November 27, 1897. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
197 
Laburnums are flowering at St-Leonard’s-on-Sea. 
Dover is favoured.—Primroses and Strawberries 
have been gathered duriDg the last week at Dover. 
Mr. Alexander Thompson, late gardener at Arcog, 
Bute, has been appointed gardener to Miss Mait¬ 
land, of Sanchie, Stirling, N.B. 
Mr. Charles Screaton, who for some years has had 
charge of the gardens at Ratcliffe Hall, Leicester, 
has left, owing to Captain O'Neal, the owner, having 
broken up his establishment at that place. Mr. 
Screaton goes as gardener to Edward Elsley, Esq., 
Hopwell Hall, Derby. 
Mr. John McIntyre’s Group at Edinburgh.—In con¬ 
nection with our illustration in last week’s issue of 
the fine group put up by Mr. John McIntyre, The 
Gardens, V/oodside, Darlington, at Edinburgh in 
September last, we unfortunately ommitted to state 
that the fine photograph, from which it was pre¬ 
pared, was the work of Messrs. J. Horsburgh & Son, 
Edinburgh, the same artists who executed the 
photographs of " Mr. J. Hunter,” •* Lambton Castle 
Gardens,” and the ” Octagon Group of the 
Ichthemic Guano Co. ” in our issue for October 2nd, 
also the photograph of Mr. A. Outram, London, in 
this week's ” Supplement.” 
Ulster Horticultural Society.—In our report of this 
society's show, which appeared in the supplement to 
our issue of last week, owing to inadvertence on the 
part of our reporter, mention was not made of the 
grand exhibit of Chrysanthemums made by Mr. W. 
Wells, of the Earlswooa Nurseries, Redhill, Surrey. 
This iucluded four dozen blooms of novelities of 
both the Japanese, and incurved sections; also a 
hundred varieties of singles, in the improvement of 
which Mr. Wells has taken such a prominent part' 
It is scarcely necessary to add that the singles evoked 
the warmest appreciation of all the visitors to the 
show. 
Shirley Gardeners.—The monthly meeting was 
held at the Parish Room, Shirley, Southampton, on 
the 15th inst. There was a strong meeting of the 
members, and Mr. B. Ladhams, F.R.H.S., occupied 
the chair. Mr. Shrivell, F.L.S., Tonbridge, gave a 
very interesting lecture on " Chemical Manures for 
the Garden.” He said his remarks were derived 
from a series of experiments extending over four 
years, carried out at Tonbridge by himself and Dr. 
Bernard Dyer. There was an enormous amount of 
detail given as to ’the quantities of the various 
manures placed on the ground, the cost of the same, 
and the values of the different crops resulting there¬ 
from. The conclusions arrived at seem to point out 
that the most economical use of manures is a com¬ 
bination of stable or farmyard manure, with chemi¬ 
cals in proportion and kinds suitable for the intended 
crops. The lecturer permitted questions to be put 
to him at any time during his lecture, and the result 
was a large number had to be answered during the 
evening. At the close of the discussion a hearty 
vote of thanks was accorded to Mr. Shrivell for his 
excellent address. There was a very large and 
attractive display of Chrysanthemums by the 
members consisting of both plants and cut blooms. 
-- - 
MARKET GARDENING IN THE 
QUEEN’S REIGN. 
(Concluded from p. 186.J 
Plums —Victoria, appropriately enough is the 
favouriate variety, although River’s Early, Orleans, 
Czar, Monarch, Gisborne's Prolific, and Coe's 
Golden Drop are also largely grown. Plums are 
largely imported, but the French fruit comes over 
before our own is ready, and the Dutch fruit is of 
bad quality, and does not stand a chance with the 
British. California, however, has entered as a 
competitor, and samples were placed on the table of 
Californian fruit. Coe’s Golden Drop as grown 
across the water has no reason to blush by comparison 
with British fruit of the same variety, for size, 
appearance, and flavour are all equal to the best we 
can produce. Samples of a cooking variety, Coe's 
Late Red, were also shown from the same source, 
and as an example of careful grading and packing 
were worthy of the highest commendation. The 
value of the Plums that passed through the market 
in 1896 was £241,782. 
Cherries are largely grown in Kent. May Duke, 
Bigarreau, and Morello are the favourites, and com¬ 
mand a ready sale. No less a quantity than 219,367 
bushels, representing a value of £105,246 passed 
through the market. 
Soft Fruits. —Under this heading are included 
Strawberries, Gooseberries, Raspberries, and Red, 
White,and Black Currants. Strawberries head the list 
in quantity and acreage,the Cornish andSouthampton 
fields supplying a huge quantity. Sir Joseph Paxton 
is the variety most largely grown. Sir Charles 
Napier is too soft to travel well. President is a good 
old mid-season variety that finds favour. Royal 
Sovereign is undoubtedly the best of the new varie¬ 
ties. There is a good demand for Gooseberries, both 
green and ripe, and Currants might be more largely 
grown than they are. Raspberries area very difficult 
crop to market, and most of them find their way into 
the jam factories. 
The total amount of fruit consumed in 1896 was 
18,641,871 bushels, a value of £5,540,069, and an 
increase in value of £2,000,000 since 1871. The 
English fruit crop is very uncertain, and the returns 
can only be reckoned by averages, since they fluctuate 
from year to year. 
Forced Fruit. 
In the last twenty-five years immense strides have 
been made in the forcing of fruits, for in 1837 the 
amount of material thus obtained was scarcely worth 
considering. Tomatos were unknown to the poorer 
people, and many others regarded them as poison. 
The cheapening of materials for building purposes, 
and the improved methods of heating have enabled 
the grower to face the altered state of affairs, and to 
supply the demand at fairly remunerative prices. 
Profits, however, are not large, for an eminent 
fruit grower had said that he had had to invest more 
capital, employ more labour, and work harder him¬ 
self for a less percentage of profit. 
A circle with a radius of fifteen miles from Covent 
Garden would be found to embrace the greater part 
of the glass. The Lee valley probably contains 
more than any other locality. Finchley and the 
Thames valley are also busy near centres, whilst 
Bexley, Worthing, Chelmsford, East Grinstead, and 
Swanley represent remoter districts. Worthing is 
a remarkable instance of the development of culture 
under glass. The movement was first started about 
twenty-six years ago, and now the houses show a 
rateable value of about £8,500 per year. The united 
efforts of the local growers have compelled the rail¬ 
way company to give more favourable rates of 
transport. This is an example that should be 
followed in other parts of the country. In the 
whole of the United Kingdom there are about 
32,000,000 square feet of glass, covering an area of 
735 acres. This means that there is sufficient glass 
to form a continuous chain of glasshouses 15 feet 
wide, 400 miles long. 
(To be continued.) 
-«*—-- 
DHRYSHNTHEmum NOTES. 
SYON HOUSE. 
Although Mr. Wythes has made a name for him¬ 
self, chiefly as a successful cultivator and exhibitor 
of fruit and vegetables, he has devoted a good deal 
of attention to the Chrysanthemum. The demands of 
a large establishment for cut flowers have to be met, 
and in addition to these the numerous extraneous 
calls that are made on the resources of the garden 
render it necessary that flowers for cutting should 
always be ready, however short the notice. Thus 
Chrysanthemums are grown to the tune of some 
1,300 plants, of which no fewer than 1,000 are treated 
to produce big flowers. 
The plants are accommodated duriDg their flower¬ 
ing season in a long range of roomy fruit-houses, 
where they enjoy plenty of light and air. True, the 
smoke and blacks of London do their utmost to spoil 
the beauty of the flowers ; but despite the drawback, 
Mr. Wythes produces each year a very creditable 
and comprehensive display. This year the blooms 
are fully up to the usual standard, although they 
came in rather earlier than they did last year. The 
very fine October was, of course, responsible for this. 
One of the chief features of the array was a grand 
batch of Avalanche. The flowers were larger and 
finer than any we have seen this season, and 
although they cannot compare for size with the 
newer whites, say, for instance, Madame Carnot, 
they are yet sufficiently distinct and beautiful. The 
last-named variety was in fine condition. That 
universally favourite variety Chas Davis was-excep¬ 
tionally well coloured on the terminal buds. Etoile 
de Lyon, also on the terminal bud, was very rich, 
and did not exhibit that coarseness of build to which 
it is prone, and yet the blooms in this case were very 
large and fine. Madame Marie Hoste, Miss Elsie 
TeichmaDn, Sunflower, Phoebus, Col. W. B. Smith, 
Silver King, Australie, John Lightfoot, J. ShrimptOD, 
Eda Prass, and Souvenir d'une Petite Amie, were 
all represented by some first-rate samples. 
Hairy varieties are well looked after. The large 
blooms and stiff wiry stems of Hairy Wonder are 
familiar in most collections. Not the least merit of 
the variety is its unfailing good temper. Here, at 
Syon, this was once more demonstrated. Esau 
closely resembles Hairy Wonder in build and con¬ 
stitution, but the colour is a rich lilac shading to 
yellow towards the circumference. Louis Boehmer 
is also well done. 
Incurved varieties were strong, and as the best of 
the blooms were massed together in one house they 
appeared to advantage. Jeanne d'Arc, Baron 
Hirsch, Queen of England, Golden Empress of 
India and the nearly related Lord Alcester, Brook- 
leigh Gem, and D. B. Crane, are all well-known 
standard varieties without which collections would 
wear an unfamiliar appearance. Under Mr. 
Wythes’ fostering care they have done remarkably 
well. Perhaps the most notable variety of all was 
Lord Brooke, for seldom indeed have we seen such 
well built and magnificently coloured blooms as Mr. 
Wythes had. 
In other houses some of the later bush plants 
were much in evidence Souvenir dune Petite Amie 
does first-rate when grown thus, and the same may 
be said of such old favourites as Val d'Andorre, 
Cullingfordi, and the pretty pink Madame M. Fabre. 
Among the single-flowered varieties the most con¬ 
spicuous was Miss Rose. A number of splendidly 
grown bush specimens attracted our attention. They 
were excellent specimens of the specimen trainer's 
art, being both symmetrical and full of flower. 
THE HIGHGATE NURSERIES. 
Messrs. W. Cutbush & Son grow from 700 to 900 
Chrysanthemums at their Highgate Nurseries. The 
majority of this lot of plants is destined to produce 
large flowers, and among them we observed some 
very good samples. Samian Gem is a new variety 
that is to be sent out by the Messrs. Cutbush next 
year. It is a large handsome flower, very much 
after the style of the popular M. Chenon de Leche, 
but rather deeper in colour. Mrs. Chas Blick, 
Madame Carnot, Niveus, and Western King are 
some of the best white Japanese varieties, whilst the 
credit of the yellows is more than sustained by Sun¬ 
flower, Sunstone, Oceana, Phoebus, and Edith 
Tabor. Mrs. W. H. Lees, Miss Rita Schroeder, 
Gloire du Rocher, and C. E. Geffiok were also very 
conspicuous by reason of the large handsome blooms 
they bore. W. H. Morter is a new variety of great 
promise. It may be described as being a faDcy 
Japanese, for on the ground colour of yellow are 
numerous stripes of crimson majenta. The flower 
is thus very gay and distinct, and when well grown 
must prove an acquisition. The habit is exceedingly 
dwarf, and the tough and leathery foliage bespeaks a 
constitution of no mean strength. 
The value of Souvenir dune Petite Amie for supply¬ 
ing flowers for cutting when grown naturally, or as a 
bush plant, has been fully proved during the last two 
years, and here at Highgate we had still further 
testimony, if such were required. A batch of such 
plants, each carrying from a dozen to twenty re¬ 
latively large flowers, was one of the special features. 
In the same house we noted another fine lot of that 
useful late white Japanese Jessica. The plants, 
although only in 7-in. pots, were large and bushy, 
and bore promise of an abundant crop of flowers to 
come within the next month or six weeks. A few of 
the earliest bad commenced to open at the period of 
our visit. There is no doubt that this variety is well 
worth growing in quantity for late work, or to come 
in just before L. Canning. 
Incurved varieties were not so much in evidence 
as the Japanese, but there were some creditable 
samples of Golden Empress of India, Baron Hirsch, 
and Miss Dorothy Foster. 
HALE FARM NURSERIES 
By dint of unremitting care and the exercise of no 
small amount of skill, Mr. Jones, the Chrysanthe- 
