112 



JOTTKXAL OF HOETICTTLTtTKE AOT) COTTAGE GAEDEXEE. 



[ Feiraary 7, 1865. 



determined to be dishonest, I fear there is no other cure 

 but to get rid of them. The publication of the names of 

 competitors, and the judgments, will enable you to catch 

 more easily (if guilty of palpable favouritism) nurserymen 

 and amateur '• chums," and nurserymen and amateur clients. 

 As to country places, the nepotism is fearful. 

 _ I only throw out the above as a hint, which more ejqie- 

 Tienced persons may improve upon. I hope false delicacy 

 •will never hinder any one from stating his objecLions to 

 anything that I advance. Human nature is human nature,. 

 and I am not for allowing it the flimsy veil of mere nominal 

 concealment. See the folly of it. I helped the year before 

 last to adjudicate the amateux-s' Eoses with two good pains- 

 taking and upright judges, Mr. ATood and -Mr. Perry. The 

 first prizes fell in all instances most justly to Mi-. Hedge. 

 After I saw the name of JIi-. Hedge affixed to class 1, I knew 

 all his Eoses in all classes ; X knew them by the boxes, by 

 the moss, by the mode of setting out, no less than by the 

 superior growth of the Eoses. I may say, from recollection, 

 that he was onlj' once nearly approached — viz., in the 

 twenty-four singles, by Canon Fisher, of Sarum, our most 

 distinguished western amateur. The very superior Eoses 

 in both lots stood in the relation of nineteen to seventeen, 

 and in both cases the remainder were good. In country 

 places the concealment of names is a fai-ce. In London yoii 

 do not want to conceal the names, because first-rate men 

 are appointed, who, had they no conscience, know that the 

 eyes of the horticultural, and floricultural world ai-e upon 

 them. The "press" is there! The "press," in London, ! 

 is a very good judge. ! 



In conclusion, I think that professionals should never ' 

 be secretaries of societies ; that secretaries should not be ' 

 allowed to accompany the judges, nor to entertain them ; \ 

 that the fairest judges in country places are the gentle- 

 men's head gardeners; that getting distant judges, even ; 

 leading men, by no means necessarily secures right and [ 

 honest judgments. In all cases it depends upon the cha- j 

 raeter of the men employed. I am for protecting judges, 

 but I am not for allowing them to make capital out of the j 

 public property. j 



As regards objections made by competitors, they should 

 be stated before the judges leave the show. No attention 

 should be paid to them afterwards. Objections should never 

 be made except where the erroneous or fraudulent judgment 

 is palpable. Some allowance must be made for differences 

 of opinion, or written rules for adjudication must be laid 

 down.— AV. F. Eadclypfe, Tarrant Ettshton, Blandford. 



LA COXSTAXTE AND SOME OTHER 

 STEAATBEREIES. 



I WAS quietly reading your Number of the 10th of 

 January, when I was startled by the account H. Taylor, 

 Esq., of Fencote, Bedale, gave of his plants of La "Con- 

 stante Strawben-y. I at once posted off in search of my 

 gardener and thus addressed him. " What do you think The 

 JouRNAJ, OP HoRTicuLTUKE says of La C'onstante Straw- 

 berry ? That the runners require to be potted and kept 

 under glass during the winter; that it is to be feared it will 

 not suit the climate of England." "Why, sir," he replied, 

 "it is one of the hardiest Sti'awberries we have." " Exactly 

 80," I said. "And now, can you tell me how many plants we 

 have of this variety?" "Well, su-, tliere's that long row 

 there. It contains more than 250 runners. Then there's 

 in the border 50 plants I transplanted last September ; and 

 there's 90 plants in tlie Strawben-y-bed which bore bo well 

 last summer. Besides these, I've a lot more in reserve, as I 

 divided a few of the oldest plants last autumn. You've 

 nearly 450 plants if all of 'cm were counted up." 



I state this in order to show that I have knowledge of, 

 and acquaintance with La Constante Strawberry. I pro- 

 cured some plants of it years ago from that excellent fra- 

 gai-ian, Mr. Nicholson, o( Eagleaclifi'e, when he first sent it 

 out. The summer following I was so pleased with the un- 

 rivalled flavour of the fruit, and the close compact habit ol 

 the plant, that I have caused it to be grown here extensively. 

 I live in a c^lder climate than that ol' Ijedale, and yet I am 

 not aware that I have lost a single plant through frost or 

 cnttLog winds. Thin variety of Strawberry has endured a 



temperature of 12'' below zero (for my thermometer placed 

 on the ground at 9 o'clock p.m., on Christmas- eve, two years 

 ago, indicated that extreme amount of cold), uninjured. 

 Surely this is ample proof of its hardiness. It requires, how- 

 ever, good and patient treatment, for it puts forth its runners 

 so late in the autumn that they are not able to gain siz« 

 and strength suificient to bear fruit the following summer. 

 I will briefly state the mode of treatment adopted here with 

 success. 



In the autumn a trench is dug more than half a spit deep, 

 a quantity of hotbed manure is spread in it and covered 

 over with soil. Here the runners are planted G inches apart 

 as soon as they are fit to be separated Irom the parent plants. 

 They are watered if necessary from time to time, until they 

 have rooted freely into the soil. About Christmas they are 

 mulched with strawy manure, care being taken not to smother 

 the plants. In the August following, another trench is dug 

 about a spit deep. This is well manured, and covered over 

 with soil to the level of the earth around. The yearling 

 plants are taken up carefully with a trowel, and they are 

 planted in this prepared ground in patches of two or three 

 together, a space of 14, or 15 inches intervening between 

 each patch. They are mulched again at Christmas. The 

 following summer plants so ^treated have never fxUed to 

 produce an abundant crop of first-rate li-uit. The plants 

 may be suffered to remain undisturbed for two seasons, 

 when they should be again removed after fruiting into fresh 

 ground well manured. 



Carolina Superba and Crimson Queen receive the same 

 treatment. All my other sorts of Strawben-ies yield good 

 crops from runners the first year, they are then thrown away, 

 fresh plantations being made yearly about the first week in 

 August, if possible. I have not grown the Empress Eugenie, 

 because Dr. Hogg in his " Fruit Manual," Second Edition, 

 describes it as " Eather a coarse-looking and very large 

 Strawberry, not remarkable for any excellency of flavour." 

 I cannot see the advantage of growing these inferior varie- 

 ties, Eugenie, Victoria, Oscar, and a host of others, simply 

 because they are abundant bearers. Whj' sacrifice quaUty 

 to quantity : Plant a row more of the finest varieties and 

 the desired quantity is also attained. 



The following sorts are the finest known, and they will 

 satisfy every want: — British Queen, Carolina Superba, Crim- 

 son Queen, Eclipse, EmUy, Frogmore Late Pine, La Con- 

 stante, Eivers's Eliza, La Chalonnaise. This kind, however, 

 is not required where the British Queen succeeds. To this 

 list may be added Dean's Lord Clyde, Bicton Pine, and 

 Elton Pine. The last-mentioned variety, though not re- 

 markable for flavour, is the beet late Strawberi-y. All 

 these I either have grown or still continue to cultivate in 

 my gai'den, and can safely assert that they are perfectly 

 hardy, unrivalled in flavour, and excellent for preserving. 



It may not be generally known that plants of new or rare 

 Strawberries when first obtained from the nurseries, often 

 fail to exhibit their true character, and appear to be of a 

 tender and delicate growth. Here, both Crimson Queen 

 and Frogmore Late Pine did not show to advantage until 

 their third summer — that is, until I had raised plants from 

 runners grown here. This may account for the supposed 

 delicacy of La Constante Strawberry. — A Fkagaeian. 



GLAZING WITHOUT PUTTY. 



I am glad to be able to give your correspondent some little 

 experience on the above subject. 



First. I do not think it advisable, if possible, so far as 

 horticultural erections are concerned, except on Mr. Cran- 

 ston's plan. Why I think so will be stated hereafter. 



Some two years since wishing to add about 300 feet of 

 glass to my houses, I purposed doing it with rafters and 

 glazing thereon, as I had seen similar erections apparently 

 glazed without putty. I elected to try the plan and save 

 trouble and expense, so I consulted my handy man with 

 whom the idea took considerably, being new I suppose, 

 and we (for I must have a hand in the downfall of putty), 

 having the rafters fixed, began to laj' the glass on, beginning 

 at the bottom in the most orthodox manner possible, when, 

 alas ! after about half an hour's trial we were forced to givo 

 in and confess to being beaten thus far, for if we could fix 



