138 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ August 17, 1876. 



andf ribbed ; they support a pair of ligulate-lanceolate acute 

 leaves," while from their base proceeds an ample branched 

 noddiDg panicle of large yellow flowers. The sepals and petals 

 are quite small, pale greeDieh-yellow, marked with brown bars. 

 The lip is large, much crested at the base, where it is mottled 

 with reddish-brown ; it is furnished with rounded basal lobes, 

 and has a large reniform middle lobe, which is upwards of 

 2 inches across, divided into four lobules, and of the purest 

 and brightest yellow. The panicles attain about a couple of 

 feet in length, are much branched, and bear sometimes as 

 many as 170 flowers. Like 0. varicosum itself, this is one of 

 the finest Oncids we have in cultivation. In gardens it bears 

 the name of Oncidium Rogersii, but Professor Reichenbach is 

 no doubt quite correct in referring it to 0. varicosum, the 

 four-lobed front portion of the lip affording an unmistakeable 

 characteristic. 



" Being a native of Brazil, it Bhould be cultivated in the 

 Cattleya house It grows freely when suspended in a basket 

 near the roof; and sphagnum, peat, and charcoal form a suit- 

 able compost for it." 



This Orchid passed into the possession of Messrs. James 

 Veitch & Sons, The Royal Exotic Nurseries, Chelsea, where it 

 has since frequently flowered ; it is also included in many private 

 collections, where it is justly regarded as a valuable acquisition. 



Dr. Rogers' garden is exceedingly enjoyable and instructive, 

 and the owner possesses a thorough knowledge of plants thai 

 renders the visit of " one of the craft " peculiarly gratify- 

 ing. The residence, which is a modern structure built from 

 the owner's plans, purposely resembles an erection, both inter- 

 nally and externally, of the sixteenth century, and is quite 

 in keeping with the somewhat quaint and unusual character of 

 thegarden and its surroundings. — J. W. 



FLOWERS AND FRUIT AT SWANLEY. 



Probably at no period of the year is the country more really 

 beautiful than when the ripening corn bends before the reaper 

 and a bountiful harvest is being secured by the husbandman. 

 The trees may then have lost their vernal freshness, but they 

 are rich in their deeper hues of matured foliage. The pastures 

 may be in a measure browned by the summer's sun, yet every 

 spot of earth is bearing its fruits, and the landscape is diver- 

 sified by the different tints which are not found at an earlier 

 period. The golden corn and half-cleared field are brought 

 into clear relief by the deep contrasting foliage of contiguous 

 woods. The hills appear higher and the valleys deeper when 

 the shadows of a declining sun are cast over a varied-tinted 

 surface. Summer is the time of Nature's manhood. Woods, 

 fields, and gardens are then in their prime ; grain, roots, fruits, 

 and flowers are alike being perfected, and the "aspect of 

 Nature" is enjoyable and satisfying. 



Fruits and flowers are now to be found almost everywhere, 

 and a delightful landscape is afforded in many districts, but 

 in few placeB are fruits and flowers so noticeable as at Swanley, 

 and few districts contiguous to the metropolis are so attractive 

 to the traveller as the richly clothed hills and the fertile valleys 

 around. The views on the line of the London, Chatham, and 

 Dover Railway are most varied and attractive. The villa resi- 

 dences are ornate and tasteful, and the flowers glittering 

 through the trees tell of homes that are cared for. The miles 

 of fruit trees — plantations of fruit — the fields of Strawberries, 

 of Hops, Potatoes, and corn combine to render the beauty of 

 the landscape unusually complete. 



In order to better appreciate this fertile district we alight 

 from the train at Swanley Junction, and look more closely at 

 the "flowers and fruit" to be found contiguous. Both are 

 worthy of inspection. For a long time has this locality been 

 famed for the extent and superior character of its fruit culture, 

 but it is only recently that flowers have been added to its 

 staple products — that is, since Mr. Cannell has laid the founda- 

 tions of his plant manufactory. His expanding business 

 having burst its limited bounds at Woolwich is now transported 

 to a wider field, where an atmosphere undefiled by smoke is 

 secured, a soil varied, fresh, and good is provided, where 

 shelter is found without shade, and where rain water is col- 

 ected from the surface instead of being raised from below it 

 for the support of the plants. 



The site of this new nursery has been skilfully selected, for 

 it contains natural advantages of the greatest importance in 

 carrying on the business which is already established. It may 

 be instructive to record the nature of these advantages as a 

 guide to others in the choice of a site for a similar object. 



In the first place a position of some altitude was sought, 

 for in such positions the frosts of spring are less destructive 

 than in dells and valleys ; and in the next place a hollow was 

 desired for the collection of water from the higher ground. A 

 hollow, therefore, at the top of a hill was the only site afford- 

 ing theBe conditions, and that is precisely the site which Mr. 

 Cannell has obtained — a large hollow on the top of a high hill. 

 A railway station must be near, and so near is Swanley Junc- 

 tion that the station overlooks the ground, and a siding on 

 the railway is the boundary of a portion of the nursery. The 

 high embankment of the Maidstone and Sevenoaks line is the 

 south-western boundary of the nursery, and affords invaluable 

 shelter ; the opposite side being bounded by the London turn- 

 pike, and which also is turned to account in a manner worthy 

 of being mentioned, and which is undoubtedly beneficial to 

 Mr. Cannell and also to the distiict in which he has taken up 

 his abode. 



Between these two boundaries the nursery (long and narrow, 

 and containing an area of 17 acres) is being laid out ; its lowest 

 part is the centre — that is, ic slopes, as also does the adjacent 

 road, from the ends to the middle. Down this road the sur- 

 face water from the higher has poured in torrents, doing 

 damage to the crops in the hollow. It occurred to Mr. Cannell 

 that if he could preserve the winter's rains for summer use the 

 water could not fail to be of great value. He therefore ob- 

 tained permission to intercept the water, and forthwith laid 

 down drains and grates, and formed two immense catch-water 

 tanks, and connected these tanks with others in the different 

 houses which he has erected. These tanks are all in connec- 

 tion with each other and furnished with valves. This com- 

 plete system of water-storing cannot be too highly estimated. 

 It includes the drainings of manure from farms and from the 

 railway station. The work cannot fail to have been costly, yet 

 in the end will be found most economical, for the only force 

 requisite to provide a supply is the costless force of gravitation, 

 and the water is of course vastly superior to that pumped 

 from springs. Already tanks are made holding 150,000 gallons, 

 and further tanks will be added as other houses are erected. 

 The tanks are built of 4-inch brickwork lined with cement, 

 and the pipes connecting them together are also, jointed with 

 cement. The water from about two acres of road surface 

 already drains into the tanks. It was a happy conception and 

 has been admirably. carried out. There are doubtless other 

 places, both trade establishments and private residences, so 

 situated that the same mode of collecting waste surface water 

 in the rainy season might be carried out with the greatest 

 advantage ; for a sufficient supply of soft water is a store of 

 wealth to all gardeners and cultivators of plants. 



After making due provision for a full supply of soft water 

 by conserving the surplus rainfall of the district, the next 

 important matter was the one of shelter. This is of the greatest 

 advantage in both nurseries and private gardens. If the frosts 

 of spring can be in a useful measure averted and the destruc- 

 tive effects of the frosts of autumn be in any way postponed, 

 also if the force of the winds at all seasons be broken, a sub- 

 stantial gain is attained. In many of the Belgian nurseries 

 the value of sheltering lines of shrubs and trees are fully 

 recognised, and hedges of Lombardy Poplars and evergreens 

 intersect the ground at frequent intervals, forming enclosures 

 having a higher mean temperature by several degrees than 

 where such sheltering lines are not provided. In many English 

 nurseries the importance of shelter is similarly appreciated, 

 but not generally to so great an extent as on the Continent. 

 Mr. Cannell is fully alive to the value of shelter, and is plant- 

 ing lines of Lombardy Poplars to be trimmed into close hedges 

 to afford shelter, also shade, without the overhanging branches, 

 where such aids are needed. These Poplars form the quickest, 

 cheapest, and most compact of hedges for the internal sub- 

 division of nurseries and gardens. In the nursery at Swanley 

 they are employed freely, and it is a question whether even a 

 more extended use of them would not prove advantageous. 



Besides the lines of Poplars, subsidiary divisional lines are 

 being formed of Vines. Mr. Cannell has an idea that a plant 

 of so hardy a nature as the Vine is as often injured as bene- 

 fited by its increase from eyes and its cultivation in pots. He 

 is therefore adopting a simpler, cheaper, and hardier mode of 

 culture, and intends raising stout hardy canes for transplant- 

 ing by growing them in the open ground and air of his 

 nursery. Between these rows of Vines are plantations of 

 flowers. For instance : six plants of a sort of nearly four 

 hundred varieties of Chrysanthemums are planted-out for 

 " stock," and to keep them " true to name." Thus sheltered 



