JULY. 
147 
have taken root. I have noticed Cauliflowers, planted in shallow-dug ground all 
button off in dry weather, whilst the same plants in trenched ground came to 
great perfection; and what is true of Cauliflowers, is more or less true of every 
crop which comes under the gardener’s supervision. 
John Cox. 
FAILURE OF THE STRAWBERRY CROP. 
The remarkable failure of the Strawberry crop, which has occurred in the 
present season to an unusual extent, is not easily accounted for; even 
experienced cultivators appear to have only vague conjectures respecting it. 
We have visited places long celebrated for the production of Strawberries, near 
Isleworth and Brentford; as well as the extensive tracts of land which once 
belonged to the Monastery of Syon—land which had been well chosen for 
gardening purposes, for it is deep, rich, warm, with a good aspect, and is in 
short in every respect highly favourable for fruit trees and vegetables. Here 
are heavy crops of Pears on young trees, on middle-aged, and also on some 
above a hundred years old, which are yet healthy and vigorous, so'congenial is 
the soil to their growth. But as regards Strawberries, the crop even here is 
considered light., and in the case of certain kinds the failure is complete ; so 
much so, that upwards of an hundred acres in the above-mentioned locality have 
been dug up and the ground filled with other crops. There are two sorts of 
Strawberries, the names of which will become memorable ; one is Sir Harry 
(Underwood’s), the other is called Sir Charles Napier. Both were considered 
to be good, but latterly Sir Charles has become the greater favourite, and is 
planted most extensively. This spring the plants appeared healthy and 
vigorous ; but on an hundred acres there is no fruit. The blossoms were not 
killed by frost, for there were none to kill—no flower-scapes were produced ; 
nor could the failure be ascribed to bad soil, for there is none in that locality ; 
it cannot even be attributed to bad cultivation, for that is out of the question 
with such noted market gardeners as cultivate the land in this district. With 
their usual promptness and energy they dug down the Strawberry plants as 
soon as the absence of fructification was observed, and put in other crops. So 
much for the favourite Strawberry Sir Charles Napier. No variety, perhaps 
Keens’ Seedling not excepted, ever rose so rapidly in the estimation of 
extensive cultivators, and we believe none has so rapidly fallen. Whether it 
will again be grown to the same extent as it has been is a question which time 
must determine; a similar catastrophe may not occur again. 
In the meantime, however, attention is likely to be directed to Sir Harry. 
This sort we saw very fine in Mr. Myers’ ground ; the fruit measured upwards 
of 4 inches in circumference, and the crop was abundant. It is a good 
forcer, and continues in gathering for three weeks, the quality is likewise very 
good ; on the whole this variety is highly deserving of cultivation. 
Another sort, the Empress Eugenie, is large and bearing tolerably well; 
but it is too coarse in appearance, and not well-flavoured. 
Of other fruits Apples are a thin crop. Pears are very plentiful. Plum 
trees are surrounded with stakes, propping up the branches, which would 
otherwise be broken by the enormous quantity of fruit they are hearing. In 
short, with the exception of Apples and Strawberries, all kinds of fruits in 
these grounds are abundant; and the same remark applies to other districts 
in the vicinity of London, and also to Kent. 
We observed that the cultivation of Black Currants is greatly on the 
increase. One London house alone takes more than 50 tons. The variety 
preferred is the Black Naples. 
