Oetolier 21, 1875. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOKTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



359 



•were grown in tlio Strawberry gardens of Mr. Joseph Lamb, 

 Burton Joyce, near Nottingham, the same person who was 

 awarded the two first and one second prize at the great exhi- 

 bition held in the Arboretum during the summer.— S. P. 



THE OLEANDEK. 



When laden with their noble tresses of beautiful rose-coloured 

 flowers these plants are ever to be admired ; but under their 

 beauty danger lurks, for the plant contains one of the most 

 virulent of poisons. This applies more particularly to Nerium 

 Oleander, although the double-blossomed sppcies, N. oJorum 

 plenum, so common in the conservatories of England and on 

 the terraces of continental gardens, is by no means innocuous. 

 It is well, therefore, that in appreciating the undoubted beauty 

 of this family of plants that we should be cognisant also of 

 their poisonous nature. They are plants to be enjoyed for 

 their beauty, but must not be thoughtlessly played with. 



In proof of the poison- 

 ous nature of the family, 

 it is on record that some 

 soldiers during the Penin- 

 sular War collected wood 

 of the Oleander and of 

 it made skewers for their 

 meat, and the result was 

 that of twelve who par- 

 took of the meat seven 

 died, and the remainder 

 Buffered acutely. It is 

 further recorded that in 

 order to facilitate the re- 

 moval of the bark Dr. 

 Eosburgh put some young 

 shoots into a fishpond, 

 and found the poison so 

 extreme as to kill nearly 

 all the fish. It is also 

 known that when the trees 

 are growing in full lux- 

 uriance in their native 

 habitats that there is 

 danger even in sleeping 

 beneath their shade, on 

 account of their noxious 

 exhalations. Thus the 

 plant is treacherous in its 

 nature, for its beauty is 

 but a garb to hide its 

 hidden powers of evil. 

 There is, however, some 

 consolation in the fact 

 that the poisonous ntt ire 

 of the plant is not so 

 great when grown under 

 artificial cultivation as 

 ■when flourishing in its 

 natural wild luxuriance. 



autumn, will often flower the year following, and large planla 

 are produced in a less time by planting-out than can be pro- 

 duced by pot culture. — J. 



Fig. 76. — The oleandeb. 



Therefore with ordinary care Neriums may be cultivated for 

 the beauty of their blossoms ; but no child should be permitted 

 to playfully eat its flowers, nor gardener thoughtlessly make a 

 toothpick of its shoots. 



The double varieties of Nerium are exceedingly ornamental 

 conservatory plants, and their culture is extremely simple. 

 Young shoots will readily strike at any period in brisk heat, 

 and older wood will emit roots in profusion if the shoots are 

 inserted in phials of water. In growing the plants to a flower- 

 ing state too much water cannot be given to the roots, and 

 scarcely too much heat and sun can be afforded to the foliage. 

 The points to aim at are an early season of growth in a light 

 aad well-heated structure, a dry atmosphere to ripen the wood, 

 and a rest in winter by withholding water. The shoots that 

 are made one season flower the next, and the plants if properly 

 prepared will force well. They may after blooming be cut 

 down and shaken out, as is practised with Pelargoniums, which 

 will keep them dwarf ; they will then have a season of growth, 

 and wUl flower grandly the season following. Large plants 

 Vfill, however, flower every year on the preceding year's shoots, 

 but they attain a straggling habit if not pruned occasionally. 



Cuttings if struck in the spring, planted out in a hot place 

 to make their growth in the summer, and potted during the 



STRAWBERET CULTURE. 



The few lines inserted on page 275 of "our Journal" 

 sufficiently explained my motive, which certainly was not to 

 enter into any controversy with Mr. Lovel, whose name had 

 never attracted my observation till August 20ih, and I should 

 not reply thereto it his subsequent communication inserted 

 on page 322 had not a tendency to mislead. I do not go two 

 or three years without tasting fruit, but I take about half a 

 score from each plant the first year, and they are as fine as 

 any I obtain ; that is all the plants are allowed to bear. I 

 take my runners from old plants reserved for the purpose 

 and in pans or pots, which I find is the only way to obtain 

 really good plants. I do not doubt what Dr. Eoden has stated, 



but he is one I believe of 

 the few who retain their 

 plants many years ; his 

 experience must always 

 carry great weight, and for 

 his contributions to " our 

 Journal " all Strawberry- 

 growers are indebted ; but 

 the statement made by 

 your correspondent of 

 what Dr. Koden has done 

 is not what we differ on. 



I can quite comprehend 

 how it is possible to grow 

 1 lb. of fruit per plant the 

 first season after plant- 

 ing. Your correspondent 

 should not have curtailed 

 the sentence, but added, 

 " on plants planted in 

 September, grown in very 

 light soil, without any ma- 

 nure added at the time 

 of planting, and twice 

 transplanted." Another 

 omission, I take it, occurs 

 after the following sen- 

 tence : — "From British 

 Queen, Dr. Hogg, Presi- 

 dent, and others I could 

 pull thirty Strawberries 

 to weigh 1 lb." Would he 

 add from one-year plants 

 planted last September 

 and without manure ? All 

 Strawberry-growers know 

 that British Queen and 

 all the race require strong 

 ferruginous soil and well 

 manured to bring them 



to perfection, and at page 182 your correspondent alludes to 

 President as one of the kinds that do not fruit well the first 

 year. 



I can assure your correspondent that I have very carefully 

 read his communication at page 242, and quote therefrom : — 

 " I strike my runners in each alternate row of first-year's 

 plants, gathering the fruit from every other row." If this does 

 not mean that every other row is set aside to take runners from 

 what can it mean ? But his explanation makes his practice, 

 in my opinion, far worse, for he states that he takes from every 

 plant four to six runners and 1 lb. of fruit too, thus weakening 

 his plants so much in their first year's growth as to render 

 them worthless, for to take five plants from every 15 inches 

 longitudinally must remove nearly all the soil on one side of 

 the plant. The point is not whether 1 lb. of fruit per plant 

 can be produced the first year after planting — I know that can 

 be done, but before I believe it can be done under the circum- 

 stances stated by your correspondent I must have the authority 

 of such men as " D., Deal," " C. P. P.," Rev. W. F.Radclyffe, 

 and Mr. Douglas, or men of that stamp, to whose opinion one 

 can defer, and on whose judgment one can rely. 



As an amateur of more than twenty years' experience, who 

 has studied and practically tested the opinions of such as I 



