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JOUENAL OP HOBTICTJLTUEE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



August 10, 187h. 



Lord Stair not rejoicing in Eeeing a waste, but preferring to 

 see well-built and solid cottages peepirjg out from amongst 

 the foliage in various parts of the demesne. We then skirted 

 the shores of Lough Inch, gaining fine views of the mansion 

 at every turn, the long line of grass terraces, the banks of 

 splendid Rhododendrons mingled with huge trees of Fuchsias, 

 which now that the former were over were glowing with their 

 rich scarlet flowers. We caught of course occasional glimpses 

 of the old ruins of Castle Kennedy ; and having noted many 

 matters of interest in the details of the planting, of which 

 more anon, we were met at the end of the loch by a lad who 

 took the " machine," and we set out on our journey on foot 

 to view in detail the subjects of interest which had made our 

 drive so agreeable, and with Mr. Fowler as our guide it could 

 not fail to be one of instruction and profit ; but as I have 

 personally a strong objection to long papers and imagine that 

 others have also, I must reserve these details for another 

 week's Journal. — D., Deal. 



MB. RIVEES'S NURSEBIES, SAWBRIDGEWOETH- 



As a grower of fruit trees and a raiser of new kinds of fruit, 

 as the author of works pertaining to fruit-cultivation, and as 

 popularising, so to speak, the subject of fruit-production, as 

 fostering a taste for that pursuit in which he has long de- 

 lighted to indulge, and promoting the spread of a work both 

 profitable and enjoyable, Mr. Rivera's name is held in esteem 

 by those of kindred tastes in this and other countries, and his 

 nurseries at Sawbridgeworth have become of world-wide fame. 

 They cannot be visited in the fruit season without affording 

 instruction by conveying useful hints and practical lessons. 

 These nurseries are essentially practical. There is no out- 

 ward display, not even the name of " T. Rivers & Son, Nursery- 

 men," being inscribed at the entrance. Even the fruit trees 

 and orchard houses are as much as possible hidden by a fringe 

 of Conifers ; and the visitor, being a stranger, might pass by 

 one of the most famous of English nurseries without supposing 

 that any such establishment existed in the vicinity which he 

 was traversing. 



Harlow, on the Great Eastern Railway, is the most con- 

 venient station from London for visiting these nurseries. The 

 district is apleasant one. The roads are fl anked by hedges almost 

 of tree-like magnitude, and the undulated pasture lands and 

 corn fields proclaim the neighbourhood decidedly agricultural. 

 The district is well wooded, and the trees, like the hedges, are 

 large and luxuriant, and speak in unmistakeable terms of a 

 fertile and generous soil. To this good soil — good for fruit as 

 well as for forest trees — Mr. Rivers is primarily indebted for 

 his position, but then it required skill to turn it to account 

 so fully and successfully as has here been accomplished. 



This has been a nursery for 150 years, and consists now of 

 about as many acres, and continues to increase in size yearly. 

 The greater part of it is freehold, and nearly all is occupied 

 with fruit trees, and contiguous fields have been " taken " and 

 devoted to the same style of cropping to meet the great and 

 ever-growing demands for the commodities of this great pomo- 

 logical farm. 



The site of the nursery is boldly undulated, is in fact a series 

 of hills and valleys, and far almost as the eye can reach are 

 "trees, trees everywhere" — trees of almost all kinds and 

 shapes, but not quite of all sizes, for it is remarkable to note 

 that excepting a plantation of Plums and another of Pears 

 for growing fruit for market purposes the stock is all young, 

 and that it is self-evident that great as are the numbers of 

 trees that are raised yearly they are sold off, and that others 

 still younger reign their short reign in their stead. There are 

 trained trees, pyramids, bushes, and cordons, but all young 

 and portable. Trees in pots there are by thousands, Peaches, 

 Nectarines, Plums, Pears, Cherries, and Apricots, and yet 

 this is only one of many great fruit-tree establishments, and 

 the fact is suggestive of the magnitude of English fruit-tree 

 culture. 



It is not, however, the increase cf old standard kinds of fruit 

 that has made Sawbridgeworth famous so much as the raising 

 and distribution of new varieties, the Bterling qualities of which 

 are not only widely recognised in this country, but 'equally 

 so on the continent of Europe and in America. In the raising 

 of new fruits Mr. Rivers was ahead of his fellows in appre- 

 ciating the importance of one point — earliness, and to that 

 supreme point he has directed his attention. To be " first in 

 the market " is the desideratum of all mercantile men, and 

 especially to be "first" with fruits is an advantage of the 



greatest moment. A week, or even half a week, in advance is 

 a most fortunate position to secure, for in that or less than 

 that time fruit will depreciate in value quite 50 per cent. A 

 striking instance of this is afforded by Early Rivers or Rivers' 

 Early Prolific Plum. This Plum realises double and treble the 

 price of other Plums, principally on account of its earliness 

 combined with its superior quality. Of this Plum eight hun- 

 dred bushels were sent to market from Sawbridgeworth last 

 year, and commanded more than double the price of other 

 Plums then offered in Covent Garden. Similarly is the ad- 

 vantage of earliness demonstrated with Peaches — a fact which 

 the English have not been quite so wide awake to as our con- 

 tinental neighbours and American friends. They provided 

 themselves largely with these advanced varieties as soon as 

 their character was proved, and now the French and Belgians 

 are " first" in the English market with foreign-grown fruit of 

 English-raised seedlings. In some parts of America where 

 Peach culture is carried-on on a scale of great magnitude the 

 value of the Sawbridgeworth seedlings is being freely recog- 

 nised, and large numbers of such sorts as Early Beatrice and 

 Early Louise have to be provided to meet the great export de- 

 mand, for these sorts are assuredly "first in the market" 

 wherever they are grown. They supersede Early Bivers, for 

 the latter is prone to crack at the stone — a warning which its 

 raiser can afford to honestly aver in his catalogue. On a small 

 scale as well as on a large one the importance of gaining a 

 week in delicious and perishable fruit is a matter of great con- 

 sequence, and hence no garden is considered complete which 

 does not contain the earliest as well as the best of everything 

 in season. 



But fruit trees are not only grown on a scale of great mag- 

 nitude in the open air, but they are also cultivated under 

 glass in greater numbers than are to be found in any other 

 establishment. The quantity of fruit produced in the orchard 

 houses at Sawbridgeworth is enormous, and is unquestionably 

 a source of great profit to the owners. The structures devoted 

 to fruit-growing are both numerous and extensive. There are 

 thirty-five houses — not, like many of the trees, " miniatures," 

 but several are 100 feet in length by 24 feet in width, span-roofs ; 

 and lean-tos range from that up to nearly 300 feet in length. 

 It is not necessary to notice each house separately, for their 

 contents are constantly being changed to advance or retard the 

 different crops, and in otherwise carrying out the routine of 

 the establishment. These houses, as is generally well koown, 

 were not built to " look at." They are home-made structures, 

 erected in the first instance as experimental, but have long 

 since proved their worth and value in a manner quite indis- 

 putable ; and that they are not fragile their long years of ser- 

 vice and their present substantial state is sufficient testimony ; 

 and that they also answer their purpose as well as more 

 elaborate and costly-built houses the fruit which they have 

 produced, and which they now contain, affords substantial 

 evidence. Many of these houses are heated and many are un- 

 heated. Their sides, where there are sides, are formed of 

 boards supported by oak posts, some of the posts being encased 

 in iron sockets, and other houses have brick foundations ; but 

 all have been erected on principles of economy and usefulness, 

 and as proving how large and certain crops of fruit may be 

 produced at the least cost. Mr. Rivers has not indulged in the 

 " luxury of building," but his object has been fruit-growing, 

 and he has succeeded. 



The trees are grown in pots with but a few exceptions. Let 

 us take as a sample of many others one of the large span- 

 roofed houses. There are two rows of trees along the centre. 

 These trees are 10 to 12 feet high, and are furnished almost 

 down to the pots with foliage, and are laden with fruit. There 

 are two other rows of trees along each Bide of the house, trees 

 of lower stature but also heavily cropped. Some of theje trees 

 have been cultivated in pots for upwards of twenty years and 

 have branches gaunt and scraggy, but the foliage is as healthy 

 as ever, and the growth is aB free and the fruit as good as on 

 younger trees. The soil is removed from the pots to two- 

 thirds of their depth annually, and the fresh soil is supple- 

 mented by rich top-dressings, and this practice with freedom 

 from insects preserves the trees in their Wealthy fruitful stele. 

 But a few trees are planted out, standards and are vronderful 

 by their mode of growth and productiveness. Their stems are 

 about 6 feet in height and 6 inohps in diameter, and their 

 heads are 6 to 8 feet in diameter. The treeo were planted in 

 the ordinary soil many years ago, and it is never dug, top- 

 dressed, or watered. The surface is almost as hard as s 

 ] and as dry as dust, yet the trees are in pe "est health, a 



