62 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
September 18, 1895. 
are to be employed and instructed, but where 
professional gardeners seeking situations should be 
centralised and be usefully employed, and when 
waiting for appointments they should have the 
opportunity during that time of still further 
practising and seeing the highest class of gardening 
carried out. Whenever a gardener is required he 
would then be readily found and a suitable man 
quickly engaged. 
It may yet prove that something of this kind is in 
contemplation, and if so I am of opinion that great 
good is likely to follow. In my opinion it is one of the 
most pressing requirements at the present moment 
for gardeners when out of situation—particularly 
when their discharge is brought about through no 
faults of their own—that there should be some horti¬ 
cultural centre for them to go to. Ladies and gentle¬ 
men, also made aware of their being in readiness, 
could personally see and select what they required. 
It seems to me that Chiswick and Kew are places 
where they might very conveniently be located and 
be usefully and temporarily engaged. Of course, 
under wise regulations I consider this a project of 
great importance. 
At present when a gardener, through the decease 
of his employer or other eventualities, is under notice 
to quit, in all probability he is more often than not 
five or ten miles away from any town or city ; he 
hesitates where he had better move to, and eventu¬ 
ally takes the nearest house to let. Now, all depends 
upon good luck in advertising and his distant friends; 
nothing comes at all suitable, time rolls on, and after 
a while he finds his hard-earned savings gradually 
dwindling, and, in many cases, a real good man at 
last is compelled to accept something quite different 
to his deservings and requirements. He gradually 
becomes forgotten, and after weeks of inactivity he 
gets disheartened and disgusted with the profession, 
whereas, if located in the neighbourhood of the above- 
mentioned gardens—with a scheme set on foot for 
this purpose—he would be within touch of those 
requiring such men and would probably soon obtain 
suitable employment according to his ability. At 
all events I think it is quite feasible. 
The council could establish a kind of bureau for 
professional gardeners ready and capable to under¬ 
take the management of either large or medium- 
size places at once if required, and which would 
certainly often be a convenience to proprietors. I 
would gladly double my subscription, and no doubt 
many others would do the same, to enable the 
council to organise such an institution as I have fore¬ 
shadowed or suggested. It would be a boon to 
many. I am repeatedly asked for a certain class of 
man, and time is all important; after writing and 
communicating with several men out of place and 
scattered about, I hear the place is filled, more often 
than not, by some incompetent person, because the 
skilled man was not at hand or could not easily be 
seen, being so far from London ; whereas, if engaged 
from such an institution he would have a higher 
standing and would also be independent of the 
nurserymen, and would allow him to be far more 
free as to his future dealings .—Henry Cannell, 
Swanley. 
--- 
FRUIT AT GUNNERSBURY HOUSE. 
Last week we made a few remarks concerning the 
flower garden at the above establishment. But 
fruit as well as flowers receive skilled attention 
there, and both are of equal importance the one with 
the other. Pears and Apples are enormously heavy 
crops. Of the former we noticed a grand pyramid¬ 
ally-trained tree of Pitroaston Duchess. The 
quantity of fruit it was bearing was astonishing, 
and not less wonderful was the large size and heavy 
weight of the fruit itself. Birds have for the last 
few weeks been exceptionally troublesome, and thus 
every yard of available netting has had to be called 
into requisition for purposes of protection. Mr. Hud¬ 
son has found that one of the best devices to keep off 
these feathered marauders is to hang a number of 
strips of bright red twill or flannel among the trees, 
and he informed us that it was only by means of 
this dodge that he was able to protect his rows of 
late Peas from spoliation. In the fruit room the 
already half-filled shelves betray the fact that the 
autumn is advancing. Gravenstein Apple is just 
now in grand condition, heavy crops of it being 
secured. Very prominent also was a large shelf 
filled with Pear Louis Bonne of Jersey. The fruit 
was of medium size, almost uniform shape and 
splendidly coloured. 
Peaches on outside walls this year have been 
very good crops, and we noted several trees even 
now carrying a goodly sprinkling of fruit of such 
sorts as Princess of Wales and Diamond, which 
only wants a few days' more sun to finish off nicely. 
Nectarine Humboldt, too, appears to do well out¬ 
doors. The fruit resembles the well-known old Pine¬ 
apple in shape and flavour, but is of much darker 
colour. Large breadths of the Alpine Strawberry 
Quatre Saisons are grown. These appear to be 
doing remarkably well, and are furnishing quantities 
of fine fruit that come in very handy for the dessert 
table. Fruit was picked from the earliest plants 
this year before Royal Sovereign was ripe, and a 
constant supply has been forthcoming ever since, 
and will be kept up until frost puts its veto upon 
further development. The batch of plants which 
yielded the first fruits were trimmed up in the usual 
way, and after the rest thus given them are just 
now commencing to bloom again, and may be 
expected to yield the latest crops of any. A batch 
of plants raised from seed sown in February has 
grown so strongly and vigorously that in spite of 
the fact that a fair amount of room was given the 
plants they have covered it all, are now touching 
each other at all points, and just commencing to 
ripen their fruit. 
Under Glass. 
In our passage through the glasshouses we noticed 
grand crops of late Grapes, which were as well 
coloured as could possibly be desired. The well- 
known late variety Appley Towers does well here, and 
is this year bearing well. The large Nectarine tree, 
too, finished another fine crop again this season. 
In fact last year's tale of fruit added to this brings 
the number of fruit perfected to something over a 
thousand, not at all a bad two seasons' work for one 
tree to accomplish. A new span-roofed house has 
recently been built, and is at the present time 
occupied with Apples, Pears, Peaches, Nectarines, 
and Plums in pots. Some of the Pears were excep¬ 
tionally fine, and by the time they have finished well 
will be excellent samples of Orchid house fruit. The 
Nectarines, Peaches, and Plums are grown in pots 
in this way in order to meet the demand that has 
lately arisen for small trees carrying ripe fruit for 
the dessert table instead of dishing the fruit up in 
the ordinary way. ' To obtain plants of this kind 
necessarily entails a good deal of trouble, for not 
only must the fruit itself be of first-class quality and 
appearance, but the trees must be symmetrical also, 
close attention to pruning being essential to obtain 
all these qualifications. 
-- 
LUCULIAS. 
There are two species of this under cultivation, L. 
gratissima and L. pinceana, the first of which is the 
most generally cultivated. L. pinceana, although 
very beautiful and introduced some fifty years 
back, has not been cultivated to the extent which its 
beauty would lead anyone to expect. They like a 
good, fresh, open compost consisting of fibrous peat 
and good yellow loam, rather more loam than 
peat if it is fibrous, with some charcoal and coarse 
silver sand. During the growing period a little 
weak manure water is very beneficial, more 
especially to those whose roots are confined in pots 
or tubs. This is one of those subjects which delight 
in plenty of root-room, and do far better when 
planted out. When regularly syringed and a genial 
atmosphere is maintained, it will seldom be 
troubled to any great extent with insect pests. 
Its beautiful pink flowers borne in large trusses, 
and their most delicious perfume, renders it a most 
desirable plant to be grown by all having the 
necessary accommodation. There is no other 
winter-flowering plant with greater claims on the 
attention of private growers. After flowering it 
should be kept drier at the roots for a time, and 
about the middle of March pruned back. The 
plants will very soon make fresh growth, and gentle 
syringings will be of great assistance to them as well 
as more water at the roots when they are in full 
growth. Everything conducive to early and 
vigorous growth should be done to ensure the ripen¬ 
ing of the wood by the autumn. A warm, sunny 
spot and good drainage are two other items in the 
management of this beautiful subject to be borne in 
mind by all who would have large clusters of flowers, 
and a plentiful crop of them.— IV. B. G. 
MESSRS. CUTBUSH & SONS’ HIGH 
BARNET NURSERIES. 
For very many years past Messrs. Cutbush's 
nurseries at High Barnet have been famous for hard- 
wooded and New Holland plants. At one time, of 
course, this class of subjects was, to use a common 
expression, all the rage; and during the time when 
this fever was at its height, the number of plants 
sent out from the nurseries was simply enormous. 
Since then, however, hard-wooded plants have to a 
vast extent lost the place in popular favour that they 
once possessed : in other words they have simply 
gone out of fashion. Consequently, where thirty or 
forty years ago a hundred were cultivated, now only 
one is to be seen, and that often in a miserable con¬ 
dition Still hard-wooded plants are grown, and 
grown in considerable numbers at High Barnet 
even now. A visit to a nursery of this stamp is 
extremely interesting, for plants of this kind are 
among the most difficult to grow properly, and thus 
where they are observed to be doing well we may 
rest assured that a competent and efficient gardener 
is at the head of affairs, a man who knows his work 
and does it too. This is the case at Messrs. 
Cutbush’s establishment. 
Large quantities of Ericas are to be seen in all 
stages, from pans full of young cuttings just rooted 
up to sturdy young plants two or three years of age. 
Although a large number of Ericas are known to us 
but a comparatively limited number are grown to any 
great extent, if we may judge from the demand which 
declares in favour of E. hyemalis, E. gracilis, E. 
Wilmoreana, and E. caffca, with one or two others. 
Boronias, however, are in great request—probably 
the sweet smell characterizing the flowers of some of 
them has a good deal to do with their popularity, 
for we find B. megastigma heads the list, and this, 
although not perhaps the most beautiful, is certainly 
the most fragrant member of the genus. B. hetero- 
phylla is also highly thought of, and a fair demand is 
experienced for B. elatior. A large stock of all of 
them is kept. Some nice little plants in small 
6o’s, obtained from cuttings taken only a few 
months ago, promised exceedingly well, and a large 
batch of older plants in 48's looked a perfect picture 
of health and symmetry. Bouvardias, too, are done 
well, for we saw quantities of clean, well-grown 
plants of such varieties as Vreelandii, President 
Cleveland, Priory Beauty and Alfred Neuner. Single 
flowered varieties are, however, more popular than 
double ones we were informed, although the latter 
command a fair sale. Berried Solanums, too, are 
another specialty, between two and three thousand 
plants being raised and sold each season. The 
demand for these pretty plants seems to increase 
rather than to diminish, and many a cottage window 
contains one during the dull months of the year. 
Roses in pots are grown in large quantities, fully 
ten thousand being sent out each year. A special 
line is made of such well-known climbing and pillar 
Roses as Turner’s Crimson Rambler, Reve d'Or, 
Gloire de Dijon, Marechal Niel and William Allen 
Richardson. These are all great favourites, and 
much in request. The system cf propagation and 
the subsequent cultivation accorded to the plants is 
well worthy of mention, not only because it is 
an expeditious method of treatment, but because the 
material obtained in this way is of the best quality. 
All these climbing Roses are grafted upon the 
Manetti stock some time in January, and are 
afterwards grown on in strong heat. Needless to 
say, they are kept well supplied with water both at 
the root and about the foliage, with the result that by 
the autumn they have made large, healthy and 
vigorous plants that find a ready sale. Crimson 
Rambler, always a strong grower, simply luxuriates 
in the heat and copious moisture, and we found it 
somewhat difficult of belief that the plants had been 
only grafted in January of the current year, of such 
size and strength were they. 
Ampelopsis Veitchii is likewise propagated to a 
vast extent. Well over three thousand plants are 
marketed from these nurseries each year. The stock 
this season is as good as could possibly be desired, 
being composed of fine healthy plants in 32-pots 
with growths of exceptional stoutness and foliage of 
remarkable substance. Growing side by side with 
the pot Roses and Ampelopsis are a host of pot 
vines, these, of course, being trained up to the roof, 
where they appear to have been enjoying themselves 
immensely, if stout canes that exhibit abundant 
