September 2, 1905. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
097 
sufficiently long list, but it does not nearly 
exhaust the names of tlvo plants to be found 
in this beautiful station garden—plants that 
are doing astonishingly well on top of this 
wall, flourishing and making a big bright 
patch of colour within the noisome margin of 
the dust and smoke and vitiated air of Bir¬ 
mingham town. Such a garden—and there is 
more of it left out of our picture and, because 
of want of room, out of our description— 
would, having regard to' the conditions, do 
credit to a professional horticulturist, but as 
the achievement of an amateur gardener it is 
singularly striking. 
There are two more gardens illustrated in 
this number which I have to describe, but 
which I can do only briefly, not because they 
are undeserving of fuller notice, but because 
the space at my disposal is almost used up. 
The first of these is at 
Bakewell 
Station, on the Nottingham and Manchester 
branch of the Midland Railway. Mr. F. 
Porter has considerably beautified the station 
under his charge, and was the recipient this 
year- of a prize in the Midland Railway com¬ 
petition. Unfortunately, here again it was 
only possible for the photographer to take in 
a small portion of the garden which Mr. 
Porter has made ; this because the borders are 
not confined to one side of the line. The 
character and contents of the portion repre¬ 
sented will be seen at a glance, and with its 
background of orchards and kitchen gardens 
makes a very charming picture. No attempt 
has been made at elaborate gardening, but 
the effect is none the less pleasing to the eye. 
In the particular border depicted were 
Petunias, Calceolarias, -Ivy-leaved Geraniums, 
Fuchsias, and tufts of yellow Violas, with 
some Roses at the farther end and against the 
railings Phlox Drammondii, which had 
afforded a brilliant show earlier in the season. 
In a tree-embcwered alcove on a bank south 
of this border was growing a profusion of 
Ferns of different varieties, and the windows 
of the station-building on the opposite plat¬ 
form were gay with Geraniums, Calceolarias, 
and Lobelias in boxes. Another bank was 
planted with tall Antirrhinums. On a long 
bank at the south end of the station was a 
flourishing plantation of Iris, Yews, Laurels, 
Hollies, Ancuba japonica, Junipers, Ber- 
beris, Lilacs, Elders, Bronze Beech, etc., 
which were looking in prime condition at the 
time of our visit, and lend quite an air of 
distinction to the place, and show to what 
pains and expense the courteous station- 
master has gone in order to enhance the ap¬ 
pearance of the premises of which he hag 
charge. 
Lenton. 
When the photographer and I arrived at 
Lenton, which is a suburb of Nottingham, on 
the Nottingham and Mansfield branch of the 
Midland Railway, it was raining hard, and 
there seemed but a poor chance of using the 
eamera. This, however, was done in an inter¬ 
val of the downpour, and a very pretty picture 
taken of a comer of the platform garden of 
what is really Old Lenton Station. Mr. C. 
Smith, the station-master, who- figures in the 
photograph, is, it will be admitted, I think 
deserving of very great credit for the skilfui 
way in which he has adorned the platforms 
and created a beauty spot for the delectation 
of travellers on this line, at a point where 
ugliness largely prevails. At one comer is a 
little summer-house, and along the back¬ 
ground under the Ivy hedge are tall double 
Hollyhocks of superb colour- tall Antir¬ 
rhinums, together with brilliant masses of 
Phlox Dmmmondii. The arch in the centre 
oi this tastefully-ordered little garden is 
covered with Red Rambler Roses, and the two 
other arches have Tropaeolum canariensis 
planted at their base, though they have not 
made much growth. Oxalis corniculata rubra 
is employed for the margins of the beds, and 
had a very effective appearance, the plants 
being covered with their distinctive tiny 
yellow flowers. Yellow and other Violas were 
massed in the centre of the beds, some of 
which also contained Rose bushes. The 
narrow border along the platform was set with 
Violas with an edging of blue Lobelias. On a 
border at the far end was the word “ Lenton ” 
marked out in oyster shells. This garden 
must have occupied a great deal of thought, 
time, and attention on the part of Mr. Smith, 
and that the adjudicators of the prizes given 
by the Midland Railway estimated the re¬ 
sults highly is evidenced by the fact that they 
awarded the station-master at Lenton a prin¬ 
cipal prize. 
It should be added that the windows of the 
station-building contained boxes of bright 
flowers, and that on a bank extending to 140 
yards over against the opposite platform was 
a grand display of stately Hollyhocks, lending 
a glorious splash of colour to the drab sur¬ 
roundings of goods sheds and other buildings. 
Petek Penn. 
[In the issue of The Gardening World 
dated September 16th will be given views of 
four other station platform gardens, together 
with descriptive ’letterpress. —Ed.] 
— A FINE — 
FOLIAGE BEGONIA. 
(Begonia Fcarnley Sander.) 
(See Supplement.) 
There are few places which do not use a 
greater or less number of the fine foliage 
Begonias. They are certainly very useful for 
those who have cool conservatories, and par¬ 
ticularly ferneries. In the latter the atmo¬ 
sphere of the house is kept nearly always in 
a moist condition, and that favours the 
growth and health of the fine foliage Begonias 
of the Rex type, which delight in shade and 
moisture. Where the back wall of a green¬ 
house or conservatory is wired for the purpose 
of growing Ferns and other plants Begonias 
of this class prove invaluable, and are mostly 
always present in greater or less numbers. 
In habit B. Fearnley Sander is similar to 
the Rex type, although the parentage was 
different to the old and better known strain. 
The leaves, as may be seen, have a very dark 
border, and in the live state this is blackish- 
maroon. The centre of the leaf is of the same 
colour. The light silvery band in the live state 
was made up of a dense arrangement of grey 
and rosy-red spots, forming in the aggregate 
a very beautiful band running round the body 
of the leaf, and giving it its characteristic 
appearance. It was brought before the com¬ 
mittee of the R.H.S. on October 18tli, 1904, 
when it received an award of merit as a new 
plant. Flowers are produced by these fine 
foliage Begonias, but they are of very little 
value, and serve to detract from the fine ap¬ 
pearance of the foliage rather than otherwise. 
Good cultivators, therefore, remove such 
flowers while quite in the young state. 
Those who would successfully cultivate this 
class of plants in pots or pans should use a 
light and rich soil. This may consist of equal 
parts of fibrous loam, peat, and leaf mould, 
or, instead of peat, a limited quantity of well- 
decayed farmyard manure might be employed. 
A sufficient amount of sand should be em¬ 
ployed to keep the soil porous and open, as 
a liberal quantity of water will be required 
in the summer months, when the plants are 
making growth. Instead of using too much 
decayed manure and leaf soil it might be ad¬ 
vantageous to use more loam, with a little 
peat, and rely upon feeding the plants by 
means of liquid manure when making rapid 
growth. 
Even when grown in pots or pans shade 
and moisture will be found absolute requi¬ 
sites to get foliage of good size and fine ap¬ 
pearance without blemish. The cultivator 
should, however, avoid placing them in situa¬ 
tions where the leaves will be exposed to drip 
from the glass, especially in winter. By care¬ 
ful treatment the foliage may be kept in fine 
condition till spring, when youug growth will 
again commence. 
OUR PRIZE COMPETITIONS. 
RESULTS - - - 
of the GARDEN CO/ARETiTlON. 
The competition for the prizes offered by 
us for an essay on “ What I would do with 
a Villa Garden in the Production of Flowers, 
Fruits, and Vegetables” was a very success¬ 
ful one. The various competitors evidently 
made an endeavour to define the several por¬ 
tions of a garden with a view to the produc¬ 
tion of flowers, fruits, and vegetables. One or 
two competitors failed to comprehend, or to 
read, the conditions of the competition, and 
did not indicate the aspect of the garden by 
means of the usual arrow, consequently it 
was difficult to follow their explanations of 
the different situations for fruit trees. One 
condition was that the garden should be ap¬ 
proximately 3,000 square feet, but one com¬ 
petitor drew a plan for a two acre garden, 
110 yards long and 88 yards wide, thus dis¬ 
qualifying what would otherwise have been a 
very good essay on the subject. 
The first prize of two guineas was awarded 
to Mr. Herbert H. Morris, Turkey Court 
Gardens, Maidstone, w r hose plan, accompany¬ 
ing the essay, was by far the best attempted. 
The second prize of one guinea was awarded 
to Mr. T. Reeves Palmer, Prestons, Bow, N. 
Devon, whose plan was certainly much 
simpler, but very clearly defined, and easy 
to follow out in every detail. A consolation 
prize of 7s. 6d. was awarded to Mr. C. W. 
Aldis, 14, Cardiff Road. Norwich, for a very 
clearly defined garden plan and descriptive 
matter, together with the cost for the- furnish¬ 
ing of the garden during the first year and 
the annual expenses afterwards. 
These prize essays, or the first two of them, 
will appear in our pages shortly when space 
can be provided for them. 
Teach the Children Gardening. —Says a 
writer in a contemporary : " I saw when 
rambling out years ago a garden by a school 
whieh the boys cultivated without assistance. 
It was on the western slopes of Harrow Hill. 
But, alas! that ‘ garden smiles ’ no more. 
The managers—each of whom doubtless had 
a garden of his own—were so anxious to 
‘ consider the ratepayers,’ that at least was 
their excuse, and yet they must have known 
that it didn’t cost a penny ; the boys them¬ 
selves were taught to till it. Let the chil¬ 
dren be.taught and encouraged to cultivate 
the plots round- their parents’ cottages, and 
thus make their homes cheerful and attrac¬ 
tive, not only to themselves, but their neigh¬ 
bours.” 
