THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



223 



early as Hansell, and the berries do 

 not taste as good as Cuthbert. But 

 they are large and firm, and most peo- 

 ple would smack lips over them. The 

 plant seems hardy also, but I am eager 

 to hear from some Canadian who has 

 tested it further. 



Shafer's Colossal (call it ''Shaffer'') 

 has persistently worked its way to the 

 position of a standard variety, and I 

 predict it will stay there. I know I 

 have no room for " Philadelphia," or 

 any of the Philadelphia class, while I 

 have Shaffer, for the berries are large, 

 look as well, taste better, and the bush 

 grows and bears I believe some fifty 

 per cent. more. I think a plantation 

 of Shaffer will, with ordinary treatment, 

 yield double the crop of even the pro- 

 ductive Cuthbert, and the plants seem 

 of the very hardiest. 



Franconia does not succeed well on 

 my sandy loam, but I have seen it 

 growing on the grounds of our worthy 

 Reeve, Jno. Chisholm, Esq., yielding 

 as large a crop as the best Philadelphia 

 or Shaffer would with ordinary treat- 

 ment. Mr. Chisholm gives his Fran- 

 conia no winter protection, but his 

 garden is well protected by houses, 

 trees and high board fences. His soil 

 is clay, and he keeps it full of manure. 



Caroline still impresses me as of 

 great value for family use, on account 

 of its great productiveness, beauty and 

 hardiness. The berries are of the color 

 of Brinkle's Orange, and of good size, 

 and I think it comes next to Shaffer in 

 productiveness. Unfortunately the 

 plants are not so healthy, suffering 

 rather more from ''curl leaf" than any 

 other variety I have seen. 



Hancocas appears to me just like 

 Hansell, only not so good, smaller and 

 softer. 



Goklen Queen has borne me some 

 very fine fruit, enough to judge of the 

 appearance and taste of the berry. It 

 seems to me about the shape, size, and 



color of Brinkle's Orange, but the 

 quality is not so good, tasting very like 

 its parent Cuthbert. It seems fully as 

 firm as Cuthbert, and the foliage is 

 very like that noble variety also, but 

 the cane is greener in color. It seems 

 a grand grower, and is altogether very 

 promising. 



Black Caps I must leave for a future 

 communication. 



AN ACRE OF MUSHROOMS. 

 On a vacant plot of building land in 

 the immediate neighborhood of the 

 Harrow road, and within four miles of 

 Charing Cross, is produced, annually, 

 what is probably the most valuable 

 crop grown in the open air and without 

 the aid of glass, on any one acre of 

 English soil. The space occupied is, 

 indeed, rather more than an acre, the 

 rent being just XI 2 a year, but the 

 space devoted to mushrooms and man- 

 ure is under an acre, and the uninitiated 

 will be astonished to learn that from 

 this small plot has been gathered in the 

 last 12 months about 12,000 pounds' 

 weight of mushrooms, all of which have 

 been sold at Co vent Garden at a price 

 varying according to the season, but 

 averaging 10^^. a pound for the whole 

 year. Now, the value of 12,000 pounds 

 at 20 cents per pound is just $2,400. 

 We have, therefore, the amazing cir- 

 cumstance that an acre of our metro- 

 politan area has produced a richer 

 garden crop than the coziest corner of 

 Kent, or the most favored nook on 

 Lord Sudeley's jam farm in Gloucester- 

 shire. For instance, a crop of 30 cwt 

 per acre of hops is so great as to be of 

 rare occurence. The average price ob- 

 tained for hops is now about $15 per 

 cwt. It is obvious, therefore, that the 

 sum obtained for the produce of our 

 London acre of mushrooms is more than 

 five times as great as what would be 

 obtained, in a particularly good year, 

 for a firet-rate crop of hops. The fol- 



