The fruits, called mother-of-cloves, are oblong fleshy drupes, usually shortly tapering at each end, reddish-purple in colour, 2.5-3.5 cm long and 1.2-1.5 cm in diameter. They are surmounted by the four enlarged fleshy calyx lobes. They usually contain only a single seed, but may be rarely two-seeded. There is a thin fleshy pericarp about 2-3 mm thick. The seed, with a purplish testa, is oblong and rounded at both ends, about 2 cm long, with two large cotyledons and no endosperm.

The cotyledons lie side by side, with their inner faces folded and interlocking attached near their centres to the large hypocotyl. Few flowers develop fully into fruits; the greater number fall and may be gleaned as an inferior spice. Germination is epigeal.

Tidbury (1949) states that it is not known whether the clove is normally cross- or self-fertilized. The flowers are visited by bees and it seems likely that cross-fertilization can and does occur. He considers it probable that the clove will produce self-fertilized seed, although no viable seed, definitely known to be self-fertilized, has yet been produced. He points out that authorities in the East Indies state that the clove is apparently almost entirely self-pollinated, but it is not known on what evidence this statement is made.

The cloves of commerce are the dried unopened flower buds of an evergreen tree, Syzygium aromaticum (syn. Eugenia caryophyllus), belonging to the family Myrtaceae. The plant is indigenous to the Moluccas.

The Dutch, using repugnant, oppressive and often bloody measures, were to retain the monopoly for nearly another 200 years. By 1651 the Dutch had instituted a scheme limiting the cultivation of cloves to the island of Amboina, insisting on the uprooting of cloves on the other islands. The penalty for the possession, selling and cultivation of cloves except on Amboina was death.

Its principal component, eugenol, is easily converted into vanillin, though this use of eugenol has been largely discontinued. One of the principal modern uses of cloves, which has developed during the present century, is mixing the shredded spice with tobacco in the manufacture of kretek cigarettes in Indonesia.

The world’s most important producer of cloves was, until recently Zanzibar (now a part of Tanzania), followed by the Malagasy Republic (Madagascar). In 1964 Zanzibar was the scene of political changes, as a result of which the clove industry was nationalized, and the owners of the clove plantations and their skilled supervisors were evicted.

Out of doors nicotine can be used to control aphis and thrips, but would appear to be more reliable, used either in spray or dust form, as it is effective at much lower temperatures than nicotine, as well as being rather more lasting in effect. Alternatives are derris, which does not appear to be very effective, and the phosphorus group insecticides. Most of the phosphorus group, although extremely effective against a wide range of pests, are dangerous to use, and protective clothing and masks must be used.

They have not true stomachs, so that they inject a little of their digestive juices into the plant sap, together with the virus, and suck hack the pre-digested sap, greatly to their advantage, but also greatly to the dahlia’s detriment.

The main thing to bear in mind, whatever spray or dust is used, is that it must be given at regular intervals, say once every ten days, and more frequently than this if rain happens to fall within two days of application. The biting insects, capsid, the allied tarnished plant bug, earwigs and caterpillars, although they do not transmit virus in addition to their other misdeeds, are still capable of causing considerable damage if left to feed unchecked.

The common clone now grown in the Lampongs in southern Sumatra is ‘Belantung’ with large leaves and small fhiits; it shows some field resistance to foot rot; it is said to have taken over from `Djambi’ as the latter was very susceptible to foot rot in the Lampongs around 1930.

Man has selected cultivars which are mainly hermaphrodite and they are maintained by cuttings. The greatest number of cultivars occur in India. `Balarneotta’ is one of the most widely grown Malabar peppers, followed by `Kalluvalli’.

The fruit is a globose drupe, 4-6 mm in diameter, with a pulpy pericarp, borne in spikes 5-15 cm long. Each spike may produce 50-60 single-seeded fruits. The unripe fruit is green with the exocarp turning red when ripe, and drying black. The seed is 3-4 mm in diameter with a minute embryo, little endosperm and copious perisperm. The weight of 100 peppercorns varies from 3 to 8 g and is usually about 4.5 g.

Other Indian cultivars include `Cheriakaniakadan’, which is a popular type commonly grown in Travancore, has small elliptic leaves and long spikes; it is said to be a regular and heavy bearer of high quality and is wilt-resistant; it has not done well in Sarawak where it is found to be mainly unisexual.

Pot tubers are best stored in the pots in which they have been grown. These should be stacked on their sides to minimise the amount of space taken up, and it is usual to stack up in pyramidical fashion under the greenhouse bench, or in the chosen storage space.

Rotting tubers make themselves evident in several ways. A wrinkled tuber in an otherwise plump clump, should be suspect immediately. Brown or grey “mould” is, of course, a grave danger signal, but by the time this appears usually the danger has reached serious proportions, so it cannot be considered an ideal guide.

Softness is also a danger sign. The outer skin in this case will usually peel off with only slight pressure from the fingers to reveal the corruption beneath.

Having trimmed away damaged areas, whether from tubers, stem or crown, the cut surfaces should be dusted with a sterilising agent before returning the clumps to store. Equal parts lime and green sulphur (or flowers of sulphur) is the dahlia growers’ standby for this purpose, being both cheap and effective.

Sonic Mycend species can be recognized by their smell and one of these is Mycena pure, which smells strongly of radishes. The size and colouring of this species varies tremendously. The most typical variety has a light purple to pink-purple cap, but can also be seen with a bluish tinge, brown or white. The colour intensity changes when the mushroom dries out: and is always lighter when moist. The tubular stipe is fragile, with a white woolly base. The sparse, deeply cut gills, which arc sharply lobed near the stipe, are transversely furrowed and pale purple in colour.

Stropharia aeruginosa is a strikingly coloured species; it has a verdigris-green, later ochre-coloured cap, which is covered with a slimy layer and in young black-brown. specimens is flecked with white scales. Its green to green-blue stipe is also slimy, covered with white “scales and showing a collar-like ring at its apex.

Fortunately, it can be easily distinguished from other purple edible gill fungi. Pluteus cervinus is one of the most common red- spore mushrooms which grow on stumps and rotting wood. Its relatively large fruit-bodies have a light to dark greY or greyish-brown cap, surmounting a thin, white stipe which is longitudinally streaked with thin dark fibrils. The gills arc prominent and stand free from the stipe.

The verticillum wilt is soil borne, and may be troublesome in houses in which tomatoes have been grown in a previous season. In both cases the tubers can sometimes be saved by cutting away the diseased parts until clean flesh is reached, but this is not always possible. All debris and the rotted tubers should be destroyed by burning, and the soil in which they have been grown removed and replaced by fresh soil.

Apart from this preventive action, if any plants show strong signs of possible virus infection, particularly if dwarfed, do not hesitate, but pull the whole plant up and burn it straight away. It may seem a great shame, yet the one plant may infect every other dahlia in the garden, and completely ruin many plants in the following year.

Spotted wilt, despite its name, does not cause the dahlia to wilt. The leaves will usually show ringed or spotted areas of a lighter green, but the symptoms vary a great deal in accordance with the variety which has become infected. It can be transmitted to and from dahlias, chrysanthemums, tomatoes and a number of other plants grown in every garden, by various species of thrips.

Apart from breeding work, pepper is almost always propagated vegetatively. Seedlings take much longer to come into bearing than cuttings, the seedlings will be very variable and the plants may be dioecious.

Rootstocks of P. colubrinum, which is highly resistant to foot rot, have been used, and two-node cuttings of this species strike roots easily to provide rootstocks. Other rootstocks tried include P. cubeba, which is not fully resistant to foot rot, and P. hispidum and P. scabrum, with which there was little success.

Commercial pepper is usually grown from cuttings. In Sarawak and Indonesia these are normally taken from terminal orthotropic shoots of vines less than two years old. In India stolons or layers from the base of the plants are usually used. For terminal cuttings, these should be about 60 cm long with five to seven nodes. Before taking the cutting the terminal bud of the selected shoot is broken off and the leaves and small branches between the third and seventh node from the apex are stripped off.

Perhaps this is the most controversial point of all, as the ability to discern colour varies intensely with the individual, as does personal preference.

One of the most unsatisfactory statements ever made was to the effect “that the colour should be typical of the variety”. It is unsatisfactory inasmuch as it meant that if a variety was of a poor or indeterminate colour, its merits had to he judged on a condition which in itself was not desirable. In all other characteristics judges do not make much allowance for inherent faults in the particular variety, so that it does not appear to be logical to choose a different basis for judging colour.

Colour should be pure and attractive, rich and glistening. Dullness of shade or texture must be considered a fault. In the giant and large classes for both cactus and decorative dahlias size is obviously of great importance, and all other things being equal the largest bloom should win. But even in the large varieties size is to some degree comparative, and allowance is usually made for the variety, that is it is usually considered that an 2 in.

Tylopilus felleus might be called a twin of Boletus edulis. They often grow together in spruce forests and therefore they can be easily mistaken for one another. Both mushrooms are similar in the shape and colouring of their fruit-bodies and so it is not surprising if a mushroom-picker gathers Tylopilus felleus only to realize his mistake when eating a dish prepared from it. For Tylopilus felleus has a very strong, repulsively acrid taste and can be recognized immediately in any mixture of mushrooms.

Paxillus involuins grows in a variety of woods, is especially prolific under birch trees, but also under isolated trees in lanes and parkland from valleys right up to high mountain slopes. This mushroom used to be considered edible, was regularly cropped and used in cooking. However, it has now been shown that Paxillus involutus is in fact poisonous. Particularly when eaten repeatedly it leads to the formation of antidotes in the human body. These have an adverse effect on the body in the long run and can cause allergies and the wastage of red blood cells.