840 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



CONFERENCE ON SMALL FRUITS. 



WEDNESDAY, July 8, 1891. 



This Conference was convened for the purpose of dealing with 

 such small hardy fruits as Strawberries, Gooseberries, and 

 Raspberries. Lists of the best varieties in order of merit have 

 been carefully tabulated, and are given at the end of the papers- 

 The chair was taken by Mr. Geo. Bunyaed, and in opening 

 the proceedings, at 2 p.m., he expressed the hope that the Con- 

 ference would be the means of spreading a large amount of 

 information about what were technically called " small fruits." 

 The importance of the Conference was perhaps greater than 

 appeared on the surface, because the whole of the subjects to be 

 discussed required only ordinary treatment, and needed no very 

 great horticultural skill, and the fruit supplied a vast amount of 

 jam, in which form it reached homes where it would not be 

 procurable in any other way. 



STRAWBERRIES FOR PRIVATE GARDENS. 

 By Mr. W. Allan. 



A daily supply of Strawberries during four to five months in 

 the year from the open garden was unthought of even a few 

 years back, as it is generally known that when the early and 

 late kinds are subjected to the same cultivation a period of three 

 or four weeks is the average duration of the crop. 



By making the most of the various sites that our walled-in 

 gardens give us, either for forwarding the earliest or retarding 

 the latest varieties, a daily supply for the above period is not only 

 possible, but certain. 



My system, which I have practised now for some years, has 

 never failed, and has become part of our annual rotation of crops. 



Annual Planting. — The making of new Strawberry-beds> 

 or plantations, every season is now generally adopted in private 

 gardens, and is acknowledged to be the best method for the 

 production of extra fine fruit, the yearling plants always pro- 

 ducing the heaviest and finest specimens ; but the greatest 



