1879.] THE HALE FARM NURSERIES. 559 



seeds saved from plants (Hollyhocks or Tomatoes, for instance), which 

 in their lifetime had been the hosts and entertainers of fungi, and 

 which will produce plants infected like their parents, or in growing 

 plants in a damp, unhealthy, draughty house, or in improperly opening 

 the front lights of the vinery during forcing-time, and so letting in the 

 spores of the mildew, most likely some state of Erysiphe communis, 

 formerly thought to be an Oidium, and then called Oidium Tuckeri, or 

 in planting Potatoes already infected with Peronospora infestans, or 

 in using farm-yard manure, in which Potato-bines (which had enter- 

 tained in their lifetime such guests as Peronospora infestans) have 

 been placed to rot, instead of burning them, or in growing Roses in a 

 draughty situation, or Peas in a dry shallow soil. Again, if chips of 

 wood find their way into the soil of the Vine-border, the spores of some 

 common fungus in the soil, not one of epiphytal kind, will soon find 

 out the chips of wood, and in the most systematic and beneficent way 

 will forthwith split up their tissues, and return their carbon to the 

 common stock ; but in so doing the fungus growth will not be very 

 particular to confine its growth to the chips, or to limit its duration of 

 life to the exact period of time required for their decomposition, but 

 will foliage about the border for other chips of wood on which to com- 

 plete its career, and in so doing will materially damage the Vine-roots. 

 It is no part of our object to explain the use of the spade, the scythe, 

 the besom or broom in sweeping a lawn — it will be sufficient to state 

 that unless learnt correctly, and that early in life, it will never be ac- 

 quired in later years. Laboee Vinces. 



THE HALE FARM NURSERIES, TOTTENHAM. 



Having a deep interest in herbaceous and Alpine plants, we embraced 

 the opportunity afforded by a short midsummer visit to London of 

 gratifying a long-cherished desire to spend a few hours in Mr Thomas 

 S. Ware's extensive and now celebrated establishment. It will, of 

 course, be easily imagined that it would take as many days as we had 

 hours at our disposal to do anything like justice to a collection which 

 requires nearly 30 acres for its accommodation. Thanks, however, to 

 the courtesy of Mr Perry, the intelligent manager, and to Mr Gifford, 

 one of his able assistants, we were enabled to make the very best use 

 of our limited time, and to take a few notes which, we trust, will prove 

 interesting to our fellow-readers of ' The Gardener.' 



We were first conducted over the florist-flower department, where 

 enormous quantities of the leading varieties of plants usually classed 

 under this head are grown ; and some idea may be formed of the im- 

 portance of this branch of the business when we say that they occupy 

 about 6 acres of ground, and that to meet the demand it is necessary 

 to propagate annually something like 30,000 Carnations and Picotees 



