83 



JOURNAL OF HOBTIOULTUEE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ January 81, 1867. 



I have beard tbat a largo warehouse in Manchester was very 

 nearly being burnt down from a quantity of cotton being laid 

 against the wall of a room, on tbe other side of which was a fire 

 kept burning night and day. My own house was in danger of 

 being burnt, and, in fact, was on fire from this cause — accu- 

 mulated h;at. 



In consequenoo of the sickness of one of my children a good 

 fire was kept up in a bedroom night and day for some weeks ; 

 the fireplace was a rather low one, and the hearthstone, a large 

 and thick stone, was laid upon the beams which carried the 

 floor ; of course the bottom side of these beams was covered 

 by the ceiling of the room below. No fire touched the hearth- 

 stone, the bottom of the fire was n foot above it, yet, on a 

 burning emell being perceived, search was made, and tbe wood 

 was found on fire, and only air was wanted to produce flame. 



My attention was first directed to this subject more than 

 twenty years since in the following manner : — Having a flue 

 running through a greenhouse I thought to make a hotbed for 

 striking cuttings over it ; so I built a wall in front of it some 

 18 inches or 2 feet higher than the flue, and laid some pieces 

 of wood across, which were covered with slates, on which was 

 placed a bed of leaves. I bad as nice a hotbed as could be 

 desired, and all went on well till one morning I found the place 

 on fire, and all the plants killed. The thick bed of leaves pre- 

 vented the escape of heat in anything like the proportion in 

 ■which it was given out by the hot flue : hence the accident. 



In warming an old house by flues it is almost impossible for 

 the architect to know the position of every piece of wood ; 

 and even in a new house hot water would be much safer. 

 There is an old saying, that experience is of no value till it is 

 paid for, but a fire in one's dwelling-house is too great a price 

 to pay for knowledge, so I hope these hints will be useful. — 

 J. B. Peabson, ChilweU. 



WHAT IS A GOOD CROP OF STRAWBERRIES '.' 

 Mat I suggest ,in answer to the above question as a very 

 important item in the consideration of the particular aspect of 

 Strawberry culture, discussed of late in the pages of the Jour- 

 nal? Could '■ J. T.," or others, state definitely that in such a 

 year, from so many square yards of land, there were gathered so 

 many pounds weight of Wonderful, and from some other num- 

 ber of square yards in the same field, so many pounds of Frog- 

 more Late Pine, the question of the relative cropping of these 

 two varieties would be reduced to the best of all tests — an 

 arithmetical calculation. Given a certain soil, season, situa- 

 tion, and mode of jilanting we should have determined posi- 

 tively for us which of these two sorts excelled the other in 

 cropping, and to what extent. Presuming the time and course 

 of ripening of the two were identical, the comparative value of, 

 perhaps, a better crop in one to a superior flavour in the other, 

 ■woold remain to be estimated, and this done, we should have 

 ascertained a fact to be remembered so long as Frogmore Late 

 Pine or Wonderful was worthy of a place iu our catalogues. 

 Had your correspondent Mr. John May, March 20th, 1866, only 

 told us the distance between tbe rows, and between the plants in 

 the rows, from which he gathered 96 lbs. of fruit, how viiluable 

 it would have been to have had such a standard to test our 

 results ! If Mr. May's 144 plants produce 96 lbs. and mine 

 only 45 lbs., I at once understand that my system of Straw- 

 berry culture wants reforming ; yet here we are, hundreds of 

 fragarians, congratulating ourselves and neighbours upon mag- 

 nificent crops, while one and all of us are jiositively ignorant 

 of what really constitutes a crop worth growing ! 



Fruit-farmers who have kept their books well could furoish 

 us with much in this direction, both of interest and value. 

 Till they do so, let some of us, who have time to spare, devote 

 an hour or two iu the coming season to weighing, as accurately 

 as the blackbirds will allow us, tbe crop produced on anj' con- 

 ■venieut plot completely under our own supervision. As an 

 estimate of what even in ordinary culture may be expected, I 

 may remark that a crop of 10,800 lbs. per acre, or nearly 2^ lbs. 

 per square yard, is certified to have been produced iu the State 

 of Maine, U.S. I believe it will be found that our best English 

 growers far exceed this ; hosv far, it is worth a little trouble to 

 ascertain. 



May 1 suggest, without seeming over-critical, that in the 

 question of produce generally there is a degree of looseness of 

 statement which our good friends the agriculturists have long 

 since ceased to tolerate ? When the cropping-merits of a new 

 Potato or otlier vegetable ai'e boasted of, let its admirer, when 



speaking of its wonderful crop, tell us also something of the 

 weight and scales he measured it by. I do not mean that any- 

 one wilfully mis-states, but when one of those earliest of all 

 Peas is fit for the table on some early day in May, it would add 

 to our interest to know the length of the row, tbe number of 

 the pods, and the gross weight of the whole — say even the 

 number of Peas. 



Seriously, let us apply this matter of weight and scales 

 to a question which was lately adverted to iu your columns. 

 If Mona's Pride be ten d.ays earlier than the Asbleaf, the 

 sooner we all have it in our gardens the better. I saw it 

 hinted the other day that the Ashleaf was considerably the 

 earlier of tbe two. Now, who is right ? Every one speaks out 

 tolerably strongly, but on what basis? What of the scales and 

 weights ? Let us settle this before another season passes over. 

 Given, fifty sets of each sort of like average size, planted on the 

 sarne day, let ten plants of each be lifted on the loth of May, 

 their produce weighed, and all tubers above 2 ozs. counted. 

 Kepeat this every five days, aud by the middle of June each 

 grower, for himself at least, may determine whether, in the 

 event of the spring of 1867 being an average one, he should or 

 should not continue to grow tbe variety in question ; aud some- 

 thing like this was just what tbe introducer of Mona's Pride 

 was morally bound to do for his constituents, aud to publish 

 the results, before presuming (if he did presume), to offer it at 

 5.S-. per peck.— S. E. T. 



CONFLICTING HORTICULTURAL 

 EXHIBITIONS. 



I AM glad to see that 31r. D. Thomson has directed attention 

 to the unfortunate circumstance that the days selected by the 

 Royal Horticultural Society for holding their large show next 

 summer are the same that had previously been fixed upon for 

 holding the great National Show at Manchester. 



It has long been known that such a show would be held at 

 Manchester in the summer of 1807 ; it has been noticed by 

 tbe press, both editorially and by correspondents, and it is im- 

 possible to believe that any of the great Societies could be ig- 

 norant of the fact of the show itself, or of the dales on which 

 it was to be held. 



As the Eoyal Horticultural Society, iu particular, have for 

 their object the advancement of horticulture, it is a pity that 

 they should so arrange their programme that the principal 

 show in London should come in direct collision with what is 

 likely to be the most extensive one held in the provinces. 

 Exhibitors may be anxious to contribute to tbe Manchester 

 National Show, and at the same time be desirous to let their 

 plants, itc, be seen at South Kensington as usual. This might 

 have been done if the Koyal Horticultural Society had fixed 

 upon a difl'erent date from that already occupied. 



Many visitors will be desirous of witnessing the National 

 Show as a first attempt at a long-continued exhibition in the 

 provinces, and at the same time they will not like to miss the 

 metropolitan show. Now, they must ultimately sacrifice the 

 one or the other. This uupleasant circumstance arises from 

 want of circumspection in those who arrange for the shows of 

 the Royal Horticultural Society. — T. Jones, MiixJiolme. 



[It is very unfortunate tbat the two great exhibitions of 

 the Eoyal Horticultural and tbe Manchester Society should he 

 held so near together, as the circumstance will, no doubt, 

 cause great inconvenience to many, and disappointment to 

 others who would be desirous of exhibiting at both places; 

 but we are sure that it was not with any idea of interfering 

 with the interests of any other society that the Hoyal Horti- 

 cultural felected the period they have done for holding their 

 show. For some years past the Council have chosen tbe week 

 between tbe Derby and Ascot races as that in which to hold 

 their great exhibition of the season ; aud as the Derby day this 

 year falls on tbe otb of June, had the Council adhered to their 

 usual date tbe exhibition would have opened on tbe 12th, at the 

 very time when tbe Manchester Show is open. We do not 

 know what may have induced the change, but we should ima- 

 gine tbat tbe Manchester Society having adopted tbe week of 

 the Royal Horticultural may have induced tbe Council to hold 

 their Show a week earlier to secure the time when London is 

 full, instead of waiting tiU after the close of the Manchester 

 Exhibition, when numerous visitors, whose attendance they 

 might reasonably have expected to secure, will have left. It 

 appears that the want of circumspection rests more with the 

 JIanchester Committee, who should first have ascertained 



