4M 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTUBE AM> COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



t June 18, 1868. 



liohen is better than one vrith it, for althongh it may not 

 t^e more food from the growing tree than it docs from 

 the inert oak post or paling, it must take some, and where 

 the trees are growing on a high and dry sitnation, and the 

 atmosphere aflords the lichen less food, it most likely supplies 

 the deficiency from the juices of the tree. As a proof of this, 

 the oak paling placed on the dry ground is in a great measure 

 free from it. while the Apple trees there, which ought only to 

 be in their prime, are covered to an extent which cannot be 

 otherwise than injurious. 



Assuming, therefore, that this parasite is more indebted tor 

 its existence to the atmosphere than to the material on which 

 it is growing, let us see in what way we can account for its 

 greater prevalence during the last few years than formerly. 

 Here we enter the regions of conjecture, and in Kent I attribute 

 this resnlt to the greater amount of moisture we have had in 

 the summer months for the last three seasons than io previous 

 years (1S63 so far is an exceptioni ; but our pasture and 

 other crops hare snSered less from drought in the last three 

 summers than before that time, and probably the lichen 

 has taken advantage of that, to make the formidable pro- 

 gress which it has done in some parts of the country. In 

 Kent, however, I am not sure that it has increased so much as 

 elsewhere. It has always been prevalent with us, and gives 

 many of the orchards an unsightly appearance in winter, and 

 a stranger would hardly suppose that such large leaves and 

 good-sized fruit would follow in summer. The trees would, no 

 doubt, be better without such a burden as the lichen is ; but, 

 strange to say, they thrive well under it, and trees fourteen 

 or sixteen years old often become much infested with it, and 

 are double the size of others lately pointed out to me in Lan- 

 cashire that were free from the parasite : so much for climate. 

 The soil in Lancashire I wonld account the better of the two ; 

 but along with the more rapid growth of the tree we have also 

 that of the moss, and the prevention of the latter is one of 

 those problems not easy to solve. A partial remedy, however, 

 is often resorted to with considerable success, and its applica- 

 tion is easy and inexpensive. 



One of the cheapest of remedies for moulds and other low 

 types of vegetation has been brought into use here ; it is lime, 

 the employment of which is not so general as it ought to 

 be. Taking advantage of a mild moist morning in April, before 

 the buds were so far swelled as to be sure of their not sustain- 

 ing any injury, ladders were placed against the orchard trees, 

 and men arrayed in garments suitable for the work scattered 

 fresh-slaked lime amongst the twigs and branches ; and this 

 adhering to the moss in consequence of its being wet, killed or 

 very much injured a considerable part of it, and soon afterwards 

 it began to look brown and discoloured. Of course much of 

 the lime falls on the ground as well as on the tree ; but it will 

 do no harm there and may do good, and the tree is much 

 rdieved of its incumbrance. It is also advisable in some caees 

 to whitewash the bole and a portion of the branches ; but if 

 lime dustings be persevered in for a few years in succeesioD, 

 the moss will be kept down, and the trees have a better appear- 

 ance. Some orchards, however, are so liable to moss, that it 

 is difficult to keep it under ; and where the expenditure is 

 not certain to be returned by a commensurate increase of crop, 

 the trees are allowed to take their chance. Many tenants of 

 orchards spare nothing likely to improve their trees, and lime- 

 washing and lime-dusting are commonly practised in the spring. 



The remark has been generally made that moss has been 

 more prevalent during the last few years than it nSed to be, 

 trees being attacked at an earlier age. and elder ones to a greater 

 extent than was the case thirty or forty years ego. Possibly, 

 as already suggested, three or four successive seasons may have 

 been more than usually favotrrable to its growth, as we have 

 not in these snficred from the want of water. I'Ossibly these 

 may be followed by a cycle of dry summers, and if we then find 

 this lichen diminishing we may safely conclude that its greater 

 abuGdacce of late has been owing to the causes assigned. At 

 the same lime this affords no reason for neglecSng the means 

 of diminishing a covering which is not Only injurioDS to the 

 tree but unsightly, and the means pointed out is within the 

 reach of all. Although I have mentioned it only in its appli- 

 cation to fmit trees, there is no reason to donbt that forest 

 trees operated on in the same way would be equally benefited. 



In those districts where moss is troublesome it woold be 

 worth while to consult the returns of the rain during the past 

 year, and if the quantity falling in the summer months has 

 exceeded the average, the evil may be due to that cause. 



As it is well to try any means of destroying moss likely to 



prove efiectual, those whose fruit trees are mnch infected, and 

 who may object to lime as being unpleasant to handle, may 

 perhaps obtain good results by syringing with salt water in 

 winter, taking care not to use it too strong, and not to apply it 

 so freely as to iujure the under crop if there is any. As an 

 experiment I have tried this and recommend it to others, but 

 I am not quite certain whether its utility in abating one evil 

 is not counterbalanced by its injury to the land : while in the 

 ease sf lime, which is used on scores of acres of orchards every 

 year, its only objection is the unpleasantness of dusting it over 

 the trees, and this is not so serious a matter if the time be 

 judiciously chosen and the operator take his position to wind- 

 ward. He will, however, have to be above the branches, as 

 the hme cannot well be thrown upwards ; but a little practice 

 will enable him to perform the work with less annoyance to 

 himself than he expects at the beginning, and the trees will be 

 grateful for the incumbrance removed from them. — J. Eobsos. 



THE PERFECTION' OF TYPE IX 

 STRAWBERRIES. 

 When Mr. De Jonghe wrote his excellent article on the 

 above subject (if I recollect right, in the columns of your con- 

 temporary, the Gardeners' Chronichi, I Uttle thought that in 

 three or four years I should be found following in the same 

 direction. 



It is now pretty generally known that for some time past I 



I have devoted a considerable portion of my leisure hours to the 



I cultivation of fruits, and of the Strawberry more particularly ; 



1 and latterly I have devoted my time in pastures new — to the 



I raising of seedlings, which accounts for my long silence and 



apparent abandonment of fragarian pursuits. My last com- 



I munication to your valuable Journal was in commendation of 



' La Constante, which sort appeared to me to have been unduly 



attacked at that time ; and it was this great Strawberry, 



doubtless, which formed in Mr. De Jonghe's mind his heau 



id^'al of perfection, when he wrote the article I have above 



■ alluded to. 



It will be said by some who read this communication, " What 

 do we want of so many kinds of Strawberry ? There are Straw- 

 berries enough already to satisfy any reasonable person." 

 This is quite true, and, donbtless, a great deal of trash may 

 be thrown on the public in the way of seedlings, everybody 

 thinking his own pet the best production. But what if a 

 .Strawberry as handsome or handsomer than La Constante, 

 with perfection of form, colour, and flavour, and all the other 

 I requisites of fertility and hardihood can be produced so as to 

 ripen some fortnight or so before that variety ? I would fain 

 believe, then, that I have accomplished that object ; and having 

 as far as I can judge from my point of view done so, I think it 

 ; my duty not to hide my light under a bushel, but to tell my 

 I brother fragarians what I iiave achieved, how the matter came 

 I to pass, and what induced me to try my hand at this interest- 

 ' ing and exciting subject. 



! I may say, then, that having cultivated first and last some 

 I three or four hundred varieties of the Strawberry, I am pretty 

 I well acquainted with ti;e merits and characteristics of all the 

 j known leadiifg sorts. Amongst many kinds which have from 

 I time to time been sect to me from various parts of the world 

 ! to test, I received some five or six years ago an unnamed con- 

 tinental variety, which to this time has not received any 

 further attention that I am aware of. I was struck by the 

 beauty of the plant; but, alas I two or three years in suc- 

 cession the plant grew and multiplied, but only about one in a 

 dozen plants bloomed, and that sparingly. At length I ob- 

 tained one very beautiful berry, and I thought to myself, " If I 

 could only render this sort fertile, I would not wish a finer or 

 better Strawberry." but I got tired of planting year after year 

 to no purpose. I accordingly sowed the seed of that same 

 fruit in the autumn of Isfis! The seedlings, about fifty in 

 number, were pricked out from the seedling bed in the nest 

 spring. In the following autumn the plants were rernoved to 

 their fruiting bed, and I was both pleased and astonished to 

 find that with only two or three exceptions all these seedlings 

 were in due time fertile. ''."'. . 



Four or five cf them^T^bf'sncli merit when they fruited 

 la?t Tear that I at once'Balne^ them, and this yetr (having 

 multiplied each sort eg mncb as I possibly could), my antici- 

 pations have been more than realised. The remainder cf the 

 seedlings are still in the oririnal bed, and, doubtless, many of 

 them are also valuable ; but the first five I dropped upon are so 



