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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER.  October  15,  1903. 
Strawberries  in  October. 
Late  in  Angust  an  invitation  was  received  at  this  office  from 
the  Rev  A  Foster-Melliar,  M.A.,  Rector  of  Sproughton,  near 
Ipswich,  in  Suffolk.  Mr.  Foster-Melliar  is  far  better  known  to 
Journal  readere  as  the  master  Rosarian  who  writes  above  the 
pseudonym  “W.  R.  Raillem”  but  he  has  other  loves  besides  the 
Roses  •  and  his  letter  on  this  occasion  said :  “  Come  and  .see  my 
Strawberries.”  This  was  a  bad  shot,  for  we  are  strong  in  the 
fashion  here,  and  take  our  holidays  in  August. 
I  had  been  almost  within  siglit  of  “John  o’  Groat’s  Hoose, 
up  among  the  Hielan’  hills,  with  their  caps  of  snow  and  robes  ot 
purple  and  had  hardly  come  back  to  the  desk  once  more  (and 
this  was  now  late  September)  when  once  again  came  the  kindly 
cry  •  “  Come  and  see  my  Strawberries.”  It  was  a  Friday,  and 
within  twenty-four  hours  I  had  both  seen,  admired,  and  t^ted 
the  fruits  of  a  crop  such  as  I  never  have  seen  equalled  anywhere. 
I  must  be  cautious  in  the  use  of  figures,  else  my  very  truthfulness 
will  foil  my  purpose.  But  the  figures  can  stand  for  a  moment. 
Strawberries  in  October?  Yes.  St.  Joseph  Strawberry; 
Antoine  de  Padoue;  and  La  Constante  d’Automne  :  these  are  the 
varieties.  Quietly  Mr.  Foster-Melliar  led  the  way  through  the 
poultry  yard  w’lth  its  perky,  beautiful  black  M^inorcas  and  sturdy 
Leghorns,  to  a  gate  that  leads  to  his  garden  of  specialities  ;  and 
as  we  paced  the  path,  he  chatted  of  the  Apples,  and  was  glum 
over  the  failure  of  his  Cox’s  Orange  Pippin  trees  in  all  parts  of 
the  garden.  Do  as  he  may,  the  trees  will  rust  and  always  fail. 
But  now  we  are  at  the  Strawberry  bed  :  the  new  plantation 
that  was  made  earlv  in  August.  Already  one  notes  exceptional 
methods  of  treatment,  the  plants  are  a  yard  apart  either  way— a 
yard  from  row  to  row  :  a  yard  from  plant  to  plant.  These  young 
Strawberries  will  yield  fruits  next  summer.  Five,  or  six,  runners 
will  be  chosen  from  each  of  them,  and  made  to  root  around  the 
central  parent  plant  in  the  way  I  try  to  show  by  the  agency  of  the 
printer. 
Fifj.  1. — The  parent  plant  ivith 
five  runners  around  it. 
—  The  parent  removed  later 
in  the  year,  leaving  a  circle  of 
plants. 
Figure  1  is  intended  to  show  the  position  of  the  central  plant 
and  its  runner  plantlets.  Figure  2  shows  the  parent  removed  from 
the  centre,  leaving  a  large  circle  of  plants  formed  by  the  now’ 
developed  offspring.  The  reasons  for  taking  away  the  original 
plant  are  to  allow  freedom  of  air  and  light,  for  the  plants  develop 
so  well  and  bear  such  heavy  crops  that  this  excision  is  imperative. 
Furthermore  it  allows  a  space  for  the  foot,  there  being  also  a  tiny 
alley  between  the  rows. _ 
The  facts  so  far  are ;  1,  the  plants  put  in  this  summer  are  3ft 
apart ;  2,  they  yield  fruit  next  year ;  3,  the  runners,  with  the  ex¬ 
ception  of  five  or  six,  are  scrupulously  pinched  off ;  4,  thovse 
chosen  form  a  circle  round  the  parent ;  5,  the  parent  is  dug  out  at 
the  end  of  the  season ;  6,  the  runners  or  plants  are  left  to  form  a 
plantation  which  lasts  three  years. 
Culture?  Mr.  Foster-Melliar  has  no  secrets:  he  cultivates 
carefully  and  assiduously ;  treats  his  ground  to  good  doses  of 
manure  from  the  farmyard,  and  as  his  soil  is  light,  it  can  take 
as  much  as  he  can  afford  ;  and  lastly,  muscle  is  expended  in  spade 
work.  But  I  must  not  forget  to  say  that  ho  is  a  great  apostle 
for  the  thrifty  use  of  the  Dutch  or  the  Sproughton  hoe,  the  latter 
an  invention  of  his  own,  and  which  many  of  our  readers  probably 
emiiloy.  A  Sproughton  hoe  is  the  constant  companion  of  the 
veteran  cleric  and  gardener,  as  he  stalks  across  his  lawns  or 
amongst  his  fruits  and  Rosets,  taking  the  “  legs  ”  from  a  Groundsel 
here,  or  shuffling  off  a  Plantain  there — and  it  is  the  best  of 
staffs ! 
Only  twice  this  year  did  Mr.  Foster-Melliar  supply  liquid 
manure  (or  wash)  to  the  Strawberries ;  and  as  the  weather  was 
rainy,  it  was  given  without  being  diluted.  A  mulch¬ 
ing  of  short  manure  is  given  very  early  in  spring.  In 
order  to  hold  up  and  protect  the  weighty  yield  of 
fruiting  trusses  from  dampness  and  dirt,  the  Rector 
of  Sproughton  employs  stout  wire,  like  telegraph  wire, 
a  quarter  of  an  inch  in  thickness,  and  bends  it  to  form 
a  circle,  the  ends  being  turned  down  and  fixed  in  the 
ground.  It  is  like  the  accompanying  diagram  ;  and, 
of  course,  the  trusses  have  everj^  chance  to  ripen.  Home-made 
supports’of  this  sort  are  perfectly  effectual,  and  are  cheaper  than 
any  other.  The  making  of  them  might  furnish  work  for  the 
garden-men  during  the  dull  days  of  winter. 
Mr.  Foster-Melliar  made  no  complaint  against  the  slugs;  but 
bees  and  wasps  are  a  sore  trial,  and  for  them  he  places  little 
pots  containing  beer  and  treacle.  These  interesting  but  harmful 
insects  will  leave  Peaches  and  come  to  the  Strawberry  beds  the 
moment  the  odour  of  the  latter  reaches  them.  In  order  to  make 
surety  doubly  sure  in  protecting  the  fruits  of  his  labours  from  the 
larger  birds,  he  has  made  moveable  frames,  each  5ft  broad  and  over 
6ft  high,  covered  with  small  meshed  wire-netting.  The  advantage 
of  these  frames  is,  of  course,  that  they  can  be  separated  and  again 
pieced  together  when  a  new  plantation  has  to  be  covered. 
It  only  now  remains  to  say  that  the  system  he  adopts,  and 
the  varieties  he  so  manifestly  favours  (there  being  no  others  than 
those  named  in  his  garden)  amply  repay  him  for  his  pains  and  his 
choice.  Every  day  since  June,  for  the  last  three  years,  tie  has  been 
able  to  pick  a  dish  of  Strawberries;  and  the  bed  is  very  little 
larger  than  the  floor  space  of  ai  gardener’s  cottagei. 
In  late  September  he  could  pick  many  dishes,  and  the  fruits 
were  first-rate.  They  were  all  as  large  as  an  average  Vicomtesse 
Hericart  de  Thury,  firm,  sweet,  and  juicy,  and  coloured  to  per¬ 
fection.  Constante  d’Automne  we  both  agreed  upon  as  being 
more  saccharine  and  richer  than  St.  Joseph,  though  the  latter 
is  an  exceptionally  free  cropper.  Choosing  the  best  looking  plant 
I  saw,  I  counted  twenty  individual  trusses,  and  each  truss  was 
laden  with  ripe  and  ripening  Strawberries,  while  the  tips  were 
profusely  flowering.  The  Ipswich  Gardeners’  Society  as  a  body, 
have  paid  a  visit  since  I  was  there,  and  possibly  some  of  them, 
may  support  me  in  saying  that  a  finer  Strawberry  display  could 
not  be  seen.  Twice  Mr.  Foster-Melliar  has  tried  to  photograph 
the  bed,  but  neither  time  was  successful. 
The  St.  Antoine  de  Padoue  is  grown  in  a  bed  by  itself. 
The  plants  became  a  prey  to  leaf-spot  disease,  which  formed 
confluent  patches.  This  variety  is  far  softer  in  leafage  and 
growth  than  the  other  two;  it  grows  rampantly,  but  is  sus¬ 
ceptible  to  attacks  which  the  others  resist.  What  was  to  be 
fhe  cure?  Through  this  journal  the  owner  had  advice^  from 
Mr.  George  Abbey,  who  advised  that  a  thin  coating  of  straw 
be  spread  over  the  plants,  and  be  set  on  fire.  This  was  to 
destroy  the  spores  of  the  Spliserella,  even  though  it  consumed 
some  of  the  leaves.  The  advice  was  followed.  They  were 
burnt  last  July,  and  in  two  days  new  leaves  were  vigorously 
asserting  themselves.  Seen  at  the  end  of  September  with 
large  fruits  and  a  superabundance  of  foliage,  one  would  never 
guess  they  had  had  such  a  drastic  check. 
Mr.  Foster-Melliar  would  like  to  see  this  variety  crossed 
back  upon  St.  Joseph,  as  he  affirms  (which  is  substantiated  by 
his  plants)  that  it  is  losing  the  Perpetual  character.  Notwith¬ 
standing  the  victorioiLS  combat  of  the  leaf-.spot  in  July,  the 
new  foliage  is  flabby  and  soft,  and  the  watchful  cultivator 
shook  his  head,  saying,  “  They’ll  soon  fall  a  prey  again,”  and 
the  warm,  damp  weather  will  doubtless  have  tended  to  bring 
about  a  recurrence  of  the  trouble. 
Notwithstanding  the  paragraphs  about  Strawberries  in  all 
the  newspapers  during  the  last  fortnight,  it  is  hardly  likely 
that  market  men  will  devote  themselves  to  any  considerable 
extent  to  the  culture  of  autumn-fruiting  Strawberries.  The 
seasons  are  too  risky ;  and  a  single  sharp  frost,  or  half  an 
hour’s  hail,  or  dripping  and  oald  days  would  almost  spoil  all 
their  chances  of  profit.  There  is,  too,  quite  a  goodly  selection 
of  other  fruits  on  the  market  at  this  season,  and  the.se  claim 
the  public  palate.  But  far  more  I  think  might  be  done  in 
private  garclens.  We  go  to  great  lengths  in  order  to  provide 
forced  Strawberries  in  February  and  March;  why  not  have 
them  also  in  October  ? 
The  story  of  Linnmus  having  cured  himself  of  gout  by 
subsisting  for  six  weeks  on  Strawberry  fruits  may  be  true,  or 
it  may  not ;  just  as  the  other  story  of  a  man  who  journeyed 
