192 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
August  30,  1900. 
over  one  falling  in  the  opposite  direction,  or  that  quite  level, 
and  this  becomes,  perhaps,  more  distinct  in  Strawberry  growing 
than  in  the  majority  of  other  crops.  On  the  clayey  soil  of  Marston 
Strawberries  did  not  feel  the  dire  effects  of  the  previous  summer’s 
drought  so  keenly,  hence  fuller  crops  were  given.  In  our  case  runners 
and  older  plants  alike  were  freely  cropped,  and  some  forced  plants 
put  out  last  year  bore  an  exceptionally  heavy  crop  this.  The  loss 
from  frost  at  flowering  time  was  supplemented  towards  the  end  of  the 
season  by  the  failure  of  the  berries  to  swell  because  of  the  lack  of  root 
moisture.  The  supply  terminated  very  abruptly  from  this  cause, 
where  old  plants  were  depended  on  for  late  bearing. 
The  value  of  early  layering,  either  in  pots  or  in  the  open  ground, 
was  clearly  demonstrated  in  the  extent  of  crop  produced  by  young 
beds  this  summer.  Those  Jayered  and  planted  early  were  much 
more]  satisfactory  than  others  put  out  later.  The  nature  of  the 
weather  and  demands  on  labour  at  this  period  make  it  a  diflScult 
matter  to  get  a  large  quantity  layered  for  outdoor  planting  at  the 
same  time  as  the  forcing  stock  has  to  be  prepared,  but  any  effort 
made  to  do  so  is  well  repaid.  The  weather  has  an  influence  extending 
over  such  a  lengthened  period  as  affecting  Strawberries;  indeed,  I  do 
not  think  there  is  another  fruit  crop  so  susceptible  to  injury.  Winter 
and  spring  frost,  and  summer  drought,  are  all  more  or  less  damaging 
in  their  effects. 
The  custom  of  planting  Strawberries  after  Potatoes  is  very 
general,  and  I  must  admit  that  the  practice  has  had  a  favourable 
foothold  with  me  until  recently.  My  opinion  now  has  changed,  and 
another  rotational  course  is  adopted.  I  have  found  that  in  lifting 
Potatoes  in  summer  when  the  soil  is  very  dry  there  are  sure  to  be 
some  small  ones  left  in  the  ground,  and  no  matter  how  small  these 
may  be  they  will  grow  when  spring  comes  round.  Being  deeply 
buried,  too,  in  the  course  of  digging,  they  are  not  easy  to  pull  up 
without  disturbing  the  Strawberry  plants.  Thus  they  become  a 
nuisance  that  only  a  change  of  rotation  can  remedy  so  far  as  it  affects 
Strawberry  culture.  The  clearance  of  the  early  summer  Peas  affords 
an  ideal  site  for  Strawberries,  and  gardeners  as  a  rule  prepare  as  well 
as  circumstances  will  allow  for  their  Pea  crops.  Strawberries  when 
treated  on  the  triennial  principle  need  clean  ground,  and  Potato 
“ramblers”  can  be  more  effectively  dealt  with  when  some  other  crop 
follows.  Although  Strawberries  are  essentially  surface  rooting  they 
enjoy  a  deeply  dug  or  trenched  bed,  and  a  change  of  site  is  as  important 
with  them  as  with  Peas.  When  time  permits,  trenching,  if  only 
16  inches  deep,  has  a  marked  effect  on  both  the  crops  named. 
In  regard  to  varieties,  my  selection  grows  smaller  rather  than 
larger  each  year ;  several  that  have  been  under  two  and  three  years 
trial  have  now  been  discarded.  It  is  true  that  for  ordinary  household 
or  market  purposes  a  large  selection  is  totally  uncalled  for ;  at  the 
same  time  there  is  wisdom  in  giving  trial  to  unknown  sorts,  with  a 
view  to  ascertaining  whether  something  may  be  found  to  supersede 
existing  favourites.  Nor  is  one  year’s  trial  sufficient  to  establish  a 
just  opinion  in  all  cases.  Had  I  resolved  on  such  a  brief  trial  to 
discard  what  appeared  unsuitable,  I  should  probably  have  lost  what 
has  since  proved  my  mainstay — namely,  Laxtoa’s  Latest  of  All ;  and 
( xactly  the  same  loss  would  have  resulted  in  the  case  of  Laxton’s 
Leader.  These  have  “come  to  stay  ”  until  something  better  super¬ 
sedes  them,  and  I  am  confident  the  time  is  not  yet  when  they  will 
have  ceased  to  exist.  Leader  for  a  second  early  is  excellent  in  every 
respect,  and  1  am  strengthened  in  this  opinion  by  a  favourable  report 
from  the  maiket  fields.  Both  are  very  neat  growers,  and  thus  require 
less  room  than  older  sorts  in  planting.  I  had  formed  a  good  opinion 
of  Leader  last  year ;  it  is  strengthened  this. 
Occupying  a  portion  of  the  same  border,  and  all  of  the  same  age, 
were  Gunton  Park,  Dr.  Hogg,  Georges  Lesuricr,  and  Monarch  ;  these 
are  now  “struck  off  the  rolls.’’  Royal  Sovereign  is  cultivated  only  for 
forcing.  Sir  Joseph  Paxton  and  Vicomtesse  Hericart  de  Thury  are 
retained  for  pr.  serving  purposes.  Eleanor,  Elton  Pine,  and  Alice 
Maude  have  received  due  trial  for  late  use,  but  have  not  satisfied,  and 
thus  Leader  and  Latest  of  All  are  left  in  greater  solitude  than  in  any 
previous  year  as  regards  variety.  Trials  of  newer  ones,  however,  are 
not  relaxed,  for  the  possibility  still  remains  of  finding  a  fitting  com¬ 
panion  if  not  a  rival  for  either.  If  this  were  not  so  it  would  be 
useless  for  hybridists  to  continue  to  hope  and  work  for  greater 
developments.  A  neat  grower  like  Noble,  with  the  quality  and 
firmness  of  Leader  or  Royal  Sovereign,  is  still  needed  for  very  early 
picking,  and  if  such  exists  it  should  be  made  known  for  the  benefit 
cf  present-day  planters,  so  that  a  trial  can  bo  instituted. 
The  hybrid  alpine.",  of  which  St.  Joseph  is  a  type,  are  slowly 
stepping  up.  The  time  will  come,  no  doubt,  when  they  will  be  more 
freely  cultivated  by  those  having  the  glass  accommodation.  No  one 
could  fail  to  be  highly  impressed  with  their  value  could  they  see  the 
excellent  and  extensive  collection  of  plants  fruiting  so  freely  at 
Gunnersbury  House  in  the  autumn.  Mr.  Hudson  has  made  a  special 
study  of  these  alpine  varieties,  and  his  efforts  will  materially  affect 
their  future.  Strawberries  for  the  autumn  shooting  parties  would 
become  at  once  popular,  but  only  those  exceptionally  favoured  can 
hope  to  imitate  the  Gunnersbury  examples,  because  there  the  structures 
devoted  to  them  are  so  excellently  adapted  to  the  purpose.  Any 
gardener  would  be  proud  of  such  a  wealth  of  Strawberry  fruit  and 
blossom  in  October  as  .that  seen  last  year  by  visitors  to  Gunnersbury.- 
— W.  S.,  Wilts. 
- - 
Antninn-flowering  Heaths. 
The  brilliant  effects  made  by  several  British  Heaths  are  familiar  to 
everyone  when  growing  in  a  natural  state,  and  few  more  beautiful 
sights  are  imaginable  than  a  hill  side,  common,  or  stretch  of  moorland 
luxuriantly  clothed  with  large  patches,  acres  in  extent,  of  red  or 
purple-flowered  Heather,  intermixed  with  its  usual  companions. 
Bracken  and  Gorse,  and  sometimes  tufted  patches  of  Vaccinium,  the 
deep  green  of  the  Gorse,  the  stately  fronds  of  Bracken,  with  foliage 
turning  from  green  to  golden  and  brown,  or  the  green  cushion-like 
ma.sses  of  Vaccinium  helping  in  no  slight  degree  to  complete  one  of 
Nature’s  most  pleasing  pictures,  and  impress  on  us  the  value  of  many 
British  plants,  which  we  are  too  apt  to  cast  aside  for  less  showy  exotic 
cousins. 
Though  it  is  impossible  in  most  gardens  to  grow  these  plants  in 
large  quantities,  patches  here  and  there  in  gardens  free  from  lime  will 
be  found  very  attractive  during  late  summer  and  early  autumn,  a  time 
wV  en  there  is  a  dearth  of  flowering  shrubs ;  while  in  large  gardens, 
where  wild  gardening  is  practised,  tbey  will  be  found  among  the  most- 
useful  plants.  For  the  rock  garden  groups  are  indispensable,  the- 
brilliant  coloured  flowers  making  vivid  patches  of  colour  among  the; 
decaying  foliage  of  other  plants. 
The  most  useful  of  the  groups  are  Erica  cinerea,  found  in  many 
parts  of  the  British  Isles  and  Western  Europe.  A  plant  that  grows  in 
dwarf,  compact  masses,  and  exhibits  a  great  diversity  of  colour,  deep 
purple,  red,  rose,  and  white,  being  the  most  distinct.  From  its  neat 
habit  it  is  a  very  desirable  plant  lor  a  front  place  on  the  rockery  or 
other  conspicuous  ulace.  E.  Mackai,  of  somewhat  loose  habit,  bearing 
heads  ot  delicate  pick  blossoms,  occasionally  found  in  Ireland. 
E.  stricta,  a  S.  European  species,  forming  large,  upright  bushes  thickly 
clothed  with  p  nk  flowers.  E.  tetralix,  widely  distributed  from  Britain, 
to  Russia,  and  found  with  pink,  red,  and  white  flowers.  E.  vagans,  the 
Cornish  Heath.  Of  this  there  are  several  varieties,  differing  from 
each  other  in  size  of  inflorescence  and  colour,  the  best  being  E.  vagans 
var.  grandiflora.  It  often  grows  to  a  height  of  2  feet  and  more,  and 
flowers  on  the  moors  in  the  S.W.  counties  at  the  same  time  as  the 
Dwarf  Gorse,  Ulex  nanus,  the  two  plants  making  striking  contrast 
with  their  yellow  and  red  flowers.  St.  Dabeoc’s  Heath,  Dabaecia 
polifolia,  though  found  in  flower  at  almost  all  times  from  April  to 
November,  makes  a  special  effort  in  August  and  September,  and. 
makes  a  fine  show  with  its  upright  racemes  of  red,  pink,  or  white 
bell-shaped  blossoms. 
The  Ling,  Calluna  vulgaris,  is  the  most  common  of  our  British 
Heaths,  and  is  found  in  quantity  in  most  parts  of  the  country, 
^making  perhaps  the  finest  show  of  all.  Being  so  widely  distribute 
it  is  not  surpri'ing  that  it  is  found  in  numervius  forms,  differing 
widely  from  the  type;  many  of  these  have  been  given  names,  and  it 
is  th(  se  varieties  that  are  usually  found,  in  gardens;  some,  such  as 
pygmsea  Foxi  and  minima,  are  dwarf  dense-growins  forms,  reminding 
one  of  some  of  the  curious  dwarf  New  Zealand  Veronicas.  Others 
differ  in  colour  and  viijoar  ;  some  of  the  best  are  a  ba  minor,  alba 
rigida,  Hammondi,  and  Serlei,  whites;  rubra  and  rosea,  shades  of  red; 
argentea,  with  white  variegated  foliage;  and  aurea  and  cuprea,  with 
golden  leaves. 
Added  to  these  there  are  several  other  .species  and  varieties  which 
might  be  added  by  anyone  forming  a  collection,  but  the  above, 
mentioned  will  be  found  the  best  for  ordinary  purposes. — W.  D. 
