ODDS AND ENDS 335 



diminution throughout the five years, the relative values being 

 115 100 96 91 82 



In every case it was found that the cropping period of the older 

 plants was longer than that of the younger plants, but that it 

 did not begin so early, the ripening in the case of the older plants 

 being on the average two and a half days later than in that of 

 the one-year plants. 



The different varieties were arranged in their order of merit 

 as regards seven different desirable features size of crop or of 

 berries, uniformity, flavour, character, etc. and it was found 

 that there was no one variety which figured amongst the first 

 twenty in all these lists ; and, whichever property was considered, 

 the first twenty in the list never contained more than three 

 varieties which were first class as regards quality and character ; 

 this illustrating the practical impossibility of obtaining varieties 

 which are satisfactory in all respects. 



In addition to this collection of eighty-six varieties, there were 

 five other somewhat less extensive collections of plants, grown 

 within a short distance of the first collection even adjoining 

 them in places but under slightly different conditions as to 

 depth of soil, distances between the plants, shelter or manuring : 

 a comparison of the behaviour of the same varieties in these 

 different collections led to interesting results. 



It is well known, of course, that a variety of any fruiting plant 

 will often succeed in one place, while it fails in another at no 

 great distance from the first ; yet one of the stock experiments 

 (so-called) in County Council gardens consists of an attempt to 

 determine what varieties are suitable to the district, by a few 

 trials made in one small piece of ground. The futility of such 

 trials may be best illustrated by results obtained with these 

 collections of strawberries at Woburn. The crops from them 

 were compared from the point of view of all the various features 

 mentioned above, and in all cases similar results were obtained 

 as to the, apparently, arbitrary variation of these properties 

 under the slight differences of conditions obtaining. Thus, on 

 arranging 64 varieties common to the two main series in their 

 order as to magnitude of crops during the three seasons of full 

 bearing, it was found that-, of the 16 heaviest croppers in one 

 series, only seven figured amongst the 16 heaviest croppers in 

 the second series, whilst of the 16 worst croppers in the one, 

 only 10 figured amongst the 16 worst croppers in the other. In 

 one or two instances a variety which appeared amongst the 



