396 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER . 
May  9,  1901. 
Gadding  and  Gathering. 
“  Here  awa’,  There  awa’.” 
Daffodil  Ideals. 
The  following:  paragraph  ought  to  have  appeared  along  with  the 
other  notes  on  “Daffodils  at  LoDg  Ditton  ”  in  last  week’s  issue,  but  it 
was  unavoidably  eliminated.  Speaking  of 
the  characters  and  forms  of  Daffodils,  Mr. 
William  Barr  told  me  that  whenever  a 
seedling  shows  the  least  inclination  to  have 
tied  petals— that  is,  petals  whose  appear¬ 
ance  suggests  that  they  have  not  complete 
freedom  to  develop,  in  short,  any  petal  not 
properly  spread  or  arranged  in  position— is 
at  once  discarded.  Form  is  a  vital  quality. 
Growers  are  seeking  for  other  varieties  of 
the  cyclamineus  and  Queen  of  Spain  types. 
The  latter,  unfortunately,  proves  useless  for 
crossing  purposes,  as  it  is  sterile.  It  is 
hoped  that  the  dwarf  little  N.  cyclamineus 
may  yet  give  the  start,  and  progress  will 
follow.  The  idea  is  to  transfer  the  reflexed 
habit  of  the  perianth  segments,  seen  in  the 
above  varieties,  to  the  larger  trumpet 
Daffodils.  Up  to  a  certain  stage  such  a 
character  would  add  charm  to  many  of  the 
larger  trumpet  sorts.  It  is  certainly  the 
reflexed  habit  whioh  endows  N.  cycla¬ 
mineus  and  the  King  and  Queen  of  Spain 
varieties  with  the  piquancy  and  exquisite 
elegance  which  they  possess.  It  is  a  saying 
that  possesses  some  amount  of  truth,  that 
“the  more  there  are,  the  meriier  is  the 
party.”  We  may  apply  the  sense,  and 
Bay  that  the  more  hybridisers  there  are,  the 
greater  will  be  the  variety  we  soon  shall 
evolve,  and  the  sooner  will  the  “  Daffodil 
ideals  ”  be  realised. 
Acres  of  Glass. 
Toward  the  northern  reaches  of  London, 
that  is,  out  Finchley  way,  the  huge  market 
gardens  that  supply  our  greatest  city  with 
some  of  those  things  that  are  good  to  eat  and  pleasant  to  behold,  lie 
scattered.  Two  or  three,  at  least,  of  the  larger  of  them,  consist  of 
many  acres  of  span-roofed  and  other  glass  houses.  At  Mr.  James 
Sweet’s  (lately  presented  with  the  Victoria  Medal  of  Honour  in 
horticulture)  the  acreage  of  glass  amounts  to  between  thirty-five  and 
forty;  Mr.  Peter  Kay,  a  neigh¬ 
bouring  marketman,  has  forty 
acres  or  thereabouts ;  Mr.  Batho 
has  somewhere  about  thirty ;  and 
there  are  numerous  others  with 
very  extensive  establishments.  I 
enjoyed  the  privilege  of  a  visit  to 
the  Whetstone  jardin  maraicher 
on  the  second  day  of  the  present 
month.  Here  Mr.  Sweet  talked 
about  his  thousands  of  Heaths 
and  other  Ericas  as  though  these 
were  but  everyday  numbers  in  the 
trade.  As  a  matter  of  fact  he 
grows  about  40,000  of  these  in  5 
and  6-inch  pots  ;  Cytisus,  almost 
as  many ;  and  the  same  with 
dwarf  pot  Mignonette,  Margue¬ 
rites,  Boronias,  and  a  few  other 
extra  popular  market  plants.  The 
London  public  are  virtually  sup¬ 
plied  with  certain  hard  and  some 
softwooded  plants  from  this  one 
market  garden.  To  large  towns 
in  the  Midlands,  and  even  so  far 
north  as  to  Glasgow,  enormous 
quantities  of  the  plants  named 
are  annually  despatched. 
Mr."|.Sweet  has  long  had  a 
great  reputation  as  an  unexcelled 
Heath  grower,  and  he  still  seeks 
to,  and  successfully,  maintains  his 
position.  From  the  time  the  cut¬ 
tings  are  first  inserted  till  the 
plants  are  fully  flowered,  each 
successive  operation  is  carefully 
considered,  and  long  experience 
has  taught  'Mr.  Sweet  and  his 
growers  just  how  his  plants  should 
be  treated.'  ^Cuttings  of  the 
Mr.  A.  Mackellak. 
Mr.  Owen  Thomas. 
Heaths  are  taken  at  all  times  of  the  year,  though,  perhaps,  principally 
in  January  and  February.  Six  or  eight,  each  about  4  inches  in  length, 
are  inserted  around  the  inside  circumference  of  3-inch  pots,  and  are 
rooted  in  low  span-roofed  houses.  At  the  present  time  of  year  these 
houses  are  shaded  with  limewash.  A  temperature  of  about  65°,  with 
a  moderate  amount  of  moisture,  is  allowed.  No  flowers  are  ever  left 
on  the  young  plants,  but  each  is  removed  so  soon  as  seen,  to  afford 
the  fullest  amount  of  strength  to  the 
growing  plants.  They  are  kept  pinched  for 
the  sake  of  good  shape.  Potting  is  per¬ 
formed  only  when  the  plants  show  to  the 
trained  eyes  that  a  shift  would  benefit 
them.  According  to  the  state  of  the 
weather,  and  the  growth  of  the  plants,  the 
time  for  placing  them  outdoors  is  governed. 
They  are  plunged  amongst  ashes  in  the 
open  air,  quite  exposed,  during  the  entire 
summer.  The  plants,  as  sold  in  the 
markets,  are  usually  two  and  three  years 
old.  Ericas  Cavendishiaua,  magnifica,  per- 
soluta  alba,  hyemalis,  erecta,  and  such 
others,  are  the  chief  varieties  that  are 
grown  at  Whetstone. 
The  vineries  are  very  numerous,  and 
when  I  describe  them  as  being  from 
184  feet  long  and  36  feet  wide,  up  to 
400  feet  in  length  and  26  feet  in  width, 
I  expect  some  of  my  readers  will  question 
whether  there  is  not  a  mistake.  To  peer 
from  end  to  end  of  one  of  those  400  feet 
vineries,  with  the  bunches  at  present  in 
their  second  stage  of  swelling,  is  like 
perspectifying  ”  through  some  close-cut 
pass  of  a  Highland  glen.  The  fine,  clean, 
strong  growth  of  every  one  of  the  Vines 
would  please  the  hearts  of  our  enthusiastic 
Grape  growers.  Outside  and  inside  borders  . 
are  provided,  and  both  are  well  mulched 
throughout  the  summer,  the  dressings 
being  put  on  just  at  this  time.  Before 
the  littery  stuff — not  sappy  muck,  but  dry 
London  litter — is  put  on,  the  borders  are 
all  pointed  over,  and  are  heavily  watered 
afterwards  when  the  mulch  has  been 
spread.  In  all  the  late  house,  two  4J-inch  flow  and  two  similar  return 
pipes  are  sufficient.  The  top  ventilators  are  intermittent — that  is, 
the  whole  of  the  top  does  not  lift  up,  but  only  parts  of  the  sashes, 
at  intervals  of  6  to  10  feet.  The  Vines  are  all  young,  say  up 
to  twelve  or  fifteen  years,  and  bear  heavily  and  evenly.  Altogether, 
an  hour  spent  in  such  a  great 
market  garden  is  very  instructive 
and  exceedingly  interesting,  and 
more  so  to  anyone  with  reflective 
tendencies.  In  those  vineries 
where  youDg  Vines  have  been 
planted,  the  entire  central  part  of 
the  house  is  devoted  to  planted- 
out  Tomatoes,  little  more  than  a 
foot  apart  either  way,  and  led  up 
on  slender  canes,  from  the  top  of 
which  a  stout  string  is  fastened, 
to  afford  greater  steadiness.  The 
variety  named  The  Trophy  is 
favoured.  Such  plantings  are 
only  looked  upon  as  catch  crops, 
and  are  rooted  out  before  very 
long. — Wandering  Willie. 
Cholsya  ternata. — Few 
shrubby  plants  are  more  popular 
for  spring  pot  use  than  this 
white  flowered  subject.  The 
individual  flowers  much  resemble 
those  of  Clematis  indivisa,  but 
they  are  less  in  size,  and  perhaps 
are  more  severely  white.  The 
plant  blooms  in  erect,  nicely 
spreading  trusses,  and  has  very 
dark  green  ternate  leaves.  As 
a  plant  in  6-inch  pots  for  the 
conservatory  stage  it  is  com¬ 
mendable  for  early  use.  It 
succeeds,  of  course,  in  the  open 
air  in  borders  and  on  rockeries. 
Where  it  does  not  flower  well 
it  is  still  good  as  a  foliage 
shrub. 
