72 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ July SO, 1833. 
shell, which breaks down on being touched. When the ripe black germs 
of the fungus have remained in the earth through the winter, they are 
found after the return of the next year’s warmth to have developed 
small stalked fruits filled with minute spores, which penetrate into the 
young plants before they appear above the ground. The end of July or 
beginning of August is the time when the ravages of the fungus are most 
conspicuous, and at those periods whole fields of Potato plants are often 
lapidly reduced to the condition of withered straw. —( Nature .) 
- “ B.” writes :—“ In light soils like that we have to do with 
the only way to obtain large Strawberry fruit is from young 
plants. Now is the time to see about planting. This we do by going 
over the youngest plantation and placing a stone over each runner, 
so as to keep the young plant steady and the soil moist. In a few 
weeks they can be lifted with a mass of roots, and if planted by the 
first week of August a good crop is certain the next season. As our 
ground is trenched regularly in the winter season, when Potatoes or 
other crops not long in the ground are removed, we can plant out 
at once without any further preparation. The rows are 3 feet from 
each other, and the plants 2 feet apart in the row. Our best kinds are 
President, which colours well when young, and Vicomtesse Hericart de 
Thury. Crops of Lettuces can be taken between the rows, both in 
autumn and spring, without doing harm to the Strawberries.” 
- An Australian paper thus describes Pine Apple Culture 
IN Queensland —“ Very few people have any idea of the possible 
yield with Pine Apples where the climate and soil favour their pro¬ 
duction. It has been recently stated by a Mr. Rodda, after an 
inspection of a Pine Apple patch, that an acre of soil would yield 
over 10,000 fruit in the season, and where a plantation is well estab¬ 
lished and the plants in their prime this is not an over-estimate. 
On an average of 5 feet from plant to plant an acre would carry 
1750 plants per acre. The first year two to each plant would be a 
good yield, the second year four or six, and after that strong plants 
will often give from eight to twelve Pine Apples in the year, if not all 
at one time at intervals during the season. So, then, the first year’s 
yield would be 3500, the second year from 7000 to 10,000, and the 
third year, if eight or twelve fruit were produced on each stool, the 
yield would be 14,000 or 21,000. Startling though these figures may 
appear, they are quite within reach with good cultivation. With the 
neglect so frequently attendant upon Pine Apple and Banana culture, 
however, the half of this is a high average ; but taking 10,000 as an 
average crop, and the low rate of Is. per dozen as the market value, 
one acre of Pine Apples would realise over £40, which is a good return 
for the labour and outlay necessary to produce them. It has always 
been a matter of surprise to us that the cultivation of this delicious fruit 
has been so much neglected, especially when the fact, so frequently 
brought to light, that Queensland-grown Pine Apples are equal, if not 
superior, to those grown in Florida or elsewhere, is taken into con¬ 
sideration. The cultivation necessary for a 5-acre plantation, and every¬ 
thing to be done efficiently, could be easily compassed by one man 
breaking the land up deeply in the first instance with the plough 
followed by the subsoiler. Coast lands in Southern Queensland are very 
well adapted for this fruit if the soil is deep, rich, and drained 
thoroughly.” 
THE PARSLEY-LEAVED BRAMBLE. 
At page 391 of the Journal for October 26th, 1882, you 
Inserted a note from me on the above-named valuable autumn 
fruit as grown at Oakbrook, Sheffield, which note elicited in¬ 
quiries from a number of correspondents in different parts of 
the country as to the origin of this variety and where it could 
be pjocuied, as it appears to be not generally grown in the 
nurseries. 
It seems to be commonly supposed that it is one of the 
numerous varieties of Anicrican Blackberries, a list of which 
may be found in most fruit catalogues, and a somewhat sweep¬ 
ing condemnation of which was given by Mr. J. Muir at page5 
of your issue for July 5th. I am told by Mr. Sibray of °the 
Handsworth Nurseries that it first originated as a chance seed¬ 
ling (deposited most probably by the birds) in their nursery 
grounds many years ago. He believes it to be a seedling 
from an American cut-leaved variety, which they cultivated 
at that time, named laciniatus. He says that when it was first 
noticed they were so much struck by the distinctive character of 
its foliage, &c., it was decided to grow it and test its fruithm 
capacities, which proved to be so exceptionally good that its 
propagation was at once commenced. They do not, however, 
appear to have done much towards making the merits of this 
truly valuable fruit generally known, and I believe that it is still 
very little grown except locally. I am strongly of opinion that 
it is one of the most valuable of hardy fruits, and ought to be 
cultivated in every fruit garden. 
My notes in October last as to the quantity of fruit we had 
then gathered were not in any way exaggerated, and we con¬ 
tinued to gather fine fruit for several weeks afterwards. At the- 
present time our stock is growing veiy vigorously, and promises 
even better results than last season. The clusters of fruit pro¬ 
duced on our canes are certainly much finer and the fruit larger 
than the engraving of Kittatinny shown on page 519 of last: 
volume. I have been measuring the fruiting spurs or racemes,, 
which are now just expanding their fii st blooms, and find they 
average 2 feet in leugth from their junction with the cane. 
There is also an average of fifty bloom buds to each spur, and 
forty spurs to each cane, which are about 12 feet in length. As 
we glow an average of four canes to each root or stool, we have 
a total average of 8000 bloom buds from each root, and nearly 
every bloom may be relied upon to produce a fruit fully as large- 
as the largest and best Raspberries; and coming in as they do 
after Raspberries and all other bush fruits are over they are- 
highly esteemed. 
We grow a single row of them on a south border 22 yards 
long. The roots are planted 5 feet apart in the row, and the 
canes are trained more or less horizontally over a row of wood 
stakes, which are 9 feet high and 2 feet 6 inches apart. They 
require an open sunny position to ripen the fruit pi’operly, 
coming in as it does in the comparatively dark damp days of 
October. Our system of cultivating them is very simple, and 
consists in cutting clear away at pruning time most of the old 
canes which have borne fruit, to make room for the young canes 
made during the previous summer. If sufficient young canes 
have not been made to fill the space, some of the best of the old 
ones are left and have their fruiting laterals pruned off close to 
the cane. They are then again all trained to Ihe stakes, and 
have a liberal dressing of decayed manure given to their roots. 
During the summer they require very little attention, as the- 
young canes are left to grow pretty much as they will till the- 
regular autumn pruning and tying. I feel sure your correspon¬ 
dent Mr. J. Muir cannot have seen this variety of Bramble, and 
that if he did see it fruiting as it does with us in September and 
October he would gladly alter his opinions concerning Brambles, 
at least in so far as regards the Parsley-leaved variety. 
I would also wish to strongly advise “ J. E. D., Devon ,” to- 
give it a trial on his deep rich soil, and if it proves as satis¬ 
factory -with him as it has done here (and I have little doubt but 
that it would do), providing it receives the little attention it re¬ 
quires as to pruning, training, &c., he would not afterwards 
feel suspicious of tall talk in the matter of praise bestowed 
upon it. 
In October, 1879, Prince Leopold was staying at Oakbrook 
for a day or two on the occasion of his visiting Sheffield for the- 
purpose of opening Firth College. The Bramble was then 
(Oct. 22nd) in fine condition, and received very high pra-se from- 
His Royal Highness both for its qualities as a choice dessert 
fruit upon the table and for its free-fruiting character. Messrs- 
Fisher, Son & Sibray tell me they afterwards had the honour of 
supplying his gardener with a stock of plants.—W. K. W. 
BIRD SCAREItS. 
Many devices have from time to time been invented to scare birds, 
which from being stationary and having a similarity of sound are,, 
after the birds become accustomed to the form and sound of the 
intended scarer, of little practical value. Even live scarers, uni ss 
capable of inflicting injury on the depredators, are treated with in¬ 
difference. A pinioned hawk attracts more than it drives away ,* the 
birds join in chorus in tormenting their powerless adversary. A chained 
cat is of no use. We have some half dozen, their domicile in the 
centre of the garden, having the freedom to go in and out as they 
like and where they like, but are mostly, at least in the daytime, at 
home. We have no mice, no rats, and birds are exceedingly wary, 
except sparrows, which seem to be as thoroughly domesticated as 
the cats. 
It is as a scarer that I wish to mention the cat. When at the- 
Rev. H. L. Ewen’s, the Rectory, Offord D’Arcy, Huntingdon, some time 
ago, I was struck with the novelty of both cats and kittens being- 
employed as bird scarers, not by tethering, as is sometimes done, with 
string or chain to a particular place, but by a sort of continuous running 
line. In this particular instance the cats, adults or kittens—the one as 
far as I could see being as good as the other—were employed to 
protect Strawberries from thrushes and blackbirds. The Strawberry 
