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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
October  25,  19(0. 
CARDEH.  CLEANINGS 
strawberry  St.  Tosepb. — I  saw  this  very  useful  little  autumn 
Strawberry  fruiting  quite  freely  in  the  gardens  of  Hampton  Court 
House  as  recently  as  October  17th.  Mr.  Neve,  the  gardener,  is 
greatly  pleased  with  it,  and  having  plenty  of  sturdy  runners  is  going 
presently  to  put  out  a  large  number  of  them.  He  has  hopes  that  it  may 
be  possible  to  materially  lengthen  out  the  cropping  season  by  lifting 
strong  plants  into  pots,  and  standing  them  on  the  north  side  of  a  wall, 
so  as  to  retard  flowering,  then  putting  them  on  shelves  in  a  fairly  cool 
house  to  cause  the  plants  to  fruit  late.  Could  they  be  in  that  way 
induced  to  fruit  only  a  month  longer  than  they  will  naturally  do  so 
outdoors  it  would  be  a  great  gain.  It  too  often  happens  that  St.  Joseph 
fruits  at  a  season  when  they  are  least  needed,  owing  to  families  being 
so  much  from  home.  Any  means  that  will  lead  to  late  fruiting  cannot 
but  be  acceptable. — Wanderer. 
Potatoes  from  Germany. — This  has  been  a  bad  year  for  English 
Potatoes,  for  disease  has  been  prevalent.  Consequently  we  shall  have 
to  import  large  quantities  from  Prance  and  Germany  if  the  supply 
on  the  markets  is  to  meet  anything  like  the  usual  demand.  “  French 
and  German  Potatoes  are  particularly  good  this  year,”  said  a  leading 
Potato  merchant  to  a  representative  of  a  daily  paper  recently.  ”  I  have 
just  come  back  from  Germany,  and  have  ordered  large  quantities  from 
there.  Generally,  the  foreign  Potato  is  of  a  ‘soapy’  description, 
but  this  is  not  the  case  with  those  coming  over  this  year.  In  past 
years  about  4,000,000  cwt.  of  foreign  Potatoes  have  come  to  the 
London  market.  I  should  estimate  that  this  country  supplies  about 
120,000,000  cwt.  More  than  half  the  Potatoes  this  year  will  be 
foreigners,  and  this  naturally  will  have  a  great  influence  on  the 
London  market.” 
Culture  of  Plmeleas. — Pimeleas  may  be  grown  well  in  a  compost 
of  turfy  sandy  peat  two-thirds,  and  one-third  sandy  turfy  loam,  with 
the  addition  of  enough  charcoal,  about  the  size  of  a  pea,  and  silver  sand 
to  amount  to  one-fourth  of  the  whole.  The  peat  and  loam  should  be 
chopped  and  made  pretty  fine,  and  the  whole  well  mixed  and 
incorporated.  The  plants  should  have  a  cool  airy  frame  or  pit  during 
the  summer,  and  in  winter  a  light  airy  situation  in  a  greenhouse,  from 
which  frost  is  merely  excluded.  They  should  be  cut  back  after  flower¬ 
ing,  and  when  the  young  shoots  are  a  few  inches  long  the  plants  should 
be  carefully  potted,  removing  the  greater  part  of  the  old  soil,  but 
preserving  the  roots,  and  in  potting  providing  good  drainage,  keeping 
the  neck  or  collar  of  the  plant  slightly  raised  in  the  centre  of  the 
pot.  After  potting  keep  the  plants  rather  close  and  shaded  for  a 
few  days ;  afterwards  give  plenty  of  air,  and  keep  them  near  the 
glass  ;  then  water  when  necessary,  but  do  not  give  excessive  quantities 
at  any  time,  and  yet  sufficient  at  every  watering  to  show  itself 
at  the  drainage.  Careful  watering  is  needed  in  winter,  and  plenty 
of  air. — H.  M. 
Railway  Station  Gardens, — Travellers  on  the  Great  Western 
Railway  will  probably  have  noticed  and  admired  the  tastefully  arranged, 
gardens  which  are  to  be  found  at  many  stations  on  that  system ;  but  it 
may  not  be  generally  known  that  the  company,  recognising  the 
desirability  of  encouraging  its  staff  to  make  the  most  of  the  garden 
ground  available  at  the  stations  for  the  cultivation  of  flowers  and 
shrubs,  has  each  year,  for  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century,  given, 
in  deserving  cases,  money  prizes  of  from  £5  to  10s.,  the  aggregate 
value  of  such  prizes  being  £250  per  annum.  As  was  anticipated,  the 
result  has  been  that  since  the  company  first  commenced  to  offer  these 
prizes  the  number  of  stations  on  the  Great  Western  line  which  has 
been  improved  by  the  addition  of  attractive  and  well-cultivated 
gardens  has  considerably  increased.  In  awarding  the  prizes  regard  is 
had  to  the  maintenance  of  a  uniform  standard  of  excellence  through¬ 
out  the  season,  the  progress  made  compared  with  past  years,  the 
special  circumstances  of  the  station — such  as  situation,  climate,  and 
soil — and,  so  that  all  things  may  be  in  harmony,  the  neatness  and 
cleanliness  of  the  station  generally,  the  results  being  considered  by 
the  company  at  the  termination  of  the  season,  and  the  prizes 
distributed  at  Christmas. 
Forcible  Protests  .against  Weeds. — rin  some  parts  of 
Wisconsin  a  householder  who  allows  noxious  weeds  in  his  garden 
to  mature  so  that  the  seed  may  be  blown  into  horticultural  tracts 
owned  by  his  neighbours  renders  himself  liable  to  a  fine.  Something 
of  this  nature  might  occasionally  be  applicable  nearer  home. 
Forestry  In  Sweden. — Nearly  one-half  of  the  total  area  of 
Sweden  is  under  forests.  The  area  of  the  country  is  under  100,000,000 
acres,  and  of  these  no  fewer  than  47,000,000  acres  are  under  trees. 
Over  one-third  of  these  Swedish  forest  lands  belong  either  to  the  State, 
to  certain  communities,  or  to  public  institutions.  The  desire  to  increase 
the  public  forests  in  the  country  has  led  the  Swedish  Reiksdag  to 
devote  a  large  sum  of  money  annually  to  the  purchase  of  land  in  order 
to  establish  new  forests,  or,  as  they  are  there  termed,  crown  parks.  This 
is  one  of  the  many  instances  in  which  our  Government  at  home  might 
profitably  take  a  leaf  out  of  the  foreigner’s  book. 
Tbe  Fly  Agaric  and  Puff-ball. — Two  species  of  fungi  to  be  seen 
in  many  woods,  meadows,  and  plantations  just  now  are  the  Fly  Agaric 
and  the  Giant  Puff-ball.  Tlie  former  has  a  vivid  crimson  pileus  studded 
with  5  ellowish  spots  or  warts.  It  is  a  beautiful  and  showy  fungus  in 
autumn,  but  must  on  no  account  be  eaten.  It  is  said  that  this  Agaric 
is  eaten  in  Russia,  where  the  people  have  some  device  for  extracting 
its  poison  in  the  process  of  cooking,  but  it  is  well  to  regard  it  as  deadly 
in  this  country.  The  other  fungus,  the  Great  Puff-ball,  is  edible.  This 
year  many  Puff-balls  of  an  unusually  large  size  have  been  seen  in 
various  parts  of  England,  but  they  are  rarely  eaten,  being  regarded  by 
country  people  with  suspicion.  The  Puff-ball  is  best  eaten  when  it  is 
young;  it  is  then  quite  cream-like,  and  many  prefer  it  to  the  little 
Mushroom  “  buttons.” 
Tbe  Vintage  In  tbe  Champagne  Country. — Mr.  Charles 
Heidsieck,  Rheims,  writes,  giving  a  very  satisfactory  account  of  the 
vintage  this  year  in  the  champagne  country.  ”  In  the  spring  of  the 
year,”  he  says,  “  Vines  progressed  satisfactorily,  but  our  bete  noir,  the 
frost,  did  some  slight  damage  on  the  morning  of  May  20th  in  many 
localities,  more  especially  to  the  lower  valley  of  the  Marne,  and  in  some 
of  the  White  Grape  districts,  but  not  sufficient  to  cause  much  anxiety.” 
The  flowering  of  the  Grapes  took  place  in  most  favourable  circum¬ 
stances.  The  weather  continued  warm  during  July  and  August,  slight 
rain  falling  at  the  end  of  the  period  with  beneficial  effect.  The  Grapes 
matured  in  exceptional  conditions  during  September,  not  a  drop  of  rain 
falling,  and  the  prospect  of  a  tine  vintage  was  assured.  The  work  of 
gathering  began  generally  on  September  25th,  and  the  weather  was 
most  favourable  for  the  purpose.  The  opinion  throughout  the  various 
districts  is  unanimous  that  so  tine  a  vintage  has  not  been  seen  for 
twenty  or  thirty  years.  The  Vines  are  free  from  mildew  and  other 
objectionable  things,  while  the  phylloxera  has  made  small  progress. 
Marrows  Without  Manure. — In  private  gardens,  as  a  rule 
Vegetable  Marrows,  without  the  proverbial  manure  heap,  are  not  often 
to  be  found,  except  in  stray  cases,  and  I  must  confess  to  the  adoption 
of  the  practice  for  some  years.  That  they  can  be  grown  without  manure, 
or  even  without  digging  the  ground,  I  have  had  ample  proof  this 
summer.  True,  the  manure  heap  has  been  requisitioned  this  year  as 
usual,  for  the  early  summer  portion  of  the  crop,  because  without  such 
aids  there  cannot  be  the  same  early  cutting.  Marrows  being  in  good 
demand  all  the  summer,  I  resolved  to  set  'apart  more  ground  for  them, 
so  that  any  surplus  beyond  the  daily  needs  could  grow  on  and  ripen, 
and  thus  a  store  for  the  late  autumn  and  winter  would  be  in  a  measure 
assured  as  a  continuation  to  that  of  the  summer.  This  is  a  common 
custom  with  the  cottager,  and  what  is  good  in  such  cases  might  be 
made  to  apply  to  the  servants’  hall,  if  they  were  not  deemed  suitable 
for  the  dining  room.  On  the  manure  heap  Marrows  suffer  severely 
when  such  periods  of  drought  occur  as  that  known  this  year,  and  this 
being  so,  the  supply  obtained  often  fails  to  extend  beyond  that  required 
from  day  to  day.  Having  a  vacant  plot  of  ground  in  May  seeds  of  two 
or  three  varieties  of  Vegetable  Marrows  were  dibbled  here  and  there 
in  it,  inserting  a  stick  or  label  as  an  indication  of  their  whereabouts. 
These  came  up  sturdily,  and  at  a  time  when  spring  frosts  were  past, 
and  though  poor,  the  ground  had  not  produced  a  Marrow  crop  before^ 
and  thus  their  vigour  and  freedom  of  fruit  bearing  eclipsed  anything 
obtained  before,  even  when  much  more  elaborate  preparations  were 
made.  As  a  help  against  the  summer,  and  also  to  furnish  a  strawy  bed 
for  the  fruits  to  lay  on,  a  light  coat  of  litter  was  spread  over  the  ground 
as  soon  as  the  lateral  growth  began  to  spread,  and  this  answered  the 
purpose  admirably. — WpS. 
