ovary do not always remain
permanent in the fruit. Great changes are observed to take place, not
merely as regards the increased size of the ovary, its softening or
hardening, but also in its internal structure, owing to the
suppression, additional formation or enlargement of parts. Thus, in
the ash (fig. 1) an ovary with two cells, each containing an ovule
attached to a central placenta, is changed into a unilocular fruit
with one seed; one ovule becomes abortive, while the other, g,
gradually enlarging until the septum is pushed to one side, unites
with the walls of the cell, and the placenta appears to be parietal.
In the oak and hazel, an ovary with three and two cells respectively,
and two ovules in each, produces a one-celled fruit with one seed. In
the coco-nut, a trilocular and triovular ovary produces a one-celled,
one-seeded fruit. This abortion may depend on the pressure caused by
the development of certain ovules, or it may proceed from
non-fertilization of all the ovules and consequent non-enlargement of
the carpels. Again, by the growth of the placenta, or the folding
inwards of parts of the carpels, divisions occur in the fruit which
did not exist in the ovary. In _Cathartocarpus Fistula_ a one-celled
ovary is changed into a fruit having each of its seeds in a separate
cell, in consequence of spurious dissepiments being produced
horizontal from the inner wall of the ovary. In flax (_Linum_) by the
folding inwards of the back of the carpels a five-celled ovary becomes
a ten-celled fruit. In _Astragalus_ the folding inwards of the dorsal
suture converts a one-celled ovary into a two-celled fruit; and in
_Oxytropis_ the folding of the ventral suture gives rise to a similar
change. The development of cellular or pulpy matter, and the
enlargement of parts not forming whorls of the flower, frequently
alter the appearance of the fruit, and render it difficult to discover
its formation. In the gooseberry (fig. 29), grape, guava, tomato and
pomegranate, the seeds nestle in pulp formed by the placentas. In the
orange the pulpy matter surrounding the seeds is formed by succulent
cells, which are produced from the inner partitioned lining of the
pericarp. In the strawberry the receptacle becomes succulent, and
bears the mature carpels on its convex surface (fig. 2); in the rose
there is a fleshy hollow receptacle which bears the carpels on its
concave surface (fig. 3). In the juniper the scaly bracts grow up
round the seeds and become succulent, and in the fig (fig. 4) the
receptacle becomes succulent and encloses an inflorescence.
[Illustration:
Fig. 1.--Samara or winged fruit of Ash (_Fraxinus_). 1, Entire, with
its wing a; 2, lower portion cut transversely, to show that it
consists of two cells; one of which, l, is abortive, and is reduced
to a very small cavity, while the other is much enlarged and filled
with a seed g.
Fig. 2.--Fruit of the Strawberry (_Fragaria vesca_), consisting of
an enlarged succulent receptacle, bearing on its surface the small
dry seed-like fruits (achenes). (After Duchartre.)
From Strasburger's _Lehrbuch der Botanik_, by permission of Gustav
Fischer.
Fig. 3.--Fruit of the Rose cut vertically. s', Fleshy hollowed
receptacle; s, persistent sepals; _fr_, ripe carpels; e, stamens,
withered.
Fig. 4.--Peduncle of Fig (_Ficus Carica_), ending in a hollow
receptacle enclosing numerous male and female flowers.
Fig. 5.--Fruit of Cherry (_Prunus Cerasus_) in longitudinal section.
ep, Epicarp; m, mesocarp; en, endocarp.
From Strasburger's _Lehrbuch der Botanik_, by permission of Gustav
Fischer.]
The pericarp consists usually of three layers, the external, or
_epicarp_ (fig. 5, ep); the middle, or _mesocarp_, m; and the
internal, or _endocarp_, _en_. These layers are well seen in such a
fruit as the peach, plum or cherry, where they are separable one from
the other; in them the epicarp forms what is commonly called the skin;
the mesocarp, much developed, forms the flesh or pulp, and hence has
sometimes been called _sarcocarp_; while the endocarp, hardened by the
production of woody cells, forms the _stone_ or _putamen_ immediately
covering the kernel or seed. The pulpy matter found in the interior of
fruits, such as the gooseberry, grape and others, is formed from the
placentas, and must not be confounded with the sarcocarp. In some
fruits, as in the nut, the three layers become blended together and
are indistinguishable. In bladder senna (_Colutea arborescens_) the
pericarp retains its leaf-like appearance, but in most cases it
becomes altered both in consistence and in colour. Thus in the date
the epicarp is the outer brownish skin, the pulpy matter is the
mesocarp or sarcocarp, and the thin papery-like lining is the endocarp
covering the hard seed. In the medlar the endocarp becomes of a stony
hardness. In the melon the epicarp and endocarp are very thin, while
the mesocarp forms the bulk of the fruit, differing in texture and
taste in its external and internal parts. The rind of the orange
consists of epicarp and mesocarp, while the endocarp forms partitions
in the interior, filled with pulpy cells. The part of the pericarp
attached to the peduncle is the base, and the point where the style or
stigma existed is the apex. This latter is not always the apparent
apex, as in the case of the ovary; it may be lateral or even basilar.
The style sometimes remains in a hardened form, rendering the fruit
_apiculate_; at other times it falls off, leaving only traces of its
existence. The presence of the style or stigma serves to distinguish
certain single-seeded pericarps from seeds.
[Illustration:
FIG. 6.--Seed-vessel or capsule of Campion, opening by ten teeth at
the apex. The calyx c is seen surrounding the seed-vessel.
FIG. 7.--Capsule of Poppy, opening by pores p, under the radiating
peltate stigma s.]
Dehiscence of fruits.
When the fruit is mature and the seeds are ripe, the carpels usually
give way either at the ventral or dorsal suture or at both, and so
allow the seeds to escape. The fruit in this case is _dehiscent_. But
some fruits are _indehiscent_, falling to the ground entire, and the
seeds eventually reaching the soil by their decay. By dehiscence the
pericarp becomes divided into different pieces, or _valves_, the fruit
being univalvular, bivalvular or multivalvular, &c., according as
there are one, two or many valves. The splitting extends the whole
length of the fruit, or is partial, the valves forming teeth at the
apex, as in the order Caryophyllaceae (fig. 6). Sometimes the valves
are detached only at certain points, and thus dehiscence takes place
by pores at the apex, as in poppy (fig. 7), or at the base, as in
_Campanula_. Indehiscent fruits are either dry, as the nut, or fleshy,
as the cherry and apple. They are formed of one or several carpels. In
the former case they usually contain only a single seed, which may
become so incorporated with the pericarp as to appear to be naked, as
in the grain of wheat and generally in grasses. In such cases the
presence of the remains of style or stigma determines their true
nature.
[Illustration:
FIG. 8.--Dry dehiscent fruit. The pod (legume) of the Pea; r, the
dorsal suture; b, the ventral; c, calyx; s, seeds.
From Vines' _Students' Text-Book of Botany_, by permission of Swan
Sonnenschein & Co.
FIG. 9.--(1) Fruit or capsule of Meadow Saffron (_Colchicum
autumnale_), dehiscing along the septa (septicidally); (2) same cut
across, showing the three chambers with the seeds attached along the
middle line (axile placentation).
FIG. 10.--Diagram to illustrate the septicidal dehiscence in a
pentalocular capsule. The loculaments l correspond to the number of
the carpels, which separate by splitting through the septa, s.
FIG. 11.--The seed vessel (capsule) of the Flower-de-Luce (_Iris_),
opening in a loculicidal manner. The three valves bear the septa in
the centre, and the opening takes place through the back of the
loculaments. Each valve is formed by the halves of contiguous
carpels.
FIG. 12.--Diagram to illustrate loculicidal dehiscence. The
loculaments l, split at the back, and the valves separate, bearing
the septa s on their centres.
FIG. 13.--Diagram to illustrate septifragal dehiscence, in which the
dehiscence takes place through the back of the loculaments l, and
the valves separate from the septa s, which are left attached to the
placentas in the centre.]
Dehiscent fruits, when composed of single carpels, may open by the
ventral suture only, as in the paeony, hellebore, _Aquilegia_ (fig.
28) and _Caltha_; by the dorsal suture only, as in magnolias and some
_Proteaceae_, or by both together, as in the pea (fig. 8) and bean; in
these cases the dehiscence is _sutural_. When composed of several
united carpels, two types of dehiscence occur--a longitudinal and a
transverse. In the longitudinal the separation may take place by the
dissepiments throughout their length, so that the fruit is resolved
into its original carpels, and each valve represents a carpel, as in
rhododendron, _Colchicum_, &c.; this dehiscence, in consequence of
taking place through the septum, is called _septicidal_ (figs. 9, 10).
The valves separate from their commissure, or central line of union,
carrying the placentas with them, or they leave the latter in the
centre, so as to form with the axis a column of a cylindrical, conical
or prismatic shape. Dehiscence is _loculicidal_ when the union between
the edges of the carpels is persistent, and they dehisce by the dorsal
suture, or through the back of the loculaments, as in the lily and
iris (figs. 11, 12). In these cases each valve consists of a half of
each of two contiguous carpels. The placentas either remain united to
the axis, or they separate from it, being attached to the septa on the
valves. When the outer walls of the carpels break off from the septa,
leaving them attached to the central column, the dehiscence is said to
be _septifragal_ (fig. 13), and where, as in _Linum catharticum_ and
_Calluna_, the splitting takes place first of all in a septicidal
manner, the fruit is described as _septicidally septifragal_; while in
other cases, as in thorn apple (_Datura Stramonium_), where the
splitting is at first loculicidal, the dehiscence is _loculicidally
septifragal_. In all those forms the separation of the valves takes
place either from above downwards or from below upwards. In
_Saxifraga_ a splitting for a short distance of the ventral sutures of
the carpels takes place, so that a large apical pore is formed. In the
fruit of Cruciferae, as wallflower (fig. 14), the valves separate from
the base of the fruit, leaving a central _replum_, or frame, which
supports the false septum formed by a prolongation from the parietal
placentas on opposite sides of the fruit, extending between the
ventral sutures of the carpels. In Orchidaceae (fig. 15) the pericarp,
when ripe, separates into three valves in a loculicidal manner, but
the midribs of the carpels, to which the placentas are attached, often
remain adherent to the axis both at the apex and base after the valves
bearing the seeds have fallen. The other type of dehiscence is
transverse, or _circumscissile_, when the upper part of the united
carpels falls off in the form of a lid or operculum, as in _Anagallis_
and in henbane (_Hyoscyamus_) (fig. 16).
[Illustration:
FIG. 14.--Siliqua or seed-vessel of Wallflower (_Cheiranthus
Cheiri_), opening by two valves, which separate from the base
upwards, leaving the seeds attached to the dissepiment which is
supported by the replum.
From Strasburger's _Lehrbuch der Botanik_, by permission of Gustav
Fischer.
FIG. 15.--Capsule of an Orchid (_Xylobium_). v, valve.
FIG. 16.--Seed-vessel of _Anagallisarvensis_, opening by
circumscissile dehiscence.
From Strasburger's _Lehrbuch der Botanik_, by permission of Gustav
Fischer.
FIG. 17.--Lomentum of _Hedysarum_ which, when ripe, separates
transversely into single-seeded portions or mericarps.
FIG. 18.--Fruit of _Geranium pratense_, after splitting.]
Sometimes the axis is prolonged beyond the base of the carpels, as in
the mallow and castor-oil plant, the carpels being united to it
throughout their length by their faces, and separating from it without
opening. In the Umbelliferae the two carpels separate from the lower
part of the axis, and remain attached by their apices to a
prolongation of it, called a _carpophore_ or _podocarp_, which splits
into two (fig. 25) and suspends them; hence the fruit is termed a
_cremocarp_, which divides into two _mericarps_. The general term
_schizocarp_ is applied to all dry fruits, which break up into two or
more one-seeded indehiscent mericarps, as in _Hedysarum_ (fig. 17). In
the order Geraniaceae the styles remain attached to a central column,
and the mericarps separate from below upwards, before dehiscing by
their ventral suture (fig. 18). Carpels which separate one from
another in this manner are called _cocci_. They are well seen in the
order Euphorbiaceae, where there are usually three such carpels, and
the fruit is termed tricoccus. In many of them, as _Hura crepitans_,
the cocci separate with great force and elasticity. In many leguminous
plants, such as _Ornithopus_, _Hedysarum_ (fig. 17), _Entada_,
_Coronilla_ and the gum-arabic plant (_Acacia arabica_), the fruit
becomes a schizocarp by the formation of transverse partitions from
the folding in of the sides of the pericarp, and distinct separations
taking place at these partitions.
Fruits are formed by one flower, or are the product of several flowers
combined. In the former case they are either _apocarpous_, of one
mature carpel or of several separate free carpels; or _syncarpous_, of
several carpels, more or less completely united. When the fruit is
composed of the ovaries of several flowers united, it is usual to find
the bracts and floral envelopes also joined with them, so as to form
one mass; hence such fruits are known as multiple, confluent or
_anthocarpous_. The term simple is applied to fruits which are formed
by the ovary of a single flower, whether they are composed of one or
several carpels, and whether these carpels are separate or combined.
[Illustration: From Vines' _Students' Text-Book of Botany_, by
permission of Swan Sonnenschein & Co.
FIG. 19.--Dry one-seeded fruit of dock (_Rumex_) cut vertically. ov,
Pericarp formed from ovary wall; s, seed; e, endosperm; pl, embryo
with radicle pointing upwards and cotyledons downwards--enlarged.
FIG. 20.--Achene of _Ranunculus arvensis_ in longitudinal section;
e, endosperm; pl, embryo. (After Baillon, enlarged.)
From Strasburger's _Lehrbuch der Botanik_, by permission of Gustav
Fischer.
FIG. 21.--Fruit of Common Sycamore (_Acer Pseudoplatanus_), dividing
into two mericarps m; s, pedicel; fl, wings (nat. size).]
Dispersal of fruit or seed.
The object of the fruit in the economy of the plant is the protection
and nursing of the developing seed and the dispersion of the ripe
seeds. Hence, generally, one-seeded fruits are indehiscent, while
fruits containing more than one seed open to allow of the dispersal of
the seeds over as wide an area as possible. The form, colour,
structure and method of dehiscence of fruits and the form of the
contained seeds are intimately associated with the means of dispersal,
which fall into several categories. (1) By a mechanism residing in the
fruit. Thus many fruits open suddenly when they are dry, and the seeds
are ejected by the twisting or curving of the valves, or in some other
way; e.g. in gorse, by the spiral curving of the valves; in
_Impatiens_, by the twisting of the cocci; in squirting cucumber, by
the pressure exerted on the pulpy contents by the walls of the
pericarp. (2) By aid of various external agencies such as water.
Fruits or seeds are sometimes sufficiently buoyant to float for a long
time on sea- or fresh-water; e.g. coco-nut, by means of its thick,
fibrous coat (mesocarp), is carried hundreds of miles in the sea, the
tough, leathery outer coat (epicarp) preventing it from becoming
water-soaked. Fruits and seeds of West Indian plants are thrown up on
the coasts of north-west Europe, having been carried by the Gulf
Stream, and will often germinate; many are rendered buoyant by
air-containing cavities, and the embryo is protected from the seawater
by the tough coat of fruit or seed. Water-lily seeds are surrounded
with a spongy tissue when set free from the fruit, and float for some
distance before dropping to the bottom. (3) The most general agent in
the dispersal of seeds is the wind or currents of air--the fruit or
seed being rendered buoyant by wing-developments as in fruits of ash
(fig. 1) or maple (fig. 21), seeds of pines and firs, or many members
of the order Bignoniaceae; or hair-developments as in fruits of
clematis, where the style forms a feathery appendage, fruits of many
Compositae (dandelion, thistle, &c.), which are crowned by a plumose
pappus, or seeds of willow and poplar, or _Asclepias_ (fig. 36), which
bear tufts of silky hairs; to this category belong bladder-like
fruits, such as bladder-senna, which are easily rolled by the wind, or
cases like the so-called rose of Jericho, a small cruciferous plant
(_Anastatica hierocuntica_), where the plant dries up after developing
its fruits and becomes detached from the ground; the branches curl
inwards, and the whole plant is rolled over the dry ground by the
wind. The wind also aids the dispersal of the seeds in the case of
fruits which open by small teeth (many Caryophyllaceae [fig. 6]) or
pores (poppy [fig. 7], _Campanula_, &c.); the seeds are in these cases
small and numerous, and are jerked through the pores when the
capsules, which are generally borne on long, dry stems or stalks, are
shaken by the wind. (4) In other cases members of the animal world aid
in seed-dispersal. Fruits often bear stiff hairs or small hooks, which
cling to the coat of an animal or the feathers of a bird; such are
fruits of cleavers (_Galium Aparine_), a common hedge-row plant,
_Ranunculus arvensis_ (fig. 20), carrot, _Geum_, &c.; or the fruit or
seed has an often bright-coloured, fleshy covering, which is sought by
birds as food, as in stone-fruits such as plum, cherry (fig. 5), &c.,
where the seed is protected from injury in the mouth or stomach of the
animal by the hard endocarp; or the hips of the rose (fig. 3), where
the succulent scarlet "fruit" (the swollen receptacle) envelops a
number of small dry true fruits (achenes), which cling by means of
stiff hairs to the beak of the bird.
[Illustration:
FIG. 22.--Vertical section of a grain of wheat, showing embryo below
at the base of the endosperm e; s, scutellum separating embryo from
endosperm; f.l, foliage leaf; p.s, sheath of plumule; p.r, primary
root; s.p.r, sheath of primary root.
FIG. 23.--Fruit of Comfrey (_Symphytum_) surrounded by persistent
calyx, c. The style s appears to arise from the base of the carpels,
enlarged.
FIG. 24.--Ovary of _Foeniculum officinale_ with pendulous ovules, in
longitudinal section. (After Berg and Schmidt, magnified.)
From Strasburger's _Lehrbuch der Botanik_, by permission of Gustav
Fischer.
FIG. 25.--Fruit of _Carum Carui_. A, Ovary of the flower; B, ripe
fruit. The two carpels have separated so as to form two mericarps
(m). Part of the septum constitutes the carpophore (a). p, Top of
flower-stalk; d, disk on top of ovary; n, stigma.
From Vines' _Students' Text-Book of Botany_, by permission of Swan
Sonnenschein & Co.]
Forms of fruit.
Simple fruits have either a _dry_ or _succulent_ pericarp. The
_achene_ is a dry, one-seeded, indehiscent fruit, the pericarp of
which is closely applied to the seed, but separable from it. It is
solitary, forming a single fruit, as in the dock (fig. 19) and in the
cashew, where it is supported on a fleshy peduncle; or _aggregate_, as
in _Ranunculus_ (fig. 20), where several achenes are placed on a
common elevated receptacle. In the strawberry the achenes (fig. 2) are
aggregated on a convex succulent receptacle. In the rose they are
supported on a concave receptacle (fig. 3), and in the fig the
succulent receptacle completely encloses the achenes (fig. 4). In
_Dorstenia_ the achenes are situated on a flat or slightly concave
receptacle. Hence what in common language are called the seeds of the
strawberry, rose and fig, are in reality ripe carpels. The styles
occasionally remain attached to the achenes in the form of feathery
appendages, as in _Clematis_. In Compositae, the fruit is an inferior
achene (_cypsela_), to which the pappus (modified calyx) remains
adherent. Such is also the nature of the fruit in Dipsacaceae (e.g.
scabious). When the pericarp is thin, and appears like a bladder
surrounding the seed, the achene is termed a _utricle_, as in
Amarantaceae. When the pericarp is extended in the form of a winged
appendage, a _samara_ or _samaroid achene_ is produced, as in the ash
(fig. 1) and common sycamore (fig. 21). In these cases there are
usually two achenes united, one of which, however, as in _Fraxinus_
(fig. 1), may be abortive. The wing surrounds the fruit longitudinally
in the elm. When the pericarp becomes so incorporated with the seed as
to be inseparable from it, as in grains of wheat (fig. 22), maize,
oats and other grasses, then the name _caryopsis_ is given. The
one-seeded portions (mericarps) of schizocarps often take the form of
achenes, e.g. the mericarps of the mallows or of umbellifers (figs.
24, 25). In Labiatae and Boraginaceae (e.g. comfrey, fig. 23), where
the bicarpellary ovary becomes our one-seeded portions in the fruit,
the partial fruits are of the nature of achenes or nutlets according
to the texture (leathery or hard) of the pericarp.
[Illustration: From Strasburger's _Lehrbuch der Botanik_, by
permission of Gustav Fischer.
FIG. 26.--Cupule of _Quercus Aegilops_. cp, cupule; gl, fruit.
(After Duchartre.)]
The _nut_ or _glans_ is a dry one-celled indehiscent fruit with a
hardened pericarp, often surrounded by bracts at the base, and, when
mature, containing only one seed. In the young state the ovary often
contains two or more ovules, but only one comes to maturity. It is
illustrated by the fruits of the hazel and chestnut, which are covered
by leafy bracts, in the form of a _husk_, and by the acorn, in which
the bracts and receptacle form a _cupula_ or _cup_ (fig. 26). The
parts of the pericarp of the nut are united so as to appear one. In
common language the term nut is very vaguely applied both to fruit and
seeds.
The _drupe_ is a succulent usually one-seeded indehiscent fruit, with
a pericarp easily distinguishable into epicarp, mesocarp and endocarp.
This term is applied to such fruits as the cherry (fig. 5), peach,
plum, apricot or mango. The endocarp is usually hard, forming the
stone (putamen) of the fruit, which encloses the kernel or seed. The
mesocarp is generally pulpy and succulent, so as to be truly a
sarcocarp, as in the peach, but it is sometimes of a tough texture, as
in the almond, and at other times is more or less fibrous, as in the
coco-nut. In the almond there are often two ovules formed, only one of
which comes to perfection. In the raspberry and bramble several small
drupes or _drupels_ are aggregated so as to constitute an _etaerio_.
The _follicle_ is a dry unilocular many-seeded fruit, formed from one
carpel and dehiscing by the ventral suture. It is rare to meet with a
solitary follicle forming the fruit. There are usually several
aggregated together, either in a whorl on a shortened receptacle, as
in hellebore, aconite, larkspur, columbine (figs. 27, 28) or the order
Crassulaceae, or in a spiral manner on an elongated receptacle, as in
_Magnolia_ and _Banksia_. Occasionally, follicles dehisce by the
dorsal suture, as in _Magnolia grandiflora_ and _Banksia_.
[Illustration:
FIG. 27.--Fruit of Columbine (_Aquilegia_), formed of five
follicles.
FIG. 28.--Single follicle, showing dehiscence by the ventral suture.
FIG. 29.--Transverse section of berry of Gooseberry, showing the
seeds attached to the parietal placentas and immersed in pulp, which
is formed partly from the endocarp, partly from the seed-coat.
FIG. 30.--Section of the fruit of the Apple (_Pyrus Malus_), or
pome, consisting of a fleshy covering formed by the floral
receptacle and the true fruit or core with five cavities with
seeds.]
The _legume_ or _pod_ is a dry monocarpellary unilocular many-seeded
fruit, formed from one carpel, dehiscing both by the ventral and the
dorsal suture. It characterizes leguminous plants, as the bean and pea
(fig. 8). In the bladder-senna it forms an inflated legume. In some
Leguminosae, as _Arachis_, _Cathartocarpus Fistula_ and the tamarind,
the fruit must be considered a legume, although it does not dehisce.
The first of these plants produces its fruit underground, and is
called earth-nut; the second has a partitioned legume and is
schizocarpic; and both the second and third have pulpy matter
surrounding the seeds. Some legumes are schizocarpic by the formation
of constrictions externally. Such a form is the _lomentum_ or
_lomentaceous legume_ of _Hedysarum_ (fig. 17), _Coronilla_,
_Ornithopus_, _Entada_ and of some Acacias. In _Medicago_ the legume
~~ is twisted like a snail, and in _Caesalpinia coriaria_, or
Divi-divi, it is vermiform or curved like a worm. Sometimes the number
of seeds is reduced, as in _Erythrina monosperma_ and _Geoffroya
superba_, which are one-seeded, and in _Pterocarpus_ and _Dalbergia_,
which are two-seeded.
[Illustration: FIG. 31.--Transverse section of the fruit of the Melon
(_Cucumis Melo_), showing the placentas with the seeds attached to
them. The three carpels forming the pepo are separated by partitions.
From the centre processes pass outwards, ending in the curved
placenta.
The _berry_ (_bacca_) is a term applied generally to all fruits with
seeds immersed in pulp, and includes fruits of very various origin. In
_Actaea_ (baneberry) or _Berberis_ (barberry) it is derived from a
single free carpel; generally, however, it is the product of a
syncarpous ovary, which is superior, as in grape or potato, or
inferior, as in gooseberry (fig. 29) or currant. In the pomegranate
there is a peculiar baccate many-celled inferior fruit, having a tough
rind, enclosing two rows of carpels placed one above the other. The
seeds are immersed in pulp, and are attached irregularly to the wall,
base and centre of the loculi. In the baobab there is a multilocular
syncarpous fruit, in which the seeds are immersed in pulp.
The _pepo_, another indehiscent syncarpous fruit, is illustrated by
the fruit of the gourd, melon (fig. 31) and other Cucurbitaceae. It is
formed of three carpels, surmounted by the calyx; the rind is thick
and fleshy, and there are three or more seed-bearing parietal
placentas, either surrounding a central cavity or prolonged inwards
into it. The fruit of the papaw resembles the pepo, but the calyx is
not superior.
The _hesperidium_ is the name given to such indehiscent fleshy
syncarpous fruits as the orange, lemon and shaddock, in which the
epicarp and mesocarp form a separable rind, and the endocarp sends
prolongations inwards, forming triangular divisions, to the inner
angle of which the seeds are attached, pulpy cells being developed
around them from the wall. Both pepo and hesperidium may be considered
as modifications of the berry.
The _pome_ (fig. 30), seen in the apple, pear, quince, medlar and
hawthorn, is a fleshy indehiscent syncarpous fruit, in the formation
of which the receptacle takes part. The outer succulent part is the
swollen receptacle, the horny core being the true fruit developed from
the usually five carpels and enclosing the seeds. In the medlar the
core (or true pericarp) is of a stony hardness, while the outer
succulent covering is open at the summit. The pome somewhat resembles
the fruit of the rose (fig. 3), where the succulent receptacle
surrounds a number of separate achenes.
The name _capsule_ is applied generally to all dry syncarpous fruits,
which dehisce by valves. It may thus be unilocular or multilocular,
one- or many-seeded. The true valvular capsule is observed in
_Colchicum_ (fig. 9), lily and iris (fig. 11). The _porose capsule_ is
seen in the poppy (fig. 7), _Antirrhinum_ and _Campanula_. In
_Campanula_ the pores occur at the base of the capsule, which becomes
inverted when ripe. When the capsule opens by a lid, or by
circumscissile dehiscence, it is called a _pyxidium_, as in pimpernel
(_Anagallis arvensis_) (fig. 16), henbane and monkey-pot (_Lecythis_).
The capsule assumes a screw-like form in _Helicteres_, and a star-like
form in star-anise (_Illicium anisatum_). In certain instances the
cells of the capsule separate from each other, and open with
elasticity to scatter the seeds. This kind of capsule is met with in
the sandbox tree (_Hura crepitans_) and other Euphorbiaceae, where the
cocci, containing each a single seed, burst asunder with force; and in
Geraniaceae, where the cocci, each containing, when mature, usually
one seed, separate from the carpophore, become curved upwards by their
adherent styles, and open by the ventral suture (fig. 18).
The _siliqua_ is a dry syncarpous bilocular many-seeded fruit, formed
from two carpels, with a false septum, dehiscing by two valves from
below upwards, the valves separating from the placentas and leaving
them united by the septum (fig. 32). The seeds are attached on both
sides of the septum, either in one row or in two. When the fruit is
long and narrow it is a _siliqua_ (fig. 14); when broad and short,
_silicula_ (fig. 33). It occurs in cruciferous plants, as wallflower,
cabbage and cress. In _Glaucium_ and _Eschscholtzia_ (Papaveraceae)
the dissepiment is of a spongy nature. It may become transversely
constricted (_lomentaceous_), as in radish (_Raphanus_) and sea-kale,
and it may be reduced, as in woad (_Isatis_), to a one-seeded
condition.
It sometimes happens that the ovaries of two flowers unite so as to
form a double fruit (_syncarp_). This may be seen in many species of
honeysuckle. But the fruits which are now to be considered consist
usually of the floral envelopes, as well as the ovaries of several
flowers united into one, and are called _multiple_ or _confluent_. The
term _anthocarpous_ has also been applied as indicating that the
floral envelopes as well as the carpels are concerned in the formation
of the fruit.
The _sorosis_ is a succulent multiple fruit formed by the confluence
of a spike of flowers, as in the fruit of the pine-apple (fig. 34),
the bread-fruit and jack-fruit. Similarly the fruit of the mulberry
represents a catkin-like inflorescence.
The _syconus_ is an anthocarpous fruit, in which the receptacle
completely encloses numerous flowers and becomes succulent. The fig
(fig. 4) is of this nature, and what are called its seeds are the
achenes of the numerous flowers scattered over the succulent hollowed
receptacle. In _Dorstenia_ the axis is less deeply hollowed, and of a
harder texture, the fruit exhibiting often very anomalous forms.
The _strobilus_, or _cone_, is a seed-bearing spike, more or less
elongated, covered with scales, each of which may be regarded as
representing a separate flower, and has often two seeds at its base;
the seeds are naked, no ovary being present. This fruit is seen in the
cones of firs, spruces, larches and cedars, which have received the
name of Coniferae, or cone-bearers, on this account. Cone-like fruit
is also seen in most Cycadaceae. The scales of the strobilus are
sometimes thick and closely united, so as to form a more or less
angular and rounded mass, as in the cypress; while in the juniper they
become fleshy, and are so incorporated as to form a globular fruit
like a berry. The dry fruit of the cypress and the succulent fruit of
the juniper have received the name of _galbulus_. In the hop the fruit
is called also a strobilus, but in it the scales are thin and
membranous, and the seeds are not naked but are contained in
pericarps.
[Illustration:
FIG. 32.--Honesty (_Lunaria biennis_), showing the septum after the
carpels have fallen away.
From Strasburger's _Lehrbuch der Botanik_, by permission of Gustav
Fischer.
FIG. 33.--Silicula or pouch of shepherd's purse (_Capsella_),
opening by two folded valves, which separate from above downwards.
The partition is narrow, hence the silicula is angustiseptal.
From Strasburger's _Lehrbuch der Botanik_, by permission of Gustav
Fischer.
FIG. 34.--Fruit of the pine-apple (_Ananassa sativa_), developed
from a spike of numerous flowers with bracts, united so as to form a
collective or anthocarpous fruit. The crown of the pine-apple, c,
consists of a series of empty bracts prolonged beyond the fruit.]
The same causes which produce alterations in the other parts of the
flower give rise to anomalous appearances in the fruit. The carpels,
in place of bearing seeds, are sometimes changed into leaves, with
lobes at their margins. Leaves are sometimes produced from the upper
part of the fruit. In the genus _Citrus_, to which the orange and
lemon belong, it is very common to meet with a separation of the
carpels, so as to produce what are called horned oranges and fingered
citrons. In this case a syncarpous fruit has a tendency to become
apocarpous. In the orange we occasionally find a supernumerary row of
carpels produced, giving rise to the appearance of small and imperfect
oranges enclosed within the original one; the navel orange is of this
nature. It sometimes happens that, by the union of flowers, double
fruits are produced. Occasionally a double fruit is produced, not by
the incorporation of two flowers, but by the abnormal development of a
second carpel in the flower.
_Arrangement of Fruits._
A. True fruits--developed from the ovary alone.
1. Pericarp not fleshy or fibrous.
i. Indehiscent--not opening to allow the escape of the
seeds--generally one-seeded. Achene; caryopsis; cypsela;
nut; schizocarp.
ii. Dehiscent--the pericarp splits to allow the escape of the
seeds--generally many-seeded. Follicle; legume; siliqua;
capsule.
2. Pericarp generally differentiated into distinct layers, one
of which is succulent or fibrous. Drupe; berry.
B. Pseudocarps--the development extends beyond the ovary. Pome;
syconus; sorosis.
_The Seed._--The _seed_ is formed from the ovule as the result of
fertilization. It is contained in a seed-vessel formed from the ovary
in the plants called _angiospermous_; while in _gymnospermous_
plants, such as Coniferae and Cycadaceae, it is naked, or, in other
words, has no true pericarp. It sometimes happens in Angiosperms, that
the seed-vessel is ruptured at an early period of growth, so that the
seeds become more or less exposed during their development; this
occurs in mignonette, where the capsule opens at the apex, and in
_Cuphea_, where the placenta bursts through the ovary and floral
envelopes, and appears as an erect process bearing the young seeds.
After fertilization the ovule is greatly changed, in connexion with
the formation of the embryo. In the embryo-sac of most Angiosperms
(q.v.) there is a development of cellular tissue, the endosperm, more
or less filling the embryo-sac. In Gymnosperms (q.v.) the endosperm is
formed preparatory to fertilization. The fertilized egg enlarges and
becomes multicellular, forming the embryo. The embryo-sac enlarges
greatly, displacing gradually the surrounding nucellus, which
eventually forms merely a thin layer around the sac, or completely
disappears. The remainder of the nucellus and the integuments of the
ovules form the seed-coats. In some cases (fig. 35) a delicate inner
coat or _tegmen_ can be distinguished from a tougher outer coat or
_testa_; often, however, the layers are not thus separable. The
consistency of the seed-coat, its thickness, the character of its
surface, &c., vary widely, the variations being often closely
associated with the environment or with the means of seed-dispersal.
An account of the development of the seed from the ovule will be found
in the article ANGIOSPERMS. When the pericarp is dehiscent the
seed-covering is of a strong and often rough character; but when the
pericarp is indehiscent and encloses the seed for a long period, the
outer seed-coat is thin and soft. The cells of the testa are often
coloured, and have projections and appendages of various kinds. Thus
in _Abrus precatorius_ and _Adenanthera pavonina_ it is of a bright
red colour; in French beans it is beautifully mottled; in the almond
it is veined; in the tulip and primrose it is rough; in the snapdragon
it is marked with depressions; in cotton and _Asclepias_ (fig. 36) it
has hairs attached to it; and in mahogany, _Bignonia_, and the pines
and firs it is expanded in the form of wing-like appendages (fig. 37).
In _Collomia_, _Acanthodium_, _Cobaea scandens_ and other seeds, it
contains spiral cells, from which, when moistened with water, the
fibres uncoil in a beautiful manner; and in flax (_Linum_) and others
the cells are converted into mucilage. These structural peculiarities
of the testa in different plants have relation to the scattering of
the seed and its germination upon a suitable nidus. But in some plants
the pericarps assume structures which subserve the same purpose; this
especially occurs in small pericarps enclosing single seeds, as
achenes, caryopsides, &c. Thus in Compositae and valerian, the pappose
limb of the calyx forms a parachute to the pericarp; in Labiatae and
some Compositae spiral cells are formed in the epicarp; and the
epicarp is prolonged as a wing in _Fraxinus_ (fig. 1) and _Acer_ (fig.
21).
[Illustration:
FIG. 35.--Seed of Pea (_Pisum_) with one cotyledon removed. c,
Remaining cotyledon; ch, chalaza-point at which the nourishing
vessels enter; e, tegmen or inner coat; f, funicle or stalk; g,
plumule of embryo; m, micropyle; pl, placenta; r, radicle of embryo;
t, tigellum or stalk between root and plumule; te, testa.
FIG. 36.--Seed of _Asclepias_, with a cluster of hairs arising from
the edges of the micropyle.]
Sometimes there is an additional covering to the seed, formed after
fertilization, to which the name _arillus_ has been given (fig. 38).
This is seen in the passion-flower, where the covering arises from the
placenta or extremity of the funicle at the base of the ovule and
passes upwards towards the apex, leaving the micropyle uncovered. In
the nutmeg and spindle tree this additional coat is formed from above
downwards, constituting in the former case a laciniated scarlet
covering called _mace_. In such instances it has been called an
_arillode_ (fig. 39). This arillode, after growing downwards, may be
reflected upwards so as to cover the micropyle. The fleshy scarlet
covering formed around the naked seed in the yew is by some considered
of the nature of an aril. On the testa, at various points, there are
produced at times other cellular bodies, to which the name of
_strophioles_, or _caruncles_, has been given, the seeds being
strophiolate or carunculate. These tumours may occur near the base of
the seed, as in _Polygala_, or at the apex, as in Castor-oil plant
(_Ricinus_); or they may occur in the course of the raphe, as in
blood-root (_Sanguinaria_) and _Asarabacca_. The funicles of the
ovules frequently attain a great length in the seed, and in some
magnolias, when the fruit dehisces, they appear as long scarlet cords
suspending the seeds outside. The hilum or umbilicus of the seed is
usually well marked, as a scar of varying size; in the calabar bean
and in some species of Mucuna and Dolichos it extends along a large
portion of the edge of the seed; it frequently exhibits marked
colours, being black in the bean, white in many species of Phaseolus,
&c. The micropyle (fig. 35, m) of the seed may be recognizable by the
naked eye, as in the pea and bean tribe, _Iris_, &c., or it may be
very minute or microscopic. It indicates the true apex of the seed,
and is important as marking the point to which the root of the embryo
is directed. At the micropyle in the bean is observed a small process
of integument, which, when the young plant sprouts, is pushed up like
a lid; it is called the _embryotega_. The chalaza (fig. 38, ch) is
often of a different colour from the rest of the seed. In the orange
(fig. 40) it is of a reddish-brown colour, and is easily recognized at
one end of the seed when the integuments are carefully removed. In
anatropal seeds the raphe forms a distinct ridge along one side of the
seed (fig. 41).
The position of the seed as regards the pericarp resembles that of the
ovule in the ovary, and the same terms are applied--erect, ascending,
pendulous, suspended, curved, &c. These terms have no reference to the
mode in which the fruit is attached to the axis. Thus the seed may be
erect while the fruit itself is pendent, in the ordinary meaning of
that term. The part of the seed next the axis or the ventral suture is
its face, the opposite side being the back. Seeds exhibit great
varieties of form. They may be flattened laterally (_compressed_), or
from above downwards (_depressed_). They may be round, oval,
triangular, polygonal, rolled up like a snail, as in _Physostemon_, or
coiled up like a snake, as in _Ophiocaryon paradoxum_.
[Illustration:
FIG. 37.--Seed of Pine (_Pinus_), with a membranous appendage w to
the testa, called a wing.
FIG. 38.--Young anatropal seed of the white Water-lily (_Nymphaea
alba_), cut vertically. It is attached to the placenta by the
funicle f, cellular prolongations from which form an aril a a. The
vessels of the cord are prolonged to the base of the nucellus n by
means of the raphe r. The base of the nucellus is indicated by the
chalaza ch, while the apex is at the micropyle m. The covering of
the seed is marked i. n is the nucellus or perisperm, enclosing the
embryo-sac es, in which the endosperm is formed. The embryo e, with
its suspensor, is contained in the sac, the radicle pointing to the
micropyle m.
FIG. 39.--Arillode a, or false aril, of the Spindle-tree
(_Euonymus_), arising from the micropyle f.
FIG. 40.--Anatropal seed of the Orange (_Citrus Aurantium_) opened
to show the chalaza c, which forms a brown spot at one end.
FIG. 41.--Entire anatropal seed of the Orange (_Citrus Aurantium_),
with its rugose or wrinkled testa, and the raphe r ramifying in the
thickness of the testa on one side.]
The endosperm formed in the embryo-sac of angiosperms after
fertilization, and found previous to it in gymnosperms, consists of
cells containing nitrogenous and starchy or fatty matter, destined for
the nutriment of the embryo. It occupies the whole cavity of the
embryo-sac, or is formed only at certain portions of it, at the apex,
as in _Rhinanthus_, at the base, as in _Vaccinium_, or in the middle,
as in _Veronica_. As the endosperm increases in size along with the
embryo-sac and the embryo, the substance of the original nucellus of
the ovule is gradually absorbed. Sometimes, however, as in Musaceae,
Cannaceae, Zingiberaceae, no endosperm is formed; the cells of the
original nucellus, becoming filled with food-materials for the embryo,
are not absorbed, but remain surrounding the embryo-sac with the
embryo, and constitute the _perisperm_. Again, in other plants, as
Nymphaeaceae (fig. 38) and Piperaceae, both endosperm and perisperm
are present. It was from observations on cases such as these that old
authors, imagining a resemblance betwixt the plant-ovule and the
animal ovum, applied the name _albumen_ to the outer nutrient mass or
perisperm, and designated the endosperm as _vitellus_. The term
albumen is very generally used as including all the nutrient matter
stored up in the seed, but it would be advisable to discard the name
as implying a definite chemical substance. There is a large class of
plants in which although at first after fertilization a mass of
endosperm is formed, yet, as the embryo increases in size, the
nutrient matter from the endospermic cells passes out from them, and
is absorbed by the cells of the embryo plant. In the mature seed, in
such cases, there is no separate mass of tissue containing nutrient
food-material apart from the embryo itself. Such a seed is said to be
_exalbuminous_, as in Compositae, Cruciferae and most Leguminosae
(e.g. pea, fig. 35). When either endosperm or perisperm or both are
present the seed is said to be _albuminous_.
[Illustration: FIG. 42.--The dicotyledonous embryo of the Pea laid
open. c, c, The two fleshy cotyledons, or seed-lobes, which remain
under ground when the plant sprouts; r, the radicular extremity of the
axis whence the root arises; t, the axis (hypocotyl) bearing the young
stalk and leaves g (plumule), which lie in a depression of the
cotyledons f.]
The albumen varies much in its nature and consistence, and furnishes
important characters. It may be farinaceous or mealy, consisting
chiefly of cells filled with starch, as in cereal grains, where it is
abundant; fleshy or cartilaginous, consisting of thicker cells which
are still soft, as in the coco-nut, and which sometimes contain oil,
as in the oily albumen of _Croton_, _Ricinus_ and poppy; horny, when
the cell-walls are slightly thickened and capable of distension, as in
date and coffee; the cell-walls sometimes become greatly thickened,
filling up the testa as a hard mass, as in vegetable ivory
(_Phytelephas_). The albumen may be uniform throughout, or it may
present a mottled appearance, as in the nutmeg, the seeds of Anonaceae
and some Palms, where it is called _ruminated_. This mottled
appearance is due to a protrusion of a dark lamella of the integument
between folded protuberances of albumen. A cavity is sometimes left in
the centre which is usually filled with fluid, as in the coco-nut. The
relative size of the embryo and of the endosperm varies much. In
Monocotyledons the embryo is usually small, and the endosperm large,
and the same is true in the case of coffee and many other plants
amongst Dicotyledons. The opposite is the case in other plants, as in
the Labiatae, Plumbaginaceae, &c.
The embryo consists of an axis bearing the _cotyledons_ (fig. 42, c),
or the first leaves of the plant. To that part of this axis
immediately beneath the cotyledons the terms _hypocotyl_, _caulicle_
or _tigellum_ (t) have been applied, and continuous backwards with it
is the young root or _radicle_ (r), the descending axis, their point
of union being the collar or neck. The terminal growing bud of the
axis is called the _plumule_ or _gemmule_ (g), and represents the
ascending axis. The radicular extremity points towards the micropyle,
while the cotyledonary extremity is pointed towards the base of the
ovule or the chalaza. Hence, by ascertaining the position of the
micropyle and chalaza, the two extremities of the embryo can in
general be discovered. It is in many cases difficult to recognize the
parts in an embryo; thus in _Cuscuta_, the embryo appears as an
elongated axis without divisions; and in _Caryocar_ the mass of the
embryo is made up by the radicular extremity and hypocotyl, in a
groove of which the cotyledonary extremity lies embedded (fig. 52). In
some monocotyledonous embryos, as in Orchidaceae, the embryo is a
cellular mass showing no parts. In parasitic plants also which form no
chlorophyll, as _Orobanche_, _Monotropa_, &c., the embryo remains
without differentiation, consisting merely of a mass of cells until
the ripening of the seed. When the embryo is surrounded by the
endosperm on all sides except its radicular extremity it is internal
(see figs. 19, 20); when lying outside the endosperm, and only coming
into contact with it at certain points, it is external, as in grasses
(e.g. wheat, fig. 22). When the embryo follows the direction of the
axis of the seed, it is axile or axial (fig. 43); when it is not in
the direction of the axis, it becomes abaxile or abaxial. In
campylotropal seeds the embryo is curved, and in place of being
embedded in endosperm, is frequently external to it, following the
concavity of the seed (fig. 44), and becoming peripherical, with the
chalaza situated in the curvature of the embryo, as in
Caryophyllaceae.
It has been already stated that the radicle of the embryo is directed
to the micropyle, and the cotyledons to the chalaza. In some cases, by
the growth of the integuments, the former is turned round so as not to
correspond with the apex of the nucellus, and then the embryo has the
radicle directed to one side, and is called excentric, as is seen in
Primulaceae, Plantaginaceae and many palms, especially the date. The
position of the embryo in different kinds of seeds varies. In an
orthotropal seed the embryo is inverted or _antitropal_, the radicle
pointing to the apex of the seed, or to the part opposite the hilum.
Again, in an anatropal seed the embryo is erect or _homotropal_ (fig.
43), the radicle being directed to the base of the seed. In curved or
campylotropal seeds the embryo is folded so that its radicular and
cotyledonary extremities are approximated, and it becomes
_amphitropal_ (fig. 44). In this instance the seed may be
exalbuminous, and the embryo may be folded on itself; or albuminous,
the embryo surrounding more or less completely the endosperm and being
peripherical. According to the mode in which the seed is attached to
the pericarp, the radicle may be directed upwards or downwards, or
laterally, as regards the ovary. In an orthotropal seed attached to
the base of the pericarp it is superior, as also in a suspended
anatropal seed. In other anatropal seeds the radicle is inferior. When
the seed is horizontal as regards the pericarp, the radicle is either
centrifugal, when it points to the outer wall of the ovary; or
centripetal, when it points to the axis or inner wall of the ovary.
These characters are of value for purposes of classification, as they
are often constant in large groups of genera.
Plants in which there are two cotyledons produced in the embryo are
_dicotyledonous_. The two cotyledons thus formed are opposite to each
other (figs. 42 and 45), but are not always of the same size. Thus, in
Abronia and other members of the order Nyctaginaceae, one of them is
smaller than the other (often very small), and in _Carapa guianensis_
there appears to be only one, in consequence of the intimate union
which takes place between the two. The union between the cotyledonary
leaves may continue after the young plant begins to germinate. Such
embryos have been called _pseudomonocotyledonous_. The texture of the
cotyledons varies. They may be thick, as in the pea (fig. 42),
exhibiting no traces of venation, with their flat internal surfaces in
contact, and their backs more or less convex; or they may be in the
form of thin and delicate laminae, flattened on both sides, and having
distinct venation, as in _Ricinus_, _Jatropha_, _Euonymus_, &c. The
cotyledons usually form the greater part of the mature embryo, and
this is remarkably well seen in such exalbuminous seeds as the bean
and pea.
[Illustration:
FIG. 43.--Seed of Pansy (_Viola tricolor_) cut vertically. The
embryo pl is axial, in the midst of fleshy endosperm al. The seed is
anatropal, and the embryo is homotropal; the cotyledons co point to
the base of the nucellus or chalaza ch, while the radicle, or the
other extremity of the embryo, points to the micropyle, close to the
hilum h. The hilum or base of the seed, and the chalaza or base of
the nucellus are united by means of the raphe r.
FIG. 44.--Seed of the Red Campion (_Lychnis_), cut vertically,
showing the peripheral embryo, with its two cotyledons and its
radicle. The embryo is curved round the albumen, so that its
cotyledons and radicle both come near the hilum (_amphitropal_).
FIG. 45.--Mature dicotyledonous embryo of the Almond, with one of
the cotyledons removed. r, Radicle; t, young stem or caulicle; c,
one of the cotyledons left; i, line of insertion of the cotyledon
which has been removed; g, plumule.
FIG. 46.--Exalbuminous seed of Wallflower (Cheiranthus) cut
vertically. The radicle r is folded on the edges of the cotyledons c
which are accumbent.
FIG. 47.--Transverse section of the seed of the Wallflower
(_Cheiranthus_), showing the radicle r folded on the edges of the
accumbent cotyledons c.
FIG. 48.--Transverse section of the seed of the Dame's Violet
(_Hesperis_). The radicle r is folded on the back of the cotyledons
c, which are said to be incumbent.]
Cotyledons are usually entire and sessile. But they occasionally
become lobed, as in the walnut and the lime; or petiolate, as in
_Geranium molle_; or auriculate, as in the ash. Like leaves in the
bud, cotyledons may be either applied directly to each other, or may
be folded in various ways. In geranium the cotyledons are twisted and
doubled; in convolvulus they are corrugated; and in the potato and in
_Bunias_, they are spiral,--the same terms being applied as to the
foliage leaves. The radicle and cotyledons are either straight or
variously curved. Thus, in some cruciferous plants, as the wallflower,
the cotyledons are applied by their faces, and the radicle (figs. 46,
47) is folded on their edges, so as to be lateral; the cotyledons are
here _accumbent_. In others, as _Hesperis_, the cotyledons (fig. 48)
are applied to each other by their faces, and the radicle, r, is
folded on their back, so as to be dorsal, and the cotyledons are
_incumbent_. Again, the cotyledons are _conduplicate_ when the radicle
is dorsal, and enclosed between their folds. In other divisions the
radicle is folded in a spiral manner, and the cotyledons follow the
same course.
In many gymnosperms more than two cotyledons are present, and they are
arranged in a whorl. This occurs in Coniferae, especially in the pine,
fir (fig. 49), spruce and larch, in which six, nine, twelve and even
fifteen have been observed. They are linear, and resemble in their
form and mode of development the clustered or fasciculated leaves of
the larch. Plants having numerous cotyledons are termed
_polycotyledonous_. In species of _Streptocarpus_ the cotyledons are
permanent, and act the part of leaves. One of them is frequently
largely developed, while the other is small or abortive.
[Illustration:
FIG. 49.--Polycotylodonous embryo of the Pine (_Pinus_) beginning to
sprout. t, Hypocotyl; r, radicle. The cotyledons c are numerous.
Within the cotyledons the primordial leaves are seen, constituting
the plumule or first bud of the plant.
FIG. 50.--Embryo of a species of Arrow-grass (_Triglochin_), showing
a uniform conical mass, with a slit s near the lower part. The
cotyledon c envelops the young bud, which protrudes at the slit
during germination. The radicle is developed from the lower part of
the axis r.
FIG. 51.--Grain of wheat (_Triticum_) germinating, showing (b) the
cotyledon and (c) the rootlets surrounded by their sheaths
(_coleorrhizae_).
FIG. 52.--Embryo of _Caryocar_. t, Thick hypocotyl, forming nearly
the whole mass, becoming narrowed and curved at its extremity, and
applied to the groove s. In the figure this narrowed portion is
slightly separated from the groove; c, two rudimentary cotyledons.]
In those plants in which there is only a single cotyledon in the
embryo, hence called _monocotyledonous_, the embryo usually has a
cylindrical form more or less rounded at the extremities, or elongated
and fusiform, often oblique. The axis is usually very short compared
with the cotyledon, which in general encloses the plumule by its lower
portion, and exhibits on one side a small slit which indicates the
union of the edges of the vaginal or sheathing portion of the leaf
(fig. 50). In grasses, by the enlargement of the embryo in a
particular direction, the endosperm is pushed on one side, and thus
the embryo comes to lie outside at the base of the endosperm (figs.
22, 51). The lamina of the cotyledon is not developed. Upon the side
of the embryo next the endosperm and enveloping it is a large
shield-shaped body, termed the _scutellum_. This is an outgrowth from
the base of the cotyledon, enveloping more or less the cotyledon and
plumule, in some cases, as in maize, completely investing it; in other
cases, as in rice, merely sending small prolongations over its
anterior face at the apex. By others this scutellum is considered as
the true cotyledon, and the sheathing structure covering the plumule
is regarded as a ligule or axillary stipule (see GRASSES). In many
aquatic monocotyledons (e.g. _Potamogeton_, _Ruppia_ and others) there
is a much-developed hypocotyl, which forms the greater part of the
embryo and acts as a store of nutriment in germination; these are
known as _macropodous_ embryos. A similar case is that of _Caryocar_
among Dicotyledons, where the swollen hypocotyl occupies most of the
embryo (fig. 52). In some grasses, as oats and rice, a projection of
cellular tissue is seen upon the side of the embryo opposite to the
scutellum, that is, on the anterior side. This has been termed the
_epiblast_. It is very large in rice. This by some was considered the
rudimentary second cotyledon; but is now generally regarded as an
outgrowth of the sheath of the true cotyledon. (A. B. R.)
FRUIT AND FLOWER FARMING. The different sorts of fruits and flowers are
dealt with in articles under their own headings, to which reference may
be made; and these give the substantial facts as to their cultivation.
See also the article HORTICULTURE.
TABLE I.--_Extent of Orchards in Great Britain in each Year, 1887 to
1901._
+------+---------++------+---------++------+---------+
| Year.| Acres. || Year.| Acres. || Year.| Acres. |
+------+---------++------+---------++------+---------+
| 1887 | 202,234 || 1892 | 208,950 || 1897 | 224,116 |
| 1888 | 199,178 || 1893 | 211,664 || 1898 | 226,059 |
| 1889 | 199,897 || 1894 | 214,187 || 1899 | 228,603 |
| 1890 | 202,305 || 1895 | 218,428 || 1900 | 232,129 |
| 1891 | 209,996 || 1896 | 221,254 || 1901 | 234,660 |
+------+---------++------+---------++------+---------+
TABLE II.--_Areas under Orchards in England, Wales and Scotland--Acres._
+------+----------+--------+---------+--------------+
| Year.| England. | Wales. |Scotland.|Great Britain.|
+------+----------+--------+---------+--------------+
| 1896 | 215,642 | 3677 | 1935 | 221,254 |
| 1897 | 218,261 | 3707 | 2148 | 224,116 |
| 1898 | 220,220 | 3690 | 2149 | 226,059 |
| 1899 | 222,712 | 3666 | 2225 | 228,603 |
| 1900 | 226,164 | 3695 | 2270 | 232,129 |
| 1901 | 228,580 | 3767 | 2313 | 234,660 |
| 1908 | 244,430 | 3577 | 2290 | 250,297 |
+------+----------+--------+---------+--------------+
GREAT BRITAIN
The extent of the fruit industry may be gathered from the figures for
the acreage of land under cultivation in orchards and small fruit
plantations. The Board of Agriculture returns concerning the orchard
areas of Great Britain showed a continuous expansion year by year from
199,178 acres in 1888 to 234,660 acres in 1901, as will be learnt from
Table I. There was, it is true, an exception in 1892, but the decline in
that year is explained by the circumstance that since 1891 the
agricultural returns have been collected only from holdings of more than
one acre, whereas they were previously obtained from all holdings of a
quarter of an acre or more. As there are many holdings of less than an
acre in extent upon which fruit is grown, and as fruit is largely raised
also in suburban and other gardens which do not come into the returns,
it may be taken for granted that the actual extent of land devoted to
fruit culture exceeds that which is indicated by the official figures.
In the Board of Agriculture returns up to June 1908, 308,000 acres are
stated to be devoted to fruit cultivation of all kinds in Great Britain.
Table II. shows that the expansion of the orchard area of Great Britain
is mainly confined to England, for it has slightly decreased in Wales
and Scotland. The acreage officially returned as under orchards is that
of arable or grass land which is also used for fruit trees of any kind.
Conditions of soil and climate determine the irregular distribution of
orchards in Great Britain. The dozen counties which possess the largest
extent of orchard land all lie in the south or west of the island.
According to the returns for 1908 (excluding small fruit areas) they
were the following:--
+----------+--------++-----------+--------++----------+------+
| County. | Acres. || County. | Acres. || County. |Acres.|
+----------+--------++-----------+--------++----------+------+
| Kent | 32,751 || Worcester | 23,653 || Salop | 4685 |
| Devon | 27,200 || Gloucester| 20,424 || Dorset | 4464 |
| Hereford | 28,316 || Cornwall | 5,415 || Monmouth | 3914 |
| Somerset | 25,279 || Middlesex | 5,300 || Wilts | 3630 |
+----------+--------++-----------+--------++----------+------+
Leaving out of consideration the county of Kent, which grows a greater
variety of fruit than any of the others, the counties of Devon,
Hereford, Somerset, Worcester and Gloucester have an aggregate orchard
area of 124,872 acres. These five counties of the west and south-west of
England--constituting in one continuous area what is essentially the
cider country of Great Britain--embrace therefore rather less than half
of the entire orchard area of the island, while Salop, Monmouth and
Wilts have about 300 less than they had a few years ago. Five English
counties have less than 1000 acres each of orchards, namely, the county
of London, and the northern counties of Cumberland, Westmorland,
Northumberland and Durham. Rutland has just over 100 acres. The largest
orchard areas in Wales are in the two counties adjoining
Hereford--Brecon with 1136 acres and Radnor with 727 acres; at the other
extreme is Anglesey, with a decreasing orchard area of only 22 acres. Of
the Scottish counties, Lanark takes the lead with 1285 acres, Perth,
Stirling and Haddington following with 684 and 129 acres respectively.
Ayr and Midlothian are the only other counties possessing 100 acres or
more of orchards, whilst Kincardine, Orkney and Shetland return no
orchard area, and Banff, Bute, Kinross, Nairn, Peebles, Sutherland and
Wigtown return less than 10 acres each. It may be added that in 1908
Jersey returned 1090 acres of orchards, Guernsey, &c., 144 acres, and
the Isle of Man, 121 acres; the two last-named places showing a decline
as compared with eight years previously.
Outside the cider counties proper of England, the counties in which
orchards for commercial fruit-growing have increased considerably in
recent years include Berks, Buckingham, Cambridge, Essex, Lincoln,
Middlesex, Monmouth, Norfolk, Oxford, Salop, Sussex, Warwick and Wilts.
Apples are the principal fruit grown in the western and south-western
counties, pears also being fairly common. In parts of Gloucestershire,
however, and in the Evesham and Pershore districts of Worcestershire,
plum orchards exist. Plums are almost as largely grown as apples in
Cambridgeshire. Large quantities of apples, plums, damsons, cherries,
and a fair quantity of pears are grown for the market in Kent, whilst
apples, plums and pears predominate in Middlesex. In many counties
damsons are cultivated around fruit plantations to shelter the latter
from the wind.
Of small fruit (currants, gooseberries, strawberries, raspberries, &c.)
no return was made of the acreage previous to 1888, in which year it was
given as 36,724 acres for Great Britain. In 1889 it rose to 41,933
acres.
Later figures are shown in Table III. It will be observed that, owing to
corrections made in the enumeration in 1897, a considerable reduction in
the area is recorded for that year, and presumably the error then
discovered existed in all the preceding returns. The returns for 1907
gave the acreage of small fruit as 82,175 acres, and in 1908 at 84,880
acres--an area more than double that of 1889.
TABLE III.--_Areas of Small Fruit in Great Britain._
+-------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+
| Year. | Acres. | Year. | Acres. | Year. | Acres. |
+-------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+
| 1890 | 46,234 | 1894 | 68,415 | 1898 | 69,753 |
| 1891 | 58,704 | 1895 | 74,547 | 1899 | 71,526 |
| 1892 | 62,148 | 1896 | 76,245 | 1900 | 73,780 |
| 1893 | 65,487 | 1897 | 69,792 | 1901 | 74,999 |
+-------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+
TABLE IV.--_Areas under Small Fruit in England, Wales and
Scotland--Acres._
+-------+----------+--------+-----------+----------------+
| Year. | England. | Wales. | Scotland. | Great Britain. |
+-------+----------+--------+-----------+----------------+
| 1898 | 63,438 | 1044 | 5271 | 69,753 |
| 1899 | 64,867 | 1106 | 5553 | 71,526 |
| 1900 | 66,749 | 1109 | 5922 | 73,780 |
| 1901 | 67,828 | 1092 | 6079 | 74,999 |
| 1908 | 75,750 | 1200 | 7930 | 84,880 |
+-------+----------+--------+-----------+----------------+
There has undoubtedly been a considerable expansion, rather than a
contraction, of small fruit plantations since 1896. The acreage of small
fruit in Great Britain is about one-third that of the orchards. As may
be seen in Table IV., it is mainly confined to England, though Scotland
has over 4000 more acres of small fruit than of orchards. About
one-third of the area of small fruit in England belongs to Kent alone,
that county having returned 24,137 acres in 1908. Cambridge now ranks
next with 6878 acres, followed by Norfolk with 5876 acres,
Worcestershire with 4852 acres, Middlesex with 4163 acres, Hants with
3320 acres and Essex with 2150 acres. It should be remarked that between
1900 and 1908 Cambridgeshire had almost doubled its area of small
fruits, from 3740 to 6878 acres; whilst both Norfolk and Worcestershire
in 1908 had larger areas devoted to small fruits than Middlesex--in
which county there had been a decrease of about 400 acres during the
same period. The largest county area of small fruit in Wales is 806
acres in Denbighshire, and in Scotland 2791 acres in Perthshire, 2259
acres in Lanarkshire, followed by 412 acres in Forfarshire. The only
counties in Great Britain which make no return under the head of small
fruit are Orkney and Shetland; and Sutherland only gives 2-1/2 acres. It
is hardly necessary to say that considerable areas of small fruit, in
kitchen gardens and elsewhere, find no place in the official returns,
which, however, include small fruit grown between and under orchard
trees.
Gooseberries are largely grown in most small fruit districts. Currants
are less widely cultivated, but the red currant is more extensively
grown than the black, the latter having suffered seriously from the
ravages of the black currant mite. Kent is the great centre for
raspberries and for strawberries, though, in addition, the latter fruit
is largely grown in Cambridgeshire (2411 acres), Hampshire (2327 acres),
Norfolk (2067 acres) and Worcestershire (1273 acres). Essex,
Lincolnshire, Cheshire, Cornwall and Middlesex each has more than 500
acres devoted to strawberry cultivation.
The following statement from returns for 1908 shows the area under
different kinds of fruit in 1907 and 1908 in Great Britain, and also
whether there had been an increase or decrease:
+-----------------+---------+---------+-------------+
| | 1907. | 1908. | Increase or |
| | | | Decrease. |
+-----------------+---------+---------+-------------+
| | Acres. | Acres. | Acres. |
| Small Fruit-- | | | |
| Strawberries | 27,827 | 28,815 | + 988 |
| Raspberries | 8,878 | 9,323 | + 445 |
| Currants and | | | |
| Gooseberries | 25,590 | 26,241 | + 651 |
| Other kinds | 19,880 | 20,501 | + 621 |
| +---------+---------+-------------+
| | 82,175 | 84,880 | +2705 |
| +---------+---------+-------------+
| Orchards-- | | | |
| Apples | 172,643 | 172,751 | + 108 |
| Pears | 8,911 | 9,604 | + 693 |
| Cherries | 12,027 | 11,868 | - 159 |
| Plums | 14,901 | 15,683 | + 782 |
| Other kinds | 41,694 | 40,391 | -1303 |
| +---------+---------+-------------+
| | 250,176 | 250,297 | + 121 |
+-----------------+---------+---------+-------------+
It appears from the Board of Agriculture returns that 27,433 acres of
small fruit was grown in orchards, so that the total extent of land
under fruit cultivation in Great Britain at the end of 1908 was about
308,000 acres.
There are no official returns as to the acreage devoted to orchard
cultivation in Ireland. The figures relating to small fruit, moreover,
extend back only to 1899, when the area under this head was returned as
4809 acres, which became 4359 acres in 1900 and 4877 acres in 1901. In
most parts of the country there are districts favourable to the culture
of small fruits, such as strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries and
currants, and of top fruits, such as apples, pears, plums and damsons.
The only localities largely identified with fruit culture as an industry
are the Drogheda district and the Armagh district. In the former all the
kinds named are grown except strawberries, the speciality being
raspberries, which are marketed in Dublin, Belfast and Liverpool. In the
Armagh district, again, all the kinds named are grown, but in this case
strawberries are the speciality, the markets utilized being Richhill,
Belfast, and those in Scotland. In the Drogheda district the grower
bears the cost of picking, packing and shipping, but he cannot estimate
his net returns until his fruit is on the market. Around Armagh the
Scottish system prevails--that is, the fruit is sold while growing, the
buyer being responsible for the picking and marketing.
The amount of fruit imported into the United Kingdom has such an
important bearing on the possibilities of the industry that the
following figures also may be useful:
The quantities of apples, pears, plums, cherries and grapes imported
in the raw condition into the United Kingdom in each year, 1892 to
1901, are shown in Table V. Previous to 1892 apples only were
separately enumerated. Up to 1899 inclusive the quantities were given
in bushels, but in 1900 a change was made to hundred-weights. This
renders the quantities in that and subsequent years not directly
comparable with those in earlier years, but the comparison of the
values, which are also given in the table, continues to hold good. The
figures for 1908 have been added to show the increase that had taken
place. In some years the value of imported apples exceeds the
aggregate value of the pears, plums, cherries and grapes imported. The
extreme values for apples shown in the table are L844,000 in 1893 and
L2,079,000 in 1908. Grapes rank next to apples in point of value, and
over the seventeen years the amount ranged between L394,000 in 1892
and L728,000 in 1908. On the average, the annual outlay on imported
pears is slightly in excess of that on plums. The extremes shown are
L167,000 in 1895 and L515,000 in 1908. In the case of plums, the
smallest outlay tabulated is L166,000 in 1895, whilst the largest is
L498,000 in 1897. The amounts expended upon imported cherries varied
between L96,000 in 1895 and L308,000 in 1900. In 1900 apricots and
peaches, imported raw, previously included with raw plums, were for
the first time separately enumerated, the import into the United
Kingdom for that year amounting to 13,689 cwt., valued at L25,846; in
1901 the quantity was 13,463 cwt. and the value L32,350. The latter
rose in 1908 to L60,000. In 1900, also, currants, gooseberries and
strawberries, hitherto included in unenumerated raw fruit, were
likewise for the first time separately returned. Of raw currants the
import was 64,462 cwt., valued at L87,170 (1908, L121,850); of raw
gooseberries 26,045 cwt., valued at L14,626 (1908, L25,520); and of
raw strawberries, 52,225 cwt., valued at L85,949. In 1907 only 44,000
cwt. of strawberries were imported. In 1901 the quantities and values
were respectively--currants, 70,402 cwt., L75,308; gooseberries,
21,735 cwt., L11,420; strawberries, 38,604 cwt., L51,290. Up to 1899
the imports of tomatoes were included amongst unenumerated raw
vegetables, so that the quantity was not separately ascertainable. For
1900 the import of tomatoes was 833,032 cwt., valued at L792,339,
which is equivalent to a fraction under 2-1/2d. per lb. For 1901 the
quantity was 793,991 cwt., and the value L734,051; for 1906, there
were 1,124,700 cwt., valued at L953,475; for 1907, 1,135,499 cwt.,
valued at L1,020,805; and for 1908, 1,160,283 cwt., valued at
L955,983.
TABLE V.--_Imports of Raw Apples, Pears, Plums, Cherries and Grapes
into the United Kingdom, 1892 to 1901. Quantities in Thousands of
Bushels (thousands of cwt. in 1900 and 1901). Values in Thousands of
Pounds Sterling._
+------+-------------------------------------------------+
| | Quantities. |
| Year.+---------+--------+--------+-----------+---------+
| | Apples. | Pears. | Plums. | Cherries. | Grapes. |
+------+---------+--------+--------+-----------+---------+
| 1892 | 4515 | 637 | 413 | 217 | 762 |
| 1893 | 3460 | 915 | 777 | 346 | 979 |
| 1894 | 4969 | 1310 | 777 | 311 | 833 |
| 1895 | 3292 | 407 | 401 | 196 | 865 |
| 1896 | 6177 | 483 | 560 | 219 | 883 |
| 1897 | 4200 | 1052 | 1044 | 312 | 994 |
| 1898 | 3459 | 492 | 922 | 402 | 1136 |
| 1899 | 3861 | 572 | 558 | 281 | 1158 |
| 1900 | 2129* | 477* | 423* | 243* | 593* |
| 1901 | 1830* | 349* | 264* | 213* | 680* |
+------+---------+--------+--------+-----------+---------+
| Values. |
+------+---------+--------+--------+-----------+---------+
| 1892 | 1354 | 297 | 200 | 135 | 394 |
| 1893 | 844 | 347 | 332 | 195 | 530 |
| 1894 | 1389 | 411 | 302 | 167 | 470 |
| 1895 | 960 | 167 | 166 | 96 | 487 |
| 1896 | 1582 | 207 | 242 | 106 | 443 |
| 1897 | 1187 | 378 | 498 | 178 | 495 |
| 1898 | 1108 | 222 | 435 | 231 | 550 |
| 1899 | 1186 | 266 | 294 | 154 | 588 |
| 1900 | 1225 | 367 | 393 | 308 | 595 |
| 1901 | 1183 | 296 | 244 | 214 | 695 |
| 1908 | 2079 | 515 | 428 | 235 | 728 |
+------+---------+--------+--------+-----------+---------+
* Thousands of cwts.
In 1908 the outlay of the United Kingdom upon imported raw fruits,
such as can easily be produced at home, was L4,195,654, made up as
follows:
Apples L2,079,703 | Plums L428,966
Grapes 728,026 | Currants 121,852
Pears 515,914 | Apricots and peaches 60,141
Cherries 235,523 | Gooseberries 25,529
In addition about L280,000 was spent upon "unenumerated" raw fruit,
and L560,000 on nuts other than almonds "used as fruit," which would
include walnuts and filberts, both produced at home. It is certain,
therefore, that the expenditure on imported fruits, such as are grown
within the limits of the United Kingdom, exceeds four millions
sterling per annum. The remainder of the outlay on imported fruit in
1908, amounting to over L5,000,000, was made up of L2,269,651 for
oranges, L471,713 for lemons, L1,769,249 for bananas, and L560,301 for
almond-nuts; these cannot be grown on an industrial scale in the
British Isles.
It may be interesting to note the source of some of these imported
fruits. The United States and Canada send most of the apples, the
quantity for 1907 being 1,413,000 cwt. and 1,588,000 cwt.
respectively, while Australia contributes 280,000 cwt. Plums come
chiefly from France (200,000 cwt.), followed with 38,000 cwt. from
Germany and 28,000 cwt. from the Netherlands. Pears are imported
chiefly from France (204,000 cwt.) and Belgium (176,000); but the
Netherlands send 52,000 cwt., and the United States 24,000 cwt. The
great bulk of imported tomatoes comes from the Canary Islands, the
quantity in 1907 being 604,692 cwt. The Channel Islands also sent
223,800 cwt., France 115,500 cwt., Spain 169,000 cwt., and Portugal a
long way behind with 11,700 cwt. Most of the strawberries imported
come from France (33,800 cwt.) and the Netherlands (10,300 cwt.).
_Fruit-growing in Kent._--Kent is by far the largest fruit-growing
county in England. For centuries that county has been famous for its
fruit, and appears to have been the centre for the distribution of trees
and grafts throughout the country. The cultivation of fruit land upon
farms in many parts of Kent has always been an important feature in its
agriculture. An excellent description of this noteworthy characteristic
of Kentish farming is contained in a comprehensive paper on the
agriculture of Kent by Mr Charles Whitehead,[1] whose remarks, with
various additions and modifications, are here reproduced.
Where the conditions are favourable, especially in East and Mid Kent,
there is a considerable acreage of fruit land attached to each farm,
planted with cherry, apple, pear, plum and damson trees, and with bush
fruits, or soft fruits as they are sometimes called, including
gooseberries, currants, raspberries, either with or without standard
trees, and strawberries, and filberts and cob-nuts in Mid Kent. This
acreage has largely increased, and will no doubt continue to increase,
as, on the whole, fruit-growing has been profitable and has materially
benefited those fortunate enough to have fruit land on their farms.
There are also cultivators who grow nothing but fruit. These are
principally in the district of East Kent, between Rochester and
Canterbury, and in the district of Mid Kent near London, and they
manage their fruit land, as a rule, better than farmers, as they give
their undivided attention to it and have more technical knowledge. But
there has been great improvement of late in the management of fruit
land, especially of cherry and apple orchards, the grass of which is
fed off by animals having corn or cake, or the land is well manured.
Apple trees are grease-banded and sprayed systematically by advanced
fruit-growers to prevent or check the attacks of destructive insects.
Far more attention is being paid to the selection of varieties of
apples and pears having colour, size, flavour, keeping qualities, and
other attributes to meet the tastes of the public, and to compete with
the beautiful fruit that comes from the United States and Canada.
Of the various kinds of apples at present grown in Kent mention should
be made of Mr Gladstone, Beauty of Bath, Devonshire Quarrenden, Lady
Sudely, Yellow Ingestre and Worcester Pearmain. These are dessert
apples ready to pick in August and September, and are not stored. For
storing, King of the Pippins, Cox's Orange Pippin (the best dessert
apple in existence), Cox's Pomona, Duchess, Favourite, Gascoyne's
Scarlet Seedling, Court Pendu Plat, Baumann's Red Reinette, Allington
Pippin, Duke of Devonshire and Blenheim Orange. Among kitchen apples
for selling straight from the trees the most usually planted are Lord
Grosvenor, Lord Suffield, Keswick Codlin, Early Julian, Eclinville
Seedling, Pott's Seedling, Early Rivers, Grenadier, Golden Spire,
Stirling Castle and Domino. For storing, the cooking sorts favoured
now are Stone's or Loddington, Warner's King, Wellington, Lord Derby,
Queen Caroline, Tower of Glamis, Winter Queening, Lucombe's Seedling,
Bismarck, Bramley's Seedling, Golden Noble and Lane's Prince Albert.
Almost all these will flourish equally as standards, pyramids and
bushes. Among pears are Hessle, Clapp's Favourite, William's Bon
Chretien, Beurre de Capiaumont, Fertility, Beurre Riche, Chissel,
Beurre Clairgeau, Louise Bonne of Jersey, Doyenne du Comice and Vicar
of Winkfield. Among plums, Rivers's Early Prolific, Tsar, Belgian
Purple, Black Diamond, Kentish Bush Plum, Pond's Seedling, Magnum
Bonum and Victoria are mainly cultivated. The damson known as Farleigh
Prolific, or Crittenden's, is most extensively grown throughout the
county, and usually yields large crops, which make good prices. As a
case in point, purchasers were offering to contract for quantities of
this damson at L20 per ton in May of 1899, as the prospects of the
yield were unsatisfactory. On the other hand, in one year recently
when the crop was abnormally abundant, some of the fruit barely paid
the expenses of sending to market. The varieties of cherries most
frequently grown are Governor Wood, Knight's Early Black, Frogmore
Blackheart, Black Eagle, Waterloo, Amberheart, Bigarreau, Napoleon
Bigarreau and Turk. A variety of cherry known as the Kentish cherry,
of a light red colour and fine subacid flavour, is much grown in Kent
for drying and cooking purposes. Another cherry, similar in colour and
quality, which comes rather late, known as the Flemish, is also
extensively cultivated, as well as the very dark red large Morello,
used for making cherry brandy. These three varieties are grown
extensively as pyramids, and the last-named also on walls and sides of
buildings. Sometimes the cherry crop is sold by auction to dealers,
who pick, pack and consign the fruit to market. Large prices are often
made, as much as L80 per acre being not uncommon. The crop on a large
cherry orchard in Mid Kent has been sold for more than L100 per acre.
Where old standard trees have been long neglected and have become
overgrown by mosses and lichens, the attempts made to improve them
seldom succeed. The introduction of bush fruit trees dwarfed by
grafting on the Paradise stock has been of much advantage to fruit
cultivators, as they come into bearing in two or three years, and are
more easily cultivated, pruned, sprayed and picked than standards.
Many plantations of these bush trees have been formed in Kent of
apples, pears and plums. Half standards and pyramids have also been
planted of these fruits, as well as of cherries. Bushes of
gooseberries and currants, and clumps or stools of raspberry canes,
have been planted to a great extent in many parts of the East and Mid
divisions of Kent, but not much in the Weald, where apples are
principally grown. Sometimes fruit bushes are put in alternate rows
with bush of standard trees of apple, pear, plum or damson, or they
are planted by themselves. The distances apart for planting are
generally for cherry and apple trees on grass 30 ft. by 30 ft.; for
standard apples and pear trees from 20 ft. to 24 ft. upon arable land,
with bush fruit, as gooseberries and currants, under them. These are
set 6 ft. by 6 ft. apart, and 5 ft. by 2 ft. for raspberries, and
strawberries 2 ft. 6 in. to 3 ft. by 1 ft. 6 in. to 1 ft. 3 in. apart.
On some fruit farms bush or dwarf trees--apples, pears, plums--are
planted alone, at distances varying from 8 ft. to 10 ft. apart, giving
from 485 to 680 bush trees per acre, nothing being grown between them
except perhaps strawberries or vegetables during the first two or
three years. It is believed that this is the best way of ensuring
fruit of high quality and colour. Another arrangement consists in
putting standard apple or pear trees 30 ft. apart (48 trees per acre),
and setting bush trees of apples or pears 15 ft. apart between them;
these latter come quickly into bearing, and are removed when the
standards are fully grown. Occasionally gooseberry or currant bushes,
or raspberry canes or strawberry plants, are set between the bush
trees, and taken away directly they interfere with the growth of
these. Half standard apple or plum trees are set triangularly 15 ft.
apart, and strawberry plants at a distance of 1-1/2 ft. from plant to
plant and 2-1/2 ft. from row to row. Or currant or gooseberry bushes
are set between the half standards, and strawberry plants between
these.
These systems involve high farming. The manures used are London
manure, where hops are not grown, and bone meal, super-phosphate,
rags, shoddy, wool-waste, fish refuse, nitrate of soda, kainit and
sulphate of ammonia. Where hops are grown the London manure is wanted
for them. Fruit plantations are always dug by hand with the Kent spud.
Fruit land is never ploughed, as in the United States and Canada. The
soil is levelled down with the "Canterbury" hoe, and then the
plantations are kept free from weeds with the ordinary draw or "plate"
hoe. The best fruit farmers spray fruit trees regularly in the early
spring, and continue until the blossoms come out, with quassia and
soft soap and paraffin emulsions, and a very few with Paris green
only, where there is no under fruit, in order to prevent and check the
constant attacks of the various caterpillars and other insect pests.
This is a costly and laborious process, but it pays well, as a rule.
The fallacy that fruit trees on grass land require no manure, and that
the grass may be allowed to grow up to their trunks without any harm,
is exploding, and many fruit farmers are well manuring their grass
orchards and removing the grass for some distance round the stems,
particularly where the trees are young.
Strawberries are produced in enormous quantities in the northern part
of the Mid Kent district round the Crays, and from thence to
Orpington; also near Sandwich, and to some extent near Maidstone.
Raspberry canes have been extensively put in during the last few
years, and in some seasons yield good profits. There is a very great
and growing demand for all soft fruits for jam-making, and prices are
fairly good, taking an average of years, notwithstanding the heavy
importations from France, Belgium, Holland, Spain and Italy. The
extraordinary increase in the national demand for jam and other fruit
preserves has been of great benefit to Kent fruit producers. The
cheapness of duty-free sugar, as compared with sugar paying duty in
the United States and other large fruit-producing countries, afforded
one of the very few advantages possessed by British cultivators, but
the reimposition of the sugar duty in the United Kingdom in 1901 has
modified the position in this respect. Jam factories were established
in several parts of Kent about 1889 or 1890, but most of them
collapsed either from want of capital or from bad management. There
are still a few remaining, principally in connexion with large fruit
farms. One of these is at Swanley, whose energetic owners farm nearly
2000 acres of fruit land in Kent. The fruit grown by them that will
not make satisfactory prices in a fresh raw state is made into jam, or
if time presses it is first made into pulp, and kept until the
opportunity comes for making it into jam. In this factory there are
fifteen steam-jacketed vats in one row, and six others for candied
peel. A season's output on a recent occasion comprised about 3500 tons
of jam, 850 tons of candied peel and 750 gross (108,000 bottles) of
bottled fruit. A great deal of the fruit preserved is purchased,
whilst much of that grown on the farms is sold. A strigging machine is
employed, which does as much work as fifty women in taking currants
off their strigs or stalks. Black currant pulp is stored in casks till
winter, when there is time to convert it into jam. Strawberries cannot
be pulped to advantage, but it is otherwise with raspberries, the pulp
of which is largely made. Apricots for jam are obtained chiefly from
France and Spain. There is another flourishing factory near
Sittingbourne worked on the same lines. It is very advantageous to
fruit farmers to have jam factories in connexion with their farms or
to have them near, as they can thoroughly grade their fruit, and send
only the best to market, thus ensuring a high reputation for its
quality. Carriage is saved, which is a serious charge, though railway
rates from Kent to the great manufacturing towns and to Scotland are
very much less proportionally than those to London, and consequently
Kent growers send increasing quantities to these distant markets,
where prices are better, not being so directly interfered with by
imported fruit, which generally finds its way to London.
Kentish fruit-growers are becoming more particular in picking,
grading, packing and storing fruit, as well as in marketing it. A
larger quantity of fruit is now carefully stored, and sent to selected
markets as it ripens, or when there is an ascertained demand, as it is
found that if it is consigned to market direct from the trees there
must frequently be forced sales and competition with foreign fruit
that is fully matured and in good order. It was customary formerly for
Kentish growers to consign all their fruit to the London markets; now
a good deal of it is sent to Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool,
Sheffield, Newcastle and other large cities. Some is sent even to
Edinburgh and Glasgow. Many large growers send no fruit to London now.
It is by no means uncommon for growers to sell their fruit crops on
the trees or bushes by auction or private treaty, or to contract to
supply a stipulated quantity of specified fruit, say of currants,
raspberries or strawberries, to jam manufacturers. There is a
considerable quantity of fruit, such as grapes, peaches, nectarines,
grown under glass, and this kind of culture tends to increase.
Filberts and cob-nuts are a special product of Kent, in the
neighbourhood of Maidstone principally, and upon the Ragstone soils,
certain conditions of soil and situation being essential for their
profitable production. A part of the filbert and cob-nut crop is
picked green in September, as they do well for dessert, though their
kernels are not large or firm, and it pays to sell them green, as they
weigh more heavily. One grower in Mid Kent has 100 acres of nuts, and
has grown 100 tons in a good year. The average price of late years has
been about 5d. per lb., which would make the gross return of the 100
acres amount to L4660. Kentish filberts have long been proverbial for
their excellence. Cobs are larger and look better for dessert, though
their flavour is not so fine. They are better croppers, and are now
usually planted. This cultivation is not much extending, as it is very
long before the trees come into full bearing. The London market is
supplied entirely with these nuts from Kent, and there is some demand
in America for them. Filbert and cob trees are most closely pruned.
All the year's growth is cut away except the very finest young wood,
which the trained eye of the tree-cutter sees at a glance is
blossom-bearing. The trees are kept from 5-1/2 to 7 ft. high upon
stems from 1-1/2 to 2 ft. high, and are trained so as to form a cup of
from 7 to 8 ft. in diameter.
There seems no reason to expect any decrease in the acreage of fruit
land in Kent, and if the improvement in the selection of varieties and
in the general management continues it will yet pay. A hundred years
ago every one was grubbing fruit land in order that hops might be
planted, and for this many acres of splendid cherry orchards were
sacrificed. Now the disposition is to grub hop plants and substitute
apples, plums, or small fruit or cherry trees.
_Fruit-growing in other Districts._--The large fruit plantations in
the vicinity of London are to be found mostly in the valley of the
Thames, around such centres as Brentford, Isleworth, Twickenham,
Heston, Hounslow, Cranford and Southall. All varieties of orchard
trees, but mostly apples, pears, and plums and small fruit, are grown
in these districts, the nearness of which to the metropolitan fruit
market at Covent Garden is of course an advantage. Some of the
orchards are old, and are not managed on modern principles. They
contain, moreover, varieties of fruit many of which are out of date
and would not be employed in establishing new plantations. In the
better-managed grounds the antiquated varieties have been removed, and
their places taken by newer and more approved types. In addition to
apples, pears, plums, damsons, cherries and quinces as top fruit,
currants, gooseberries and raspberries are grown as bottom fruit.
Strawberries are extensively grown in some of the localities, and in
favourable seasons outdoor tomatoes are ripened and marketed.
Fruit is extensively grown in Cambridgeshire and adjacent counties in
the east of England. A leading centre is Cottenham, where the Lower
Greensand crops out and furnishes one of the best of soils for
fruit-culture. In Cottenham about a thousand acres are devoted to
fruit, and nearly the same acreage to asparagus, which is, however,
giving place to fruit. Currants, gooseberries and strawberries are the
most largely grown, apples, plums and raspberries following. Of
varieties of plums the Victoria is first in favour, and then Rivers's
Early Prolific, Tsar and Gisborne. London is the chief market, as it
receives about half the fruit sent away, whilst a considerable
quantity goes to Manchester, and some is sent to a neighbouring jam
factory at Histon, where also a moderate acreage of fruit is grown.
Another fruit-growing centre in Cambridgeshire is at Willingham,
where--besides plums, gooseberries and raspberries--outdoor tomatoes
are a feature. Greengages are largely grown near Cambridge. Wisbech is
the centre of an extensive fruit district, situated partly in
Cambridgeshire and partly in Norfolk. Gooseberries, strawberries and
raspberries are largely grown, and as many as 80 tons of the
first-named fruit have been sent away from Wisbech station in a single
day. In the fruit-growing localities of Huntingdonshire apples, plums
and gooseberries are the most extensively grown, but pears,
greengages, cherries, currants, strawberries and raspberries are also
cultivated. As illustrating variations in price, it may be mentioned
that about the year 1880 the lowest price for gooseberries was L10 per
ton, whereas it has since been down to L4. Huntingdonshire fruit is
sent chiefly to Yorkshire, Scotland and South Wales, but railway
freights are high.
Essex affords a good example of successful fruit-farming at Tiptree
Heath, near Kelvedon, where under one management about 260 acres out
of a total of 360 are under fruit. The soil, a stiff loam, grows
strawberries to perfection, and 165 acres are allotted to this fruit.
The other principal crops are 43 acres of raspberries and 30 acres of
black currants, besides which there are small areas of red currants,
gooseberries, plums, damsons, greengages, cherries, apples, quinces
and blackberries. The variety of strawberry known as the Small Scarlet
is a speciality here, and it occupies 55 acres, as it makes the best
of jam. The Paxton, Royal Sovereign and Noble varieties are also
grown. Strawberries stand for six or seven years on this farm, and
begin to yield well when two years old. A jam factory is worked in
conjunction with the fruit farm. Pulp is not made except when there is
a glut of fruit. Perishable fruit intended for whole-fruit preserves
is never held over after it is gathered. The picking of strawberries
begins at 4 A.M., and the first lot is made into jam by 6 A.M.
Hampshire, like Cambridgeshire and Norfolk, are the only counties in
which the area of small fruit exceeds that of orchards. The returns
for 1908 show that Hampshire had 3320 acres of small fruit to 2236
acres of orchards; Cambridge had 6878 acres of small fruit to 5221 of
orchards; and Norfolk had 5876 acres of small fruit against 5188 acres
of orchards. Compared with twenty years previously, the acreage of
small fruit had trebled. This is largely due in Hampshire to the
extension of strawberry culture in the Southampton district, where the
industry is in the hands of many small growers, few of whom cultivate
more than 20 acres each. Sarisbury and Botley are the leading parishes
in which the business is carried on. Most of the strawberry holdings
are from half an acre to 5 acres in extent, a few are from 5 to 10
acres, fewer still from 10 to 20 acres and only half-a-dozen over that
limit. Runners from one-year plants are used for planting, being found
more fruitful than those from older plants. Peat-moss manure from
London stables is much used, but artificial manures are also employed
with good results. Shortly after flowering the plants are bedded down
with straw at the rate of about 25 cwt. per acre. Picking begins some
ten days earlier than in Kent, at a date between 1st June and 15th
June. The first week's gathering is sent mostly to London, but
subsequently the greater part of the fruit goes to the Midlands and to
Scotland and Ireland.
In recent years fruit-growing has much increased in South
Worcestershire, in the vicinity of Evesham and Pershore. Hand-lights
are freely used in the market gardens of this district for the
protection of cucumbers and vegetable marrows, besides which tomatoes
are extensively grown out of doors. At one time the egg plum and the
Worcester damson were the chief fruit crops, apples and cherries
ranking next, pears being grown to only a moderate extent. According
to the 1908 returns, however, apples come first, plums second, pears
third and cherries fourth. In a prolific season a single tree of the
Damascene or Worcester damson will yield from 400 to 500 lb. of
fruit. There is a tendency to grow plum trees in the bush shape, as
they are less liable than standards to injury from wind. The manures
used include soot, fish guano, blood manure and phosphates--basic slag
amongst the last-named. In the Pershore district, where there is a jam
factory, plums are the chief tree fruit, whilst most of the orchard
apples and pears are grown for cider and perry. Gooseberries are a
feature, as are also strawberries, red and black currants and a few
white, but raspberries are little grown. The soil, a strong or medium
loam of fair depth, resting on clay, is so well adapted to plums that
trees live for fifty years. In order to check the ravages of the
winter moth, plum and apple trees are grease-banded at the beginning
of October and again at the end of March. The trees are also sprayed
when necessary with insecticidal solutions. Pruning is done in the
autumn. An approved distance apart at which to grow plum trees is 12
ft. by 12 ft. In the Earl of Coventry's fruit plantation, 40 acres in
extent, at Croome Court, plums and apples are planted alternately, the
bottom fruit being black currants, which are less liable to injury
from birds than are red currants or gooseberries. Details concerning
the methods of cultivation of fruit and flowers in various parts of
England, the varieties commonly grown, the expenditure involved, and
allied matters, will be found in Mr W.E. Bear's papers in the _Journal
of the Royal Agricultural Society_ in 1898 and 1899.
Apart altogether from market gardening and commercial fruit-growing,
it must be borne in mind that an enormous business is done in the
raising of young fruit-trees every year. Hundreds of thousands of
apples, pears, plums, cherries, peaches, nectarines and apricots are
budded or grafted each year on suitable stocks. They are trained in
various ways, and are usually fit for sale the third year. These young
trees replace old ones in private and commercial gardens, and are also
used to establish new plantations in different parts of the kingdom.
_The Woburn Experimental Fruit Farm._--The establishment in 1894 of
the experimental fruit farm at Ridgmont, near Woburn, Beds, has
exercised a healthy influence upon the progress and development of
fruit-farming in England. The farm was founded and carried on by the
public-spirited enterprise of the Duke of Bedford and Mr Spencer U.
Pickering, the latter acting as director. The main object of the
experimental station was "to ascertain facts relative to the culture
of fruit, and to increase our knowledge of, and to improve our
practice in, this industry." The farm is 20 acres in extent, and
occupies a field which up to June 1894 had been used as arable land
for the ordinary rotation of farm crops. The soil is a sandy loam 9 or
10 in. deep, resting on a bed of Oxford Clay. Although it contains a
large proportion of sand, the land would generally be termed very
heavy, and the water often used to stand on it in places for weeks
together in a wet season. The tillage to which the ground was
subjected for the purposes of the fruit farm much improved its
character, and in dry weather it presents as good a tilth as could be
desired. Chemical analyses of the soil from different parts of the
field show such wide differences that it is admitted to be by no means
an ideal one for experimental purposes. Without entering upon further
details, it may be useful to give a summary of the chief results
obtained.
Apples have been grown and treated in a variety of ways, but of the
different methods of treatment careless planting, coupled with
subsequent neglect, has given the most adverse results, the crop of
fruit being not 5% of that from trees grown normally. Of the separate
deleterious items constituting total neglect, by far the most
effective was the growth of weeds on the surface; careless planting,
absence of manure, and the omission of trenching all had comparatively
little influence on the results. A set of trees that had been
carelessly planted and neglected, but subsequently tended in the early
part of 1896, were in the autumn of that year only 10% behind their
normally-treated neighbours, thus demonstrating that the response to
proper attention is prompt. The growth of grass around young apple
trees produced a very striking effect, the injury being much greater
than that due to weeds. It is possible, however, that in wet years the
ill-effects of both grass and weeds would be less than in dry seasons.
Nevertheless, the grass-grown trees, after five years, were scarcely
bigger than when planted, and the actual increase in weight which they
showed during that time was about eighteen times smaller than in the
case of similar trees in tilled ground. It is believed that one of the
main causes of the ill-effects is the large increase in the
evaporation of water from the soil which is known to be produced by
grass, the trees being thereby made to suffer from drought, with
constant deprivation of other nourishment as well. That grass growing
round young apple trees is deleterious was a circumstance known to
many horticulturists, but the extent to which it interferes with the
development of the trees had never before been realized. Thousands of
pounds are annually thrown away in England through want of knowledge
of this fact. Yet trees will flourish in grass under certain
conditions. Whether the dominant factor is the age (or size) of the
tree has been investigated by grassing over trees which have hitherto
been in the open ground, and the results appear to indicate that the
grass is as deleterious to the older trees as it was to the younger
ones. Again, it appears to have been demonstrated that young apple
trees, at all events in certain soils, require but little or no manure
in the early stages of their existence, so that in this case also
large sums must be annually wasted upon manurial dressings which
produce no effects. The experiments have dealt with dwarf trees of
Bramley, Cox and Potts, six trees of each variety constituting one
investigation. Some of the experiments were repeated with Stirling
Castle, and others with standard trees of Bramley, Cox and Lane's
Prince Albert. All were planted in 1894-1895, the dwarfs being then
three years old and the standards four. In each experiment the
"normal" treatment is altered in some one particular, this normal
treatment consisting of planting the trees carefully in trenched
ground, and subsequently keeping the surface clean; cutting back after
planting, pruning moderately in autumn, and shortening the growths
when it appeared necessary in summer; giving in autumn a dressing of
mixed mineral manures, and in February one of nitrate of soda, this
dressing being probably equivalent to one of 12 tons of dung per acre.
In the experiments on branch treatment, the bad effects of omitting to
cut the trees back on planting, or to prune them subsequently, is
evident chiefly in the straggling and bad shape of the resulting
trees, but such trees also are not so vigorous as they should be. The
quantity of fruit borne, however, is in excess of the average. The
check on the vigour and growth of a tree by cutting or injuring its
roots is in marked contrast with the effects of a similar interference
with the branches. Trees which had been root-pruned each year were in
1898 little more than half as big as the normal trees, whilst those
root-pruned every second year were about two-thirds as big as the
normal. The crops borne by these trees were nevertheless heavy in
proportion to the size of the trees. Such frequent root-pruning is
not, of course, a practice which should be adopted. It was found that
trees which had been carefully lifted every other year and replanted
at once experienced no ill-effects from the operation; but in a case
where the trees after being lifted had been left in a shed for three
days before replanting--which would reproduce to a certain extent the
conditions experienced when trees are sent out from a
nursery--material injury was suffered, these trees after four years
being 28% smaller than similar ones which had not been replanted. Sets
of trees planted respectively in November, January and March have, on
the whole, shown nothing in favour of any of these different times for
planting purposes. Some doubt is thrown on the accepted view that
there is a tendency, at any rate with young apple and pear trees, to
fruit in alternate seasons.
Strawberries of eighty-five different varieties have been experimented
with, each variety being represented in 1900 by plants of five
different ages, from one to five years. In 1896 and 1898 the crops of
fruit were about twice as heavy as in 1897 and 1899, but it has not
been found possible to correlate these variations with the
meteorological records of the several seasons. Taking the average of
all the varieties, the relative weights of crop per plant, when these
are compared with the two-year-old plants in the same season, are, for
the five ages of one to five years, 31, 100, 122, 121 and 134,
apparently showing that the bearing power increases rapidly up to two
years, less rapidly up to three years, after which age it remains
practically constant. The relative average size of the berries shows a
deterioration with the age of the plant. The comparative sizes from
plants of one to five years old were 115, 100, 96, 91 and 82
respectively. If the money value of the crop is taken to be directly
dependent on its total weight, and also on the size of the fruits, the
relative values of the crop for the different ages would be 34, 100,
117, 111 and 110, so that, on the Ridgmont ground, strawberry plants
could be profitably retained up to five years and probably longer. As
regards what may be termed the order of merit of different varieties
of strawberries, it appears that even small differences in position
and treatment cause large variations, not only in the features of the
crop generally, but also in the relative behaviour of the different
varieties. The relative cropping power of the varieties under
apparently similar conditions may often be expressed by a number five
or tenfold as great in one case as in the other. A comparison of the
relative behaviour of the same varieties in different seasons is
attended by similar variations. The varying sensitiveness of different
varieties of strawberry plants to small and undefinable differences in
circumstances is indeed one of the most important facts brought to
light in the experiments.
_Fruit Culture in Ireland._--The following figures have been kindly
supplied by the Irish Board of Agriculture, and deal with the acreage
under fruit culture in Ireland up to the end of the year 1907.
1. _Orchard Fruit_-- Statute Acres.
Apples 5829
Pears 224
Plums 223
Damsons 138
Other kinds 129
----
Total 6543
2. _Small Fruit_--
Currants, black 234
Currants, red and white 159
Gooseberries 675
Raspberries 374
Strawberries 994
Mixed fruit 2470
----
Total 4906
It therefore appears that while Ireland grows only about
one-thirty-third the quantity of apples that England does, it is
nevertheless nearly 5000 acres ahead of Scotland and about 2000 acres
ahead of Wales. It grows 41 times fewer pears than England, but still
is ahead of Scotland and a long way ahead of Wales in this fruit.
There are 70 times fewer plums grown in Ireland than in England, and
about the same in Scotland, while Wales does very little indeed. In
small fruit Ireland is a long way behind Scotland in the culture of
strawberries and raspberries, although with currants and gooseberries
it is very close. Considering the climate, and the fact that there
are, according to the latest available returns, over 62,000 holdings
above 1 acre but not exceeding 5 acres (having a total of 224,000
acres), it is possible fruit culture may become more prevalent than it
has been in the past.
_The Flower-growing Industry._--During the last two or three decades of
the 19th century a very marked increase in flower production occurred in
England. Notably was this the case in the neighbourhood of London,
where, within a radius of 15 or 20 m., the fruit crops, which had
largely taken the place of garden vegetables, were themselves ousted in
turn to satisfy the increasing demand for land for flower cultivation.
No flower has entered more largely into the development of the industry
than the narcissus or daffodil, of which there are now some 600
varieties. Comparatively few of these, however, are grown for market
purposes, although all are charming from the amateur point of view. On
some flower farms a dozen or more acres are devoted to narcissi alone,
the production of bulbs for sale as well as of flowers for market being
the object of the growers.
In the London district the country in the Thames valley west of the
metropolis is as largely occupied by flower farms as it is by fruit
farms--in fact, the cultivation of flowers is commonly associated with
that of fruit. In the vicinity of Richmond narcissi are extensively
grown, as they also are more to the west in the Long Ditton district,
and likewise around Twickenham, Isleworth, Hounslow, Feltham and
Hampton. Roses come more into evidence in the neighbourhood of Hounslow,
Cranford, Hillingdon and Uxbridge, and in some gardens daffodils and
roses occupy alternate rows. In this district also such flowers as
herbaceous paeonies, Spanish irises, German irises, Christmas roses,
lilies of the valley, chrysanthemums, foxgloves, hollyhocks,
wallflowers, carnations, &c., are extensively grown in many market
gardens. South of London is the Mitcham country, long noted for its
production of lavender. The incessant growth of the lavender plant upon
the same land, however, has led to the decline of this industry, which
has been largely transferred to districts in the counties of Bedford,
Essex and Hertford. At Mitcham, nevertheless, mixed flowers are very
largely grown for the supply of the metropolis, and one farm alone has
nearly 100 acres under flowers and glass-houses. Chrysanthemums, asters,
Iceland poppies, gaillardias, pansies, bedding calceolarias, zonal
pelargoniums and other plants are cultivated in immense quantities. At
Swanley and Eynsford, in Kent, flowers are extensively cultivated in
association with fruit and vegetables. Narcissi, chrysanthemums,
violets, carnations, campanulas, roses, pansies, irises, sweet peas, and
many other flowers are here raised, and disposed of in the form both of
cut flowers and of plants.
The Scilly Isles are important as providing the main source of supply of
narcissi to the English markets in the early months of the year. This
trade arose almost by accident, for it was about the year 1865 that a
box of narcissi sent to Covent Garden Market, London, realized L1; and
the knowledge of this fact getting abroad, the farmers of the isles
began collecting wild bulbs from the fields in order to cultivate them
and increase their stocks. Some ten years, however, elapsed before the
industry promised to become remunerative. In 1885 a Bulb and Flower
Association was established to promote the industrial growth of flowers.
The exports of flowers in that year reached 65 tons, and they steadily
increased until 1893, when they amounted to 450 tons. A slight decline
followed, but in 1896 the quantity exported was no less than 514 tons.
This would represent upwards of 3-1/2 million bunches of flowers,
chiefly narcissi and anemones. Rather more than 500 acres are devoted to
flower-growing in the isles, by far the greater part of this area being
assigned to narcissi, whilst anemones, gladioli, marguerites, arum
lilies, Spanish irises, pinks and wallflowers are cultivated on a much
smaller scale. The great advantage enjoyed by the Scilly flower-growers
is earliness of production, due to climatic causes; the soil, moreover,
is well suited to flower culture and there is an abundance of sunshine.
The long journey to London is somewhat of a drawback, in regard to both
time and freight, but the earliness of the flowers more than compensates
for this. Open-air narcissi are usually ready at the beginning of
January, and the supply is maintained in different varieties up to the
middle or end of May. The narcissus bulbs are usually planted in
October, 4 in. by 3 in. apart for the smaller sorts and 6 in. by 4 to 6
in. for the larger. A compost of farmyard manure, seaweed, earth and
road scrapings is the usual dressing, but nitrate of soda, guano and
bones are also occasionally employed. A better plan, perhaps, is to
manure heavily the previous crop, frequently potatoes, no direct
manuring then being needed for the bulbs, these not being left in the
ground more than two or three years. The expenses of cultivation are
heavy, the cost of bulbs alone--of which it requires nearly a quarter of
a million of the smaller varieties, or half as many of the largest, to
plant an acre--being considerable. The polyanthus varieties of narcissus
are likely to continue the most remunerative to the flower-growers of
Scilly, as they flourish better in these isles than on the mainland.
In the district around the Wash, in the vicinity of such towns as
Wisbech, Spalding and Boston, the industrial culture of bulbs and
flowers underwent great expansion in the period between 1880 and 1909.
At Wisbech one concern alone has a farm of some 900 acres, devoted
chiefly to flowers and fruit, the soil being a deep fine alluvium. Roses
are grown here, one field containing upwards of 100,000 trees. Nearly 20
acres are devoted to narcissi, which are grown for the bulbs and also,
together with tulips, for cut flowers. Carnations are cultivated both
in the field and in pots. Cut flowers are sent out in large quantities,
neatly and effectively packed, the parcel post being mainly employed as
a means of distribution. In the neighbourhood of Spalding crocuses and
snowdrops are less extensively grown than used to be the case. On one
farm, however, upwards of 20 acres are devoted to narcissi alone, whilst
gladioli, lilies and irises are grown on a smaller scale. Around Boston
narcissi are also extensively grown for the market, both bulbs and cut
blooms being sold. The bulbs are planted 3 in. apart in rows, the latter
being 9 in. apart, and are allowed to stand from two to four years.
The imports of fresh flowers into the United Kingdom were not
separately shown prior to 1900. In that year, however, their value
amounted to L200,585, in 1901 to L225,011, in 1906 to L233,884, in
1907 to L233,641, and in 1908 to L229,802, so that the trade showed a
fairly steady condition. From the monthly totals quoted in Table VI.
it would appear that the trade sinks to its minimum dimensions in the
four months July to October inclusive, and that after September the
business continually expands up to April, subsequent to which
contraction again sets in. About one-half of the trade belongs
practically to the three months of February, March and April.
TABLE VI.--_Values of Fresh Flowers imported into the United Kingdom._
+-----------+----------+----------+----------+
| Month. | 1906. | 1907. | 1908. |
+-----------+----------+----------+----------+
| January | L31,035 | L18,545 | L29,180 |
| February | 34,647 | 25,541 | 30,541 |
| March | 50,232 | 42,611 | 35,185 |
| April | 30,809 | 50,418 | 42,681 |
| May | 22,980 | 21,767 | 23,129 |
| June | 17,641 | 18,358 | 16,904 |
| July | 3,386 | 4,509 | 3,467 |
| August | 1,646 | 1,539 | 1,081 |
| September | 852 | 736 | 953 |
| October | 4,481 | 3,180 | 4,504 |
| November | 17,506 | 15,763 | 15,097 |
| December | 18,669 | 30,674 | 27,080 |
| +----------+----------+----------+
| Total | L233,884 | L233,641 | L229,802 |
+-----------+----------+----------+----------+
_Hothouse Culture of Fruit and Flowers._--The cultivation of fruit and
flowers under glass has increased enormously since about the year 1880,
especially in the neighbourhood of London, where large sums of money
have been sunk in the erection and equipment of hothouses. In the parish
of Cheshunt, Herts, alone there are upwards of 130 acres covered with
glass, and between that place on the north and London on the south
extensive areas of land are similarly utilized. In Middlesex, in the
north, in the districts of Edmonton, Enfield, Ponders End and Finchley,
and in the west from Isleworth to Hampton, Feltham, Hillingdon, Sipson
and Uxbridge, many crops are now cultivated under glass. At Erith,
Swanley, and other places in Kent, as also at Worthing, in Sussex,
glass-house culture has much extended. A careful estimate puts the area
of industrial hothouses in England at about 1200 acres, but it is
probably much more than this. Most of the greenhouses are fixtures, but
in some parts of the kingdom structures that move on rails and wheels
are used, to enable the ground to be prepared in the open for one crop
while another is maturing under glass. The leading products are grapes,
tomatoes and cucumbers, the last-named two being true fruits from the
botanist's point of view, though commercially included with vegetables.
To these may be added on the same ground dwarf or French beans, and
runner or climbing beans. Peaches, nectarines and strawberries are
largely grown under glass, and, in private hothouses--from which the
produce is used mainly for household consumption, and which are not
taken into consideration here--pineapples, figs and other fruit.
Conservative estimates indicate the average annual yield of hothouse
grapes to be about 12 tons per acre and of tomatoes 20 tons. The greater
part of the space in the hothouses is assigned to fruit, but whilst some
houses are devoted exclusively to flowers, in others, where fruit is the
main object, flowers are forced in considerable quantities in winter and
early spring. The flowers grown under glass include tulips, hyacinths,
primulas, cyclamens, spiraeas, mignonettes, fuchsias, calceolarias,
roses, chrysanthemums, daffodils, arum lilies or callas, liliums,
azaleas, eucharises, camellias, stephanotis, tuberoses, bouvardias,
gardenias, heaths or ericas, poinsettias, lilies of the valley, zonal
pelargoniums, tuberous and fibrous rooted begonias, and many others.
There is an increasing demand for foliage hothouse plants, such as
ferns, palms, crotons, aspidistras, araucarias, dracaenas, India-rubber
plants, aralias, grevilleas, &c. Berried plants like solanums and
aucubas also find a ready sale, while the ornamental kinds of asparagus
such as _sprengeri_ and _plumosus_ nanus, are ever in demand for
trailing decorations, as well as myrsiphyilum. Special mention must be
made of the winter or perpetual flowering carnations which are now grown
by hundreds of thousands in all parts of the kingdom for decorative work
during the winter season. The converse of forcing plants into early
blossom is adopted with such an important crop as lily of the valley.
During the summer season the crowns are placed in refrigerators with
about 2 degrees of frost, and quantities are taken out as required every
week and transferred to the greenhouse to develop. Tomatoes are grown
largely in houses exclusively occupied by them, in which case two and
sometimes three crops can be gathered in the year. In the Channel
Islands, where potatoes grown under glass are lifted in April and May,
in order to secure the high prices of the early markets, tomato
seedlings are planted out from boxes into the ground as quickly as the
potatoes are removed, the tomato planter working only a few rows behind
the potato digger. The trade in imported tomatoes is so considerable
that home growers are well justified in their endeavours to meet the
demand more fully with native produce, whether raised under glass or in
the open. Tomatoes were not separately enumerated in the imports
previous to 1900. It has already been stated that in 1900 the raw
tomatoes imported amounted to 833,032 cwt., valued at L792,339, and in
1901 to 793,991 cwt., valued at L734,051. From the monthly quantities
given in Table VII., it would appear that the imports are largest in
June, July and August, about one-half of the year's total arriving
during those three months. It is too early in June and July for
home-grown outdoor tomatoes to enter into competition with the imported
product, but home-grown hothouse tomatoes should be qualified to
challenge this trade.
TABLE VII.--_Quantities of Tomatoes imported into the United Kingdom._
+-----------+-----------+------------+------------+
| Month. | 1906. | 1907. | 1908. |
+-----------+-----------+------------+------------+
| January | 61,940 | 56,022 | 73,409 |
| February | 58,187 | 58,289 | 69,350 |
| March | 106,458 | 98,028 | 86,928 |
| April | 103,273 | 109,057 | 74,917 |
| May | 67,933 | 114,041 | 88,901 |
| June | 62,906 | 144,379 | 127,793 |
| July | 238,362 | 150,907 | 171,978 |
| August | 180,046 | 102,600 | 124,757 |
| September | 114,860 | 101,198 | 119,224 |
| October | 52,678 | 67,860 | 75,722 |
| November | 41,513 | 66,522 | 74,292 |
| December | 36,316 | 66,591 | 73,012 |
| +-----------+------------+------------+
| Total | 1,124,472 | 1,135,494 | 1,160,283 |
| +-----------+------------+------------+
| Value | L953,475 | L1,135,499 | L1,160,283 |
+-----------+-----------+------------+------------+
An important feature of modern flower growing is the production and
cultivation of what are known as "hardy herbaceous perennials." Some
2000 or 3000 different species and varieties of these are now raised in
special nurseries; and during the spring, summer and autumn seasons
magnificent displays are to be seen not only in the markets but at the
exhibitions in London and at the great provincial shows held throughout
the kingdom. The production of many of these perennials is so easy that
amateurs in several instances have taken it up as a business hobby; and
in some cases, chiefly through advertising in the horticultural press,
very lucrative concerns have been established.
Ornamental flowering trees and shrubs constitute another feature of
modern gardening. These are grown and imported by thousands chiefly for
their sprays of blossom or foliage, and for planting in large or small
gardens, public parks, &c., for landscape effect. Indeed there is
scarcely an easily grown plant from the northern or southern temperate
zones that does not now find a place in the nursery or garden, provided
it is sufficiently attractive to sell for its flowers, foliage or
appearance.
_Conditions of the Fruit and Flower growing Industries._--As regards
open-air fruit-growing, the outlook for new ventures is perhaps brighter
than in the hothouse industry, not--as Mr Bear has pointed out--because
the area of fruit land in England is too small, but because the level of
efficiency, from the selection of varieties to the packing and marketing
of the produce, is very much lower in the former than in the latter
branch of enterprise. In other words, whereas the practice of the
majority of hothouse nurserymen is so skilled, so up-to-date, and so
entirely under high pressure that a new competitor, however well
trained, will find it difficult to rise above mediocrity, the converse
is true of open-air fruit-growers. Many, and an increasing proportion,
of the latter are thoroughly efficient in all branches of their
business, and are in possession of plantations of the best market
varieties of fruit, well cultivated, pruned and otherwise managed. But
the extent of fruit plantations completely up to the mark in relation to
varieties and treatment of trees and bushes, and in connexion with which
the packing and marketing of the produce are equally satisfactory, is
small in proportion to the total fruit area of the country. Information
concerning the best treatment of fruit trees has spread widely in recent
years, and old plantations, as a rule, suffer from the neglect or errors
of the past, however skilful their present holders may be. Although the
majority of professional market fruit-growers may be well up to the
standard in skill, there are numerous contributors to the fruit supply
who are either ignorant of the best methods of cultivation and marketing
or careless in their application. The bad condition of the great
majority of farm orchards is notorious, and many landowners, farmers and
amateur gardeners who have planted fruit on a more or less extensive
scale have mismanaged their undertakings. For these reasons new growers
of open-air fruit for market have opportunities of succeeding by means
of superiority to the majority of those with whom they will compete,
provided that they possess the requisite knowledge, energy and capital.
It has been asserted on sound authority that there is no chance of
success for fruit-growers except in districts favourable as regards
soil, climate and nearness to a railway or a good market; and, even
under these conditions, only for men who have had experience in the
industry and are prepared to devote their unremitting attention to it.
Most important is it to a beginner that he should ascertain the
varieties of fruit that flourish best in his particular district.
Certain kinds seem to do well or fairly well in all parts of the
country; others, whilst heavy croppers in some localities, are often
unsatisfactory in others.
As has been intimated, there is probably in England less room for
expansion of fruit culture under glass than in the open. The large
increase of glass-houses in modern times appears to have brought the
supply of hothouse produce, even at greatly reduced prices, at least up
to the level of the demand; and as most nurserymen continue to extend
their expanse of glass, the prospect for new competitors is not a bright
one. Moreover, the vast scale upon which some of the growers conduct the
hothouse industry puts small producers at a great disadvantage, not only
because the extensive producers can grow grapes and other fruit more
economically than small growers--with the possible exception of those
who do all or nearly all their own work--but also, and still more,
because the former have greater advantages in transporting and marketing
their fruit. There has, in recent years, been a much greater fall in the
prices of hothouse than of open-air fruit, especially under the existing
system of distribution, which involves the payment by consumers of 50 to
100% more in prices than growers receive. The best openings for new
nurseries are probably not where they are now to be found in large
groups, and especially not in the neighbourhood of London, but in
suitable spots near the great centres of population in the Midlands and
the North, or big towns elsewhere not already well supplied with
nurseries. By such a selection of a locality the beginner may build up a
retail trade in hothouse fruit, or at least a trade with local
fruiterers and grocers, thus avoiding railway charges and salesmen's
commissions to a great extent, though it may often be advantageous to
send certain kinds of produce to a distant market. Above all, a man who
has no knowledge of the hothouse industry should avoid embarking his
capital in it, trusting himself in the hands of a foreman, as experience
shows that such a venture usually leads to disaster. Some years of
training in different nurseries are desirable for any young man who is
desirous of becoming a grower of hothouse fruits or flowers.
There can be no doubt that flower-growing is greatly extending in
England, and that competition among home growers is becoming more
severe. Foreign supplies of flowers have increased, but not nearly as
greatly in proportion as home supplies, and it seems clear that home
growers have gained ground in relation to their foreign rivals, except
with respect to flowers for the growth of which foreigners have
extraordinary natural advantages. There seems some danger of the home
culture of the narcissus being over-done, and the florists'
chrysanthemum appears to be produced in excess of the demand. Again, in
the production of violets the warm and sunny South of France has an
advantage not possessed by England, whilst Holland, likewise for
climatic reasons, maintains her hold upon the hyacinth and tulip trade.
Whether the production of flowers as a whole is gaining ground upon the
demand or not is a difficult question to answer. It is true that the
prices of flowers have fallen generally; but production, at any rate
under glass, has been cheapened, and if a fair profit can be obtained,
the fall in prices, without which the existing consumption of flowers
would be impossible, does not necessarily imply over-production. There
is some difference of opinion among growers upon this point; but nearly
all agree that profits are now so small that production on a large scale
is necessary to provide a fair income. Industrial flower-growing affords
such a wide scope for the exercise of superior skill, industry and
alertness, that it is not surprising to find some who are engaged in it
doing remarkably well to all appearance, while others are struggling on
and hardly paying their way. That a man with only a little capital,
starting in a small way, has many disadvantages is certain; also, that
his chance of saving money and extending his business quickly is much
smaller than it was. To the casual looker-on, who knows nothing of the
drudgery of the industry, flower-growing seems a delightful method of
getting a living. That it is an entrancing pursuit there is no doubt;
but it is equally true that it is a very arduous one, requiring careful
forethought, ceaseless attention and abundant energy. Fortunately for
those who might be tempted, without any knowledge of the industry, to
embark capital in it, flower-growing, if at all comprehensive in scope,
so obviously requires a varied and extensive technical knowledge,
combined with good commercial ability, that any one can see that a
thorough training is necessary to a man who intends to adopt it as a
business, especially if hothouse flowers are to be produced.
The market for fruit, and more especially for flowers, is a fickle
one, and there is nearly always some uncertainty as to the course of
prices. The perishable nature of soft fruit and cut flowers renders
the markets very sensitive to anything in the nature of a glut, the
occurrence of which is usually attended with disastrous results to
producers. Foreign competition, moreover, has constantly to be faced,
and it is likely to increase rather than diminish. French growers have
a great advantage over the open-air cultivators of England, for the
climate enables them to get their produce into the markets early in
the season, when the highest prices are obtainable. The geographical
advantage which France enjoys in being so near to England is, however,
considerably discounted by the increasing facilities for cold storage
in transit, both by rail and sea. The development of such facilities
permits of the retail sale in England of luscious fruit as fresh and
attractive as when it was gathered beneath the sunny skies of
California. In the case of flowers, fashion is an element not to be
ignored. Flowers much in request in one season may meet with very
little demand in another, and it is difficult for the producer to
anticipate the changes which caprice may dictate. Even for the same
kind of flower the requirements are very uncertain, and the white
blossom which is all the rage in one season may be discarded in favour
of one of another colour in the next. The sale of fresh flowers for
church decoration at Christmas and Easter has reached enormous
dimensions. The irregularity in the date of the festival, however,
causes some inconvenience to growers. If it falls very early the great
bulk of suitable flowers may not be sufficiently forward for sale,
whilst a late Easter may find the season too far advanced. The trade
in cut flowers, therefore, is generally attended by uncertainty, and
often by anxiety. (W. FR.; J. WS.)
UNITED STATES
In the United States horticulture and market gardening have now assumed
immense proportions. In a country of over 3,000,000 sq. m., stretching
from the Atlantic to the Pacific on the one hand, and from the Gulf of
Mexico to the great northern lakes and the Dominion of Canada on the
other, a great variation of climatic conditions is not unnatural. From a
horticultural point of view there are practically two well-defined
regions: (1) that to the east of the Rocky Mountains across to the
Atlantic, where the climate is more like that of eastern Asia than of
western Europe so far as rainfall, temperature and seasonable conditions
are concerned; (2) that to the west of the Rockies, known as the Pacific
coast region, where the climate is somewhat similar to that of western
Europe. It may be added that in the northern states--in Washington,
Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, &c.--the winters are often
very severe, while the southern states practically enjoy a temperature
somewhat similar to that of the Riviera. Indeed the range of temperature
between the extreme northern states and the extreme southern may vary as
much as 120 deg. F. The great aim of American gardeners, therefore, has
been to find out or to produce the kinds of fruits, flowers and
vegetables that are likely to flourish in different parts of this
immense country.
_Fruit Culture._--There is probably no country in the world where so
many different kinds of fruit can be grown with advantage to the nation
as in the United States. In the temperate regions apples, pears and
plums are largely grown, and orchards of these are chiefly to be found
in the states of New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Michigan,
Missouri, Colorado, and also in northern Texas, Arkansas and N.
California. To these may be added cranberries and quinces, which are
chiefly grown in the New England states. The quinces are not a crop of
first-rate importance, but as much as 800,000 bushels of cranberries are
grown each year. The peach orchards are assuming great proportions, and
are chiefly to be found in Georgia and Texas, while grapes are grown
throughout the Republic from east to west in all favourable localities.
Oranges, lemons and citrons are more or less extensively grown in
Florida and California, and in these regions what are known as Japanese
or "Kelsey" plums (forms of _Prunus triflora_) are also grown as
marketable crops. Pomegranates are not yet largely grown, but it is
possible their culture will develop in southern Texas and Louisiana,
where the climate is tempered by the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
Tomatoes are grown in most parts of the country so easily that there is
frequently a glut; while the strawberry region extends from Florida to
Virginia, Pennsylvania and other states--thus securing a natural
succession from south to north for the various great market centres.
Of the fruits mentioned apples are undoubtedly the most important. Not
only are the American people themselves supplied with fresh fruit, but
immense quantities are exported to Europe--Great Britain alone absorbing
as much as 1,430,000 cwt. in 1908. The varieties originally grown were
of course those taken or introduced from Europe by the early settlers.
Since the middle of the 19th century great changes have been brought
about, and the varieties mostly cultivated now are distinctly American.
They have been raised by crossing and intercrossing the most suitable
European forms with others since imported from Russia. In the extreme
northern states indeed, where it is essential to have apple trees that
will stand the severest winters, the Russian varieties crossed with the
berry crab of eastern Europe (_Pyrus baccata_) have produced a race
eminently suited to that particular region. The individual fruits are
not very large, but the trees are remarkably hardy. Farther south larger
fruited varieties are grown, and among these may be noted Baldwins,
Newton pippins, Spitzenbergs and Rhode Island greening. Apple orchards
are numerous in the State of New York, where it is estimated that over
100,000 acres are devoted to them. In the hilly regions of Missouri,
Arkansas and Colorado there are also great plantations of apples. The
trees, however, are grown on different principles from those in New York
State. In the latter state apple trees with ordinary care live to more
than 100 years of age and produce great crops; in the other states,
however, an apple tree is said to be middle-aged at 20, decrepit at 30
and practically useless at 40 years of age. They possess the advantage,
however, of bearing early and heavily.
Until the introduction of the cold-storage system, about the year 1880,
America could hardly be regarded as a commercial fruit-growing country.
Since then, however, owing to the great improvements made in railway
refrigerating vans and storage houses, immense quantities of fruit can
be despatched in good condition to any part of the world; or they can be
kept at home in safety until such time as the markets of Chicago, New
York, Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia, &c., are considered favourable
for their reception.
Apple trees are planted at distances varying from 25 ft. to 30 ft. apart
in the middle western states, to 40 ft. to 50 ft. apart in New York
State. Here and there, however, in some of the very best orchards the
trees are planted 60 ft. apart every way. Each tree thus has a chance to
develop to its utmost limits, and as air and light reach it better, a
far larger fruit-bearing surface is secured. Actual experience has shown
that trees planted at 60 ft. apart--about 28 to the acre--produce more
fruit by 43 bushels than trees at 30 ft. apart--i.e. about 48 to the
acre.
Until recent years pruning as known to English and French gardeners was
practically unknown. There was indeed no great necessity for it, as the
trees, not being cramped for space, threw their branches outwards and
upwards, and thus rarely become overcrowded. When practised, however,
the operation could scarcely be called pruning; lopping or trimming
would be more accurate descriptions.
Apple orchards are not immune from insect pests and fungoid diseases,
and an enormous business is now done in spraying machines and various
insecticides. It pays to spray the trees, and figures have been given to
show that orchards that have been sprayed four times have produced an
average income of L211 per acre against L103 per acre from unsprayed
orchards.
The spring frosts are also troublesome, and in the Colorado and other
orchards the process known as "smudging" is now adopted to save the
crops. This consists in placing 20 or 30, or even more, iron or tin pots
to an acre, each pot containing wooden chips soaked in tar (or pitch)
mixed with kerosene. Whenever the thermometer shows 3 or 4 degrees of
frost the smudge-pots are lighted. A dense white smoke then arises and
is diffused throughout the orchards, enveloping the blossoming heads of
the trees in a dense cloud. This prevents the frost from killing the
tender pistils in the blossoms, and when several smudge-pots are alight
at the same time the temperature of the orchard is raised two or three
degrees. This work has generally to be done between 3 and 5 A.M., and
the growers naturally have an anxious time until all danger is over. The
failure to attend to smudging, even on one occasion, may result in the
loss of the entire crop of plums, apples or pears.
Next to apples perhaps peaches are the most important fruit crop. The
industry is chiefly carried on in Georgia, Texas and S. Carolina, and on
a smaller scale in some of the adjoining states. Peaches thus flourish
in regions that are quite unsuitable for apples or pears. In many
orchards in Georgia, where over 3,000,000 acres have been planted, there
are as many as 100,000 peach trees; while some of the large fruit
companies grow as many as 365,000. In one place in West Virginia there
is, however, a peach orchard containing 175,000 trees, and in Missouri
another company has 3 sq. m. devoted to peach culture. As a rule the
crops do well. Sometimes, however, a disease known as the "yellows"
makes sad havoc amongst them, and scarcely a fruit is picked in an
orchard which early in the season gave promise of a magnificent crop.
Plums are an important crop in many states. Besides the European
varieties and those that have been raised by crossing with American
forms, there is now a growing trade done in Japanese plums. The largest
of these is popularly known as "Kelseys," named after John Kelsey, who
raised the first fruit in 1876 from trees brought to California in 1870.
Sometimes the fruits are 3 in. in diameter, and like most of the
Japanese varieties are more heart-shaped and pointed than plums of
European origin. One apparent drawback to the Kelsey plum is its
irregularity in ripening. It has been known in some years to be quite
ripe in June, while in others the fruits are still green in October.
Pears are much grown in such states as Massachusetts, New York,
Pennsylvania, Missouri and California; while bush fruits like currants,
gooseberries and raspberries find large spaces devoted in most of the
middle and northern states. Naturally a good deal of crossing and
intercrossing has taken place amongst the European and American forms of
these fruits, but so far as gooseberries are concerned no great advance
seems to have been made in securing varieties capable of resisting the
devastating gooseberry mildew.
Other fruits of more or less commercial value are oranges, lemons and
citrons, chiefly in Florida. Lemons are practically a necessity to the
American people, owing to the heat of the summers, when cool and
refreshing drinks with an agreeable acidulous taste are in great demand.
The pomelo (grape-fruit) is a kind of lemon with a thicker rind and a
more acid flavour. At one time its culture was confined to Florida, but
of recent years it has found its way into Californian orchards.
Notwithstanding the prevailing mildness of the climate in both
California and Florida, the crops of oranges, lemons, citrons, &c., are
sometimes severely injured by frosts when in blossom.
Other fruits likely to be heard of in the future are the kaki or
persimmon, the loquat, which is already grown in Louisiana, as well as
the pomegranate.
Great aid and encouragement are given by the government to the progress
of American fruit-growing, and by the experiments that are being
constantly carried out and tabulated at Cornell University and by the
U.S.A. department of agriculture.
_Flower Culture._--So far as flowers are concerned there appears to be
little difference between the kinds of plants grown in the United States
and in England, France, Belgium, Germany, Holland, &c. Indeed there is a
great interchange of new varieties of plants between Europe and America,
and modifications in systems of culture are being gradually introduced
from one side of the Atlantic to the other. The building of greenhouses
for commercial purposes is perhaps on a somewhat different scale from
that in England, but there are probably no extensive areas of glass such
as are to be seen north of London from Enfield Highway to Broxburne. Hot
water apparatus differs merely in detail, although most of the boilers
used resemble those on the continent of Europe rather than in England.
Great business is done in bulbs--mostly imported from Holland--stove and
greenhouse plants, hardy perennials, orchids, ferns of the "fancy" and
"dagger" types of Nephrolepis, and in carnations and roses. Amongst the
latter thousands of such varieties as Beauty, Liberty, Killarney,
Richmond and Bride are grown, and realize good prices as a rule in the
markets. Carnations of the winter-flowering or "perpetual" type have
long been grown in America, and enormous prices have been given for
individual plants on certain occasions, rivalling the fancy prices paid
in England for certain orchids. The American system of carnation-growing
has quite captivated English cultivators, and new varieties are being
constantly raised in both countries. Chrysanthemums are another great
feature of American florists, and sometimes during the winter season a
speculative grower will send a living specimen to one of the London
exhibitions in the hope of booking large orders for cuttings of it later
on. Sweet peas, dahlias, lilies of the valley, arum lilies and indeed
every flower that is popular in England is equally popular in America,
and consequently is largely grown.
_Vegetables._--So far as these are concerned, potatoes, cabbages,
cauliflowers, beans of all kinds, cucumbers, tomatoes (already
referred to under fruits), musk-melons, lettuces, radishes, endives,
carrots, &c.; are naturally grown in great quantities, not only in the
open air, but also under glass. The French system of intensive
cultivation as practised on hot beds of manure round Paris is
practically unknown at present. In the southern states there would be
no necessity to practise it, but in the northern ones it is likely to
attract attention. (J. Ws.)
FOOTNOTE:
[1] _Jour. Roy. Agric. Soc._, 1899.
FRUMENTIUS (c. 300-c. 360), the founder of the Abyssinian church,
traditionally identified in Abyssinian literature with Abba Salama or
Father of Peace (but see ETHIOPIA), was a native of Phoenicia. According
to the 4th-century historian Rufinus (x. 9), who gives Aedesius himself
as his authority, a certain Tyrian, Meropius, accompanied by his kinsmen
Frumentius and Aedesius, set out on an expedition to "India," but fell
into the hands of Ethiopians on the shore of the Red Sea and, with his
ship's crew, was put to death. The two young men were taken to the king
at Axum, where they were well treated and in time obtained great
influence. With the help of Christian merchants who visited the country
Frumentius gave Christianity a firm footing, which was strengthened when
in 326 he was consecrated bishop by Athanasius of Alexandria, who in his
_Epistola ad Constantinum_ mentions the consecration, and gives some
details of the history of Frumentius's mission. Later witnesses speak of
his fidelity to the homoousian during the Arian controversies. Aedesius
returned to Tyre, where he was ordained presbyter.
FRUNDSBERG, GEORG VON (1473-1528), German soldier, was born at
Mindelheim on the 24th of September 1473. He fought for the German king
Maximilian I. against the Swiss in 1499, and in the same year was among
the imperial troops sent to assist Ludovico Sforza, duke of Milan,
against the French. Still serving Maximilian, he took part in 1504 in
the war over the succession to the duchy of Bavaria-Landshut, and
afterwards fought in the Netherlands. Convinced of the necessity of a
native body of trained infantry Frundsberg assisted Maximilian to
organize the _Landsknechte_ (q.v.), and subsequently at the head of
bands of these formidable troops he was of great service to the Empire
and the Habsburgs. In 1509 he shared in the war against Venice, winning
fame for himself and his men; and after a short visit to Germany
returned to Italy, where in 1513 and 1514 he gained fresh laurels by his
enterprises against the Venetians and the French. Peace being made, he
returned to Germany, and at the head of the infantry of the Swabian
league assisted to drive Ulrich of Wurttemberg from his duchy in 1519.
At the diet of Worms in 1521 he spoke words of encouragement to Luther,
and when the struggle between France and the Empire was renewed he took
part in the invasion of Picardy, and then proceeding to Italy brought
the greater part of Lombardy under the influence of Charles V. through
his victory at Bicocca in April 1522. He was partly responsible for the
great victory over the French at Pavia in February 1525, and, returning
to Germany, he assisted to suppress the Peasant revolt, using on this
occasion, however, diplomacy as well as force. When the war in Italy was
renewed Frundsberg raised an army at his own expense, and skilfully
surmounting many difficulties, joined the constable de Bourbon near
Piacenza and marched towards Rome. Before he reached the city, however,
his unpaid troops showed signs of mutiny, and their leader, stricken
with illness and unable to pacify them, gave up his command. Returning
to Germany, he died at Mindelheim on the 20th of August 1528. He was a
capable and chivalrous soldier, and a devoted servant of the Habsburgs.
His son Caspar (1500-1536) and his grandson Georg (d. 1586) were both
soldiers of some distinction. With the latter's death the family became
extinct.
See Adam Reissner, _Historia Herrn Georgs und Herrn Kaspars von
Frundsberg_ (Frankfort, 1568). A German translation of this work was
published at Frankfort in 1572. F.W. Barthold, _Georg von Frundsberg_
(Hamburg, 1833); J. Heilmann, _Kriegsgeschichte von Bayern, Franken,
Pfalz und Schwaben_ (Munich, 1868).
FRUSTUM (Latin for a "piece broken off"), a term in geometry for the
part of a solid figure, such as a cone or pyramid, cut off by a plane
parallel to the base, or lying between two parallel planes; and hence in
architecture a name given to the drum of a column.
FRUYTIERS, PHILIP (1627-1666), Flemish painter and engraver, was a pupil
of the Jesuits' college at Antwerp in 1627, and entered the Antwerp gild
of painters without a fee in 1631. He is described in the register of
that institution as "illuminator, painter and engraver." The current
account of his life is "that he worked exclusively in water colours, yet
was so remarkable in this branch of his art for arrangement, drawing,
and especially for force and clearness of colour, as to excite the
admiration of Rubens, whom he portrayed with all his family." The truth
is that he was an artist of the most versatile talents, as may be judged
from the fact that in 1646 he executed an Assumption with figures of
life size, and four smaller pictures in oil, for the church of St
Jacques at Antwerp, for which he received the considerable sum of 1150
florins. Unhappily no undoubted production of his hand has been
preserved. All that we can point to with certainty is a series of etched
plates, chiefly portraits, which are acknowledged to have been
powerfully and skilfully handled. If, however, we search the portfolios
of art collections on the European continent, we sometimes stumble upon
miniatures on vellum, drawn with great talent and coloured with
extraordinary brilliancy. In form they quite recall the works of Rubens,
and these, it may be, are the work of Philip Fruytiers.
FRY, the name of a well-known English Quaker family, originally living
in Wiltshire. About the middle of the 18th century JOSEPH FRY
(1728-1787), a doctor, settled in Bristol, where he acquired a large
practice, but eventually abandoned medicine for commerce. He became
interested in china-making, soap-boiling and type-founding businesses in
Bristol, and in a chemical works at Battersea, all of which ventures
proved very profitable. The type-founding business was subsequently
removed to London and conducted by his son Edmund. Joseph Fry, however,
is best remembered as the founder of the great Bristol firm of J.S. Fry
& Sons, chocolate manufacturers. He purchased the chocolate-making
patent of William Churchman and on it laid the foundations of the
present large business. After his death the Bristol chocolate factory
was carried on with increasing success by his widow and by his son,
JOSEPH STORRS FRY (1767-1835).
In 1795 a new and larger factory was built in Union Street, Bristol,
which still forms the centre of the firm's premises, and in 1798 a
Watt's steam-engine was purchased and the cocoa-beans ground by steam.
On the death of Joseph Storrs Fry his three sons, Joseph (1795-1879),
Francis, and Richard (1807-1878) became partners in the firm, the
control being mainly in the hands of FRANCIS FRY (1803-1886). Francis
Fry was in every way a remarkable character. The development of the
business to its modern enormous proportion was chiefly his work, but
this did not exhaust his activities. He took a principal part in the
introduction of railways to the west of England, and in 1852 drew up a
scheme for a general English railway parcel service. He was an ardent
bibliographer, taking a special interest in early English Bibles, of
which he made in the course of a long life a large and striking
collection, and of the most celebrated of which he published facsimiles
with bibliographical notes. Francis Fry died in 1886, and his son
Francis J. Fry and nephew Joseph Storrs Fry carried on the business,
which in 1896 was for family reasons converted into a private limited
company, Joseph Storrs Fry being chairman and all the directors members
of the Fry family.
FRY, SIR EDWARD (1827- ), English judge, second son of Joseph Fry
(1795-1879), was born at Bristol on the 4th of November 1827, and
educated at University College, London, and London University. He was
called to the bar in 1854 and was made a Q.C. in 1869, practising in the
rolls court and becoming recognized as a leading equity lawyer. In 1877
he was raised to the bench and knighted. As chancery judge he will be
remembered for his careful interpretations and elucidations of the
Judicature Acts, then first coming into operation. In 1883 he was made a
lord justice of appeal, but resigned in 1892; and subsequently his
knowledge of equity and talents for arbitration were utilized by the
British government from time to time in various special directions,
particularly as chairman of many commissions. He was also one of the
British representatives at the Paris North Sea Inquiry Commission
(1905), and was appointed a member of the Hague Permanent Arbitration
Court. He wrote _A Treatise on the Specific Performance of Public
Contracts_ (London, 1858, and many subsequent editions).
FRY, ELIZABETH (1780-1845), English philanthropist, and, after Howard,
the chief promoter of prison reform in Europe, was born in Norwich on
the 21st of May 1780. Her father, John Gurney, afterwards of Earlham
Hall, a wealthy merchant and banker, represented an old family which for
some generations had belonged to the Society of Friends. While still a
girl she gave many indications of the benevolence of disposition,
clearness and independence of judgment, and strength of purpose, for
which she was afterwards so distinguished; but it was not until after
she had entered her eighteenth year that her religion assumed a decided
character, and that she was induced, under the preaching of the American
Quaker, William Savery, to become an earnest and enthusiastic though
never fanatical "Friend." In August 1800 she became the wife of Joseph
Fry, a London merchant.
Amid increasing family cares she was unwearied in her attention to the
poor and the neglected of her neighbourhood; and in 1811 she was
acknowledged by her co-religionists as a "minister," an honour and
responsibility for which she was undoubtedly qualified, not only by
vigour of intelligence and warmth of heart, but also by an altogether
unusual faculty of clear, fluent and persuasive speech. Although she had
made several visits to Newgate prison as early as February 1813, it was
not until nearly four years afterwards that the great public work of her
life may be said to have begun. The association for the Improvement of
the Female Prisoners in Newgate was formed in April 1817. Its aim was
the much-needed establishment of some of what are now regarded as the
first principles of prison discipline, such as entire separation of the
sexes, classification of criminals, female supervision for the women,
and adequate provision for their religious and secular instruction, as
also for their useful employment. The ameliorations effected by this
association, and largely by the personal exertions of Mrs Fry, soon
became obvious, and led to a rapid extension of similar methods to other
places. In 1818 she, along with her brother, visited the prisons of
Scotland and the north of England; and the publication (1819) of the
notes of this tour, as also the cordial recognition of the value of her
work by the House of Commons committee on the prisons of the metropolis,
led to a great increase of her correspondence, which now extended to
Italy, Denmark and Russia, as well as to all parts of the United
Kingdom. Through a visit to Ireland, which she made in 1827, she was led
to direct her attention to other houses of detention besides prisons;
and her observations resulted in many important improvements in the
British hospital system, and in the treatment of the insane. In 1838 she
visited France, and besides conferring with many of the leading prison
officials, she personally visited most of the houses of detention in
Paris, as well as in Rouen, Caen and some other places. In the following
year she obtained an official permission to visit all the prisons in
that country; and her tour, which extended from Boulogne and Abbeville
to Toulouse and Marseilles, resulted in a report which was presented to
the minister of the interior and the prefect of police. Before returning
to England she had included Geneva, Zurich, Stuttgart and
Frankfort-on-Main in her inspection. The summer of 1840 found her
travelling through Belgium, Holland and Prussia on the same mission; and
in 1841 she also visited Copenhagen. In 1842, through failing health,
Mrs Fry was compelled to forgo her plans for a still more widely
extended activity, but had the satisfaction of hearing from almost every
quarter of Europe that the authorities were giving increased practical
effect to her suggestions. In 1844 she was seized with a lingering
illness, of which she died on the 12th of October 1845. She was
survived by a numerous family, the youngest of whom was born in 1822.
Two interesting volumes of _Memoirs, with Extracts from her Journals and
Letters_, edited by two of her daughters, were published in 1847. See
also _Elizabeth Fry_, by G. King Lewis (1910).
FRYXELL, ANDERS (1795-1881), Swedish historian, was born at Hesselskog,
Dalsland, Sweden, on the 7th of February 1795. He was educated at
Upsala, took holy orders in 1820, was made a doctor of philosophy in
1821, and in 1823 began to publish the great work of his life, the
_Stories from Swedish History_. He did not bring this labour to a close
until, fifty-six years later, he published the forty-sixth and crowning
volume of his vast enterprise. Fryxell, as a historian, appealed to
every class by the picturesqueness of his style and the breadth of his
research; he had the gift of awakening to an extraordinary degree the
national sense in his readers. In 1824 he published his _Swedish
Grammar_, which was long without a rival. In 1833 he received the title
of profe
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