July 18, 1887. 1 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



37 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



JULY 18— ai, 18«7. 



Royal Uorticultuml Soricty's Bury Show 

 Suu'8 dfclluution 20'^ 43' N. [ closes. 



6 Sunday ai'tku Trinity. 



AvcrttKo Temperature 

 Dear Loadon. 



Rain in 



last 

 40 yearB. 



Day. 



71.0 

 73.2 

 72.9 



7:i.r. 

 7!i.:i 

 74.1 

 72.8 



NlKhl. 

 60.2 

 60.!! 

 6U.3 

 60.7 

 61.5 

 61.8 

 61.9 



Mean. 

 02.4 

 61.7 

 61.6 

 62.1 

 62.4 

 62.9 

 62.4 



Daya. 

 19 

 21 



22 

 18 

 2.S 

 20 

 14 



Son 



EiHeH. 



m. h. 

 6ai4 



6 4 



8 4 



9 4 

 lU 4 



12 4 



13 4 



Moon 

 Rises. 



Moon 



Sets. 



m. h. 

 6 at 8 



m. b. 



46a(R 

 14 9 



81 10 

 68 10 

 27 11 



m. h. 



47 al r, 

 r,() 6 



54 7 

 9 

 8 10 



17 11 

 after 



Moon's 

 Age. 



Clock 

 before 



Son. 



Days. 

 17 

 18 

 19 

 20 

 21 

 22 



c 



6 10 

 6 12 



Year. 



199 

 200 

 201 

 202 

 208 

 204 

 205 



From obfiervationH taken near London dnrin? the last forty years, the average day temperature of the week is 73..'j- ; and its night 

 temperature 50.9^ The greatest boat was 89 , on tbc 23rd, 1864 ; and the lowest cold S2~, on the 23rd, 1863. The greatest fall of rain was 

 1.37 inch. 



JUDGING GR.\PES. 



N one occasion I brought tliis 

 matter before the readers of 

 the " Florist and I'omologist," 

 with a view to an-iving at 

 some fixed principles to guide 

 judges when deciding on the 

 merits of Grapes, and I am induced to revive the subject 

 fcy the discussions I heard around the fiiiit-table at the 

 recent Exliibition at ISIanchcster ; discussions whicli made 

 it perfectly evident tliat no fruit-grower can tell before- 

 hand what are the points of excellence that are to be most 

 in his favour as an exliibitor of Grapes, unless he knows 

 who the judges are to be, and their peculiar ideas on the 

 subject. 



On the occasion referred to Jlr. Meredith exhibited the 

 largest bunches and berries of Hamburghs, but they were 

 inferior in point of colour to Mr. Dixon's, and the Judges 

 put them equal first. I, however, heard their judgment 

 called in question by those who considered that on the 

 ground of their superior colour I\Ir. Dixon's ought to have 

 stood alone in the first position. 



The whole subject of judging Grapes was thus brought 

 up, and it was perfectly e\-idcnt that opinions dill'ered from 

 each otlicr as far as the poles are asimder. 



Under these cii-cumstances is it not possible for the 

 Truit Committee of the Uoyal Horticidtunil Society to 

 flraw up and publish a set of rules for judging Grapes'.^ 

 Tliis would not only relieve judges of much unpleasant 

 controvcrsj-, but also enable exhibitors to select such 

 bunches as came nearest a recognised standard. 



Common sense seems to suggest, that as the primary 

 object in growing Grapes is that they may be eaten, the 

 palate should be the final court of appeal: yet. I believe, 

 it is seldom had recourse to, the generality of judges main- 

 taining that flavour and colour always go togetlier, than 

 wliicli there cannot be a greater mistal;e. Tlie finest 

 Hamburgli Grapes in flesh, size of berry, and flavour I 

 ever tasted were brown, wliile I have tasted the same 

 Grape jet black, yet sour. 



By way of suggestion, I would give to the liighcst flavour 

 S marks ; finest colour, 2 marks ; size of berry, J marks ; 

 size of bunch, 1 mark ; shape of bunch, 1 mark ; bloom, 

 1 mark. 



Thus 10 marks would constitute the liighcst relative ex- 

 cellence. These marks to bo modified so as to run parallel 

 with the merits of the points of each exhibition. 



It may be perfectly true that no set of rules can be 

 framed that will absolutely meet every case, yet some 

 approach to coiTCct ideas on the subject may be arrived 

 at ; and I have no doubt some of your correspondents will 

 contribute their views of the matter, and thus aid the 

 No. 32S.— Vol. XIII., New Semes. 



solution of what is at present a vexed question. — Wm. 

 Tiio.MsoN, The Gardens, DiMcith Park. 



NOTES ABOUT STRAWBERRIES. 



As this is the best time for purchasing Strawberry plants, 

 and as I have tried some of the most popular sorts during 

 the last tliree years, a few remarks on these may be useful 

 to some of j'our readers. 



I have gro^vn in that time Black Piince, Keens' Seed- 

 ling, Hooper's Seedling, sent instead of Sir Harry (I 

 would remark here that it is of the utmost importance for 

 those who send out new plants to be verj' careful that no 

 spurious varieties are mixed with them, or a different sort 

 altogether sent, as I did not obtain a single plant of Sir 

 Harry amongst them), Rivcrs's EUza, Due de Malakofl", 

 Proliiio Hautbois. President, Su- Joseph Paxton, Eclipse, 

 l^a Constante, Sir Charles Napier, British Queen, and Dr. 

 Hogg. I stiU gi-ow Black Piince for very early forcing, 

 and it is succeeded by Keens' Seedling. 



I grow my plants in three different ways — namely, in 

 pots for forcing, in ground vineries for succession, and in 

 the open borders. 



For early forcing it is as weU to have the Black Prince 

 layered in Jime, followed by Keens' Seedling. Tlie later 

 sorts I layer some time before the middle of July, or even 

 further on in the season ; my system is to layer the runners 

 in (id-sized pots, using a mixture of good loam and rotted 

 dung, and they may be severed fi-om the parent plant in 

 three weeks ; but tliis is best ascertained by turning a 

 few of them out of tlie pots, and if the roots are ru nnin g 

 do^vn the sides of the pots the runners may be removed 

 from the plants, and regularly watered two or three times 

 a-day at first. As soon as the pots are wcU filled -with 

 roots the plants must be shifted into the fruiting pots, using 

 five-inch pots for the very early sorts, and six-inch pots 

 for the later sorts. 



To those, however, who have no accommodation for 

 Strawberries in pots, and yet would Like to have a few fruit 

 three weeks earlier than they can be had from the open 

 borders, I would recommend the ground vineries : tliese arc 

 mtliin the reach of people of moderate means, and they are 

 excellent for growing Strawberries. I plant two rows in a 

 ground vinery 3A feet wide at the base and jn inches deep 

 in the centre. A ground vinery of the above dimensions 

 glazed and painted, the glass 21-oz. to the foot, costs about 

 i"j Ids. ; it wiU be 28 feet long, and there is no other ex- 

 pense entailed, except a row of bricks laid end to end for 

 the base of the vinery to rest upon, and one brick to be 

 reser\-ed for each seven-feet lengtli \they are made in seven- 

 feet lengths I. These bricks are for the purpose of tilting 

 it up in veiy warm weather, as witliout this precaution 

 the foliage is very apt to be drawn up weakly, a state of 

 matters which does not evidence the best cultivation. 



I need not detail the out-of-door cultivation, except tliat 

 the ground, where it admits of it, ought to be deeply 

 trenched, and a liberal dressing of good manm-e dug in, as, 

 if tlie roots do not penetrate into tlie ground. Uiey do not 

 withstand the drouglit, and there are very few private 



Ho. 981.-V0L. SSSVm., Old Sebies. 



