Dace mber 7, 1895. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
221 
Douglas Chrysanthemum Society.—It is much to 
be regretted that the weather was so unpropitious 
for the Douglas Chrysanthemum show, which was 
held in the Parochial Hall at Douglas, on the 21st ult. 
Certainly Miss Reeves and her assistants arranged a 
most interesting display, which, with the bunting and 
flags, made the hall exceedingly attractive. Lovers 
of these beautiful flowers had a most enjoyable treat 
provided for them. Many of the exhibits were of 
great excellence, and some of the blooms very 
beautiful. Mr. George Purcell, than whom no better 
authority can be had, said he never inspected a 
prettier lot of blooms. Amongst the exhibitors were 
—Mr. F. Cade, St. Luke's ; Mr. Nicholson, do.; Col. 
Goldie, do.; Mrs. Foster, do.; Mr. Perrier, Spring 
Mount; Mr. Taylor, Monkstown; Mrs. Stoker, 
Douglas House ; Mr. Geo. Stoker, Ballinlough ; Mr. 
D. Stoker, Rochestown ; Mr. Sherrard, Maryboro’; 
and Mr. R. A. Atkins, Douglas. The following is 
the prize list :—Cut blooms—first prize, Mr. R. A. 
Atkins ; second prize, Mr. T. A. Nicholson. Pot 
plants—first prize, Mr. R. A. Atkins ; second prize, 
Mrs. Stoker, Douglas House. Mr. D. Stoker got 
first prize for the best selection of incurved blooms. 
Owing to the inclemency of the weather, it was con¬ 
sidered advisable to continue the show next day, when 
the flowers on exhibition were put up for sale, and 
a concert held in the evening. 
New Homes in the West.—The founders of the 
Mesilla Valley Irrigation Colony are makiDg a bold 
and brave attempt to settle the question “ What 
to do with our boys." The Mesilla Valley 
forms a portion of the Rio Grande Valley, situated 
in the state of Texas and the county of Donna Anna 
at the southern boundaries of the United States of 
America. The prospects here are farming and fruit 
growing, and the directors of the Mesilla Valley 
Colony undertake to attend to the shipping and 
marketing of everything which may be produced on 
the farms of their settlers. This is a practical co¬ 
operative principle which has never before been 
undertaken by the founders of colonies. Hitherto 
it has been considered quite sufficient to convey 
emigrants to the new settlements, to sell them land 
and then leave them to their own resources. Such 
is not the case in this instance. The inducements 
for emigrants to leave this country and make new 
homes for themselves under more favourable con¬ 
ditions than they can get here, are numerous, 
according to individual circumstances. The Mesilla 
Valley Irrigation Colony is settled on the Rio Grande 
in New Mexico, U.S.A., twenty-five miles above the 
town of El Paso. The latter is situated at an elevation 
of 3,670 ft. above sea level and has a bracing atmo¬ 
sphere. The soil is sandy and porous, but when 
irrigated by water from the Rio Grande, it becomes 
remarkably fertile, and fruit trees grow and bear 
abundantly in the course of three to five years. Dr. 
J. M. Yair, who is a Scotchman, writes home to say 
that the fertility of the valley far surpasses his 
most sanguine expectations. He is one of a party of 
four who left England on the 31st of August last, and 
has since sent back the following cablegram : — 
“ Arrived well; have visited our land ; are more than 
satisfied of the genuineness of your representation.— 
John M. Yair, Francis A. Yair, P. Yardley, J. Muir." 
-- 
THE GROVE, STREATHAM. 
Within easy distance of our great metropolis there 
lie many gardening establishments which, although 
they do not contain the large number of acres 
characteristic of gentlemen's estates in the country, 
have yet every right to be considered first-class. 
One of these is undoubtedly The Grove, the pro¬ 
perty of S. T. Fisher, Esq. In area it comprises 
about seventy acres, twenty-five of which are 
utilised as flower gardens and pleasure grounds, 
whilst between two and three acres contain the 
glasshouses and the vegetable and fruit gardens. 
November is a phenomenally untidy month, for 
ere it makes its appearance autumn frosts of greater 
or less severity have put their veto upon the 
autumnal glories of the flower garden, the leaves 
fall in eddying showers that swirl o’er the landscape 
as if seeking for the glories of the flowers that once 
were to be found there—now, alas! departed, and 
we draw our cloaks and wraps more tightly to us, 
saying, ah! it is November; and the vert name 
strikes chill and cold, for it speaks of nipping 
winds, of dank, dark and lifeless days, and of atmos¬ 
pheres reeking with mist and fog, as if nature were 
doing her utmost to make herself disagreeable. At 
such a season of the year one scarcely expects to 
find a garden so orderly or so spick and span in 
every detail as they would during the more favour¬ 
able months of spring, and summer, when nature 
and the gardener work so closely hand in hand; but 
to judge from the state of things at The Grove it 
would appear that strict tidiness in every depart¬ 
ment is a law that, like that of the Medes and 
Persians, cannot be altered with the rotation of the 
seasons. No matter in which direction we turned 
our steps the same air of tidiness pervaded all, a 
standing testimony to Mr. G. Bond’s ability as a 
gardener and a director of labour. 
The Kitchen Garden. 
The demand for vegetables at The Grove is very 
heavy, for not only is the home consumption con¬ 
siderable, but a great deal of material is given away 
to the deserving poor of the neighbourhood, Mrs- 
Fisher seeing to this in the majority of instances 
with her own hands. 
The first thing that rivetted our attention was the 
splendid condition of the gravel paths. Although 
on the evening preceding our visit an exceedingly 
heavy fall of rain had occurred, no sign of it was visible 
upon the glistening gravel of the paths. No, there they 
were.asdry as ever, apparently firm asarock, clean as 
a new pin, and trim as a hospital nurse in full uniform. 
When Mr. Bond first took over the command the 
gravel walks were anything but satisfactory. Deter¬ 
mined to remedy this he set to work, and success¬ 
fully, too, as has been previously shown. A bottom 
layer of 6 in. in depth of clinkers is overlaid by 
some 3 in. or 4 in. of burnt ballast, forming an ex¬ 
cellent foundation for the 4 in., or thereabouts, of 
gravel, which, by constant and regular attention 
with the roller, is as much like concrete as gravel 
can well be. A neat edging is formed the well- 
known cable tiles, which wear well, and are certainly 
not unornamental. 
So much for the paths; now for the vegetables 
which they enclosed. Everywhere we saw unmis- 
takeable signs that vegetables were well done. Of 
vacant plots of ground there appeared but few, for 
almost every corner was occupied with something 
or other, even if it was only Lettuce. Apropos of 
this valuable salading we may remark that it is in 
great request at The Grove, and must be had in 
quantities throughout the greater part of the year. 
The trenches in which Runner Beans had been 
growing during the summer had been utilised for 
the planting of a large batch of the well-known 
Bath Cos. Treated in this way it is very easy to 
give all the protection during the winter that this 
splendidly hardy variety needs. Winter greens of 
all kinds were in abundance. Among them we 
noticed healthy patches of such Cabbages as 
Sutton’s Flower of Spring and Ellam's Early Dwarf, 
both good and useful sorts; Savoys, Brussels 
Sprouts, and Cottagers' Kales. A grand plantation 
of one of the hardiest of the last-named caught our 
eye—viz., Sutton's Arctic Curled, a variety that 
came out with a magnificent record during the last 
severe winter. Asparagus beds were all ship-shape, 
a good mulching of short stable manure having been 
given them after the old stems had been cut off. 
By mulching in this manner now, the crowns are 
protected from severe frost. Some rows of Celery 
also looked promising. Sutton's Ai, Sandringham 
White, and Veitch’s Dwarf White are the varieties 
thought most highly of here. 
Hardy Fruit. 
As the kitchen gard ns are enclosed with substantial 
brick walls, a good deal of accommodation for wall 
fruit is provided, and, we may add, taken the fullest 
advantage of. Dotted here and there at intervals 
are also standard trees, principally Apples, which 
have done good work this season. The fruit, how¬ 
ever, is sadly deficient in keeping qualities, Mr. 
Bond informed us. Among the small fruits a special 
feature was observable in a number of Gooseberry 
bushes, which, instead of hugging the ground in 
their usual fashion, were mounted on tall stems 
some 3 ft. or 4 ft. in height. Whilst the certainty of 
the crop is not affected, certain advantages over the 
low bushes are obtained by this system of training— 
notably, increased facilities for gathering, and the 
prevention of the fruit being splashed with dirt 
during heavy rains. 
The Glass Houses. 
These are fairly numerous, and almost of all sorts 
and sizes, from small close pits up to roomy struc¬ 
tures suitable for housing large specimen p ants. 
Fruit is grown to some extent, and both Vines and 
Peaches receive careful attention, but the plant 
houses constitute by far the more important section, 
and very many items of interest are here observable. 
In one small stove a group of Codiaeums (CrotODs) 
in large forty-eight and small thirty-two-sized pots, 
that were simply marvels of good culture, caught 
one s eye, clothed with leaves right down to the base 
of the stem, and-exceedingly well coloured they were, 
just the kind of stuff for decorative purposes in the 
mansion. A number of kinds are grown, a few of 
which are Lamberti, Flambeau, Hookeri, banbury- 
ana, messangeana, and Countess. Passing from the 
contemplation of these we found a nice little collec¬ 
tion of winter-floweriDg Carnations in the best of 
health and the pink of condition. Here Winter 
Cheer well upheld its honour and its reputation, as 
did also Miss Joliffe Improved. Purity, Boule de 
Neige, and Caroline Schmidt. Miss Mary Godfrey 
is, however, the favourite, for it strikes easily from 
cuttings, grows like a weed, and flowers with ex¬ 
ceptional freedom. A very comprehensive collection 
of named varieties of border Carnations is also 
grown. Zonal Pelargoniums for autumn flowering 
are also another speciality, being grown to the tune 
of some 200 plants. These are coaxed to bloom 
about the middle of October, as if the buds are kept 
pinched out until too late the fogs that November in 
her kindness brings to us play terrible havoc with 
the blooms, and soon consign them to the ranks of 
the " have beens." 
Yet another warm house had the roof covered by 
a fine healthy plant of Allamanda Hendersoni, now 
just going out of flower. On the stages beneath 
were placed a number of ferns, Adiantum cuneatum 
principally, although a few splendid samples of 
Pteris smithiana were standing out here and there. 
This beautiful fern is not nearly so often seen as it 
ought to be. It is seldom that we see it, and 
more seldom that we see it looking at all happy. 
It is usually placed in a cool house, although at The 
Grove it is located in a stove temperature, a kind of 
treatment that evidently suits it down to the ground. 
The larger houses are shaded during the summer by 
means of Venetian blinds instead of tiffany. A large 
stove is one of the prettiest of its kind we have yet 
come across. The centre is occupied by a cemented 
tank some 14 ft. square, and standing on pots placed 
in the water are such Palms as Rhaphis flabelli- 
formis, Livistonia chinensis (Latania borbonica), 
and Howea (Kentia) be-lmoreana. On the roof are 
to be seen healthy, well developed examples of 
Stepbanotis floribunda and Gloriosa superba. 
Pendant from the roof are two huge baskets filled 
with the pretty Davallia Mariesii, certainly the 
largest specimen that we have so far seen. Other 
stove foliage plants, including Padanads, Dieffen- 
bachias, Dracaenas, Palms, and Ferns, occupy the 
side stages. 
Chrysanthemums, of course, form a principal 
attraction at the fag-end of the year. About 400 
plants in all are grown, 200 of which are kept 
especially for the production of blooms up to show 
standard, the remainder grown as bush specimens. 
Eda Prass, W. H. Lincoln, Sunflower, Chas. Davis, 
Viviand Morel, Mons. Pankoucke, and President 
Borel may be mentioned as well known varieties 
that here, as well as elsewhere have been brilliant 
successes. 
The Pleasure Grounds. 
These are somewhat straggling in character, and 
include many charming nooks and corners. Roses 
are great favourites, and are extensively grown—in 
fact, the Rose garden is one of the features of the 
establishment, so tastefully is it laid out, and so well 
is it kept up. Turner's Crimson Rambler is also 
making a name for itself here as a gem of no mean 
order. Two iron wire arches, over 20 ft. in 
diameter, have been covered with strong, vigorous 
growths in one year from the time of planting. A 
stroll round the grounds revealed yet further the 
fact that a high degree of order was maintained, for 
even the rubbish heaps, which are looked upon by 
many gardeners as a necessary evil, are enclosed by 
palisading, and so cunningly contrived that they are 
concealed entirely from public view, and the visitor 
might pass and repass them without ever suspecting 
their presence. 
New Homes in the ‘‘Sunshine State'' of America,- 
Exceptional opportunity to join Fruit and Vine growing 
Colouy in U.S.A. Only small capital required. Land on ten 
years’ time. Experienced local adviser. Income first year. 
Large profits. Superior market and railway lacilities; 1,500 
miles nearer than California to Chicago and New York. Four 
to seven weeks earlier fruitiug season. Ideal climate for weak 
lungs. Splendid shooting. For free illustrated pamphlet and 
full particulars, address—Mesilla Valley Irrigation Colony, 34, 
Victoria Street, London, S.W. 
