48 



JOUBNAL OF HORTIOULTUEE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



[ July 17, 187S. 



to 2 feet long, with rich shining green foliage as large as that 

 of the Laurel. — W. McP., Ashhourne , Derbyshire. 



PLANTING-OUT FORCED STEAWBEKRIES FOR 

 A MAIN CROP. 



FoK the last nine years we have planted out our forced Straw- 

 berry plants in a systematic way, for a main crop of fruit, and 

 have never in one instance failed in securing a most abundant 

 crop. I am aware it is a common practice to plant-out forced 

 plants as a kind of auxiliary crop, most dependance being 

 placed upon the permanent plantations ; but where Straw- 

 berries are forced in any quantity I would advise the planting 

 of them out in a regirlar way for a supply of fruit for preserv- 

 ing and other purposes. Such plants bear excessively the first 

 year, and never fail. The second year they wUl bear a heavy 

 ■crop again, but after this they should be trenched down. Be- 

 sides, the plants are soon enough if they are planted out in 

 August. We follow our second early Potatoes with the Straw- 

 berries, and have been as late as September in finishing, but 

 the last-planted plants bore j ust as well as the first in the follow- 

 ing season. 



Our practice is to put the plants out in a sheltered corner as 

 they have done bearing: if the pots are wanted, the plants are 

 turned out and the balls packed closely together, filUng up the 

 crevices with a Uttle fine soil, and in this way they are left till 

 they can be planted out, not forgetting, in the meantime, to 

 water them abundantly. If the ground has been manured 

 heavily for the Potatoes, it is just dug over and the Straw- 

 berries planted at the same time, 18 inches apart between the 

 plants, and "2 feet between the rows. This is ample, for forced 

 plants do not make such growth as permanent ones : neither 

 do they root deeply, for which reason they are somewhat apt 

 to suffer from drought ; but a thick mulching of half-rotted 

 stable litter put on early in spring prevents any risk of this 

 kind, and works little less than a miracle in swelliog-off the 

 ■fruit and promoting the general health of the plants. We 

 have often gathered more than 1 cwt. of Black Prince from a 

 piece of ground of less than half the extent that permanent 

 plants would require to produce the same, for we plant this 

 variety (forced plants) 1 foot apart between the plants, and 

 18 inches between the rows. Last year we began planting 

 about the middle of August, and the plants are now perfectly 

 smothered with bloom, and the forced plants of 1871 are but 

 little behind them. 



I ought to state that when the plants are put out, the old 

 leaves which have been developed in the forcing-house should 

 be shorn clean off, and the balls should be buried as deeply as 

 is possible without burying the crowns altogether. Plants of 

 which the surface-roots are left exposed to the air never do so 

 •well. — J. Simpson (in The Gardener.) 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 



It has lately become the fashion to visit the sins and delin- 

 quencies of the EoYiL HoRTicuLxnEAL Society on the head of 

 the Superintendent of Shows. Because a good deal went 

 wrong, and some people were dissatisfied, at Bath, it has aU 

 been laid to the charge of the Superintendent. Now, although 

 we do not regard the Superintendent as infallible, we do say 

 that, so far as regards the breaksdown at the Bath Show, he 

 is no more to be held responsible for them than Tenterden 

 steeple is for the present condition of the Goodwin Sands. 

 Has it ever occurred to the minds of fault-finders what it is 

 to have the responsibility of such a show, with all its conflict- 

 ing interests and ramifications, at a time when the Society was 

 all " sixes and sevens," with an inexperienced Council and 

 Secretary, and with limited powers placed in the hands of the 

 Superintendent ? It is easy to find fault when the facts are 

 unknown. Mr. Eyles can no more make bricks without straw 

 than other men can ; and when those who enter collections of 

 plants for exhibition do not send them, nor give timely in- 

 timation of their intention not to send them, it cannot be 

 wondered at that the "big tent" should look thin, and that 

 the grouping and disposition of the plants which had been 

 decided upon days before should have to be hastily recon- 

 sidered at the eleventh hour, when there are fifty other things 

 to be attended to. If exhibitors make application on Monday 

 morning to be permitted to alter theu' entries, and if they 

 crowd the office and harass the clerks for their cards all the 

 forenoon, when the judging ought to have commenced, it is 



hard that any individual person should be made responsible 

 for the shortcomings consequent upon such conduct. 



Until the Council take the matter in hand, and lay down 

 irrevocable rules which all must adhere to, and the whole 

 thing is properly organised under their authority, we fail to 

 see how any person can be expected to be held resijonsible for 

 the failures which have taken place. Hitherto there has been 

 no dii'ect action of the Council, and the Superintendent has 

 not had a staff given him adequate for carrying out such an 

 undertaking successfully. There has been far too much cast 

 upon his shoulders, and we trust that in future, if the shows 

 are to pass ofl successfully, a properly-organised staft' distri- 

 buted over the various departments, and under the direction 

 of a competent head, will be appointed. It has always been a 

 marvel to us how any single individual could possibly direct 

 the varied details of such an exhibition. 



The post of Assistant Secretaky to the Royal Hor- 



TicnLTUEAL SOCIETY, vacaut by the resignation of Mr. Richards, 

 is succeeded to by J. S. Davenport, Esq., who has been elected 

 out of 395 candidates. 



A VERY handsome plant for a single specimen on a 



lawn is Ferula tingitana, its large, deeply-cut, feathery-look- 

 ing foliage and large yellow flowers producing a fine effect in 

 such a situation. 



Mr. W. CiEBUTHEES has just issued his official report 



for 1872, of The Department of Botany in the British 

 Museum. The additions tu the herbarium during the year are 

 spoken of as large and important, rendering more and more 

 pressing the necessity of increasing accommodation for the 

 arranged herbaria. The species included under several of the 

 natural orders, both in the general and in the British her- 

 barium, have been entiiely re-arranged during the year; and 

 much use has been made of the herbarium by botanists pre- 

 paring monographs for a number of different publications. 

 Numerous interesting additions have also been made to the 

 structural series, both in the fruit, the fossil, and the general 

 collection. — (Nature.) 



WORK FOE THE WEEK. 



KITCHEN GABDEN. 



At the time of planting Celery, Endive, or any other culin.ary 

 vegetable, they should by no means be deprived of any portion 

 of their leaves. This practice is still continued by some per- 

 sons, but it is evidently a bad one, aud may be proved as such 

 by trying both methods. In planting, great care should be taken 

 to press the soil close to the roots. Plant out some of last 

 month's sown Cahhaije for use in the autumn as Coleworts; 

 make a sowing about the end of the week for the first main 

 spring crop. The Cnpn'ciim plants should be kept watered 

 dm-iug dry weather ; if a little litter be laid round them they 

 will not require water so often. There is a frequent complaint 

 of their not fruiting sufficiently early to ripen ; I know not how 

 it can be expected when the plants receive no attention what- 

 ever, aud consequently do not begin to grow till the autumnal 

 rains set in. Thin the late-sown crops of Carrots; loosen the 

 earth between them where they have been sown in drills. The 

 earliest-planted Celery will now require to be gone over and 

 be divested of the small lower leaves and side shoots. The 

 trenches should afterwards be thoroughly soaked with water 

 previous to the plants being earthed-up, which should be done 

 the following day as soon as they are quite dry. As the Cu- 

 cumber plants on the ridges spread, cover the soil with short 

 grass; this will keep the earth moist and the fruit clean. Trans- 

 plant a few more Endives, and make another sowing; a few 

 days' difference in transplanting at this season sometimes 

 proves of great advantage. A last sowi;jg of Dwarf Kidney 

 Beans should now be made in a sheltered situation ; the drills 

 should be watered if the soil is very dry. Herbs for drying or 

 distilling should be cut before the flowers expand, as they after- 

 wards lose those qualities for which they are most valued. 

 Sorrel should be cut down if required for use in the autumn. 



FRUIT GARDEN. 



Proceed with the thinning of Peach-tree shoots where they 

 are too thick, taking off the laterals, and exposing to the action 

 of sun and air all the wood you mean to retain for next season. 

 On old trees of Cherries and Plums lay-in a succession of young 

 wood in all parts of the tree, which, being kept close to the wall, 

 will in a few years furuish finer fruit, aud produce more plenti- 

 fully than old unsightly siJurs will do. Shorten the side shoots 

 of Gooseberries aud Currants, if this has not been already done ; 

 on plants previously shortened, the points of the leading shoots 

 may now be taken off with advantage. Keep the late sorts of 

 Strawberries, such as the Elton, w'ell mulched with grass or 

 straw to keep the fruit clean. Look after the runners of Keens' 

 SeedUng and other early sorts. Where time and labour are not 



