Previous letters pages can be found here.

Letters page from Volume 4, issue 16
August 29th – September 11th, 1956.

OUR

LETTER PAGE

A letter from John Scott, Lowestoft, Suffolk.
Dear Miss Blyton,
I should like to tell you how to grow miniature trees. First, cut an orange in half, then scrape out the fruit inside and then paint the outside fairly thickly with WATER GLASS. When this dries, fill it with ordinary garden soil, and plant two apple pips (or any other tree seeds). The bowl must be put in the dark until two green shoots appear; take out the weakest one, and put the bowl in the daylight. As the shoot grows, the roots will come out through the orange skin; these must be snipped off quite near the skin. When the tree is about 3ins. tall it will bear really tiny fruit, which is unfortunately uneatable. Yours sincerely,
John Scott.

(I really think I must try to grow one of these “miniature trees.” I have sent you my prize, John, for a most unusual letter.)

A letter from June Harris, Stroud, Glos.
Dear Enid Blyton,
Thank you very much for the lovely birthday cake you sent me. My sister and I could not open the box quick enough, and when we saw the lovely cake we thought we were dreaming. Lots of relatives and friends came to see it, and I was glad that you wrote to tell me I had won the cake, because shouldn’t have had a party if I hadn’t heard that it was coming. My father is going to take a photo of me cutting the cake.
Lots of love from
June Harris.

(Thank you, June – I do not always have such a nice thankyou letter from the winners of our monthly Birthday Cake. I did enjoy reading it.)

A letter from Robin Johnson, Stevenage, Herts.
Dear Enid Blyton,
In our street there is a boy who has got 51 of your books, and he lends them out to us others at a penny a time, and if we lose one we have to buy him a new book, but nobody has lost one yet. My cousin has got 62 books, all kinds, but he won’t lend them. I have got 13. Do you think my cousin Les has more books than anyone else, because he keeps on saying he has. (I have counted them myself.) Please send an answer. Yours faithfully,
Robin Johnson.

(Well, Robin, I will let our magazine readers answer! Perhaps those who have books of their own would like to count them and let me know (on a postcard) how many books they have of THEIR OWN.)

Anyone else read John’s letter and think ‘ooh I could try that’? I’d need to work out what water glass is (obviously not a tumbler to drink out of!) best I can find online is some sort of silicate mineral paint a bit like limewash? Suggestions on a (digital) postcard, please.

I had no idea Blyton sent out birthday cakes! (Or maybe I forgot?) I am imagining cakes in the shapes of her books with the dustacket images painted on but they were probably ordinary round cakes with some plain icing and maybe a few sugar flowers? Still, pretty exciting to win one!

I definitely have more books than Cousin Les, and I do lend them. I hope lots of children replied to Robin to put Les in his place!