584 
May 15, 1886. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
HAREFIELD GROVE. 
The Seat of G. Webster, Esq. 
Harefield Grove is a beautiful residential estate, 
situated between Rickmans worth and Uxbridge, some 
450 acres in extent, and adjoining Moor Park, the seat 
of Lord Ebury. It is the property and the residence of 
George Webster, Esq., one of the merchant princes of 
London, who, in the space of about six years, has con¬ 
verted it, at enormous expense, into perhaps the most 
remarkable private horticultural establishment to be 
found in this or any other country. The mansion and 
gardens are surrounded by park lands and woods of 
about 150 acres in extent, and the pleasure grounds 
surrounding the mansion are of a picturesque and 
pleasant contour, being, though not extensive, yet 
charmingly diversified—a happy combination of wood, 
water, and grassy undulations, with choice trees, well- 
furnished shrubberies, handsome statuary, and just 
a sufficient number of flower beds to give a finish to the 
whole. The pleasure grounds also include an extensive 
croquet and lawn tennis ground, surrounded by trees 
and shrubs, and adjoining the mansion there is a large, 
light, and handsome conservatory, kept gay with 
flowering plants all the year round. But it is not of 
this part of the wonderful garden at Harefield Grove 
that we shall, on this occasion, stay to say much ; for 
the present w r e are more interested in the glass depart¬ 
ment, which, on a timly gigantic scale, has been com¬ 
pleted for the culture of fruits and flowers. 
Visiting Mr. John Gough, the gardener in charge, 
about a month ago, we learnt that at Christmas 
last 126,420 ft. of glass had then been erected and 
got into working order ; that since then 18,000 ft. 
had been completed ; and that it was still intended 
to put up 18,000 ft. more. At the time of our 
visit 106 houses—and not small ones either, as we 
shall show further on—had been completed, many of 
the earlier ones having been built by Mr. Clarke, of 
Stourbridge, and all the later ones by Mr. Webster’s 
own employes. To heat this immense lot of glass some 
581,451 ft. of 4-in. piping has been fixed, and with no 
niggardly hand, for the houses are expected to do good 
work. To heat these miles of piping fourteen boilers 
have been set, all of which are 7 ft. long. Among 
them are two Trentham boilers, one Cruciform, and one 
Gold Medal, but the favourite is a terminal saddle, 
made by Jones, of Manchester ; and to regulate the 
distribution of heat, over 400 of Messrs. Messenger’s, of 
Loughborough, patent valves have been used. The 
consumption of fuel, it need scarcely be said, is some¬ 
thing enormous, and various sorts have been tried. In 
the main, carbonised coke from Tamworth, mixed with 
slack, has been used ; but steam coal from Clifton with 
coke, half-and-half, has been tried, and now anthracite 
is to have an extensive trial. The number of men 
employed is forty-five, twelve of whom live in the 
bothy. Some may have wanted to know ere this what 
becomes of the enormous amount of produce raised in 
the establishment. Well, after supplying the wants of 
the owner, the remainder is sold in the London, Man¬ 
chester/and other markets, where there is always 
a demand for first-class goods. Certain portions of 
the establishment are reserved for the supply of the 
family, and so we will first notice 
The Private Range 
Which consists of some dozen or more plant and fruit 
houses, for the most part of capacious dimensions. 
The first is a span-roofed orchard house filled wdth 
Peaches and Nectarines, Plums, and Pears, mostly 
upright cordons, in a very fruitful state ; while Gloire 
de Dijon and Marechal Niel Roses, occupy the rafters 
overhead. In the autumn the trees are put outside, 
and the house used for displaying Chrysanthemums. 
Then follow' two stoves, with Clerodendrons, Alla- 
mandas, Stephanotis, and Passifloras trained up 
the rafters ; and on the stages below are a great 
variety of plants of a useful decorative character. 
Among them we noted Passiflora edulis variegata, a 
variety with large golden variegated leaves, grown 
for these only ; Asparagus virgatus, a very elegant 
species with very dark green foliage—a good plant 
sent out by Mr. B. S. Williams a year or two ago ; 
Tabermemontana coronaria flore-pleno, extensively 
grown for cutting ; and the erect flowering Gloxinias, 
wffiich are a great feature for some months. From the 
stoves we enter the fruiting Pine stove, which is suc¬ 
ceeded by two others containing sueeessionals. These 
are all lean-to’s, and contain a clean and thrifty-look- 
ing lot of plants. The varieties grown are Queen’s, 
Smooth Cayennes, Charlotte Rothschild, and a few 
Black Jamaicas. On the back wall Stephanotis 
floribunda yields a profusion of its ever welcome blos¬ 
soms ; and wherever there is room for a pot on side 
stages or walls of the Pine pits, there are either Spiraeas 
or Tuberoses. 
The Banana House 
Comes next. This is a span-roofed structure contain¬ 
ing nine noble plants of Musa Cavendishiana, some of 
them throwing grand bunches of fruits. All are 
planted out, and w T e think have no bottom-heat, but 
are in fine health. Here, also, is a large plant of the 
Monster of Delight, Monstera deleciosa, fruiting freely. 
From the Banana house, we enter a compartment 
devoted to Figs, a sharp pitched lean-to, with the 
plants trained under the roof and against the back 
wall. The sorts grown are that well tiied favourite, 
the Brown Turkey, the White Marseilles, a good 
forcer ; and a variety called Figue d’Or. On the bed 
of the house were Callas, and a host of Lilium candidum 
coming on for Easter decorations. The next three 
houses are lean-to Vineries, leading into 
The Octagon Azalea-house, 
Shown in the lower right-hand side of our illustration. 
In all the Vineries there are figs on the back walls. 
The first house was planted with Black Hamburghs, 
twelve months last September, and have made good use 
of their opportunities for develojmient. The second is 
a mixed-house of the same age, with the canes carrying 
a grand set of bunches; and the third compartment con¬ 
tains Muscats and Gros Colmar; the borders are alliuside, 
and consist in each house only at present of about ten 
loads of loam, mixed with half-a-ton of Thomson’s Vine 
Manure, which we may add here, has been extensively 
used by Mr. Gough, and with the very best results. 
The Octagon Azalea-house is a good lofty structure, 
with a few climbers on the roof, and Camellias planted 
out at the back. The centre bed and side stages are 
filled with fine half-specimen plants in variety and 
promising a rare show of blossoms in due time. From 
this house we enter a range of Vineries 250 ft. long and 
16 ft. wide ; divided into three compartments, the first 
of which is planted with Alicautes ; the second with 
Gros Maroc ; and the third mixed. In each case the 
hack wall is planted too, and the borders are inside, 
while so much of the floor of the houses as is not yet 
occupied by the borders, is planted with Tomatos, 2 ft. 
apart each way, and trained as single stems, to stakes. 
The favoured sorts are King Humbert Improved, 
Phillip’s Perfection, and a selection of Mr. Gough’s, 
from the old red. On the north-side of this range, 
there is a new, narrow, lean-to-house, one compartment 
of which has recently been planted with Camellias, and 
the other with Peaches, such as Bellegarde, Princess of 
Wales, and Lord Palmerston, to be trained to wire 
trellises. Leaving “the private range,” we proceed to 
The Cut Flower Houses, 
These consists of several long span-roofed structures 
of various heights, but in the main they are low 
ones, such as are found most adaptable for this kind of 
work. Here are immense batches of Tree Carnations, 
Tropreolums, all sorts of forced things, besides Cyclamens 
and other subjects which do not require so much heat. 
A Gardenia-house, 138 ft. long, contains a capital lot 
of plants, planted out in the central bed about three 
months ; and on the side stages are seedling Cyclamens, 
Ferns, Amaryllis, and a batch of about 1,000 plants, of 
the Bermuda Lily, Lilium Harrisii, Tuberoses, &c. 
This is succeeded by a large span-roofed Eucharis-house, 
the central bed of which has a glass roof and sides, 
forming a house complete in itself, in which a large 
number of very healthy robust plants are grown, in the 
main to yield flowers about Christmas. The side stages 
contain thousands of small Gardenias in pots. Another 
structure of smaller dimensions, hut with the central 
bed similarly glazed, is used for propagating purposes, 
and needless to say, was crammed with an infinite 
variety of useful plants. Our guide, Mr. Gough, next 
showed the way to what is called 
The Small Kitchen Garden, 
In which alone there is glass enough for three or four 
good private establishments. The first structure to 
claim attention in this department, and which is 
situated immediately in front of Mr. Gough’s comfort¬ 
able cottage, shown in the lower left-hand corner of our 
illustration, is a long low three-quarter span-roofed 
pit, with a thick yew-hedge at the back, forming one 
side. This is filled with Perle des Jardins and other 
Tea Roses, and well they seem to like the position. 
Two fine roomy span-roofed structures near by are 
called the White Houses, because white-flowered plants 
only are grown in them. In the first division, white 
Tea Roses occupy the roof, and the beds and borders 
are to be planted with the old double white Camellia, 
for which some large healthy specimens have already 
been obtained. The second division was nearly filled with 
Lilium candidum, in thirty-two pots, just coming into 
bloom, and as level in size and equal in quality as one 
could desire to see. Of this favourite Lily Mr. Gough 
annually pots up some 15,000, and he does them well, 
too. The starry-flowered Allium Neapolitanum is also 
largely grown for cutting, and bunched in the ordinary 
way, and if they have any great distance to travel the 
ends of the stems are seared with a hot iron, so that 
the odour of Onions peculiar to the plant is not brought 
out, should the boxes get warm. Those who like the 
pretty little flower but who cannot endure its odour, 
may be glad of this hint. At right-angles with the 
White Houses is 
The Peach Range, 
In two divisions, a large span-roofed structure 110 ft. 
long and 22 ft. wide, with the central bed arched over 
with wire, and covered with the shoots of handsomely- 
trained trees planted at the sides, with standards down 
the centre to furnish the top. Both Peaches and Nec¬ 
tarines have set a magnificent crop, and are the pictures of 
health, denoting good management. Near at hand are 
two similarly large houses filled with large Palms, 
specimen Ferns, &c., which it is intended to convert 
into Rose-houses. Then, in succession, come two 
span-roofed houses 106 ft. long, planted with Tomatos, 
the home selection of the old red ; a lean-to of the 
same length planted with Spiraea for cutting ; another 
of similar dimensions, full of French Beans, but which 
in autumn is planted wdth Roman Hyacinths—some 
30,000 bulbs being used ; smaller lean-to’s for Roses 
just grafted and young Ferns ; a greenhouse full of 
decorative Pelargoniums, with Marechal Niel Roses on 
the roof, and that fine red Rose, Reine Marie Henriette, 
planted against the pillars ; a large lean-to, with zonal 
Pelargoniums on the front stage, and the remaining 
space occupied by tuberoses ; Vineries planted with 
Lady Downe’s, Muscats, and Hamburghs respectively, 
and a large lean-to full of young Palms, wdth Tropaeolum 
Col. Trevor Clarke, trained to wires under the roof. 
This is a fine bright scarlet, much liked by Mr. Gough 
for its wmndrously free-blooming qualities. These lead 
up to 
The Orchid Houses, 
Four in number, which are rapidly being filled with 
sorts that will be valuable for cutting. The first is 
the Cattleya-house, containing lately imported plants 
breaking freely. The'second wdll be devoted solely to 
Ceelogynes ; the third to Cypripediums, and the fourth 
to Odontoglossums. From beauty we again turn to 
utility, and pass through two large lean-to Vineries, 
with 20 ft. rafters, the one planted wdth Hamburghs, 
and the other Muscats, and showing well for a fine 
crop. These are followed by two other Vineries, 
"West’s St. Peters and Black Hamburghs, perhaps the 
oldest on the place. At the back of this range are a 
set of sheds and Mushroom-houses, with a Rose-houSe 
on the top of them, reached by a flight of ornamental 
iron steps. Here, and in another similar structure on 
the same level, and 100 ft. long, the Tea Roses in 
pots appear to be at home, scores of thrifty profuse 
flowering plants of Perle des Jardins, Souvenir d’Elize, 
Niplietos, Isabella Sprunt, and Madame Falcot, being 
now in full bloom. Descending the before-mentioned 
flight of steps, we reach the range on the south side— 
a couple of Vineries—the one planted with Gros 
Colmar, the other with Muscats, with canes about 
three years old which are in remarkably fine order. On 
the floors are bedding stuff by thousands. 
Melons and Cucumbers. 
These are grown at Harefield Grove in enormous 
quantities. The first house of Melons is a span-roof, 
90 ft. long, wdth a path down the centre, and beds on 
each side. The Melons are planted on the farthest 
side of the bed and 15 ins. apart, the plants—High 
Cross Hybrid—being kept to a single stem and 
expected to bear about three fruits each ; and in front 
of them are two rows of French Beans. We ought to 
have alluded to the subject of Beans before, as Mr. 
Gough has a high reputation in the markets for the 
