240 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
August 
there can be no doubt that the finest fruit by far 
will be obtained by this course of culture ; we think, 
however, that for heavy crops, on the average, two 
years old plants will excel them. At this period very 
strong runners should be selected, and they should 
be removed with great care, with a ball of earth, by 
means of the trowel, taking care that not a single 
fibre becomes dry during the operation: such extra 
care will make up for a fortnight’s procrastination. 
We would now offer some advice about choice of 
kinds; many new kinds have been introduced during 
the last seven years, but we fear but little real ad¬ 
vance can be reported as to either flavour or size. 
The best early berry still for general purposes is 
doubtless the Keens seedling; this is a universal fa¬ 
vourite, and where gardens are very limited indeed, 
and room can be found only for a small bed, this 
should alone or principally be selected. Next in 
order of ripening comes the Eliza, a valuable fruit; 
and then we would place next the British Queen. 
This is becoming as great a favourite as the “ Keen’s,” 
and deservedly so, for it has every good property. 
Lastly, the Elton, which follows up the series, and 
completes the list of summer strawberries. The 
latter kind, if planted about four feet from a wall on 
the north side, will continue in bearing a whole 
month after the other kinds have ceased. Those 
who grow these kinds, which are placed in the order 
of their ripening, will have no occasion to trouble 
themselves about new kinds; nevertheless, as many 
persons make a hobby of trying new sorts, one or 
two may be added to the stock yearly, not, however, 
with the intention of superseding the others, or for 
increased profit. 
The ground for the strawberry bed should be well 
dug and deep, and a reasonable amount of manure 
in a half rotten state dug in. Any soot which may 
be at hand may be strewn over the soil before dig¬ 
ging. Let every care be taken to keep the plants 
duly watered during the first three weeks, and when 
established, or towards the end of August, a good 
dose of liquid manure may be applied. 
Currants. —Those who desire very late fruit on 
their bushes, should cover some immediately. Ordi¬ 
nary garden mats will do well for the purpose, and 
before matting much of the superfluous summer 
shoots must be cut away, in order that the air may 
freely circulate through the fruit. The proper time 
to cover them is when they first assume a pink tint 
throughout the berry. 
Gooseberries. —These may be long preserved on 
the bush by timely covering. Only some kinds, how¬ 
ever, are thoroughly adapted for this purpose. Of 
course late kinds are eligible, but even amongst 
these there is much difference. We know of no 
kind equal, in this respect, to the Warrington, 
called in Cheshire and some parts of Lancashire 
the Aston seedling. We strongly advise our readers 
to plant this kind rather extensively: it is good for 
all purposes. B. Errington. 
THE FLOWER-GARDEN. 
NOTES OF A JOURNEY INTO PART OF 
HERTFORDSHIRE —( Continued). 
H. B. Ker, Esq. , the Swiss Cottage, Cheshunt.— 
In the cool of the evening we took a walk with a 
friend to visit this place. Our way led past the parish 
church, an ancient building of considerable size, sur¬ 
rounded with large elm-trees. Though situated on a 
rising ground, those trees give it a secluded appear¬ 
ance—appropriately quiet as the resting-place for 
the forefathers of the village. After we had passed 
the church a little way, we came to a lane on the 
right, which brought us in sight of a large square 
brick building, once moated for defensive purposes: 
it is situated in a large field, or so called park, and 
was, we were informed, built by Cardinal Wolsey, and 
had been the residence of the redoubtable Oliver 
Cromwell. Our road lay through this park to a se¬ 
cluded country lane, at the end of which stood a neat 
farm-house, with a tastefully-laid-out flower-garden 
in front. We were glad to observe the beds well- 
filled with flowers, and very neatly kept: we wisli we 
could say as much of every farm-garden in the king¬ 
dom. We inquired the nearest way to the “ Swis^ 
Cottage” of the farmer’s wife, and received a very 
courteous direction. Indeed, we expected a civil an¬ 
swer from the possessor of so pretty a garden. It is 
an axiom with us, seldom failing to prove true, that 
the cultivator or lover of flowers is a well-bred, civil 
person. Passing on our way, we arrived at Mr. Ker’s. 
The “ Swiss Cottage” is situated close to the road, but 
so completely hid from it with thick umbrageous trees, 
that one might pass by and never know either that 
so' beautiful a place was there, or, indeed, any place 
but a thick wood. We found a little gate, forming, 
apparently, a part of the paling-fence. Through this 
gate we obtained admittance ; and the moment we 
entered, had occasion for our note-book. The walk 
leading to the house is paved very neatly with small 
pebbles; and, as no kind of edging would grow, a row 
of neat bricks on each side formed the line of sepa¬ 
ration between the soil and the paved walk; by being 
set level, they were not offensive to the eye, nor incon¬ 
venient to the foot. In such situations this is the best 
kind of dry, clean, firm walk we ever noticed. The 
carriage entrance is further on the road; this is formed 
in the usual way with gravel. The walk we entered 
by brought us at once to the carriage front. We 
found the dwelling to be a good imitation of a Swiss 
cottage on a large scale. Broad solid wooden stairs 
lead up to the front door, which is level with a co¬ 
vered balcony, running round three sides of the dwell¬ 
ing, commanding beautiful views of a truly sylvan 
character. The flower-garden in front of the house 
is prettily laid out: the beds well filled with flowers, 
and a good rosery well furnished at the further end; 
this part was in good keeping. Here we met with 
the proprietor, a gentleman well-known as an enthu¬ 
siastic amateur gardener. He was so kind as to show 
us his collection of orchids, as yet in its infancy, yet 
we observed some nicely-cultivated specimens, and 
others in a growing state. There, in front of the 
vinery, a large lately-built structure, we were shown the 
new mode of growing peaches, without a wall and 
without a house, described and figured in our first 
volume, p. 228 . The method is yet almost untried, 
but Mr. Ker is sanguine (and from what we saw we 
think he has reason to be so,) in his expectations of 
its success. There is an example of it in the Horti¬ 
cultural Society’s garden at Chiswick. What is our 
friend Mr. Errington’s opinion of it? In Mr. Ker’s 
garden, root pruning of pears is being tried to some 
extent, and the trees appear to be forming blossom- 
buds abundantly. Unfortunately, the shades of night 
overtook us, and we were obliged to leave sooner than 
we liked. 
C. Warner, Esq., Hoddesden. —Mr. Ker was eo 
kind as to send his gardener the next morning with 
a conveyance, to take us to the three places men¬ 
tioned in our last. For this liberal act of kindness 
