February 29, 1896. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
417 
of leaf soil and one of loam with a nice sprinkling of 
sharp sand will answer admirably. If you have a 
supply of sphagnum moss on hand, this may be 
chopped up, damped slightly if it is at all dry, and 
mixed with sand. This may also be used for placing 
round the old plants ; indeed, some growers prefer it 
to the compost of leaf soil, etc., as they are of 
opinion that roots are more quickly formed when 
sphagnum is used. After packing up is finished the 
old plants may be placed in a warm pit if you have 
one. The layers or cuttings will root in a cool house, 
but, of course, not so quickly as they would in 
a warmer one. When sufficient roots are made they 
may be split up, and each of the offsets or divisions 
potted up singly into large 6o-sized pots. If your 
plants are of a fair size you may obtain five or six 
strong young pieces from each of them that will 
flower well next autumn and winter. 
MESSRS. SANKEY & SON. 
The late Mr. Richard Sankey commenced making 
flower pots at Bulwell, Nottingham, in the year 
1850, and at that time the daily production was 
2,000 pots. Year by year the business has increased, 
until at the present time the daily output of the firm 
of Messrs. Richard Sankey & Son, Limited, is 
60,000 pots. Having worked up all the claj at the 
old works in 1892, they bought forty acres of the 
finest clay suitable for pot-making, spending 
£20,000 in land and plant. The new buildings and 
mum pots, Orchid pots and pans, Rhubarb, Sea- 
kale, and vine pots, all of which have their uses and 
recommendations, as is well known to every gardener 
who has employed them, and such men are numerous 
throughout Great Britain and Ireland. Sankey’s 
New Pot contains a reservoir of water at the bottom 
and a loose bottom over the water. It is in¬ 
tended to effect a saving in watering in the case of 
plants requiring a deal of moisture and a constant 
supply. Sankey's rustic horticultural pottery includes 
baskets, vases, and other structures of every conceiv¬ 
able description for standing about greenhouses, 
ferneries, for suspension, etc., with plants in them. 
Window boxes, edging tiles, and wall tiles with 
pockets in them for the cultivation of suitable 
subjects for hiding unsightly walls, are a few of the 
many useful and ornamental articles to be obtained 
at the Bulwell Potteries. 
-■ — 
STORING OF APPLES. 
The keeping of Apples in a fresh and plump condi¬ 
tion till spring, or rather, I might say, the inability 
to keep them till then, has puzzled more than one 
amateur as M., Carlisle (p. 368)—aye, and gardeners 
too. The method adopted here may be of interest 
to some readers, perhaps. When taking charge of 
this garden I found a building attached to the north 
end of another larger one, and which had been used, 
and probably built for, an outside larder,_having very 
thick walls and rather lofty. With a few shillings- 
seen good fruits taken out in July after eight or nine 
months' storage. I do not recommend this method, 
but mention this to show that any structure, frost 
proof and free from climatic influences and fluctua¬ 
tion, is suitable, if clean and sweet, for the storage of 
Apples. —A .P. 
[The specimens of Golden Noble, Wellington and 
Cockle Pippin Apples accompanying the above notes 
were in an excellent state of preservation, both as far 
as flavour and appearance were concerned. Indeed, 
we could not expect to see the varieties named in 
better condition during November than those which 
reached us last week. They were neither dried up 
nor in a spongy state, but were good enough to hold 
their own against foreign competition. The point at 
issue, however, is that our correspondent has 
succeeded admirably in keeping his Apples under 
what to some might seem adverse circumstances and 
unsuitable appliances. —Ed.] 
--*■>- 
THE ENGLISH SHOW TULIP. 
The extraordinarily mild season has caused the 
Tulips to present themselves above ground unusually 
early ; they were visible in my beds by the middle 
of last month, and the situation here is not the 
the earliest in the Midlands. I have numbers three 
inches high, and if there is^no severe check by frost, 
the bloom will in the neighbourhood of London, be 
in perfection during the third week in May. Such 
being the case, there will be every probability of a 
The Bulwell Potteries. 
plant cover more than two acres, and are sys¬ 
tematically arranged, with sub-division of labour. A 
railway siding runs right into the works and orders 
can be despatched at an hour’s notice, as there are 
always 3,000,000 pots in stock. The goods made by 
this firm have gained a universal reputation and 
are being constantly sent to nearly all parts of the 
world. 
They are favourably situated near the coal-fields, 
which is of great importance, considering that they 
consume seventy tons per week, and therefore have 
very little to pay upon it for carriage. Their loDg 
experience in mixing and blending the clays, 
together with the proficiency they have obtained in 
burning, enables them to turn out goods that are 
very superior for lightness, strength, colour, and 
porosity. 
The late Mr. Richard Sankey, the senior partner 
of the firm, died on March 10th, 1895; the business 
is now successfully carried on by his three sons, Mr. 
Ernest Sankey, the eldest son, being chairman of the 
directors. 
The accompanying illustration, supplied by 
Messrs. Sankey, will give our readers an idea of the 
extent and general aspect of the Bulwell Potteries, 
well known to a large section of the gardening 
public for many years past, and likely to become 
more and more so with the lapse of time. The 
specialities of the firm are both numerous and 
varied, including the useful Long Toms, Chrysanthe* 
worth of wood we constructed shelves about 3 ft. 
wide, and when gathering time arrives the fruit to 
be stored is carefully sorted (it is utterly useless to 
store unsound or bruised fruit) and laid on the shelves 
previously covered with two layers of clean news¬ 
paper. Ventilation is afforded by means of an aper¬ 
ture at one end covered with perforated zinc, about 
3 ft. square, and a small window at the opposite end. 
Till gathering and storing is completed, and for two 
or three weeks after, these are left open. After this 
time a shutter constructed to cover the zinc window 
is fitted up and the other window closed, and I find 
no artificial heating is necessary unless the outside 
thermometer tells of 20° of frost, as was the case last 
year. I should have said that when I close the 
room I cover the fruit with another layer of clean 
newspaper, and under this treatment I find the fruit 
keeps very well. 
I send samples of Golden Noble, Wellington and 
Cockle Pippin; of course they are good keeping 
varieties, but others keep equally well with me. I 
believe it matters not how primitive the structure is, 
so long as the essential conditions are obtained—that 
is, an equable temperature, free from outside fluctu¬ 
ation of weather and from any drying influences. 
The average temperature of my room is 40° to 45 0 . 
I call to mind another structure I have seeD, and 
which was very primitive, being built of stone at the 
back of a high south wall. Into this shed I have 
seen Apples laid in heaps on clean straw, and have 
grand display appearing at the great Temple Show, 
London, on May 19th, 20th, 21st. 
The date of this show should suit the southern 
growers to the very letter, and it is, therefore, to be 
hoped that every effort on their part will be made to 
fill up the space which the Royal Horticultural 
Society will be able to allot to this most charming 
class of florists' flowers. 
The southern atmosphere is most favourable to 
the cultivation of the English Show Tulip, much 
more so than that of the north j^nd it is, therefore, 
advisable for the leviathan growers of the latter to 
feel that it is not an absolute certainty that the 
"Blue Ribbon ” of 1896 will be flyitog on the tents 
of Llandudno and these of the Middleton district! 
It has always been recognised that the congenial air 
of the =outh is more beneficial to the general growth 
of the Tulip than that of the North, and, now that the 
southern growers possess most of the choicest 
varieties in cultivation, there should be little to 
prevent them occupying a very prominent position 
at the ensuing Temple exhibition.— James Thurstan, 
The Green, Cannock. 
-•*>- 
SCILLY DAFFODILS. 
But few persons are aware of the perseverance, the 
numerous experiments, and the investment of cash 
entailed years ago to bring the Scilly flowers to the 
perfection of the present day, the enjoyment of which 
