August 4, 1894. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
769 
THE HILLINGDON NURSERY. 
The Hillingdon nursery is a comparatively new 
cre-ition, having only been commenced some four 
years ago, yet is not unknown already in the world 
of horticulture, as an instance of what can be 
accomplished when energy, means, and brains are 
brought into combination. The nursery is situated 
at Hillingdon, in Middlesex, twelve miles from 
London, on the main road to the West, and two 
miles from Uxbridge or West Drayton stations on 
the Great Western Railway; and it owes its exis¬ 
tence to the spirited commercial enterprise of the 
gentleman so widely known thro ughout the land as 
The Universal Provider,” Mr. William Whiteley, 
of Westbourne Grove, W. It occupies some ten 
acres of ground, which has been enclosed by a sub¬ 
stantial wall of some height, and divided by another 
wall into about equal proportions, one of which con¬ 
tains the glass and other needful apppurtenances, 
while the other is being brought into condition for 
the growth of hardy plants. Adjoining the glass por¬ 
tion are the residence of the manager, Mr. George 
Bethell, a row of roomy and convenient cottages for 
the workman, and stabling accommodation for a 
good number of horses, this being one of the distri¬ 
buting centres which form the out works as it were of 
the gigantic business centre at Westbourne Grove. All 
are admirably built and of the best materials,and that 
may be said to be the characteristic of all the work 
that has been done on the place, whether the designs 
carried out be the best or not. The glass houses 
and frames cover about four acres of ground, and 
the whole is heated by seven and a half miles of 
hot-water pipes and eight Trentham boilers, each 
It ft. long, besides small supernumeraries put in for 
use on the score of economy, when full heating 
power is not in demand. The water required is 
obtained on the place, and is very soft. It is 
pumped into a large tank by means of steam power, 
and a liquid manure tank has been so arranged that 
the distributing pipes can be used for one or the 
other at will. 
The staple produce of the nursery consists of 
Grapes, Peaches and Nectarines, Tomatos, Cucum¬ 
bers, and Mushrooms, plants in pots, and cut 
flowers of anything that will sell and pay for the 
growing. The Grapes fill two long ranges of lean- 
to’s against the walls, and are heavily cropped, but 
are overshadowed in numbers by the Peaches and 
Nectarines which occupy both lean-to and span- 
roofed houses, the latter somewhat acutely angled. 
The trees are bearing in most cases extra¬ 
ordinary crops, but have been too liberally planted 
in proportion to the Grapes to maintain a steady 
supply, and this error Mr. Bethell is gradually cor¬ 
recting by reducing the number of trees and plant¬ 
ing earlier and later Grapes, so as to lengthen the 
season of supply of these fruits. The span-roofed 
Peach houses, or cases as we should call them, are 
300 ft. long and 12 ft. wide at the ground level, and 
the principal sorts grown are the Alexander, Grosse 
Mignonne, Royal George, Bellegarde, a few Princess 
of Wales and Sea Eagle Peaches, and Lord Napier 
and Pitmaston Orange Nectarines. There are three 
of such houses, and the total crop will not be far 
short of 20,000 fruits. A house of a similar charac¬ 
ter is filled with Tomatos planted out and in pots, 
and only two sorts are grown, Chemin Rouge, a 
French sort which sets freely and gives six to eight 
good fruits in a cluster, and Challenger, another good 
one which bears very smooth fruits. Cucumbers are 
also largely grown in long, span-roofed houses, and 
do well. The favourite variety is the Rochford, a 
very prolific sort, and of the right colour for shop 
work, being a good deep green. Light coloured 
Cucumbers are not liked in the market because they 
so soon lose the necessary appearance of freshness. 
Mr. Bethell has crossed the Rochford with the 
Telegraph, and vice-versa, and has promising seed¬ 
lings from both crosses. The Cucumbers follow 
Carnations, and are succeeded by Lily of the Valley, 
of which last season a quarter of a million crowns 
were forced. 
The pot plants, except in the case of some of the 
larger Palms are mostly grown in 48’s, a considerabe 
number in large 6o’s, and many in smaller ones still 
for the modern trade of “ boxing.” Looking through 
the houses we noticed a very fine bench of Helio¬ 
tropes, mainly Miss Nightingale, and beautifully done 
in the correct market style, with from six to eighth 
shoots drawn by ties to a central stake, making fine 
beads of bloom. Fuchsias are treated largely in the 
same way, and varieties which are white with red 
corollas are the most favoured. Coleuses are also a 
good trade in their season and well done. The Old 
Queen Victoria raised nearly thirty years ago is still 
the favourite of the market growers, and another 
attractive one is a bright yellow with green venation. 
Mrs. F. Sander, the best of the St. Albans batch, is 
also very striking, having large heart shaped leaves 
with a triangular blotch of pale variagation. Grevillia 
robusta is largely grown from seeds, and a large 
stock of good stufl' in 60’s were noted in passing. 
Strobilanthes Dyerianus has had a good trial, and 
proves most promising. A batch of 1000 plants 
grandly coloured, and in various si 7 es were worth 
more than a passing glance. Mr. Bethell has dis¬ 
covered that it wants growing in loam in a 
greenhouse temperature, most growers keeping it too 
hot. The old double white Chinese Primula is very 
largely grown and valuable always for cutting. 
Another long span-roofed house is devoted to 
the Marechal Niel Rose planted out, and a 
similar one to Niphetos treated in the 
same way, and both in season yield grand crops of 
bloom. A similar house divided into two compart¬ 
ments contains in one of them Maidenhair ferns for 
cutting while the other is devoted to Asparagus plu- 
mosus nanus. This was originally arranged for a 
Strawberry house, but not answering, Mr. Bethell 
put some sides to the step-like staging, converting them 
into shallow troughs which he planted with the 
Asparagus, with the best results. Any amount of 
water can be run through them, and the amount of 
fronds they yield of the pale green character so much 
favoured by decorators and bouquetists is something 
astonishing. Pandanus Veitchii is also done in con¬ 
siderable quantities, as also are green and coloured 
Dracaenas, but not in many varieties. D. terminalis 
and D. ferria stricta are the leading coloured sorts, 
and D. Bruantii and D. Daniels!, the best green 
ones. Coloured Crotons are a beautiful culture, 
being grandly done, and a considerable quantity in 
large 6o’s are a fine feature. One side of a long 
house filled with Mortii, Andreanus, Majesticus, 
Weismanni, and Disraeli, in 48’s, magnificently grown 
and coloured, were a delight to see. Grown in the 
full sun with the Crotons, the variegated India- 
rubber also does exceptionally Welland, as seen here, is 
by no means the disappointing plant that some find 
it. The trade in small ferns has become a large one, 
and is increasing, and for this work spores are raised 
in immense quantities. Larger plants are represented 
by large stocks of various species of Pteris such as 
tremula, the crested forms of P. cretica and P. serru- 
lata, and the so-called Palm fern P. major, which 
is very handsome, in 32's. Nephrolepis davalioides 
is a great favourite for baskets ; and for room decora¬ 
tion the noble looking Polypodium aureum is grown 
by thousands, and a very good type it is. Other 
houses contain large stocks of Palms with Stephano- 
tis overhead and Palms with Denbrobiums 
hanging from the wires and growing like weeds. 
Several hundreds of D. Phalaenopsis and making 
superb growths. Kentias form the bulk of the 
Palms, and a fine lot they are. 
In the frames, and stood out on the ash beds, we 
noted large stocks of Carnations of the tree-flower¬ 
ing section. Hydrangeas, Tuberoses, Liliums, and 
other things, including a very handsome Veronica 
for autumn blooming in V. imperialis, belonging to 
the V. Anderson! group, which bears massive spikes 
of deep blue flowers, a very fine thing in 48’s for 
window boxes. The walls in the garden section of 
the Nursery are planted with Peaches and Nectar¬ 
ines, which, so far, have done well, and other hardy 
fruits, while the borders are being filled with herb¬ 
aceous plants of a useful character, Roses which 
like the deep stiff loam. Carnations, Pinks, and other 
things useful for cutting. Here also are the 
Chrysanthemums in pots, some 7,000 in all, but 
representing only a few sorts such asW. H. Lincoln, 
Avalanche, Bouquet des dames, &c. 
Mushroom growing is a big item bere, and all are 
grown in closed or open sheds. Mr. Bethell has 
been exceedingly successful with them since he has 
been here, and the yield has been enormous. In the 
open sheds the beds are made in the usual ridge 
f.trm, and in flat beds in the Mushroom houses proper. 
His treatment of the latter is different to the usual 
mode, and answers perfectly in securing three crops 
off two beds. The beds are made in tiers with room 
between each tier for the depth of two beds. When 
the bottom one becomes exhausted, instead of re¬ 
moving it and making a new one he spawns it again, 
makes a second bed on the top, and spawns that 
also. In due course this gives an abundant crop 
and by the time it becomes exhausted from its own 
spawn, that put into the first bed has had time to 
work through, and the third crop comes into gather¬ 
ing. The practice is new to us, but that it answers, 
and well, we have seen abundant proof. 
-- 
CABBAGE IN LINCOLNSHIRE. 
“ The Cabbage,” says Messrs. Vilmorin & Co., in 
their Vegetable Garden, is ” a plant which is 
indigenous to Europe and Western Asia, is one of 
the vegetables which have been cultivated from the 
earliest times. The ancients were well acquainted 
with it, and certainly possessed several varieties of 
the head forming kinds. The great antiquity of its 
culture may be inferred from the immense numbers 
of varieties which are now in existence, and from 
the very important modifications which have been 
produced in the characteristics of the origina or 
parent plant.” That is a valuable testimony to the 
antiquity and importance of this popular vegetable. 
The modifications it has undergone in its many 
departures from the original type is something 
wonderful, and generations of time must have passed 
during the course of the changes. As Messrs. 
Vilmorin & Co. state, all the cultivated varieties 
present the same characters in their inflorescence, 
all bearing at the top a spike of flowers generally 
yellow, sometimes white; but up to the time of 
flowering they exhibit most marked differences from 
each other and from the original wild plant. In 
most of the Cabbages it is mostly the leaves which 
are developed by cultivation ; these, for the most 
part, become imbricated or overlap one another 
closely so as to form a more or less compact head, 
the heart or interior of which is composed of the 
central undeveloped shoots and the younger leaves 
next to it. The shape of the head is sometimes 
spherical, sometimes flattened, and sometimes 
conical. So much for a general sketch of the 
diversities exhibited by this well-known plant. 
I have recently been in Lincolnshire, and where on 
the generous and well cultivated fen land, hundreds 
of acres are devoted to the growth of garden and 
agricultural seeds, and I had the pleasure of inter¬ 
viewing Mr. Alfred Johnson, the head of the firm of 
Messrs. W. W. Johnson & Sons, the well-known 
seed growers of Boston. Despite his bodily infirmity, 
which deprives him of the power of walking, Mr. 
Johnson is able in his well-known bath chair to pay 
constant visits to his growing crops, which lie largely 
about Boston, and he directs with singular ability a 
large and important industry. London horticulture is 
poorer by the enforced absence of Mr. Johnson’s 
genial personality through his great infirmity. But 
many of the London and provincial seed trades find 
their way to Boston, and there hold pleasant inter¬ 
course with an able and estimable man. 
Mr. Johnson is never slow to impart information 
out of the storehouse of a mass of facts gathered 
up in the course of an active life, and I had the 
pleasure of interviewing him cn the question of 
Cabbage. His favourite Cabbage, and that for 
which there is a great demand in the neighbour¬ 
hood, is that known as Johnson's Selected Early 
Rainham. On one point Mr. Johnson is inflexible— 
that of rigidly selecting pedigree strains of any 
vegetable as the foundation of his stock seed. I 
may here state that the Rainham Cabbage is very 
largely grown in Kent and Essex for the London and 
other markets. This particular stock of Cabbage 
has been selected by Messrs. Johnson & Sons for 
many years, and one of its chief recommendations 
is its earliness—a quick Cabbage of the highest 
quality. Another favourite Lincolnshire Cabbage is 
Myatt’s Early Ofienham, another type which is agreat 
favourite for early work, and for earliness and size 
combined is, perhaps, unrivalled, and it is a popular 
market variety. 
As to soil for the Cabbage, Mr. Johnson prefers a 
deeply cultivated and fairly heavy loam generously 
manured,and deep cultivation is absolutely necessary. 
Then the Cabbages are well cultivated, frequent 
hoeings between the rows, and among the plants, 
?.nd in showery weather dressings of soot are given 
between the rows, also artificial manures, and when 
practicable waterings with liquid manures, are found 
to do much to stimulate growth, and to cause quick 
hearting-in, thus ensuring early maturity. 
