506 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ June 20 ,1889. 
fruit has to be gathered, and if the stakes are forthcoming, and an 
additional lengthand width of netting allowed, the better plan would be to 
fix the netting 5 feet from the ground, or sufficiently high for any¬ 
one to walk under and gather the crops. The finer or lighter nets 
are the cheapest and best in the end, and these should be bought “ on 
the square,” and not by the “ running yard,” with corded ends. They 
-can be had from the principal vendors of almost any size, and it will 
be found that one large net answers better than several small ones for 
•covering large breadths of Strawberries, and subsequently fruit bushes. 
Where extra large quantities of Strawberries are grown a gun is the 
best preventive of birds, and this m ust be used very early in the morn¬ 
ing as well as late in the evening. 
Gathering and Marketing Strawberries. —Should we have 
.plenty of sunshine and dry weather during the next month Straw¬ 
berries will be most abundant, and a good sale not always be effected. 
Freshness is everything, always provided the samples are equal, and 
■those who can put them into the market fresh and sound will effect the 
readiest sale and command the best prices. The cooler they are when 
gathered, and the less they are handled, the better they will keep. 
Instead, therefore, of gathering the fruit overnight and packing in large 
baskets, gather early in the morning and pack in small punnets or 
baskets, placing these in larger boxes, and sending straight to the 
markets, shops, or private customers as the case may be. Small punnets, 
■each holding 1 lb. of fruit, can be bought wonderfully cheap, and the 
light cross-handled baskets that hold 2 lbs. or more of fruit are propor¬ 
tionately cheap. They help to sell the fruit, and are not often used a 
second time. In filling these place a few leaves in the bottom, and then 
carefully and neatly pack the fruit, finishing off flatly and with some 
-of the best Strawberries. Cover with more young leaves, and pack in 
shallow square boxes, the lids of which fit closely on to the punnets. 
They will travel well by cart or rail. All fruit intended for dessert 
purposes should be gathered with a footstalk, but those for preserving 
ought to be sent clear of these. Only sound firm fruit should be sent 
to the markets, and few or no small ones ought to be mixed with the 
best samples, or they will have the effect of lowering the prices. 
Strawberries in Private Gardens. —Connoisseurs are agreed 
that to have a Strawberry at its best it should be gathered and eaten 
■direct from the beds in the early part of the day, and the next best 
thing is to have quite fresh fruit for breakfast, fjnfortunately not a 
few owners of gardens are away from their country seats during the 
Strawberry season, and these therefore miss the deliciously cool and very 
refreshing fruit they might otherwise enjoy. There is nothing in most 
cases, however, to prevent their having a daily supply of Strawberries 
as long as they last, by post or rail. Light yet strong white deal boxes 
are the best for the purpose of sending by post, and a good size would 
be 12 inches long, 9 inches wide, ancl 2£ inches deep. If wanted they 
may be made longer and wider, and also sufficiently deep to hold two 
trays each with one layer of fruit, but as a rule two shallow boxes 
answer better than any more complicated arrangement, and on no 
account ought permanent divisions to be formed for each fruit. A shallow 
bed of either cotton wool or clean springy moss should be formed in 
each box or tray, this being covered with clean packing paper. Select 
the finest, firmest, and undamaged fruit, and enclose each in a flagged 
Strawberry leaf or a young Eed Currant leaf. All to be neatly, flatly, 
and closely packed in a single layer, nothing but the leaves dividing 
them. Cover with more of the soft leaves, then more paper, and finish 
■off with a layer of either cotton wool or perfectly clean moss. On this 
the lid should close rather tightly, and being duly fastened, but not 
with nails if it can be avoided, and properly labelled, nothing but extra 
rough treatment or an accident will prevent the fruit reaching its desti¬ 
nation in good condition. Strawberries being very porous are quickly 
tainted with the flavour of any scent or odour they come into contact 
with. Hence the use of clean boxes, and the necessity for avoiding 
using soap boxes. 
FRUIT FORCING. 
Peaches and Nectarines.— Early House .—The fruit will shortly 
be all gathered. Admit all the air possible day and night. If the roof 
lights are moveable take them off after the trees have had full ventila¬ 
tion for a fortnight, and keep the foliage free from insects by forcible 
-syringings; 3 ozs. of softsoap to the gallon of water will destroy red 
■spider. If scale be present use petroleum, adding a wineglassful to 
4 gallons of water, with which has been mixed half an ounce of soda 
and 4 ozs. of softsoap. They should be thoroughly dissolved, and keep 
the petroleum well mixed with the water during its application. Keep 
the borders well watered, affording liquid manure to weakly trees, 
which helps them to plump the buds, and mulch with short manure. Cut 
away the wood which has borne fruit to the shoot at the base intended 
to bear fruit next season unless such shoot is required for extension. If 
there be a superfluity of shoots remove them now ; they only keep 
light and air from the principal foliage and hinder cleansing operations. 
Keep laterals and any gross shoots closely stopped. 
Houses with Fruit Ripening .—Trees with the fruit ripening must 
■not be syringed, but moderate moisture should be maintained until the 
fruit is ripe ; even when ripe an arid atmosphere should be avoided, as 
it is highly prejudicial to the foliage. Water must also be given 
(liberally to the roots. Admit air abundantly. In gathering Peaches 
great care is necessary, as the least pressure makes a mark an:l spoils 
their appearance. A piece of wadding should be held in the hand and 
the fruit removed by gentle pressure, and then laid gently in a padded 
basket or tray. A cool and airy fruit room is the best place to keep 
Peaches and Nectarines in after they are gathered. 
Trees Swelling Their Crops .—Stoning being over, the trees will 
endure strong heat without fear of the fruit falling. Afford tepid 
liquid manure to the roots of trees carrying full crops and otherwise 
not too vigorous. Be careful in giving liquid manure to very vigorous 
trees, as it tends to over-luxuriance and may interfere with setting and 
stoning in the succeeding year. Still, liberal treatment is necessary, 
such as good surface mulchings and copious waterings every week or 
ten days in well drained borders. Syringe twice a day to keep down 
red spider, ventilate early, keep the temperature through the day at 
70° to 75° artificially, and 80° to 83° with sun heat, and close sufficiently 
early to increase it to 90°. This with plenty of moisture in the house will 
insure large fruit, and if care be taken to give ventilation before night¬ 
fall, and to increase it sufficiently early in the morning, all will be well ; 
but if a close and moist atmosphere be maintained with light tempera¬ 
ture the fruit, though large, will lack flavour or even have a musty 
taste, particularly if water hang for any length of time on the fruit 
after syringing. Keep the fruit with the apex to the light, laths across 
the trellis will admit of this being done, and clear away the leaves 
from the fruit, but do not cut them away if it can be avoided. When 
approaching ripening cease syringing, admit air freely, and 60° to G5° 
will be a sufficiently high temperature at night or artificially in the 
daytime unless it is wished to accelerate the ripening, when it should 
range from 70° to 75° with a rise of 10° from sun. 
Fruit Stoning .—Maintain a steady temperature of G0° to 65° at 
night, and 5° to i0° rise by day, with the usual advance of 5° to 10°, or 
even 15° at closing time from sun heat. Avoid a close atmosphere, and 
maintain as uniform a temperature and as equable a condition of mois¬ 
ture as practicable. Sudden fluctuations of temperature and cold 
draughts are very pernicious, and equally disastrous is insufficient water 
at the roots. Allow a moderate extension of growth during this trying 
time, and do not permit a great per-centage of fruit to stone that must 
be removed afterwards, but remove it in good time. A superfluity of 
fruit at stoning jeopardises the crop, and even if stoning takes place 
the fruit rarely finishes well, but falls off small and flavourless, and a 
failure another year may be anticipated. Stop gros3 shoots, or 
remove them altogether, so as to maintain an equal diffusion of growth 
throughout each individual tree. 
Late Houses .—Train the growths thinly, reserving a shoot at the 
base of the current bearing wood, and stop them on a level with 
or above the fruit at two or three leaves, and succeeding growths 
at a joint or two. Side growths on extensions not required for 
furnishing the trees may be stopped at an inch or two to form spurs, 
and by adding to the foliage will much encourage root action and 
benefit the fruit ; besides, these spurs usually set and swell fruit when 
the stronger growths on young trees do not. Thin the fruits to a few 
more than will be required for the crop, retaining the largest and best 
placed. There should not be more than one fruit to each foot of trellis, 
but a few more may be left now to meet casualties in stoning. Syringe 
twice daily, except on dull days. During the prevalence of dull weather 
an occasional syringing will be all that is necessary, as it does not 
answer to keep moisture hanging on the foliage ; indeed, the leaves 
should always be dry, or nearly so, before dark. Water inside borders 
fortnightly, and afford liquid manure to weakly trees. Mulch the 
borders with short manure, and keep it moist; mulching dry ground is 
of no use. 
Vines. —Late Houses, Thinning .—However pressing other matters 
may be, there must not be any delay in thinning late Grapes. In order 
to secure large and highly finished berries thin them well, especially in 
the interior of the bunches, leaving the larger-berried varieties, such as 
Gros Colman and Gros Guillaume, about an inch apart. The oval- 
berried varieties do not require so much room as the round ones, but all 
should be so thinned that they will have space for swelling fully with¬ 
out wedging, and yet be so close that when dished the bunch will retain, 
its form. Loose bunches that show the footstalks are not so pleasing 
in appearance as more compact bunches, however fine the berries may 
be. Black Morocco and other shy setters are often thin of berries, 
through the number of stoneless ones that must be removed. To guard 
against this no pains should be spared to get the wood ripe, and to 
fertilise the bunches when in flower with Black Hamburgh pollen. Not 
only is it necessary to thin the berries, but the bunches must be reduced 
to the number which their size and the condition of the Vines satisfy 
the grower will finish satisfactorily. If an error is made let it be on the 
safe side, as Vines that are overburdened never finish their fruit well, 
and it is inferior in keeping qualities. 
Watering .—The inside borders should be well supplied with tepid 
water, following, in the case of Vine3 that carry full crops and are in 
good but not too vigorous health, with thicker liquid manure, also in a 
tepid state, mulching with short material, which if kept moist will give 
out ammonia and attract the roots to the surface. To allow the border 
to get dry at the surface causes the roots to strike down in quest of 
moisture ; the crops then finish badly, the wood does not ripen well, and 
the consequence is the Vines start badly, the bunches curl, twist, and 
wither instead of elongating ; or if they escape that they are often 
spoiled through shanking. Neglect in watering borders that are well 
drained, as all Vine borders should be, and in mulching, especially where 
the Vines are carrying a heavy crop, is not only disastrous to the present 
crop, through encouraging attacks of red spider and premature ripening 
of the foliage, but injuriously affects next year’s crop of fruit. Outside 
borders will only need mulching, as the recent rains have moistened 
them well, but if dry a soaking of tepid liquid mannre should be given 
whenever necessary. 
