340 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
October  10,  1901, 
A'tGLASSj’COPING. 
formed.  Liquid  manure  is  sometimes  supplied  in  the  winter 
as  well  as  in  the  spring.  When  runners  begin  to  grow  in 
the  spring,  about  seven  are  allowed  to  each  plant,  three  on 
each  side  and  one  in  the  middle,  and  when  once  these  are  all 
in  position,  with  a  piece  of  t  le  or  stone  to  prevent  their 
moving  till  they  are  rooted,  all  further  runners  from  main 
plant  or  early  rooted  runners  are  pinched  off  as  soon  as 
visible  throughout  the  season.  If  the  plants  are  weak,  or 
one  has  summer  berries  as  well,  it  may  be  as  well  to  pinch 
off  the  first  crop  of  flowers  ;  but  I  have  not  found  the  plants 
so  treated  more  free  with  their  fruit  in  the  autumn  than 
those  which  perfected  a  first  crop,  and  remember,  these 
perpetuals  are  the  earliest  and  the  hardiest  of  all. 
Pinching  the  runners  is  done  in  July  ai:d  August,  while 
gathering  the  fruit.  In  September  and  October  the  number 
of  flower  trusses  produced  is  extraordinai’y  from  the  main 
plants  and  the  runners,  and  the  crown  fruit  of  the  latter 
will  be  found  very  fine.  Few  runners  are  produced  during 
these  months.  I  have  tried  doing  without  strawing  the  beds, 
as  the  runners  are  not  so  visible  among  the  straw  ;  but  find 
it  advisable,  in  spite  of  wire  supports,  to  bed  with  straw  as 
usual  as  soon  as  the  first  selected  runners  have  rooted.  In 
November  the  old  plants  (though  they  are  only  eighteen 
months  old)  are  taken  up,  and  any  of  the  other  runners, 
forming  new  broad  rows,  which  look  weak  from  having  come 
into  bearing  too  early.  The  remainder  are  left  for  one  more 
season,  during  which  they  will  not  be  allowed  to  form  any 
runners,  and  then  the  bed  will  be  destroyed.  During  Sep¬ 
tember  the  main  plants  should  be  well  thinned  of  exhausted 
trusses  and  dead  or  dying  leaves,  as  light  and  air  are  most 
essential  for  the  fruits,  which  will  not  colour  if  hidden 
under  foliage. 
I  have  tried  three  varieties — St.  Joseph,  La  Constante 
d’Automne,  and  St.  Antoine  de  Padue.  The  fault  of  St. 
Joseph  is  that  the  fruits  are  small.  The  crown  fruits  on 
this  year’s  runners  are  quite  large  enough,  but  a  very 
large  proportion  are  certainly  too  small.  It  has  also  a  bad 
habit,  even  in  July,  of  colouring  only  on  the  exposed  side, 
so  that  to  get  them  properly  ripened  they  should  be  turned, 
which  is  a  nuisance.  The  flavour  is  rather  sharp,  which  I 
find  appreciated  by  most  of  my  friends,  though  not  by 
myself.  La  Constante  d’Automne  is  very  like  St.  Joseph 
in  most  particulars.  The  crown  fruits  of  the  year’s  runners 
are  nearly,  if  not  quite,  as  large,  it  colours  better,  and  the 
flavour  is  decidedly  sweeter  and  less  “brisk,”  a  favourite 
euphemism  for  the  acridity  that  gives  me  the  gout  and  many 
ladies  nettlerash. 
St.  Antoine  de  Padue  is  different  in  many  respects.  The 
foliage  and  fruit  are  much  larger,  and  the  latter  are  quite 
differently  shaped,  wdth  deeper  colour  and  less  acidity.  My 
anxiety  last  year,  when  I  had  out  few  plants,  was  whether 
it  would  be  as  free  in  the  autumn  as  St.  Joseph.  I  can  now 
say  that  the  main  plants  are  nearly  as  free,  but  the  runners 
of  the  year  are  not.  A  considerable  proportion  of  them 
will  not  form  flower  trusses  till  late  in  September,  and 
some  not  at  all,  and  I  think  that  even  from  the  main  plants 
we  shall  not  be  able  to  get  as  much  fruit  in  October  as  from 
St.  Joseph  ;  but  they  bear  well  in  August  and  September. 
I  think,  therefore,  that  better  results  for  the  season  could 
be  had  from  St.  Antoine  by  putting  the  rows  closer  together 
and  allowing  no  runners.  I  am  pinning  my  faith  to  St. 
Antoine,  and  am  giving  up  most  of  St.  Joseph  ;  I  have  even 
planted  three  of  my  Rose  beds,  for  a  change,  with  the 
former. — W.  R.  Raillem. 
- «*#*» - — 
Glass  Coping  and  Glass  Shelters. 
The  simple  illustrations  which  we  furnish  of  a  glass  coping, 
and  a  rectangular  glass  shelter,  may  be  acceptable  to  our  fruit¬ 
growing  readers.  The  glass  coping  affords  a  plan  easy  to  follow, 
workable,  and  at  once  strong  and  serviceable.  After  the  dis¬ 
cussion  in  the  “  Readers’  Views  ”  page  regarding  the  greater  suit¬ 
ability  of  fixed  versus  removable  copings  of  this  nature,  those 
who  followed  that  argument  will,  no  doubt,  have  clear  views  as 
to  what  is  most  accommodative  and  best  for  their  purpose.  We 
should  like  to  see  many  more  glass  copings  in  gardens  throughout 
the  country,  especially  the  northern  parts,  because  without  such 
overhead  protection  the  success  of  certain  fruit  crops  is  very 
precarious  indeed.  Both  designs  speak  very  clearly  of  their  pur¬ 
pose,  and  anyone  wishing  to  pattern  after  them  ought  to  have  no 
difficulty  whatever. 
The  plan  of  a  glass  shelter  at  .the  right-hand  bottom  corner 
of  the  page  is,  doubtlyss,  hovel  to  most  “  Journal  ”  readers.  The 
idea  was  propounded  many  years  ago  as  a  means  of  sheltering 
trees  against  the  cutting  force  of  cold  winds  The  proposition 
does  not  appear  to  have  been  in  the  least  effective.  HoAvever, 
as  something  to  think  over,  we  offer  the  idea  on  the  present 
occasion,  yet  trust  that  we  may  not  be  deluged  with  criticisms 
or  queries ! 
- - - 
Plum  Reine  Claude  du  Comte  Atthems. 
In  the  above  we  have  a  comparatively  little  known  Gage 
Plum,  though  it  is  not  entirely  a  novelty.  The  tree  illustrated 
was  photographed  in  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society’s  gardens 
at  Chiswick,  where  Mr.  Wright  lias  also  a  number  of  very  hand¬ 
some  pyramidal  trees  of  the  same  sort.  This  summer  the  variety, 
both  as  a  pyramid  and  fan-shaped  on  walls,  bore  prolificly.  We 
had  intended  to  secure  a  representation  of  the  bush,  or  pyramidal 
specimens,  but  our  photographer  was  unable  to  obtain  a  suitable 
reproduction. 
There  seems  to  be  slight  confusion  in  regard  to  its  name.  We 
have  adopted  the  first,  name  used  by  Messrs.  Rivers  and  Son  in 
their  catalogue  just  published.  It  is  also  named  Reine  Claude 
du  Comte  d’Altlian,  and  at  Chiswick,  we  believe,  the  latter  part 
of  the  name,  or  title,  is  “  Hathem.”  The  fruits  ripen  about  the 
middle  of  September ;  are  freestone  in  character,  of  excellent 
flavour,  and  are  produced  freely  on  young  and  healthy  trees. 
Those  who  have  grown  it  for  some  time  speak  most  highly  of  it ;  it 
but  lies  with  others  to  give  it  a  trial. 
