JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
August 5, 1880. ] 
121 
were the Key. C. Hoskyns, Messrs. Warner, Copley, Chapman, Baker, 
Carroll, and Woods. In table decorations the Misses Kings, Wads¬ 
worth, and Hewlins, were the chief prizetakers with arrangements 
which were greatly admired. 
In vegetables Messrs. Copley, Wise, Adams, Woods, and Chambers 
obtained the chief honours. Not the least important feature of the 
Show was the cottagers’ classes, which still continues to be the chief 
aim of the promoters to foster. The vegetables and flowers were 
extremely creditable to all the exhibitors. Amongst the Potatoes we 
noted a new seedling raised by Samuel Bussell of Holywell, and 
called the Holywell Seedling, which appeared to be a promising 
variety. The weather was all that could be desired. 
A DAY IN BEDFORDSHIRE.—No. 2. 
After a stroll through the estate of Old Warden, described 
last week, an evening visit was paid to 
SOUTHILL PARK. 
This is the residence of Samuel Whitbread, Esq., M.P., whose 
richly-wooded demesne is of great extent. In the park are some 
grand old Cedars of Lebanon, and the deciduous trees are 
numerous and large ; it also contains a fine sheet of water. The 
pleasure grounds are extensive, and grand old Conifers with 
rare deciduous trees adorn the lawns, while there are borders of 
Rhododendrons and dense thickets of evergreens : the Yews are 
evidently of great age, and almost form arcades over the walks 
and drives. Adjoining the large mansion is a conservatory, which 
with rockwork, Ferns, Palms, Camellias, See., might be rendered 
highly ornamental. At present its principal occupants are some 
remarkable flowering specimens of Cordylinc australis reaching 
to the roof, their trunks being 18 inches in circumference. On 
the back wall is a grand example of Rhynchospermum jasminoides 
in superb condition, bearing thousands of trusses of flowers most 
valuable for cutting. A Pelargonium on the same wall, apparently 
P. cucullatum, or a variety of that species, yields also an abundant 
supply of flowers. But the chief feature of Soutbill is the kitchen 
garden, which is about six acres in extent, every portion being 
closely cropped. Vegetables of all kinds were in splendid con¬ 
dition, and Currants, Gooseberries, and Strawberries were bearing 
immense crops, but Apples and Pears were sparse. Plums on the 
west aspect of a wall were plentiful, on the east aspect there was 
scarcely any fruit. Strawberries were indeed a remarkable crop, 
that of the variety Wonderful being prodigious, the fruit ripening 
to the point, which is not always the case with this variety. Pre¬ 
sident was also exceptionally fine. Mr. Landers, the gardener, is 
a great advocate for mulching, the ground being covered several 
inches deep with bracken early in the season, and thus the roots 
of the crops are kept cool and moist, and little or no artificial 
watering is required. The glass structures are old, and the Vines 
have passed the zenith of their vigour ; the best, however, is made 
of them, and good culture prevails throughout the establishment. 
MARKET GROUNDS. 
These are extensive in that district of Bedfordshire within 
easy reach of Sandy station, and vegetables are largely and excel¬ 
lently grown for the London market and northern towns and 
cities. The tremendous hailstorms that brought such great losses 
to many cultivators, almost ruin to some, in the Thames Valley, 
proved beneficial to Bedfordshire growers in a manner that the 
general public would scarcely anticipate. For some years there 
has been great competition between the market gardeners of the 
two districts for London manure; but since the storms that 
proved so costly the Surrey and Middlesex men have not been 
able to purchase so largely, and consequently the manure has 
been unusually cheap, and greatly increased quantities have been 
purchased for the Bedfordshire farms and gardens. 
The soil is of medium texture, rather light than heavy, free to 
work, moderately deep, and resting on gravel, and the district is 
sheltered by rising ground, hills crested with woods on the eastern 
side trending to the north. These natural advantages are supple¬ 
mented by a superior system of cultivation. Manure is applied to 
the land liberally, and is appropriated by the crops, not by weeds, 
which have had more to do with the late and present depression 
in agriculture than has yet been fully appreciated. Corn crops, 
Potatoes, vegetables, and the raising of such seeds as Onions, 
Mangold Wurtzel, Turnips, and Carrots, appear to alternate, and 
all are good, most of them splendid. The holdings are generally 
small—from one to four or five acres, and their rental is £4 to £6 
per acre. At this rental the tenants appear prosperous, and the 
landlords are probably satisfied. The secret of the success is that 
each holder does not appear to have more land than he can 
manage well. Small farms generally are perhaps not the most 
highly cultivated, but that is because, small as they are, they are 
beyond the means and capital of the tenants to cultivate profit¬ 
ably, and it is certain that many large farms are suffering now 
from the same cause. They are, in fact, too large, and the lowering 
of the rents of such farms will neither make the owners nor 
tenants rich, while the consuming public have also a share in the 
disadvantages inseparable from a system where the capital of the 
cultivator is disproportionate to the acreage of the land. The 
Bedfordshire holdings referred to are more like gardens than 
farms, and it would be well if there were more such, and there is 
no reason why there should not be in every, or nearly every, county 
in England. 
The corn, Potato crops, and breadths of seed are splendid, but 
the heads of Onion seed are not generally of great size. Many 
acres of Onions are grown for producing bulbs. The seed is 
mostly sown broadcast, and the weeding is done at so much per 
acre, the men using short one-handed hoes ; but in most instances 
some other crop is grown with the Onions, the seed of both being 
sown on the same ground in proper proportions. Sometimes the 
second crop, to mature in the autumn after the Onions are har¬ 
vested, is of Parsnips, in another breadth Carrots, and in a third 
Parsley, the plants in each case being thinly disposed. Parsley 
thus grown in open fields endures severe frost much better than 
that grown more closely in the rich soil of sheltered gardens ; and 
when the produce realises 10.?. to 15.?. a pound, as it has done in 
London from December to March during the past three years, the 
crop pays all expenses and the Onions go for profit. Between 
the rows of some early Potatoes are planted Brussels Sprouts and 
Kales, and also Scarlet Runners, all of which are lucrative. Thus 
every provision is made to ensure a good return, and complete 
failures ai’e reduced to a minimum. 
“ Ridge” Cucumbers are grown by the acre, but not on ridges. 
The ground is simply heavily manured, and well dug and stirred, 
the Cucumber seeds being sown about the middle of May. Thick 
rows of Onions for seeding are planted at intervals of 5 or 6 yards, 
the growth affording shelter for the Cucumbers. Sometimes 
rows of Rye are sown for the same purpose ; but the best Cucum¬ 
bers I noticed were in small squares bounded by rows of early 
Peas. Vegetable Marrows are grown in the same way. Cucum¬ 
bers were last year a failure, and this year they are not promising, 
but with fine summers and autumns the crops are very profitable. 
On the whole the garden-farming of this district is most credit¬ 
able to the cultivators, whose forethought and industry might well 
be copied in many other localities. But I am now approaching a 
place of interest, and of which the readers of the Journal will be 
glad to hear something—namely, 
THE EXPERIMENTAL GARDEN AT GIRTFORD. 
Mr. Laxton has done so much in the cause of horticulture by 
raising standard varieties of Roses and vegetables, that a brief 
reference to this garden cannot fail being acceptable to many 
readers of the Journal. It may be well, however, to commence 
with a caution. Not a few votaries of gardening are enthusiastic, 
commendably so in many instances, and it is no task to them to 
travel long distances to see anything grand or imposing in their 
favourite pursuit. There is nothing of this nature at Girtford, 
and no long pilgrimages can be advocated for the purpose of 
inspecting its beauties. In the first place it is a new garden, and 
in the next nothing of an ornamental nature is attempted : it is 
merely the scientific and practical laboratory of a skilful man. 
When the great trial collections of Strawberries were fruiting, the 
Roses blooming, and the Peas and Beans in full bearing, the 
garden possessed some attractions, and it was unquestionably full 
of interest. 
It is just a plain enclosure of three acres, something like a 
cottage garden by the wayside of the village, and extending back 
and widening into a field. The north side is bounded by a 
wooden fence, on which fruit trees, mostly Cherries, are being 
trained, with Tea Roses at the foot. It is separated from the 
village simply by a low wall, and on the field or garden sides by 
galvanised wire. The soil is variable, remarkably so for so small 
a plot, but as it is all good this is an advantage for experimental 
purposes. The “ Experimental ” is undoubtedly admirably situ¬ 
ated, being in a locality noted for its commercial gardening, and, 
what is important, is contiguous to a line of railway. 
It is not a garden of fads where all sorts of vague experiments 
are tried for self-gratification, and, as such gardens usually are, a 
scene of beautiful disorder. On the contrary, a very practical air 
pervades it, and order and good culture prevail throughout. It 
is a commercial and scientific establishment conducted by a 
practical man—a gardener by instinct and intuition, diligent 
worker, a good cultivator, a close observer, and a careful recorder 
of the points and merits of varieties of plants and vegetables with 
their pedigrees. 
The plan adopted appears to consist in making crops essentially 
useful and always in demand give an immediate return, or in 
plain terms to “ pay ” for the labour involved in the production 
