July  11,  1901. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
27 
Lax  tons’  Strawberries. 
We  mentioned  in  a  brief  note  two  weeks  ago  that  a  party  of 
forty  persons  had  visited  Messrs.  Laxton  Bros’.  Strawberry  grounds 
at  Bedford  on  Monday,  June  24th.  The  party  gathered,  on  Messrs. 
Laxtons’  invitation,  at  St.  Pancras,  from  which  they  journeyed  in  a 
saloon-car  to  John  Bunyan’s  birth-town,  starting  at  10.40,  and  arriving 
about  twenty  minutes 
before  mid-day.  Here 
three  waggonettes  and 
a  large  brake  con¬ 
veyed  us  to  the  nur¬ 
series,  situated  just 
outside  of  Bedford. 
Until  mid-day  there 
were  numerous  omi¬ 
nous  clouds,  and  a  few 
showers  by  way  of 
variety.  But  these 
soon  melted  all  away, 
and  the  remainder  of 
the  day  was  ideal  for 
the  outing. 
Then  the  acres  of 
Strawberries  were  in¬ 
spected.  Each  line,  or 
lines,  representing  in¬ 
dividual  varieties  had 
been  clearly  numbered, 
and  for  the  occasion  a 
programme  was  fur¬ 
nished  to  each  person. 
We  all  scattered  over 
the  beds,  and  at  once 
began  a  general  tast¬ 
ing  and  considering. 
Recommend  me  to 
a  group  of.  Straw¬ 
berry  experts  at  work 
for  a  lesson  in  conscientiousness  —  conscientious,  at  least,  so  far 
as  tasting  goes.  The  Laxton  (that  new  Strawberry  which  in 
a  year  or  two  will  be  in  every  garden,  and  which  cultivators 
will  do  well  to  secure  at  once  from  the  pure,  parent  stock) 
was  first  on  the  list.  And  what  did  they  all  say  of  it  ? 
Answers  were  short,  but  decided  and  emphatic.  “I’m  satisfied,” 
said  Mr.  James  Smith  of  Mentmore;  and  he  spoke  as  a  man  who  had 
waited  on  an  ideal,  and  now  had  got  it.  “The  b© st  thing  you’ve 
ever  sent  out,”  was  Mr.  Bates’  (of  Twickenham)  compliment  to  the 
Brothers  Laxton  ;  and  out  of  a  varied  body  of  men,  such  as  this 
midsummer’s  day  party  wa->,  none  spoke  other  than  in  praise  of  it. 
Other  Strawberries  met  with  criticism,  and  their  weak  j  oints  were 
exhibited,  but  I  he  Laxton  stood  without  a  fault.  The  remark  was 
naively  made  that  if  it  had  a  fault  it  lay  in  this,  that  when  one  fruit 
had  been  tasted  the  partaker  finds  his  propensities  urged  to  try 
another,  and  another,  and  another.  We  described  this  foremost  of 
all  Strawberries  in  our  issue  of  June  27th,  where  also  a  figure  of  it 
will  be  seen.  The  new  Fillbasket  next  engaged  exceedingly  close 
attention.  Its  cropping  qualities  are  quite  phenomenal  ;  it  indeed  has 
been  properly  named.  The  trusses  here  all  bore  from  ten  to  sixteen 
fruits  quite  above  average  size.  The  parentage  combines  the  out¬ 
standing  perfections  of  Royal  Sovereign  and  Latest  of  All.  The  crop 
on  the  24th  was  just  beginning  to  ripen.  This  is  sure  to  become 
a  first-rate  market  sort.  It  is  not  a  good  early  forcing 
Strawberry,  but  for  late  use  we  believe  none  excel  it.  Then — 
aod  this  is  a  matter  purely  of  personal  opinion — from  among 
numerous  others  on  the  list  Scarlet  Queen,  an  old  and  well-tried 
sort,  recommended  itself  as  being  one  of  the  best-flavoured  Straw¬ 
berries  vet  in  existence.  Alas  !  however,  though  it  has  other  qualities 
it  is  behind  in  size  and  appearance,  and  so  fails  to  be  appreciated. 
President  and  Keens’  Seedling  are  two  others  whose  splendid 
flavour  seemed  only  to  be  heightened  by  the  tasting  of  numerous 
contemporaries  having  no  claims  to  merit.  Growers  cannot  do  better 
than  still  select  and  cultivate  the  foregoing  ;  and  while  we  are 
referring  to  meritorious  known  varieties  with  agreeable  concentrated 
flavour,  let  us  not  forget  the  French  Yicomtesse  Hericart  de  Thury 
(syn.  Garibddi),  which  was  introduced  to  England  by  the  late 
Mr.  Robert  Thompson,  of  Cniswick.  British  Queen  still  maintains  a 
good  place. 
Louis  Gauthier  adds  another  French  variety  of  great  merit  to  our 
select  list.  It  is  one  of  the  white  or  pale-coloured  Strawberries,  a  free 
bearer,  with  large  firm  berries,  for  midseason,  and  the  flavour  is 
splendid.  It  has  a  richness  and  variety  that  one  vainly  tastes  for,  in 
dozens  of  other  kinds.  We  can  heartily  recommend  this  newcomer. 
Stkawbebry  Mentmore. 
Mentmore  is  of  recent  introduction,  and  possesses  a  capital  mellow 
flavour.  As  a  cropper  it‘  is  above  the  average.  Our  illustration 
shows  its  handsome  appearance.  Tne  parentage  here  was  Noble  and 
British  Queen.  The  fruits  were  ripe  at  the  time  of  our  visit.  Latest 
of  All  (Noble  x  King  of  the  Earlies)  is  an  immense  cropper,  and 
truly  a  late  sort.  Frogmore  Late  Pine  is,  of  course  a  favourite,  and 
it,  too,  is  a  wonderful  cropper. 
Whiie  the  foregoing  are  specially  noteworthy,  we  would  be  doing 
an  injustice  were  we  to  omit  reference  to  McMahon,  a  very  popular 
Strawberry  in  the  North,  and  a  good  one;  a' so  to  Stevens’ 
Wonder,  Sir  Harry  (one  of  the  oldest),  Sir  J.  Paxton,  Royal  Sovereign, 
Climax  (from  the  same  cross  as  The  Laxton),  Trafalgar  (a  very  late, 
sure,  and  heavy  cropper,  see  illustration),  St.  Joseph,  St.  Antoine  de 
Padoue  (Royal  Sovereign  X  St.  Joseph),  Dr.  Hogg,  Waterloo,  Sir 
Cbarles  Napier,  Leader,  and  Auguste  Nicaise.  Each  of  these  are 
meritorious  varieties,  and  should  be  included  in  every  representative 
collection. 
At  the  present  time  one  is  ab'e  to  see  a  great  number  of  seedling 
varieties  on  trial.  These  are  carefully  examined,  and  any  that  promise 
well  are  selected  for  further  trial  and  improvement.  It  takes  years  to 
establish  a  stock  of  the  highest  perfection.  From  thousands  of 
seedlings  only  a  few  come  up  to  standard,  and  from  these  the  stocks 
must  be  obtained.  It  goes  without  saying  that  only  the  very  best 
and  most  perfect  varieties  are  employed  for  crossing  purposes.  Royal 
Sovereign  comes  into  the  parentage  of  a  very  large  percentage ;  as  do 
also  Sir  Joseph  Paxton,  Noble,  Latest  of  All,  Waterloo,  Frogmore 
Late  Pine,  St.  Joseph,  and  others. 
Mr.  Harrison  of  Leicester  was  vice-chairman  at  luncheon,  which 
the  pirty  enjoyed  immediately  after  the  inspection,  and  incidentally  he 
mentioned  that  during  forty  years  the  Laxtons  have  raised  between 
60,000  and  100,000  seedling  Strawberries,  though  not  more  than 
1  in  10,000  aie  found  sufficiently  worthy  to  be  named  aud  sent  out. 
In  1860  the  firm  sent  out  The  Traveller,  since  when  they  have  taken 
the  greatest  pains  to  continually  improve  upon  existing  varieties. 
The  work  demands  a  huge  amount  of  patience,  and  there  is  anything 
but  magnificent  returns.  Both  Mr.  Edward  and  Mr.  William  Laxton 
spoke  in  response  to  the  toasts  accorded  them.  Their  aim  had  always 
been,  and  was  still,  to  improve  varieties,  and  though  Strawberries  are 
their  speciality,  yet  they  are  working  with  all  otcer  Iruits,  and  with 
vegetables,  particularly  Peas.  The  programme,  so  far,  was  concluded 
by  the  company  being  photographed  in  the  open  air.  Ridgmont 
was  then  visited. 
- »  i - 
in  a 
at  90°  about 
parent  plants 
Jottings  on  Pines. — In  order  to  accommodate  suckers  from  the 
early  section  of  summer  fruiting  plants,  a  fermenting  bed  in  a  low 
house  or  pit  must  be  got  ready,  and  its  heat  steady 
6  inches  from  the  surface.  Take  the  suckers  from  the 
carefully,  trim  the  base 
smoothly,  and  place 
directly  in  5  or  7-inch 
pots,  according  to  the 
size  of  the  suckers,  and 
water  once  in  order  to 
set  the  soil  about  them. 
Good  fibrous  loam,  torn 
up  by  hand,  without 
any  admixture,  is  the 
most  suitable  compost; 
embed  it  firmly  in  the 
pot,  so  that  a  sturdy 
growth  may  be  insured 
in  the  plants.  Keep 
the  suckers  rather  close 
and  shaded  for  a  week 
or  ten  days,  sprinkling 
through  a  fine  ruse  once 
or  twice  a  day,  accord¬ 
ing  to  external  influ¬ 
ences.  When  growth 
takes  place  ventilation 
with  less  shade  is  de¬ 
sirable,  but  this  must 
be  proceeded  with 
gradually  until  the 
growth  is  well  decided 
and  inured  to  the  sun ;  then  accord  them  ordinary  treatment.  When 
the  suckers  are  well  rooted  they  should  be  transferred  to  the  larger 
fruiting  pots  before  the  roots  become  matted  together.  Q  teens  aud 
Black  Jamaici  shtuld  be  given  10-inch  puts,  other  sorts  11  or  12-inch, 
using  fibrous  loam,  but  more  lumpy  than  for  suckers,  adding  a  sprink¬ 
ling  of  dissolved  bones  ;  and  to  prevent  worms  entering  the  pots  either 
use  worm  excluders  or  a  handful  of  soot  or  wood  ashes  sprinkled  over 
the  rough  material  placed  on  the  drainage. — Practice. 
Strawberry  Trafalgar. 
