360 
JOURXAL OF HORTICULTURE AXD COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ May 3, 1888 
than existed before, and he now largely supplies the “trade” in all 
parts of the country with plants for executing orders, and thus all parties 
are benefited. His stock of plants of a softwooded nature, such as the 
million can grow, is enormous, and in respect to certain kinds un¬ 
equalled. Even plants that would almost seem to have gone out of 
fashion are provided at Swanley in tens of thousands. For inst.ance, a 
100 feet long bouse is packed with gold and silver, bicolor and tri¬ 
color Pelargoniums in small pots. “ What are all these for nowadays ?” 
the visitor asks in astonishment. “ Oh,” Mr. Cannell replies, “ some¬ 
body is always wanting them, and trade and private orders are always 
coming in, and a good many are wanted abroad, so we keep up the 
stock, the best in the world, and the world seems to know it.” It is the 
same with Verbenas, which are also in thousands, clean thrifty little 
plants, growing like Radishes, and in finer varieties than were ever seen 
during the great Verbena-growing period. Nobody else keeps complete 
stoeks now of the new and choice v.arieties, so the world comes here, and 
(here appears to be sufficient Verbena growers in it to keep the depart¬ 
ment lively, and, observes their great patron, “more would grow them 
if they knew how beautiful and sweet they are, and how delightful 
when well grown in pots under glass in greenhouEes or frames, to say 
nothing about the bedders in the garden.” Then we come to a 100 feet 
house of succulents—Cacti in all their sections, Mesembryanthemums, 
Echeverias, Sedums, Sempervivums, Aloes, Haworthias, Rochea.s, and 
others—some chastely beautiful, others singular and even grotesque, and 
altogether such an assemblage as is not to be found in any other trade 
establishment, so it seems there are sufficient fanciers of the curious in 
vegetation to keep this house a-going. 
If there are such stocks of plants that are not commonly grown, 
what is to be said of those that are wanted in almost every garden and 
greenhouse ? What, for instance, of the 1200 varieties of Chrysanthe¬ 
mums ? The number of plants is bewildering, as it is of Fuchsias, 
Pelargoniums, Begonias, Gloxinias, Dahlias, with several houses full of 
Primulas seeding, others gay with single and double Cinerarias, one 
200 feet long crowded with tree Carnations, some packed with Cycla¬ 
mens, and so on, not an inch of space in the crystal village being wasted ; 
and the plants appear to boil over out of the houses into frames, and 
from frames into the open, as fast as they become hardy enough or the 
weather l>ecomes mild enough for their reception. But the prolonged 
cold is a serious impediment to free progress, and the season is one of 
the most difficult that has had to be encountered at Swanley. A country 
nurseryman, who travels largely, but who had not seen the Home of 
P’lowers before, was struck with astonishment w'ith the immensity of 
the provision for the season, and his pocket-book was in constant requi¬ 
sition, for he could not resist the claims of such Zonals as Mrs. D. 
Saunders, Dante, Edith Little, Hyacinth, Rose, Swanley Gem, Empress, 
Love Gold, with others, and especially the Swanley Double White, the 
dwarfest, freest, and best yet seen, and that is probably destined to 
spread all over the country, and beyond it. But why name names, for 
are they not all to be found in the catalogue, with the descriptions 
of the flowers, fairly, yet fascinatingly displayed in the inimitable 
Cannellesque style ? “ Never,” said the country nurseryman, who had 
bribed me with a good dinner to be his guide on the occasion, “ never 
have I seen so much in its way in so short a time ; and now let us have 
a rush for Philip Ladds.” 
If Swanley is a Home of Flowers, and it is, it may be with equal 
accuracy described as a Home of Fruit, for even nearer to the station 
than the plant emporium is the wonderful establishment where Grapes 
and Tomatoes are grown to the extent of scores of tons, varied with a 
small culture of Mar^chal Niel and Gloire de Dijon Roses, covering the 
roofs of twenty span-roof houses of an aggregate length of nearly 
half a mile—all for supplying blooms for market. But that represents 
a mere “ patch ” of the glass in this remarkable establishment, for the 
houses, which are admirably built, cover ten acres, and the proprietor 
has three other “ places ” of a similar nature. They are a few miles 
apart, for the reason ascribed by the shrewd man, that a hailstorm might 
make a grand smash in a j)articular place, but it would be a wonder if it 
smashed all the places thus distantly situated at once. 
Speaking about the Roses, it may be stated for the information of 
those amateurs who are afraid of using the knife how this forest of 
Roses is treated, and for the information of those whom it may concern 
how two other crops, so to say, are got out of the same hou.ses. Under 
the Rose-covered roofs Spiraeas are grown, splendid plants for market, 
the shade just suiting them. In other houses are packed small Camellias 
in thousands, the shade suiting them too. Here, then, we have a crop 
of plants in pots on the floor—the soil—with a narrow path between 
them down the centre of each house, and a golden harvest of blooms on 
the roof above them. But there yet remains the crop of fruit. The 
crop of Rose blooms is nearly over now, and very shortly every stem of 
every Rose tree will be cut down—the whole of the growths that have 
produced the flowers—to the base of the rafters, and the roofs will be 
clear again. Then the borders are planted with Tomatoes for fruiting 
in (he summer, and in the mqgntime the Roses push forth shoots again, 
and these grow vigorously up to the apex of the house for producing the 
next year's crop of blooms. “ But these must shade the Tomatoes, and 
Tomatoes will not do in the shade,” say the orthodox. Mr. Ladds, 
however, does not work on professional gardeners’ lines ; but while they 
are preaching and teaching what cannot be done, he sets about quietly 
and quickly doing it. He believes his heterodoxy to be a good deal 
more profitable than their orthodoxy, and prefers employing men who 
have not learned what he regards as “ fancy notions.” When he spends 
thousands of pounds in preparations he wants his money back again. 
and he manages to get it much quicker than it would come in under 
ordinary methods of procedure. 
There is scarcely a gardener in Biitain who would have believed the 
gravel bed on which the houses stand could be made to grow Roses and 
Grapes profitably, but new borders of fresh soil would have been 
regarded as essential. Fancy clearing out the “poor ” soil 2 feet deep 
from even half of 10 acres of ground, and carting in fresh in its place. 
It would mean ruin. Mr. Ladds removes no bad soil, but “ shoves ” in 
manure till he makes it good enough for growing anything. That is 
his plan, and the poorer the soil the less likely is it to turn sour with the 
dressing. If any reader should think the soil is not so gravelly as 
represented let him visit the place and look at the surface of the ground 
between the rows of Strawberries alongside the finest vinery in the 
kingdom, and he will see little else but gravel, and a thicker and better 
covering than is seen on many a carriage road ; ytt in this mass of small 
round cobbles grow the Grapes and the Roses. 
But to the Tomato shade. In the first place the plants get a good 
start before the Rose shoots cover the roof, and then the shade is not 
very dense, as there are glints of light passing through to the plants 
beneath, and thus useful if not heavy crops of Tomatoes are “ stolen” 
from the Rose houses. These houses are low, just high enough for” a 
6 - foot man to walk through them ; they are side by side, supported an 
pillars here and there instead of divisional walls, so that if you stoop 
down and look along underneath you may see perhaps an acre of ground 
covered with a series of span roofs. That is the cheapest way of 
building a great block of glass for growing a “ lot of stuff” for sale. 
Before leaving the Roses it may be remarked that many thousands 
are growm in pots, Niphetos maintaining its position as a producer of 
white blooms for market. But a new Rose merits a passing note. It is 
not known by rosarians generally, but apparently will not long remain 
in oblivion. It was raised from seed by Mr. Ladds’ plant-growing fore¬ 
man, Mr. Herbert Kelsall, and although three years only have elapsed 
since the seed w^as sown, six thousand plants are now growing luxu¬ 
riantly, and many flowering freely. It is one of the most vigorous of 
grow’ers, the strong shoots terminating in great clusters of buds. These 
being cut as they open daily, only half, or less than half, open blooms, 
w'ere visible, these having much of the pointed shape of Niphetos, and 
of light lively rose colour. The plants grow and flower over a long 
period, and in sturdy robustness surpass all others in the establishment. 
The value of this unnamed seedling for the i)urpose for which the plants 
are grown is exemplified by the extent of its propagation, and Mr., 
Kelsall may be congratulated on his work. Many thousands of plants 
of different kinds are grown besides Roses, but these cannot be alluded 
to now, though a word must bo said on the Grapes. 
Four varieties are mainly grown—Black Hamburgh, Black Alicante, 
Muscat of Alexandria, and Gros Colmaii, the last-named the most exten¬ 
sively. Here again orthodox methods are cast to the winds, more pai- 
ticularly as regards distances in training the rods. Three feet at least 
for the majority of Grapes, and 4 feet or more for the robust grow’ers 
represent the teaching of advanced gardeners, but does not represent 
Mr. Ladds’ practice, and he probably cuts a far greater weight of fruit 
out of houses of a given length, and in say three years from planting 
the 'Vines, than any wide-planting advocate has yet produced ; but it 
must be distinctly understood the object in view is not a few 4-lb. to 
7- lb. bunches for exhibition, and enriching the tables of distinguishid 
diners, but the greatest possible number of bunches, ranging from a 
little under 1 lb. to about 2 lbs. or so, for packing in large bulk to meet 
the requirements of the majority of purchasers in the chief market?. 
This is accomplished by training the rods 18 inches or less than that 
asunder, and even those of Gros Colman do not exceed the distance 
named. The sight is unusual, and the heavily cropped Vines of last 
year appear as if they would be still more heavily laden, as they are 
growing strongly and showing fruit abundantly. When the erops are 
ripening, the bunches must nearly or quite touch each other, and what 
the sight must be then in the chief Gros Colman house, w'here there will 
be an uninterrupted view of nearly 700 feet, both sides of this span of 
25 feet being packed from base to apex, can in some degree be imagined, 
but not fully comprehended without a peep through this tunnel of fruit,. 
All being well I intend to steal a glance of the scene in September if it 
cannot be managed in a more legitimate way. 
In a block of several houses Cucumbers are growing after late- 
Tomatoes, and 150,000 Tomato plants are in preparation for planting. 
The gravel path in one big house was being broken up just as if picking 
up a carriage drive, and seedling Tomatoes inserted in it a few inches- 
apart, to be eventually liftal and planted —the most extraordinary 
nursery bed that was probably ever seen. Possibly it w'as thought, as 
weeds grow in gravel walks. Tomatoes would grow there also, and not 
be of a succulent character, and so the space was turned to account. If 
some “ high ” cultivators were to see a man engaged in work of that 
kind they would think he was crazed. 
Two houses are just completed. They would have been in one but 
for an inequality in the ground. The space covered by the triple spau.s 
is 800 feet long by 75 feet wide. The roofs are supported on pillars, and 
th» space well heated. The ground is mainly covered with Strawberries 
and Roses in pots, but the ultimate object is, I think, a vineyard, into- 
which I quite intend smuggling myself on some pretext or other, perhaps 
to buy the crop as it hangs, at some future time. Mr. Thoms is Mr. 
Ladds’ fruit foreman, and only a man of great eapacity like his mastei 
could manage successfully such a gigantic charge. My friend whont 
I ventured to take down to Swanley is a man of rather large ideas, but 
after a two-hours rush through the two establishments had, I fancy,.a 
