December 27, 183$. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER 
583 
because it is one of our all-round best varieties ; a good size (I bave one 
plant in an 8-inch pot with a dozen fruits, each from 5 to 6 ozs. in weight, 
besides smaller ones). Sutton’s Reading Perfection is a very fine variety, 
and weighs heavily, more so than Hacltwood Park, but does not crop so 
heavily, but it is a variety to grow. I planted out a number of plants 
of Laxton’s Open Air and Sutton’s Earliest of All, but it was a failure, 
owing to the season. I also potted a good many into the 6 and 8-inch 
pots, and with the treatment I have named they have done exceedingly 
well, both being good croppers, a fair size and early. For under glass I 
shall always grow them, because they are early and do not grow so 
strong as some other sorts, but it will be Sutton’s that I shall prefer of 
the two for indoors. What the two varieties will do out of doors, the 
•cold wet season prevented me from ascertaining. I had them planted 
Against walls and the open ground, but in each case they failed. I think 
that too much root-room and feeding is a mistake, also growing the 
plants so fast. Ours were grown in cold frames as young plants, and no 
heat used after planting until the weather was so wet and cold. I have 
out-distanced in crop and health many of my neighbours who have much 
better accommodation, for such free growth has, in conjunction with the 
sunless season, led to failure.—W. D., Solihull , Birmingham. 
- The annual dinner of the Midland Counties and 
Birmingham Chrysanthemum Sciety was held on Tuesday evening, 
December 18th, in the Bell Hotel, Birmingham. After ample justice 
being done to the dinner provided, Mr. Latham, the Chairman, proposed 
■the health of “ The Queen,” which was most loyally responded to. 
Mr. A. Outram proposed “ The Society,” and spoke favourably of the 
■same, stating it was one of the best managed shows in the provinces 
.and a great credit to the City of Birmingham. The toast of “ The 
Exhibitors” was responded to by Messrs. Cooper and Dyer. “The 
Officers of the Society ” was proposed by Mr. Dyer, the same being 
responded to by Mr. Hughes, the Secretary, and Mr. Jones, the Treasurer, 
"the former stating it was their intention next year to offer liberal prizes 
"to induce the growers from a distance to compete. A subscription 
dist was at once opened, and several guineas subscribed. We 
wish them every success in this their intention. Mr. Jones read a 
Teport of the financial condition of the Society. It was gratifying to 
hear the balance was on the right side. “ The Nursery and Seed 
Trade” was proposed by Mr. Cooper and responded to by Messrs. Pope 
and Spinks. “ The Promoters of the Society ” was responded to by 
Messrs. Gilbert and Lea, who were amongst the first to start this pro- 
-gressive Society upwards of thirty years ago. The toast of “ The 
"Visitors ” was responded to by Messrs. Petch of Worcester and Mr. 
'Sydenham. Mr. Crook proposed “ The Chairman and Vice-Chairman, ’ 
both of whom responded. The evening was a most enjoyable one, and 
-some good singing was .rendered by some of the company present, of 
whom there were upwards of fifty, including many from a distance. 
- In the address of the President at the anniversary meeting of 
the Royal Society, the following reference was made to Sir F. von 
Mueller:—“A Royal medal has been awarded to Sir Ferdinand von 
Mueller for his long services in Australian exploration, an! for his inves- 
•tigations of the flora of the Australian continent. For more than forty 
years von Mueller has been working, without intermission, at scientific 
botany and its practical illustrations. As a botanical traveller and col¬ 
lector he has, to quote the words of Sir Joseph Hooker, ‘ personally ex¬ 
plored more of the Australian continent than any other botanist except 
Allan Cunningham.’ No one has investigated the Australian flora and 
"the geographical distribution of its components with so much persever- 
-ance and success, and no one has enriched our herbaria, laboratories, and 
•gardens with materials for study to so great an extent. Ibe eleven 
-volumes of the 1 Fragmenta Phytographiae Australian ’ contain the de¬ 
scriptions of a great series of new plants, and the unrestricted commu¬ 
nication of his collections and observations to the late Mr. Bentham 
rendered possible the preparation of the ‘ Flora Australiensis,’ in seven 
volumes, the only account of the vegetation of any large continental 
area which has at present been completed. He has especially devoted 
himself to the elucidation of the most difficult though most characteristic 
groups of the Australian flora ; and as a result of his labours in this 
direction his ‘ Eucalyptographia’ maybe more particularly mentioned, 
a work which wiil always be the standard of nomenclature for the intri¬ 
cate genus Eucalyptus. Of a similar character are his descriptions and 
illustrations of the 1 Mj oporineous Plants of Australia,’ and his 1 Icono¬ 
graphy of the Genus Acacia.’ To him is also due the foundation of the 
Government Herbarium at Melbourne, the first great botanical collec¬ 
tion formed in the southern hemisphere, and the future centre of all 
scientific werk on the Australasian flora.” 
- The Earl of Meath, writing in one of the daily papers, calls 
attention to the proposed Vauxhall Park as follows “ The part of 
Lambeth in which it is proposed to preserve these eight acres of land is 
one of the most densely populated localities of the metropolis, and there 
is not, with the exception of Kennington Park, any open space within 
two miles. The proposal was initiated some two years ago for securing 
these lands as an open space, but the pecuniary difficulty which 
invariably occurs in such cases presented itself with very great force on 
this occasion owing to the high value which property in this locality 
commands. Without going into details, it is sufficient to state that the 
Committee which was formed, after having overcome almost insuperable 
difficulties, obtained an Act of Parliament last session enabling the 
Vestry, the Metropolitan Board of Works, and the Charity Commis¬ 
sioners, out of the City of London Parochial Charity funds, to contribute 
towards the expenses of acquiring the land, and both the Kyrle Society 
and the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association have associated them¬ 
selves with the scheme. An agreement has been come to with the 
owner for the acquisition of the land for £43 500, which, with attendant 
expenses, raises the sum required to £45,400. After deducting the 
amount to be obtained from the sources named and the subscriptions 
already received, a balance will remain of about £7000 still to be pro¬ 
vided. I would therefore, as Chairman of the Metropolitan Public 
Gardens Association, invite the many friends of the open space move¬ 
ment and those who have not long returned from their annual autumn 
holiday to assist in providing what is after all but a poor substitute for 
Scotland, Wales, or Switzerland, or the beautiful English country side, 
for the poor toilers of Lambeth. Donations may be sent to the office of 
the Association, 83, Lancaster Gate, W.” 
- Strawberry Culture in the United States. —An 
American paper relates that a young man named Wilson twenty years 
ago bought 13j acres of land west of Centralia, Illinois, and set out 
Strawberry plants. These then were almost as much a rarity as a four¬ 
leaved Clover, and the people thought the man crazy and nicknamed 
him “Strawberry” Wilson. But this was the beginning of an industry 
which has since loaded 190 carloads (2,097,600 quarts) in a season of 
twenty days, and once 25 carloads in one day, bringing to Centralia from 
125,000 dollars to 150,000 dollars, and paying out to pickers 55,000 
dollars. A carload is 400 crates of 24 quarts each. Growers who have 
had experience in other places find in the soil about Centralia and the 
climate peculiar advantages for the Strawberry ; the only problem is the 
market, and improved shipping cars are widening the latter. About 
2000 acres are planted ; the largest patch is of 30 acres, but the smaller 
ones pay best. iFrom one-eleventh of an acre 1040 quarts were picked, 
selling for 104 dollars. A young lady, from 10 square rods, sold 560 
quarts, besides supplying the family table. Nearly all the back yards 
in Centralia thus bring in pocket money. The Crescent, Minor’s Pro¬ 
lific, and Warfield are leading berries with large growers. Two crops 
are taken from a planting. Sunday berry picking is on the decline, as 
growers have found that their fields can be left from Saturday noon to 
Monday morning without danger. Mr. Townsend, who employs 475 
pickers, has done no Sunday picking for five years. Thinking their 
crates cost too much, the Centralia growers this year formed an associa¬ 
tion to manufacture them, using a large brick skating rink for the pur¬ 
pose. When the rush came, 57,000 crates with their boxes were ready, 
costing 12,i cen t s instead of 18 cents, and as about 120,000 crates are 
used, the saving was 6000 dollars. Poplar strips from Tennessee are 
used for the boxes, and an expert will turn off 72,000 daily, tacking by 
machine. 
_ A PARER by Mr. Colchester Wemyss was read at a meeting 
op Fruit Growers in Gloucester recently, which we reproduced on 
page 519. In the course of a discussion subsequently Mr. Campbell 
made some interesting remarks, of which the substance is here given. 
He said that for many years he farmed in Cheshire, and then travelled 
on the Continent, living for many years in France. Following the 
advice of a paper by Mr. Charles Whitehead he determined that if ever 
he came back to England he would start fruit growing, and his lot in 
life had led him to be near Ross, in Herefordshire, where he had a place 
admirably suited for fruit growing, and a good climate, which they 
found sometimes was a little too dry. One of his first experiments was 
to plant Plums, in addition to Apples and Pears. He planted an acre 
of Victoria Plums, having 680 trees to the acre and giving them a space 
of 8 feet. He planted them about five years ago, and he would now tell 
what they had done for him up to the present time. They must bear in 
mind he had everything in his favour. He had a good and competent 
gardener, and they took the utmost pains in grading their fruit. They 
