3C4 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



[ May 25, 1371. 



the best sorts to cultivate, it wonld he extremely nsefnl to a 

 large nnmber of your readers.— J. Douglas. 



STEAWBEEEY PROSPECTS. 



Seeing remarks in reference to the prospects of the Straw- 

 berry crop by your correspondent!', " E. F." and " E. W. E.," 

 at pages 293, 317, and 320 of The Jocesal of Horticulture, 

 and as " E. F." wishes for others interested in the cultivation of 

 the Strawberry to state what their prospects are for the present 

 season, I at once went over my plantations to see what chance 

 we had of a crop in the present year. Like your correspon- 

 dents, "E. F." and "E. W. E.," I have been successful in 

 producing heavy crops of Strawberries for many years. In 

 1863 and 1865 I gave full particulars in the Journal respect- 

 ing my mode of growing tliis fruit, and each succeeding year 

 we have been progressing and improving. 



Daring the last three extraordinarily dry seasons onr crops 

 have been immense, and while those of many of our neighbours 

 in all directions entirely failed our crops were never better. 

 We have three plantations, and my practice is to destroy one 

 plantation every year, and make a fresh one. The one which 

 was planted last August contains sis varieties, and every plant 

 without exception is showing an abundance of fruit. Eclipse, 

 a favourite prolific variety, is averaging about ten or twelve 

 trusses to each plant on the new bed. The two-year-old planta- 

 tion also promises well ; and the three-year-old one, I have no 

 doubt, will be equally prosperous. 



My practice is to dig deeply and manure freely, putting 

 plenty of foldyard manure at the bottom of the trench. How- 

 ever deeply the manure is dug in, the roots will find it, and this 

 supports them against the contingencies of dry seasons. The 

 first runners which I can obtain I have layered in 48-siz?d 

 pots, and as soon as thev are well rooted they are planted in 

 their final positions. When the plants are in bloom I give 

 them a thorough soaking of manure water. This tells con- 

 siderably on the bulk o! the future crop. After each gather- 

 ing, or at least when the beds have all been gone over, if the 

 weather is dry the beds are drenched with clear water. This 

 we can do with perfect ease, as we have pipes laid from large 

 tanks in elevated positions^, and by attaching our indiarnbber 

 hose and turning on the water the work of irrigating the whole 

 of the plantations can be performed by a boy with very little 

 trouble. After the plantations are first formed I never again 

 have the ground disturbed with either fork or spade. The 

 ground is kept clean with the Dutch hoe, and the runners are 

 not allowed to remain on the plants unless they are required 

 for propagating. 



I differ from your correspondent " E. W. E." with regard to 

 planting those plants which have been forced in-doors one 

 season. I have frequently tried them, but never found them 

 do so well as fresh runners of the current season. 



With regard to sorts, I have tried many, but my favourites 

 are Eclipse, Dr. Hogg, Sir J. Paxton, and Cockscomb. Mr. 

 Eadclyfie I have grown, it is good in flavour, but not in other 

 properties satisfactory. — Quisiix Bead, Fleasley Yale Gardens, 

 Mansfield. 



PPJMULA CORTUSOIDES AMCENA CULTURE. 



In consequence of the hurried manner in which I wrote the 

 remarks respecting Primula cortusoides amreua, at page 303, 

 I forgot to put in the specific name of cortusoides. Your corre- 

 spondent " J. E.," is, therefore, quite right in supposing the re- 

 commendation given has reference to that variety. 



In reply to " J. R.," page 332, respecting the kind of soil I 

 use for the growth of these plants, I may state that I did not 

 make up any particular compost for them, but made use of 

 some already mixed for bedding plants. I happened to have a 

 quantity of soil mixed, as I was about potting-off a lot of Gera- 

 niums from their store pots, I am not very particular about 

 the exact proportions of the soil I use for these plants, but in 

 order to give an idea of its general character, I may say that it 

 consists of about three parts loam, one part rotten dung, one 

 part leaf mould, and one part sand, and the whole is passed 

 through a coarse sieve. It did not contain any peat. As 

 before stated, I had a quantity of this mixture lying on the 

 potting-bench, and I made no addition nor alteration. I divided 

 the plants iu the way described in my former paper, I put each 

 piece in a 6-inch pot with some of this soil, and the roots very 

 quickly took to it, and were running round the inside of the 

 pots. Since writing I have repotted the whole in 8-inch pots. 



as I advised at page 303, making use of the same kind of soil 

 as before, and I may remark that this was exactly a repetition 

 of the treatment and soil used in previous years with the same 

 good results. 



The general character of the soil about Didsbury is not of 

 that black peaty nature noticed by "J. E.," but is of a light 

 sandy nature resting upon a bed of gravel, and in many places 

 not more than 5 or 6 inches in depth. To the south of Man- 

 chester the soil is just what " J. E." describes ; but Didsbury 

 is to the south-east, and the character of the soil is totally 

 diiJerent. 



In order to test the hardiness of Primula cortusoides amoBna, 

 I have planted some out in the borders. I did this In Februaiy, 

 at the time I divided the plants, and shall, therefore, next 

 winter be able to decide the matter. I have already, however, 

 had experience enough to convince me that they are com- 

 paratively useless for culture in the open air, at any rate so far 

 north as Manchester ; for although the plants grew moderately 

 well and had flower stems nearly as fine as those in pots, yet 

 the delicacy of the flowers and the size of the truss were such 

 that they were unable to stand the rains or the cold east winds, 

 but were completely spoiled as soon as the blooms were fairly 

 opened. It is just the same with that fine hardy plant Dielytra 

 spectabilis. Seen in a greenhouse in March, it is one of the 

 most beautiful plants that can be placed there, while those out- 

 side are torn to ribbons by the merciless winds. It is in the 

 cool greenhouse that Primula cortusoides amcena is seen in 

 all its beauty, and if it were possible I would recommend it 

 even more strongly than I did before. I find that it requires a 

 considerable amount of moisture while growing and blooming, 

 for it very soon shows signs of distress if the roots are allowed 

 to become at all dry. 



I can assure your readers that there is no difiiculty whatever 

 in growing this plant, and I have fully and freely related the 

 whole of the practice as it is followed by myself, and which has 

 resulted in such gorgeous displays of bloom. I may state that 

 this plant was introduced into England from Japan by Messrs. 

 Veitch, and was first shown by them at the International Ex- 

 hibition, South Kensington, in 1866. A small plant was shown 

 under a bell-glass. I made a note of it at that time, and after- 

 wards purchased a plant, from which the whole of my stock has 

 been obtained. I do not know whether it produces seed or not. 

 I have seen none, nor have I heard of any, though I have 

 examined some of the best catalogues to see if could find it ; 

 but plants are cheap enough now, as they can be had for 3s. 6d. 

 each, and they are easily increased by division. — Thos. Joses, 

 Gardener to J. E. Taylor, Esq., Didsbury, near Mancltester. 



THE CUCUMBER AND MELON DISEASE. 



Having been a sufferer for several years from the above 

 disease, I can sympathise heartily with those growers who can 

 neither get rid of it nor cure it ; and as I have been free 

 from it the last two seasons, I thought, on reading Mr. Fish"s 

 remarks in the Journal of April 13th, that an account of the 

 method by which I prevented this plague would not be unac- 

 ceptable to your readers. Like Mr. Fish, I tried every remedy 

 I could think of as likely to be of any use— fumigating with 

 tobacco, with sulphur in the house in which the infected plants 

 had been grown, dusting the plants with sulphur, lime, and 

 tobacco powder, getting fresh seed, and planting in fresh soil 

 brought from a distance, but all to no purpose. At length I 

 thought the disease might have been caused by the liquid ma- 

 nure made from sheep dung with which the plants had been 

 watered, and I determined to try the effect of discontinuiDg the 

 use of it. I had the old plants destroyed, the house and pit 

 well washed all over with soft soap and warm water, the walls 

 whitewashed, and plants raised from seed planted iu soil com- 

 posed for the greatest part of good, light, turfy loam, with a 

 small quantity of manure, aand, and leaf mould; the Melors 

 in turfy loam alone. I had them watered and syringed with 

 clean water, warmed to the same temperature as the house, 

 pit, or frame in which the plants were grown, and by these 

 means I have quite got rid of the plague 



Since I first had any experience of this disease 1 have been 

 of opinion that it is similar in its character and effects to the 

 Potato disease, and while there was a trace of it in house, pit, 

 or frame the infection or contagion always reached the young 

 plants in other houses or pits, and the brown spots appeared 

 on the leaves generally when the plants had reached the fruit- 

 bearing state : hence the necessity of destroying all infected 

 plants, and well washing and thoroughly cleaning all structures 



