Notes and Gleanings. 105 



The Lady of the Lake Strawberry. — On the 25th of June, we paid a 

 visit of an hour to the grounds of Messrs. Scott of Brighton, to examine their 

 crop of the Lady of the Lake, which was described and figured in "The Journal 

 of Horticulture " for August, 1868. It is deficient in flavor, and rather soft; 

 but in productiveness it probably surpasses any other, unless it is the Wilson ; 

 and on Messrs. Scott's grounds it succeeds even better than that variety, hav- 

 ing produced at. the rate of six thousand and four hundred quarts per acre. It 

 was originated by the father of the Messrs, Scott, who also raised the Brighton 

 Pine. We saw also another seedling, which, however, is not thought equal in 

 value to their named varieties ; but, bearing a perfect flower, it was used for fer- 

 tilizing the Lady of the Lake, which is pistillate. A row of the old Mulberry, 

 seldom seen now, was interesting as one of the parents of Hovey's Seedling. 

 Messrs. Scott have twelve acres in strawberries, and, at the time of our visit, 

 were picking twelve hundred quarts per day. 



The RoMEYN Strawberry. — This variety is universally admitted to be 

 very similar to Triomphe de Gand ; and, for our part, we believe them to be ab- 

 solutely identical. But, even admitting that some slight shade of difference can 

 be found, they are still practically identical ; by which we mean that they are so 

 much alike, that he who grows one can have no need for the other. And this 

 leads us to remark, that, for a fruit to be worthy of general introduction, it is not 

 enough that it should be good and desirable in itself; it must be distinct. What 

 possible profit could it be to the public (however it might be to the grower) to 

 have a new fruit introduced, which was merely a reproduction from seed of an 

 old variety, no matter how good, whether Triomphe de Gand Strawberry or even 

 the Bartlett Pear ? The public would obtain nothing whic!i it did not possess be- 

 fore. Few people have the patience, and we may say the courage, of Col. Wilder, 

 who, after raising seedlings for twenty years, threw them all away, because there 

 was not one of which he could say that it was decidedly superior to any kind 

 known ; and then waited, until, on the introduction of La Constante, his practised 

 eye detected new properties, especially fine form, which he thought might be 

 combined with those of the Hovey so as to produce a superior variety. Encour- 

 aged by the possession of these new elements to try again, he has, after the lapse 

 of thirty years from the initiation of his experiments, found his sagacity justified 

 and his patience rewarded by the production of the best of all strawberries, 

 particularly in form and color, which are the points where improvement was 

 especially sought. 



Deep Till.a.ge of Orchards. — The cry is now, " Keep the roots near the 

 surface, where they v/ill get warmth and light and air." No doubt this is a cor- 

 rect principle, which has been overlooked, and the surface-roots have been injured 

 by ploughing and digging; but it is just as true as ever it was. that trees must 

 have moisture, and in a drought they need some long roots running below the 

 dry soil, to supply it. Then let us try and keep both truths in sight, and pre- 

 pare our ground, stir it thoroughly and deeply before planting, and, after plant- 

 ing, encourage the growth of surface-roots, 



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