874 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
February 10, 1900. 
of Grades for seed the next year and they came per¬ 
fectly true in height and fullness of pods, containing 
from nme to eleven large, wrinkled peas of the best 
of flavour, and my employer says, “Tell the gar¬ 
dener to bring in more of those large Peas, as they 
are something like a Pea to eat.”— Luscombe Cousins, 
Gardener, 46, Lesson Grove, Mutley. 
-=*«-- 
PEOPLE WE HAVE MET. 
Mr. William Taylor. 
Who has not heard of Mr. William Taylor? Well 
there are at least half a dozen of the same name in 
the gardening profession, two special, and one in 
particular. We mean Mr. W. Taylor, the famous 
Grape grower and gardener to C. Bayer, Esq., 
Tewkesbury Lodge, Forest Hill, London, S.E. 
He is the son of a well-known Sussex gardener, 
Mr. George Taylor, for twenty-four years head 
gardener and bailiff to John Day, Esq., of Uckfield 
House, Uckfield, Sussex, and a successful exhibitor. 
On leaving school he went to work in the garden of 
General Clarke, C.B., at Church House, Uckfield, 
staying there about nine months. His father at this 
time leaving Uckfield, for Berwick Court, the resi¬ 
dence of A. BurtoD, Esq., he went with him and 
stayed a twelvemonth. Mr. Taylor’s next move was 
to Glass Castle, Ridgewood, a market garden ad¬ 
joining the Rose Nurseries of Mr. G. W. Piper, 
where he bad the opportunity of seeing successful 
Rose culture carried out, and helped to carry many 
a first prize box of Roses to the station, bound for 
the Crystal Palace and other shows. 
Here he made a stay of three years, and then went 
to Alexandra College, Shirley, Southampton, where 
he planted his first Vine, and had the privilege of 
pruning one for the first time. After a three-years' 
stay he moved again to fill a situation at Lordswood 
House, Southampton. Here he had the opportunity 
of assisting in the making of a kitchen garden in an 
old, disused gravel pit, and had the gratification, 
during the following season, of seeing one of the 
finest outdoor crops of Tomatos it has ever been his 
privilege to witness. 
After a stay of two years at Lordswocd gardens, 
he found his way to Forest Hill in January, 1889, 
and obtained employment at Tewkesbury Lodge 
with Mr. Bury, the place at that time being un¬ 
occupied. He now saw Grape growing carried out 
as he had never seen it before The estate being 
bought by C Bayer, Esq., in July, he remained as 
under-gardener, rising step by step, and gaining 
much valuable information from Mr. Burv in Grape 
growing and general gardening. Mr. Bury left 
Tewkesbury Lodge in February, 1895, after fifteen 
years’ service on the estate, and on his recommenda¬ 
tion, Mr. Taylor was given the post of head 
gardener. 
Numerous improvements have been carried out in 
the gardens since then, including a new range of 
Peach houses, with cross trellises, allowing room for 
pot Peach trees to stand between ; also an orchard 
house, new vinery, Tomato house, potting shed, 
Grape and fruit room, all carried out according to 
Mr. Taylor’s suggestions, and which have given 
•entire satisfaction to his employer. All the improve¬ 
ments are proving themselves well adapted for 
the purposes for which they were respectively 
designed. 
He has recently been put in charge of the garden 
of Hamilton Lodge, the residence of H. E. Bayer, 
Esq., adjoining Tewkesbury Lodge, and which has 
recently been laid out by Messrs. J. Cheal & Sons, 
Crawley, Sussex. This was in addition to his 
pre-ious duties. We gave an account of both 
establishments in The Gardening World last 
autumn. Hamilton Lodge has been built, and the 
grounds laid out with consummate skill on the steep 
slope of a hill of London clay. 
Mr. Taylor has thus, gradually, by his own energy, 
perseverance, and levs of gardening, combined with 
hard work and study, graduated in the school of 
practical experience, and climbed to the highest rung 
of the ladder of the profession, where we hope he 
will yet accomplish much that cannot for the present 
be foreseen or imagined. 
The largest job, he has been called upon to under¬ 
take on the Tewkesbury estate, was the removal of 
a landslip in the carriage drive, in the spring of 1897, 
when some hundreds of loads of clay completely 
blocked up the drive and had to be carted away, 
The London clay on various parts of the steep ridge, 
across the summit of which runs the boundary line 
between Kent and Surrey, is notorious for its slipping 
propensities. The great gap in the bank was filled 
up again with Kentish stone, chalk and ballast. The 
entire job was carried out with satisfaction to his 
Mr, William Taylor. 
employer ; and at the present time the shrubs and 
trees look as if they had never been moved, with the 
exception of one or two Scotch Firs. He has been 
very successful with fruit trees in pots, Chrysanthe¬ 
mums and Tomatos, as our pages testify. The 
prizes he has taken during his comparatively short 
career as head gardener are a standing testimony to 
his surpassing skill as a gardener and fruit grower 
particularly. Fie has taken 100 first, 68 second, 21 
third, and 1 fourth, prizes, making a grand total of 
190, hi being for Grapes alone—55 firsts, 42 seconds, 
and 14 thirds, besides 15 medals, 2 Silver Cups, and 
12 Awards of Merit, at the exhibitions of twelve 
societies. The most important prize was that from 
the Royal Horticultural Society, awarded at their 
show of British grown fruit at the Crystal Palace 
jn 1896 This was for twelve bunches, insix varie¬ 
ties, ot Grapes. During the same autumn Mr Tay¬ 
lor took the first prize, out of thirteen competitors f 
at the Jubilee Exhibition of the National Chrysan¬ 
themum Society, at the Royal Aquarium, for twelve 
bunches of Grapes, in four varieties. The Garden¬ 
ing Press acknowledged that it was well won. On 
the same occasion he took two first prizes for 
Alicante and Gros Colmar Grapes. He has also 
staged large collections of Grapes at the Drill Hall 
meetings of the R.H.S , for which he has been 
awarded two Silver Gilt and one Silver Knightian 
Medals. 
At Beckenham, on October 29th, 1897, he staged 
forty-four bunches in fourteen varieties, on the 
occasion of Mr. J. Wright lecturing on Grapes to the 
Beckenham Horticultural Society, receiving the 
society’s Silver Medal and Certificate, on the recom¬ 
mendation of the lecturer. Mr. Taylor has also 
staged large tables of fruit, not for competition, at 
the Dulwich Society’s show. 
Gardening on this Surrey-Kent hill of London 
clay is no easy matter ; but it must not be supposed 
that Mr. Taylor thins out his Grapes to a few 
bunches on the rod for the sake of taking prizes. 
The varieties grown are Gros Colmar, Gros Maroc, 
Alicante, Madresfield Court, Muscat of Alexandria, 
Trebbiano, White Gradiska, Alnwick Seedling, 
Gros Guillaume, Foster’s Seedling, Black Ham¬ 
burgh, Buckland Sweetwater, Lady Downes, Mrs. 
Pearson and Mrs. Prince. The two last named are 
the only unsatisfactory varieties here. The borders 
are inside, 11 ft. wide, and have been made of the 
native turf of the clay hill. The Vine rods are 
about 15 ft. long, above the lowest supporting wire, 
and are allowed to carry from twelve to sixteen 
bunches according to the variety and the strength 
of the rod. The bunches vary in weight from 2j lbs. 
to 6 lbs. and 9 lbs , 4 lbs. being a good average. Mr. 
Taylor feeds his Vines with dressings of super-phes- 
phate, nitrate of potash, sulphate of ammonia and 
magnesia, in mixture, applied once a week, during 
the period of swelling, at the rate of 3 oz. per square 
yard. The borders are then liberally watered. 
His employer, C. Bayer, Esq., is enthusiastic over 
his Grapes and gives his gardener every encourage¬ 
ment. The older Vines were planted by Mr. Bury ; 
but his successor, Mr. Taylor, has brought them 
even to still greater perfection than that most 
successful cultivator ; and we wish him many years 
of success in his favourite culture as well as in the 
others under his care. He is a member of the 
Committee of the Gardeners’ United Horticultural 
Benefit and Provident Society, and a vice-chairman 
and delegate to the N.C.S. of the Dulwich Chrys¬ 
anthemum Society. 
ACALYPHA SANDERII. 
The name by which it is best known has un¬ 
doubtedly reached the most of our stoves ere now, 
as the novelty, I think, has commenced to wear off a 
bit. Whether this or its beauty made it such a rage 
when first introduced is principally a matter of 
opinion. It is, nevertheless, a very pretty and use¬ 
ful plant, either in the stove or for decorative 
purposes, the latter more especially, when the colour 
of the room lends itself to enhance its beauty, with 
its long, pendulous tails of red. There is still a little 
difficulty experienced with some in striking cuttings, 
but if a side-shoot can be obtained now and taken 
off with a heel about four or five inches long and 
thrust into small pots singly, in a compost consisting 
chiefly or wholly of sand, and stood in a brisk bottom 
heat, this difficulty should soon be overcome. Fail¬ 
ing this, they might be tried from eyes placed either 
in sand or fibre giving the same heat. A little shade 
should be given them during the summer when 
flowering, so that the foliage does not lack its fresh¬ 
ness. They are usually grown on the single stem 
system, but if the points were pinched out, the shoots 
thinned and regulated, I do not see why it should 
not make a very pretty bush plant, though my ex¬ 
perience with this subject has not been long enough 
for me to confirm this.— W. Waite, Southfields. 
AMARYLLIS. 
A good batch of these should now be started, choos¬ 
ing the most forward. Many will be showing the tip 
of their spikes if thoroughly ripened off during the 
late summer. Examine each pot by knocking out 
the bulbs, re potting those you think require it, and 
top-dressing the remainder after loosening the sur¬ 
face a little with a label, care being taken not to 
bruise the fleshy roots. The potting soil should 
consist of loam, peat in a small quantity, leaf mould, 
and plenty of coarse river sand, with a little soot. 
Let the pots, from 5 in. to 7 in., be well drained. In 
potting shake all the old soil from the bulb, remov¬ 
ing any decayed roots, and cleaning off just the loose 
particles of the bulb. Place a small mound, as it 
were, of the compost in the centre of the pot, so that 
the base of the bulb rests on the same, the 
roots being more towards the outside of the bulb. 
In filling in well shake the bulb, so that the soil may 
work well in among the crowd of roots. Clean and 
dry pots are essential or else the roots cling to the 
sides,'and when they are next turned out a host of 
valuable roots are sacrificed. A night temperature 
of 6o°, rising io° or 15 0 on bright days, will grow 
them well, and if a little bottom heat can be afforded 
them so much the better, though not absolutely 
necessary, guarding against over-wateriDg.— J. 
Mayne, Bicton. 
———- 
FERNS SUITABLE FOR RAFTS. 
The method of growing Ferns on rafts is very 
applicable for many species, especially those with 
long creeping rhizomes, as, for instance, Acrostichum 
scandens. The rafts are made in different sizes, and 
are very simple, somewhat resembling trellis work. 
The compost, suitable for many species, is a good 
fibrous loam and peat in equal parts, and a moderate 
quantity of broken sandstone. The loam and peat 
should not be chopped small, but in rather large 
pieces, as the coarse will be wanted to lay over the 
