110 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. [ February 10 , mi 
Income. £ s. d. 
By One-fifteenth Life Compositions as at 1st January. 560 14 8 
„ Annual Subscriptions. 3,897 12 0 
„ Exhibitions.... 1,288 5 6 
„ Conversazione and Evening Fete. 463 2 6 
„ Daily Admissions. 258 17 4 
„ Garden Produce. 665 12 1 
„ Packing Charges . 43 12 0 
„ Miscellaneous Receipts. 140 16 10 
„ “Davis Bequest ”—Interest appropriated under provisions of ) ... 
Trust towards Prize Money . ) bi b w 
£7,380 19 9 
We have examined the above Accounts with the Books and Touchers, and we 
find the same correct JOHN LEE, 
Jig-—— JAS. E. WEST, Auditors. 
Si January 29, 1881. R. A. ASl'INALL, 
General Revenue Account, 31st December, 1880. 
Dr. £ s. d. 
To Balance carried forward as per Balance Sheet. 1,278 11 6 
£1,278 11 6 
CR. £ j. d. 
By Balance of Revenue Account brought forward 1st January, 1880 840 18 8 
„ Annual Revenue Account—Balance for the year 1880 . 437 12 10 
£1,278 11 6 
By Balance carried forward.£1,278 11 6 
We have examined the above Account with the Books of the Society, and we 
find the same correct JOHN LEE, 1 
JAS. F. WEST, [ Auditors. 
January 29, 1881. R. A. ASPINALL, 
COTTAGE GARDENING. 
Ripe fruit is most wholesome food, as pleasant to the taste as it 
is nourishing, and well would it be if it were more often seen 
upon the poor man’s table. Some years ago I had occasion to 
consult a London physician about the state of my health ; he 
questioned me closely about my diet, and strongly advised me to 
take more vegetables and fruit than I had been accustomed to. 
“If possible,” said he, “always let stewed fruit and rice form 
part of your dinner.” Now that is a dish frequently seen upon 
the tables of the rich, and yet it is emphatically a poor man’s 
fare if cost be any guide in such matters, for the rice and sugar 
required for a large dish need not cost more than 2d. The fruit 
should of course be obtained from the garden, and among 
such fruit the Strawberry ought certainly to hold a leading 
place, for its culture is easy, its crop certain and abundant, and 
it can be as well grown along the sides of the garden paths and 
under the partial shade of trees as if it were out in the middle of 
the garden. Only treat it well and it will repay all your pains. 
Dig the soil deeply, mixing plenty of dung in it. Obtain young 
plants in August if possible, plant them 1 foot apart in the rows, 
and if you can spare space for a bed let the rows be 2 feet apart. 
Give them plenty of water, or better still soapsuds and slops 
from the cottage ; keep down weeds, cut off all runners as soon as 
they appear, and your plants will grow so freely and become so 
strong that you will have a good crop of fruit in ten or eleven 
months from the time of planting. But, remember, if you delay 
planting till the autumn you will have no fruit next season, and 
in any case a full crop cannot be obtained till the second season. 
After the fourth season the plants should be destroyed as soon as 
the fruit is picked, and young plants again employed. So, in order 
to keep up a full supply of fruit, it will be well to have two beds 
or two rows, replanting one every second year ; for although old 
plants will continue to bear fruit for many years, yet it comes 
smaller, some of the plants die, and the rows gradually appear as 
ra no e d as they are unprofitable. You may continue replacing old 
plants with young ones for a lifetime provided you enrich the soil 
regularly with plenty of dung. The best variety for a cottage 
garden is Garibaldi, better known among gardeners as Vicomtesse 
Hericart de Thury ; but that is much too long a name for us, and 
I may tell my cottage friends that I have known many excellent 
gardeners who could grow it well and yet were quite unable to 
pronounce the long I rench name, so we may very well be excused 
from attempting it. Another excellent sort, a great favourite of 
mine, is Marguerite, having very large fruit in great abundance ; 
and if you desire a variety to win prizes with, plant a dozen or 
t\\o of Cockscomb, and its fruit will astonish you and save the 
time of the judges at your flower show, for what can they do but 
ticket its great fruit with “ First Prize ? ” 
Raspberries are much more common in cottage gardens, but the 
varieties grown are often inferior. I can strongly recommend 
Prince of Wales for its long stout canes and heavy crops of 
large red fruit. Unlike Strawberries, Raspberries if well planted 
and well cared for continue bearing in full perfection for many 
years. Be sure and stir the ground two spits deep, making it &3 
rich as you can with dung and road scrapings. One now will be 
enough. Plant in November strong canes shortened to 2 feet. 
Do not dig among the roots in after years, but lay a little dung 
upon the soil above the roots, and pour soapsuds or sewage over 
it as often as you can in summer while the fruit and canes are 
growing. 
Plant Gooseberries as near the cottage as you can to keep bull¬ 
finches from pecking out the buds in early spring. It is well not 
to prune them till you see if the buds are safe, which they will be 
when they are just bursting in spring. If you are not troubled 
by these birds by all means prune early, for late pruning is apt 
to weaken the bushes. I have grown a great many sorts of Goose¬ 
berry, and think the best two for our purpose are Early Sulphur 
and Red Warrington, both good croppers of excellent flavour, 
with medium-size fruit. Warrington is especially valuable for 
preserving. 
Of Currants, Knight’s Large Red and Red Dutch are the best 
of that colour; White Dutch among whites ; and Lee’s Prolific 
Black, a new variety as much superior to older sorts. Currants 
do not thrive in a poor thin soil, and are not a profitable fruit for 
a cottager unless he can give them a deep rich soil: when that 
can be done no fruit is more profitable, especially the Black 
Currant. 
Most old cottage gardens contain a Quince tree, and of other 
fruits there should be a Cluster Damson, Rivers’ Early, and Victoria 
Plums ; and if Cherries are planted take May Duke and Kentish. 
All the varieties of fruit I have named and chosen from a large 
collection, and may be relied upon as suitable for most gardens. 
It is always well to grow really good fruits, especially in small 
gardens, where every foot of space should be turned to good 
account. To those of my cottage friends who may feel puzzled 
how to procure them, I may very confidently say that most gentle¬ 
men will very gladly encourage such a praiseworthy effort by 
giving them surplus cuttings or plants. Better still if they are 
obtained by the exercise of a little self-denial and thrift. Plants 
of bush fruits and Strawberries only cost a few pence each, fruit 
trees a shilling or two. The latter are, however, often raised by 
the cottager himself. I know a man who has an acre of Apple 
trees, every one of which he raised by sowing Apple pips for stocks 
and grafting them with good varieties.— Edward Luckhurst. 
CUTTING DOWN YOUNG VINES AND PEACH 
TREES. 
Almost all amateurs in commencing Vine culture wish their 
young Vines to come into full bearing as soon as possible. 
Opinions differ as to the best way of doing this ; different systems 
have been and are being followed to compass this end. I remem¬ 
ber hearing of an amateur in Hertfordshire some thirty years ago 
cutting down his young Vines to the ground for four years in 
succession, and thus obtaining stronger rods or canes every season 
till his houses were filled with vigorous Vines. The results were 
highly satisfactory, and his crops of Grapes were second to none 
in England at the time. Another large grower of Grapes in 
Cheshire does not cut down young Vines once. On planting 
them he ties the trailing canes up to the full length of the rafters 
and allows them to remain so. Men of experience would natu¬ 
rally condemn the practice of this Cheshire grower. Well, what 
has been the result ? Two houses 60 or 80 feet long were planted 
with Muscats, and a third house the same length was planted 
with Black Hamburghs. In the first season the Vines broke at 
the tops of the canes only, and 6 or 7 feet from the ground up 
remained naked and shootless for twelve months. The shoots at 
the tops of the Vines in the Black Hamburgh house carried and 
ripened large bunches of good Grapes. The Muscats did not bear 
well the first season. All the Vines were planted in very rich 
borders composed of manure and decaying vegetable matter. 
Second season the Vines broke well from top to bottom, and made 
excellent wood and bore some fruit. Third season full crops of 
good Grapes. Yesterday I walked through the houses and found 
the Vines looking well, and the Black Hamburgh Vines were in 
leaf, with a good show of fruit already visible. This Cheshire 
grower has in an unorthodox fashion succeeded capitally. His rich 
border did more for his Vines than his skill in growing them. 
I think there is a better method of filling houses with good 
Vines than either plan now noticed. The common practice of 
cutting young Vines down to the ground on being planted cannot 
be too strongly recommended, and if they are planted 4 feet 
asunder one shoot only should be taken from each Vine, retaining 
no fruit the first season. Cutting the Vines down to the ground 
a second time is doubtless a waste of power; cutting them down 
to midrafter is better, so that every bud will produce a shoot. 
