184 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
IMarch  3,  1904. 
Fruit  Culture  in  West  Middlesex. 
Those  wlio  attended  the  fruit  .show  of  the  Royal  Horticultural 
Society  at  C'hi.swick  Gardens  in  October  last  will  doubtless 
reineinber  there  was  also  exhibited  a  collection  of  fruit  trees 
which  formed  a  fitting  corollary  to  the  display  of  fruit,  because 
it  indicated  some  of  the  types  of  trees  from  which  the  fruit  had 
been  gathered.  The  collection  was  furnished  by  Mr.  George 
Cannon,  nurseryman,  Kaling,  who,  a  few  year.s  ago,  became  the 
tenant  of  some  ten  acres  of  ground  on  the  confines  of  Osterley 
Park.  Southall,  which  is  largely  devoted  to  the  culture  of  fruit 
trees:  trained  trees  being  a  leading  feature.  By  training  and 
instruction  Mr.  Cannon  is  a  fruit  tree  cultivator. 
Going  into  Messrs.  Osborn  and  Sons’  nursery  at  Fiilliam  when 
(piite  a  lad  lie  learnt  llie  business  of  fruit  tree  propagation  under 
Pitman,  the  fruit  tree  foreman  of  that  once  flourishing  firm  ;  he 
then  went  to  Messrs.  Richard  Smith  and  Co.’s  nursery  at 
Worcester,  gaining  new  experience;  and  from  thence  to  1‘laling 
to  take  charge  of  the  outdoor  nurseries  of  Messrs.  J.  and  C.  Lee, 
whom  lie  served  for  the  space  of  thirty  years,  and  eventually 
established  himself  in  business  at  Ealing.  Few  men  are  better 
acquainted  with  the  rationale  of  fruit  tree  culture  than  Mr. 
Cannon,  and  an  inspection  of  his  nursery  shows  that  he  can  turn 
out  of  hand  tree.s  admirably  trained,  clean,  healthy,  and  full  of 
promise.  Few  men  possess  a  fuller  knowledge  of  stocks,  and 
their  adaptability  not  only  to  certain  kinds  of  fruits,  but  also  to 
special  varieties,  and  to  some  which  are  weakly  growers,  and 
reijuire  all  the  support  an  intelligent  propagator  can  give  them. 
One  .special  feature  is  the  culture  of  trained  Peaches  and 
?Ne,ctarines,  and  the  collectioji  includes  not  only  the  newer 
varieties,  but  all  that  are  worthy  of  cultivation.  It  is  in  the 
development  of  trained  trees  that  Mr.  Cannon’s  special  know¬ 
ledge  of  adaptable  stocks  comes  into  use  to  the  advantage  of 
buyers.  To  this  end  he  has  s])erial  .selections  of  Brompton  and 
lMii.s>el  stock  for  Peaches  and  Nectarines,  for  he  has  experi¬ 
mented  with  them  for  years  past,  and  as  the  Peach  does  remark¬ 
ably  well  in  this  part  of  Middlesex,  there  are  secured  the  best 
guarantees  for  the  future  welfare  of  the  trees.  Maiden  trees  for 
training  are  planted  out  when  young,  at  good  distance  apart,  so 
that  they  may  be  in  a  free  circulation  of  light  and  air  to  ripen 
the  wood,  and  asdst  the  production  of  fibry  roots.  They  are 
cut  b»clv  the  first  year,  then  trained  to  three  or  four  shoots ;  they 
are  again  cut  back  the  following  spring;  the  shoots  are  again 
trained  fan-.shaped.  and  in  the  following  year  there  is  a  good 
siiecimen  fit  for  sale.  Mr.  Cannon  believes  in  laying  a  good 
foundation,  and  in  the  act  of  training  in  the  various  quarters, 
the  im])ortance  of  a  pro])er  ripening  of  the  wood  is  acknowledged 
by  each  tree  having  ample  space  in  which  to  develop.  At  the 
age  of  four  years  a  portion  of  the  trees  are  reserved  to  grow  into 
extra  size  -  four  and  five  years  training,  large  trees  being  required 
for  sjiecial  ])urjmses. 
Tlien  selected  stocks  are  specially  cultivated  to  form  half¬ 
standard  trained  trees  reciuired  for  planting  Peach  houses.  The 
same  details  of  development  are  observed  as  in  the  ca.se  of 
the  dwarf  trained  trees;  and  the  condition  of  four  and  five  year 
trained  trees,  by  their  vigour,  seems  to  demonstrate  in  a  remark¬ 
able  degree  the  adaptability  of  stock  to  scion. 
Apples,  Peare,  Plums,  and  Cherries,  trained,  standard,  and 
bush,  are  largely  grown,  and  in  the  leading  varieties;  the  trained 
and  bush  Apples  are  on  the  Paradise  .stock,  and  the  Pears  on  that 
of  the  Quince.  All  free  bearing  Apples,  such  as  Stirling  Castle, 
Lane'>  Prince  Albert,  Pptts’  Seedling,  Ecklinville,  Ac.,  are 
worked  on  a  free  stock.  Mr.  Cannon  finds  that  when  such  sorts 
are  worked  upon  a  dwarfing  Paradise  .stock  they  frtiit  heavily, 
but  at  the  expense  of  the  tree,  and  then  it  becomes  necessary  to 
thin  the  fruit  and  mulch  on  the  surface,  which  is  a  somewhat 
expensive  process.  .Such  varietie.s  as  Cox’s  Orange  Pippin, 
M  anti  r'.>  King,  Bramley’s  Seedling,  Neu  ton  Wonder,  and  kindred 
varieties  are  worked  upon  the  Paradise  stock:  the  last  two 
named  are  very  strong  growers,  and  when  on  the  Paradise  stock, 
and  given  a  little  assistance  by  mulching,  the  fruit  become.s  finely 
developed. 
While  fruit  tree  culture  is  a  main  feature,  a  general  nursery 
stock  is  grown;  there  are  many  street  and  avenue  trees;  all  the 
leading  .shrubs,  Roses  (largely  grown),  and  there  is  an  excellent 
collection  of  hardy  perennial  and  bulbous  plants.  The  Golden 
i’rivet  .  of  which  l\lr.  Cannon  has  a  large  stock  of  all  sizes,  colours 
here  finely  ;  it  is  one  of  the  most  useful  and  ornamental  hardv 
slu'ubs  for  suburban  gardens.  • 
The  prevailing  soil  is  a  deep,  fertile  loam  resting  upon  gravel, 
which  may  be  regarded  as  an  ideal  one  for  fruit  trees,  and  its 
fibrous  roots  are  produced  in  plenty.  The  nursery  is  admirably 
situated.  It  is  bounded  on  one  .side  by  the  Grand  Junction 
Canal,  and  on  the  other  by  the  main  road  to  Heston,  skirting 
Osterley  Park.  The  electric  tram  cars  from  Shepherd’s  Bush 
through  Ealing  have  a  stopping  place  near  the  nursery,  which 
lies  off  from  the  main  road  in  a  southerly  direction. 
At  Ealing  Mr.  Cannon  has  his  home  nursery,  at  which  can  be 
found  offices,  seed  shop,  and  many  glass  erections,  in  which  a 
general  collection  of  hard  and  soft-wooded  plants  can  be  found. 
Much  of  the  park  and  street  planting  in  Ealing  has  been  done 
by  Mr.  Cannon,  and  his  work  in  these  respects  has  proved 
highly  successful. — R.  D. 
- - - - - 
Carnation  Mrs,  Thos.  W.  Lawson. 
Thi.s  grand  variety,  the  beginning  of  what  we  may  hope  to 
become  an  improved  type  of  American  Carnations,  has  brought 
with  it  its  own  set  of  peculiarities,  and  its  importance  among 
the  list  of  commercial  varieties  fully  justifies  its  treatment  in  a 
separate  article.  IMost  varietie.s  have  their  own  particular  faults, 
the  analy.sis  of  which  usually  determines  their  value  to  the  man 
who  grow.s  them.  Mo.st  varieties,  however,  drop  below  the 
horizon  of  usefulness  before  a  thorough  knowledge  of  their  wants 
becomes  univer.'al.  It  is  seldom  that  a  variety  holds  its  place 
as  long  as  Law.son  has  held  its  own.  No  Carnation  has  yet  held 
such  a  conspicuous  position  as  Lawson,  and  the  variety  to  displace 
is  not  yet  in  sight.  “  Is  it  as  good  as  Lawson?  ”  is  a  stereotyped 
phrase  :  no  one  thinks  of  asking  whether  a  new  aspirant  is  better. 
It  is  a  pity  that  a  course  of  treatment  followed  for  the  elimination 
of  an  evil  should  prove  a  detriment  in  some  other  particular. 
The  tendency  of  thi.s  variety  to  burst  a  large  proportion  of  its 
calyces  under  ordinary  conditions  has  led  mo,st  growers  to  grow 
it  at  a  temperature  considerably  higher  than  was  thought  advis¬ 
able  a  few  years  ago.  A  temperature  of  5Gdeg  at  night  has 
become  about  the  standard,  and  with  plants  lifted  from  the  field 
it  is  necessary  in  order  to  reduce  the  tendency  to  .split  to  ;i 
minimum.  Plants  grown  indoors  all  summer  are  much  less  apit 
to  split  than  those  lifted  from  the  field,  and  may  be  grown  tw.; 
or  three  degrees  cooler  on  that  account.  Anything  gained  in 
this  way  i.s  appreciable,  for  an  extremely  high  temperature  has 
a  tendency  to  fade  the  colour  and  reduce  the  size  of  the  bloom. 
In  the  cooler  tempera!  ure  we  are  also  less  apt  to  run  down  the 
vigour  of  the  .stock.  Law.son  has  a  very  vigorous  constitution, 
and  we  ma.v  expect  that  any  strong  point  in  a  variety  will 
be  quickly  taken  advantage  of.  It  often  matters  little  at  the 
time  being,  whither  the  course  pursued  may  lead  in  the  end. 
In  this  way  the  strong  constitution  of  this  variety  may  prove  its 
weakest  point. 
Considering  the  peculiaiuties  of  this  variety,  the  .selection 
of  a  suitable  soil  becomes  an  important  item.  A  heavy  soil 
usually  aggi  avate.s  a  case  of  bursting  calyces.  A  very  light  soil, 
combined  with  a  high  temperature,  weakens  the  stems,  and  makes 
small  flowers.  A  soil  of  a  medium  degree  of  heaviness  i.s  then 
the  mo.st  plausii)le  conclusion.  Experiments  have  amply  borne 
out  the  theory.  The  question  of  solid  beds  or  raised  benches 
a'so  comes  up  for  consideration  here.  The  fact  is  quite  well 
known  that  solid  beds  have  a  tendency  to  aggravate  any  evil 
resulting  from  dark  weather,  a  cool  temperature,  and  a  gen>eral 
lack  of  activity  in  the  surrounding  conditions.  We  have  always 
believed  that  a  better  paying  crop  of  bloom, s  can  be  grown  on  a 
raised  bench  than  on  a  solid  bed.  Solid  beds  have  their  good 
])oints,  but  for  midwinter  work  the  value  of  a  raised  bench 
cannot  be  disputed.  Probably  the  most  serious  defect  in  this 
variety  is  its  habit  of  throwing  short  stems  a  long  time  after 
being  checked. 
Plants  lifted  from  the  field  as  late  as  latter  Augtist  are  apt  to 
come  .short-.stemmed  until  midwinter.  Much,  of  cour.se,  depends 
upon  the  care  exercised  in  transplanting.  Field-gi’own  plants 
are  also  more  apt  to  produce  the  blooms  in  crops  than  those 
grown  indoors  all  summer.  Indoor  culture  has  been  tried  almost 
everywhere,  with  the  re.sult  that  long  stemmed  flowers  are  cut 
very  early  in  the  season,  and  that  a  uniform  crop  of  high  grade 
blooms  extends  through  the  months  when  flowers  are  most 
valuable.  The  lower  temperature  at  which  indoor  grown  plants 
can  be  grown  during  their  flowering  season  is  an  important  factor 
in  the  quality  of  the  cut  and  the  vigour  of  the  stock. 
Lawson  is  an  exceedingly  heavy  grower,  and  therefore  will 
stand  a  rich  soil  and  heavy  feeding  after  it  is  well  started.  A 
maximum,  of  exposure  to  the  sun,  is,  of  course,  desirable  with  any 
variety,  but  the  flowers  of  this  variety  are  easily  scorched  by  the 
full  glare  of  the  sun.  Therefore  a  light  shade  must  be  put  on 
the  glass  very  early  in  the  season.  The  clear  glass  is  hardly 
permi.'^sible  after  February  1.  The  question  of  shading  require^ 
judicious  handling  lest  a  too  heavy  coat  be  i)ut  on  too  early. 
More  will  be  .said  of  this  later. — J.  (in  "American  Florist.”) 
