Gbe IRatfonal nurseryman. 
FOR GROWERS AND DEALERS IN NURSERY STOCK 
Copyrighted 1909 by the National Nurseryman Publishing Co., Incorporated. 
Vol. XVII. ROCHESTErTn. Y., JULY, 1909 Ncl 7 
W. FROMOW & SONS, Windlesham, Surrey, 
England 
An English Nursery Owned and Operated by the Grandsons of the Founder. 
Exporters of Fruit Trees and Ornamentals 
The Original Nursery is Located at Sutton Court, Ancient Chiswick, London, Where it was Founded in 
1829 by the Grandfather of the Present Proprietors, Messrs. Joseph, William and Henry Fromow. 
About Fifty Years Later a New Branch was Established at Hanworth Road, Hounslow, for the Special 
Purpose of Meeting the London Demand for Ornamental Trees and Shrubs. In 1894 Another Branch 
was Established at Windlesham, About 25 Miles From London, in the Famous Nursery District Between 
Ascot and Woking. This was Opened With a Purchase of 40 Acres of Land but has Increased 
Gradually till it now Occupies an Area of 250 Acres. 
The development of Windlesham branch of the nursery 
was a sort of pioneer enterprise on the part of the 
proprietors. It is located on meadow and grass 
land possessing a generous proportion of black 
valley soil containing 
plenty of humus and there¬ 
fore, affording ideal con¬ 
ditions for the growth of 
one of the great specialties 
of this nursery, the 
rhododendron. We were 
shown around the place 
by the energetic and pro¬ 
gressive superintendent, 
Mr. W. R. Oldham, who 
supervises this tract of 
250 acres. This enterprise 
more nearly resembled the American nursery than anything 
we had seen, though it still differs in the essential respect that 
much of the tillage work is done by hand. The blocks, 
however, are larger, the trees more widely spaced than usual 
in British or continental nurseries and arrangements are 
such that horse tillage is possible and feasible. 
The work of draining, road making, clearing, leveling and 
subduing this more or less wild land, has been intelligently 
attacked by the superintendent and each year sees a new 
area brought into subjection. The strong feature about it 
is that the land is practically virgin and the growth of the 
stock is clean and vigorous. 
Classes of Stock Grown 
A very picturesque view is obtained of this nursery from 
almost any of its boundaries as the land slopes markedly 
toward the center. This gives the visitor an opportunity 
of sweeping the entire area with one glance. In doing this 
he can see large blocks of golden leaved varieties of shrubs 
standing out in striking contrast to the green and the 
gray. Ornamentals are propagated extensively. Fruit 
trees are also grown in 
wholesale quantities. These 
are trained for walls in 
espalier, fan shaped and 
special positions and as we 
noted the regularity of the 
product and the apparent 
ease and inexpensiveness 
with which they seem to 
take on these special forms, 
we wondered whether there 
would not be an opening for 
this kind of stock in New 
England or in New York in the gardens of the city dweller or 
the suburbanite. Great quantities of standard roses of the 
various classes are grown. Messrs. Fromow & Sons make 
a specialty of the newer varieties of climbers, among them 
being Dorothy Perkins, Hiawatha and Crimson Rambler. 
These trained fruit trees strike the American as being 
very costly productions but with the labor available in this 
section of England they can be produced at a remarkably 
small cost, and in fact they can be laid down in this country 
for less than our stone fruits are sold by the retail nursery¬ 
men. The work of training these trees is all done by the 
piece, or so much per tree per year. 
Hardy Out Door Stock 
Chief among these are Hybrid Rhododendrons, now 
occupying some 50 acres. Think of it, 45,000 of the leading 
varieties are grafted annually! This is the great specialty, 
Ornamentals in great blocks at Fromow & Sons Nurseries, Windlesham. 
