June 22, 1895. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
675 
For Present and Later Sowing 
THE THREE BEST WALLFLOWERS 
ARK 
Dicksons’ Golden Beauty. 
Dicksons’ Selected Dark Red. 
Dicksons’ Primrose Dame. 
Per Packet 6d. and Is. Free by Post. 
Choice Mixed Double Wallflower, Myosotis, 
Silenes, &c., &c. 
For prices and all other particulars see our Illustrated 
Catalogue, free on application. 
nipifcnuc SEED growers, nuncTCD 
UllmdUNd NURSERYMEN, &c. UHtO I till 
SINGLE BEGONIA 
SHOW. 
H. J. Jones respectfully invites all Begonia 
growers (both private and trade) to inspect his show 
of Begonias, which is admitted by all who have seen 
them to be the finest display in the country. 
RYECROFT NURSERY, 
Hither Green, Lewisham. 
Carnations! Carnations ! 
Carnations! 
The Choicest Varieties in Cultivation, from the 
late Air. Dodwell's Garden, 
FROM 6s. PER DOZEN, UPWARDS. 
DESCRIPTIVE LIST ON APPLICATION TO— 
ARTHUR MEDHURST, 
THE COTTAGE, STANLEY ROAD, OXFORD. 
FLORISTS’ FLOWERS 
AND 
HARDY BORDER PLANTS. 
-O- 
FORBES’ ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUE 
for 1893 is now ready, and will be posted to all intending 
Purchasers. 
The new Catalogue for 1895 is enlarged to about 150 pages 
and very materially improved, embracing everything new and 
old worth cultivating in the way of Florists’ Flowers and 
Hardy Plants with accurate description and prices, copious 
notes as to their origin, how, and where best to grow, a full 
index of tho common or popular names of Hardy Border 
Plants and a vast mass of other valuable information that 
cannot be had elsewhere, which renders this the best, most 
reliable, and complete catalogue ever issued on this popular 
class of plants. 
JOHN FORBES, Nurseryman, Hawick, Scotland. 
FERNS SPECIALITY. 
A MAGNIFICENT STOCK IN IMMENSE VARIETY. 
Catalogue (No. 40 ) Free on Application. 
W. & J. BIRKENHEAD, F.R.H.S., 
Fern Nurseries, Sale, near Manchester. 
ORCHIDS. 
Clean Healthy Plants at Low Prices. 
Always worth a visit of inspection. Kindly send for Catalogue. 
JAMES CYPHER, 
Exotic Nurseries, CHELTENHAM. 
SCALE OF CHARGES FOR ADVERTISEMENTS. 
Small Advertisements, solid type, 6d. per line of about nine 
words. Displayed Advertisements, per inch, 6s.; per column 
(12 ins. long), £3 5s.; per half-page, £5 ; per page, £9. Special 
quotations given for a series. Gardeners and others Wanting 
Situations thirty words for is. 6d., prepaid. 
INSECTICIDES. 
AN UNHAPPY EXPERIENCE AND ITS REMEDY. 
We have sold LEMON OIL many years, but we did not 
use it in our own nurseries largely, fearing it was too costly 
for use on a large scale. We relied on home-made mixtures 
of Petroleum, Quassia Chips, Softsoap, &c. Our experience 
with these was an unhappy one. If the preparations (and 
we tried these articles according to many recipes) were 
made strong enough to kill the insects and eggs, they also 
killed, sooner or later, foliage or wood, and to be safe we 
had to reduce the strength, with the result that the plants or 
trees required frequent dressings at a large cost for work¬ 
people’s time. We ultimately tried LEMON OIL, and on 
15 acres of Fruit trees and 4% acres of glass houses upwards 
of- £35 was saved in wages and cost of insecticides in a 
season, and the stock cleaner than it had been before. Any 
fruit grower wanting a good dressing for Fruit trees outside, 
gardeners or amateurs wanting to clear Vines, Peaches, 
stove or other plants of Bug, Thrips, Scale, or Fly should 
give this preparation atrial. It has been before the public 
nearly 7 years, and is still unsurpassed for quality or price. 
Pints, is. iod.; quarts, 3s. 3d.; half gallon, 5s. gd., post 
free. Cheaper in larger quantities or with carriage forward. 
Send for Circular. 
CLIBRAN’S 
Oldfield Nurseries, ALTRINCHAM. 
Or 10 & 12, Market Street, Manchester. 
THE NEW EARLY STRAWBERRY FOR 189S. 
“ Stevens’ Wonder." 
The earliest variety in cultivation and very prolific, 
solid fruit, good flavour, high perfume. 
Awarded First-class Certificates, Royal Horti¬ 
cultural Society and Royal Botanic Society, 1895. 
See Gardeners' Chronicle, March 2 ; Journal of Horti¬ 
culture, March 14 ; and The Garden, March 16. 
Having purchased the whole of the stock ot this 
grand new early Strawberry from the raiser, we have 
pleasure in offering it as follows :— 
Strong plants in pots, £5 per 100 ; 15/- per doz. 
,, Runners, £3 per 100 ; 9/- per doz. 
Ready for Delivery Early in July. 
Early Orders requested as stock is limited. 
Further particulars upon application 
WM. CUTBUSH & SON, 
Highgate Nurseries, London, and Barnet, Herts. 
For index to Contents see page 686. 
" Gardening Is the purest of hnman pleasures, and the greatest 
refreshment to the spirit of man "— Bacon. 
variety they can get until iheir plantations 
are made up of a host of good, bad 
and indifferent sorts. Even after they have 
tried them for many years in different 
parts, it may be, of a large garden, 
they still persist in retaining all, as if 
loth to part with a friend whose acquain¬ 
tance they mean to maintain at all hazards 
and for all time. This is a crying evil in 
many a garden, and which should be 
remedied at the earliest possible oppor¬ 
tunity compatible with convenience. It is 
bad cultivation, and worse than waste of 
time, to cumber the ground with sorts that 
have once for all been proved will give no 
adequate return for the time, labour, and 
space accorded them. A variety that has 
been proved useless in one garden may be 
excellent in another ; hence the necessity 
for every gardener to test what varieties 
will recoup him for his trouble in the soil 
at his command. For instance, Dr. Hogg 
is admitted by all to produce fruits of 
excellent flavour ; but in certain soils it is 
a worthless cropper ; therefore it should be 
discarded except where it succeeds. The 
choice amongst old as well as modern 
varieties is almost unlimited. 
Edited by J. FRASER, F.L.S. 
SATURDAY , JUNE 22nd, 1895. 
NEXT WEEK’S ENGAGEMENTS. 
Tuesday, June 25th.—Opening day of the Royal Agricultural 
Society s Show at Darlington. 
Royal Horticultural Society ; Meeting of Committees at 12 
o'clock. 
Cowes (Isle of Wight) Rose Show. 
Wednesday, June 26th.—Auction Sale of the Broomfield Col¬ 
lection of Established Orchids by Messrs. Protheioe & 
Morris. 
Thursday, June 27th.—National Rose Society's Show at 
Gloucester. 
Conclusion of Orchid Sale at Broomfield. 
Friday, June 28th.—Exeter Flower Show. 
Sale of Orchids at Protheroe & Morris' Rooms. 
Saturday, June 29th.—Windsor Rose Show. 
f ULTIVATION OF STRAWBERRIES N EW 
and Old.— Looking back for a period 
of thirty years, we take it for granted that 
most gardeners will agree with us that 
more changes and improvements have been 
accomplished amongst Strawberries than 
in any other class of hardy fruit. At the 
same time it is our opinion that the 
raisers of new varieties are more active in 
their particular line of business than are 
the growers or cultivators of the plants. 
While the thanks of the whole community 
are due to the former we do not in the 
least ignore the achievements of the latter, 
and which in some cases are worthy of all 
praise. Still, there is ample room for a 
more general adoption of the principles of 
high cultivation that are being carried on 
by the few with so marked success. We 
refer to some of the leading growers for 
market, and to a few gardeners in private 
establishments, who make a special feature 
of Strawberry culture in the gardens under 
their control. This need not apply to culti¬ 
vation on an extensive scale, but rather to 
intensive or high cultivation of even the 
smallest quantity grown, on the principle 
that “ what is worth doing is worth doing 
well.” By adopting methods of good culti¬ 
vation and the selection of varieties suit¬ 
able to the soil of any particular garden, 
better crops would be obtainable from a 
given area of ground than when hap-hazard 
methods are pursued. 
Good gardeners make their new planta¬ 
tions for the principal supply of standard 
and well-tested varieties upon which they 
can depend, while every new variety which 
they obtain is planted in moderate quantity 
till its capabilities are proved. Others 
there are, however, who plant every new 
Equally important to good cultivation is 
the trenching and heavy manuring of land 
intended for plantations. Retentive soils, 
such as are known amongst geologists as 
brick earth, are better adapted for the pro¬ 
duction of heavy crops of Strawberries 
than are those of a sandy nature. Never¬ 
theless, some growers obtain marvellous 
crops from rich alluvial silt that to the 
naked eye appears little else than sand. 
Well made farmyard manure and good 
tilth have much to do with the good results 
obtainable. Contemporaneous with this 
fact, it must be borne in mind that planta¬ 
tions on light soils are of very short dura¬ 
tion. Mr.' Norman, gardener to the 
Marquis of Salisbury, Hatfield, finds it 
necessary to make a fresh plantation every 
year, and to trench the old one after the 
harvesting of one crop only from it. Those 
who are favoured with more substantial 
and retentive soils allow their plantations 
to bear for a variable number of years 
before destroying them. Many old culti¬ 
vators boast of obtaining satisfactory 
harvests from plants that may have been 
from six to ten or twelve years old. Crops 
that repaid the owners twenty or thirty 
years ago will not give satisfactory re¬ 
muneration at the present day. Even 
where the soil is exceedingly fertile, the 
duration of a plantation should be limited 
to three years at the utmost. The crops 
obtainable during the first three years will 
be heavier, and the fruits of better average 
size, than daring any subsequent period. 
This fact should be borne in mind even by 
those whose soils are perfectly adapted for 
the growth of Strawberries. We referred 
to mulching and irrigation in last week’s 
issue, and still maintain that it would pay 
to adopt some means whereby plantations 
could be heavily watered during May and 
June, in any season when drought pre¬ 
vails. 
In the space at our disposal we can only 
make a brief reference to some features of 
old and new varieties. Amongst very old 
sorts Black Prince and Carolina or Old 
Scarlet are still cultivated for their earli¬ 
ness, but more particularly on account of 
their good flavour and general suitability 
for preserving. Myatt’s Seedling is seldom 
or never heard of now although it used to be 
highly esteemed for its large and late fruits, 
not only in the garden of the squire but also 
in that of the cottager. Many others have 
been discarded and forgutten in the same 
way before the influx of more modern im¬ 
provements. British Queen, Keen’s Seed- 
