July 16, 1898. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
729 
barm in themselves, but are simply a sign of dis¬ 
tress, so to speak, on the part of the plant producing 
them. Their presence shows that the plant has not 
all its wants supplied by the normal roots in the 
ground, so it desperately tries to make up for the 
deficiency by throwing out others in other places. 
If these roots are present in large numbers it is a 
sure sign that the border wants looking to, perhaps 
renewing, otherwise shanking or other ailments may 
set in. 
— —» 
POLLARD WILLOWS. 
Very characteristic of the Thames Valley, and the 
fens and stream sides in Cambridgeshire and other 
English counties are the Pollard Willows, of which 
the accompanying excellent illustration was taken 
by Mr. W. J Potter, one of the masters at the Roan 
School, in Greenwich. 
Fringing the banks of the water courses, usually 
in the richest of pasture lands, these round-headed 
and curiously grotesque Willow trees are very 
picturesque; indeed, they may well be described as 
the most characteristic objects that are to be found 
in such districts. 
When old they assume quaint forms, some¬ 
times perfectly rounded as if they had been pruned 
into shape with the garden shears ; while at others 
they divide out into a number of distinct heads, and 
which, with the gnarled leaning trunks and warty 
mop-heads, have a curious and weird appearance, 
especially when destitute of foliage. 
To the naturalist these masses of protuberances 
caused by yearly lopping of the heads are of unusual 
interest, insects, birds and vegetable life finding a 
cosy home in the half decayed centres of the oldest 
trees. Not at all uncommon is it for the Willow to 
send out roots at the crown of the stem, which 
penetrate downwards through the accumulated soil 
of the hollow trunk. 
Usually these Pollards begin life as a simple stake 
pushed into the ground, for the Willow is far from 
being fastidious in the matter of growth, which 
readily takes root and grows away freely, soon form¬ 
ing a medium sized trunk and usually a massy 
rounded head of foliage. The crown of shoots is cut 
over annually, the demand for Willow posts and 
boughs being considerable, the larger being used for 
fencing purposes, while the young and limber find a 
ready market for the basket and crate-making 
industry. 
On the Continent, particularly in Belgium and 
Holland, these pollarded Willows stretch for miles 
throughout the marshy grounds, a scene that forcibly 
reminds one of what we may see at home either on 
the Mendip Hills, or in our own Thames Valley.— 
A. D. Webster. 
-- 
DEVONHURST, CHISWICK. 
Gardening in the suburbs of London becomes more 
and more difficult every year, and this fact is, of 
course, most in evidence during the winter months, 
when the moisture in the atmosphere, rain and fog 
bring down the filth upon vegetation, or prevent it 
from ascending and being carried away, as the case 
may be, Nature, under the skilled attention of gar¬ 
deners, makes an attempt during the few summer 
months to repair the injury caused in winter, but 
even then plants in the open air, as well as under 
glass, have a difficulty in holding their own. This 
was hinted at the other week by the president of the 
Royal Horticultural Society. We had further 
evidence of this in the gardens of Devonhurst, Chis¬ 
wick, formerly a portion of the R.H.S. Gardens, but 
now the property of E. H. Watts, Esq. 
Notwithstanding the disadvantages, however, to 
Pollard Willows. 
plant life, Mr. James Gibson, the gardener, manages 
to raise fruit and vegetables in quantity from the 
limited area, and of quality which makes its pre¬ 
sence felt at various shows in different parts of the 
country. This he manages to do by unremitting 
toil and attention during the growing season, and by 
giving the soil that cultural treatment most con¬ 
ducive to its welfare, which can only be accom¬ 
plished by thoroughly understanding its capabilities, 
and acting upon that knowledge. 
Fruit under glass is much more extensively culti¬ 
vated now than formerly at Devonhurst. The 
Peaches and Nectarines in pots have given great 
satisfaction this year. They are grown in 12-in. 
pots, and the earliest trees carried on an average 
twenty fruits, while some of them bore two dozen or 
more. Lord Napier, Early Rivers, and Humboldt 
are the early ones grown in the old Peach house. 
They are now mostly gathered. Some of the trees 
were taken into the dwelling house, and left there for 
the fruits to be gathered by the owner and his 
family, who were delighted by the innovation. 
Later batches of Nectarines in pots are Elruge, 
Pine Apple, Pitmaston Orange, and Lord Napier. 
The early Peaches include Early Alfred and Condor, 
the trees of the former being taken into the dwelling 
house when the crop was ripe. Late Peaches here 
are Exquisite, Sea Eagle and Princess of Wales. 
The large trees trained against the glass are Grosse 
Mignonne, Lord Napier and Violette Hative. The 
fruits of the latter are mostly picked, and are 
beautifully coloured. All three varieties matured 
enormous crop?, the fruits of Grosse Mignonne be¬ 
ing of remarkable size. 
The Vines in the early vinery are now three years 
old and bearing magnificent crops of Grapes, 
Foster’s Seedling, Black Hamburgh and Madresfield 
Court being the varieties grown. The Grapes are 
fine in bunch and berry. A Grosse Mignonne Peach 
on the back wall of this house is rather shaded and 
bears only a few large fruits. Curiously enough a 
number of branches, allowed to pass through an 
opening in the glass partition, into the late vinery, 
carry a heavy crop of fine fruits equally as mature 
as those in the early house. In the late vinery the 
Vines are two years old and carry a fine crop of 
fruit. The varieties grown are Alicante, Muscat of 
Alexandria, Gros Colman and Madresfield Court. 
The berries of the latter never give any trouble by 
splitting as is often the case with this variety. Mr. 
Gibson attributes his success to his custom of water¬ 
ing freely all through the growing, colouring and 
ripening periods of the fruit, and by leaving a little 
ventilation on all night after the berries commence 
to colour. The results justify the practice. Neither 
trees nor Vines are allowed to become really dry at 
the roots during aDy part of the year. 
Melons and Cucumbers are treated in the same 
way. The latter have been bearing since March. 
The Melons are of handsome size, and now being cut. 
The varieties grown are Hero of Lockinge, Sutton’s 
Windsor Castle, Triumph and Ai. 
Passing through the Orchid house we noted fine 
spikes of Laelia purpurata, and a profusion of 
flow-ers on Lycaste aromatica. Cattleya Mendelii 
and Dendrobium Pierardi were passing out of 
bloom. 
A curious combination of plant life occupies one 
bouse, yet all are giving great satisfaction. The 
wide staging at the back is filled with Apple and 
Pear trees in pots. Beauty of Bath Apple is just 
about ripe. Pears bearing heavy crops are Beurre 
Alexander, Clapp’s Favourite, Louise Bonne of 
Jersey and Marie Louise. On the front staging is as 
fine a crop of Tomatos in 12-in. pots as one could 
wish. Sutton’s Eclipse, D. Wilkie and a local 
