June 22, 1882.1 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
517 
a large portion of the land is laid out to help to feed the great monster 
London with fruit and vegetables. A turn down a lane, and I am 
at Worton Gardens and soon in conversation with Mr. Warren. 
But first one more historic and horticultural note. Mr. Warren 
is grandson of the Mr. Keens who raised that most widely known 
Strawberry that bears his name, popular to a vast degree when, and 
long after, it was brought out in 1810. It was to these very gardens 
that squires, and even noblemen, came to make their purchases of 
Keens’ Seedling, not trusting their own gardeners. Here they came 
posting down, and carried the roots off in their own carriages for 
security against possibility of change or mistake. Singular to say 
that now again, sixty years later, Keens’ Seedling has become popular 
among gardeners, and particularly amateurs. 
Worton Gardens are, as to size, as follows. Fifty-six acres are 
under fruit culture, and sixty acres are devoted to vegetables. In 
addition to these 111 acres 43 more are to be laid out in fruit, being 
land newly acquired by Mr. Warren. To give an idea of the quantity 
of fruit grown—forty-two tons of Plums were sent to London market 
each week for three weeks during the year 1880. Last year the 
quantity of Apples grown and dispatched was enormous, the year 
being so productive for that fruit. This is all told me in the office, 
but now to proceed through the gardens with Mr. Warren and his 
son. But a glance by the way at the houses where the preserving of 
fruit goes on on a large scale. I notice in some of the sheds and 
yards there first-rate-looking Dorking fowls and chickens running 
about of Burnell’s, Lingwood’s, and Beechey’s strains—dark birds, of 
course, as they are always the heaviest, one bird in these yards 
turning the scale at 11 lbs. I pass on and see a house full of Stepha- 
notis 72 feet in length, another of the same dimensions devoted to 
Ferns and Cucumbers, others to Cyclamens, and so on. Next I come 
to the bee quarter, where were in one part forty hives, in another 
fifty. “ These bees,” said Mr. Warren, “ I consider next in value to 
me to manure.” 
Here let me remark upon some peculiarities of a market garden. 
It is just the opposite to a nursery. The nursery feeds the market 
garden, the latter the people. In a nursery budding, grafting, pro¬ 
pagating are going on ; specialities for amateurs of high-class gar¬ 
dening instincts and habits are cultivated. In nurseries are many 
varieties, some for trial, others to meet various wants and fancies ; 
some amateur gardeners clinging to old ways and plants and trees, 
others fond of experimenting in things new. In nurseries discoveries 
are sometimes made, sports are noticed and cultivated with diligence, 
new seeds are sown and tried, and then advertised; and on rare 
occasions some high experiment in flower or fruit is made, and a 
plant or a tree named and sent out, and its name never dies. Now 
a market gardener is the very opposite to a nurseryman. He must 
grow the few and the useful, what he can send in large quantities to 
the market with the certainty of a sale : hence the varieties that suit 
best an amateur will not suit him. The trees suitable for his garden 
are sometimes wholly unsuitable to that of a small or even large 
amateur. This must be borne in mind by the reader. Take, for 
instance, the Gooseberry here grown in vast numbers, the Lancashire 
Lad ; very prolific, very large, capital for sending green to market, 
but when ripe it would not suit a delicate taste, hence would not do 
for the dessert. Two other Gooseberries are also grown to a very large 
extent—viz., Sulphur and Keens’ Seedling. These three sorts are so 
valuable because they do not split with the wet. The May Queen is 
not so excellent in rainy seasons. The Lancashire Lad is so useful, 
that although fifty thousand bushes had been planted, thirty thou¬ 
sand more were put in last year. 
The appearance of a large market garden as one walks through it, 
though neither pretty nor pictuiesque, has a certain impressiveness 
and pleasant umbrageousness about it. Lines beside lines of stand¬ 
ard fruit trees, between them acres of Gooseberry bushes, or in turn 
one comes upon acres of Peas in full bloom, when I saw them of 
course not sticked, and we wonder how it will be possible to gather 
the pods. The lower crops are varied. When a quarter containing 
Gooseberries begins to look shabby, the best of the day for the Goose¬ 
berries being over, they are grubbed up, and a crop of Peas or Onions 
succeeds to clean the land. Then, of course, there are acres of Currant 
bushes, and Raspberry canes, and Onions. I learn that this year the 
Apple crop is very poor, the Currants satisfactory, the Gooseberries 
excellent. 
Of Apples I heard great praise bestowed upon Stirling Castle— 
praise thoroughly due. Early Julien is another Apple grown most 
extensively at Worton Gardens, also of course Wellington and Lord 
Suffield, also Greenup’s Pippin, and a local one raised close to Worton, 
and which, from the description I had of it, ought to be sent to the 
Royal Horticultural Society for a certificate, and then be in commerce. 
Another Apple Mr. Warren’s son speaks highly of as doing well with 
them and for their, and indeed any purpose, is Duchess of Oldenburgh ; 
yet another variety, but which is unknown to me, was spoken well of 
—the Scarlet Incomparable, a rather late sort. 
The great Pear for market purposes appears to be Hessle, pro¬ 
nounced Hazel. Plums for the wall, Rivers’ Prolific and the Duke of 
Edinburgh, the latter, by the way, a Middlesex Plum, and both of 
which had heavy crops. For the open, Victoria and Gisborne’s. 
I cross a road and come to the forty-three acres recently acquired 
by Mr. Warren, and which from land for the use of pedigree Alderney 
cattle of its recent owner, a noted breeder and exhibitor, is now being 
transformed into another market garden. The sheds, very spacious 
ones, where the cattle lived during the winter, are now turned 
into Mushroom houses. I lift up the mats and see a snow-white 
harvest underneath. 
I come upon a new field of thirteen acres planted with an upper 
crop, so to speak, of only four varieties of trees—distance, 12 feet 
each way—Lord Suffield and Julien Apples, and Victoria and Gis¬ 
borne Plums. It may surprise some of our readers who do not 
approve of “Wiltshire Rector’s” advocacy of only a few, some 
twenty to forty varieties of Apples and Pears being cultivated, to 
hear of seven acres and a half being planted with only two sorts of 
Apples. Even allowing that fewer are needed for a market garden 
than for one devoted to the use of one family, still the selection of 
Lord Suffield and Dumelow’s Seedling (Wellington), the best Apples 
for an amateur, also for market garden purposes, adds as it were 
another medal of approbation to these two varieties. In this thir¬ 
teen-acre field are four thousand maiden fruit trees of the sorts 
named and fifty thousand Raspberry canes, while Bedfordshire Onions 
are also among the lower crops in great numbers. This forty-three 
acres of new land will another day be interesting and valuable when 
the present four thousand little maidens waving with every breeze 
become sturdy trees. 
Turning back one comes upon the larger and older garden, whose 
pleasant shade is welcome this warm day, for a market garden is a 
shady pleasant place on a sunny day. One comes upon three poultry 
yards with plenty of occupants, and, indeed, chickens are all over 
the garden—hum of bees and crowing of cocks, and attempts at the 
same of cockerels. So there are rural sounds as well as sights, and 
yet only some six miles or so as the crow flies from the “ mighty 
heart” of London. 
Numbers of women are bissy picking Gooseberries — women, I 
learn, that yearly come from a distant county for the work, and use 
brings aptitude. 
Such, then, is the result in words of my first investigation of a 
metropolitan market garden. Another day, I suppose, bricks and 
mortar will reign where now are fruit trees, and Isleworth will be 
what Brompton now is; but not yet, happily. Nature still sways, 
but it is Nature trimmed and well cultivated ; and though in Isle- 
worth, once Thistleworth, it has nothing to do with Thistles, for the 
soil is neatly as well as prolifically treated. A hobby, or rather two— 
poultry and bees—are united with business ; hence two pleasures are 
added to what is always pleasant—a prosperous trade. It gratified 
me to see Mr. Warren’s son not only brought up but thoroughly 
interested in the garden, being heart and soul a market gardener, 
unlike many young men who follow in their father’s steps but with¬ 
out their father’s aptitude and energy. The future of England for 
success or failure is in the hands of our young men.— Wiltshire 
Rector. 
PRIMULA CORTUSOIDES AND ITS VARIETIES. 
This is a charming group of hardy flowers, respecting which 
there is some difference among our cultivators as to the proper 
name to be given to what is here regarded as the variety amoena. 
Some wish to give this form a distinct specific name—P. Sieboldi. 
But are the distinctive characteristics of the plant sufficient to 
warrant this ? The alleged reasons are that there already exists 
a Primula amoena, a distinct Caucasian species, not found in the 
trade and extremely rare in its native habitat. Granted, but that 
does not interfere in the least with the plant under consideration, 
as the name of this is only varietal and could not be mistaken for 
the true P. amoena, which one would be glad to see as plentiful 
as P. cortusoides, as it is a most lovely species, but I am not 
aware that it is under cultivation anywhere except with Mr. Max 
Leichtlin of Baden Baden. 
It matters, perhaps, but little to those interested in floriculture 
by what name the plant is known, providing the desired plant is 
secured. The main question to decide is whether any particular 
species is worth cultivating or not. Happily in this case we are 
dealing with very desirable plants, and which will ultimately 
yield in the hands of our florists an almost endless variety, com¬ 
pared with which there will be but few hardy plants of equal 
value. The varieties at present known are undoubtedly a guaran¬ 
tee for this end. For borders, rockeries, and other places they 
are most charming, being easily grown and very attractive when 
in flower. The flowers in a cut state are equally desirable. Easily 
grown and quite as readily forced, they are particularly valuable 
in keeping up a continual supply of flowers, and there is no diffi¬ 
culty with heat at command to have them in from Christmas 
until they appear naturally outside, When the plants are required 
for forcing strong crowns are highly desirable, and to secure these 
the plants must be liberally cultivated. This may be accomplished 
in a sheltered partially shady border with a friable and rich 
loamy soil containing a good supply of well-decayed manure and 
leaf soil, and if some coarse sand is added it will be beneficial. 
The border should be well broken up and the manure thoroughly 
incorporated with the soil. After flowering the plants may be 
divided and placed in the border a fair distance apart, so as to 
give ample room for development. When established they will 
