1004 
THE GARDENING WORLD . 
December 10, 1904. 
Round the Nurseries. 
Messrs. Jarman and Co., Chard. 
Those that frequent the large provincial shows, such as 
Shrewsbury, Leicester, Exeter and most of the leading ex¬ 
hibitions 1 , are- familiar with the name of Jarman, seeing the 
fine displays they make in Roses, hardy plants and fruit; also; 
a few specialities in vegetables, and the number of prize® and 
medals they receive. 
Last summer I resolved to visit the nursery when the Roses 
were at their best, and was amply repaid for so doing ; and 
although I had never been in them before, I was surprised to 
find a. country nursery up to such a- standard of excellence. I 
am judging them by large provincial nurseries. During the 
past thirty-five years I have visited many of these. I do not 
presume to say they can compare with, the. large trade nur¬ 
series to find plants of almost everything that is grown in, such. 
Did they attempt this it would be very unwise, seeing there is 
no demand for many things. No; they grow what there is a 
demand for, and grow them well. But Roses-, fruit trees' and 
the most popular trees: and shrubs', with the best, hardy plants; 
are all grown in quantities. 
The nursery stands oni the side' of a hill facing west, very 
exposed, and on the outskirts of Chard close to- the railway 
stations (Chard lias two). The: soil is a. sandy loam, and it is 
astonishing how well Roses- and fruit trees thrive and the fine 
growth, having abundance of fibrous roots. This can be seem 
by the short-jointed and luud growth. 
I was told no water was given,, even in dry seasons, relying 
on keeping the- soil stirred. 
From such conditions and -s-oil well-rooted plants' are pro¬ 
duced, and can, bear rough treatment and exposed sites: far 
better than when grown in those closely sheltered positions. 
So much of a plant’s success depends: on a short, firm growth, 
and a mass of fib-rous roots. 
Without giving details I will confine myself t-o note a few 
things I observed as I had a hurried look round with Mr. 
Townsend, the present owner, on a summer evening. 
All kinds and types o-f Roses find a home- here, but what 
impressed me most was- to see the magnificent bloomsi -of 
Hybrid Teas. Many of these have been well illustrated in 
The Gardening World, s:o' I shall only give the names of a 
few of the best as I saw them. Hybrid Teas: Mildred 
Grant, Liberty, Kais-erin, Augusta Victoria, Caroline Tes-tout, 
Bessie Brown, Marquis of Salisbury, Marquise Lit-ta, Mine. 
Jules Grolez, Maman, Co-chet. Teas: M-me. Laimib-ard, Ni- 
p-hetos, Mme. Cus-in, Innooemte Piro-la, Mine. Bravy, and Souv. 
de Pierre Netting, being principally old Teas- but still,amongst 
the best, with a full collection, all growing and giving fine 
blooms quite in the open. It is: from these positions that the 
fine- exhibition blooms are obtained. At, the time of my visit 
there were many that would be used for this purpose. 
Of Hybrid Perpetuals a, mo-st extensive collection, is grown, 
and I noticed most of the best kinds holding their own. One 
new kind stood out conspicuous-—namely, that lovely white 
Iran Karl Druschki; splendid' blooms were, then open. 
Climbing kind's; Hybrid- Bridrs, Polyanthus—in fact, all 
kinds were grown. The- old lork and Lancaster made a grand 
show, a kind still wanted in the garden. 
_ Large breadths! of Apple tre-eis- are; grown, and. have fine 
vigour on the broad-lea,ve-d Paradis-e stock and Crab stock for 
standards for orchards. These are much in demand here in 
the west. 
In fruits I observed no old rough trees, but young, vigorous 
stock. The same holds good with trees and shrubs. Pea,che® 
and Apricots are: grown and trained quite: in the -opera, and 1 were 
making go-od growth. Of Plums the same may be said with 
a fine lot- of standards of the most popular kinds-. 
Near the glasshouses I saw growing the finest- form I ever 
saw of Centaurea imp-erialis alba-, or white Sweet Sultan. This 
is a grand new form, for which they received several certifi¬ 
cates at exhibitions; and! of which much ha® -been, written 
during the summer. It is to- be hoped they may distribute it 
tins coining spring. Growing hard by was a splendid selection 
of Chrysanthemum seget-um, the fine yellow contrasting well 
beside the white. Another hardy plant in, fine foram was Calli-op- 
sis: grandiflora-. This; too; was a fine type, having very lame 
flo-wers on long stems. 
Tire glasshouses and pits are considerable. In one was grow¬ 
ing a houseful of Tomato Sunset, and Mr. Townsend claims 
this to be the best kind e-xtant. Certainly it had a grand crop. 
Zonal Pelargoniums were in fine form, and seedling Begonias 
also. I must refrain from naming other tilings of interest for 
lack of space, but was most pleased with my visit. 
Con. 
Granton Road Nursery. 
While in tlie neighbourhood of the Grantor: Road Nursery, 
Gran-ton Road, Edinburgh, in September last;, we called upon 
Mr. John Phillips, who confines his attention to cultures under 
glass, with which the nursery is: chiefly covered. He- grows a 
variety of material, but the chief attention is given to fine 
foliage plants, such as are useful for decorative purpose?. He 
also grows flowers- to a considerable extent, but the Chrysan¬ 
themums which lie grows in bush form for the sake of cut 
flowers were not, at that time in bloom, except in the case of a 
few of the early varieties. 
The first house we: entered was devoted t-o Araucaria, excelsa 
and A. e. glauca in the form, of well-furnished plants 12 in. to 
18 in. high. The variety here mentioned is- notable for its 
compact habit and glaucous- hue. Some of liis- houses are 
devoted to To-mat-os, of which Stirling Castle and a se-edling o-f 
Lis own selection are the favourites:. The plants having been 
fruiting for months- previously did not show the earliest 
bunches; but- still bore a, heavy crop in l-arge bunches 
which were being gathered as- they ripened. Other favourite 
decorative subjects were- Ficus; elastica in useful, we-ll-furnished 
specimens: 12 in. to 18 in. high and grown in- large numbers. 
Aralia, Siebo-ldi also find® much favour here ora account- of its 
suitability for standing low temperature® and a diy atmo¬ 
sphere, when being used- for decorative purposes. 
Ferns; are extensively grown in several of the houses, and as 
they a-re: required for decorative purposes, only the favourites 
for this purpose are fern ployed. Well-furnished specimens of 
Pteri-s treniula, were 1 ft. to 2 ft-, high. The ordinary Nephro- 
lepis- exaltata would be an inconvenient subject- except- a-s a 
basket- plant o-n account of the length of the fr-o-nds, but a 
variety is- grown here having fronds only 10 in. to- 12 in. long 
when of a, useful size for the work intended. Cyrt-omium fal- 
catum, is also a veiy serviceable plant standing a deal o-f bad 
usage by -reason of its glossy leathery foliage. Amongst 
Maidenhair Ferns-, Adiantum euneatum is found the most- 
generally useful. Altogether, about- six houses- were- filled with 
Fern®'. 
Another structure we noted 1 contained such as Pte-ris ser- 
rulata major, P. Wimsetti, more Nephrolepis; Polystichum 
angulare proliferum, and Blechnuim occidentals, all of theis-e 
being in the form o-f well-grown plants. The latter is very 
similar in form to a Lomaria, and is found very useful on 
account -of its hardiness. The- Polystichum mentioned is suit¬ 
able for a variety of purposes, but makes a very handsome 
basket- plant, when allowed to attain some: size-. Being per¬ 
fectly hardy, it- may be planted in the open when not, required 
for pot work. In another Fern house we noticed a large stock 
of young plants: in pots which may be described as in. the 
process of development into larger specimens, but at the same 
time they may be put to a great variety of purposes in 
-ornamental pots- and other articles- while still in the small 
state. Aispleniums o-f the A. bulbiferum type, Maidenhairs 
and Pt-eris were the most prominent- in this small stage-. 
Thousands o-f Smilax are grown from seeds planted out in 
properly prepared beds and furnish-ed with slender strings up 
which they can climb. Needless to s-av, these: are planted very 
thickly, but this method -of growing them singly upon strings 
