June  24,  1897, 
JOURNAL  OF  FORT IfJULT URN  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
5(i9 
were  once  regarded  I  can  feel  the  greatness  of  the  change,  and 
decidedly  mark  this  as  another  sign  of  progress. 
As  we  pass  away  from  the  culture  under  glass  to  that  of  hardy  fruits 
in  the  open,  progress  seems  to  be  equally  great.  If  any  of  your  readers 
can  remember,  for  instance,  what  Strawberry  culture  was  in  the  early 
days  of  her  Majesty’s  reign,  and  compare  it  with  what  it  is  now,  they 
will  not  dissent  from  this  statement.  In  private  gardens  the  Strawberry 
beds  were  made  up  of  inferior  kinds,  for  all  the  good  varieties  now  in 
cultivation  were  unknown  then.  There  were  no  Paxtons,  Dr.  Hoggs, 
Presidents,  British  Queens,  Napiers,  or,  indeed,  any  of  the  fine  varieties 
on  which  we  now  depend.  The  beds  were  oftentimes  five,  six,  or  seven 
years  old,  the  runners  were  allowed  to  root  themselves  all  over  the  bed, 
and  after  fruiting  all  the  tops  were  cut  off  ;  but  now  in  the  best  culti¬ 
vated  gardens  they  are  almost  regarded  as  annuals,  the  beds  being 
renewed  every  year.  Where  this 
is  considered  too  troublesome 
I 
they  are  at  most  two  or  three 
years  old,  the  shoots  of  the  year 
being  cut  off,  and  consequently 
not  allowed  to  root,  and  the 
plant  kept  close  at  home.  But 
it  is  when  we  come  to  their  cul¬ 
tivation  for  market  that  we  see 
the  immense  change  that  has 
taken  place.  In  Kent,  around 
Swanley,  the  Crays,  and  other 
places  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Southampton,  and,  in  fact, 
wherever  soil  and  situation  are 
suitable,  hundreds  of  acres  are 
grown  of  this  delicious  fruit,  for 
which  there  seems  an  ever- 
increasing  demand.  That  this 
demand  is  of  large  dimensions 
may  be  gathered  from  the  fact 
that  in  a  good  Strawberry  season 
11  tons  have  been  sent  up  by  one 
grower  in  one  day  from  Swanley 
station,  and  that  Strawberry 
trains  are  run  to  the  great 
manufacturing  towns  of  the 
North  daily  during  the  season. 
It  need  hardly  be  said  that 
this  increased  growth  and  large 
produce  are  accompanied  by  high- 
class  cultivation,  while  the  pro¬ 
duction  of  new  sorts  both  early 
and  late  have  greatly  extended 
the  duration  of  the  season  ;  espe¬ 
cially  in  early  Strawberries  has 
this  been  the  case,  and  it  may 
well  be  anticipated  that  later 
varieties  still  further  prolonging 
the  season  will  reward  the  skill 
and  intelligence  of  our  hybridisers.  Of  course,  cultivation  like  thi 
is  good  for  all  concerned  ;  it  employs  a  large  amount  of  labour, 
for  machinery  is  unavailable  here,  and  in  the  picking  season  the 
fields  present  an  animated  appearance  owing  to  the  number  of 
women  employed  in  gathering  the  fruit.  We  must  remember  thai 
this  is  a  culture  in  which  we  are  not  very  likely  to  be  interfered 
with  by  foreign  growers. 
Bush  and  Orchard  Fruits. 
Again,  what  progress  has  been  made  in  the  culture  of  the  Black 
Currant.  It  may  not  perhaps  do  to  examine  too  closely  as  to  what 
becomes  of  all  the  Black  Currants  that  are  grown  ;  they  all,  however, 
seem  to  find  a  ready  market,  and  are  very  widely  cultivated.  One  of 
our  eminent  statesmen  suggested  the  growth  of  these  and  other  small 
fruits  for  the  purpose  of  jam  making,  as  a  remedy  for  agricultural 
distress.  Without  going  quite  so  far  as  that,  one  may  say  that  it  forms 
a  good  help  to  the  farmer  where  there  is  easy  access  to  railway  transit. 
I  have  known,  for  instance,  an  acre  to  bring  in  £70  or  £80,  and  this 
not  accompanied  with  much  expenditure  of  labour  ;  and  persons  wh0 
formerly  scoffed  at  the  idea  of  growing  such  things  are  now  eager  to 
take  up  this  industry. 
The  most  important,  however,  in  the  hardy  fruits  which  we  cultivate 
are  the  Apple,  the  Plum,  and  the  Pear  ;  and  here  again  we  must  notice 
the  great  improvement  that  has  taken  place  both  in  the  production  of 
newer  varieties  and  in  the  methods  of  cultivation.  Although  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  there  has  been  less  progress  in  these  fruits  than 
in  many  others,  yet  at  the  time  of  which  I  write  we  must  remember 
that  some  of  our  most  valued  kinds  were  not  in  existence.  There  were 
no  Cox’s  Orange  Pippins  and  other  choice  Apple,  and  no  Doyennh  du 
Comice  and  other  delicious  Pear  ;  still,  notwithstanding  the  numerous 
varieties  of  these  fruits  which  have  been  introduced  of  late  years,  thee 
are  many  long-established  favourites  which  have  not  been  ousted  from 
our  gardens.  _ 
The  introduction  of  the  system  of  growing  busl^  and  pyramid  trees, 
and  more  especially  the  cordon  system  of  training  introduced  from 
France,  has  to  a  great  extent 
revolutionised  our  gardens  as 
far  as  the  culture  of  these 
fruits  is  concerned,  and  to  see 
this  carried  out  in  its  perfec¬ 
tion  a  visit  to  Barham  Court, 
near  Maidstone,  would  show 
how  very  great  is  the  progress 
made  in  this  department  of 
fruit  culture. 
It  cannot,  however,  be  said 
that  generally  speaking  our 
orchards  show  any  decided 
marks  of  improvement.  Much 
attention  has  been  drawn  to  this 
subject  of  late,  and  a  visit  to 
any  of  our  orchards  will  fully 
confirm  the  itatements  which 
have  been  put  forward.  No 
attention  was  given  either  to 
the  sorts  cultivated  or  to  the 
trees  themselves.  They  were 
mostly  October  ripening  varie¬ 
ties,  which  would  not  keep, 
consequently  there  was  a  glut 
about  that  time  if  the  fruit 
crop  was  a  large  one,  and  then 
at  the  time  when  Apples  would 
have  fetched  a  good  price  we 
were  dependant  on  importa¬ 
tions  from  all  parts  of  the 
world.  There  is,  however,  ap¬ 
parently  a  change  for  the 
better.  Some  of  these  old  or¬ 
chards  are  being  remodelled, 
and  valuable  kinds  are  re¬ 
placing  the  old  and  compa¬ 
ratively  worthless  sorts,  and 
wherever  one  goes  amongst  the 
gardens  of  amateurs  we  find  that  carefully  selected  varieties  are 
grown  and  cultivated  with  great  care. 
Vegetables 
With  regard  to  vegetables,  in  some  respects  there  has  been  a  great 
improvement.  The  large  seed  establishments  which  have  sprung  up  all 
over  the  country  vie  with  one  another  in  catering  for  their  patrons,  and 
supply  what  was  in  former  days  a  difficult  matter — reliable  seeds  ;  but 
in  one  respect  I  do  not  think  we  can  congratulate  ourselves.  Exhibi¬ 
tions  have  encouraged  people  to  grow  large  produce,  and  it  has  been  the 
aim  of  seed  growers  to  obtain  such  varieties  the  superior  size  of  which 
might  recommend  them  to  the  judges;  but  this  size  is  obtained  in 
many  instances  by  deterioration  in  flavour.  Thus  we  have  Peas  with 
enormous  pods,  but  with  the  delicate  flavour  sacrificed  for  size ;  Onions, 
beautiful  in  shape  and  large,  but  with  a  great  deal  of  the  Spanish  and 
Tripoli  character  in  them,  so  that  their  pungency  is  reduced  to  a 
minimum  ;  while  Brussels  Sprouts,  whose  chief  meri'.  was  their  delicate 
flavour,  have  "been  so  increased  in  size  that  this  has  given  place  to 
coarseness.  It  is  the  same  with  most  other  vegetables,  aDd  while  no 
doubt  it  evidences  the  great  progress  which  has  been  made  in  the  direc¬ 
tion  which  hybridisers  have  marked  out  for  themselves,  it  seems  to 
Fig.  119. — Strawberry  La  Grosse  Sucree  ( page  556). 
