July 6, 1889. 
THE GARDENING WORLD- 
709 
as regards labour, &c. I am not bigoted, and do not 
claim that my system of raising runners is the best, but 
I do know that it was attended with good results, for 
some years ago we grew some of the finest “ Paxtons ” 
in 6-in. pots that I ever saw ; some of the fruit carried 
the palm at the Tunbridge ‘Wells show, and those of 
your readers who know anything of that exhibition will 
agree with me that the competition was very keen. 
In those days we only allowed our Strawberry beds 
to fruit three seasons, doing away with a portion 
annually, and planting, to keep up the stock, on 
heavily-manured ground, putting out the later-forced 
plants when ready. From beds so cultivated, strong and 
vigorous runners were plentiful, which is the main 
point in procuring a strong 
healthy batch of plants for 
forcing. About this time, 
or even earlier where the 
runners could be procured, 
we went over the bed, 
cutting as many as we de¬ 
sired of three varieties, viz., 
Keen’s Seedling, Vicom- 
tesse Hericart de Thury, and 
Sir Joseph Paxton, which we 
forced in the order named. 
I cut them ready for pot¬ 
ting with about an inch of 
stalk before and after the 
runner, potting them singly 
in 60’s, using soil composed 
of good loam and leaf-soil 
in equal proportions. After 
potting they were placed 
in a three-light box, given 
a good watering, well shaded 
from sunshine, and dewed 
overhead morning and 
evening with the syringe. 
In three weeks they were 
fit to transfer into their 
fruiting pots, 32’s. Of course 
they were not stood in the 
frame too thickly, neither 
was shading applied a day 
longer than was necessary ; 
air was given as soon as 
they were rooted, and they 
were gradually inured to 
having the lights off alto¬ 
gether before they received 
their final shift. 
The soil for potting was 
composed of rather heavy 
fibrous loam, a third part 
well-decayed manure, and a 
sprinkling of soot, the soil 
being rammed very firm. 
After potting they were 
stood in a good open position 
on an ash bottom, receiving 
a good soaking of water, 
and they were sprinkled over¬ 
head with a rose water-pot 
every evening, when not 
requiring water at the root, 
which should be very care¬ 
fully applied until active root 
formation takes place. As 
they grew and required 
more room they received it, 
pinching off all runners as 
they appeared. In the 
autumn when sunshine was 
less, they were stood in single 
rows at the sides of the 
kitchen-garden paths, placing boards under them if 
worms were likely to be troublesome, occasionally 
giving the plants a little clear lime water to dislodge 
any that had obtained ingress. When continuous rains 
set in they were laid on their sides to prevent them 
getting saturated. I think that the old system of 
stacking pot Strawberries during the winter is fast 
becoming obsolete. It is better to stand them in 
frames, plunging the Jots in ashes or some material as 
a protection against frost, and if severe weather sets in 
the lights can be covered with litter, giving them light 
and air on all favourable occasions.— Geo. Potts, Jun., 
Northiam. _ [ . i _ 
Gardening Engagements.— Mr. H. Rodman as 
gardener to W. E. Budgett, Esq., Stoke Lodge, Bristol ; 
and Mr. Charles Stewart as gardener at Havnes Park, 
Bedfordshire. 
Veronica Fairfieldiensis. 
VERONICA FAIRFIELDIENSIS. 
The parentage of this plant, which is said to be a new 
hybrid, is not exactly known at present, but Mr. 
George Thomson, of Knap Hill, Woking, to whom we 
are indebted for the specimen from which the ac¬ 
companying illustration was prepared, believes it to be 
between V. Lyalli and V. cataractse. The latter we 
should say, however, has had nothing to do with it, 
because its leaves are ovate-oblong or narrowly lanceo¬ 
late, and narrowed to a point, while its flowers are 
borne in axillary racemes. It is more probable that 
the seed parent was V. Ilulkeana pollinated with V. 
Lyalli. The flowers of V. Fairfieldiensis are borne in 
terminal panicles like those of V. Hulkeana, and are 
crowded in dense clusters terminating the main and 
side branches of the inflorescence ; they are also larger 
and more conspicuous than those of the last-named 
species, and white or tinted with pale pink in the 
throat similar to those of V. Lyalli. 
The branches of the inflorescence being much shorter 
than is the case in V. Hulkeana, renders the whole 
plant more effective and showy. The leaves are roundly 
ovate, crenate, petiolate, broad and blunt at the apex, 
deep green, and somewhat leathery. The stems are 
shrubby at present, about 18 ins. high, and the plant 
has been growing in the open border at Woking during 
the last two winters. It was raised from seed about 
three years ago. The hybrid was raised by Mr. Wm. 
Martin, Fairfield, DunediD, Otago, Hew Zealand. 
Some specimens were exhibited by Mr. Thomson at 
the Temple Show, held on the 30th and 31st May, 
when the Floral Committee of the Royal Horticultural 
Society awarded it a First Class Certificate. 
THE TULIP TREE. 
Amongst the numerous forest trees appertaining to the 
new world the Tulip tree is not one of the least important. 
Its native habitat is chiefly in the United States of 
North America, but it is in the Western States where 
it seems to find its natural home, and where the finest and 
most luxuriant trees are seen. It is also found in a 
small portion of Canada, but not in aDy abundance. 
H. B. Small, in his work 
on Canadian Forests, Ac., 
Montreal, 1884, says “ that 
the tree is by no means 
common, and annually be¬ 
coming scarcer ; it seems to 
be confined, with the excep¬ 
tion of a straggler here and 
there, to that portion of 
Ontario bordering on Lake 
Erie and the Niagara dis¬ 
trict.” Its beautiful foliage 
and flowers, the regular sym¬ 
metry of its wide-spreading 
branches, and the perfect 
straightness and uniform 
diameter of its trunk for 
upwards of 40 ft. entitles it 
to be considered one of the 
most magnificent trees of 
the temperate zones. Trust¬ 
worthy authorities in de¬ 
scribing this tree in its 
home give the average 
height at from 70 ft. to 100 
ft., and the diameter of the 
trunk as varying from 18 
ins. to 3 ft. In Kentucky, 
trees have been found the 
trunks of which were from 
15 ft. to 16 ft. in circum¬ 
ference, and at three and a 
half miles from Louisville, 
a tree at 5 ft. from the 
ground measured 22 ft. 
6 ins. in circumference, its 
height being from 120 ft. 
to 140 ft. Catesby, in his 
Natural History of Carolina, 
says there are some trees 
in America which are 30 ft. 
in circumference. Until 
the tree is about 7 ins. 
or 8 ins. in diameter the 
bark is smooth and even, 
but as it increases in size 
it begins to crack and be¬ 
comes more and more rugged 
according to its age. When 
old, the tree is deeply 
furrowed longitudinally, 
giving it the appearance 
almost of a fluted column. 
Loudon mentions three 
varieties of the Tulip tree, 
viz., Liriodendron tulipifera 
obtusiloba, obtuse - lobed, 
yellow wood or yellow Pop¬ 
lar ; L. t. acutifolia, smaller 
leaves ; and L. t. flava, with 
its common names, such 
as the Poplar ; the White- 
wood, from the colour of its timber; Canoe- 
wood, from the use to which it was applied by native 
Indians ; Tulip tree, from its Tulip-like flowers ; and 
Saddle tree, from the form of its leaves. There is also 
a golden variety, called Amcena in British catalogues. 
The flowers are large and brilliant, with a very pleasant 
odour, and are produced at the ends of the branches, 
the petals—of which there are six, three within and 
three without—being of different shades of colour, 
green, yellow, and orange—yellow predominating. 
These with their foilage produce a fine effect, and in 
their season are gathered and sold in the streets of New 
York by women and children. Its date of introduction 
into Europe is rather uncertain. Evelyn, speaking of 
it, says :—“They have a Poplar in Virginia of a very 
peculiar-shaped leaf, which grows well with the curious 
