JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
352 
Gadding  and  Gathering. 
“Here  awa’.  There  awa’.” 
The  Farningham  Site. 
While  gardeners  in  general  have  mnoh  to  do  with  sites  (and 
sights)  which  more  or  less  apply  to  their  own  local  spheres,  the 
Farningham  site  proposed  for  a  new  garden  of  the  Royal  Horticultural 
Society  is  one  which  doubtless  engages  some  attention  from  all  active- 
minded  Adamites  at  the  present  period.  It  will  be  remembered  that  a 
notice  was  published  from  the  R.H.S.  headquarters  appointing  a  special 
day,  place,  and  hour  of  meeting  for  Fellows  to  journey  down  to  the 
Kent-land  to  view  the  new  site.  The  day  and  the  hour  came,  and 
fifteen  earnest  “Royalists”  met  at  Victoria  Station,  the  London 
terminus  of  the  South-Eastern  and  Chatham  Railway.  The  day  was 
exceedingly  pleasant,  and  though  the  journey  consumed  exactly  one 
hour  and  three  minutes,  the  time  was  enjoyably  passed.  A  party  of 
horticulturists  passing  suoh  scenes  as  fields  of  sprouting  Hops,  old  and 
new  orchards,  market  gardens,  and  woods  adorned  with  thousands  of 
little  white  Anemones,  are  never  at  a  loss  for  conversative  matter. 
The  latest  successes  with  Hippeastrums  were  discussed  by  Captain 
Holford  and  Harry  J.  Veitoh,  Esq.,  than  whom  probably  no  two  gentlemen 
have  better  collections  of  these  plants.  The  superintendent  from 
Chiswick  Gardens  was  retailing  to  the  fruit  experts  the  dates  on  which 
this  or  that  variety  of  Plum  or  Peach  had  opened  its  flowers,  and  the 
hardy  plantsmen  in  their  turn  waxed  eloquent  over  their  favourites 
elect,  and  rambled  back  to  the  histories  of  past-time  growers.  Such 
minor  matters  as  international  politics,  Chinese  indemniiies,  budgets 
and  sugar  taxes  ne’er  bothered  the  heads  of  our  F.’s  of  the  R.H.S.  The 
Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  could  tax  what  he  liked,  and  the  grumbling 
could  easily  be  done  afterwards  ;  but  to  consider  the  pros  and  cons  of 
this  brand  new  site  was  a  task  of  importance. 
Arrived  at  the  twenty-first  milestone  from  London  (Farningham 
Road  station),  the  party  set  out  and  walked  the  tortuous,  hilly  road 
through  Darenth  Vale  to  Rabbits  Farm.  Mr.  Wm.  Marshall,  one  of 
the  Councilmen,  was  in  waiting,  and  soon  unrolled  a  plan  of  the  48  acres, 
1  rood,  2  poles,  of  nicely  disposed  land,  explaining  at  the  same  time  any 
questions  that  were  asked.  Test  holes  had  been  dug  at  three  or  four 
points  over  the  site,  and  the  ground  thus  turned-up  showed  for  the  most 
part  chestnut-brown  loam  lying  over  a  chalk  subsoil.  Narrow  gravel 
seams  were  indicated  along  with  the  loam.  Opinions  were  unanim -us 
that  the  quality  was  as  good  as  could  be  hoped  for,  and  drainage  was 
perfect.  Excellent  crops  of  Wheat  and  Sainfoin  covered  much  of  the 
land.  The  outline  of  the  area  is  very  regular  in  shape,  longest  ou  the 
south-west  and  north  sides,  and  pronouncedly  angled  on  the  southward 
line.  The  sun  strikes  the  whole  surface  land  all  day  long,  there  being 
no  higher  ground  or  sheliering  belt  of  growth  oo  any  of  the  sides. 
Indeed,  the  absence  of  shelter  is  one  of  the  pronounced  disqualifications. 
High  walls,  and  the  north  shelter-belt  of  Beech,  which  it  was  suggested 
would  be  planted,  might,  of  course,  do  a  very  great  deal  in  the  way  of 
protection.  The  ground  slopes  partly  south-east  and  partly  south-west, 
and  is  about  250  feet  above  sea  level.  Water,  gas,  and  manure  can  all 
be  readily  obtained.  Labour,  however,  is  very  scarce  in  the  immediate 
neighbourhood. 
Then  the  lack  of  a  convenient  station  will  tell  heavily  if  the  business 
of  settling  the  site  comes  to  a  poll.  The  presentment  of  the  natural 
surroundings  is  far  from  satisfactory ;  in  fact,  at  present  they  are 
absolutely  ugly.  The  inspection  was  over  in  little  more  than  twenty 
minutes,  and  as  this  happy  laud  was  not  blest  with  any  refreshment  bars, 
or  even  a  humble  inn,  the  members  of  the  party  bore  back  the  way  they 
had  come. 
Another  Site. 
Mr.  Henry  Canned,  however,  invited  one  or  two  of  us  to  another 
site  on  which  he  had  “  had  his  eye,”  as  he  said,  for  a  long  time.  So  we 
bundled  into  the  chaise,  and  for  the  next  three  hours  we  made  an 
exploration  through  the  backwoods  of  Kent.  Whoever  thinks  that 
Kent  is  one  great  cultivated  garden,  thinks  wrongly.  There  are  acres  of 
wild  scrubland  and  wild  woods.  Through  these  woods  or  small  plantations 
are  narrow  cartroads,  over  which  the  neighbouring  trees  and  bushes 
hang  their  branches.  The  result  is  that  one  has  much  better  stooping 
and  bending  exercise  in  trying  to  avoid  a  switch  in  the  face  than  all 
Sp.ndow’s  developers  could  give.  The  Bite  recommended  by  Mr.  Cannell 
lies  about  one  mile  across  the  hill  to  the  south  from  the  Farningham 
site.  The  soil  is  equally  good,  the  position  open  and  sunny,  and 
somewhat  more  sheltered  to  the  north.  Moreover,  it  is  within  reach  of 
a  light  railway  that  shortly  will  be  built  to  connect  Eynsford  with 
Farningham  Road  Station.  The  latter,  by  the  way,  is  fully  a  mile  and 
a  quarter  from  the  village  of  that  name.  Another  village  lies  between, 
that  of  Horton  Kirby.  However,  as  Mr.  Cannell  had  not  made  a  notioe 
of  his  site  to  official  quarters,  his  may  probably  never  come  into  the 
reckoning. 
At  Swanley. 
The  detour  from  Farningham,  around  by  Horton  Kirby,  past  the 
beautiful  country  seat  named  Franks  Hall,  and  on  to  Swanley,  was 
April  25,  1901. 
very  pleasant  indeed.  For  the  first  time  this  year  the  bees,  both 
humble  and  hive  bees,  had  ushered  forth  on  rather  feeble  wings,  aud 
sulphur  butterflies  were  quite  common.  • 
This  part  of  Kent  is  laden  with  the  sweet  odour  of  Wood  Violets, 
which  flower  profusely  on  every  sunny  bank;  also  of  Primroses  and 
Anemones.  At  Swanley  we  had  lunch,  and  afterwards  made  a  run 
through  Mr.  Cannell’s  plant  houses. 
He  has  some  very  fine  breaks  among  his  Cinerarias.  The  polyantha 
varieties  have  developed  enormous  flowers,  and  the  petals  have  become 
fluted  and  twisted  exactly  after  the  fashion  of  a  single  Cactus  Dahlia. 
The  type  offers  remarkable  promises,  though  of  course  another  season 
will  pass  before  a  steady  character  has  been  acquired. 
The  Zonal  Pelargoniums,  especially  the  single  ones,  present  a  galaxy 
of  suoh  brilliance  that  one’s  eyes  are  troubled  if  the  gaze  is  long 
continued.  Some  of  the  individual  flowers  considerably  overlap  the 
edges  of  a  man’s  ordinary  watch  when  the  latter  is  laid  upon  the  pips 
of  the  corolla.  Dahlias,  to  the  extent  of  30,000  plants  in  700  varieties, 
were  being  potted  up  and  re-arranged  in  the  frames.  Seedling  Cactus 
Dahlias  were  very  numerous.  The  Rose  Quoen  variety  of  Primula 
obconica  had  spent  its  flowering  season,  and  seeds  are  ripening;  along 
with  this  delightful  rose  coloured  variety  we  may  expect  soon  to  see  a 
pure  white  one,  from  the  Swanley  firm.  Abutilons  and  Streptosolens, 
in  small  sized  pots,  were  vigorous  and  bushy  ;  winter  flowering  Begonias 
occupy  nearly  a  whole  house,  and  in  other  q  larters  were  the  well-known 
Cannas,  Myosotis,  tuberous  Begonias,  Fuchsias,  and  other  snbjeots 
which  the  Swanley  firm  grow  so  extensively  and  so  well. — Wandering- 
Willie. 
- -i.Q.y - - 
Pear  Bergamotte  Esperen. 
The  Disputed  Award. 
The  Council  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  did  not  express  any 
reasons  for  its  decision  in  not  upholding  the  award  of  merit  recom¬ 
mended  by  the  Fruit  Committee  for  this  Pear;  but  we  believe  the 
reasons  of  the  councilmen  were  that  they  blamed  the  variety  as  one 
that  cannot  be  relied  upon  for  consistent  ripening,  and  growers  may 
not  get  good  eating  fruit  once  in  half  a  dozeu  years. 
One  of  the  best  known  and  most  successful  of  western  growers 
writes  thus  regarding  this  Pear: — “I  have  grown  Pear  Bergamstte 
Esperen  for  some  years  now,  and  in  its  season  consider  it  to  be  one  of 
our  best  late  Pears  ;  it  is  a  very  heavy  cropper,  and  with  us  of  first- 
rate  quality.  In  confirmation  of  this  I  may  add  we  sold  our  last 
season’s  crop  at  28s.  per  cwt.,  and  these  were  afterwards  retailed  at 
5d.  and  6d.  per  lb.  Possibly  soil  and  situation  may  have  had  something 
to  do  with  this.  The  whole  of  my  trees  are  of  pyramid  or  bush  form, 
and  consequently  are  growing  in  the  open.  There  are  other  trees  of 
this  Pear  growing  some  two  or  three  miles  from  my  place  where  the 
fruit  is  equally  good.” 
In  reply  to  an  inquiry  by  us  regarding  Pear  Bergamotte  Esperen, 
Mr.  C.  Dixon,  head  gardener  at  Holland  House,  writes  :  “We  have  no 
oil  trees  of  the  variety;  the  fruits  I  put  before  the  Fruit  Committee  on 
the  9th  of  this  month  were  from  a  tree  planted  in  1892,  and  from  the 
first  crop  it  had  borne,  so  my  experience  of  the  cropping  qualities  of 
the  variety  is  limited.  It  shows  no  signs  of  blooming  this  season 
at  all.” 
This  late  dessert  Pear,  of  long  proved  merit,  is  often  miscalled 
Bergamot  d’Esperen,  as  if  Esperen  was  the  place  of  irs  origin,  but  it  is 
not.  The  Pear  was  raised  by  Major  Esperen  at  Malines.  It  is,  . 
therefore,  Esperen’s  Bergamotte,  or  in  French,  its  original  and  proper 
name,  Bergamotte  Esperen.  Its  origin,  about  1830,  is  recorded  in  Dr. 
Hogg’s  “  Fruit  Manual,”  fifth  edition,  page  500. 
It  is  essentially  a  late  Pear,  and  as  such  requires  to  be  grown 
against  a  wall  in  cold  or  northerly  districts.  In  the  South,  and  far  into 
the  Midlands,  it  succeeds  as  an  espalier  or  pyramid,  also  occasionally 
in  favourable  soils  and  sites  as  a  standard.  It  is  prudent,  however,  to 
give  the  tree  the  benefit  of  a  wall  where  this  is  available,  as  the  fruit 
is  so  worthy  of  it.  Still  a  low  standard  in  a  garden  in  Lincolnshire, 
on  the  border  of  the  Fens  (not  a  tropical  locality),  gave  excellent  crops 
for  years,  that  ripened  so  well  that  there  was  no  difficulty  in  obtaining 
a  shilling  a  pound  for  the  fruits  when  they  were  in  table  condition 
during  April  and  May.  The  tree  had,  no  doubt,  a  certain  amount  of 
shelter,  as  it  was  in  the  centre  of  a  village,  for  this  Pear  did  not  ripen 
well  with  the  late  Mr.  Blaokmore  from  his  cultivated  orchard  trees  at 
Teddington. 
Like  other  very  late  Pears,  Bergamotte  Esperen  is  not  generally 
suitable  for  that  form  of  tree.  It  has  succeeded  as  a  pyramid  in  many 
gardens,  and  is  included  in  Dr.  Hogg’s  No.  2  list  of  “  twelve  select 
Pears  for  pyramid,  bushes,  and  espaliers,”  being  the  latest  in  that 
list — season  January-April  (“  Fruit  Mauual,”  edition  five,  page  671). 
Tre°8  in  those  forms  would  develop  fruit  in  walled  gardens,  exoept  in 
oold  localities  and  wet  or  clayey  soils.  All  the  same,  a  wall  is  the  ideal 
