490 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ Koyember 30, 1891. 
show will pause to discuss and admire a Dell’s Beet when there is a 
Viviand Morel not far away ? But in the inner circles the leading 
kitchen gardens of the country do not pass unthought of, and for that 
reason I think it probable that a few remarks on one of the best-known 
cultivators and his work may have at least a vestige of interest. What 
gardener reading the reports of the principal vegetable competitions 
does not know the name of Mr. C. J. Waite ? He is not a triton amongst 
the minnows, swooping down on small shows and bringing confusion to 
minor cultivators, but one who loves to meet foemen worthy of his steel. 
This is the sort of fighter that Britons respect most. The warrior who 
shirks from contests with others of his own calibre in order to have 
easy victories against opponents a long way below him is a poor sort of 
creature. Better be beaten by a good man than earn a creditless victory 
against one of a minor grade. _ 
Glenhurst lies somewhat oflE the main road from London in a quiet, 
retired corner of the pleasant Surrey townlet of Esher, but it is within 
comfortable walking distance of the station of that name. It is not 
what would be called a large place as that term is usually understood 
amongst the craft. The kitchen garden, which is in more than one part, 
mounts up to about 2f acres in all, which means a fair but not great extent 
of ground. And the pleasure part is about in proportion, also the glass. 
This does not point to extraordinary provision for securing exceptional 
crops, and as a matter of fact a visit shows at once that the exceptionally 
good results secured are the result of the best cultural methods combined 
with incessant work. A man of wonderful energy is Mr. Waite. 
He is a worker to the finger tips, getting through as much as two 
ordinary men. Active and alert, brisk in every movement, he is a 
thoroughly good type of the English gardener. Should anyone think 
that the place is purely a “ show ” one, where everthing is sacrificed 
to securing fine samples for exhibition, he should go and let his own 
eyes teach him a lesson of the error he has made. The amount of 
produce which is grown in the Glenhurst gardens will, I venture to 
think, set all such hasty criticism at naught. 
My call was paid in the height of the hot summer weather, and I 
found the presiding genius of the garden hard at work with the foreman 
—another of the go-ahead brigade—pouring sewage on to a Vine border. 
The dark, rich-looking liquid was being applied in scores of gallons, and 
the Vines seemed to appreciate it, for they were in splendid health and 
carrying fine crops. The wood is too strong to be tied till it comes down 
with the weight of the bunches. Foster’s Seedling, Muscat of 
Alexandria, Black Hamburgh, Mrs. Pearson, Buckland Sweetwater, 
Black Alicante and Lady Downe’s were all finely represented, being 
particularly noteworthy for size of berry. 
That the Glenhurst gardener is an admirable fruit as well as vege¬ 
table grower, the Peaches and Nectarines also serve to prove. The 
collection in pots was particularly striking, quite reminding one of 
Mr. Rivers’ wonderful trees. Pine Apple had given 158 fruits, and a 
bush of Princess of Wales was almost breaking down with its burden. 
Two other sorts, which give excellent crops are Bellegarde and Crimson 
Galande. To summarise, seven trees had given 700 fruits, and when 
it is borne in mind that bushes in pots have produced this result, it 
will be accepted as highly creditable. The trees are repotted every 
year, and plunged in leaves out of doors when at rest. Beyond shorten¬ 
ing a few leading shoots of a straggling character little pruning is 
done. The trees bear most of their fruit on short natural spurs, Trained 
Peaches planted out under glass were equally fine in their way. 
Yet another excellent fruit crop was Melons. Few such crops are 
met with in gardens as that which Mr. Waite had to show. The plants 
had been planted in a span-roofed pit, which had been used for propa¬ 
gating in the spring. It has six lights, and eighteen plants were put in 
14 inches apart. On these 100 fruits were set and swelling, presenting a 
tenapting picture. The plants were in the best of health, and evenly 
trained, not a tangled mass of interlacing growths. Mr. Waite is no 
believer in keeping a dry atmosphere at ripening time, and does not 
practise the system. The special favourite is one he raised himself, 
called Perfection, and which Messrs. Sutton are, I believe, sending out. 
It is a Melon uniting delicious flavour with other good qualities. 
' One lof the secrets of the Esher exhibitor’s wonderful series of suc¬ 
cesses with vegetables is deep cultivation. When he started operations 
he found a thin, half-worked soil, and he set to work to trench, doing a 
good deal of the work with his own hands. In the original garden there 
is now a depth of about 3 feet of pulverised, aerated, crumbly soil, well 
sweetened by the air and enriched with more solid substances. This 
deep root medium results in magnificent crops, particularly of roots. 
Take Parsnips for instance. At a time when most people’s crops were 
half a failure from the drought Mr. Waite could draw and show me a 
clean, straight, whip-like root nearly 18 inches long, and which would 
have developed iato a grand example in due course. This grower sets 
himself up ideals in vegetables as others do in flowers, and one of his 
great feats is to produce Parsnips which, root and top growth included, 
^e as tall as himself. This is not bad work. Native guano helps him. 
He uses six or seven tons of this useful fertiliser every season. 
But it 13 not Parsnips alone. Carrots were a picture for such a season, 
no looking parched and rniserable, but healthy luxuriant and flourishing. 
Unions are another speciality, Early sowing supplemented by deep 
rich soil give the 2^ lb. bulbs which add so materially to the strength of 
the Glenhurst collections. Some Mammoth Silverskins were 18 inches 
in circumference. These were striking individually, and as a crop it 
would be dififlcult to imagine anything finer than a large piece of 
autumn sown in the new kitchen garden. Celery, too, is splendidly 
grown. The early crop is taken off the outside Vine border, and Mr, 
Waite argues that the Vines benefit rather than suffer by the system, 
inasmuch as they get the advantage of the manurial applications given 
to the Celery. The sticks are blanched with brown paper. The later 
crops are grown in the new gardens, and such crops are rarely met with. 
Lettuces and Leeks are also blanched with paper. An early crop of 
the former is taken, and then the ground is planted with Cauliflowers. 
To refer to the merits of every crop would be merely a repetition of 
adjectives, for there was no exception to the rule of fine produce and full 
land. Even Peas, so bad in most gardens, were good. Magnum Bonum 
in particular being full of excellent pods. Potatoes come out large, 
shapely and clean, because the land is worked until it is as friable as so 
much potting soil, crumbling soft as silk beneath the fingers. 
Few cultivators work their land as hard as Mr. Waite. He has 
much to provide, besides what is wanted for the exhibition table, and he 
packs the ground with grand produce. But consider how his soil has 
been studied 1 He enlarged the plant larder until its capacity was 
increased threefold, and then stored it with good things. Alike in its 
mechanical condition and in its fertility has been improved year by 
year until it is like a mass of potting compost, rich, porous and 
friable. He has made corresponding provision for his vegetables to that 
which a Chrysanthemum champion makes for his plants when potting. 
The work is a monument to his industry and an example to all who 
aspire to be what all must admit him to be—a credit to British 
gardening.—W. P. W. 
Events of the Week. —But few events of horticultural interest 
will take place in the metropolis during the ensuing week. An Exhibi¬ 
tion will be held, under the auspices of the National Chrysanthemum 
Society, at the Royal Aquarium on December 5th, 6th, and 7th. The 
annual meeting of the National Rose Society will be held at the Hotel 
Windsor, Victoria Street, S.W., on the 7th prox., when the Rev. 
W. Wilks will occupy the chair. The members of the Society will 
hold their annual dinner during the evening of the day mentioned, and 
at the same place. A few auction sales will be held, as usual, at the 
various rooms, the particulars of which will be found in the advertise¬ 
ment pages. 
-The Weather in London. — The past week has been 
characterised by some changeable weather. On Sunday it rained more 
or less for the greater part of the day in the metropolis, but cleared at 
night, and a severe frost occurred early on Monday morning. Towards 
evening on the latter day it became mild, similar weather continiring on 
Tuesday. Wednesday opened dull but fine, and at the time of going to 
press it is very mild for the time of year. 
-Weather in the North. —There were slight frosts for a 
morning or two at the beginning of the past week, but the weather has 
generally been open and unsettled, with an occasional wet evening. On 
the morning of the 27th 4° frost were recorded, and this morning (28th) 
the thermometer registered 52°.—B. D., S. Perthshire. 
-Royal Gardeners’ Orphan Fund. — An entertainment, 
under the patronage of Lord Egerton of Tatton, Coningsby Disraeli, 
Esq., M.P., J. W. Sidebottom, Esq., M.P., and other distinguished 
persons, will be held in the Literary Institute, Altrincham, on Wednes¬ 
day evening, December 6th. Mr. William Plant, the active Secretary 
of the Local Committee, hopes that the present effort to strengthen the 
Fund will be even more successful than a previous one, when £20 were 
realised. 
-A Meeting of the Committee of the Royal Gardeners’ 
Orphan Fund was held on Friday last at the Hotel Windsor, West¬ 
minster, W. Marshall, Esq., presiding. The receipts for the month 
were considered satisfactory, one amount of £21, the proceeds from 
a concert organised by W. Furze, Esq., Mr. A. Dean, and others, for 
which a special vote of thanks was accorded. Various other amounts 
had been received from the sale of flowers at Chrysanthemum Shows, 
collecting cards and boxes, and from Ketton Hall Gardens, Stamford, 
