68 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
September 24, 1898* 
considerable distance and partially encloses a por¬ 
tion of the flower garden. On the back wall of this 
corridor numbers of Camellias are trained. At the 
present time these plants are clean, healthy, and 
well set with buds. 
There are about six acres of kitchen garden, 
nearly three of which were only broken up in 
January last. This piece of land is now carrying, 
amongst other things, heavy crops of Savoys, 
Brussels Sprouts, and other Brassicae, which are 
evidently at home upon the maiden soil. The latter, 
Mr. Allen informs us, is of rather a hungry nature, 
but the 3-ft. deep trenching and liberal manuring 
that it received at the commencement has stood the 
crops in good stead during the drought of August 
and September. 
Hardy fruit is done splendidly. This year excel¬ 
lent crops of Peaches, Nectarines, Apples, Pears, and 
Plums have been obtained, and the cordon Pear 
wall is one of the best examples of this excellent 
method of training that it has yet been our lot to 
see. 
The glasshouses are numerous and well appointed. 
Grapes are grown pretty extensively and include 
such varieties as the inevitable black Hamburgh, 
Alicante, Lady Downe's Seedling, and Muscat of 
Alexandria. Peaches too have borne heavy crops, 
the prime favourite being Grosse Mignonne. At the 
present time a fine house of Cucumbers for winter 
fruiting is in especially good condition. Melons 
likewise are grown with great success. Some 2,000 
Strawberries are grown for forcing, Steven's Wonder 
being apparently the favourite. 
The plant houses contain a miscellaneous col¬ 
lection of stove and greenhouse plants, one house 
being a perfect picture at the time of our visit with 
Fuchsias which had been trained up cordon fashion 
to the roof and allowed to hang in huge festoons of 
bloom almost upon the heads of visitors. Those 
who have seen the Fuchsia house at the Chelsea 
Nurseries of Messrs. Jas. Veitch & Sons, Ltd., well 
know how effective Fuchsias are when grown in this 
way. 
About 4,000 Chrysanthemums are grown, many of 
which are for big blooms. All of them are looking 
well just now. 
Ferns arg great favourites here, judging from the 
quantity grown. The special feature, however, and 
one that is well worthy of being extensively copied,is 
an Adiantum wall. By fixing a stout wire trellis a 
few inches away from the wall and packing the in¬ 
terstice with suitable compost, plenty of root room 
has been afforded the plants, which, at the time of 
writing, are in full beauty. A small-bore pipe, per¬ 
forated with holes, is fixed along the top of the wall 
and the water laid on, so that all that is necessary 
when water is required is to turn the tap and the 
pipe does the rest. It is now seven years ago since 
this Fern wall was first made, Mr. Allen informed us, 
and during that time scarcely a dozen plants have 
been lost, so that the maximum of result is thus ob¬ 
tained by this system with the minimum of labour. 
The plant and fruit houses present the same neat 
and trim appearance which we have noticed as being 
characteristic of the out-of-door gardens, and the 
whole establishment reflects great credit upon Mr. 
Allen's management. 
-* 8 =-— 
THE CHERRY HOUSE AT GUNNERS- 
BURY PARK. 
This has been a very successful effort this year. 
Walking through it recently with Mr. G. Reynolds I 
could not help noticing the vigour and healthy con¬ 
dition of the trees, and the excellent crop of fruit the 
majority of the trees were then bearing. One or two 
of the early sorts were all gathered ; several were 
just at their best; whilst two or three later ones, 
though colouring, needed some short time longer, ere 
the flavour would warrant their being picked. 
The order of ripening had been 1st, Early Purple 
Guigne; 2nd, Early Rivers; 3rd, Frogmore 
Bigarreau ; 4th,Black Tartarian ; 5th,Nod de Gubens 
6th, St- Margaret; 7th, Florence; 8th, Bigarreau 
Napoleon; gth, Emperor Francis; and iotb, Rival. 
This is as good a selection as could possibly be made. 
Grown and fruited as these were, it is surely sufficient 
evidence, if it were needed, that a well managed 
Cherry house is a most desirable addition to the 
fruit houses on a well-equipped private establishment. 
~W. Swan. 
THE EYNSFORD NURSERIES AND 
SEED FARM. 
Probably only a small percentage of gardeners fully 
appreciate the enormous amount of work repre¬ 
sented by a single packet of seeds of high quality. 
The seed stocks of our modern races of flowers and 
vegetables, which many a cultivator looks for as a 
matter of course, are only kept pure and true to 
name by unceasing vigilance and untiring labour. 
The modern seed grower must needs be almost Argus 
eyed, for he has to watch so many issues, and gather 
into his hands so many threads connecting him with 
his varied duties that his task can never be said to 
be completed. The work carried on at a large seed 
farm, such as that of Messrs. H. Cannell & Sons, 
at Eynsford, cannot fail, therefore, to be highly in¬ 
teresting, not only from its very intricateness and 
mastery of detail, but also by reason of its 
vital importance to horticulture in general. The 
vast, almost unmeasureable potentialities of the 
myriads of seeds of all sizes that are distri¬ 
buted to the world from such a centre as this may 
well give us pause when we come to consider them. 
For good or ill the seed farm governs the fortunes of 
the world. 
At Eynsford the Messrs. Cannell have pitched 
upon a lovely spot in one of the sunniest parts of 
the south of our loved isle, and nearly 200 acres of 
fertile Kent soil are devoted by them to the raising 
and perfecting of some of the finest stocks of seeds 
that skill and experience can produce. The high 
quality of these stocks is too well known to need 
further description. 
From a spectacular point of view the nurseries 
present during the months of July and August a 
sight that compels the admiration of the visitor, for 
hill and dale are crowned and covered with an 
assemblage of brilliant colours of varied and in- 
descriable hues that give one an idea of flower gar¬ 
dening on a large scale, for instead of beds a few 
feet in diameter are substituted huge breadths of 
many yards in both length and width pricked out in 
their respective shades. 
The crest of the hill gives the visitor a stiff climb, 
but it is scarcely noticed in the midst of the beauties 
around us, but of the numerous occupants of this 
colossal flower garden we can only note a few. 
China Asters have for long been a specialty with 
the Messrs. Cannell, and a visit is well repaid by a 
sight of the masses of the various sections when the 
plants are iff bloom. From the dwarf, miniature 
forms only a few inches in height to the tall Chry¬ 
santhemum and Paeony flowered varieties there is 
every gradation in height, and a wealth of colour 
shades from which to pick and choose. 
Of Sweet Peas the Messrs. Cannell have great 
store, and judging by the quantity of each variety 
grown the high quality of the seed supplied is well 
known and appreciated. Of those varieties which 
specially appealed to us by the surpassing freedom 
with which they were blooming, as well as the fine¬ 
ness of their individual flowers, Her Majesty, bright 
rose; Salopian, crimson; Lady Penzance, rose, 
striped with white ; Countess, light blue ; and Mrs. 
Sankey, pure white, were some of the best. We 
also noticed a capital batch of the dwarf white 
Cupid. On this well cultivated soil, however, the 
rich development of colour was remarkable, and this 
was characteristic not only of the Sweet Peas, but 
also of all the other innumerable flowers which the 
Messrs. Cannell grow so well. 
Roses are largely taken up by the Swanley firm, 
no fewer than 15,000 briers being budded annually. 
Papaver cardinale, in a number of varieties, 
is one of the showiest subjects here, the plants 
blooming with wonderful freedom, and both when 
viewed closely and at a distance producing in the 
mass a veritable blaze of colour. 
Clarkias, Centaureas, Eschscholtzias, Linums, 
Mathiolas, Tropaeolums and a host of other subjects 
too numerous to mention are all to be seen in huge 
breaks of their respective colours,and yet an abundant 
harvest of seed, as the wealth of bloom foreshadows 
it, will all be wanted to keep pace with the numerous 
orders for “ Kent" seeds that the summer and 
autumn months brings. This is equally true of 
vegetable seeds which are grown in large quantities. 
Mustard and Cress, Brassicas of all sorts, Onions, 
Carrots, Beet, &c., are all seeded at Swanley, and 
Mr. Robert Cannell, who has charge of the Eynsford 
establishment, must needs have a sharp eye to watch 
all the thousand and one issues that require 
watching. 
Perhaps, in the cultivation of no single vegetable 
have the Messrs. Cannell reaped a greater share of 
success than with the culinary Pea. Not only have 
they sent out from their nurseries a number of first- 
class varieties, but they are continually on the look¬ 
out for improvements. A glance through the Pea 
quarter, when the plants are in full bearing, is at 
once a most interesting and instructive experience. 
We were particularly impressed with the stock of 
English Wonder, which was here a real " wonder ” 
of fertility. Mr. H. Cannell, senior, thinks a lot of 
this Pea, not only for its cropping qualities but also 
for the way in which the pods fill. To use his own 
terse expression, " the pods are filled with peas, not 
wind.” The quality of the peas when cooked is also 
first-rate. Other varieties, for which there is a big 
demand, are Ne Plus Ultra, Gradus, Duke of Albany, 
Telegraph and Fill-basket. In every case we found 
the strains were of the highest quality, and calcu¬ 
lated to fully maintain the credit of these well-known 
standard varieties. 
From all that we could see during a brief and 
rather hurried visit the seeds sent out by Messrs. 
Cannell & Sons are not likely to be less in request 
than they have been in the past, for the interests of 
the gardener are closely studied at Eynsford, and 
the seeds supplied are of one quality only—the 
best. 
-.»■ 
SOCIETIES. 
ORMSKIRK HORTICULTURAL. —September 14 th 
and 15 th. 
This show was held under favourable auspices at 
the Victoria Athletic Ground. 
Mr. B. Ashton, gardener to Lord Lathom, of 
Lathom House, took the lead throughout the plant 
section, winning for a group of plants, four stove 
and greenhouse plants, two Palms, four table plants, 
two hardy Ferns, and two pots of Liliums. Mr. E. 
Ormesher, Westhead, had the best two Fuchsias; 
Mr. H. Banks, Lathom, (he best two zonal Pelar¬ 
goniums; and Mr. J. Benson, Aughton, the leading 
Begonias. Mr. A. J. Stanley, Thornton Nursery, 
staged the finest bouquet. 
Fruit although limited in quantity was good in 
quality, Mr. A. Francis, gardener to Miss Carver, 
Southport, took the lead for black Grapes with 
Alicantes. Mr. Ashton for whites with Muscat of 
Alexandria. 
The Rev. Canon Blundell, Halsall, staged the best 
Peaches ; and Mr. Thomas Ball, Lydiate, the best 
Plums with Pond’s Seedling. Mr. Melon scored with 
his MeloD, and Mr. E. H. Wood, Ludlow, with his 
Shropshire Damsons. 
Cut flowers, like many other exhibits, were un¬ 
named, which mistake should be rectified on future 
occasions. For twenty-four Roses Mrs. Parr. 
Lathom, took the lead. For twelve varieties of 
hardy herbaceous and bulbous cut flowers Mr. Alfred 
Dower, Maghull, and Mr. B. Ashton were placed 
first and second, three lots being disqualified through 
staging Roses, Dahlias, Clematis, &c. The winning 
lot had a bunch of Gladiolus containing about ten 
varieties; it would be advisable both for thecommitee 
and exhibitors to carefully note the wording of the 
particulars of this class. 
Mr. E. Ormesher won with six Roses and six 
double Dahlias. Mr. Thomas Ball was first for six 
Pompon Dahlias and six spikes of Gladiolus ; Mr. J. 
Benson, Aughton, for six Cactus Dahlias ; and Mrs. 
Parr, Lathom, for six bunches of single Dahlias. 
Mr. T. Alty won for six Asters, six Stocks, and 
twelve Pansies. Mr. Alfred Dower led the way with 
Hollyhocks. Mr. H. Banks, Lathom, with twelve 
Zinnias, twelve Marigolds (French); and Mr. 
Thomas Morris, Bickerstaffe, with African varieties. 
Vegetables were excellent throughout. Messrs. 
Laxcock & Hall, Maghull, was to the fore with 
Cauliflowers ; Mr. J. Nightingale, Much Hoole, with 
two Vegetable Marrows and twelve pods of Peas; 
and Mr. J. Taylor, Westhead, for two sticks of red 
Celery and two sticks of white. Mr. T. Alty won 
for two Cos Lettuce, six Onions, root of Parsley, 
and six Carrots. Mr. B. Ashton took the lead for 
two Cabbage Lettuce, twenty-four pods of Scarlet 
Runners, twenty-four pods of French Beans, six 
Turnips, and six Leeks. Miss Carver, Southport, 
