74 
J()UR^^At  OR  tiORTICCrlTURE  AIRO  COTTAGE  GARDEA^Ek. 
^IIly  2§.  1898. 
tenancy,  and  had  only  from  the  beginning  to  superintend  and 
direct  others  to  do  the  work  upon  it. 
Hundreds  of  young  men  employed  in  gardens  who  will  read 
these  lines  are  as  well  and  better  off  than  Mr.  Wood  was  when  he 
was  their  age,  for  they  have  had  the  advantages  of  such  school 
education  as  was  denied  to  him,  and  probably  commenced  work  at 
a  higher  wage  than  he  did — 3d.  a  day  ;  and  he  will  show  you  the 
farm  where  he  first  began  to  feel  like  a  man  when  he  earned  a 
daily  wage  of  6d.  His  father  was  an  honest,  industrious  man, 
some  thirty  years  foreman  on  the  same  farm— adequate  testimony 
to  his  character,  and  never  received  more  than  IBs.  a  week.  The 
son,  then,  had  no  patrimony  ;  but  has  made  his  way  by  his  strong 
arm,  clear  head,  great  determination,  and  persevering  industry. 
Mr.  Wood  is  not  afflicted  with  any  false  pride  that  would 
lead  him  to  be  reticent  about  his  past  career.  His  sterling 
common  sense  put*  such  ideas,  born  of  weak  minds,  out  of  the 
question.  It  is  greatly  to  bis  honour  that  he  has  achieved  so  much, 
and  he  commands  the  respect  and  esteem  of  all  whose  good  word 
is  worth  having  by  his  frank  open  mind,  warm  heart,  and  manly 
bearing.  He  is  a  true  Briton,  jealous  of  the  fame  of  his  conntrjj 
and  will  do  what  he  can  to  help  anyone  to  meet  and  beat  com¬ 
petitors  in  other  lands  with  the  produce  of  the  soil  in  our  home 
markets.  He  can  do  this  pretty ‘well  with  most  thing.s,  but  perhap* 
Hops  bother  him  most  of  all,  though  his  grand  plantation  of  G-old- 
jngs  will  soon  present  a  beautiful  sight.  The  Hop  depression  is, 
however,  more  deplored  by  Mr,  Wood  in  the  interests  of  the 
picker*  than  hi*  own,  as  he  can  find  other  crops  to  pay  him,  but 
they  cannot  find  other  employment  at  that  season,  and  in  conse¬ 
quence  he  fears  that  “  many  poor  children  will  not  get  shod  for 
the  winter.” 
A  long  drive  round  the  fruit  plantations  was  anticipated,  but  in 
less  than  an  hour  the  rain  came  from  the  north-east  in  driving 
torrents,  and  drove  us  home.  But  we  had  seen  a  little — such  a 
plantation  of  Black  Currants  (Baldwins),  and  another  of  Gooseberries 
(Lancashire  Lad  and  Whinham’s  Industry),  as  to  take  one  of  the 
most  successful  fruit  growers  in  England  quite  by  surprise. 
Apples  and  Plums  are  alternately  planted  at  intervals  among  the 
bushes. 
Many  Black  Currants  had  been  picked  and  sold  for  £.30  a  ton, 
and  with  many  tons  more  to  gather — a  wonderful  crop.  Goose¬ 
berries  were  undergoing  the  third  picking,  6000  sieves  having  then 
been  sold,  and  by  this  time  probably  4000  more,  and  these  at 
eighty  sieves  to  the  ton  is  a  good  return  for  some  20  acres  of  five- 
year-old  bushes.  Fruit  splendid,  and  was  then  selling  for  £14  a 
ton. 
The  bushes,  both  of  Gooseberries  and  Currants,  were  in  the 
rudest  health,  not  a  red  spider,  caterpillar,  or  insect  of  any  kind 
to  be  found,  and  no  sign*  of  check  from  drought,  though  until 
the  rain  of  that  day  it  had  been  serious  enough,  parched  fields 
being  far  too  plentiful.  The  health  of  the  bushes  and  their 
practical  independence  of  rain  was  due,  to  use  Mr.  Wood’s  words, 
“  dung  and  deep  culture  land  ploughed  with  four  horses,  followed 
by  four  more  with  the  subsoiler,  train  loads  of  London  manure 
worked  in,  and  train  loads  more  spread  on  the  surface.  A  strip 
of  ground  worked  less  deeply  and  treated  less  generously  told 
its  own  tale — stunted  bushes,  and  very  little  on  them.  If  all  had 
been  like  them  the  field  would  have  been  a  dismal  failure  instead 
of,  through  deep,  generous  culture,  a  magnificent  success.  The 
bushes  are  planted  6  feet  apart,  and  Strawberries  grown  between 
them  for  three  or  four  years. 
Of  the  thousand  acres  for  which  Mr.  Wood  is  responsible  600 
are  devoted  to  fruit.  This  year  he  had  170  acres  of  IScrawberries, 
and  the  last  day’s  sale  of  these  brought  £.500.  About  200  acres 
are  devoted  to  Hops  and  vegetables,  and,  as  previously  mentioned, 
15  acres  are  covered  with  glass.  These  are  not  shoddy  structures, 
but  everyone  of  them  is  thoroughly  built  of  pitch  pine — costly 
work,  but  durable,  and  the  cheapest  in  the  end.  In  one  block  are 
twenty-one  span-roofs,  each  about  370  feet,  17  feet  wide,  and 
8  to  9  feet  high,  all  filled  with  Tomatoes  bearing  from  the  ground 
to  the  roof,  enough,  one  might  almost  think,  to  supply  all  London. 
They  do  not,  however,  half  represent  Mr.  Wood’s  supply,  for 
there  are  three  other  blocks,  the  houses  being  somewhat  lower. 
Many  of  these  are  occupied  with  Vines  2J  feet  apart,  and  the  roof* 
black  with  fruit,  not  a  few  of  the  rods  carrying  2  lb*,  to  3  lbs.  to 
the  lineal  foot.  The  Vines  are  not  crushed  near  the  glass,  and 
most  of  the  Grape-thinning  is  done  from  the  ground,  mainly  by 
young  girls,  who  are  trained  in  the  work — at  least,  those  of  them 
who  are  likely  to  remain  at  home  and  earn  their  living  in  the 
neighbourhood.  They  are  said  to  soon  become  expert  Grape 
thinners,  and  certainly  the  work  was  well  done. 
Mr.  Wood  also  grow*  Peaches,  Hale's  Early  being  evidently  a 
favourite,  and  growing  splendidly,  but  nothing  shows  his  enterprise 
and  up-to-date  methods  more  strikingly  than  the  fact  that  he  will 
soon  have  more  than  a  mile  in  length  of  roofing  covered  with 
Early  Rivers  Nectarine.  Nine  of  the  long  span-roofs  are  already 
j  planted  with  it,  the  growths  finding  their  way  up  the  glass  above 
the  tops  of  the  Tomatoes.  This  is  a  remarkable  instance  of,  to 
coin  a  term,  go-aheadedness,  and  probably  in  its  way  unparalleled. 
Of  fruits  generally  that  are  found  profitable  by  this  enter¬ 
prising  grower  in  Kent  are  of  Apples — Lord  Derby,  Domino,  Potts’ 
Seedling,  and  Lord  Grosvenor.  Pears — Rivers’  Fertility,  a  never 
failer.  Plums  —  Rivers’  Prolific,  Czar,  and  Monarch.  Goose¬ 
berries — Keepsake,  Lancashire  Lad,  Whinham’s  Industry,  and  Rifle¬ 
man.  Black  Currants — Baldwins.  Raspberry — Norwich  Wonder. 
Strawberry — Sir  Joseph  Paxton,  but  Royal  Sovereign  is  on  trial. 
Tomatoes  are  mainly  selections  of  his  own,  and,  as  may  be 
expected,  good  selections  too. 
Mr.  Wood  has  done  something  more  than  erect  glass  structures 
and  himself  a  beautiful  and  commodious  residence  ;  he  has  built 
jomething  like  a  village  of  excellent  cottages  for  bis  workers — all 
double  walled,  perfectly  ventilated,  and  otherwise  as  healthy  to 
live  in  as  hi*  own  home.  It  is  a  treat  to  hear  him  tell  the  story 
of  his  life  ;  how,  as  a  young  fellow,  he  bad  noticed  that  “  muck 
made  crops  grow;”  how  he  determined  to  get  a  bit  of  land, 
succeeded,  tramped  up  to  London  with  “a  one-eyed  horse”  at 
night  selling  his  bit  of  stuff,  often  spending  all  his  money  in 
buying  the  “  muck”  to  bring  home  again,  and  so  plodding  on  till 
his  honest  parents  feared  he  wou'd  bring  rum  on  them  all.  But 
by-and-by  his  crops  increased  ;  he  obtained  a  littls  more  land, 
more  money,  and  more  “  muck  ;  ”  then  a  better  horse,  then  two, 
then  a  team,  and  never  looked  back  again. 
He  educited  his  children,  and  sent  bis  son  to  France  for  better 
scientific  teaching  than  he  could  get  at  home.  Here  the  son  for 
the  fi'St  time  learned  and  brought  home  the  life  history  of  the 
winter  moth,  the  caterpillars  of  which  wrought  such  havoc  in  the 
orchards.  He  corresponded  with  Miss  Ormerod,  who  advised 
straw  bands  and  tar  for  preventing  the  ascent  of  the  egg-laying 
moth.  The  tar  dried  ;  then  the  practical  senior  thought  of  bird¬ 
lime,  and  to  think  was  to  act.  He  ordered  a  ton  from  the  largest 
chemist  in  London.  The  chemist  thought  him  mad.  There  was 
not  a  ton  of  birdlime  in  London,  but  Mr.  Wood  wa*  determined 
to  have  it,  and  a  ton  was  obtained  from  Stockport,  and  cost,  with 
carriage,  £83. 
Then  it  was  so  hard  that  nothing  could  be  done  with  it.  He 
eventually  chopped  it  up,  boiled  it  with  skin  oil,  and  then  he  had 
“sticky  stuff”  for  moth-catching.  He  caught  300  on  one  stem 
and  the  same  on  another  ;  chopped  the  trees  down,  sent  one  section 
with  fixed  moths  to  Miss  Ormerod,  the  other  to  Mr.  Charles 
Whitehead,  and  the  problem  was  solved.  Here  then  in  brief  is  the 
inception  and  development  of  sticky  banding  ;  the  idea  was  Miss 
Ormerod’s,  the  working  it  out  Mr.  Wood’s.  He  is  master  of  the 
caterpillars  now,  and  means  to  remain  so,  and  is  inventing  some¬ 
thing  to  simplify  the  process. 
These  notes  may  be  concluded  by  a  citation  which  shows  that 
this  worthy  Kentish  farmer  and  excellent  man  is  something  of  a 
philosopher.  “  The  winter  moth  is  a  good  thing,”  he  says  ;  “  for 
