80 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
July  24,  1902. 
and  my  brother  will  plant,  about  as  many.  Of  these  750  are 
Modesto.  550  Hill,  our  best  early  pink;  550  Robinson,  550  Soleil 
d’Octobre,  200  Carnot,  200  Warren,  150  Niveus,  and  about  fifteen 
other  varieties.  We  are  short  on  late  and  middle  season  pink. 
"I  have  tried  three  years  to  sell  Sweet  Peas.  The  people 
here  say  Peas  are  only  for  eating!  They  grow  and  bloom 
splendidly  but  cannot  be  sold.  A  lot  of  annuals  are  grown  here, 
such  as  Candytuft,  Gypsophi la,  Mignonette,  Myosotis,  and  so  forth, 
also  Cyclamens,  Ericas,  Gardenias,  and  Epacris,  all  outside.  A 
Geranium  when  planted  in  the  garden  is  there  for  all  time,  and  a 
Heliotrope  will  last  for  fifty  years. 
“  One  of  my  brothers  has  planted  15,000  Clivia  miniata  of  the 
finest  strain  ;  lie  sends  the  blooms  to  Berlin.  We  are  very  anxious 
now  about  the  new  tariff  that  Kaiser  William  wants  to  put  on 
flowers,  and  mad  with  our  rotten  railway.” 
Gadding  and  Gathering. 
“Here  .aw a’,  There  awa’.” 
A  Cay  in  Kent. 
The  position  of  Kent  as  a  county,  and  the  .  nature  of  its 
features,  together  with  the  fertility  of  its  soil,  have  contributed 
to  its  past  and  present  distinction  as  a  great  garden  and  fruit 
nursery.  It  is  south  of  London,  while  north  and  east  the  unend¬ 
ing  sea.  the  highway  for  the  ships  of  the  world,  washes  its 
boundaries.  The  chalky  Downs  of  Kent  are  apparent  to  the 
Continental  stranger  while  yet  he  is  far  off,  and  Dover  is  his 
land-placing.  This  was  the  route  in  the  time  of  the  Normans,  and 
is  the  line  of  passage  to-day.  The  sunshine  and  the  soil  in  Kent 
afford  pre-eminence  to  tile  culture  of  Apples,  Plums,  Cherries, 
Pears,  Gooseberries,  Strawberries,  Raspberries,  Currants,  and 
Hops,  and  foolish  indeed  would  Kentish  men  be  to  neglect  these 
blessings  of  Providence. 
Since  Air.  Gladstone  urged  the  culture  of  fruit,  and  par¬ 
ticularly  of  Strawberries,  as  a  counteraction  to  the  agricultural 
depression,  thousands  of  acres  have  been  laid  down,  with  the 
result  that  a  year  of  plenteousness  is  a  year  of  loss  indeed  to  the 
fruit-growers,  and  Mr.  Henry  Cannell  said  to  me  one  day  last 
week,  “  \ ou  have  only  to  mention  Strawberries  up  there” — 
pointing  to  a  farm — “  to  be  knocked  down.”.  He  gave  me  a  paper 
in  which  I  find  the  following  paragraph,  entitled  a — 
“  Glut  in  Strawberries. 
“  A  few  weeks  ago,  when  we  had  a  succession  of  rain,  hail,  and 
frost,  it  was  generally  anticipated  that  this  would  be  a  bad  fruit 
year,  and  that  there  would  be  a  great  scarcity  of  Strawberries. 
The  altered  climatic  conditions,  however,  suddenly  changed  the 
whole  outlook,  and  the  season  now  promises  to  be  memorable  for 
the  large  crops  of  the  ‘  king  of  fruits.’  The  London  markets  have 
been  completely  glutted  this  week  by  the  heavy  consignments  of 
this  luscious  fruit,  and  the  result  lias  been  that  no  higher  price 
than  Is.  6d.  a  peck  is  obtainable.  On  Alonday,  July  14,  in  Mr. 
E.  Vinson’s  fields,  near  Swanley,  no  less  than  3,000  pecks  of 
Strawberries  were  picked,  being  a  record  gathering  on  his  farm, 
and  before  breakfast  on  Tuesday  morning  1,200  peck  baskets  had 
been  filled  by  the  pickers.  On  Monday,  at  Bexley  Railway 
Station,  thirteen  truck  loads  of  the  fruit  were  despatched  to 
London,  and  every  day  the  roads  between  the  Swanley  district 
and  London  have  been  crowded  night  and  day  with  vehicles, 
including  motor  waggons,  bearing  their  freights  of  Strawberries 
for  the  Metropolis.” 
The  same  story  was  applicable  to  Hampshire,  and  we  noted 
the  price  of  Strawberries  at  2d.  per  lb  on  the  costers’  barrows  in 
Fleet  Street.  The  effect  of  such  quantities  of  Strawberries 
filling  the  markets  is  to  cause  a  slump  in  prices.  The  result  of 
that,  again,  may  be  that  growers  will  plant  fewer  acres,  until  in 
ordinary  years  prices  are  profitable  all  the  way  through  for  them. 
They  may  even  plant  less  than  the  demand  would  require,  and 
prices  for  fresh  fruits  would  then  rise  high  even  with  good 
weather.  In  the  Coffee  industry  abroad  there  is  a  constant  see¬ 
saw  in  production.  The  Coffee  plants  require  seven  or  eight 
years  tq  become  fruitful  from  the  time  of  planting.  Large 
plantations  having  been  made  owing  to  the  high  prices  obtain¬ 
able  at  one  time,  the  production  of  Coffee  beans  became  greater 
than  the  demand,  and  prices  fell;  growers  refused  to  plant;  but 
again  in  three  or  four  years  a  strong  upward  tendency  became 
apparent,  and  with  the  rise  in  returns,  the  growrers  again  plant 
"  not  wisely,  but  too  wrell,”  and  sooner  or  later  another  dip  occurs. 
Statistics  over  thirty  or  forty  years  show  regular  rises  and  falls 
m  the  output  in  Coffee,  solely  owring  to  this  cause. 
Motor  Cars  are  Used. 
It  is  interesting  to  note  the  fact  that  Messrs.  Wood,  the  great 
fruit  farmers,  wdio  have  500,000  acres  under  their  charge,  are  now 
employing  motor  cars,  which  draw  eight  tons  of  produce  into 
Covent  Garden  Market  on  each  journey.  Other  growers  will 
assuredly  follow  suit.  I  he  same  firm  are  able  to  employ  steam 
ploughs  for  tillage,  and  as  they  have  a  little  foundry  of  their 
own,  and  capable  artisans,  the  whole  of  the  necessary  repairs  in 
connection  with  their  numerous  vans,  carts,  waggons,  as  well  as 
horse-shoeing,  &c.,  can  be  accomplished  expeditiously,  and  at  the 
least  cost,  under  their  own  supervision.  There  are  a  number  of 
brothers  in  the  business,  and  the  telephone  connects  all  the 
branches  of  the  great  farm.  The  state  and  needs  of  the  London 
and  other  great  markets  being  telegraphed  to  the  central 
quarters,  he  in  command  there  at  once  telephones  right  and  left 
to  the  branch  offices  on  the  estate,  and  boys  commit  the  orders  to 
the  “  gangers  ”  in  the  fields.  Then  there  is  stir  among  the  pickers 
and  gatherers.  Each  is  supplied  with  a  check,  for  piecework  is 
the  rule  everywhere — so  much  per  peck  of  fruit  gathered.  On 
delivering  this  check,  another  is  given  in  exchange  and  the  amount 
of  fruit  just  handed  in  is  put  to  the  picker’s  credit  in  a  book  kept 
by  the  foreman.  Formerly  each  packer  was  paid  daily,  the  pay¬ 
master  visiting  the  different  fields  late  in  the  afternoon  on  horse¬ 
back  or  in  a  dog-cart,  but  now  I  believe  that  weekly  payments 
are  the  rule. 
Kentish  Fruit  Pickers. 
The  pickers  are  nearly  all  from  the  slums  of  London,  a  ragged, 
unkempt  crowd.  A  description  of  the  worst  of  them  would  best 
suit  the  pages  of  “Punch”  or  “Judy,”  yet  they  are  looked  upon 
by  the  farmers  as  their  great  salvation.  Labour  of  the  usual 
stamp  cannot,  absolutely  cannot,  be  got  unless  at  unspeakable 
wages,  but  these  poor,  shiftless  wretches  from  the  dingy  courts 
and  alleys  flock  down  to  Kent  at  the  beginning  of  every  summer, 
and  linger  on  till  the  Hops  are  all  gleaned  in  September.  Many 
of  them  journey  back  to  the  East  End  on  a  Saturday  in  the 
dirtiest  and  plainest  of  railway  carriages,  each  carriage  choked 
full  with  men,  women,  children,  old-clothes,  and  beer  and  whisky 
bottles.  To  see  them  arrive  at  London  Bridge  is  a  sight  to  wonder 
at,  and  never  to  be  forgotten. 
The  Season's  Crops. 
From  what  I  learned  of  Kent  crops  in  general,  the  season 
promises  to  be  thoroughly  satisfactory.  Currants  are  all  good, 
Raspberries  are  also  ripe  now,  and  in  a  fortnight  the  Early  Rivers 
Plums  will  come  into  season  ;  and  Cherries  are  heavy  so  far  as  one 
could  see.  Very  few  of  the  old-fashioned  grass  orchards  are  now 
remaining,  though  full  many  an  acre  still  runs  wild,  yielding  old 
Gerarde’s  Traveller’s  Joy  (Clematis  vitalba)  and  little  else.  It  is 
a  matter  for  comment,  too,  that  the  hedges  surrounding  the 
orchards  are  so  overgrown  and  untrimmed  as  they  are.  I  yield  to 
to  none  in  my  admiration  for  the  exceeding  beauty  and  interest 
of  these  rural  hedgerows  with  their  ferny  and  flowery  lanes,  but 
where  they  affect  the  utilitarian  aspect,  as  in  the  cultivated  parts 
of  Kent,  I  confess  my  judgment  goes  against  them.  They  may,  or 
they  may  not,  harbour  insects  and  fungi,  but  they  certainly  do 
shade  much  of  the  land  and  crops.  On  the  grounds  of  shelter,  not 
half  of  them  are  required,  and  even  then  a  less  height  and 
breadth  would  surely  suffice.  It  is  a  welcome  sight,  however,  to 
notice  the  many  renewed  Apple  orchards,  with  splendidly  formed 
young  trees.  These  are  not  summer  pruned,  but  they  are  gone 
over  every  winter  and  trimmed  into  shape  and  fruitfulness. 
Damson  and  Plum  trees  are  short-lived,  and  require  to  be  oftener 
uprooted.  Gooseberries  are  mostly  grown  beneath  the  taller 
trees. 
Breezy  Eynsford. 
The  seed  grounds  of  Messrs.  Cannell  and  Sons  are  two  and  a 
half  miles  south  from  Swanley,  and  a  brief  evening  visit  was  paid 
after  having  been  at  the  home  nursery  and  over  to  the  college. 
How  hard  and  drv  the  soil  seemed  after  the  storms  and  the  baking 
sunrays  which  followed.  Truth  it  was  that  the  ground  was  hard, 
but  not  so  dry,  even  though  the  lands  slope  face  to  face  and  form 
a  broad  and  long  valley.  It  is  here  that  the  Clarkias  nod  and  the 
great  red  Poppies  cast  their  flaring  petals.  But  one  must  needs 
calm  down,  and  it  suffices  for  this  wandering  scribe  to  name 
sedately  those  varieties  of  annual  flowers  whose  excellencies  gave 
them  distinction  in  these  grounds. 
The  grace  of  the  Clarkias  is  proverbial,  and  C.  pulcliella  alba, 
with  flowers  of  absolute  whiteness ;  Clarkia.  elegans  Mrs. 
Langtry,  a  rich  deep  mauve;  C.  pulchella  fl.-pl.,  rosy  and  double 
flowered,  and  C.  Salmon  Queen,  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  all 
annuals,  come  to  mind.  They  are  all  worthy  of  their  place. 
Nemesia  strum osa,  in  all  colours  of  tiie  rainbow  except  the 
blues,  though  “  miffy  ”  growers,  at  the  same  time  always  produce 
a  gorgeously  brilliant  inflorescence.  This  is  one  of  the  finest 
annuals  recently  brought  to  the  front.  Cosmos  bipinnata  alba  is 
grown  largely  because  of  its  exceedingly  graceful  mien,  having 
finely  pinnately  dissected  green  foliage.  A  Tropseolum 
(Nasturtium)  briefly  named  “  Scarlet,”  presented  a  dazzling  show, 
and  the  Papaver  caryophylloides,  adoubleCarnation-floweredform, 
2ft  high,  bears  handsome  flowers  coloured  rose  and  white.  For 
the  edges  of  a  shrubbery  it  commends  itself.  Tropeeolum  Empress 
of  India  should  have  been  mentioned.  It  bears  rich  crimson 
flowers,  and  has  dark  foliage. 
Another  little  gem  when  seen  at  its  best  is  Verbena  ericoides 
alba,  which  is  largely  grown  both  in  the  north  and  Hie  south.  As 
a  bee-flower  it  has  few  equals,  and  is  dwarf  enough  for  edging 
purposes.  Linum  grandiflorum  rubrum  and  Centaurea  maritima 
