July 2 , 1891. ] 
8 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
trifling that half an hour’s labour for two years in succession will 
■secure a large number of perfect flowering plants Doubtless any 
open well-drained sod exposed to the sun will suit it admirably. I 
have grown my plants for a number of years in a small bed, made 
under a brick wall, on the surface of a gravel path, no deeper than 
a brick on edge, the soil being very fine sandy gravel, obtained 
from the bottom of a running stream. This has been enriched by 
occasional sprinklings of artificial manure. Now is the season for 
planting. The offsets for the purpose may be obtained in almost 
an unlimited quantity from the flowering plants, or from those a 
year old. These I plant 6 inches apart, and settle the soil about 
them with a good watering. If the season be very dry they may 
require watering from time to time. In the following year, about 
this time, I take up all these young plants, and after removing the 
offsets replant them about 12 inches apart. They remain then 
until the following year, when all of them will send up grand 
flower spikes, and are ready for transplantation into any part of the 
garden, as may be required for effect, or into pots for house or 
conservatory decoration. It is as well to have them in the original 
bed until the flowers begin to open.— Edmund Tonks. 
RECORD OF STRAWBERRY SEASONS. 
As a comparison may be useful I give the following table, which 
may be read along with the one given by Mr. Sharpe on page 505. 
Date of First and Last Strawberries Gathered. 
1881. —Record lost. 
1882. —3 lbs., June 11th to July 27th = 37 days. 
1883. —2 lbs., June 25th to August 15th = 51 days. 
1884. —3 lbs., June 25th to August 14th = 50 days. 
1885. —2 lbs., June 25th to August 10th = 46 days. 
1886. —6 lbs., July 5th to August 29th = 55 days. 
1887. —5 lbs , June 25th to July 30th = 35 days. 
1888. —1 ib., July 1st to Sept. 1st = 63 days. 
1889. —1 lb., June 15th to August 4th = 50 days. 
1890. —1 lb., June 9th to August 1st = 53 days. 
lom fry\ 
Average period 48'8 
During 1889 and 1890 Noble was grown and ripened a few days 
earlier than Yicomtesse H. de Thury, tbe variety previously the first to 
be gathered. It will be seen that 1886 and 1888 were late seasons, 
with a prolonged crop, this being attributed to the incessant rains in 
July and August of both years. On the other hand, the Jubilee year 
of 1887 was the shortest, although about the average in date of first 
gathering. The present year is one of the latest owing to the severe 
frosts of Whitsuntide which destroyed fully a fortnight’s crop of berries. 
—F. Lovel, F.R.Met.Soc., Driffield . 
PRIMULA IMPERIALIS. 
At the last meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society at West¬ 
minster, specimens of the above named interesting Primula were 
exhibited, and we this w r eek call again the attention of our readers to 
the plant by means of the woodcut (fig. 1) and a fuller note. The 
plant seems to be the same as that referred to by Mr. Dewar in 
this Journal a few years ago, when his careful and exhaustive review 
of the genus Primula was published. He described it under the name 
of P. prolifera as follows :— 
“ As yet this is a novelty, having been introduced only two or three 
years ago, along with other seeds sent from the Sikkim Himalayas by 
Mr. Elwes, and raised by the late Mr. I. A. Henry of Edinburgh. The 
first batch of plants from the home-grown seed has come into the hands 
of the Messrs. Yeitch, a number of which we saw planted out in their 
nursery at Coombe Wood last year (1885). The plants were small and 
apparently suffering from being too far south, as those at Edinburgh 
from the same seed were as large again and flowering most profusely. It 
will no doubt be much sought after when plants become more rife, and 
we hope to see it play a prominent part in the hands of the hybridiser. 
It belongs to the whorlei-flowered set, and although the European kinds 
are most desirable in rockeries, they would be more desirable had they 
from four to six times the quantity of flowers as the present plant has. 
It is likely also to prove the hardiest of the whorlei set, as it comes from 
a very high elevation, and therefore better able to stand our winters 
than japonica, verticillata, or Boveana. P. Kaufmanniana, Regel , is 
said to have two or three tiers of whorls ; we have not, however, seen it 
with more than one. It requires a rich soil in a partly shady position. 
The leaves coming from a short stem are from 6 to 16 inches long, 
oblong, running into a broad-winged petiole, irregularly toothed, and ' 
the under side covered with a straw-coloured meal. The flower stem is 
from 1 to 2 feet in height, with five or six whorls of sweetly scented 
flowers, pale golden yePow, from a half to an inch in diameter, each 
whorl containing about a dozen flowers surrounded by narrow acuminate 
bracts. It commences to flower in June, continuing until August. It 
inhabits the loftiest mountains of Java, from 8000 to 9000 feet elevation. 
Syn., P. imperialis, Jungli; Cankrienia chrysantha, De Vriexe .” 
FIG-. 1.—PRIMULA IMPERIALIS (Plant greatly reduced). 
The tall habit of this Primula is somewhat against its horticultural 
popularity, but if a cross could be obtained between it and P. japonica 
it is possible a race of distinct and useful plants might be secured. 
PROLONGING THE SUPPLY OF HARDY FRUITS. 
[First prize essay by Mr. A. Wright, Devonhurst, Chiswick, Chiswick Gardeners’ 
Association.] 
The importance of prolonging the supply of hardy fruits cannot be 
over-estimated where fresh supplies are in demand for home consumption. 
Each year increases our knowledge of the value of fresh fruit as food for 
man, and hence the gardener is called upon to supply, not only fruit in 
greater abundance, but in greater variety, and continued over a longer 
season. This is no easy task when the numerous enemies the girdener 
has to contend against are taken into consideration. Birds are some of 
the greatest pests that attack ripe fruits, but we must not on th's account 
destroy our feathered songsters, as they amply repay us for their share 
of the fruit by their song and the destruction of insects. Instead, then, 
of destroying the birds, we rather try to keep them at bay when the fruit is 
ripe, and for this purpose various methods are tried. Old herring ne’3 
are largely used, and when properly employed are a great protection. 
The birds are sure, however, to effect an entrance in time, and it is 
