THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, Maecii 16, 1858. 
362 
too ri ch nourish at, or too much water when growing, 
is apt to make main bud of a nice young plant 
divide into two three; but I never expect these 
horned or divid ■ buds to produce flower-trusses 
equal to the single t divided bud. Ripeness or ma¬ 
turity of the bud b. ng essential, in order to secure 
that ripeness early, when early^ forcing is contem¬ 
plated, X would again advise, for a part, at least, 
of the Black Prince and Keens, to be so used ; the 
placing them in four and five-inch pots, instead of 
those six or eight inches in diameter. I am speaking 
of placing only one plant in a pot. The larger the 
pot, other things being equal, the longer will it be 
before the maturing processes commence. 
3rd. General routine. — Here, I allude, first, to 
plunging the pots in a hotbed. In the case supposed 
by our correspondent, where the pots were at once 
filled from the open ground, it would be useful in pro¬ 
moting root action, but air must circulate back and 
front, to keep the top of the plants as cool as,possible. 
In unskilful hands, plunging suitably prepared plants 
in a hotbed, is apt to be dangerous, when the object is 
to remove them to a house to start early. It will be 
safer to place them in such a house at once, when shut 
up ; and thus the plants will be brought on gradually, 
with the Vines or Peaches, &c., in the house. Gar¬ 
deners, however, frequently bring forw T ard the first 
crop in a slight hotbed, and do the same with the suc¬ 
cessive crops. At all times, but especially before Fe¬ 
bruary, great care must be taken that the heat is free 
from steam, and not high (not more at the bottom of 
the pot than 65°), but regular; and before the plants 
are moved to a shelf, the plants should stand for a 
day or two, on the bed, instead of being plunged in it. 
For want of this attention, I have seen the roots in¬ 
jured by excess of heat; and the bud excited at one 
time, and starved and damped at another, becoming 
rotten, shrivelled, or cankered; so that you might have 
some fine leaves, and no flower-truss. When I did 
much in forwarding early Strawberries this way, so as 
to get them to catch the right temperature in houses, 
that would not be started for some time afterwards, I 
found it of importance to set the pots in the frame on 
tiles, slates, or boards,-whether afterwards they were 
covered round with the material in the bed or not. 
After the end of February, and the month of March, 
provided the heat in frames is not too strong, such 
precautions are not so necessary, as the natural flower¬ 
ing time is coming nearer. At an earlier period, the 
mere plunging in a moderate heat, and moderate 
moisture, without a hard standing medium for the 
pots to rest upon, is apt to encourage the mere growing, 
and to keep in abeyance the flowering principle. 
I have seen hundreds of pots thrown out as blind , 
showing no flower-trusses, because it was deemed need¬ 
less to trouble about such trifles as these, and the 
following respecting— 
4th. Moisture and dryness .—When the plants are 
in a state of rest, they should neither be wet nor dry, 
but nearer dry than soaking wet. When placed in a 
house ranging from 45° to 50°, they will not want 
watering often, unless the sun is powerful. If kept 
too dry, after excitement is given to growth, the bud 
will be dried up, and you may look for a flower-truss 
in vain. When watering, give enough to moisten all 
the ball moderately; but when this is done, let none 
stand in the saucer. If the water stands long in the 
saucer in dull weather, the flower-bud will be apt to 
become diseased by repletion. Use clean water en¬ 
tirely, until the flower-truss appears ; after that, clear 
manure water may frequently be used with advantage. 
Extra dryness then, before the flower-truss appears, 
will be apt to shrivel it up ; but, before that period, 
the soil, as a whole, should be dryish, not dry, rather 
than soaked with wet. Too much water, and pouring 
it over the collar of the plant, will induce an opposite 
evil. When growing freely, the Strawberry likes | 
abundance of water, and it will not set its fruit freely 
if very dry; but at no time, and especially in early 
forcing, will it long tolerate stagnant water. Water 
standing in their saucers has ruined thousands of pots 
of early Strawberries. To avoid this evil, I would 
advise the inexperienced to keep their pots on dry 
shelves, or placed on a little soil and moss, or set upon 
a layer of turf an inch deep, with its grassy side next 
the board, until, at least, they were coming into bloom. 
Though not so neat, yet for mere utility, I prefer the 
line of turf at all times. The top is made smooth and 
level, with a little fresh soil—the pots stand level upon 
it—there is no danger of extra moisture, as that passes 
away; there is little danger of extra dryness under 
ordinary care, as the turf will retain a considerable 
amount of moisture, and the roots will, ere long, begin 
to feed on it. The drip from it, however, would be 
unsuitable in many places where a shelf may be placed. 
After the berries are swelling, and have been thinned, 
if fine specimens are desired, water may be more freely 
given, and in sunny bright days a little water in the 
saucer will do no harm; but, as the fruit ripens, extra 
moisture must be avoided, if flavour is more desired 
than succulence. 
The general management having been so often given, 
I will content myself with detailing these minutiae, 
which, though theymay be smiled at, and despised by 
many, may yet, by a few, be deemed of sufficient 
importance to form the groundwork of a successful 
practice, and then I shall not have penned this article 
in vain. R. Fish. 
CALLS AT NURSERIES. 
MR. R. S. YATES, SALE, NEAR MANCHESTER, 
\ 
A nursery may, with truth, be denominated a 
school of gardening, where every gardener may learn, 
by observation, many of the methods by which the 
subjects of gardening are first raised, or trained to 
produce the objects aimed at in the shape of fruits, 
plants, flowers, or vegetables. Hence it is the duty 
of every writer, who has the opportunity of seeing 
these seminaries of horticulture and floriculture, to 
give to the gardening world his notes and observations 
on any matters he may see at such places. Much has 
been written on such matters by most of the writers 
in The Cottage Gardener ; and, if needful, examples 
might be quoted, on the same subject, in many 
other similar works. I need only mention, how¬ 
ever, that the late Mr. Loudon very frequently made 
a tour of the London nurseries, and recorded his re¬ 
marks in “ The Gardener’s Magazine,”—the first gar¬ 
dening periodical published in this country. Now, 
although it is all very well to tell of the doings in the 
nurseries round London, I think it is no less useful, 
and, I may add, fair, that the nurseries in the country 
should have some notice taken of them and their 
doings. I shall have an opportunity, in the course of 
this year, of seeing many in Lancashire; and hope, if J 
I am spared to do so, to give some brief notes on what 
I observe, that I think may be useful and interesting J 
to our readers. It so happens that the first I have j 
visited belongs to Mr. Yates, a gentleman well known | 
as a zealous lover, and ardent cultivator, of both plants 
and fruits ; and also as a dealer in fruit, and many 
other refreshments for the body, in St. Ann’s Square, 
Manchester. There our friend Mr. Beaton would see 
flowers, too, set out singly and in bouquets, that would 
call forth from him that felicitous praise, which I must 
confess I am unable so happily to bestow. His nur- 
