August  4,  1898 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTA  OF,  HARDENER. 
8] 
flavoured.  A  bed  of  it  proved  valuable  for  late  use.  Empress  of 
India,  Gunton  Park,  and  Lord  Suffield  proved  a  total  failure  in  the 
soil  described. 
I  am  looking  forward  to  the  two  new  varieties,  Fillbasket  and 
Mentmore,  and  hope  to  give  them  a  good  trial  next  season.  Any 
remarks  on  Strawberry  culture,  and  varieties  which  best  succeed  on 
heavy,  light,  wet,  or  dry  soils,  would  be  of  value  to  readers  of  the 
Journal  of  Horticulture. — Wji.  Jas.  Penton,  Bowden  House  Gardens , 
Chippenham. 
\  our  correspondent,  Mr.  Richards,  in  his  interesting  article  on 
Strawberry  culture  on  page  39,  invites  opinions  on  the  merits  of 
different  varieties  of  this  popular  fruit.  Circumstances  alter  cases,  and 
in  this  respect  private  gardeners  and  market  growers  have  to  look  at 
the  matter  from  different  standpoints.  Without  criticising  anv  of 
Mr.  Richards’  remarks,  or  differing  from  him  in  regard  to  the  flavour 
of  Sir  Joseph  Paxton  on  many  soils,  I  onlv  state  a  fact  when  saying 
that  it  is  still  one  of  the  varieties  on  which  the  Kentish  grower  pins 
his  faith.  Appearance  is,  perhaps,  the  first  thing  to  be  considered 
by  those  whose  office  it  is  to  supply  the  public,  and  this  is  why  such 
noble  looking  Grapes  as  Gro3  Colman,  for  instance,  are  purchased 
before  others  of  much  superior  quality. 
The  Kentish  fruit-grower  produces  Strawberries  for  the  million, 
and  the  million  do  not  seriously  consider  flavour  so  long  as  the  fruit 
is  fine  and  richly  coloured.  Here  Sir  Joseph  Paxton  scores,  and 
during  the  last  few  weeks  acres  of  this  variety  have  been  a  sight 
worth  seeing.  Again,  in  point  of  flavour  there  are  doubtless  many 
superior  to  the  old  favourite ;  but  on  Kentish  soil,  naturally  suitable 
for  Strawberry  culture,  the  quality  is  far  from  being  inferior,  and 
coupling  this  with  its  other  characteristics  the  Kentish  market  grower 
has  a  difficulty  in  finding  anything  to  profitably  supersede  his  well 
tried  Paxton. 
No  matter  how  good  a  Strawberrv  may  be  in  other  respects  it  is 
not  profitable  unless  it  travels  well,  and  here  Sir  Joseph  Paxton 
excels.  Not  only  are  tons  of  this  variety  placed  in  the  London 
markets  in  sound,  fresh  condition  every  day  during  the  season,  but 
train-loads  are  despatched  to  Manchester,  Liverpool,  Glasgow,  and  other 
great  centres  in  the  north.  Imagine  the  loss  to  the  grower  if  these 
arrive  in  an  unsaleable  condition !  It  is  a  question  of  pounds, 
shillings,  and  pence,  and  it  is  only  a  Strawberry  that  possesses  all  the 
necessary  attributes  and  is  superior  in  flavour  that  has  any  chance  of 
superseding  this  popular  variety  as  a  market  fruit. 
Your  correspondent  speaks  highly  of  Royal  Sovereign,  and  here 
probably  we  have  the  nearest  rival  to  the  variety  aforementioned. 
Perhaps  in  the  future  it  will  have  the  ascendancy,  as  many  acres  have 
recently  been  planted,  and  generally  market  growers  speak  well  of  it. 
It  is  early,  prolific,  and  of  good  constitution — all  points  in  its  favour. 
At  one  time  “  Paxton  ”  was  the  only  household  word  Strawberry  among 
Kentish  market  growers;  but  “Sovereign”  is  evidently  coming  to  the 
front.  Noble  is  grown  in  some  districts,  but  is  not  a  general  favourite. 
Dr.  Hogg,  the  variety  of  which  your  correspondent  speaks  so 
highly,  has  been  in  cultivation  so  long,  that  if  it  possessed  the  sime 
good  qualities  everywhere  as  it  does  at  Coldham  Hall,  it  would  now 
be  in  the  front  rank  of  Strawberries.  LTnfortunately,  however,  it  does 
not,  and  my  experience  of  it  on  rather  a  strong  soil  was  by  no  means 
satisfactory.  The  fruits  were  large  and  of  tine  flavour,  hut  they 
lacked  colour,  while  the  plant  was  a  poor  cropper,  and  only  an 
indifferent  grower.  Though  the  Kentish  grower  pins  his  faith  to  a 
few  well-tried  sorts,  he  is  generally  on  the  alert  to  supplement  his  list 
by  the  introduction  of  any  variety  likely  to  prove  profitable.  Had  Dr. 
Hogg  proved  a  full  and  reliable  cropper,  1  fancy  it  would  have  found 
its  way  into  Kentish  Strawberry  fields  long  before  this. — G.  H.  H. 
[Dr.  Hogg  is  essentially  a  garden  Strawberry,  and  where  it  succeeds 
is  one  of  the  best  in  cultivation.  We  have  had  most  satisfactory  crops 
by  planting  early  annually  in  rather  light  soil,  and  destroying  a  certain 
number  of  plants  after  the  second  crop.  We  have  seen  numbers  of 
selected  “Paxtons”  named  “Dr.  Hogg”  in  fruiterers’  windows,  and 
sold  for  extra  prices  accordingly  A 
A  Valuable  Station  for  Hamburg.  —  An  announcement 
has  been  made  that  it  is  the  intention  of  the  State  of  Hamburg  to  establish 
a  station  for  the  investigation  of  insects  and  contagious  funguses  inimical 
to  plant  life.  The  Director  of  the  establishment  is  Dr.  C.  Brick  of  the 
Botanical  Museum,  Hamburg  ;  and  the  Zoologist  Dr.  L.  Reh.  The 
chief  reason  for  the  establishment  of  the  station  was  the  continual 
examination  at  the  port  of  Hamburg  of  imported  fruit  from  the  United 
States  of  America  suspected  of  infestation  by  the  San  Jose  scale.  The 
station  will  further  watch  the  importations  of  living  plants  from  abroad, 
in  reference  to  phylloxera,  and  other  important  objects  of  its  mission  will 
be  the  combating  of  all  sorts  of  plant  diseases,  also  the  inspection  of  the 
schools  for  viticulture,  of  Vines  grown  on  trellises,  and  fruit  orchards  in 
Hamburg  and  the  surrounding  country,  and  generally  to  occupy  itself 
with  matters  pertaining  to  the  above  subjects. 
Looking  Back. 
The  keen  feelings  of  vexation  and  disappointment  which  had 
found  expression  on  the  lips  of  many  rosarians  during  the  exhibitions 
of  the  last  two  years  at  the  Crystal  Palace  were  entirely  absent  this 
year.  The  arrangements  for  holding  it  in  1896  and  1897  were  sadly 
interfered  with  by  the  exhibitions  of  carriages  and  the  Jubilee  Exhi¬ 
bition,  and  the  members  were  loud  in  their  denunciations  of  the 
arrangements.  In  some  cases  through  ignorance  the  blame  was 
laid  on  the  Committee  of  the  National,  who  had,  however,  nothing  to 
do  with  it.  They  were  bound  to  accept  whatever  the  Directors  of  the 
C.P.  offered  them,  and  consequently  were  entirely  shut  out  from  the 
transepts.  This  year,  however,  the  case  was  different ;  the  full 
space  available  was  given  to  the  Society,  as  it  used  to  be  in  former 
vears,  and  loud  were  the  expressions  of  satisfaction  that  it  was  so. 
There  was  plenty  of  space  for  all  the  blooms  exhibited,  and  there  was 
no  occasion  to  dodge  in  and  out  in  the  dark  concert  room  to  look  for 
the  flowers  one  wanted  to  see.  The  day  was  a  delightful  one — bright, 
but  not  glaring,  and  under  such  circumstances  there  is  no  place  that 
can  be  compare  1  to  the  Crystal  Palace  for  a  Rose  show.  The  light  is 
good,  and  there  is  no  fear  of  the  flowers  being  damaged  either  by  rain 
or  wind. 
As  to  the  character  of  the  exhibition  as  compared  with  other  years, 
there  have,  of  course,  been  better  ones,  but  there  have  been  much 
worse.  The  number  of  flowers  exhibited  is  no  criterion  as  to  quality, 
but  I  think  the  universal  opinion  was  that  it  was  a  far  better  exhi¬ 
bition  than  one  could  have  anticipated  in  a  backward  season  like  the 
present.  The  nurserymen's  classes  are  generally  in  advance  of  the 
amateurs’,  while  very  often  we  find  in  a  favourable  season  the  case  is 
reversed,  especially  among  the  smaller  amateur  exhibitors.  They  have 
hut  a  few  plants  to  depend  on,  and  consequently  are  unable  to  cut  the 
number  of  blooms  they  require,  or  have  to  put  up  with  indifferent  ones. 
There  is,  of  course,  always  a  great  anxiety  to  snow  about  the  challenge 
trophies.  Once  more  Mr.  E.  B.  Lindsell  carried  off  the  amateurs* 
trophy  for  mixed  varieties.  His  PI.P.’s  had  amongst  them  many  of 
the  best  blooms  in  the  Show ;  this  was  especially  the  case  with  the 
high-coloured  flowers.  There  is  no  amateur,  I  think,  who  can  cxhib  t 
such  bloo  ns  of  Horace  Vernet,  Xavier  Olibo,  Count  Raimbaud,  Charles 
Lefebvre,  Duke  of  Edinburgh,  and  A.  K.  Williams  as  he  does';  while 
Capt.  Hayward,  Mrs.  W.  J.  Grant,  and  Gustave  Piganeau  were 
exceptional!  v  fine.  The  Rev.  Joseph  H.  Pemberton  was  a  fair  second  ; 
the  season,  however,  was  an  unfavourable  one  for  him,  as  his  maiden 
plants  were  not  in  flower,  and  he  had  to — what  is  an  unusual  thing 
lor  him — depend  entirely  on  his  cut-backs. 
The  ch alien :e  Tea  trophy  was  carried  off  by  Mr.  A.  Hill  Gray,  of 
Beaulieu,  Bath,  whom  this  late  season  especially  favoured,  for  his  row 
of  terraces,  with  their  well-built  walls,  placed  him  in  a  position 
to  defy  all  competitors.  The  eighteen  were  splendid.  Mamin 
Cochet,  Princess  Beatrice,  Comtesse  Panisse,  Comtesse  de  Na  laillac, 
Medea,  Souvenir  de  S.  A.  Prince,  Catherine  Mermet,  and  her  daughter 
The  Bride  were  all  very  fine.  The  nurserymen’s  challenge  trophy 
once  more  was  carried  off  by  Mr.  B.  R.  Cant,  although  I  fear  the  good 
old  veteran  had  little  to  say  to  the  flowers,  or  was  much  interested 
in  the  contest ;  his  mantle  has,  however,  fallen  upon  his  son,  Mr. 
Cecil  Cant,  and  I  think  he  will  worthily  fill  the  place  so  long  occupied 
by  his  able  and  successful  father.  Some  of  his  finest  flowers  were 
Mrs.  W.  J.  Grant,  Horace  Vernet,  Cleopatra,  Madame  Cusiti  (Highly 
coloured  and  fine  quality),  Capt.  Hayward,  Senateur  Vaisse  (one  is 
always  glad  to  see  this  fine  old  flower  occupying  a  foremost  place), 
Marie  Baumann,  Mrs.  Sharman  Crawford,  Le  Havre  (a  flower  we  do 
not  see  so  often  as  might  be),  Helen  Keller  (a  very  fine  flower),  and 
Souvenir  d’Elise  Vardon.  _ 
Another  interesting  competition  was  that  for  the  best  eighteen 
Roses  for  growers  under  2000  plants.  This  was  creditably  won  by 
Mr.  Conway  Jones,  of  Hucclecote,  Gloucester,  and  affords  another 
example  of  how  growers  are  encouraged  by  the  prizes  offered  by  the 
National  to  advance  the  culture  of  the  Rose.  This  exhibitor  began  in 
a  very  small  way,  but  as  each  year  advanced  gaining  honours  as  he 
proceeded,  and  has  shown  by  his  success  in  this  instance  how  well  he 
has  managed  his  plants.  Mr.  Charles  J.  Graliame  has  done  more  than 
any  member  of  the  Society  to  encourage  small  growers,  and  is  for  ever 
showing  his  liberality  by  offering  such  prizes  as  may  induce  persons 
with  small  gardens  to  come  forward;  thus  this  year  he  offered  a  prize 
