312 



GARDENERS" MAGAZINE. 



May 



x 4. 1898. 



SWANLEY AND EYNSFORD. 



A visit to the two establishments of Messrs. H. Cannell and Sons is at all 

 times interesting, but at no season perhaps is it attended with more pleasure and 

 profit than in the spring. We not only then see the Kentish orchards amid 

 which the nurseries are situate in their more attractive guise, but a considerable 

 proportion of the immense collections of plants in the open and under glass are 

 in bloom, and by taking note of the work in progress in the packing sheds it is 

 not difficult to gauge with some degree of exactitude the trend of public taste in 

 its relation to the garden. It would appear that such things as zonal pelar- 

 goniums, tuberous begonias, and dahlias, which have long formed special features 

 at Swanley, have in no way decreased in popularity, for house after house is filled 

 with them, and the great array of cases filled with pelargoniums ready for despatch 

 is the best possible proof that Messrs. Cannell do not grow them wholly for their 

 own entertainment. We have evidence also that herbaceous calceolarias, cineraria*, 

 cyclamen, gloxinias, and Chinese primulas continue to increase in popularity, for 

 the area devoted to these plants continues to extend both at Swanley and 

 Eynsford, the object of their culture being, of course, the production of seed. 

 While these and other important classes of ornamental plants continue to do 

 something more than hold their own, other sections have made their wa to the 

 front ; and as the firm is always 

 ready to recognise the merits of 

 novelties the new races of cannas, 

 carnations, violas, and other 

 groups of plants are strongly 

 represented, and the enormous 

 stocks of the cannas grown for 

 the beauty of their flowers are 

 sufficient proof that these highly 

 ornamental plants are much 

 appreciated by the flower- loving 

 public. 



The collection of cactaceous 

 plants at Swanley is of interest 

 as indicating the change which 

 public taste has undergone with 

 regard to these plants of late 

 years. A comparatively short 

 time since they were so neglected 

 that the trade in them practically 

 died out, and at Swanley a small 

 structure sufficed to afford ac- 

 commodation for the collection, 

 which was retained more for the 

 entertainment of the senior mem- 

 ber of the firm, who has at all 

 times evinced the keenest in- 

 terest in his old favourites, than 

 for business purposes. Now these 

 interesting denizens of the vege- 

 table kingdom bask in the sun- 

 shine of public favour, and 

 enjoy a high degree of popu- 

 larity. They have a society and 

 a journal wholly devoted to 

 them, and a brisk demand has 

 sprung up for both choice and 

 ordinary kinds, with the result 

 that the Swanley collection re- 

 quires a house one hundred and 

 fifty feet in length by about 

 twenty feet in width, besides 

 other structures of smaller size, 

 for its accommodation. One 

 might well be excused for linger- 

 ing in the principal structure 

 devoted to the cacti and other 

 plants usually associated with 

 them, discussing their peculiari- 

 ties of structure and their cul- 

 tural requirements, and still 

 greater is the temptation to refer 

 to them at considerable length. 

 But time presses, and the de- 

 mands on our space are so heavy 

 that the temptation has to b^ 

 resisted, and mention made of 

 the more noteworthy kinds only 

 and in the fewest possible 

 words. The mamalarias form 



01 



ore 



GROUP OF THE LADY PRIMULAS. 



a large and interesting group, 



™L°l . l . he .. S ^ S . beil) S decidedly handsome. Of these the first to attract 



lasicantha plumosa 



M 



are freelv r3„ T > • p . a ls , dlstlD guished for its bright red fruits, wl 



remam J n g ood condltion for a considerable p,riod. 

 flow™ ? U r Ze ' ^ loD g White s P ines ' and P rodu <*s rose magenta 

 aurlta or^L. f >V* ° f medlUm 8 rowth ' with P a,e Y* n ™ *P™*- M. Sella 

 TntLT^nt ihen fuflvTT 1 S f C fore 8oing, for it grows in dense clusters 



The echino^ctu^ ^ inS. VelOR ? d d ^ S DOt exCeed an inch or so in diameter, 

 those oT^ forms and chief among 



liberally provided with stour v.n . Gruso ™, a striking plant of large growth 

 rieiide/^ 2***' a * d E - **pa * distinct species with 



from thl^SffiStShS 2£ ^ u f T h ? CerCUS are V ^ distinct 



of the collection. 8 C? mSSoiS ESS? ^ t0 the ^ rest and a "ractiveness 

 formis is remarkably vi^ISs u?th? DC blu f"g reen fl"tedistems ; C. flagelli- 

 monstrosum has its growth ^ mLh t J^^"^^ 11 ^ shoots ; and C pemvianum 

 The opuntias with IZ^s^^iS^ 1'"°** * VeXy si ^ la ^PPearance. 

 and O. macrodasys and O. leucotrich 1 **h r D ° ™** nS wan . tin 8 in attractions ; 



agavoides, a dense-growine silvers < 

 >ecies of a bright silvery hul and i? eCies ; *■ 



torm ot this well-known succulent with leaves somewhS fJS Cris j* a ***** 

 character. 1 Inil ea and elegant in 



The several houses devoted to zonal pelargoniums are as 

 and afford abundant entertainment to those that are at all t ,aglow colo* 

 and exceedingly useful class of plants. If the advanre in^^ in . this sh <>WT 

 marked than was the case twenty years or so ago the noveS CW . vanetie s is lei 

 improvement upon established varieties in the several lin r * vince a material 

 tion a few of these it must be said that Crabbe is a superb J To 



flowers large and of fine form, and borne in no^ ^^'^J^^ the 

 crimson-scarlet with bright glow of rose ; and Mrs Tuk* h^Xl Tudway 

 exceptional merit. Madame Alcide Bruneau is an exquish hf ^ ' 

 zonal of neat growth and bearing a profusion of well formed t * Utl / ul doil Me 

 are white, the petals margined with a well-defined line of deen m!^' ■ u 0 ** 1 

 of the florist's picotee. As the forerunner of a new and h^nt;^ 9 S the 

 is well deserving of specud attention and should be ^x^ ^l^^ Va 



interesting AanTeS tKS^ ' 



with a Abloom hereiod ^ ^ ^Z^, ^^^/^ 



, « produce! when the thousands of 



plants were in bloom, and also 

 of the great diversity of colour - 

 included in the Swanley collet 

 Hon. Especially interesting are 

 the large blocks of plants of ihe 

 tall-growing and eleeant race of 

 which The Lady may be re- 

 garded as the type. This elegant 

 primula is extensively cultivated, 

 and associated with it are several 

 beautiful forms that have been 

 obtained by the intercrossing d 

 The Lady with the varieties be- 

 longing to the ordinary type. 

 Much success has already been 

 achieved, and it is hoped to 

 obtain a race that will combine 

 the lightness and elegance of 

 The Lady with the colours of 

 the ordinary section. Purple 

 Lady and Pink Lady are two of 

 the best of the coloured forms, 

 and Mrs. Robert Cannell is t 

 charming white form with dark 

 foliage ; Messrs. Cannell have 

 also made considerable progreM 

 in their endeavour to obtain a 

 race of Chinese primulas with 

 flowers remarkable for their 

 large size and fine form, but 

 borne in distinct whorls on stout 

 stems instead of in dense clus- 

 ters, and this progress is well 

 marked in the variety known as 

 Pyramidalis alba ; in this the 

 flowers are borne in pyramidal 

 spikes fifteen inches or so in 

 height. This and similar forma 

 should do good service in bold 

 decorations, and should be re- 

 garded as supplementary to, 

 rather than rivals of, the ortho- 

 dox types. The usefulness of 

 the elegant varieties of The 

 Lady type for grouping is well 

 shown in the accompanying 



illustrations. 



The beauty of the cinerarias 



is somewhat on the wane, but 

 the magnificent collection, 

 which comprises all the best ot 

 the varieties grown undername, 

 is still highly attractive and 

 inteiesting as a demonsuauon 

 of the high degree of perfec- 

 tion to which these flowers 

 have been brought by the flon* 

 Here, as in the case of « 

 primulas, Messrs. Cannell haje 



raised several 

 in commerce 



tain a race somewhat more elegant in habit than the ordinary type, an< 

 the best of the florists' forms with Cineraria cruenta. they ftavc r 

 varieties that ran Wriiu f Q ;i ^ ^m'tP nnnularity when they are 



the immense c 

 flowers producing 



the richly 



e,and 



loured 



iiuwcro pronucinir an attractive display. uiox"«*» -y - 

 freely, and I he plants already in bloom give an excellent foretaste 



charmi 



effect that will be produced later on. 



popular ij 

 ana 

 vend 



rpiias-u . 



Konigin Char 



become p< 

 re, handso 

 at Swanley set*- 

 otte is still a g«f 



_ likely 

 begone 



iavourne, ana Austria and Italia, which nave nowcia w. — — Tuberou; 

 to be planted in immense numbers during the current montn. ihcfC ^ 



are to be met with in their thousands, and while on the one 



covered with long"whiu hairT^nT^^ 6 Sp€Cies , ! nclude( i » the genus'; botiTwe 



other types. Especially aTtracUve SSfc , a Stnki . ng effeCt in ^ociatioa with the 

 VictorLi R^Tin. r ; aCt,ve a . mon g the smaller arowina a 



handso 



Begonias are, indeed, so largely raised that labour-^ 



'p;i ... ' , ^ "~ — , "* LVJ ^ icauncu to, anu we were mucn micicact^ 



:he way ** 



L.«Mt UU* 



sumuer growing agaves are Ag 

 many beautiful echeverias ment 



the 



pleasant drive 01 iwu , hir .est u» 



hatgaVe raft i Much "igS be ^ 

 hoped will be f«Ih" cd -A^ b ,v aJapted for *• 

 . which has proved so .admirably r 



