6 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER 
July  4,  1901. 
Gadding  and  Gathering. 
“Here  awa’,  There  awa’.” 
In  recent  notes  attention  was  directed  in  these  columns  to  the 
newer  varieties  of  Wallflowers,  Aquilegias,  Myosotis,  and  Pansies 
offered  at  this  time  by  Messrs.  Sutton  &  Sons  of  Reading.  Certain 
firms  have  within  recent  years  devoted  skill  and  patience  to  hybridising 
Poppies,  particularly  Papaver  orientale,  the  great  scarlet  perennial 
Poppy.  The  Reading  House  has  assisted  in  this  hybridising  work,  and 
in  their  grounds  the  visitor  will  see  a  varied  strain  of  these  border 
plants.  These  novelties  are  here  denoted  as  Sutton’s  Perennial 
Hybrids.  They  are  all  like  the  parent  type — that  is,  the  scarlet 
Oriental  Poppy,  only  that  the  colours  vary  ;  some  are  blush,  others 
lilac  hued,  and  on  through  white,  orange,  and  deep  ruby.  The  more 
distinctive  sorts  are  magnificent  acquisitions  for  the  flower  borders  in 
May. 
At  Satton’s. 
Those  who  can  visit  the  Reading  grounds  this  month  will  see  600 
tiials  of  Sweet  Peas.  The  Cupid  type,  the  perennial  Lord  Anson’s  blue, 
and  the  new  and  old  varieties  of  the  Sweet  Pea,  are  all  present  for 
comparison.  A  hurried  tour  over  the  70  acres  of  “  Farm  ’’  nursery  brought 
to  my  notice  such  attractive  hardy  plants  as  Verbenas  in  variety,  but 
especially  the  Miss  Willmott,  wiih  bright  rose-pink  flowers  ;  dwarf 
alpine  Phloxes,  Delphinium  Queen  of  Blues  (elsewhere  named  Butterfly) ; 
Silene  “  Rose,’’  which  produces  lovely  rose  flowers  early  in  spring  from 
an  autumn  sowing.  It  contrasts  well  with  Nemophila  insignis,  and  can 
be  commended  to  those  who  furnish  spring  beds.  A’yssum  saxatile 
citrinum  has  much  softer  coloured  flowers  than  the  A.  saxatile,  and  to 
my  mind  is  more  pleasant  to  look  upon ;  it  is  equally  prohfio,  and  lasts 
for  many  weeks.  I  was  particularly  pleased  with  the  selection  of 
Salpiglossis  that  can  now  be  obtained,  and  which  are  here  grown. 
They  embrace  a  great  diversity  of  colours,  the  flowers  being  large,  bold, 
and  exceedingly  beautiful.  In  place  of  the  few  patches  of  these  that 
aie  usually  sown  in  gardens  there  ought  to  be  square  yard  after  yard. 
Begonias  for  bedding,  also  Antirrhinums,  Polyanthuses,  Primroses,  and 
all  the  most  brilliant  and  useful  classes  of  early  flowering  plants,  each 
of  which  are  carefully  beiog  improved  by  selection  and  crossing,  were 
strongly  in  evidence  a  few  weeks  ago. 
In  the  glass  houses  were  magnificent  Caloeolarias.  Especially  fine 
is  Sutton’s  Cloth  of  Gold,  Sutton’s  Perfection,  and  Sutton’s  Mammoth 
strains  of  the  herbaceous  Calceolarias.  Seeds  were  being  ripened,  and 
with  the  dry  weather  that  has  favoured  the  harvesting  operations,  a 
good  germinating  quality  must  have  resulted.  Here  I  also  saw  that 
beautiful  new  Senecio  named  auriculatissimus,  the  latter  appellation 
meaning  “very  much  ear-shaped,”  and  refers  to  the  form  of  the 
smooth,  deep  green  leaves.  The  plant  produces  wiry  stems  and  will 
grow  3  feet  high,  the  flowers  being  brilliant  Dandelion-yellow,  and 
borne  in  clusters.  It  blooms  profusely.  Streptocarpus  Wendlandi, 
with  its  enormous  single  leaf  and  tall  blue  flower  scapes,  was  well 
shown  at  the  Temple  Show.  It  is  a  splendid  plant  to  associate  on 
indoor  rockeries.  The  multiflora  hybrids  were  likewise  excellent. 
Saintpaulia  ionantha  and  its  white  variety  are  gems  for  pot  or  border 
culture  in  stoves— easy  to  grow,  and  so  beautiful.  Gloxinias  in  the 
varieties  Empress,  Scarlet  Queen,  Majesty,  Reading  Scarlet,  Reading 
Purple,  Violet  Queen,  Duke  of  York,  and  Duchess  of  York  were  glorious 
both  as  individual  plants  and  in  the  mass.  Everything,  in  fact,  not 
forgetting  the  Alpine  Star  Cinerarias,  Auriculas,  Hollyhocks,  Schizan- 
thus,  Kalanchoe  flammea,  Calla  Elliottiana,  Primulas,  tuberous 
Begonias,  and  a  breadth  of  40,000  Strawberries,  was  in  excellent  condi¬ 
tion,  as  one  might  expect.  After  an  interesting  inspection  of  the  seed 
warehouses,  packing  sheds,  offices,  Ac.,  Ac.,  there  was  but  time  left  to 
run  down  to  Sulhamstead  on  a  visit  to  Mr.  Robert  Fenn,  abont  whose 
personality  the  following  notes  deal. 
Robert  Fenn. 
When  one  comes  to  look  around  and  see  many  men  bent  and  feeble 
at  sixty,  sixty -five,  and  seventy  years  of  age,  he  cannot  but  be  regarded 
as  a  personality  of  rare  interest  who  is  so  hale  and  hearty  as  to  trip 
up  and  down  flights  of  stairs  as  lightly  as  a  young  girl,  and  do  the 
necessary  work  of  a  large  cottage  garden,  besides  the  clerical  duties 
incumbent  on  the  assistant  overseer  of  extensive  parishes,  while  bearing 
the  burden  of  fourscore  years  and  four.  Yet  such  a  patriaroh  is  Robert 
Fenn,  one  of  the  oldest  identities  of  the  Cottage  Gardener  and  Journal 
of  Eorticultw e.  Mr.  Fenn,  indeed,  has  contributed  to  the  pages  of  this 
Journal  since  its  foundation.  He  is  hoping  to  spend  the  evening  ot  his 
days  at  Sulhamstead,  in  rural  Berkshire,  living  under  the  shade  of  his 
own  Vine  and  Fig  trees  (and  hundreds  of  others  of  his  own  trees  for  the 
matter  of  that),  in  as  typical  an  English  cottage  as  an  artist  could  ever 
choose  to  paint,  or  the  writer  to  describe.  It  crowns  the  summit  of  a 
sharply  rising  eminence,  reached  by  a  winding  country  lane  all  fringed 
with  grass,  Hemlocks,  and  Buttercups,  the  cottage  itself  being  clustered 
over  roof  and  front  with  Vines,  yellow  Banksian  Roses,  the  golden 
Japanese  reticulated  Honeysuckle,  and  a  wealth  of  odorous  flowers 
produced  by  the  wild  English  variety.  The  rays  of  the  evening  sun, 
streaming  from  over  the  western  side,  are  broken  and  veiled  by  a  line 
of  tall  Oak  trees,  Poplars,  Ac.,  which  the  owner  of  the  cottage  planted 
long,  long  years  ago. 
Robert  Fenn  was  born  at  Rushbrooke,  near  Bury  St.  Edmunds, 
two  years  after  Waterloo’s  decisive  battle  added  lustre  to  our  valour 
and  gave  peace  to  Europe.  Three  years  after  Fenn’s  birth  heating 
by  hot  water  became  the  system  by  which  warm  temperatures  are 
maintained  in  plant  houses.  This  event,  in  1820,  has  come  to  be 
regarded  as  the  inauguration  of  an  horticultural  evolutionary  period, 
whose  progress  still  reaches  to  higher  planes  at  the  present  day. 
Hybridisation  at  that  date  was  unknown,  though  Dean  Herbert  was  active 
very  shortly  afterwards.  The  earliest  novelties  in  Rhododendrons  and 
Heaths  had  only  reached  our  English  soil  just  prior  to  1820,  but  many 
fresh  collectors  were  soon  missioned  to  foreign  lands,  and  gradually,  as 
succeeding  decades  came  and  passed,  the  beauty  and  variety  of  the 
shrubs  and  plants  in  our  gardens  beoame  more  remarkable  and  numerous. 
We  have  only  to  go  back  to  the  period  of  Robert  Fenn’s  prime,  and 
what  were  gardens  when  contrasted  with  those  of  to-day  ?  Why,  the 
whole  races  of  florists’  flowers  and  Potatoes  have  become  revolutionised 
since  then.  It  is  not  so  long  ago  that  old  Donald  Beaton  (another 
contributor  to  the  Cottage  Gardener )  insisted  that  the  best  and 
proper  way  to  propagate  Cyclamens  was  by  division  of  the  corms. 
There  is  certainly  nothing  to  take  exception  at  in  this,  but  it  is 
representative  of  the  times  in  which  he  lived  and  practised  the 
gardening  craft.  To-day  each  garden  must  have  hundreds  of  Cyclamens, 
each  bearing  scores  of  noble  flowers,  from  seeds  sown  a  trifle  over 
twelve  months  before  the  flowers  expand. 
Mr.  Donald  Beaton  was  a  close  friend  of  Fenn’s  for  many  years. 
They  talked  often  about  hybridising  Zonal  Pelargoniums.  Now  inception 
came,  and  in  this  wise  :  whilst  Fenn  was  thinking  about  many  things,  as 
he  was  wont,  in  the  old  rectory  garden  at  Woodstock,  Donald,  then  at  his 
zenith  with  the  Geranium,  suggested  Robert  to  give  up  his  unsatisfactory 
selections,  and  try  to  outvie  with  creation  by  artificial  cross  hybrid¬ 
isation  of  the  Potato  ?  It  was  done.  I  take  it  for  granted  that  all 
readers  of  “  Our  Journal  ”  appreciate  Mr.  Fenn’s  prolonged,  consistent, 
and  patient  work  for  the  improvement  of  this  vitally  essential,  esculent 
tuber.  He  is  the  “  Potato  King,”  a  title  which  sounds  ludificatory,  but 
which  anyone  might  heartily  covet.  Well,  as  I  say,  the  idea  to  hybridise 
Potatoes  (Solanums)  having  become  awakened,  our  old  friendi  began 
serious  work  in  1837.  An  American  gentleman,  Mr.  C.  G.  Pringle, 
gave  Mr.  Fenn  an  indigenous  variety  of  that  continent,  and  this  was 
first  of  all  crossed  with  Red  Regent.  The  resulting  seedlings  from  the 
hybrid  seeds  were  all  different  from  their  parents;  a  very  encouraging 
start.  So  the  old  English  varieties,  the  Rocks,  the  Irish  Regents, 
Champion,  and  others,  were  included  in  the  crossing  operations,  whioh 
have  been  pursued  year  after  year,  even  up  to  1901.  Most  of  Mr. 
Fenn’s  novelties  and  improved  varieties  have  been  offered  to  commerce 
through  the  agency  of  the  Royal  Seed  Firm  at  Reading.  I  had  thought 
to  write  much  more  about  Mr.  Fenn’s  recent  Potato  crosses,  and  about 
his  work  in  the  garden,  but  he  has  promised  to  write  of  these  himself, 
and  his  remarks  will  be  of  much  greater  value  than  mine  in  this 
connection.  As  already  mentioned,  the  old  man  is  busy  with  parish 
clerical  work,  assistant  overseer  for  the  two  Sulhamsteads,  church¬ 
warden,  and  one  of  the  executive  councillors  in  the  Primrose  League, 
lately  contested  elections  for  guardians,  Ac.,  and  now  the  registration  of 
voters,  whioh  is  so  extensive  that,  to  use  his  own  words,  **  it  is  like 
writing  a  three-volume  novel  every  six  months.”  He  has  fully  half 
an  acre  of  garden,  and  several  beautiful  meadows,  where  he  cultivated 
Potatoes  in  the  days  of  his  earlier  vigour.  He  showed  me  some  Elton 
Pine  Strawberry  plants,  which  were  given  to  him  sixty  years  ago  by 
Thomas  Andrew  Knight,  Esq.,  first  President  of  the  Royal  Horticultural 
Society,  and  near  by  the  Strawberries  grows  some  Rhubarb  received 
at  the  same  time  from  Turnbull,  then  in  charge  of  the  gardens  at 
Blenheim.  All  the  trees  in  Robert  Fenn’s  orchards  were  raised  from 
pips  sown  by  himself,  who  has  lived  to  gather  tons  of  fruit  from  them; 
and  is  there  not  something  wonderful,  to  say  no  more,  in  this  old 
man,  who  was  able  to  go  and  plant  The  Queen  variety  of  Apple,  in  a 
well-selected  spot  in  the  orchard,  on  the  day  and  hour  that  his,  and 
our,  beloved  Queen  Victoria  was  laid  to  rest  in  the  mausoleum  at 
Frogmore  ? 
Robert  Fenn  has  good  chances  of  emulating  the  old  Irish  woman 
who  died  in  Cork  a  week  ago  at  the  age  of  108  years.  His  face  is  fresh 
and  ruddy,  at  least  so  much  as  is  not  obscured  by  his  long,  snow  white, 
bushy  beard.  To  an  eager  listener  he  talks  volubly  and  incessantly, 
and  if  his  discourse  should  ebb  or  wane,  a  question  relative  to  the 
friends  and  fancies  of  half  or  three  parts  of  a  century  ago,  prompts  the 
octogenarian  mind  to  further  enthusiastic  reminiscence.  He  delights 
to  recall  his  own  and  others’  efforts  to  establish  numerous  flower  shows 
whose  careers  have  been,  and  still  are,  successful  and  flourishing.  He 
is  proud  of  his  long  connection  and  service  upon  the  Frnit  and  Vege¬ 
table  Committee  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society,  whose  sittings  he 
regularly  attended  at  a  period  when  the  Sooiety  required  the  support  of 
enthusiastic  supporters.  To  those  who  know  Robert  Fenn  and  his  splendid 
work  it  remains  an  inexplicable  matter  why  his  achievements  have  gone 
unhonoured  by  this  foremost  of  British  horticultural  societies.  His 
finished  work  is  an  ineffaceable  monument,  and  there  are  some  of  us 
who  may  yet  live  long  to  preserve  his  memory. — Wandering  Willie. 
