20 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION.— October 14, 1856. 
of soft-soldering, and “ auld lang syne” reminiscences, I 
got Mr. Kidd into the humour to write out the tale him¬ 
self, to save my credit and the consciences of those who 
might be tempted to doubt the facts, which are all about 
Love-Apples, or Tomatoes. Strange things for me to 
write about; but 1 never knew a man who could grow 
them better than I did except Mr. Kidd. The border 
on which he grows them was, this time last year, as old 
as the dome of St. Paul’s. It is about 400 leet long, 
and mostly level from end to end, under the south wall, 
or rather, south aspect wall of the old kitchen-garden. 
The wall is as old as the border last year. It is now 
planted again with young trees of the best dessert fruit; 
between the trees are Tomato plants in the usual 
way, and not more than from thirty inches to three feet 
high, loaded with dead ripe fruit on the 1st of Sep¬ 
tember. Then there were .fine rows of Tomatoes along 
the whole length of the 400 feet, making six rows in 
all. The fruit on the back row on the border was very 
nearly as early as that on the row against the wall; but 
for the rest there was little difference between one row 
and another. The plants were all planted one yard 
apart, and each plant had a stake not a yard long to tie 
it to, but I could see that few of the plants were tied. 
Mr. Kidd told me that he seldom used stakes to them, 
and would never do so again on this border; the rest 
he tells better himself, and here are his notes:— 
CULTIVATION OF THE TOMATO ON OrEN BORDERS. 
For many years it lias been ray practice to grow the 
Tomato on open borders, without any wall or protection 
whatever. My method simply is—-I sow the seed about the 
1st of May, put the seedlings singly into small pots, and then 
place them in heat, and grow them quickly. I endeavour 
to Mve them hardened off by the end of the mouth. By 
this time I have my ground well prepared with plenty of 
rich manure. They are then planted in rows three feet 
apart, a piece of stick is placed in the ground to support 
each plant, and this is all the tying they get. The planting- 
out being completed, 1 have the whole surface of the ground 
covered with litter, fern, or anything that can he got to suit 
that purpose. The next point to he observed is, when the 
first flower appears, the plant must be stopped with finger 
and thumb, which will cause the lower shoots to push 
rapidly. Four, five, or six branches are selected to lay 
on the ground all round the plant, and each branch is 
stopped in the same way as the first. This is all that is 
required to attain good success. 
I have a border at the present time 420 feet long, con¬ 
taining 480 plants, from which I have been cutting ripe ' 
Tomatoes since the 1st of August, and still could cut bar- ! 
rowsful at the present time. It will he at once seen that 
the whole principle of this system of growing is in the 
early application of the finger and thumb. Many may sup¬ 
pose that my situation and climate are more favourable than 
theirs; hut I have grown Tomatoes in Herefordshire and 
other counties in the same way, when my neighbour gar¬ 
deners could not ripen them on the walls. 
Tliis finger-and-thumb system does not only apply to 
Tomatoes, but everything else, more particularly to fruit- 
trees in a young state. I have proved, over and over again, 
that maiden trees in the nursery could all he trained trees 1 
the first year, instead of that barbarous old system of head¬ 
ing down, which is the first death-stroke to every tree, par¬ 
ticularly exotic kinds. I shall have something to say about 
tliis at another time; in fact, the prettiest tree that ever I 
have seen was a Winter Nclis Rear, trained by the Fitches, 
j of Fulham, without ever having a knife upon it, and it was 
i presented by them to the gentleman I then lived with. 
Take, for instance, the following remark:—Eighteen or 
: twenty years ago, when I was a pupil under Mr. Knight, of 
j the Exotic Nursery, Chelsea, as he was passing by me one 
j dey "'bile I was in the act of cutting down some tall Acacias, 
he came up to me, and asked me if he were to cut olf the 
point of my finger, or take off my arm altogether, winch 
i would I feel most? I replied, “ The arm.” “Yes,” lie said, 
j “ ftlul so does the plant. Had ypu taken out the point at 
t he proper time with your finger and thumb it would have 
prevented the great wound which you have now made.” 
This I never have forgotten, nor shall I ever neglect the 
suggestion.—D. 11. Ividd. 
This fruit-tree practice which Mr. Kidd adopts was 
first mentioned in our books by one of Loudon’s corre¬ 
spondents in the Gardeners Magazine about i860. 1 
wrote in favour of it more than once, and against tho 
barbarous practice of “cutting in” maiden trees, more 
especially the stone-fruit bearers. 
There are two small conservatories attached to the Stud 
House. The roof of one of them is like an umbrella, with 
the same shaped basin below, and stages all round Ihe 
sides. One of the green Wattle Mimosas of the 
Australian settlers (Acacia affinis) is trained under Ihe 
ribs of the umbrella like a climber, and (bus gives the 
best practical illustration I have seen of how Acacias, 
; in general, ought to be hard pruned in every year after 
1 the flowering is over. They all flower on the growth of 
the previous season; therefore, when they come to the 
size you require, the best way is to prune them like 
spur pruning a Vine, or like Ibis green Wattle by Mr. 
Kidd. Lots of recently-bought specimens of Azaleas, 
Camellias, Heaths, Epacrises, and other kinds stood 
out about the doors, and the inside was well stocked with 
summer flowers. 
Against the back wall of the other house stands a 
very large specimen of a Scarlet Geranium, as old, 
perhaps, as the clays of George HI., and as vigorous 
now as ever it was, and as full of blossoms. The short¬ 
sightedness of tin-owing away old Scarlet Geraniums 
since the bedding-out came into general fashion is 
now severely felt in most places. Sir W. Middleton 
told me but the other day that lie would not rest 
satisfied till his specimen terrace for them was planted 
with such plants as those at Fulham Palace, which, I 
am told, are now from twelve to eighteen feet high. 
Among other evidences agaiust the “ natural system ” 
here, I noticed two specimens of Luculia gratissima 
from seven to eight feet high, and well clothed from the 
bottom. They made two growths this season, more like 
that of some kind of Willow than anything 1 could 
compare it to, many of the young branches being full 
five feet long, well ripened up, and the leaves shining 
like Oleander leaves. The treatment was that of 
Oleanders as near as possible, and will he continued 
till the turn of the new year, in order, if possible, to 
keep them from flowering till February, when the family 
is expected to return from the Highlands. 
A new span-rooled forcing omnibus, ova house “for 
all,” with a walk clown the middle, and a hod on each 
side, is just such another as many of the new houses at 
Shruhland Park, of which I shall speak shortly. This 
was now occupied with cuttings one half, then a 
glass division, and the other half with Cucumbers in 
pots, and trained up under the glass. Here many 
thousands of Strawberry plants were lorced last spring, 
and ripe Tomatoes—Tomatoes again—were sent up with 
them to town since April, till they could he had from tho 
open air if needs he. This, also, was now to me, and 
will be equally so to thousands of my readers; hut 1 
iorgot to ask Mr. Kidd this side of his process, and 1 
must call on him again. 
To see the quantities and number of kinds of Straw¬ 
berries which lie has planted and potted for next year, 
you might think tho whole establishment could live on 
Strawberries, and nothing else, for some mouths; but 
then they are gathered by tho bushel for routes and 
public breakfasts. 
In the afternoon we strolled round Hampton Court 
Gardens, which are now under the directorship of Mr. 
Donald, a lineal descendant of the veritable and once 
young Donald of Dundee, who was Englishified at the 
Chiswick Garden, where he undertook Fortune’s de¬ 
partment on his first mission to China; but I lost sight. 
