428 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



careful to note whether the soil is dry before applying water. 

 In spring and early summer the young and tender shoots and 

 leaves flag or droop under the influence of strong sunshine, 

 especially after a period of dull weather, although the soil in 

 which they are growing may be sufficiently wet. It is under 

 such conditions that the inexperienced seriously injure their 

 plants by watering them, under the mistaken impression that 

 the drooping is brought about by dryness at the root, whereas 

 it is caused by the transpiration of water from the leaves being 

 greater than the roots can supply. 



The plants were restricted to one main stem ; all the laterals 

 or side shoots were removed when they were quite small. A 

 heavier and more regular crop of fruit can be obtained by this 

 system than by any other. The main leaves were not cut or 

 mutilated in any way so long as they remained in a healthy 

 condition. The far too common practice of almost defoliating 

 the plants cannot be too strongly condemned, as it has an 

 injurious effect upon the yield and quality of the fruit. The 

 plants were grown in houses recently planted with vines and 

 Peaches. Many of them were trained to the back wall at a 

 considerable distance from the glass. Had they been grown in 

 houses specially constructed, and devoted entirely to them, 

 there is every reason to suppose that a heavier crop would have 

 been obtained. In 1896 an attack of Potato disease (Phyto- 

 lihthera infestans) made its appearance early in May on the 

 Hackwood Park variety. The plants were sprayed with a 

 solution of \ lb. sulphate of copper and \ lb. quicklime mixed in 

 10 gallons of water, which removed all traces of disease in the 

 later fruits. 



Yield, Value, and Varieties. 

 The plants grown in 1896 were raised from seed sown in the 

 previous December, and the first ripe fruits were gathered on 

 the following May \. The average yield was over S\ lbs. per 

 plant, the total yield of fruit from 130 plants was 1.127 lbs. The 

 price varied from Qd. to Is. per lb. The total amount realised, 

 after payment of carriage and commission, was £35. 6s. 6d., 

 thus averaging per lb. The varieties grown were Hackwood 

 Park and Neild's seedling. The former is a prolific variety, but 

 its fruit is too large to suit the requirements of consumers. The 

 latter variety is a seedling of my own raising. It was tried at 



