JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
October  12,  1899. 
310 
THE  CHILWELL  NURSERIES,  LOWDHAM. 
Naturally,  the  readier  on  seeing  this  heading  will  Hay,  “  But  how 
can  that  be;  how  can  the  Chilwcil  Nurseries  be  at  Lowdham,  and 
why  Lowdham?”  rJ'he  answer  is  in  this  wise.  The  far-famed 
nurseries  of  Messrs.  J.  R.  Rearson  &  Sons,  which  have  been  located  at 
Chil well.  Home  five  or  six  rnileB  8.W.  of  the  city  of  Nottingham,  since 
the  year  1782,  have  by  the  force  of  circumstances  removed  themselves 
to  Lowdham,  which  is  about  eight  miles  N.E.  of  the  city  and  county 
town,  and  the  firm  has  decided  to  maintain  the  old  name  for 
familiarity’s  sake,  in  the  title  of  their  new  venture;  so  that  now  the 
style  and  title  of  these  new  nurseries  is  “The  Chilwell  Nurseries, 
Lowdham,  of  Messrs.  J.  It.  Pearson  &  Sons.” 
To  prevent  misunderstanding  and  false  conclusions,  and  to  clear  up 
what  to  many  persons  may  appear  a  risky  and  unnecessary  thing  to 
do — to  remove  an  old-established  business  from  the  place  it  has 
occupied  for  a  great  number  of  years,  that  the  very  mention  of  the 
name  suggests  the  firm  and  the  business — it  must  be  known  that  the 
commercial  industries  of  lace  and  hosiery,  cycle  manufactories,  iron¬ 
works  and  collieries  have  preased  so  closely  upon  them  in  these  latter 
days  that  the  health  and  well-doing  of  the  stock  of  their  business  had 
begun  to  be  interfered  with,  more  particularly  as  to  cleanliness  of 
foliage  of  trees,  bushes,  and  evergreens  ;  and  the  pestilential  vapours 
consequent  of  these  industries  was  felt  to  be  exercising  a  deteriorating 
influence  on  the  glass  houses  and  the  occupants  of  them.  These  effects 
beiog  a  first  consideiation  with  the  firm,  there  was  nothing  for  it  but 
to  look  for  “  fresh  fields  and  pastures  new.”  It  was  no  doubt  a  painful 
conclusion  to  arrive  at,  to  decide  to  leave  a  place  which  the  present 
proprietors’  grandfather  had  established  in  the  last  century,  which  their 
father  had  improved  and  extended,  and  which  was  their  own  birth¬ 
place  and  a  business  they  had  very  materially  developed  on  present- 
day  lines.  Necessity,  however,  knows  no  law,  sentiment  must  stand 
aside.  The  decision  to  move  was  made,  and  the  “trekking”  had  td 
be  done. 
The  N.E.  side  of  Nottingham,  in  the  valley  of  the  Trent,  is  a  noted 
place  for  the  healthy  and  prosperous  growth  of  fruit,  especially  stone 
fruit,  Plums,  Damsons,  Cherries,  but  Apples  and  Pears  as  well.  It  was 
in  this  locality  that  a  mo3t  noWl  fruitful  Plum  was  raised,  commonly 
called  “Johnny  Raw,”  but  it  should  be  “Johnny  Roe.”  It  is  a  large, 
roundish  Plum,  crimson  in  colour,  and  a  splendid  cooker,  and  competes, 
and  often  holds  its  own,  with  that  most  prolific  of  all  Plums,  Victoria. 
Nottingham  market  has  been  well  supplied  with  “Johnny  Raws” 
this  autumn.  It  was  in  Lowdham  that  the  Messrs.  Pearsons  dis¬ 
covered  that  there  was  a  little  estate  of  about  100  acres  in  the  market, 
and  they  promptly  secured  it  some  three  years  ago  and  commenced 
operations. 
It  will  earily  be  understood  that  these  operations  were  by  no  means 
light,  as  the  soil  had  been  for  yrars  and  years  only  ploughed  on  the 
surface  for  6  inches  or  thereabouts  :  but  an  American  plough  and  a 
subsoiler  soon  altered  things,  and  now  they  have  a  tilth  of  18  inches  all 
over.  The  soil  is  an  almost  ideal  one  for  nursery  work,  being  a  strong 
holding  loam,  with  a  slight  suspicion  of  clay  in  it,  and  the  land  standing 
up  out  of  the  valley  has  a  good  natural  drainage,  and  can,  therefore,  be 
worked  all  the  year  round.  Lowdham  is  a  purely  agricultural  village 
now,  though  a  few  years  back  it  had  a  trade  foulness  in  the  shape  of  a 
tannery.  This  business  declined,  and  the  Messrs.  Pearsons  have  taken 
over  all  the  old  buildings  and  converted  them  into  offices,  seed  and 
bulb  stores,  packing  sheds,  and  other  necessities  of  their  trade,  thus 
conferring  on  Lowdham  a  business  of  “sweetness  and  light”  for  one  of 
loul  stinks— stinks  numerous,  vicious,  and  penetrating. 
At  the  end  of  the  last  month  the  firm  invited  gardeners  from  all 
over  the  country  to  a  sort  of  free  and  easy  “  at  home,”  in  order  that 
they  might  knew  Lowdham  and  see  with  their  own  eyes  the  sort  of 
stuff  the  new  nursery  produced.  As  one  of  the  visiting  gardeners  we 
may  say  that  it  filled  one  with  wonder  and  amazement  to  see  the 
quantity  of  splendidly  healthy  stock  —  fruit  trees,  Raspberries,  and 
Roses — in  three  years  gradations,  which  had  been  got  together  in  the 
short  space  of  the  three  years.  It  represented  the  expenditure  of 
much  capital,  close  personal  superintendence,  and  well  directed 
unremitting  labour.  Indeed,  to  transform  a  badly  worked  farm  into 
a  nursery  in  three  years — cutting  hedges,  making  roads,  and  deeply 
cultivating  such  land — means  labour,  and  close  and  severe  labour  too, 
to  say  nothing  of  training  and  staking  some  30,000  trees,  and  training 
some  20,000  more,  besides  keeping  them  all  free  from  insects  and  true 
to  name.  Indeed,  it  came  out  incidentally  that  last  year  the  labour 
bill  had  been  £3000,  and  for  stakes  alone  £150  had  been  paid. 
It  is  interesting  to  watch  the  development  of  a  business  on  new 
surroundings,  and  it  is  of  all  things  most  interesting  to  think  over  the 
destination  of  the  thousands  and  thousands  of  fruit  trees  and  plants 
which  are  propagated,  trained,  and  finally  disposed  of  all  over  the 
country.  It  is  curious  to  think  of  what  is  the  disposition  of  this  one 
nursery,  but  it  is  amazing  when  we  think  that  this  nursery  is  only 
one  of  hundreds  in  every  part  of  the  kingdom  which  are  sending  out 
these  countless  thousands  of  strong,  healthy,  young  fruit  trees,  and 
the  question  mav  be  asked,  Where  do  they  all  go  to  ?  The  answer  to 
that  rnay  be  difficult  to  find  by  those  whose  lot  is  cast  in  a  circum¬ 
scribed  area,  but  on  the  question  being  put  to  Mr.  Alfred  Pearson, 
who  is  the  head  of  the  fruit  department,  he  said,  “  Oh,  all  over  the- 
country,  but  as  many  are  going  to  South  Africa  ;”  and  he  went  on  to 
say  that  that  country  would,  in  his  opinion,  eventually  become  one  of 
the  finest  fruit-proJucing  countries  of  the  world. 
The  three  brothers  work  together  mt  st  unitedly  and  harmoniously* 
Mr.  Alfred,  who  resides  in  Nottingham  so  as  to  be  centrally  situate*), 
takes  the  fruit  department,  and,  despite  this  duty,  and  many  other 
engagements,  finds  time  to  attend  the  Fruit  Committee  of  the  R.H.8. 
Mr.  Cnarles,  still  residing  at  the  old  home  at  Chilwell,  where  much 
glass  remains  in  use,  presides  and  manages  the  flowrer  trade  and  glass¬ 
house  department,  and  he  also  puts  in  many  attendances  at  the  Floral 
Committee  of  the  R.II.S. ;  whilst  Mr.  Duncan,  resident  at  Lowdham, 
looks  alter  (no  light  job  !)  the  seed  anl  bulb  departments,  and  is  the 
photographer  of  the  firm,  as  all  the  catalogues  show. 
Every  gardener,  both  of  the  present  and  the  passing  genera¬ 
tion,  and  more  particularly  the  latter,  will  be  interested  in  watching 
the  development  of  this  new  venture  in  the  business  of  Messrs.  J.  R. 
Pearson  &  Sons,  of  the  Chilwell  Nurseries,  Lowdham,  and  will  join 
in  wishing  it  an  ever-increasing  prosperity. — N  H.  P. 
HARDY  DAPHNES. 
Daphne  Mezereum  is  perhaps  the  commonest  of  all  the  hardy 
Daphnes,  for  al chough  one  does  not  see  it  in  very  large  numbers  at  any 
one  place,  it  is  frequently  met  with  in  different  parts  of  the  country, 
especially  in  cottage  gardens.  In  this  neighbourhood  it  is  very 
common,  and  is  termed  by  the  cottagers  Mezereon  Tree.  Passing 
through  a  village  some  time  ago  I  noticed  a  good  specimen  growing 
against  a  cottage  door,  and  asked  the  owner  if  he  would  allow  me  to 
take  its  dimensions.  It  was  4  feet  in  diameter,  and  about  the  same  in 
height.  I  have  read  that  this  shrub  is  rather  short  lived,  but  this  one 
has  been  growing  in  the  same  ptosition  for  a  number  of  years.  The 
plant  is  said  to  be  wild  in  several  parts  of  Britain,  but  is  not  believed 
to  be  a  true  native. 
Some  of  the  Daphnes  are  not  very  showy,  but  this  one  is  desirable 
both  for  the  beauty  of  its  flowers  and  for  their  celight'ul  fragrance. 
There  are  several  varieties,  but  they  differ  little  except  in  the  colour  of 
the  flowers,  which  vary  from  white  to  dark  red  or  purple.  The  flowers 
appear  before  the  leaves,  and  are  followed  by  red  berries.  In  some 
districts  there  is  considerable  difficulty  in  getting  the  seed  to  develop, 
while  in  othef  places  the  plant  reproduces  itself  quite  naturally,  coming 
up  almost  as  freely  as  weeds.  There  is  an  autumn  flowering  variety 
which  is  unknown  to  me  that  commences  to  flower  in  October,  and  is 
said  to  remain  in  bloom  all  through  the  winter. 
D.  laureola,  also  termed  Spurge  Daphne  or  Spurge  Laurel,  is  not 
so  show'y  a  shrub  as  the  above.  It  should,  nevertheless,  be  included 
in  all  gardens  where  sweet  scented  flowers  are  prized.  It  is  a  low 
bushy  evergreen  shrub  ;  the  leaves  are  thick,  dark  green,  and  glossy. 
The  flowers  are  small  and  inconspicuous,  yellowish-green  in  colour  ; 
they  are  produced  in  the  axils  of  the  leaves,  and  appear  very  early. 
The  berries  are  poisonous,  but  are  said  not  to  be  so  to  birds.  If  a 
plant  is  introduced  here  and  there  amongst  other  shrubs  in  the 
pleasure  grounds,  it  will  be  sufficient,  for  the  perfume  is  detected  a 
long  way  off,  and  one  may  be  at  a  loss  to  know  whence  it  comes.  The 
perfume  is  more  noticeable  in  early  morning,  or  in  the  evening. 
D.  laureola  is  sometimes  found  growing  wild  in  this  country. 
D.  cneorum  is  an  evergreen  trailing  shrub,  growing  about  1  foot 
high.  It  has  very  small  leaves  and  bright  pink  sweet  scented  flowers, 
wnich.are  much  darker  coloured  in  the  bud  state.  Its  common  name 
is  the  Garland  Flower.  It  is  essentially  a  rrckery  plant,  but  is  also 
suitable  as  an  edging  to  beds  of  low  growing  shrubs,  or  for  the  front 
row  of  the  herbaceous  border.  This  Daphne  thrives  best  in  peaty 
soil  with  plenty  of  sand  mixed  with  it,  and  should  be  kept  moist  in 
the  summer.  It  flowers  in  April  and  again  in  the  autumn.  The  easiest 
way  to  propagate  is  by  lay<  rs. 
D.  Blagayana  is  a  newer  and  very  charming  plant,  which  was 
introduced  into  this  country  in  1872.  It  is  rather  a  slow  grower, 
which  may  perhaps  account  for  its  being  somewhat  rare.  The  habit 
is  a  low  growing  semi-f  rostrate  evergreen  shrub,  usually  under  a  foot 
high,  with  dark  green,  narrow,  obovate  leaves  1  to  2  inches  long. 
The  creamy  white  flowers  are  crowded  in  a  terminal  cluster,  and  are 
very  fragrant.  Its  prostrate  habit  makes  it  a  suitable  plant  for  the 
rockery,  but  it  will  grow  in  an  ordinary  border  if  given  proper  condi¬ 
tions.  We  find  it  does  well  in  a  mixture  of  peat  and  sand,  with  a 
little  of  the  ordinary  garden  soil  mixed  with  it.  'Hie  roots  should  be 
kept  uniformly  cool  arid  moist  ;  a  few  pieces  of  flat  stones  laid  round  the 
plant  will  greatly  assist  in  this  direction.  The  branches,  too,  seem  to 
like  to  ramble  amongst  tne  stones.  It  can  be  propagated  by  layering; 
the  shoots  should  be  pegged  down  in  the  spring  and  separated  when, 
well  rooted. — J.  8.  It ’EX,  Wiyrjanlhorpe. 
