April 15, 1899. 
517 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
“ Gardening is the purest of hunaan pleasures, and the greatest 
refieshment to the spirit of man.”—B acon. 
waging Upotflil. 
Edited by J. FRASER, F.L.S. 
SATURDAY, APRIL 15 th, 1899. 
NEXT WEEK’S ENGAGEMENTS. 
Tuesday, April 18th.—R.H.S. Committees and Show at the 
Drill Hall, Westminister, S.W.; also National Auricula 
and Primnia Society s Show at same place. 
Wednhsday, April 19th.—York Florists’ Exhibition of 
Auriculas, Hyacinths, &c.; Chesterfield Spring Show. 
Thursday, April 20th.—Linnean Society’s Meeting. 
M Model Fruit Farm.— -Amongst the 
* ancient fruit, flower, and vegetable 
farms in the Thames Valley west of 
London it is satisfactory to note that a few 
examples of newer and better methods of 
fruit farming are being set for those of 
the older school to follow. In the March 
number of the Journal of the Royal Agri¬ 
cultural Society * Mr. William E. Bear con¬ 
tinues his articles (this being the third) on 
“Flower and Fruit Farming in England.” 
The present chapter is devoted to fruit 
growing, and in visiting a considerable num¬ 
ber of the fruit farms in Surrey and Middle¬ 
sex, along the Thames Valley, within 
fifteen miles of Charing Cross, he com¬ 
mences with that of Mr. James Walker, 
Ham Common, near Richmond, as one of 
the best visited, and than which no better 
was inspected. He states that most of the 
plantations in this old market garden dis¬ 
trict are of considerable age, and now 
cover the ground far too thickly, while 
many of the varieties grown are so old and 
inferior that they no longer continue to be 
planted. On these old farms nothing is 
done to prevent insect attack, and, indeed, 
nothing could be done in the way of spray¬ 
ing without very powerful machines to reach 
the top of the old trees. The latter are 
left to take their chance, as one grower ex¬ 
pressed it, and old-fashioned market 
growers are met with who know little about 
injurious insects, and never heard of the 
Currant mite, although they know that 
“ something is wrong with their bushes.” 
On the contrary Mr. Walker is up-to- 
date in everything, though still making ex¬ 
periments in order to learn. He has 35 
acres of fruit, about half of which con¬ 
sists of Apples and the rest divided be¬ 
tween Plums and Pears. Gooseberries and 
Currants are grown as bottom crops, but 
chiefly in the rows of trees. Narcissi, 
Paeonies, and other flowers are also largly 
grown amongst the trees, where the latter 
have not covered the ground. The soil is 
sandy, consisting of alluvium laid down 
anciently by the River Thames, but Mr. 
Walker knows how and when to use manure 
liberally, and certainly does not stint his 
crops in this respect. Most of the trees 
were planted about eleven or twelve years 
ago, when the agitation about fruitgrowing 
and the renovation of old orchards in this 
country was being vigorously prosecuted 
by the Royal Plorticultural Society and the 
The Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society 
of England. Vol. X, Part I. London . John 
Murray, Albemarle Street. 3s. 6d. 
British Fruit Growers’ Association, and 
Mr Walker being in close touch with those 
bodies, that fact, together with his own 
energetic spirit and ardent horticultural in¬ 
stincts, would account for the high position 
he now takes amongst leading fruit and 
flower growers, and the model character of 
his fruit farm. He formerly held an old 
orchard at Whiton, which he abandoned 
after his plantations at Ham were getting 
established, and all his stocks of flowers 
removed there. He has brought a great 
deal of common sense and good judgment 
to bear upon the selection of varieties, and 
the treatment of his plantations. A great 
deal of thinning of the trees has already 
been done, as they had become crowded, 
owing to the vigorous growth they had 
made. He thins the branches sufficiently to 
let in the sunshine and air to all parts of the 
trees, but otherwise he is very sparing in 
the use of the knife. It is his belief that 
trees are far more liable to be infested with 
insect vermin when the plantations are 
much sheltered or closed in by trees, and 
when the fruit trees themselves are over¬ 
grown and crowded. This accords fully 
with our own observations, for not only 
have we noted Apple and Plum trees in¬ 
fested with numerous species of aphides 
when the trees were crowded and the ex¬ 
posure bad, but have even seen Peach trees 
on walls, at no great distance from tall, 
sheltering trees, and much shut in thereby, 
much infested with fungi, particularly mil¬ 
dew and the fungus producing Peach 
blister. It requires great courage and de¬ 
termination to uproot trees after they have 
come into full bearing in order to leave more 
space for those that are left, but Mr 
Walker has both, and uses them to his 
profit. 
The more important of culinary Apples 
grown at Ham Common are Lord 
Grosvenor, Grenadier, Duchess of Olden¬ 
burg, New Hawthornden, Stirling Castle, 
Bismarck, Lane’s Prince Albert, and Well¬ 
ington, the late varieties being placed last. 
Bramley’s Seedling is a highly popular 
variety, but as it likes a heavy soil it does 
not give satisfaction on the sandy soil at 
Ham Common. Peasgood’s Nonsuch, 
though one of the finest and most hand¬ 
some of cooking Apples, must be placed in 
the same category. Lord Grosvenor, 
Lane’s Prince Albert, Bismarck, Stirling 
Castle, and Duchess of Oldenburg are 
amongst the heaviest cropping varieties he 
has in this section. The last named sort 
is also classed as a dessert Apple, and be¬ 
sides that, his favourite table varieties are 
Devonshire Quarrenden, Peter the Great, 
Worcester Pearmain, Benoni, King of the 
Pippins, Cox’s Orange Pippin, and Yellow 
Ingestre. The Apple is certainly the king 
of hardy British fruits, so that we are not 
surprised that the largest amount of atten¬ 
tion and space should be devoted to it. 
The favourites amongst Pears are Clapp’s 
Favourite, William’s Bon Chretien,Fertdity, 
Louise Bonne of Jersey, Marie Louise d’ 
Uccle, and Emile d’ Heyst. It will thus 
be seen that early varieties have the prefer¬ 
ence, the reason being that Mr. Walker does 
not store them but markets the fruits as they 
are gathered. One of the best croppers is 
aptly named Fertility, a Pear largely grown 
in America. The early Pear of old market 
gardens is Hessel; but Fertility, which 
follows it in the order of ripening,is a super¬ 
ior Pear and commands a better price. 
Another reason, advanced by Mr. Poupart 
of Twickenham, why late Pears are not 
favoured by market growers, is that the 
British public prefer the large and showy 
but comparatively flavourless Pears from 
California,which later on reach our shores in 
considerable quantities. The Plums most 
largely grown at Ham Common are Rivers’ 
Early Prolific, Czar, Victoria, Pond’s Seed¬ 
ling and Monarch. The first named, how¬ 
ever, and Prince of Wales do not fruit so 
well at Ham Common as some of the 
others. 
To would-be planters and beginners the 
first lesson to be learnt is what sorts are 
likely to succeed best in his own locality. 
The best croppers in certain soils and 
districts may be the worst in others, which 
makes all the difference in fruit culture. 
Mr. Walker had an enormous crop of 
Apples last year, but Plums were more 
scanty, and Pears poor. A visitor to his 
fruit farm is impressed with the quantity of 
manure he heaps over the soil. He waits 
until the fruit is set, thus showing which 
trees are the more worthy of attention, and 
then piles on the manure with most excellent 
results. No spraying of trees is effected, 
but precautions are taken against the 
WinterMoth and its allies,by putting grease 
bands upon the tree trunks about the 
middle of October, renewing the grease 
about every ten days, thereby catching 
many wingless as well as winged moths. 
Apple trees only are treated, for they are 
more liable to have the fruit injured, par¬ 
ticularly the Codlin family, than are Pears 
and Plums, which have longer fruit stalks 
than Apples. 
Nearly all of his Apples are on the English 
Paradise stock, and grown in bush form ; 
but he favours the idea of planting Apples 
on the Paradise alternately with trees on the 
Crab, so that the latter, being longer-lived, 
may be felt to cover the ground after 
attaining the requisite size. Plums, may 
be planted alternately with Apples or 
Pears, reasoning from the fact that the 
trees absorb different constituents of the 
soil and are thus less liable to rob one 
another. There is one fine plantation of 
Pears and Plums, and by the time the latter 
begin to decay they can be rooted up and 
the Pears left to occupy the ground. The 
rows are 21 ft. apart and the trees 10 ft. in 
the rows, but by the removal of the 
Plums the distances for the Pears will ulti¬ 
mately be 21 ft. by 20 ft. A plantation of 
four hundred trees of Cox’s Orange Pippin, 
three years old when planted about six 
years ago, now requires curbing. The trees 
were planted 13 ft. by 10 ft. apart, and 
every alternate tree is now being trimmed 
to reduce its size, but willeventually be dug 
up altogether, when those that are left can 
profitably occupy the soil. Four hundred 
trees of Duchess of Oldenburg planted 
precisely at the same distances apart are al¬ 
ready crowded,and should have been planted 
in rows 13 ft.by 13 ft. apart at the beginning. 
Mr. Walker prefers Apples on the Paradise 
and Pears on the Quince, but admits that 
they require liberal treatment to give the 
desired results ; and he would advise fruit 
farmers to plant Apple trees on the Crab, 
24 ft. apart each way, with Plum trees 
between them alternately, and bush fruits 
as a bottom crop. He is still experimenting 
with more than a hundred varieties of 
Apples in one plot in order to test their 
suitability for the sandy soil at Ham 
Common. Four hundred Plums of the 
Czar variety planted 16 ft. by 10 ft. apart, 
about ten years ago are now as thick as 
they ought to be. On mature consideration 
he thinks that standard Apples on the 
Crab, and standard Pears on the Pear 
stocks should be planted 24 ft. to 30 ft. apart 
with dwarf Apples,Pears or Plums between, 
so that no grubbing up will be necessary 
for 20 years, after which the standards 
will cover the ground. 
—- 
Vegetarians do not yet number 1 per cent of the 
population of Britain. 
