Augnst 12, 1869. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



115 



STRAWBERRY CULTURE— WATER SUPPLY. 



HE stem ungenial weather of the past spring, 

 and the very late time of tlie year at which 

 real summer weather commenced, so retarded 

 vegetation and injured the fruit crop as to 

 maUe the present season a singularly marked 

 one. 



The past and present seasons would, if it 

 were necessary, prove incontestably the ad- 

 vantages of high cultui'e for the Strawberry, 

 not only as regards the production of fine 

 fruit, but also in enabling the plants themselves, by their 

 robust constitution, to pass through such summers as that 

 of last year with undiminished vigour. Wherever a full 

 crop of Strawberries has been obtained this year, it is ! 

 certain that proper means must have been diligently ' 

 applied ; for. after all, in the hands of a practical and 

 energetic man, the production of Strawberries is simply 

 a question of ways and means. In respect to success, there 

 can be no fair comparison between A, who has heaps of 

 rich manure, water in abundance at a convenient distance, 

 above all, plenty of assistants to cari-y out his plans, and 

 B, who is equal or even superior to A in skill and energy, 

 but who, having but a scanty supply of those materials so 

 necessary to success and so lavishly supplied to A, knows 

 full well how futile and unavailing his efibrts -n-ill be to 

 produce any approach to a first-class crop. I would strongly 

 urge upon all those who may be contemplating the forma- 

 tion or improvement of a garden, to keep in view an abun- 

 dant supply of water. The soil, sitnation, and aspect are, 

 it is true, important considerations, but however favourable 

 they may be, if there is a deficient supply of water the 

 crops must at times suffer. My own idea of a good water 

 provision is one or more cisterns open at top, so that the 

 water may be thoroughly soft and of the same temperature 

 as that in which the crops are growing : and these cisterns 

 should be sufficiently elevated to force the water through 

 pipes and a connecting hose to any part of the garden. 

 This method may appear at the first sight rather expen- 

 sive, but if the saving of time and labour be taken into 

 consideration it will be found to fully counterbalance, if 

 not to exceed, the cost of an apparatus so thoroughly 

 efficient. 



Not very long ago I visited a garden in which the im- 

 portance of this mode of distributing water appeared to be 

 fully recognised; almost every glass house had its own 

 elevated ciatem with pipes attached conveying the water 

 into the houses, in whicli, when necessary, other cisterns 

 were placed. Watering at such a place must be a very 

 different affair from what it is at others where the water 

 has to be taken from a distance in water-pots. 



I fear the Strawberry crop of the present season has. 

 generally speaking, been poor. A friend, whose pleasant 

 articles frequently appear in these pages, once observed to 

 me that a really good gardener ought to be able in most 

 instances to combat and to overcome the bad etlects of an 

 ungenial season. Although tliere is much truth in this 

 remark, yet, as I have before observed, it is just a question 



No. 437.— Vol. XTII., New Seiuzs. 



of ways and means ; for instance, where do we find a fair 

 crop of Strawberries this summer ? On those sturdy one 

 or two-year-old plants whose unchecked vigom- has been 

 fully sustained by a plentiful application of rich stimulants ; 

 and it is amongst old plantations where the plants have 

 become weakened in constitution by the combined effects 

 of a parched soil, very little manure, and. in fact, a general 

 starvation system that the principal failures have occurred. 



The treatment of Strawberries during certain periods of 

 their culture requires great promptitude and care : imme- 

 diately after the crop of fruit is gathered the alleys should be 

 cleared, and as much rich fat manure forked in as possible. 

 Then, wlien the plants put forth their new roots into the 

 rich food awaiting them, what is the result ? Strong 

 healthy foliage, plump well-developed crowns, in the hardier 

 kinds an almost evergreen habit, and fine fruit in abun- 

 dance in the following season. But if, after the crop is all 

 gathered, the plantations are permitted to remain untouched 

 for a month or more, and then, just as the fresh young 

 roots are trying to force their way through the trampled 

 and starved soil, the manure is forked in, the fork tearing 

 up the young roots, and thus seriously checking the young 

 growth at the very time it ought to be receiving every 

 encouragement — in such a case failures are not to be 

 wondered at ; for by the time the plants have fully recovered 

 from the effects of the iU treatment and are again fairly 

 growing, the heat of summer is passing away, cold au- 

 tumnal nights are setting in, the earth heat is diminishing 

 fast, and consequently the thin weak tissue of the foliage 

 succumbs to the inclemency of winter, and towards spring 

 the plants become so denuded as to be hardly visible. 



Tn forming new Strawberry beds, attention should bo 

 given to planting suitable kinds on various aspects, so as 

 to obtain fruit early, also to have crops forming a succes- 

 sion to each other for as long a time as possible. Thus, for 

 the earliest pickings such poor kinds as Black Prince and 

 Keens' Seedling become really valuable when planted on 

 a warm sheltered border facing the south or south-west. 

 Princess Alice Maude, too, is a useful kind, following the 

 others well, and is slightly earlier than Marguerite. With 

 the ripe fruit of Marguerite the season for good Strawberries 

 may be said to commence in earnest : for the first three, 

 although very useful to the gardener for an early supply, 

 would probably be esteemed worthless by those who care for 

 nothing but large high-flavoured fruit;. The general crop 

 growing in any of the more exposed parts of the garden 

 may be very usefully supplemented by a bed growing 

 under the shade of standard fruit trees. For the last few 

 days I have been supplying two dishes of TroUope's Vic- 

 toria daily from a bed overshadowed by the branches of 

 an old Pear tree, and I have thus been enabled to satis- 

 factorily prolong the season of this favourite fruit. 



In an article on this subject published last summer, I 

 stated that a little rich soO. stirred in with a trowel was 

 all that was necessary to give the young plants or the 

 runners a start, but last season caused an alteration in 

 my plans in this respect. This year every young plant 

 has had a small pot ; the pots are filled with very rich 

 cool soil, and are plunged to the rim, and in each pot one 



Ko.ueo.— Voi.SLlI., Old Series. 



