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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
October  11,  1900. 
Snccessfnl  Market  Gardening  at  Ifonnt  Sorrel. 
A  FIVE  mile  ride  along  the  broad  main  road  leading  from  Leicester 
to  Loughborough  forms  a  pleasant  diversion  for  a  jaded  worker  at 
any  season  of  the  year ;  but  when  the  journey  is  made  during  a 
delightfully  sunny  September  afternoon  one  is  apt  to  take  a  ro.«eate 
view  of  life  and  things  in  general,  and  to  cherish  the  conviction  that 
Leicestershire,  with  all  its  flatness  and  lack  of  variety  of  scenery,  is  still 
a  fair  county  to  visit,  and  a  healthy  one  to  live  in.  Such  thoughts 
passed  through  my  mind  as  I  recently  sped  onward  to  the  picturesque 
village  of  Mount  Sorrel,  which  is  by  no  means  a  small  one ;  nor  are 
the  inhabitants  lacking  in  enterprise.  The  mount  juts  out  from  a 
sloping  hillside,  and  forms  a  rugged  landmark,  beneath  and  around 
which  the  village  nestles.  Tradition  has  it  that  the  summit  of  the 
mount  was  once  crowned  by  a  stately  castle,  which  shared  the  fate  of 
many  others  which  for  a  time  barred  the  way  to  Cromwell’s  victorious 
march.  The  200,000  inhabitants  of  Leicester  need  immense  supplies 
of  vegetables,  and  in  the  neighbourhood  are  many  thriving  market 
gardeners,  who  have  pressed  onward  in  the  battle  of  life  by  raising 
and  growing  crops  to  supply  those  needs.  Vegetables  are  a  necessary 
of  life,  and  though  they  have  sometimes  to  be  sold  cheaply  the  cost 
of  production  is  not  great,  and  in  large  manufacturing  towns  they  are 
more  readily  disposed  of  than  choicer  products  which  cost  more  to 
grow,  hence  the  reason  why  in  such  districts  vegetable  growing  is  the 
most  profitable  branch  of  horticulture. 
The  village  of  Mount  Sorrel  has  reason  to  be  proud  of  the  good 
work  accomplished  by  Mr.  W.  Whittle,  a  thriving  market  gardener, 
who,  by  the  indomitable  will  and  steady  perseverance  of  a  true  Briton, 
has  fought  and  won  against  the  keen  competition  of  modern  times ; 
that,  too,  without  having  had  a  horticultural  training.  Until  on  the 
verge  of  forty  he  was  a  skilled  workman  in  a  manufacturing  trade, 
and  having  always  taken  an  interest  in  gardening,  at  that  age  h* 
commenced  his  business  career  by  renting  a  few  acres  of  land  to  grow 
vegetables.  It  was  no  child’s  play  in  those  days  of  early  struggles  ; 
for  the  irosjeious  man  of  to-day  had  then  absolutely  no  capital. 
Still  he  struggled  onward,  finding  out  for  himself  what  crops  were 
the  most  profitable,  and  the  way  to  grow  them.  With  the  help  ol 
his  family  matters  steadily  improved  till  he  was  able  to  purchase  a  few 
acres  of  land,  and  to-day  Mr.  Whittle  is  the  owner  of  from  20  to  30 
acres  of  good,  sound  land,  which,  through  high  feeding  and  the  best 
of  culture,  will  produce  splendid  crops,  which  always  find  a  ready 
sale.  Strawberries,  early  Cabbage,  Potatoes,  Cauliflowers,  and  winter 
greens  of  various  descriptions  are  grown  in  large  quantities,  and 
invariably  leave  a  margin  on  the  right  side. 
At  the  time  of  my  visit  I  found  a  long  border  in  front  of  a  south 
wall  entirely  occupied  by  Tomatoes,  and  a  heavier  crop  it  would 
scarcely  be  possible  to  produce,  the  varieties  grown  being  Early 
Evesham  and  Laxton’s  Earliest  of  All.  There  is,  however,  an 
unfortunate  point  to  record — viz.,  fully  one-half  of  the  fruits  are 
blackened  by  disease.  A  breadth  of  Potatoes  growing  near  showed 
signs  of  disease  a  few  wetks  ago,  and  the  Tomatoes  also  were  shortly 
afterwards  affected.  Mr.  Whittle  knew  nothing  about  the  Bordeaux 
mixture,  or  he  might  have  sprayed  both  Potatoes  and  Tomatoes 
in  July,  and  thus  prevented  the  attack.  Still  it  is  another  lesson 
learned  by  experience,  and  will  doubtless  be  turned  to  account  in  the 
future. 
During  the  last  few  years  a  good  deal  of  glass  has  been  erected, 
and  further  additions  will  probably  be  made  shortly.  In  the  matter 
of  glass,  as  in  most  other  things,  Mr.  Whittle  has  large  ideas.  True 
he  has  a  few  small  houses,  which  have  been  bought  at  sales,  but  the 
length  of  the  majority  is  numbered  by  hundreds  of  feet.  In  one 
span-roofed  structure,  240  feet  in  length,  the  crop  of  Cucumbers,  which 
I  was  informed  had  been  a  very  fine  one,  was  almost  over,  and  would 
shortly  be  cleared  to  make  room  for  Chrysanthemums.  Early  in  the 
season  a  row  of  Ferns  had  been  placed  on  the  soil  of  the  Cucumber 
bed,  and  at  the  time  of  my  visit  thousands  upon  thousands  of  young 
seedlings  were  growing  in  the  soil  on  the  edge  of  the  bed.  A  most 
valuable  “catch”  crop  this,  as  Ferns  m  quantity  were  wanted,  and  a 
few  weeks’  work  for  “young  hands”  could  easily  be  found  in  lifting 
and  pricking  off  the  baby  Ferns.  Tomatoes  and  Cucumbers  were 
the  principal  crops  in  the  other  large  houses,  and  Ferns  in  the 
smaller  ones.  Next  year  one  house  will  probably  be  planted  with 
Grapes. 
A  word  about  what  is  termed  the  “big”  Tomato  house,  erected 
on  the  Jersey  style,  it  is  240  feet  in  length,  and  36  feet  in  width. 
When  I  saw  it  perhaps  not  more  than  half  the  crop  had  been  cut,  so 
no  definite  idea  could  be  given  as  to  the  total  weight  of  fruit  that  one 
house  would  produce,  but  it  would  certainly  amount  to  several  tons. 
Here  again  a  common  error  had  been  made,  the  plants  having  been 
set  a  little  too  close.  It  is  a  mistake  so  easily  made  in  large  houses^ 
where  the  plants  are  planted  in  rows  acro.'ss  the  border.  Another  item 
will  therefore  be  added  to  the  long  list  of  details  learned  by  experience, 
and  stored  in  the  memory  for  future  benefit.  This  point  clearly 
illustrates  the  character  of  the  man  who  has  fought  his  way  onward 
against  difficulties  which  a  trained  horticulturist  would  not  have  to 
encounter.  Notwithstanding  such  drawbacks,  however,  there  is  still 
no  lack  of  enthusiasm  ;  and  the  next  phase  of  gardening  which  Mr. 
Whittle  intends  to  grapple  with  is  the  names  of  the  best  plants  to 
grow  for  market  ;  on  this  matter  at  present  his  knowledge  is 
almost  nil. 
Such  is  a  brief  sketch  of  the  struggles  of  a  type  of  man  ot 
which  Britain  cannot  have  too  many ;  he  believes  in  the  ultimate  victory 
of  the  man  who  sticks  to  his  task,  and  la.'^t  spring,  when  General 
Buller  was  encountering  almost  insuperable  difficulties  in  crossing  and 
recrossing  the  Tugela  river,  a  happy  thought  struck  the  struggler  at 
Mount  Sorrel,  and  henceforth  his  flourishing  concern  will  be  known  afr 
Tugela  Nurseries. — Midlander, 
- (.#.> - 
A  Fine  Tomato. 
Whatever  there  may  be  of  newness  or  distinctness  in  any  Tomato, 
certainly  the  one  under  notice  has  as  much  claim  to  be  regarded  as 
distinct  as  any  other.  I  had  a  note  a  few  days  since  from  a  total 
stranger  to  me,  Mr.  J.  Walker,  gardener  to  A.  G.  Poole,  Esq.,  of 
Fairfield,  Cobham,  Surrey,  asking  if  I  would  be  pleased  to  call  there 
and  see  what  he  regarded  as  a  fine  lot  of  Tomatoes.  Having  jnst  then 
a  few  hours’  leisure  I  went  down  as  desired.  I  found  Fairfield  to  be 
about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  Cobham  station  on  the  S.W.  Railway,  and 
right  on  the  edge  of  what  is,  I  think,  called  Fair  Mile  Common, 
certainly  a  delightful  spot  in  the  summer,  whatever  may  be  its 
“  attractions  ”  in  the  winter.  The  place  looks  south  over  a  beautiful 
range  of  country.  The  gardens  are  very  pretty,  the  grounds  well 
wooded,  and  present  altogether  a  spot  where  one  may  find  life- 
exceedingly  pleasant  and  enjoyable. 
The  Tomatoes  were  found  in  a  span-roof  house,  10  feet  broad  at 
the  base,  and  30  feet  in  length,  the  roof  having  a  sharp  pilch  to  tho 
ridge,  which  is  7  feet  from  the  ground.  The  plants  were  in  8-inch 
pots,  and  there  were  thirty-two  of  them  on  each  side.  Even  with 
such  restricted  root  room  the  pots  were  not  entirely  filled  with  soil. 
Judging  by  the  truly  grand  crop,  and  wonderfully  fine  fruit  seen  when 
I  looked  in,  the  assumption  seems  fair  that  the  less  root  area  Tomatoes 
have  the  better  they  fruit.  The  illustration  (fig.  92)  given  of  a  few 
of  the  plants  at  one  end  of  the  house  conveys  but  a  poor  idea  as  to  the 
appearance  of  the  crop  on  the  sixty-four  plants.  Not  only  was  it  a 
remarkably  heavy  one,  but  I  have  never  at  any  time,  and  I  have  seen 
a  few  houses  of  Tomatoes,  noticed  so  many  fruits  ripen  at  once  that 
would  be  regarded  as  first-class  for  exhibition.  I  could  have  gathered 
100  fruits  that  would  have  challenged  any  other  private  gardener  to 
have  beaten  with  an  equal  number  from  his  garden. 
The  pots  were  standing  on  narrow  troughs  filled  with  animal 
manure  and  road  scrapings  in  equal  quantities,  intp  which  roots  from 
the  pot  holes  could  run.  Still  there  was  no  great  evidence  that  they  did 
so.  The  seeds  were  sown  on  February  20th.  The  seedling  plants  were 
got  into  GO-sized  pots  in  March,  then  into  32’s  early  in  April,  and  had 
their  final  potting  and  were  put  into  the  fruiting  positions  on  May  2Dd. 
That  will  show  that  they  were  neither  unduly  hurried  nor  allowed  to 
stagnate.  Their  final  compost  consisted  of  turfy  loam,  road  scrapings, 
leaf  soil,  well  decayed  animal  manure,  wood  ashes,  soot,  and  bonemeal. 
It  was  no  doubt  on  the  whole  a  good  compost,  and  experience  showed 
in  the  results  that  the  plants  liked  it. 
The  soil  was  made  fairly  firm  in  the  pots,  and  as  a  special  stimulant 
a  light  dressing  of  superphosphate  was  tried,  but  no  appreciable 
benefit  resulted.  Of  course  each  plant  was  severely  restricted  to 
single  stems.  The  house  is  amply  ventilated  by  sliding  sashes  at  the 
top  and  sliding  frames  at  the  sides  near  the  ground.  A  marked  feature 
in  the  fruits  was  the  absence  of  cracking. 
The  variety  was  obtained  by  Mr.  Walker  a  few  years  since  by 
crossing  Perfection  with  a  variety  named  Shardelow,  but  I  had  never 
previously  heard  of  it.  The  fruits  have  all  the  Perfection  form,  are 
very  fine,  and  seem  to  have  no  small  ones.  It  will  be  no  matter  for 
surprise  to  find  that  this  fine  stock  will  soon  be  in  the  market,  as  Messrs. 
Jas.  Veitch  &  Sons  of  Chelsea  have  the  seed  stock  for  disposal.  The 
variety  is  named  Fairfield  Tomato. — A.  D. 
