348 
THE HARDENING WORLD. 
April 29, 1905. 
Abutilons. 
Few plants can be more strongly recommended for blooming 
in greenhouses and conservatories throughout the spring, 
summer and autumn, and the winter, than these. Those who 
have not got any plants I advise to get a packet of mixed 
seeds; from this many plants may be obtained, and, in all pro¬ 
bability, good varieties. The cultivation of these plants is 
simple; cuttings strike very freely with a little bottom heat 
in winter and early spring, and in the summer they can be 
easily rooted in a close frame. They may be inserted singly 
in small pots, or by numbers in larger pots. As soon as the 
cuttings have formed root they should be potted in a compost 
of loam, leaf-soil, and decayed manure. The plants can be 
flowered in 5-in. or 6-in. pots, but if specimens are required, 
they should be grown up to 8-in. or 10-in. pots. Good drainage 
at all times is the chief point to> success. After potting, the 
plants should be kept in a, close atmosphere for a few days. 
In summer a cool house will suit them best, but in winter they 
require a little heat.. 
The flowers are veay hardy and do not damp off in cold, 
moist weather, like most of our flowering plants do. The 
plants, too, are not so liable to become infested with insects, 
and that save® a lot of trouble and expense. If the plants are 
planted out they can be allowed to grow unchecked over the 
wires or trellis, but if grown in pots they should be pinched 
and kept to' bushy plants; they will bloom almost at each 
joint, and often in clusters. After the old plants have finished 
flowering, they should be cut down almost to the soil ; as 
growth commences it can be trained as required. Plants that 
have been blooming throughout the summer will have their 
pots filled with roots by the autumn and will not make so 
strong growth as late-rooted plants do. It is best to' have a 
batch of later-rooted ones so that you can maintain a. good 
supply of their useful bell-shaped flowers all the winter. 
Brackland. W. J. Welch. 
Perpetual Strawberries in Pots. 
I suppose there are very few gardens of any repute in which 
the perpetual Strawberry is not. represented, and deservedly 
so, as if they are properly managed they may be 1 depended on 
to supply many dishes of fruit of high quality at a, time when 
they are sure to be appreciated ; but, as far as my experience 
goes, I have seldom seen them grown to anything like pgr 
fection when planted in the open ground, as they generally are. 
There are several reasons to account for this; first, of all, it. 
must be remembered that in the latter end of the season, when 
these fruits begin to ripen, we generally experience much more 
wet weather than when the main crop is ripening earlier in the 
summer, consequently the conditions are more favourable to 
slugs, and these depredators generally manage to spoil the best 
fruit. Then, again, it is a well-known fact that ripening fruits 
should not have much water, or, at any rate, not more than is 
barely needed, or the flavour will be impaired. Therefore it 
naturally follows that the flavour of late Strawberries grown 
in the open, instead of being full and luscious, is generally poor 
and watery. I would therefore recommend my plan of grow¬ 
ing them in pots so> that they can be fruited under cover! 
In August a number of 3-in. pots should be got ready In the 
same way as for the forcing varieties, filling them with good 
stiff loam, putting a little rubble from the same at the bottom 
for drainage, press Ann, and peg down the best runners in the 
usual way, keeping them well watered until rooted. When 
well rooted they should be cut away from the parent plant and 
stood together in a. batch on a layer of ashes. Fill m between 
the pots with sifted ashes or spent tan, and on the approach 
of frost cover the rims of the pots entirely to prevent them 
being cracked. As soon as the plants begin to move in spring 
they should be put- into their fruiting pots (6 in.), using the 
same compost as before, with the addition of a. little soot and 
a. good sprinkling of some other fertiliser. The pots should 
be. well clocked and the soil well rammed with the potting 
stick. After potting plunge to the rims'of the pots in the 
same material as before, arranging them so. that they may be 
conveniently inspected as regards water, and on no account 
allow them to suffer for want of water. Keep all runners 
picked off, also flower-trusses up to a. given time, which the 
cultivator himself must determine, but a. period of from ertht 
to ten weeks should be allowed them to come to maturity. 
During the time the fruits are swelling the plants should have 
occasional applications of liquid manure, but must be discon¬ 
tinued when colouring commences. 
When the first fruits are fully developed, before if need be. 
the plants should be transferred to a cool pit or house where 
they can have full ventilation night and day, keeping them as 
near the glass as possible. If the former structure is chosen, 
a piece of netting should be spread over the entire pit to. ward 
off the attacks of birds. The lights should be tilted back and 
front, and in bright weather they may be removed altogether 
by day. 
If a house is used, a piece of netting should be hung along 
the front “ inside” and the plants stood on the front stage near 
the glass. There are several very fine varieties in this section, 
but perhaps the pick of them is : St. Joseph, Jeanne d'Arc' 
Oregon, and St, Antoine de Padoue, the latter being of excep¬ 
tional merit, Fragaria. 
The Glastonbury Thorn. 
ri Crataegus Oxycantha praecox, the Glastonbury or Holv 
Thorn, which names are the most common, especially the last- 
mentioned, in Somersetshire', does not. seem to be so common 
as one would imagine, nor so much heard of as it. deserves to 
be. Perhaps these few remarks which I am about to pen will 
be of great interest to readers of the “ G. W.” Not only that, 
but they may serve to enlighten them of the different opinions 
that are held on it by some people. Tradition tells us it first 
originated by Joseph of Arimathea when on a visit to Glaston¬ 
bury planting his staff at Weary-all-Hill, near that town, and 
here it is said to have taken root. It goes on to tell us that 
a non-follower of his cut it. down, but. after that the mutilated 
trunk flourished, and so it seems to be held to this day that 
this is the origin of it. To see it growing, there does not seem 
to be anything very striking about it, and to one who had not 
heard of it or seen it, it would pass as quite a commonplace 
variety. Its beauty lies chiefly in its blooming at a rather dull 
period of the. year. Excepting the weather should be excep¬ 
tionally hard, it can be seen in bloom in the dead of winter. 
If the weather is against it, the buds generally develop, but 
do not always fully expand. I myself once knew of several 
quite, near my home; in fact, one. small one. was flourishino- at 
the bottom of the garden. I am first, of all going to o-iv e a 
few details of two. larger ones. One of them looked to be of 
very great age. by its half-decayed trunk and very straggling 
top ; and the other, not far distant, is said to have been a bud 
taken from it. But. alas! the owner here had them removed, 
for the exact reason I do. not know. Perhaps he regarded the 
origin of the. Holy Thorn a. small matter, or that he°want.ed to. 
save both the. trees and his property from wanton destruction. 
They were held in great regard by all that, knew of them in 
the neighbourhood, especially as they were always said to come 
into full bloom at. midnight on old Christmas Eve, and it was 
always supposed that should one cut. them at that hour they 
would bleed freely. People who had heard of them some way 
distant would try and make an effort, to come and see them at 
that time. I heard they used to. come in brake-loads, but I 
never myself stopped up at that late hour to see either this 
curious legend fulfilled or the. number of people that used to. 
make the journey to see them. There was always evidence of 
this the next, morning to see the banks torn about and the 
trees nearly devoid of their respective tops, as the people liked 
to have some memento to cany away with them, and it was 
generally in the shape of a flowering branch or spray. At the 
time they were rooted up it was freely discussed in the neigh¬ 
bourhood that this was the cause of it. People living in the 
district, especially those'who 1 had known them for a consider¬ 
able time, were rather disappointed at their being removed 
