September 14, 1893. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
243 
Mr. Gardner watched the proceedings. On the motion of the Lord 
Chancellor it was agreed that the seller of any artificial fertiliser shall 
state in the warranty he will have to give under the Bill that the per¬ 
centages of nitrogen, phosphates, and potash contained in the product 
are “ at least ” what he has promised. On behalf of the Agricultural 
Department, the Earl of Kibblesdale proposed a new sub-section giving 
middlemen the same rights against wholesale dealers as retail buyers 
will have against them. This was unanimously agreed to, and several 
minor changes having been made, the Bill was returned to the House.] 
A DAY AT BUNYARDS’. 
Readers of Blackmore in general, and those connected with fruit in 
particular, are well aware that in the Medway Valley there are many 
acres of land whereon fruit is grown for the market. Times and manners 
have changed somewhat since “ Alice Lorraine ” was written, and it is 
quite possible that there are no Martin Lovejoys now to be found in 
that fertile vale, but as good fruit is grown as Martin grew, and there is 
far more of it. Close to the particular portion of the valley where 
Maidstone lies are the various nurseries of Messrs. Bunyard & Co., and 
they are a very remarkable example of the law of development which 
has affected fruit growing in England. The principal nursery adjoins 
Barming station on the L.C. and D. Railway. Mention of this line is 
generally accompanied by a gird at its directors ; but I refrain from 
following the example, not because I have not experienced hard seats 
and slow time, but because it would be a waste of space. 1 can only say 
that if you are going to pay the Allington nurseries a visit book to 
Barming from Victoria or the City on some Thursday morning when 
there is an extra attractive number of the Journal to study, then perhaps 
the weary time will be beguiled and the nurseries reached with the 
natural sweetness of your disposition unsoured. 
Barming is a quiet station, and there is no need for surprise if a 
visitor finds that he has the whole platform to himself and the entire 
staff to wish him a cheery good morning (as though he were in the habit 
of going to Bunyards’ every day) and take his ticket. If he crosses the 
line and passes through a little swing gate he is in the nursery and 
amongst the fruit at once. I suppose I need hardly say that this is an 
improvement upon going to Maidstone and having to work back two or 
three miles by road. This has been done, but never without a profound 
and comprehensive disgust taking possession of the doer after the truth 
had come home to him. Before the round of the nursery is completed 
most people have had enough pedestrianism for a time without tacking 
on the unnecessary miles. There are now about 100 acres, besides land 
elsewhere under Strawberries and shrubs. Mr. George Bunyard is an 
able and far-seeing man. He has kept himself on the front of the wave 
which has swept ignorance and prejudice before it and taught that good 
fruit can be grown in our own country as well as abroad. He has built 
up a huge and prosperous business by sound knowledge, great yet prudent 
enterprise, good work, and unwearied perseverance. 
Allington without Mr. Bunyard can hardly be called itself, and my 
visit happened to be paid when a temporary but distressing indisposition 
prevented him from doing the honours of his nursery. But he has a 
manager of admirable qualities in Mr. Buss, who is well fitted to take 
command when his chief is hors de comiat. Incidentally I might 
remark on the good spirit prevailing between employer and employed in 
the Bunyard nurseries. “ I have first-rate men,” “ We have a first-rate 
master.” Such are the expressions of mutual esteem and respect that 
are heard ; and there is little doubt that the existence of these cordial 
relations has much to do with the excellent qualities of the trees sent 
out. Mr. Bunyard has set his heart on supplying the best material, and 
his assistants do their best to support his wishes. 
The Cordon-Standards. 
In making a few jottings of the nursery and its contents, I will draw 
attention first to a class of tree that has become very popular and grows 
yearly in favour. “ Amateurs’ standards ” is the term by which the 
trees are known at Allington. They might be called cordon-standards, 
in their younger days at all events, for then they combine the two 
systems. Most fruit growers are aware that the stems of standards on 
the Crab stock are feathered for a year or two in the nurseries in order 
to thicken them, and that eventually the shoots are removed. The 
amateurs’ standards here referred to are budded on the Paradise stock, 
and fruit spurs form on the stems, yielding produce while the head is 
developing. It might almost be said that stem and head act as a brake 
on each other. The branches have no tendency to become luxuriant 
owing to the check imparted by the fruiting of the stem spurs. They 
develop steadily and sturdily ; but when they have gained strength, 
solidity, and maturity, the brake begins to act the other way, the stem 
shoots weaken, and eventually they are cleared, leaving the standard 
with a good head of fruiting branches. This is the theory of the matter, 
and the practice well supports it. The trees are never staked. There 
are great numbers of them standing up stiff and straight in different 
parts of the nursery lined with fruit, and it is not surprising that 
visitors take to them. 
The “ Gridirons.” 
The Bunyard gridirons are very different articles to those of the 
ironmonger. They are dwarf trees with two horizontal shoots right and 
left, from which spring uprights a foot or so apart. These are cordonised, 
to coin a word, the side shoots being pinched and spurred so as to keep 
the trees thin and admit abundance of air. There are plenty of these 
fruiting freely, the Apples on the Paradise, and the Pears on the Quince, 
many varieties being represented. Owners of villa gardens would find 
such trees admirable for forming a dividing line between flower and 
vegetable quarters, while in larger places they would play the part 
which espaliers do now in some instances, coming in very useful for 
the sides of wa'ks, and for filling up blanks on walls. This is an 
excellent class of tree, not taking up a great amount of room, but giving 
a little freer play for inherent energy than horizontal cordons. 
Some Wonderful Maiden Peaches. 
Mr. Bunyard’s practical manager takes great interest and pride in 
his work, but I doubt if there is anything which he regards with greater 
complacency than a large quarter of maiden Peaches. These young 
trees, budded last year, have been stopped and have pushed about a 
dozen shoots each, the whole framework covering a space 3 to 4 feet across 
and high. They have made wonderful progress, and must have enormous 
root power. The shoots are very stout and clean, and triple buds are 
plentiful. It is not easy to credit that such strong planting material 
could be evolved so quickly, but the facts are there. With good 
management after planting the.e could very quickly be developed into 
well furnished fruiting tr.es, and that at a first cost almost absurdly low. 
Three Promising New Pears. 
There were two new Pears fruiting well to which I would call 
special attention, because from their seascn of maturity, fine appearance, 
and good flavour they should prove valuable in private, and perhaps 
also in market gardens. One is called Beurre Mortillet, and I find it 
referred to as follows in the firm’s catalogue of last year :—“Very large; 
exhibited very finely by Messrs. Veitch at Crystal Palace Show, 1890 ; 
not yet proved ; very handsome.” It is proving to be an acquisition on 
trial. It is ready in September and October, and has excellent quality. 
The fruit is very large and richly coloured ; it is peculiar in appearance, 
having very prominent fleshy folds at the stalk. But the second novelty. 
Marguerite Marrillat, is still more promising. It is also, I understood, a 
continental variety, introduced by the Chelsea firm. It is ready now, 
and is very luscious and melting. It is very large, heavy, and brightly 
coloured, ridgy, and uneven in outline. The variety bears freely, and 
makes a fine cordon. It will be surprising if this does not become a 
very popular Pear. It is finer in appearance than Williams’ Bon 
Chretien, and does not “ go ” like that favourite sort. A third Pear 
novelty worth mentioning is Dr. Jules Guyot. This has a Williams’ 
look about it, but is claimed to be an improvement on Bon ChrStien, 
being larger, finer in appearance, and free from spotting. 
The Newer Apples. 
I may as well begin with Bismarck, for if I did not I should soon 
drift into it. There is one stretch of about 2000 which is very impres¬ 
sive, the trees being vigorous and healthy, merging naturally, as is the 
way of this grand variety, into a pyramidal habit. The planting bushes 
are very fine. There is plenty of large and richly coloured fruit, but a 
great deal of it has been almost cooked by the excessive heat. Lady 
Sudeley is conspicuous by its upright, stay-at-home habit, and by its 
peculiarity of bearing towards the tips of the shoots, requiring hardly 
any pruning, merely thinning. It has borne its beautiful fruit well this 
year. Wealthy is grand both in size and colour. A seedling of much 
promise has been raised by crossing Cellini and Blenheim. It has large 
fruit of the well-known Blenheim form and full of ruddy colour. 
Young bushes are cropping well, and the fruit, I was informed, keeps 
till after Christmas. Of another Apple which is under trial much can¬ 
not be said at present. It is a Tasmanian, sent over by a brother of Mr. 
Mclndoe. It resembles Grenadier in growth and Bismarck, so it is said, 
in fruit. It is so precocious that according to report it bears well on 
wood of the previous year. Well, we shall see. May it realise the 
rosiest anticipations, and prove to be another Bismarck. 
The Older Apples—Trees and Fruit. 
The firm showed at the Agricultural Hall what splendid exhibition 
trim they are in this year, and they have some magnificent fruit still 
to come. I am going to say a word about some of the most popular sorts, 
here referring to the tree, there to the fruit. One batch of two-year- 
old Potts’ Seedling, 6 to 7 feet high and furnished with stout side shoots, 
numbers about a thousand, and there is about the same number in a 
quarter of Gascoyne’s Seedling, standards, with fine heads developing. 
Of standard Bramley’s there are about 3000, all excellent trees, and 
it is interesting to note this grand orchard variety fruiting very well in 
a young state on the Paradise, but it will not do this on some heavier 
soils. Two-years-old Yellow Ingestries—or Summer Golden Pippin as 
it is called in Kent—is largely grown both as a bush and standard. 
There are thousands of Ecklinvilles ; this is not the great Irishman’s 
best year, the fruit being scabbed and specked, but our Kentish friends 
know its great merits too well to desert it. Pyramidal Grenadiers are 
grand trees, and the fruit is enormous in size as well as being perfectly 
clean. As grown at Maidstone it is a high class Apple. 
Lane’s Prince Albert only needs mention, for it is invariably good, 
but planters should notask for this as a standard. It is naturally suited 
for bush culture and to get it up is worked on the Goff. Colonel Vaughan 
is fruiting finely as a cordon. The fruit is of unusual size, beautiful in 
colour, very juicy and refreshing. It is a dessert variety worth growing. 
Frogmore Prolific is in admirable order, and so are New Hawthorndeu 
