COMMONPLACE NOTES. 



637 



From what I have as yet seen of these huskless oats here they are 

 capable of standing severe drought, and for this reason should be of 

 great importance in this country. No trace so far of rust was discern- 

 ible. The straw may be also of use as a feed for cattle, as they eat it 

 readily. 



The oats planted in the dambo are also doing well. I have not yet 

 tried them cooked. 



K. J. C. 



Strawberries on Light Soils. 



It is often difficult to obtain an unbroken supply of strawberries 

 for dessert and large quantities for bottling and jam-making on very 

 light soils, and some of the finer flavoured varieties will scarcely 

 succeed at all. There was planted at Wisley six or seven years ago a 

 fairly representative collection of over forty varieties. The collection 

 has been maintained, but we find that by the end of the first year 

 some begin to show signs of their dislike for the soil : by the end 

 of the second year there are a great many blanks : and before the third 

 season is very old the greater number of the plants are dead ; and this 

 is unfortunately the case with many of the best varieties. To overcome 

 this trouble we have annually layered runners in 60-sized pots in 

 good soil, and immediately they are well rooted they have been 

 planted in well-manured and thoroughly prepared "beds, in the hope 

 that by giving them every attention at the start we might succeed in 

 establishing good beds. We have also tried mulching with farm-yard 

 manure in the autumn and winter months, and allowing the mulch 

 to remain during the summer months, as is the custom in many 

 gardens. Mulching has been given in the spring, and at once dug in, 

 and, although not generally recommended, we have found this the most 

 profitable course to pursue on our sandy soil, as the plants seem to go 

 through a dry spell better. Even then the results are not good with 

 many varieties, and out of the forty tried there are only half a dozen 

 which make really good rows and continue to fruit for two years, no 

 matter what trouble we have taken. We are fortunate, however, in 

 having in these half-dozen varieties all that is required for a supply of 

 dessert fruit and fruit for jam-making. 



Our best six varieties are ' Aprikose,' * Chmax,' ' Cropper,' * Fill- 

 basket,' * Eoyal Sovereign,' and 'Scarlet Queen.' Of these 

 'Scarlet Queen,' in company with ' Eoyal Sovereign,' supplies 

 dessert fruit of the best, and both sorts will force well, whilst for 

 cooking and preserving we have ' Climax,' ' The Cropper,' and ' Fill- 

 basket.' These bear very heavy crops of fine fruit, and stand well 

 on our soil, bearing good crops the third season, as no others do. 

 * Bedford Champion,' ' Filbert Pine,' ' Kentish Favourite,' * Monarch ' 

 'Mentmore,' 'The Laxton,' and 'Yarles,' make moderately good 

 growth, but before the fruit is gathered the second year many of 

 the plants collapse. The list of weak and poor growers must be 

 a long one, some of the following sorts being so weak by the end of 



