December  7,  1899. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
505 
not  fragrant.  Some  of  the  farmers  in  my  county  believe  a  good  deal 
in  fish  manure ;  when  they  can  obtain  a  supply,  we  who  may  pass 
near  the  fields  cannot  fail  to  recognise  the  fact.  There  is  actually  one 
farm  which  is  supposed  to  have  got  its  name  of  Gilles  or  Gills  from 
the  remnants  of  fish  that  were  conspicuous  in  its  vicinity. 
Probably  the  best  manured  London  market  gardens,  or  at  least 
those  manured  for  the  longest  time,  are  to  be  found  in  Bermondsey. 
This  half-century  has  seen  an  immense  increase  of  houses  there,  but, 
though  greatly  reduced,  market  gardens  still  remain,  and  quantities 
of  vegetables  are  raised,  mostly,  I  think,  for  the  benefit  of  those  on 
board  vessels  passing  up  and  down  the  Thames,  and  the  dwellers  about 
that  district.  To  any  who  have  queried  where  remain  the  oldest 
gardens  about  our  metropolis,  1  have  pointed  to  Bermondsey,  for  this 
was  the  halting  place  of  part  of  those  emigrants  from  Holland  who 
fled  from  their  homes  during  the  reign  of  Elizabeth.  They  straggled 
across  Kent  towards  the  metropolis,  and  some  of  them  settled  at 
Bermondsey,  growing  vegetables,  which  they  took  over  London  Bridge 
to  find  a  ready  sale  for  them  in  the  City.  Evidently  “  Jacob’s  Island  ” 
took  name  from  one  of  these  Dutchmen,  as  at  one  time  the  locality 
was  much  more  watery  than  it  is  now,  and  considerable  floods  were  not 
an  uncommon  occurrence. 
During  tbe  increase  of  London  houses  between  1850  and  1880, 
we  might  have  supposed  it  would  have  benefited  the  suburban  market 
gardeners,  giving  them  a  good  opportunity  of  selling  the  produce  near 
at  hand,  but  it  did  not  usually  work  out  that  way ;  at  least  I  know 
that  in  the  extensive  grounds  of  Gunter,  at  Brompton,  the  vegetables 
were  all  packed  for  the  markets,  though  probably  some  of  them 
travelled  back  again  to  the  shops  of  the  neighbourhood.  Indeed  a 
trouble  arose  to  market  gardeners  out  of  the  growing  population,  they 
had  to  be  constantly  on  watch  against  depredation,  particularly  in  the 
case  of  the  choicer  vegetables  and  fruits.  Rather  severe  measures 
were  sometimes  taken  ;  mantraps  were  going  out,  if  not  quite  obsolete, 
when  I  first  visited  market  gardens.  Then  of  late  years  I  believe 
the  diminished  market  gardens  were  more  infested  with  insects  than 
formerly,  because  various  species  were  attracted  to  them  which  had 
before  that  taken  their  quarters  elsewhere.  They  found  the  mildness 
of  the  average  London  winter  congenial  to  them,  also,  the  sparrow  and 
a  few  stragglers  excepted,  they  escaped  insectivorous  birds. 
Much  as  I  regret  the  disappearance  of  goodly  orchards,  almost 
within  the  four-mile  circle,  which  used  to  flourish,  it  is  pleasant  to 
know  they  have  successors,  rising  up  in  many  directions,  at  no  great 
distance  from  the  metropolis.  Thus,  amongst  the  home  counties, 
Kent,  which  twenty-five  years  ago  reported  about  10,000  acres  of 
orchard,  has  now  raised  the  number  to  24,500  acres.  Some  things 
over  which  the  suburban  gardeners  took  a  good  deal  of  trouble  they 
have  almost  ceased  to  cultivate,  Melons  and  Pines,  for  instance, 
because  of  the  foreign  arrivals  at  cheap  rates. 
Strawberries  have  long  taken  their  departure  beyond  the  metro- 
frolitan  limits,  at  least  as  far  as  the  cultivation  in  open  ground  goes; 
or  several  reasons  it  did  not  answer  to  grow  them  thus,  but  some 
are  forced  near  London.  I  remember  fields  of  them  about  Fulham  or 
Hammersmith,  an  attraction  to  the  small  boys  and  sings  of  the 
district ;  1  fancy  the  soil  did  not  exactly  suit  the  plants.  Mr.  Dancer, 
at  Chiswick,  bad  them  in  rows,  with  Lettuces  or  Turnips  between, 
and  they  were  planted  under  fruit  trees,  seldom  to  advantage,  getting 
insufficient  air,  perhaps.  People  who  think  5s.  or  6s.  a  pound  dear 
for  April  and  May  Strawberries  scarcely  consider  the  time  and  care 
required  to  produce  them.  Some  London  gardeners  have  had  thousands 
of  plants  in  pots,  raised  from  runners  off  the  open  ground  ;  they  were 
covered  up  through  the  winter  till  February,  when  they  were  shifted 
into  houses.  Vineries  have  often  been  utilised  for  this  purpose,  but 
there  is  a  chance  of  bringing  in  red  spider ;  also  Cucumber  houses 
have  been  found  convenient.  But  others  have  preferred  the  plan  of 
forcing  Strawberries  in  pits  or  frames,  suitably  heated,  though  the 
fruiting  may  be  completed  while  under  glass  with  the  former.  The 
plants  set  in  frames  have  generally  been  young  ones  taken  from 
between  the  rows  during  autumn. 
Bush  fruits  have  been  an  important  item  with  many  suburban 
nurserymen  in  the  past,  somej  Raspberries,  but  chiefly  Red  and  Black 
Currants,  White  being  seldom  grown,  and  Gooseberries.  A  favourite 
practice  was  to  plant  them  (the  Raspberries  excepted)  in  orchards, 
thus  economising  space ;  in  fact,  this  is  yet  commonly  done.  That 
position  exposes  the  bushes  to  sundry  disasters,  hence  those  are 
preferred  which  are  divided  from  the  roots,  as  one  stem  is  liable  to  be 
broken.  Some  people  have  suggested  that  the  bushes  so  situated  are 
liable  to  insect  foes  which  may  fall  from  the  trees  above,  but  I  do  not 
think  they  would  draw  down  the  insects ;  some  dislodged  by  the  wind  or 
rain  might  not  re-ascend  ;  however,  it  is  easier  to  keep  bushes  clear  ot 
insects  than  trees.  The  caterpillars  of  Apples  and  Plums  do  not 
usually  feed  on  Currants  or  Gooseberries ;  our  familiar  enemy  of  the 
latter  shrub  (Abraxas  grossulariata)  might  transfer  itself  to  fruit 
trees  near,  for  its  taste  is  extensively  varied.  The  temperature  of 
London  is  congenial  to  that  species  during  hybernation,  and  we  have 
more  trouble  with  that  than  arises  from  the  saw  fly  grub  of  the 
Gooseberry.  Both  in  orchards  and  other  places  Currants  about 
London  often  have  the  pith  mined  by  the  Currant  clearwing  moth. 
Plenty  of  air  and  light  are,  no  doubt,  good  for  the  bushes,  and  I 
have  occasionally  seen  in  a  nursery  lines  of  these  raised  upon  little 
mounds,  the  Bpace  around  being  filled  up  with  flowers  of  low  growth. 
Also  in  March  I  have  noticed  rows  of  bushes  layered  ;  supple  branches 
are  fastened  down  by  pegs,  they  push  out  shoots  at  each  joint,  these 
are  taken  up  for  planting  at  the  end  of  the  autumn,  though  it  was 
more  usual  to  propagate  Gooseberries  and  Currants  by  selecting 
cuttings  at  pruning  time  of  about  1  foot  in  length,  the  ground  in 
which  they  are  inserted  being  deeply  dug  and  well  manured.  Appa¬ 
rently  the  new  pest  of  these  bushes,  and  also  of  the  Raspberry,  has 
not  made  itself  conspicuous  about  London.  This  is  the  Currant  scale 
(Leucanium  vitis)  a  very  insidious  and  destructive  insect ;  the  spring 
brood  of  larvae  are  active  early  in  February.  There  are  evidently  two 
broods  every  season.  After  the  winter  pruning  any  scale-infested 
boughs  should  be  gathered  up  and  burnt,  also  some  insect  killer 
thrown  round  the  stems  to  stop  the  return  of  any  that  have  dropped. 
Raspberries  have  never  been  a  leading  article  with  our  market 
gardeners  ;  the  canes  have  sometimes  been  put  in  odd  corners  of 
nurseries,  where  I  have  found  them  full  of  aphis,  indicating  lack  of 
nutrition.  Red  Antwerp  was  most  usually  grown.  Twenty  or  thirty 
miles  off,  though,  fields  of  Raspberries  are  conspicuous,  and  capital 
crops  obtained  from  Carter’s  Prolific.  There  was  a  time  when  the 
gardens  of  South  and  West  London  made  a  show  of  Figs,  but  now 
only  a  few  scattered  venerable  trees  remain.  Cherries  again  were 
always  scarce  in  suburban  orchards ;  they  used  to  suffer  from  the 
spring  frosts.  Usually  they  planted  dwarf  standards  amongst  Apple 
and  Pear  trees,  especially  the  Bigarreau. — J.  R.  S.  C. 
MARKET  GARDENERS’  DINNER. 
It  is  not  often  one  meets  with  a  representative  body  of  market 
growers,  for  strange  to  say  though  they  are  numbered  now  by  thousands 
in  all  parts  of  the  kingdom,  they  seem  completely  isolated  from  the  rest 
of  the  horticultural  world,  with  perhaps  a  few  notable  exceptions.  As  a  body 
they  represent  one  of  the  busiest  classes  in  the  industrial  world,  so 
much  so  it  seems,  that  they  are  rarely  heard  of  except  in  their  own 
districts  or  in  the  markets.  Probably  few  readers  have  ever  heard  of 
the  Market  Gardeners,  Nurserymen  and  Farmers’  Association,  yet  the 
Society  began  its  existence  early  in  the  present  century,  at  a  period, 
remarked  one  of  the  speakers,  “  when  the  growing  industry  was  confined 
to  a  few  miles  around  London,  and  when  they  were  all  outdoor  growers.” 
On  the  occasion  of  the  annual  dinner  held  at  the  Holborn  Restaurant 
on  November  30th  fully  sixty  members  and  their  friends  from  all 
parts  of  the  country  sat  down  to  an  excellent  dinner,  Mr.  W.  Poupart, 
the  President,  occupying  the  chair.  The  loyal  toasts  were  received 
with  unusual  enthusiasm. 
The  toast  of  the  evening  was  proposed  by  Mr.  R.  Piper,  of  Worthing, 
and  it  would  have  been  difficult  to  place  it  in  abler  hands.  In  the 
course  of  a  capital  speech  he  alluded  to  the  work  of  the  Association  in 
the  past,  such  as  obtaining  for  growers  throughout  the  country  a 
reduction  of  the  general  district  rate  under  the  Public  Health  Act  of  1875 
to  one-fourth  the  sum  exacted  from  market  gardeners.  But  when  the 
speaker  reached  the  last  battle  the  Association  had  with  the  law  regarding 
the  Agricultural  Relief  Act,  he  warmed  considerably  to  his  work,  going 
clearly  through  all  the  stages  of  that  well  known  case,  as  he  could  do 
with  authority,  for  he  attended  the  various  sittings  through  every  court. 
On  reaching  the  House  of  Lords,  the  speaker  relieved  his  mind  of  his 
opinion  of  those  dignified  law  lords  who  delivered  their  final  judgment.  It 
is  not  necessary  to  repeat  it  here,  beyond  saying  it  was  extremely  forcible. 
This  appeared  to  please  the  market  men  immensely.  Mr.  Piper  then  urged 
those  present  to  extend  the  membership  of  the  Association,  so  that  their 
numbers  might  have  greater  weight  when  next  they  were  compelled  to 
enter  the  law  courts. 
Mr.  W.  Poupart,  in  replying  for  the  Association,  said  there  were 
many  matters  that  were  brought  before  them,  that  were  settled  without 
going  to  law,  and  as  the  industry  of  the  market  gardeners  increased  so 
much  they  found  the  work  of  looking  after  and  protecting  the  trade 
increasing  also.  In  the  early  days  of  their  history  the  market  growers 
were  a  small  body,  consequently  the  membership  was  small  also,  but  he 
now  urged  those  present  to  endeavour  by  personal  effort  to  increase 
their  membership,  so  that  the  whole  trade  would  be  fully  represented. 
He  also  reminded  them  that  the  Agricultural  Relief  Act  was  only  a  five 
years  bill,  and  he  bad  no  doubt  that  if  they  were  strong  enough,  they 
would  be  able  to  see  that  justice  was  done  to  the  horticultural  trades,  as 
well  as  those  of  the  lower  branch,  for  he  had  an  assurance  from  Mr. 
Chaplin  through  his  member  at  the  time  the  Bill  was  before  the  House, 
that  they  would  come  under  the  benefits  of  the  Act.  Alas  1  now  the 
lawyers  had  decided  it  was  not  so,  and  they  must  pay  until  such  time 
that  they  were  able  to  alter  it. 
Messrs.  Garcia,  Monro,  Steel  and  Taylor  in  the  course  of  their  replies 
to  various  toasts  all  alluded  to  the  vast  expansion  of  the  trade,  Mr. 
Garcia  playfully  remarking  that  in  spite  of  their  taxation,  most  of  the 
market  men  appeared  to  be  pretty  comfortable,  a  remark  that  caused 
great  laughter.  The  speeches  were  interspersed  with  well  rendered  songs, 
so  that  a  pleasant  evening  was  spent. — J.  B.  R. 
