May 12, 1900. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
579 
BARR’S 
Special Cheap Offer 
- OF — 
GLADIOLI, 
For present Planting. 
BARR’S LARGE - FLOWERED 
GLADIOLUS GANDAVEN3IS- 
having bold spikes of large handsome 
flowers in August and September. 
3 each of 20 choice named varieties, 15/-. 
3 ,, 12 ,, ,< 9/". 
1 „ 12 „ „ 3/6. 
Barr’s Choicest Strain in 
Mixture.— Flowers of finest quality and 
in a great variety of brilliant colours. 
Per 100, 12/-. Per dozen, 1/8. 
GLADIOLUS BRENCHLEYEN- 
SIS —producing large handsome ver¬ 
milion-scarlet flowers in August, a little 
earlier than the Gandavensis varieties. 
Large bulbs, per 100, 5/-; per doz., lOd. 
NEW HYBRID BUTTERFLY 
GLADIOLI. —A handsome race of 
Gladioli, distinct in form and markings from 
the Gandavensis varieties ; the colours are 
beautiful, and the large blotches on the 
lower petals strikingly attractive, flowering 
July to August. 
3 each of 12 beautiful varieties, 12/-. 
1 », 12 ,, ,, **/"■ 
Bulbs in fine condition Early orders 
solicited. 
Prepaid Order Sent Carriage Free. 
BARR & SONS, 
12 &13, KING ST., COVENT GARDEN, LONDON. 
CHEALSte#?! 
V/&KLD-WIDE f\EH 0 WN- STAKING pl 0 \/ELTIES 
CATALOGUE POST FREEST 
J. CfuaLx^rW’% 
Vegetable & Flower 
SEED P0TAT0S, 
Garden Tools 
OF 
Best 
Qualities 
at most 
Moderate Prices 
Delivered Free 
by Rail or Parcel Post. 
Illustrated 
Descriptive Catalogue, No. joS, 
Post Free on application. 
ORCHIDS. 
Clean Healthy Plants at Low Ppiees. 
Always worth a visit 0/inspection. Kindly send (or Catalogue , 
Exotic Emories, CHELTKMHAM. 
“Gardening is the purest of human pleasures, and the greatesi 
refreshment to the spirit of man ''—Bacon. 
Edited by J. FRASER, F.L.S. 
SATURDAY , MAY 12 th, igoo 
NEXT WEEK’S ENGAGEMENTS 
Wfdnest ay, May 16th.—Royal Botanic Society’s Meeting in 
Regent’s Park. 
I s a New Chiswick Necessary ? —The 
four reports of the proposed new Chis¬ 
wick at Limpsfield, which we print this 
week, show the soil at Chartland Farm, in 
the parish of Limpsfield, to be of a variable 
character, as is usual at and near the out¬ 
crop of several geological strata. The farm 
is situated on the outcrop of the Lower 
Green sand, and the higher portions of 
Chartland Farm show some of the 
characteristic features of this formation. 
The lower fields consist of deeper and 
richer soil, being, in fact, the washings and 
detritus from the higher ground with a 
larger percentage of humic matters. The 
land has been badly farmed, however, and 
the artificial drainage neglected, so that it 
is out of order and in bad condition for the 
cultivation of many things, and particularly 
for experimental gardening. All this could 
with reasonable outlay be thoroughly recti¬ 
fied. It is not surprising, however, that 
the land should be subject to periodical in¬ 
undations during rainy periods, for although 
the land lies at a considerable elevation 
above sea level, it is nevertheless much 
lower than other portions of the North 
Downs in the immediate neighbourhood, 
the highest point of the Surrey Downs 
being at Botley Hill, about two milestothe 
northward or less as the crow flies. The 
variety of soils on Chartland Farm are just 
what is necessary for the trials of various 
kinds of plants. The natural supply of 
water is ample; while hills to the north¬ 
ward, and copses and spinneys in other 
directions, afford the shelter necessary for 
fruit trees and other subjects. About the 
purity of the atmosphere there can be no 
question. Altogether, then, the site at 
Limpsfield would seem to be an ideal one, 
as has been described by those who have 
inspected it. 
The above represents only one side of the 
question, and the Fellows of the Royal 
Horticultural Society should weigh the 
whole matter in the balance before taking 
steps which would necessarily entail vast 
expense, and possibly land the Society in 
an untenable position, discovered, perhaps, 
when too late to retrace its steps. The 
distance from London would entail a long 
and slow journey, with the inevitable loss 
of time in changing at Croydon in the case 
of certain of the trains which do not start 
from London, and therefore do not perform 
the whole journey. When Oxted has been 
reached (the nearest station to Limpsfield) 
an uphill journey of between two and three 
miles has to be accomplished before Chart- 
land Farm is reached. These circumstances 
in themselves would serve largely to restrict 
the number of visitors to the new gardens; 
and if visitors to Chiswick, which is easily 
reached from all parts of London by many 
trains a day, are not over numerous, they 
would almost certainly be few and far 
between at Limpsfield. Nor is this all. 
The expense of carting manure, coals, or 
coke, and many other garden necessities, 
would rise to a considerable sum annually. 
Experimental gardening to equal, much 
more excel, what may be seen in market 
and private gardens around London, must 
be of a high order of merit to justify its 
existence ; yet it cannot be conducted with¬ 
out considerable expense in the matter of 
manures alone, either farmyard or artificial, 
or both. Moreover, it is more than likely 
that stable manure in any quantity would 
have to be procured from London, as that 
to be had in sparsely-populated'districts is 
all required by the farmers on the land. 
Furthermore, is it necessary to remove 
from Chiswick at all in order to grow 
flowers and vegetables ? It has been stated 
that the soil at Chiswick is exhausted. 
Such a plea has been advanced with regard 
to the soil of such a comparatively young 
country as the United States; yet weknow 
that many of the Americans seriously ques¬ 
tion themselves why this should be so, after 
coming to this country and inspecting mar¬ 
ket garden land in the valley of the Thames 
that has been heavily cropped for the last 
thousand years, yet continues to bear heavy 
crops and remunerate the cultivators for 
high-class or intense cultivation. Proximity 
to London cannot affect such land preju¬ 
dicially, while on the other hand proximity 
to the Metropolis enables the cultivators to 
manure their land heavily yet cheaply. 
What can be done in one garden can surely 
be done in another. The soil is an inex¬ 
haustible source of plant food, and the 
deeper and finer the tilth the greater the 
supply ; while the constituents removed in 
the crops may not only be restored but 
augmented by means of manures. The 
filthy state ot the atmosphere in winter is 
also advanced as a reason for the removal 
of the gardens from Chiswick, but the trials 
are mostly conducted in summer when the 
conditions for plant life are by no means 
serious. Early forcing is not particularly 
a feature of Chiswick, nor is it very neces¬ 
sary, as in private gardens or in those 
carried on for commercial purposes. Being 
shut in or surrounded by houses seems to 
us the most serious hindrance ti high-class 
cultivation, and whether it is sufficient to 
warrant the removal of the gardens from 
Chiswick is a matter that requires the 
fullest consideration and investigation. 
There is a difficulty in getting the mem¬ 
bers of the committees together sufficiently 
often t) give the trials at Chiswick the 
necessary inspection in order to come to a 
decision upon the relative merits of new 
varieties ; but if the object of acquiring 
the land at Limpsfield is for the purpose of 
carrying out the trials more effectively, how 
are the committees to find time for inspect¬ 
ing the same ? It will take a whole work¬ 
ing day to journey by rail and road to 
Limpsfield, inspect the trials, and return 
the same day. This applies to those living 
in London and the suburbs, so that for 
members living at a greater distance, par¬ 
ticularly to the north, the journey would be 
impracticable except on very special occa¬ 
sions and at wide intervals of time. All these 
things lead us to enquire whether the Coun¬ 
cil is really pledged to remove the gardens 
from Chiswick as a means of celebrating 
the centenary of the Society. The Fellows 
present at the annual general meeting may 
have been unanimous in sanctioning the 
proposal; but although the idea seemed 
plausible enough, it is more than probable 
