October 4,1894. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
323 
doubt, and therefore let us see what there is in it in a broad general way, 
for details would only bewilder. 
Entering from the Slough side (or end) we are at once among the 
fruit trees. There are, to speak in parody, trees to the right of us, 
trees to the left of us, and trees straight ahead of us, more than six 
hundred. “ Six hundred ! ” does someone mutter in surprise, “ those 
few are not many.” No, a few never were many, nor are six thousand, 
or sixty thousand in these days of fruit tree production, but six 
hundred varieties of what may be termed our “ tree” fruits, grown to 
display their character of growth and produce cannot be termed a bad 
collection. We find them in three avenues, planted across the side borders 
which form them, three trees each of 335 varieties of Apples, 200 of 
Pears, 100 of Plums, and 50 of Cherries. The aggregate is surely 
“ more than six hundred,” for it is 685 varieties of these four kinds. 
They are bush and naturally formed pyramids, the peculiar habit of 
each being maintained, varying from about 5 to 10 feet high. They 
are managed in a common sense fashion, the main branches thinly 
disposed, so that fruiting spurs form all over them and all through the 
trees, not only on the outside only and the inside a thicket of useless 
growths—a mass of apologies for leaves. Thus, these trial or stock trees 
teach useful lessons in more ways than one—namely, accuracy in nomen¬ 
clature, habit of trees, and simple useful methods of pruning. These 
avenues form a T with a long leg, only as we enter it is wrong end 
upwards, thus 1 . Eight and left are the Cherries and Plums, straight 
ahead are the Apples and Pears. The Cherry creps were over, also most 
of the Plums, all but the late varieties ; and these are not the least useful, 
such as the valuable Grand Duke ; splendid Monarch ; excellent Early 
Rivers and Imperial de Milan with the free Standard of Ecglind, also 
such of the old favourites as we shall long have with us bjcause so 
serviceable, as Belle de Septembre, Blue Imp6ratrice, Coe’s Golden Drop, 
Pond’s Seedling, and Winesour. The strong soil evidently suits stone 
fruits, as they were perfectly healthy and free from gum. 
Of Apples and Pears it may be said in a sentence that they are 
represented in all moveable sizes, and all requisite forms and shapes, as 
moulded and trained by skilful men — from maiden cordons with a 
single fruit from the bud, as in Bismarck, to large specimens for filling 
blanks in old gardens, and furnishing new with bearing trees at once. 
All have to be kept in stock to meet individual needs with a large 
number of varieties as well for meeting personal tastes ; but though 
collections of fruits in numerous varieties are both interesting and 
instructive in private gardens, to grow such collections for the sale of 
fruit for profit would be little short of madness. For this purpose rigid 
selections of varieties best adapted to the purpose and positions can 
alone be satisfactory. When disappointed persons rush into print with 
denunciations of fruit-growing as a profitable occupation, they should 
be asked to state the number of varieties they grow, and how much fruit 
of each (if any) they have; also in what condition they send it to 
market. In most cases the secrets of failure would then be revealed. 
Messrs. Veitch & Sons have, as is generally known, two nurseries in 
which fruit trees are extensively raised—the one under notice near 
Slough, the other known as Southfields, Fulham. This latter is the 
home of trained Peach, Nectarine, and other trees, for which the 
manager (Mr. Morle) has long been famed, and it may be remarked he 
superintends the work at Slough also. It would seem to be an advan¬ 
tage to have two sources of supply, for this year the weather has played 
pranks affecting fruit in many districts. In most cases it was kinder to 
Pears than Apples, as at Slough ; but an exception was made at 
Fulham, for there the Pear crops most suffered, and the case was left 
thus :—Few Apples at Slough, but plenty of Pears ; few Pears at 
Fulham, but plenty of Apples. In neither place, however, do they 
appear to be specially prepared for exhibition purposes—at least, there 
were no signs of this at Slough. Mulching was not evident, except in 
the case of late spring planted trees, and this was primarily to aid 
growth. The fruits develop in the ordinary course of routine. Even 
on many trees the crops did not appear to have been thinned to any 
noticeable extent, and tbe crop on one small Pear (the delicious Seckle) 
was no doubt as heavy as the tree itself—root and branch. All trees, of 
course, were not so laden, though the crops of many were prodigious, 
and the fruit under the circumstances surprisingly good. Vertical 
cordons of Doyenn6 du Comice, growing about a foot apart, were like a 
wall of /ruit in the open. Triomphe de Vienne, Magnate, Princess, 
Belle d’Ecully, Marie Benoist, and Beurr6 Baltet P6re were laden with 
handsome fruit, as were the still newer sorts—Beurrd Fouqueray, Beurr4 
de Mortillet, La France, Marguerite Marillat, and Zoe, all distinct and 
worthy of trial with old favourites, practically all of which were 
bearing abundantly in the plantations. 
Apples, as above indicated, were much less bountifully produced, 
yet there were excellent crops of some varieties with fewer and conse¬ 
quently finer fruits on others. The rewer varieties, Albury Park None¬ 
such, Beauty of Stoke, Chelmsford Wonder, Fraisse de Hoffinger, 
Rouleau Rouge, and Calville Boisbunel were highly thought of. 
Barnack Beauty was aglow with its brightly coloured fruit; Baumann’s 
Red Reinette, still darker, deep crimson ; Tyler’s Kernel combined size 
with richness in hue, as did the bountiful Bismarck. Sandringham 
stood out prominently by its handsome pyramid habit and noble fruits. 
A row of this by a walk side would be ornamental in any garden and 
deeidedly usefuh Seaton House was giving an enormous number of 
fruits in a small space, bearing as freely as Stirling Castle, and like that 
variety, Lane’s Prince Albert and Manks Codlin, is suitable where there 
is the least room for Apples, as in many small gardens, though obviously 
a number of tree3 would yield a great bulk of fruit in large areas. 
Gascoigne’s Seedling, Grenadier, Cellini, Winter Hawthornden, Lord 
Grosvenor, Potts’ Seedling, Warner’s King, Bramley’s Seedling, and 
other varieties of proved usefulness, told by the number of trees how 
great is the demand for them ; and that prince of dessert Apples Cox’s 
Orange Pippin similarly told of its fame. Still, one is tempted to go 
on among the Apples ; but the time has come to stop, and so, as Brother 
Jonathan would say, we stop “ right here.” 
Among the “ drifts” of bush fruits Gooseberries were in preparation 
for cordons, which will in due time rope themselves with fruit, such as a 
month or two ago startled Mr. Jesse Collings so much that he had to 
write forthwith for trees. There is nothing like “ ordering early,” and 
Mr. Collings evidently did not mean to be too late. If he had seen 
Superlative Raspberry in its best form he would perhaps have ordered 
some too; it is regarded as the best in the Slough collection. 
Just a word about the “ glass ” and what there is under it at Middle 
Green Farm. The houses have all been erected since the initial visit of 
the writer—some half dozen specially for raising and proving new 
Orchids. What a museum we have here I not of antiquities, but 
modern liliputians, so small that even the sharp-eyed Mr. Seden has 
to put on his glasses to see them, as if hatching in their nests, with 
others in all stages up to flowering, and all looking like himself— 
healthy, happy, and contented, just as plants, as well as men who do 
their duty well, should be. He is doing something more than “ make ” 
new Orchids, but for particulars the world must wait. How long 
deponent knoweth not, but he knows the inhabitants thereof will not 
have to wait many months for seed of the Frogmore Selected Tomato, 
and if they could see the crop of fruits now ripening—smooth, bright, 
firm, and just of the right medium size for use and sale—a veritable 
mass, they would surely be like Mr. Jesse Collings and the Gooseberries 
—not be too late in ordering. 
A glance over the seed trial grounds and the choice assortments of 
hardy plants of various kinds snugly plunged in pots, with a pause at 
the gigantic Physalis Alkekengi Franchetti, also a great stock 
of Mr. G. F. Wilson’s blue Primroses, a rush had to be made 
to catch the train for town. Having in mind the grass fields a little 
more than a decade ago, and noting the “ Farm ” now, only one word 
can express the change, and this must be in form the most emphatic, 
namely— Progress. 
AMONGST THE WEM PEAS. 
Eckford’s Sweet Peas are now household words, for they are in 
great request abroad as well as at home, especially in America, where 
large numbers of seeds of the new sorts are sent from Wem. It was 
about the year 1879 that Mr. Bekford, then gardener to the late Dr. 
Sankey at Sandywell, near Cheltenham, began hybridising the Sweet 
Pea. His first start was with six varieties of Sweet Peas, but he worked 
for some years before any marked improvement was made. 
Dr. Sankey removed to Boreatton at the end of 1881, and Mr. Eckford 
and his Peas went there also, and about that time he took to a meeting 
of the Royal Horticultural Society blooms of Sweet Pea “ Bronze Prince,” 
the first seedling of his which obtained a certificate. Then came 
Imperial Blue and Indigo King, also improvements in the whites. The 
year following he exhibited Orange Prince, to which a F.C.C. was 
unanimously awarded, and the same year Splendour and Apple Blossom 
bloomed for the first time. The year after produced a trio of superb 
varieties. Countess of Radnor, mauve; Mrs. Sankey, white; and Per- 
feetion, scarlet ; so named by Mr. Richard Dean, who was much struck 
with it. Those two fine varieties, Cardinal and Splendour, resulted 
from pollen of ” The Doctor,” a very fine scarlet, which was ultimately 
lost. 
In the year 1888 Mr. Eckford removed to Wem in Shropshire for the 
purpose of devoting his whole time to the hybridisation and cult&re of 
Sweet and culinary Peas, and establishing a business as a seedsman and 
seed grower, and it is now well known that his object has been fully 
realised, and it is a good day’s work to examine his 5 acres or so of Peas 
at Wem in the height of the season. In 1889 he introduced some grand 
Sweet Peas, as Purple Prince, Captain of the Blues, Mrs. Gladstone, 
Monarch, and Cardinal, and since then we have had an annual issue of 
new varieties. Amongst them Emily Eckford is a perfect blue-mauve 
self, with a fine, well formed broad standard, and is altogether of fine 
form ; Lady Beaconsfield, salmon and rose, with a yellow tint in it ; 
Peach Blossom, pink, tinted salmon ; Duke of Clarence, claret, with 
purple tinted wings ; Stanley, rich deep mauve purple, and extra fine ; 
Meteor, with a warm orange tint in the standard, of fine form and 
brighter than Orange Prince, a charming flower ; Duke of York, warm 
orange scarlet tinted standard, with wings creamy white, tinted and 
shaded with rose ; Duchess of York, wfith fine bold standard, blush 
white, veined and marked with bright rose, a very fine variety ; 
Waverley, a fine blue tinted purple ; Princess Victoria, distinct a,nd 
bright; Lemon Queen, a charming flower ; Gaiety, a distinct, striking 
flower ; Meteor, an improved Orange Prince, bright and fine ; Dorothy 
Tennant, extra fine, a charming companion Pea for Emily Bekford ; 
Firefly, brilliant orange crimson standard, large, and of very fine form 
and very bright. These are all fine sorts. 
The new varieties to be sent out from Wem for the first time this 
season will probably be Blanche Burpee, certainly the finest of all the 
Whites, which produces white seed. The standard is of the finest 
form and good substance, and producing three flowers on a stem. Alice 
Eckford, a reflned beautiful flower, rich cream tinted cerise standard, 
and white wings; Little Dorrit, the standard carmine, tinted pink, of 
