April 16, 1898. 



GA RDE NEKS' ^MAGAZINE. 



247 



Hippeastrum Mrs. George Gordon. 



excellent for strawberries at the season named. Quality in forced fruits 

 of any kind is a debateable point, but in March a strawberry that is firm, 



a mNC the seedling hippeastrums flowering for the first time in 1897 large, and good, even if it is a little acid, cannot be much condemned. 

 tthe Chelsea nursery of Messrs. J. Veitch and Sons there were a number ^ Taking an interest in these fruits I recently made it my business to 

 attn — • t *r»iiA«Mi* interview one of our largest Covent Garden salesmen as to the straw- 



berries sent him, and I found Royal Sovereigns a long way ahead of all 

 others, and I was not at all surprised considesing it produces so few 

 small fruits, carries well, and is of a bright, fresh colour. This variety, 

 being grown so readily, has, however, brought down the prices. From 

 the private grower's point of view I have found Royal Sovereign a grand 

 variety for forcing, and it can be grown with the certainty of a crop. At 

 the present moment we have, in various stages, close on two thousand 

 pot plants of this variety, and it is a great favourite for large gathering in 

 the open early in the season ; probably we have close upon five thousand 

 fruiting plants this season : this shows it is appreciated. I know of no 



nf narticularly beautiful forms, especially attractive by reason of the great 

 breadth of their segments, the rounded outline of the flower, purity of the 

 white eround colour, and general robustness. At the head of these finelight 

 varieties came the variety now illustrated, and named Mrs. George 

 Gordon With the exception of a few crimson and rosy crimson veins 

 and pencillings, the variety is wholly white, and so it follows closely the 

 almost pure Jwhite Iphis. A bloom of Mrs. George Gordon measures 

 seven and a half inches across, and three or four flowers are produced 

 on a spike. Seedlings from this variety have been obtained already, so 

 that the extreme beauty of form will, it is hoped, be perpetuated. As 

 stated in our report of the Chelsea exhibition, hippeastrum Mrs. George 

 Gordon is again this year one of the very finest of the light varieties. 



other variety so reliable for first supplies if grown well. 



HIPPEASTRUM MRS. GEORGE GORDON. (Flowers white and crimson.) 



Good Strawberr 



Forc 



Strlwb£rrvR« *f c" ll ? ese co ! UI ? ns 1 saw la s °litary note condemning 



man. We 



hundred nlfn < ^ C ? P °i strawbe J nes of this variety ; three 

 and I «m P tS T re started at the end of Member for hard forcing 

 Irtl^^: T kh ^ behavi ° Ur ° f R °y al Sovereign thaTfn 



^rXt&. 5 f CW pUu L ts have failed The Percentage ot fruit per 

 relied upon vf, S an fr ° m ° ther Varieties ' For we 



regards flavouT ST**? HenC ? rt . de . Thury f ° r firSt applies, and, as 

 experie^ but in our sunIess localit y we always 



beVonH t2 ^ difficulty in persuading the flower trusses to extend 



another point was the smallness of the 



fruit 



Another really excellent forcing strawberry is La Grosse Sucree. 

 This produces beautiful fruits, and what is better, forces freely ; for many 

 years this was our March and April strawberry, but this year we gave 

 Royal Sovereign a trial and we were not disappointed. La Grosse 

 Sucree in the open is not so vigorous in our soil as the newer variety, 

 but for forcing we still grow it by the thousand, and like it for its fine 

 setting property, splendid dark-red points, its quality and shape. For 

 later supplies, so far, we have found it difficult to beat the well-known 

 but good President I am aware it has a tendency to mildew, but taken 

 in time mildew is easily kept down ; and this variety is of first-rate quality, 

 packs well, and will hang for days in a cool, dry house without loss of 

 flavour. For cropping in the open as a midseason variety it is one of 



Roval S - puuit was me smaiiness ot the flavour, r or cropping in uie upcu <u> * imuseason variety u is one 01 



t even " °^ r f lgn produces flower-trusses so freely that it needs the best. For many years we grew several varieties for forcing from 



support ever, iJr u 6 F'uuu^ nower-irubbcb so ireely that it needs 



»i*e t 0 ordS V£ Februar ^ and the fruits are a » one can desire, equal in 



fruits from open beds, while the quality is really grow them only. 



Tune, but the above kinds have proved so reliable that 



G. Wvthes. 



