June 25 



1898* 



THE 



GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



403 



OXFORDSH 



o 



AND B 



GROWERS 



,, « generally admitted by those able to judge, that the soil and dm ate 

 f he neighbourhood of Oxford is admirably adapted to the production 

 ° Sh c Ls vegetables, the soil being naturally dry, and entirely exempt 

 f h^Tfens and stagnant waters, corn and grass growing here m 

 hTndance About Oxford the soil is various, portions more or less 

 tdv other parts deep and rich, and excepting the Chilterns, there are 

 STanv hills of considerable height ; the remainder being gentle 

 Linences, which vary the landscape without obstructing the tillage. 

 Under such conditions it might reasonably be expected that cultivators, 

 following the teaching of the Gardeners' Magazine, would be very 



successful in developing new forms and varieties as the rewards lof 

 painstaking cultivation, selection, or hybridisation If we refer to the 

 En we are at once reminded of the number of strains that have 

 orieinated in the county, and the wonderfully improved size and finish 

 of the White Spanish type in the hands of Mr. Taphn and other growers 

 at Banbury, whose enthusiasm knew no bounds, and who brought onion 

 cultivation within the province of the fine arts, the Banbury type 

 undoubtedly serving as the basis of the under-mentioned forms, viz. : 

 Nuneham Park, sent out by Mr. Stewart, Nuneham Park Gardens ; 



Anglo 



Wing 



ordinary method of cultivation ; does not thin out the pods for exhibition 



purposes ; prefers medium sized seeds for sowing ; and plants twelve 

 inc -es apart in the rows. His longest pods have been fourteen inches, 

 with eight beans in the pod. A variety known as Piper's Oxonian has 

 been grown in the district for some years, and it developed as follows : 

 In 1871 Mr. E R. Piper, tailor, Walton-street, Oxford, purchased of a 

 local seedsman half-a-pint of beans, and among the plants was one that 

 proved attractive, owing to its massive leafage and straight, delicate- 

 looking pods ; the colour and texture denoting fine quality and rather 

 suggested that its origin might have been due to the influence of the 

 popular dwarf bean Canadian Wonder. Be that as it may, Mr. Piper 

 only saved one pod for next year's sowing. Of five plants, three were 

 eaten off by slugs (his little back garden was surrounded by buildings), 

 and the other two had to serve as stock producers. Mr. Piper was 

 induced to exhibit at the Oxford and Bicester shows, gaining five firsts 

 in one season in the amateur classes, but he afterwards secured the 

 champion prize at Woodstock Show thirteen years in succession against 

 all comers — a very fair record. About ten years ago he removed into the 

 heart of the city, and, not having a garden, he handed his little store of 

 beans to Mr. Holton, at Worcester College Gardens, who up to that 

 period had no special knowledge of bean culture, but following Mr. 

 Piper's methods, he soon proved himself a worthy and apt pupil. It 

 should be stated that Mr. Piper never once dreamt of working up a stock 

 of seed, four or five pods proving ample for his purpose. He preferred 

 a plump, sausage-shaped bean for sowing, planting them in drills a foot 



MR. J. GREEN'S EXCELSIOR RUNNER-BEANS, AT OLD HEADINGTON. 



Walker 5 



Banbu™ WAcT" ! i V" 11Dlllon > seiectea py M r. J. Walker, Thame; 

 n« to Sm^^i^A™^ S SS w by Mn H - Boxold, Banbury ; 

 raised Tth. J * ^aS^' The Wro ? ton > and other developments 



whlch fo,mpart of the group 



^eir Sth f nT °^ mnne / bea ? S> * hlch of late ha ve nearly doubled 

 have exhibit^ P X - and , nucnhcr of i eed? - A " the experts in the county 

 Societvs show* r r select, °r s at the R °y al Oxfordshire Horticultural 

 other close i^ L- P ro{es ^ on ^ amateurs, and cottagers running each 



have been ™ ™ f d qUaht £ ° f * ardene 's, the following are and 



the same co^.r J" / ° f ,™ nn( : r beanS ' each of whom follow out much 

 have his oZf , cul V vat,on > and, as a matter of fact, claims to 



1 '-N'eal The r Se i eCted T, Stra,n - Amon & these 1 m ay name Mr. 

 Gardens'- M r SS*"^ ? am Pt°n J Mr. H. Wingrove, Rousham Park 



Gr an K e GarJuJ° c ake ^' Bam P ton ; Mr. Richard Wadham, The 

 Rectory iSESS ™ ep,e * Aston ; Mr ' A - E - Kirtland, Bletchington 

 Gardens • a„S m ' t Mr * ^ G - Nichols > recently of Nuneham Park 

 ^itlTOtt^V^ A^^^*^!! 1 Co,le S e Gardens, Oxford. 

 vari ety, but dirt n ft ^ Cal> he ra,sed in 1864 Ne Plus Ultra, a standard 

 les Mhans x ^^•? PUtIt i nt0commerc ^ t,11 l8 79,he having secured no 

 Conference in x S T ° f T , mer,t ' ,ncludin g on e at the R.H.S. Vegetable 



** the basis of ^ V e Plus Ultra has been lar gely grown and utilised 



more than one selected strain. Mr. Neal pursues an 



apart, in a well-prepared trench, the latter 



keeping liquids from running away from the 



of 



an expert 



and 



his 



much service in 



Mr. Holton 



dishes 



roots, 

 wonderful 



has since become — . - a . , . 



of fifty pods each have secured him any number of first-class prizes ( 



believe he has never been beaten) at the Oxford shows, and he has 

 secured two firsts each year, for seven seasons past, at the Co-operative 

 Show at the Crystal Palace, being gold medallist in 1895, m the southern 

 section for gardeners. His strain has developed into long straight, 

 fleshy pods of fine texture, the longest pods having reached fourteen 

 and a-half inches in length, with nine beans in a pod, of splendid colour ; 

 and without venturing an assertion, I should say the quality very closely 

 resembles that of Sutton's Best of AH The vines are very strong and 

 prolific bearers, requiring eight feet ash poles firmly laced to support the 

 weight Mr. Holton plants fourteen inches apart ; uses the syringe 

 freely in dry hot weather to assist in setting the blooms ; prefers the 

 earliest pods' for seed, as they prove plumper than later growths. He 

 believes in liquid manure, and constant attention in the matter of thinning 



an ^Among n the amateurs (fafc, those who do not grow for sale or employ 

 a gardener), whose skill in runner-bean growing is faiily equal with the 

 above-named, I may mention Mr. George Browning, butler at Jesus 

 College • Mr.' Edwin Thome, butler at Wadham College (also a noted 

 onion grower) ; Mr. Alfred Cripps, Jesus College ; Mr. Thomas New- 

 man St. John's College ; Mr. W. Edwards, Balliol College ; and Mr. 

 ' Old Headington, Oxford, who was gold 



J 



Green, carpenter, 



