June, 1910. 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
flavor, plant strong, very hardy, and 
prolific, and can always be depended upon 
for a crop ; can be grown successfully in 
most soils and situations, and comes in 
very early, the fruit of this variety 
being one of the first in the 
market. ‘ 
Marguerite.—A well known and popular 
variety with very large conical or cocks- 
combe-shaped frn‘t which ripens very 
early; skin bright shining red, flesh 
white tinged with pink, firm, moderately 
juicy and sweet, but lacking ahigh flavor; 
plant robust, hardy, and bears: freely. 
This is a favorite kind, on account of its 
earliness and also becuse the fruit, being 
firti, carries well, 
Sir Paxton.—An 
English variety, with large roundish 
Joseph excellent 
berries ; skin bright glossy red ; firm rich, 
and highly flavored; plint strong and 
productive. 
King Edward VII.—Result of system - 
atic hybridizing of Royal Sovereign, and 
raiser claims to have produced a far 
superior berry; fruit extra large, deep 
vermilion, produced in bunches, well 
Heavy and constant 
cropper, bearing from September to May; 
in fact, it is an almost all-the-year-round 
strawberry. Flesh pure white, delicious 
pineapple flavor. Cannot be too highly 
recommended. 
Dr. Moree.—Raisers description :—‘A 
eplendid berry of the Creswell type, but 
larger, ‘better flavoured, and a heavier 
cropper. Last Spring I counted over 
200 formed berries (not 
blossoms) on one plant, and this same 
plant has fruited continuously ever since. 
clear of the ground. 
counting 
This is not an exceptional case, but 
simply one of many plants in the bed 
which I marked for indentification.’ 
— Picking and Marketing. — 
The state of maturity at which straw- 
berries can best be picked depends upon 
the market for which they are tended. 
Berries for local markets can be gathered 
in a much riper condition than fruit 
intended for shipping long distances. 
For Interstate markets strawberries must 
be gathered as soon as fully grown and 
colour well developed. The fruit is 
picked with stems on, into quart baskets 
or boxes, and carried to the packing shed 
on trays holding from 6 to 12 quarts. 
Good pickers cin do all the sorting and 
grading necessary as they gather the fruit. 
All small, inferior, and over-ripe berries 
should (under all circumstances) be 
rejected. . Pickers can also face each 
basket, thereby increasing the attractive- 
ness of the package. This is easily done 
while pickins by placins the last layer of 
berries stem ead ‘down. 
Berries should never be allowed to 
stand in the sun befure being packed in 
the crates. The fruit should be gather.d 
either in the early morning or in the cool 
of the evening, and not while heated with 
the sun. 
pick while damp, ant the fruit should mot 
be handled any more than is necessary, 
as, beins ten ler, it is easily injared.. 
’ 3 ’ ys J t 
The practive of branding each crate of 
Pp =) f 
fruit with the grower’s name, and the 
variety, in a neat design, is an excellent 
idea adopted by some groweis, This is 
an inexpensive form of advertisin, and 
helps to creat a demand for a grower’s 
product if his fruit is uniformly good and 
carefully picted. 
— Diseases. — 
Leaf-blight, Rust, Sunburn, and Mil lew 
are the most troublesome diseases with 
which we have to contend. The attacks 
of the fungus diseases appear at any time 
during the growing season, on the first 
synipton beings the formation of small 
purple spots, which gra‘ually increase in 
‘size until they are from an eight to a 
quarter of an inch in diameter. These 
spots change to a clear reddish-brown, — 
and become still lighter as the season 
advances, in some cises the entire leaf 
being so involved that it withers and falls 
off, thus denuding the piant of its foliage 
at the season, when itis most reqnired, 
and in many cases lessening the crop. 
The fungus is carried over winter by 
means of spores or by mycelia (represent- 
ing the vegetative portion of the parasite), 
Some varieties areeffected much more 
than others, and often to a greater extent 
on sandy thau only clay loam. 
Treatment.—Spray the plarts with 
Bordeaux mixture as soon. as they com- 
mence growing in the spring and follow 
this by a second spraying when the 
blossoms open. After the fruit is har- 
Care shoull be taken not to, 
19 
vested remove and destroy allold foliage; 
then spray the new growth at intervals 
for three weeks until two or three appli- 
cations have been made, 
Mildew appears on the berries as well as 
on the surface of the leives during the 
summer, the latter curling up and having 
the appearance of suffering fron want of 
water. «Tis disease, nywover is rarely 
serious,, 
~ Treatment,—Sulphur if scattered over the 
leaves aud between the plants, will 
generally suffice to keep thisin check, the 
‘fumes given off under the action of the 
suus rays having a prevention upon the 
growth of this fungus. 
Strawborrivs are frequently attacked by 
Intnute flies, varying in colour from green 
to vrown, black, andwhite. Saey appear 
at different svasons and cluster thickly on 
the plants, frou which they extract the 
juice and close up the spores with excreta, 
A spraying with stroas tubice> water, or 
~ soft soap and kerusens, will be found very 
effective, 
If caterpillars are troublesome, which 
they sometimes are in the early part of 
summer, dust the plants frequently with 
fiuely powdered lime and soot. Svot is 
more lasting in its effects than lime. If 
weevils or bectles nike heir appearance, 
work the ground weil, also dusting a litle 
lime over the plants an | ground. 
—‘Agricultural Gazeite’ of N\S.W. 
MY JEWELLER, 
GG. W. Cox, 
AND 
CLOCK REPAIRS. 
Good Work at Moderate Charges, 
Watches Cleaned from 2s. 6d. 
A well-selected stock of Watches and 
Jewellery at fair play prices. 
ITE 
1 Rundle Street, ,.oerost= .. 
And at 146 Rundle Street 
No 
