122 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
October 24, 1896. 
Mr. J. B. Slade. 
Those who are in the habit of visiting the sale 
rooms at Cheapside will readily recognise Mr. James 
Benjamin Slade from the accompanying portrait 
(p. I2i). He joined the firm in 1873, and became a 
partner in 1 889. Mr. Slade has hitherto identified him¬ 
self most with the House and Estate Agency depart¬ 
ment, and in conjunction with Mr. G. F. Morris has 
greatly extended this branch of the establishment. 
Frequent sales of property are held at the Mart, 
particularly land in plots. Sales are also held 
weekly, in various widely separated parts of the 
country ; and very frequently several of these sales 
take place weekly. 
Mr. Slade was born on December 12th, 1861, at 
Regent's Park, and educated at the Gospel Oak 
Schools, and later on at Leytonstone, where he is 
now, and has been for many years past a well-known 
figure. As long ago as 1871 he settled down in the 
district of Harrow Green, where he still resides, so 
that he has been a Leytonian for the past twenty- 
four years. At school he developed or displayed a 
great aptitude for figures, so that when Mr. G. F. 
Morris applied to Mr Putman, the schoolmaster at 
Leytonstone for a sharp boy for his office, Mr. 
Slade was recommended. The latter rose to the 
position of managing clerk in less than ten years, 
thus justifying the good opinion of his school¬ 
master. He is now a Fellow of the Royal Horti¬ 
cultural Society, and a Fellow of the Surveyors' 
Institute. He has been, and is, a particularly active 
and useful resident in this part of Essex, and figures 
largely in several local institutions. He became a 
candidate for the Wanstead Slip Ward on the new 
District Council, in November, 1894, and succeeded 
in taking the fourth place at the poll, though placed 
fifth at the recount. The contest was a severe one. 
In May, 1894, he was elected a member of the 
Wanstead School Board, being fifth on the list of 
nine successful candidates. His fellow members 
appointed him chairman of the Finance Committee; 
and he also occupies a similar position on the Leyton 
Urban District Council. He was also made one of 
the Poor Law Overseers for Cann Hall, during the 
same month. Outside of his connection with horti¬ 
cultural sales, Mr. Councillor J. B. Slade is well 
known. During the period of the bulb sales, he is 
much in evidence in the rostrum at Cheapside. 
Mr. T. A. Morris. 
This member of the firm under notice was born in 
1858, and educated at Northampton House, Denmark 
Hill, and the City of London School. Mr. T. A. 
Morris (see accompanying portrait) is the eldest son 
of Mr. T. A. Morris, formerly of Mile End, and a 
nephew of the two senior partners of the firm. His 
grandfather, Mr. H. Groom, of Clapham, was a 
celebrated Tulip grower and nurseryman. The 
subject of this note entered the office of Messrs. 
Protheroe & Morris in 1874, but subsequently 
entered the head office of the London and County 
Bank. In 1889 he rejoined Messrs. Protheroe & 
Morris, being admitted a partner of the firm. His 
duties are confined to the horticultural department 
of the business, and he is much in evidence at 
Cheapside during the sales. 
Early History. 
Mr. Alexander Protheroe and Mr. Thomas Morris, 
the fathers of the two senior partners of the firm of 
Messrs. Protheroe & Morris, commenced business 
as horticultural auctioneers and nurserymen about 
the year 1830 at Highbury. We have no data as to 
their doings in those early days, and can only suppose 
that the situation may best be expressed by the old 
adage, “ omtie initium est difficile." A real forward 
movement was made in 1840, when the founders of 
the firm acquired the American Nurseries, at 
Leytonstone ; because from this date the modern 
developments of the firm may be said to have com¬ 
menced. For forty-one years the American Nurseries 
held a prominent position, but in 1885, on the death 
of Mr. Alexander Protheroe, they were broken up to 
make room for the residential needs of the thriving 
village of Leytonstone on the borders of Epping 
Forest. 
An interesting relict of those early days is an 
" Auctioneer's Licence " taken out by Mr. Alexander 
Protheroe, on September 17th, 1834, in the sixth 
year of the reign of His Majesty King George IV. 
For this he paid £5, and had to renew it the following 
year. In a sale catalogue, dated Wednesday, April 
30th, 1834, held at the Auction Mart, Bartholomew 
Lane (now Parr's Bank) we read, " Catalogue of one of 
the most rare and healthy collections ofDahlias, in 
pots, ever offered to the public, also a splendid assort¬ 
ment of plants in bloom.” What is more, the prices 
realised were marked, and we note that the Dahlias 
fetched from is. to 6s. 3d. each, half-a crown being 
frequently obtained. Dahlia Albina and Queen of 
the Yellows were sold together and realised 12s. 6d , 
so that these varieties must have enjoyed a consider¬ 
able repute in those early days. Striped and 
spotted varieties figured largely. Many of the 
names are quite legendary. Other subjects sold that 
day included blue Hydrangeas and the Double Crim¬ 
son Primrose, which is even now comparatively rare. 
Carnations, Pinks, Paeonies, Roses, Dutch bulbs, 
&c., were sold on October 16th, 1834, and we note 
that the raiser’s name preceeded every variety of 
florists’ Carnation, Pink, and Picotee on the list. 
Periodical sales, as far as we have been able to 
follow them, were continued to December 16th of 
the same year. 
Other branches continued to be added to the 
business, and we note a sale of nursery stock at 
Salisbury, as early as November 18th, 1835, by 
Messrs. Protheroe and Morris. Sales of nursery 
stock became very numerous in 1837. Dahlias 
seemed to be the Orchids of those days, however, 
judging by the frequency with which they figured at 
sales. Tulips also came into prominence now and 
again. On the dismantling of the American Nurseries 
in 1885, the sale of land in plots and otherwise at 
Leytonstone, the suburbs of London, and many 
other plants of the country, particularly at the 
seaside, became the main features of the business. 
Recent History. 
In addition to the numerous sales which are held* 
in their auction rooms, the firm conduct frequent 
sales of nursery stock and greenhouse plants in 
different parts of England. One great event in the 
horticultural world is the trade sale week in 
September of each year when the large sales of 
Heaths and greenhouse plants are held, and large 
numoers of the trade from different parts of the 
country come to London for the purpose of attending 
these auctions. 
In all their sales the firm make a special point of 
personally attending to commissions which are sent 
by their customers who are unable to attend their 
auctions, and they rightly attribute a great deal of 
the success of their business to the careful attention 
given to the orders of these distant clients. 
Another development of the horticultural depart¬ 
ment was inaugurated on the 10th of May last year, 
when the auction rooms were utilised for the first of a 
series of sales of horticultural properties of moderate 
size and insufficient to warrant the expense of a 
special district sale. Buyers and sellers alike have 
reason to be thankful to Messrs. Protheroe & Morris 
for supplying this hitherto crying want. 
Needless to say with this extensive development of 
work it became absolutely necessary as a matter of 
policy to split up the business into departments. 
The horticultural department has occupied the 
premier position from the very inception of the 
firm, and is in the hands of Mr. W. H. Protheroe, 
assisted by Mr. Harold George Morris and Mr. T. 
A. Morris. The estate agency department, on the 
contrary, is in the hands of Mr. George Field Morris, 
assisted by Mr. James Benjamin Slade, whom he 
originally secured as office boy from the school at 
Leytonstone, as above mentioned. During the 
autumn months, however, when the horticultural 
sales sometimes number twenty per week, Mr. G. F. 
Morris and Mr. Slade forsake the landed interest 
and come to Cheapside to assist their overworked 
colleagues in this department. 
From September to Christmas, last year, the 
sales of Lilies, Dutch and other bulbs averaged about 
twenty tons per week. From October to April the 
Japanese Lilies are in season, and are received direct 
from Japan to the extent of nearly a million bulbs. 
Orchids. 
Between the years 1873 and 1883, the business of 
the firm increased with leaps and bounds, so that it be¬ 
came necessary to acquire extensive premises for the 
exhibition and sale of horticultural produce. In the 
latter year the firm acquired their present spacious 
room situated at 67, and 68, Cheapside. Mr. 
Protheroe was assured by the leading plant 
importers that, if he opened sale rooms in this 
neighbourhood, success was certain. The opening 
of the new quarters was inaugurated by a large sale 
of imported Orchids, the result proving a success to 
the new venture. The B. Sale Room with an entrance 
from Queen Street was secured in 1892, and is 
frequently used for sales of pictures, engravings, 
curios, cigars, &c. 
As the imported Orchid, in appearance is far 
from being a thing of beauty, presenting to the 
uneducated eye something like a dried Cabbage 
stick, it occurred to Mr. Protheroe to introduce in 
these sales a small number of Orchids in full bloom, 
thereby giving illustrations of the remarkable beauty 
that can be obtained from such unpromising 
pseudobulbs. In all probability, many who have 
acquired valuable collections, would never have 
thought of doing so, if they had not seen these 
established Orchids in all their gorgeous beauty. 
Orchid sales are held every Friday, and nearly 
every Tuesday at certain times of the year, as may be 
gleaned from our announcements of the sales, and 
frequent reports of interesting or valuable Orchids 
that come under the hammer. Consignments of 
these beautiful and fashionable flowers come from 
the four quarters of the world, through the agency 
of a large number of collectors and growers. To a 
large extent the nurserymen and importers of this 
country are the intermediaries through whose hands 
the vast consignments of Orchids reach the sale 
rooms at Cheapside. 
Private collections of Orchids are frequently sold 
on the establishment where they are grown, and such 
sales often last for several consecutive days. Some 
sensational prices are occasionally realised for some 
rare and beautiful specimen. Some years ago when 
the Downside collection was sold, Cypripedium 
Stonei platytaenium fetched 310 gs. It was 
originally purchased for £ 60, and the prevalent 
opinion now is that the some plant would realise 
nearly £1,000. It turned up recently at the Temple 
Show of the Royal Horticultural Society. The col¬ 
lection of the late Mr. Hardy, of Manchester, realised 
£8,000, one plant alone fetching 260 gs. A Sheffield 
collection last April was sold for £3,950, including 
one plant that fetched 140 gs. 
Those prices are prohibitive except to those with 
the deepest pockets and largest purses. Our readers, 
who may be in town, might do worse than call in at 
the sale rooms at Cheapside when the sale of Orchids 
is in progress. Valuable and beautiful species and 
varieties, at very reasonable rates, may be obtained at 
the rooms almost at any time of the year; but those who 
desire to get together the nucleus of a collection, or 
even to add to an already existing one, at a very 
cheap rate, could not do better than visit the sale 
rooms when the London season is over, and everyone 
practically has gone for a holiday, say during the 
late summer months. 
Every day the pavement of Cheapside is crowded 
with thousands of people on business or pleasure 
intent, and the street with an equally dense multi¬ 
tude of vehicles, yet comparatively few are aware of 
the fact that down a quiet passage, about midday 
between " Sir John’s ” clock and the top of Queen’s 
Street, they can every Friday and often on Tuesdays, 
if so disposed, regale their faculties of sight and 
smell with the gorgeous forms and exquisite 
fragrance of those weird yet beautiful tropical pro¬ 
ducts known as Orchids. 
-- 
LECTURES AT THE FRUIT SHOW. 
{Concluded fromp. 108). 
STORING, PRESERVING, AND UTILISATION 
OF FRUIT. 
This most important phase of the fruit question was 
discussed on Saturday, October 3rd, in a most 
practical paper by Mr. John Watkins, Pomona Farm 
Nurseries, Hereford, Philip Crowley, Esq., F.L.S., 
occupying the chair. The splendid fruit that had 
been forthcoming at the show held during the last 
three days was, said Mr. Watkins, conclusive 
evidence that for quality British grown fruit was 
amongst the best in the world. Why then, it might 
be asked, should the foreigner be allowed to capture 
our markets ? We can grow fruit, it is true, but 
this is not the only point. How to make money 
of the fruit after it is grown is the question, aod a 
difficult one, for there were several good cultivators 
that had failed to make both ends meet. In order to 
make fruit-growing pay the markets had to be 
watched very closely, and a careful account also 
taken of the reports of foreign produce. The culti¬ 
vator would then be able to judge of the best time to 
put his fruit upon the market. 
