916 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



November 30, 1912 



criinson, almost cnnwon-bcarlet, and a shade 

 that is wonderfully effective under bright 

 light. F.C.C., N.C.S., November 21. Mr. 

 Mormau Davis. 



Joey Saunders. — A very bhowy large- 

 flowered single variety, with threo rows oi 

 firm, shapely floret.s of a V>eautiful golden- 

 huff shade. P.C.C., N.C.S., November 21. 

 Mr. L, Lawrence, Slioreham, Sevenoaks. 



Mrs. Roger Gregory, — A medium-sized 

 single variety, ivith broad pink florett> and 

 a white zone round the yellow disk. Com- 

 mendation, N.C.S., November 21. Mr. I>aw. 

 rence^ Shoreham, Sevenoaks. 



Mrs. W, T. Smith.— A rehued lar^e- 

 flowered Japanese variety, pure white, with 

 broad loosely incurving florets. A.M., 

 K.H.S., November 21. Mr. A. Smith, The 

 Convent Gardens, Koehampton. 



Mi«a May Fox. — A large-flowered Japane: 

 variety, soft pale yellow, with grtH?ni8h-yelIow 

 centre, llic florets are long and drfM>ning. 

 A.M., R.H.S.. November 19. Mr. H. J. 

 Jones, Ryecroft, Lcwisham. 



Michael Harrison. — A very handsome large- 

 flowered single variety. It is reddish-bronze 

 with a zone of yellow round the di«k. A.M., 

 R.H.S. NovemVr 19. 



(gardener, Mr. 

 Grinsrtead. 



V 



L. F. Harrison, Ksq. 

 <*ha.pman). Orchards, East 



L.?:LI0-CA ITLEYA HKLL.V OHCIIID 



DKNE VAK. 



An especiallv largo-Huwered and hand^jome 

 form of tile hybrid between La?lia purpurata 

 and Cattleya labiata. The sepal« and petals 

 are light purplisii lilac, and the lip is deep 

 crimson-purple, with a white base. F.C.C., 

 R.H.S., xVovember 19. Mr. E. H. Davidson, 

 Orchid Dene^ Twyford. 



CYPRIPEDIUM ELATIOR, 



A very showy, attractive, and yet refined 

 flower, and a particularly good form of the 

 hybrid In^tween C. Leeanum and C. Baron 

 Si hroder. The petals are yellowinh-green, 

 ^shaded with purple, and the rounded dorsal 

 sepal is white, freely marked with deep wine, 

 purple. F.C.C., R.H.S. , November 19. F. 

 dVlenteith Ogilvie, Esq. (gardener, Mr. Balm- 

 forth). The Shrublx'ry, Oxford. 



wiNTEi^FLow r:i;iN<; nwioxiAS. 



The following varieties have been obtained 

 by cros.^iii^r H. socotraiia and tuberous-rooted 

 varieties. 



Eclipse. — A «yemi-doubIe variety, with a 

 profusion of salmon-red flowers. Among tlie 

 semi-double Howtr-. are numerous single fer_ 

 tile ones. A.M., R.H.S., November 19. 

 Messrs. Clibrans, Altrincham. 



Splendour. — This is a very u>eful variety, 

 free-flowering, and of excellent habit, and 

 bears an abundance of semi-double flowers of 

 deep scarlet hue. A.M., R.H.S., November 

 19. Messrs. Clibrans, Altrincham. 



Lucy Clibr^n. — A very distinct varietv, 

 -.trong-growing, and with large foliage and 

 flowers. The latter are often three inches 



across, and the colour is buff, suffused with 

 rose, the younger flowers showing a light 

 orange tinting. A.M., R.H.S., November 19. 

 Messrs. Clibrans, Altrincham. 



Scarlet Beauty.— Tliis hag medium-sized, 

 semi-double flowers of a bright scarlet shade, 

 and these are freely produced; the plant is 

 most effective. A.M., R.H.S., November 19. 

 'Tessre. Clibrans, Altrincham. 



CARNATIONS. 



Snowsftorm. — A beautiful white perpetual 



varietv, large, fringed, and very fragrant. 



(See illustration on p. 893.) A.M., R.H S , 



November 19. Mr. W. Lawrenson, Yarm-on 

 Tees. 



Mary Allwood.— A fine, cIove-«cented per- 

 petual variety, the flowers large, stems good, 

 calyx entire, and the petals broad and 

 smooth. The colour is salmon-red or rich 

 ro.y <on«e. A.M., R.H.S., November 19. 



Allwood Brothers, Wivelsfield Hay- 

 wards Heath. 



Salmon Enchantress.— A salmon-coloured 

 sport, from the well-known perpetual-flowered 

 hnchantress, and of equal merit. A.M.. 



>; m ' ^^^'^^^^^i' 19. Messrs. Allwood 

 l.rot}i4'r>, Hayward*^ Heath 



FRUIT AT MESSRS- 

 W. SEABROOK AND SONS' 



NURSERIES* 



We can imagine uothiug more gratifying to 

 a man imbued with an intense love of hor- 

 ticulture than that he should, from small 

 beginnings, and by the exercise of his own 

 energies, perseverance, and skill ^ build up 

 a sound and exteosive nursery business, and 

 attain to a high and honoured position among 

 the leading authorities in the particular 

 branch which he has made his speciaEty. 

 A ntriking example of such a man is Mr. W. 

 Seabrook, of 'llie Nurseries, Clielmsford, 

 who for nearly half a century has de- 

 voted himself to a close study of all that 

 concerns fruit culture in the British Isles, 

 and is to-day proprietor of extensive, well- 

 st<x'ked fruit nurseries at Springfield, and 

 Ikjreham. (Chelmsford, as a result of personal 

 care and labour for tlie past thirty years. 



The headquarters of the firm are situated 

 in a delightful spot at Springfield, about 

 a mile irom the town of Chelmsford. 

 It Htands on sloping ground surrounded by 

 verdant meadow.s, except on one side where 

 runs the main, line of the Great Eastern 

 Railway. It is on this nursery that Mr. Sea- 

 brook ha« carried out hiis many experiments, 

 not a few of which have resulted in the dis- 

 covery of improved methods of culture and 

 treatment of our more important fruits, 

 Quite early in the days of the paradise stock 

 our friend appreciated its possibilities, and 

 in a thorough and systematic manner he set 

 to work to prove its value as a stock upon 

 which to work apples for commercial pur- 

 poses. It was not long before the discovery 

 was made that all paradise stocks were not 

 ot equal merit, and with characteristic 

 judgment, a selection of the be^t and most 

 usetul of them was made, and the stocks 

 themselves were propagated from individu^.l 

 roots that proved to be productive of the 

 •best result-s. The wisdom and economic ad- 

 vantage of this course is evident to-day in 

 the fine quality and productiveness of the 

 trees grown by the firm. Almost any variety 

 of apple may be seen in the form of well- 

 grown trees, with abundant fibrous roots 

 which run wonderfully near the surface of 

 the ground, inducing early and prolific crop- 

 ping. Ilie fact that the point of union l>e- 

 between graft and stock is almost invisible 

 even in quite young trees, is strong evidence 

 that the stocks used are capable of bringing 

 the trees into free bearing at a very early 



llie month of October was at an end when 

 we paid our visit of inspection, but even so 

 late as this we saw bush trees about five feet 

 in height carrying heavy erop^ of fruit. 

 I hat handsome apple Bismarck was most con 

 spicuous by reason of the quantity of laree 

 ruddy fruits that hung on trees protected bv 

 nets from the attentions of birds. This apple 

 IS held in high esteem by Mr. Seabrook and 

 large quantities of it are worked annually. 

 Cox s Orange Pippin does extremely well at 

 Chelmsford, and is consequently very lar<relv 

 grown. Hero again we were told that'^the 

 suoce^ IS mainly due to careful selection of 

 a type of stock that has proved exactly suHed 

 to the variety. Some idea of the extent to 

 which fruit trees are produced bv the firm 

 was obtanied from the fact that an ord^^ 

 had jUst been accepted for ten thousa^^^^ 

 niaiden Coxs Orange Pippin, and atS in 

 the day we saw the splendid " breiV " X , 

 which this big batch of^trees wouKdriwT 

 This was at the Boreham Nursery about fo^^ 

 miles <>"t from Chelmsford, whJ;e the S 

 has just added over forty acres for necessary 



theii'";r"a\^udr'^;^'.^' "^^y tJiat 

 rneie are a hundred thousand maiden tree« 



on paradise and crab stocks; thirty to fortv 

 tluniKand two-year-olds and abortV^' ^^^^ 

 three and four- vear-olds Th^^r^^ • 



lialf-standards. We m;i^^ t,^ ^ ! 



exact n,.„w „, rl^tt ^rS^^^i * t 



and 

 apples 



safely say that it would be a difficult matter 

 to name a really first-class apple not included 

 in the splendid collection. 



There are, as everyone knows, a few sortti 

 of both detisert and kitchen apples that 

 every grower needs, and it was no surprise 

 to us to find big batches of Lord Grosvenor 

 Lord Derby, Bramley's Seedling, 

 Warner's King, all of which are ' 

 of high reputation .as excellent croppers 

 and cookers. King of Pippins, Wor- 

 oester Pearmain, AUington Pippin, and 

 Ribston Pippin may Tbe named as the most 

 popular of the dessert varieties after the 

 prime favourite. Cox s Orange, whicli^ with, 

 out a doubt, is the best apple to grow' where 

 it will thrive as it does at these nur^eries. 



It is not only the maidens and quite young 

 trees that do well here, but the large quan- 

 tities of older trees in permanent quarters 

 are equally fine, there being no sign of 

 disease or the ravages of pests, but nhmiH. 

 ant evidence that the treee are in 



condition for the 



The 



of 



prime 

 paying 

 make the 



production 

 crops. ine firm, by the way, 



production of fruit for market and for pri- 

 vate customers equally important branches 

 of the business as the propagation of young 

 trees for sale, and those who have seen the 

 highly creditable exhibits of home-^grown 

 fruit staged at the E.H.S. and other shows 

 will be by no means surprised to read that 

 the fruit roomys were found well filled with 

 fruit of high quality. Mr. Seaibrook hr.s 

 great faith in fruit growing for profit in 

 this country, and entertains not the slightest 

 fear of either colonial or foreign competi- 

 tion. He stipulates, of course, that the 

 fruit farmer must- have a thorough know- 

 ledge of his business, must have suitable 

 land, and exercise judgment in selecting 

 varieties suitable to his land and situation. 

 He must spray and grease-band in season, 

 prune wisely, and nourish liberally; and, 

 having obtained his crop, he must grade and 

 pack sensibly, and keep a keen eye open 

 for the best market. 



One matter that gave a clue to the 

 whole isecret of the success of this firm 

 was forthcoming when we were shown a 

 quarter of Lady Sudeley, an early apple of 

 splendid market qualities. Mr. Seabrook 

 soon found that this apple, on the richer 

 6oil in one part of his plantations, pro- 

 duced wood and foliage at the expense of 

 fruit, whereas on poorer, shallow land at 

 the top of the nursery the trees fruited 

 freely. This was sufficient to show that the 

 right course to adopt with this apple is to 

 grow on poor land, but to feed liberally 

 while the fruit is developing; and, thanks to 

 the fibrous-rooting stocks, used, the trees on 

 the rich soil were lifted and successfully 



from 



ranging 



transplanted even at ages- 

 twelve to fifteen years. 



We were much interested in a grand stock 

 of black currants, which are as healthy a 

 lot as ever we have seen. It is an early 

 variety which has not yet been named; but 

 the great thing is that it has not been 

 affected with the terrible big-bud scourge, 

 and customers have informed Mr. Seabrook 

 that, even when planted beside affected 

 bushes, the Seabrook stock has remained 

 perfectly clean. Pears, too, are well and 

 largely grown. Beurre Clairgeau is a spe- 

 cial favourite here, and is spoken of as the 

 most profitable variety to grow. 



In a range of light, airy houses, some 

 nne peach tree® were seen, and, in reply 

 to our reniarks upon their splendid condition. 

 Mr. Seabrook ventured the statement that 

 the secret lies in the fact that the trf.es are 

 not neglected after the crop is gathered, but 

 are carefully nourished and kept thoroughly 

 clean during that period when they are 

 storing up vitality in readiness for next sea- 

 son s work. 



Mr. Seabrook is assisted in the business 

 »y ms two sons, who, having obtained 

 t»usiness training elsewhere, joined their 

 lather, and now conduct the office work, at- 

 tend exhibitions, and, in a whole-hearted 

 manner, work together with one common 

 ambition, i.e., to carry the name and fame 

 ot Seabrook and .c:^ne ^^fi'ii f^T-fiinr 



