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CONTRIBUTIONS

HORTICULTURIIL LITERATURE:

BEING A SELECTION OF

ARTICLES WRITTEN FOR GARDENING PERIODICALS,

AND PAPERS READ BEFORE VARIOUS SOCIETIES,

FROM 1843 TO 1892.

By WILLIAM PAUL, RL.S, &c.

IN THREE PARTS.

PUBLISHED BY
WILLIAM PAUL & SON, WALTHAM CROSS, HERTS.

MDCCCXCII.

To the Distinguished Horticulturist
ROBERT HOGG, LL.D., F.L.S, &c.,

this Volume is Dedicated

as a viark of respect and esteem arising from

a life-lo7ig friendship.

I

PREFACE.

T N publishing these CONTRIBUTIONS TO HORTICUL-
TURAL Literature it seems hardly desirable
that everything I have written over the last fifty years
should be included. I began writing at a very early
age in response to an invitation from the late Mr J.
C. Loudon, during his brief Directorship of " The
Gardeners' Gazette." Copies of the articles written in
early life were rarely kept, and it would be too much
to expect that the memory should recall trifles often
written on the spur of the moment and as quickly
forgotten. Moreover, some contributions were of a
merely transitory interest.

Of the articles selected, some contain lists of varieties
of cultivated plants and flowers which were the best of
that date, but which are now superseded by fashion
or by the improvement of races by cultivation and
selection. It was not, however, thought advisable in all
cases to omit these lists, although the individuals have

vi Preface.

to a large extent been superseded, as they are assumed
to be of historical and scientific value, and in some
cases, especially with roses, many of the discarded
varieties are being restored to favour. To show which
were the most generally cultivated varieties of any
flower or plant at a given date, is to show by
comparison (as some of the old kinds are sure to
remain accessible, either as plants or plates) the
degree of progress attained in this branch of scientific
gardening.

The small number of articles, considering the
lengthened period over which they extend, may by
some be considered remarkable. To account for it
the author would remind his readers that some of his
writings have been published as separate volumes, and
that writing with him was never a profession, but
merely a hobby, pursued at intervals as time could
be snatched from the duties of active business life.

With regard to the controversies, happily few, in
which he has been engaged, he has not thought it
desirable to introduce here the opinions of those who
awakened them. It is however obvious that the
names and dates of the periodicals in which they
appeared may be gathered from the replies, so that
those who may be sufficiently interested in the con-
troversies to wish to follow them throughout may do
so with but little research or inconvenience.

Preface. vii

He now submits this book to his friends and the
public. The search for and arrangement of the
materials have been a matter of considerable labour.
But the task has been one that has called up a
host of pleasant associations, darkened only by the
occasional reminder of the departure of valued friends
and diligent fellow-labourers in the same field, who,
while here, administered so much to the happiness of
all who enjoyed their friendship.

WILLIAM PAUL.

Waltham House, Waltham Cross,
20th September 1S92.

CONTEN IS.

CONTENTS.

Pakt L— roses.

Roses in Pots ......

Rose Catalogues ......

Trip to Paris in Search of Autumnal Roses
Rosa Berberifolia Hardii ....

The History and Cultivation of the Rose
A Plea for Summer Roses ....

Morning Rambles in the Rose Gardens of Hertfordshire
Remarks on the Cultivation of Tea Roses as Conser)

Climbers
On New Roses
A Day in the Elysian Fields
On Roses
Two Rose Shows .
Garden Roses
Bedding Roses
Thoughts on Roses
Fast Life among the Roses
Roses and Rose Showing

Roses in Pots, how to produce them in London, &c.
Roses at the Royal Botanic Society
Roses and Rose Shows
The Rose Controversy .
Standard Roses ....

On the Grouping of the Garden \'arieties of Roses
On the Development of Hybrid Perpetual Roses
Seedling Roses .......

Town Roses ........

atory

PAGE
I

13
15
19

21

43
45

74
78
91

ICO

136
141

145
149

152
154
157
161
169

175
179
iSi

193
196
199

Contents.

Part II.— TREES AND PLANTS.

Notes on the Varieties of Common Yew

Notes on the Varieties of English Holly

Landscape Gardening ....

Ornamental Planting ....

Hardy Pictorial Trees ....

The Ivy ......

On Trees and Shrubs in Large Towns
An Hour with the Hollyhock
The Hollyhock ....
The Hyacinth ....
Zonal Pelargoniums in Winter
Lecture on Spring Flowers .
Lecture on Spring Flowering Plants

Spring Gardening

Lecture on the Camellia and its Culture
The Camellia .....

PAf;E
203

207

219

221

243
279
286
295
322
326

334
346
361
364
377

Part III.
FRUIT CULTURE AND MISCELLANEA

Fruit Growing .......

Fruit Culture for Profit in the Open Air in England
The Fruit Question Considered ....

On the Flowering and Flowers of Apples

On the Improvement of Plants ....

On Colour in the Tree Scenery of our Gardens, Parks, a^nd
Pleasure Grounds .........

On Form in Tree Scenery ........

A Peep at the Paris Flower Market

The Shower ...........

Old Humphrey ... .....

Native Singing Birds

I'A(;e
411

413
429

432
436

456
465
480

483
486
490

I

Contents.

"My Father's Garden '' ; Review
Horticultural Nomenclature .
A Walk through the Via Gellia .
Floricultural Millinery ....
Insect Intoxication ....
On the Relative Value of Clarified and Unclarified Sewage as
Manure .........

Who is Right 1:

Cottage Gardens Association .....
On the Literature of Ancient and Modern Gardening
The Dawn of Landscape Gardening in England : Review

I'AGE

493
498
501

505
508

509
513
517
532
554

NOTE A, page 265.

The following RHODODENDRONS may be safely added to
those named on pages 264-5 ■ — Amilcar, Caractacus, Charles
Dickens, Congestum roseum, Countess of Wilton, Evelyn, Everesti-
anum, Floretta, Frederick Waterer, General Cabrera, H. H. Hunne-
well, James Marshall Brooks, Kate Waterer, Lady Claremont, Lord
Clyde, Lord Palmerston, Michael Waterer, Mrs Fitzgerald, Mrs
Frederick Hankey, Mrs J. Shuttleworth, Mrs John Clutton, Mrs
Milner, Mrs R. S. Holford, Mrs Russell Sturgis, Old Port, Sappho,
Sir Thomas Sebright, Stella, The Queen.

NOTE B, page 274.

The following CLEMATIS may be safely added to those named
on pages 273-4 : — Alba magna, Countess of Lovelace, Duchess of
Edinburgh, Fairy Queen, Gipsy Queen, Henryii, Jackmanii alba,
La France, Lady Caroline Neville, Lanuginosa Candida, Lord
Derby, Lord Neville, Lucie Lemoine, Madame Grange, Madame
van Houtte, IMrs G. Jackman, Reine Blanche, Star of India, Velutina
purpurea, Viticella rubra grandiflora.

NOTE C, page 285.

The following IVIES can be recommended in addition to those
named on pages 282, 283, 284, 285 : — Amurensis, Atro-purpurea,
Aurea spectabilis, Emerald Gem, Maderensis variegata.

ERR A TUM.
Page 236, bottom Wne, /or Cistus capitatus rea(i Cytisus capitatus.

9

Part I.-ROSES.

ROSES IN POTS.

[FroJii " The Gardetters' C/wonuie" Aug. ^ih, Sept. cjfh, and
Nov. 1 8///, 1843.*]

THE ROSE, which has justly been designated the
" Queen of Flowers," has, perhaps, never attained to
a higher degree of popularity in England than at the
present time. The improvement in this beautiful genus
by the introduction of new varieties has been greater
within the last few years than the most sanguine rose
cultivators could have anticipated ; and the improvement
in the cultivation in this country has been quite equal to
the success in originating fine varieties abroad. The
adoption of a Class for the exhibition of" Roses in Pots"
by the Horticultural Society of London appears to have
awakened attention to this mode of culture. Exhibitors
during the past season may have been few, because there
were many misgivings on the point, which want of ex-
perience and knowledge of the varieties best suited for the
purpose tended to confirm. Those, however, who have
grown roses in pots during this season appear convinced
that the difficulties advanced are imaginary, and are look-
ing forward to another year to produce handsome plants
with more perfect flowers. Roses in pots form highly
interesting objects among the French, and why should
they not do the same here, since it is allowed that our

* This article was written by tlie request of the late Dr Lindley, editor of
"The Gardeners' Clironicle. "
A

Roses in Pots.

general cultivation of Roses in the open ground is quite
equal to theirs ?

One great advantage of exhibiting Roses in pots is
that their true character becomes apparent ; we see the
Rose as it would appear growing in our gardens, and can
refer it to its proper class. On the other hand, the greatest
difficulty exhibitors have to contend with is to obtain a
sufficient number of plants clothed with flowers and in
perfection at a stated period. This, however, may in a
great measure be remedied by growing the freest bloomers
and shifting the plants to a sunny or cool situation as their
state may require. Where twelve plants are wanted for
exhibition at different seasons, not less than one hundred
plants should be grown, and the greater portion of these
should be Autumnal Roses.

But before adverting to their culture, the question may
arise, what varieties are best suited for the purpose .'' It
is probable that most varieties would succeed, but the
following, many of which are established favourites, may
be selected without fear, a great portion having been
proved suitable in the nurseries here during the present
season.*

The varieties from the groups Moss, Provence, Gallica,
Damask, Perpetual, and a portion of the Hybrids, I
would advise to be grown as worked plants on stems
from six inches to two feet in height, the others may be
grown on their own roots, or at the option of the cultivator.
In very many cases, however, worked plants produce a
greater quantity of flowers and of larger size than such as
are grown on their own roots.

Provence : — Adeline. Blush. Cabbage. Crested or
Cristata. Angers. La Fiancee. Queen of Roses.
Emerance. Sylvain. Wilberforce.

* Although many of these kinds are now superseded by more modern
varieties, it is thought advisable to retain the names to show the best kinds of
the period (1843).

Roses in Pots.

Moss : — Blush. Celina. Eclatante. Gracilis. Pompon
feu. Unique. White Bath. De Metz.

Damask Perpetual :— Rose du Roi or Crimson. La
Mienne. Josephine Antoinette. Emilie Duval.
Isaure Lablee. Bernard. Antinous. D'Angers.
Belle Faber. Royale.

Hybrid Perpetual :—Aubernon. Clementine Duval.
Comte de Paris. Coquette de Montmorency. Dr
Marx. Due d'Aumale. Duchess of Sutherland.
Edward Jesse. Fulgorie. General Merlin. Lady
Alice Peel. Louis Bonaparte. Madame Laffay.
Mrs Elliot. Prince of Wales. Prudence Roeser.
Princesse Helene. Queen Victoria. Rivers.

Hybrids of Chinese and Bourbon : — Aurora. Camu-
zet carnee. Charles Duval. Col. Coombes. Comtesse
Lacepede. Coup d'Amour. Coupe d'Hebe. General
Allard. General Kleber. Great Western. Henri
Barbet. Hortense Leroy. Lady Stuart, Legouve.
Lord John Russell. Madame Plantier. Madame
Rameau. IMadeleine. Marie de Nerroea. ]\Iicalea.
New Globe Hip. Princess Augusta. Pompone
Bicolor. Richelieu. Velours episcopal. Volney.
William Jesse.

Gallica : — Adele Prevost. Blanchefleur. Boula de
Nanteuil. Cicero. D'Aguessau. Daubenton. Due
de Nemours. Duchesse d'Abranthes. Docteur Diel-
thim. Fleur d'Amour. Grandpapa. Grandissima.
Jeanne d'Urfe. Julie d'Etanges. La Calaisienne.
Louis Philippe. Nero. Pharericus.

Noisette : — Aimee Vibert. Clara Wendel. Comtesse
de Tolosante. Du Luxembourg. Euphrosyne. Fel-
lenberg. La Victorieuse. Madame de Chalonge.
Miss Glegg. Yellow or Smithii.

Bourbon -. — Armosa. Augustine Lelieur. Bouquet de
Flore. Celimene. Ceres. Comice de Seine et

Roses in Pots.

Marne. Emilie Courtier. Enfant d'Ajaccio. Julie
Deloynes. Le Grand Capitaine. Madame Aude.
Madame Nerard. Paul Joseph. Proserpine. Queen.

Chinese : — Augustine Hersent. Belle Isidore. Lady
Warrender. Louis Philippe. Madame Breon.
Madame Bureau. Madame Desprez. Marjolin.
Mrs Bosanquet. Napoleon. Prince Eugene.

Tea-Scented : — Adam. Archiduchesse Therese. Barbot.
Belle Archinto. Bougere. Bride of Abydos. Caro-
line. Comte de Paris. Devoniensis. Don Carlos.
Elise Sauv^age. Eugene Desgaches. Fragoletta.
Goubault. Hamon. Julie Mansais. Madame Rous-
sell. Josephine Malton. Moiret. Niphetos. Nina.
Pactolus. Prince d'Esterhazy. Safranot. Taglioni.

Roses trained as climbers would form very beautiful
objects in pots. If allowed to grow to the height of three
or four feet and then stopped, I imagine they would throw
out lateral shoots and become covered with foliage and
flowers from the top to the edge of the pot. For this
purpose I should select, in preference to the Ayrshire,
Boursault, and Sempervirens, some of the Hybrid China,
Hybrid Perpetual, Noisette, and Bourbon, that are most
vigorous in growth, the flowers of the former being mostly
small or semi-double. Notwithstanding this, they are
perhaps unequalled when grown as pillar Roses in the open
ground. Their growth is rapid and graceful, and their
large corymbs of flowers render them a mass of beauty.

When purchasing Roses such plants as are not kept in
pots should be remov^ed from the ground early in Autumn
as soon as the shoots are sufficiently ripened, which they
generally are by the end of September. In potting, the
sized pots best adapted are Nos. 12, 16, 24, and 32, accord-
ing to the size and habit of the plant, and these should be
well drained. The soil used should consist of equal parts
of turfy loam that has laid by and become mellow, and

Roses in Pots. 5

manure (the remains of a hot-bed), so far decomposed as
to have the appearance of black mould. If the loam be of
a hard or binding nature, a mixture of sand will be
necessary. Having selected the plant, cut off close to the
stock any wild suckers, and shorten in the root tolerably
freely. In potting, the soil used should be pressed down
firm, and afterwards watered through a fine rose. The
plants may then be removed to a sheltered situation, and
plunged up to the rims of the pots in old tan or cinder-
ashes ; under this treatment, if turned out of the pots in
November, young fibrous roots will be seen forming in
abundance, they will appear to have quite recovered from
their removal, and will bloom well the following summer.

With regard to such plants as are always kept in pots,
they may be shifted at different seasons of the year, as
their growth may require. Supposing them to be in small
60 pots in the Spring they may then be shifted into 48's,
keeping all flower buds nipped off, and afterwards into 24's,
which will generally be found sufficient for their growth
during the first season.

It is an excellent plan to remove all the Tea-scented,
Chinese, and tender varieties of the Noisette Roses, to a
cold pit in October, or before the autumnal rains set in.
This is not only to afford them protection from frost, but
many tender varieties, especially those grown on their own
roots, are liable to suffer materially from the rains in
Autumn. Through the winter the lights or covering
should be removed in fine weather, that the plants may
have as much air as possible ; and being in a state of com-
parative rest they will require but little water. Where a
cold pit is unattainable such varieties may be removed to
the north side of a wall or fence and a temporary frame be
erected ; upon this a light covering of Fern or Beech-
boughs may be laid in the manner of a thatch, which will
throw off the heavy rains, and form no small protection
against frost at comparatively little trouble. The front of
this erection may be left open, that air may circulate

Roses in Pots.

freely amongst the plants to prevent damp, and the pots
should be covered over with fern or stable-litter.

In selecting plants from the ground to grow in pots, I
prefer such as have grown moderately through the
summer ; they will be more compact, and the wood more
solid and better ripened than that of those which have
grown very vigorously. It is of great importance to have
them potted early in the season. As before mentioned, most
of the sorts will bear removing by the end of September
— certainly the varieties of Tea-Scented, Chinese, and
Bourbon. The operation of pruning may be performed
at two seasons ; in November for early flowering, and in
March or even April to procure a later bloom. The first
season after removal the plants will require to be pruned
closer than at subsequent periods, and it is worthy of
remembrance that the flowers should be produced as near
home as possible, or in other words, that the plants may
become close and bushy. The Moss, Provence, Gallica,
and most of the Autumnal Roses, may be pruned in close
to within three or four eyes of the base. With the exception
of a few very robust growers, there is little fear of pruning
these varieties out of shape or flower. But with the hybrids
of Chinese it is far otherwise ; they are more disposed to
form wood, and should be well thinned out, and the re-
maining shoots left longer. In pruning, all Roses where
the shoots are crowded, or cross each other, it is beneficial
to cut some entirely out, that those left for flowering may
stand a good distance apart, for if too many be allowed to
remain they will become drawn and produce weak flowers.
It is in fact much in favour of a good bloom to have the
shoots thinned during the previous summer, which assists
in ripening the wood. And as a general rule in pruning,
weak growers should be cut in close, strong growers left
long, and those of intermediate growth pruned in propor-
tion. Soft unripened wood should be invariably removed.

The hardy varieties (pruned and not pruned) may
now (November) be removed to an airy situation in the

Roses in Pots.

garden, and plunged in the ground up to the rims of the
pots from one to two feet apart, according to the size or
habit of the plant. It is well with regard to Roses grown
in pots that they be always kept plunged. To obviate the
disadvantages following the plunging of plants in pots,
namely, their liability to root through into the ground, and
the facility afforded for worms to work into the pots, I
have the soil taken out of a sufficient depth, and a seed-
pan with the hole enlarged placed at the bottom in an
inverted position, upon which the pot is placed. It answers
perfectly, and further secures an effectual drainage. After
the plants are plunged the pots should be covered over
with stable dung, to protect the roots at the top from frost
in winter, and to keep the surface of the soil moist through
the summer. About March the tender varieties may be
brought from their winter quarters and treated in like
manner, and such as were left for late pruning be pruned.
Where the buds push out very numerously, the strongest
and those which have a tendency to grow outwards should
be selected to remain for flower, and the weak ones
rubbed off. The plants should be frequently looked over
for the purpose of destroying the grub, which will other-
wise eat into the buds and spoil the bloom. From worked
plants all suckers or wild shoots should be cut out as soon
as they appear, and in some instances the backward or side
flower-buds be nipped off.

As soon as the warm weather appears it will be well
to look after that tiresome pest, the Aphis or Green-fly.
In looking round, you will see one or two tiny ones walk-
ing about your plants ; you may think they are of no
consequence, but rest assured, then is the time to attack
your enemy, for they are then meditating where to provide
for millions of their race. Wash the ends of the shoots or
syringe them with tobacco water. I have also found
equal parts of Scotch snuff and sulphur vivum vcrj- effec-
tual in destroying them, put on with a barber's puff, or put
into a shallow pan and the ends of the shoots dipped in.

8 Roses in Pots.

One thing is important — never allow them to collect their
forces.

Great attention should be paid to watering ; and
though plunged, the plants will require through the sum-
mer months a liberal supply. When they are coming into
bloom, such, varieties as are of a drooping habit will
require the adjustment of a neat stick ; we should not,
however, be too lavish with these supports, or they render
the plants stiff and unsightly. A light shading should
now be formed to protect them from the sun's rays during
the middle of the day ; this should be constructed to draw
up, that the plants may have the advantage of the dews
so beneficial to Roses at this season of the year. Here
they may remain till the middle of September, when they
should be taken up, turned out of the pots, a good portion
of the soil taken away, and fresh soil supplied, and such as
require it shifted into larger pots.

Roses required for forcing, in as far as regards soil,
time of removal, and potting, may be treated in the same
manner as those intended to be grown in pots in the open
air. They should be pruned early in November, and it is
well if they can be allowed to make their growth, and
bloom out of doors the first season after removal. That
plants taken out of the ground and potted early in
Autumn will bear forcing and bloom tolerably well the
succeeding spring, we know from experience, but it is also
evident that, having been a year in pots, they become
better established, produce a greater quantity of flowers,
and form more compact plants. The first week in Janu-
ary is a very good time for conveying the plaats into the
forcing house, commencing with a gentle heat, say 40° to
50.° Very soon the buds will become excited, when the
temperature may be gradually raised to about 50° at night,
and 60° to 75° during the day, and the plants lightly
syringed mornings and evenings. Great care is required in
the admission of air. During January and February, and
in most seasons March, very little air should be admitted,

Roses in Pots.

and this only from the top in still mild weather. I have
found the plants more liable to suffer from the admission
of cold air, even on sunny days, than from a temperature
of 1 00°. Whilst they do not appear to suffer from the
latter high temperature, the too free admission of air
early in the season will cause the young leaves to curl up
and eventually drop off in numbers. The plants should
be kept as near the glass as possible, and if leaves or tan
can be procured readily to plunge them in to secure a
gentle bottom heat, less fire-heat will be necessary, and
they will repay the extra trouble.

It is difficult to lay down any precise rules for water-
ing ; this the judgment must direct ; the plants require to
be kept tolerably moist, and the water should be carried
into the house some time before required for use, both in
watering and syringing, that it may become of a milder
temperature. The description of plants I prefer, are for
the most part, those worked on the Dog-rose, from which
it is necessary to keep all suckers removed ; and as most of
these spring from under the soil, I have found that by clasp-
ing the tops firmly between the thumb and finger when in a
young state, and pulling them steadily, they may be drawn
out from the base, thus effectuall}' removing them as they
appear without disturbing the roots. The Grub which
attacks Roses so generally out of doors, frequently finds
its way into the forcing house, and should be carefully
sought after and removed by hand. The Green Fly, though
more under our command here, is not less troublesome ;
as soon as any are seen, the house should be fumigated
with tobacco to destroy them, and this continually re-
peated through the season as they re-appear. The Red
Spider and Mildew will sometimes infest the plants, for
which sulphur is the generally acknowledged remedy.
Dusting it on the leaves after syringing is an easy method
of applying it. From the Red Spider, however, in a house
with a moist atmosphere, there is not much to fear ; and
it is perhaps as well to remove plants inclined to Mildew

lo Roses in Pots.

— which some varieties are more than others — as soon as
the first spots are seen.

About the middle of March the flower buds will show
colour, syringing should then cease, and a liberal supply of
water be given. Should worms work into the pots they
may be occasionally watered with lime-water, and if large
flowers be sought after in preference to number, the small
backward flower buds should be removed. A few plants
may now be carried to a colder house, which will give the
remaining ones more room, and by selecting them of
different degrees of forwardness a continual supply of
flowers may be obtained ; and further, the temperature
being diminished, the flower buds will have more time to
expand, and produce larger flowers approaching nearer to
their natural colours. It is the custom with some, as soon
as the buds show colour, gradually to lower the tempera-
ture of the house; by this method a greater display may be
obtained at one time, but the succession of flowers is lost,
and the whole retarded. When the flowers begin to
expand it will be found necessary to form a light shading
to screen them from the mid-day sun, and at this season a
thin canvas will be found sufficient. But to see Roses in
perfection in the forcing house, we should visit them at the
same time as we would Roses in the open air — with the
rising sun, just as the buds are unfolding, and while they
are wet with the dews of morn.

Thus have we arrived at the season when the flowers
appear, which by their beauty and fragrance redouble the
pleasure w^e have enjoyed during their progress. Among
forcing Roses of the classes Hybrid Perpetual and Tea-
scented, I know not which may claim the precedence.
The former beautiful class has the claim of novelty, and
has recently improved and increased at such a rapid rate
as to threaten the exclusion of many of the Damask
Perpetuals. The flowers are for the most part large and
double, but there is a similarity in appearance, the flowers
being chiefly purple or crimson. They possess the frag-

Roses in Pots. n

ranee of the Damask Perpetuals, and are free growers with
fine foliage. Tea-scented Roses are of opposite colours,
being chiefly white, yellow, and rose. They may be
considered as a selection from the Chinese, on account of
their delicious fragrance, and whether for forcing or out-
door pot plants, form very handsome Roses. Many of the
Bourbons are also admirable forcing Roses, of erect growth,
forming pretty compact heads when worked ; the flowers
are finely shaped, colours clear, and foliage broad and hand-
some. The Chinese Roses are very abundant bloomers,
and there is something striking and handsome in their
habit of flowering peculiar to themselves ; among them are
also some of the most brilliant crimson Roses. The
Damask Perpetuals are very sweet, and are probably best
worked on the Dog-rose when grown in pots. They
appear to derive an additional vigour from this " exalter "
of the Rose tribe, and being compact growers form very
neat objects. Some of the Hybrids of Chinese also force
well. In addition to the varieties recommended on
pages 2, 3, and 4, the following are excellent forcing
Roses : —

Blush to Pink : — N. Castalie. T. Bardon. Mossy de
Meaux. T. Grandiflora. H.C. Blairii No. 2. Ch.
Antheros. Ch. Miranda. H.P. Marquisa Boccella.
T. Originale. T. Clara. Ch. Virginal.

Sulphur and Bronze Yellow:— Ch. Miellez. T.
Princesse Helene du Luxembourg. T. Pauline
Plantier. T. Aurore. T. Mansais.

Rose : — T. Hardy. B. Madame Desprez. B. De Neuilly.
B. Psyche. B. Henri Plantier. B. Augustine Margat.
H.C. Charles Louis. H.C. Daphne. H.P. Lane.
Perp. Madame Feburier. Red Moss. T. Bon Silene.

Crimson : — Perp. Triomphe de Montmorency. Prov. Due
d'Angoulcme. Lawrenciana Rubra. Ch. Nemesis.
B. Josephine Gamier. Ch. Cramoisie Superieure.

12 Roses in Pots.

Purplish Crimson and Purple : — B. Due d'Aumale.
Ch. Triomphante. Ch. Comble de Gloire. B. Crimson
Globe. H.C. Plantier. H.P. Julie Dupont. Perp.
Louis Philippe. Perp. Warratah. H.P. Prince
Albert.

The colours of forced Roses are not quite equal to what
they are when produced in the open air, and in this respect
I believe there is a greater difference in the light-coloured
than in the dark varieties. Many of the sorts above enu-
merated, though of first merit as forcing Roses, do not at
all times expand their flowers when grown out of doors ;
of which we may instance, Ch. Virginal, H.P. Prince
Albert, and T. Princesse Helene du Luxembourg. The
colours which may appear wanting in the above list will
be found given in the preceding one.

As soon as the plants are out of bloom the surface of
the soil should be removed to the depth of half-an-inch,
or an inch if practicable without injuring the roots, and
the space supplied with well pulverised manure. The
plants which bloom but once in the season may be
gradually hardened off, when the house will admit more
plants which should be kept in reserve for that purpose.
But with regard to what are usually termed Autumnal
Roses, these may be treated so as to produce a good
supply of flowers a second time by the middle of May.
The weak shoots should be entirely cut out, and the
stronger ones shortened back to within two or at most
three eyes, taking care however not to deprive the plant of
more leaves than is absolutely necessary in the operation.
If, as is sometimes the case, the shoots in autumn pruning
were left long, and the eyes at the top only have shot
forth, these may be cut quite off, when the buds near the
base will be excited and fine flowers be produced there-
from. As the season advances less fire-heat will be neces-
sary. Towards April a fire lighted of an evening and kept
in for a few hours will (unless the weather be unusually

Roses in Pots. 13

cold) be found to impart sufficient warmth, and after the
buds show colour even this will not be requisite. The
plants having bloomed a second time, air may be gradualh'
admitted for a few days, when they may be taken out and
plunged in the open air, there to remain till required for
forcing the following year. Roses will force well for years
in succession, but every Autumn they should be turned
out of the pots, a good portion of the old soil shaken away
and fresh supplied. Some few will probably require larger
pots, of which we must judge by the condition of the plant
and roots.

ROSE CATALOGUES.

\Froin " The Gardeners' Chrofiicle^'' Oct. i()th, 1844,/. 701.]

THE criticisms in the Chronicle lately, in reference to
the dissimilar representations of the colours of Roses,
are not wholly without cause, but perhaps upon considera-
tion they may not seem so well merited as would appear at
first sight. Rather than confine myself to the exculpation
of the apparent error alluded to in my pamphlet on the
culture of " Roses in Pots," I would take a general view of
the subject, and in relation to the differential descriptions
given by various growers, would hazard an opinion that
the colours and appearance of Roses vary be}-ond degree.
We believe that colours are deepened by the action of
light, and numerous other circumstances also contribute
in causing variation ; for instance, the seasons — the different
times of the seasons — the stage in which the flower is sub-
mitted for examination, the soil in which it has been
grown, the health of the plant, and, above all, the different
ideas of colours maintained by different individuals. Now,
with regard to the variation in the colour of Roses, see
Indica " Le Cameleon " when just expanding — it is almost
white. View the same flower a day or two afterwards — it

14 Rose Catalogues.

is changed and become crimson ! In fact we may apply-
to Roses what the poet has written about a very different
part of the creation : —

" How slow its pace ! And then its hue —
Whoever saw so fine a blue ?
Hold there ! The other quick replies,
'Tis green, I saw it with these eyes.

Sirs ! Cries the umpire, cease your pother.
The creature's neither one nor t'other.
I caught the animal last night,
And viewed it o'er by candle light,
I marked it well,— 'twas black as jet,
You stare — but, sirs. I've got it yet,
And can produce it.

Replies the man, I'll turn him out ;
And, when before your eyes I've set him,
If you don't find him black I'll eat him ;
He said, and full before their sight
Produced the beast, and lo I 'Twas white "

Prince Albert (Hybrid Perpetual) occasionally blooms
of a vivid crimson, and often of a cloudy purple. T.
Safranot opens almost saffron-coloured, but dies off a
poor buff The first flowers I saw of Lady Alice Peel
(Hybrid Perpetual), now two years ago, were pink, and as
such I retain a vivid recollection of them although I have
never seen them of that colour since. I have just gathered
a flower of Bourbon Augustine Lelieur, which measures
fully four inches across ; but the colour is so different that,
had I not gathered it myself, I should have had some
difficulty in naming it. Without multiplying solitary in-
stances, if we view the whole body of Roses that bloom
twice in the year, and compare the colours noted down in
the Summer with their real appearance at this season, we
shall find a difference. But supposing Roses to bloom
alike at all times and in all situations, some indulgence
may be claimed from the public where 800 or 1000 varieties
are catalogued and described. Perhaps the first step toward

Rose Catalogues. 15

attaining accuracy in description is to take down the
colours on the spot during the season of bloom. This,
doubtless, is done although requiring a sacrifice of time
and labour from the principals, which an extensive Nursery
business will scarcely admit of But, again, the whole
varieties cannot be found in bloom at any one time, and
the collection would require a second, third, or even fourth
looking through, which might be incompatible with other
duties. The probable consequence is, some few are de-
scribed from memory. Now, although such descriptions
may not be perfectly correct, may they not be considered
sufficiently so to guide purchasers in selecting, which is
the only purpose for which Nurserymen's Catalogues are
published ?

TKIP TO PARIS IN SEARCH OF AUTUMNAL
ROSES.

[From " The Gufdenery Chronicle" Oct. 19M, 1S44, p. 700.]

OF the various floral improvements of modern times,
nothing has probably produced such a beautiful
change in the appearance of our gardens in autumn, or has
been introduced with more striking effect, than the per-
petual flowering Roses. What can be more cheering at
this season of the year than to behold the vivid colours of
many of the Bourbon and Hybrid Perpetual Roses, con-
trasted with the more delicate tints of the Tea-Scented,
set off by their dark green foliage, now that autumn has
set its seal on many of nature's earlier productions ? I am
an ardent admirer of the Rose, and my enthusiasm has
ere now carried me to the continent in the sultry month
of June in search of new varieties. Having this year
caught the autumnal mania, I resolved to delay my visit
till September in expectation of finding the perpetual

1 6 Trip to Paris in Search of Autumnal Roses.

flowering Roses blooming in greater perfection. In this I
was not disappointed, and would here advise connoiseurs
of Roses, who are accustomed to visit the grounds of the
large growers in England, to do so twice in the year, in
June for summer varieties and in September for the
autumnal sorts. I feel assured they would be well recom-
pensed by, and highly delighted with a September visit.
The Rose gardens then assume altogether a new aspect ;
the Sumrfier Roses are gone, and the Autumnal kinds
appear in all their richness and beauty. True, the
Autumnal Roses bloom in June, but they seem to require
the long dewy nights to bring out their flowers in trueness
of character, and the difference is oftentimes so great that
the well-known Rose of June would scarcely be recognised
when blooming in September. Thinking, however, that
many lovers of Roses might not have leisure or inclination
to travel very far in search of one object, which, among
a multiplicity of affairs, becomes of small importance, I
will endeavour to give an account of what struck me as
most remarkable during my late trip. After having
visited the grounds of the Hertfordshire growers, and
collected the choicest of Flora's train there, I departed
well pleased with what I had seen, and resolving to make
further additions from foreign cultivators.

Having reached the French capital, the first cultivator
to whom I paid a visit was M. Laffay, the raiser of
Madame Laffay, William Jesse, La Reine, and many other
of our most beautiful Roses. I there saw Hybrid Per-
petual La Reine in great beauty, and should pronounce it
one of the gems of the season ; the colour is pink with a
lilac hue, very glossy ; the flowers are globular in shape,
large, and very sweet. Another of his seedlings, Comtesse
Duchatel, is a Hybrid Perpetual of a superior kind, the
flowers are of a rose colour, with thick petals closely set ;
Pcrpetuelle Indigo is a distinct variety of a peculiar colour
to which its name alludes ; Hybrid Perpetual Mrs Cripps,
a pale rose, appears likely to become a profuse Autumn

Trip to Paris in Search of Autumnal Roses. 17

bloomer ; Perpetuelle Ponctuee, a bright rose with white
spots, is a very pretty variety. Of the four last mentioned
M. Laffay has, I believe, the entire stock at present, but
intends selling plants of them this autumn. He has also
a Moss Rose, Princesse Adelaide, of a pale rose colour,
blooming in corymbs, and said to be very handsome.
The habits of the plants were certainly remarkable, having
a degree of vigour quite foreign to the Moss tribe. Their
season of flowering was past, but he said the flowers were
like those of Ornement de Parade, a well-known Gallica
Rose, and other growers spoke well of it. Among others
noted here were Lady Alice Peel, Duchess of Sutherland,
Dr Marx, Coquette de Bellevue, and Coquette de Mont-
morency, all Hybrid Perpetuals of recent introduction, the
last mentioned in every respect a beautiful flower. M.
Laffay is an enthusiastic cultivator of Roses, and a lover of
fruits also.

To enumerate the various grounds visited would, I fear,
become tedious and occupy too much space, having often
looked through several in the course of a day. I must,
therefore, arrange the varieties noted down as most
remarkable in their respective families.

Among the Perpetuals and Hybrid Perpetuals were
Laurence de Montmorency, a free flowering variety of a
purplish rose colour ; Lady Elphinstone, rosy crimson, also
a good autumn bloomer ; Baronne Prevost, pale rose,
sweet, and of an immense size ; Comte d'Eu, a most
beautiful carmine, but scarcely double enough, though
apparently superior to Gloire de Rosomanes ; La Bedo}'ere,
a variety of the character of Comte d'Eu, more double, and
quite equal in colour ; Marquisa Boccella, delicate flesh, a
decided acquisition among a class of Roses the prevailing
colours of which are purple and crimson ; Prince de Galles,
purplish-crimson, a free grower, and seemingly well adapted
for a Pillar Rose. Among the Bourbons were Charles
Souchet, purplish-crimson, of a very pretty shape ; Comte
de Rambuteau, of the same cast ; Delille, a dark rose,
B

1 8 Trip to Paris in Search of Autumnal Roses.

finely cupped ; Due de Chartres, pale red, a superb Rose ;
Dumont du Courset, bright carmine, sometimes curiously-
marbled ; Edward Defosse, a bright pink, shaped like
Madame Nerard, first-rate ; Georges Cuvier, pale rose ;
Glory of Paris, another crimson variety, marbled with
violet and a fine rose ; Imperatrice Josephine, pale pink, of
a very elegant shape, blooming in corymbs ; La Gracieuse,
reddish crimson, a seedling from Emile Courtier, and an
estimable variety ; Le Grenadier, vivid crimson, frequently
tinged with violet ; Madame Souchet, rose and blush,
marbled, a delicate and beautiful variety ; Princesse
Clementine, violet-crimson, good ; Princesse de Modena,
flesh ; Souchet, bright purplish crimson, very fine ;
Souvenir d'Anselmne, a lively cherry colour ; Souvenir de
Dumont d'Urville, crimson, changing to violet after ex-
panding ; and Souvenir de Malmaison, a magnificent flesh-
coloured Rose. Among the Noisettes were Mrs Siddons,
in the way of Le Pactole, but in its then state not superior ;
Similor, a yellowish buff, but in appearance a weak grower ;
and Chromatella, or Cloth of Gold, a Rose of Yellow
Noisette cast, of a paler yellow than I expected, and which
does not appear to flower too freely. It has, however, been
an unfavourable season there for its flowering, and not
being very plentiful it may yet prove better than is antici-
pated. Among the Tea-Scented I noticed Adam, rose,
the flowers were bold and large, but not very abundantly
produced ; Barbot, yellow, tinted with rose, a very pleasing
kind ; Boutrand, rose ; Comte de Paris, flesh, one of the
finest Tea-Scented Roses ; Delices de Plantier, coppery
rose, very rich-looking ; Josephine Malton, buffish-yellow,
of a beautiful form ; Julie Mansais, sulphury-white, the
buds large and handsome ; La Renommee, a whitish
}'ellow, not new, but apparently little known ; Madame
Roussel, white ; Marie de Medicis, rose, with fawn centre,
good and distinct ; Moiret, large, full, pale yellow, a superb
rose ; and Safranot, a distinct and striking variety of a
beautiful saffron colour when first expanding, gradually

Trip to Paris in Search of Autumnal Roses. 19

melting into buff. Some of these varieties I had previ-
ously seen in England, and in equal beauty of bloom, but
others I there claimed acquaintanceship with for the first
time.

Roses in pots were numerous, but there were none
remarkable as specimens of superior cultivation ; certainly
none that I saw were equal to those exhibited at the
Horticultural Exhibitions about London, by Messrs Beck,
Lane, Paul, and others ; nor is it, perhaps, right to judge
them by such a standard, as they were not grown to show
what could be done with Roses in pots under good
management, but merely as market plants. As such, the
only objection to them by Englishmen would be the tall
stems on which they were worked, and the little attention
paid to their beauty. The head of the plant seemed to be
considered the only part worthy of notice.

ROSA BERBERIFOLIA HARDIL

\From " The Ganic/icrs' Chronicle" Sept. 13/// 1845,/. 626.]

THIS pretty rose, mentioned in a recent number as deli-
cate and unmanageable, has grown and bloomed here
in great perfection, and the following account of it may per-
haps not be altogether devoid of interest. The Rosa Berberi-
folia Hardii was raised from foreign seeds by Mr Hardy of
the Jardin du Luxembourg at Paris, and was first imported
to England about nine years ago. It was generally known
to be a delicate plant, and various methods were taken to
increase it. It was a practice with some to root-graft it on
Berberis Aquifolium. but in this way it was not likely to
thrive for any length of time on account of the opposite
nature of the stock and scion. The former was robust and
liable to sucker, the latter of delicate growth ; it was also
budded on the Dog-rose in which way it grows vigorously.

20 Rosa Berberifolia Hardii.

but it is a difficult matter to get soundly ripened buds, and
from their diminutiveness the operation is a very delicate
one, requiring to be executed with great nicety to succeed.
There are now in bloom here two or three plants that were
budded on the Dog-rose last September which have shoots
from 12 to 1 8 inches in length ; the tips of some I enclose
that it may be seen they are in perfect health. These will
be removed to a north wall and sheltered on the approach
of Winter. During the severe Winters of 1841-1842 some
scores of budded plants unprotected were killed here, and
the variety was, I believe, generally killed throughout the
kingdom ; since that time no stock seems to have been
established anywhere. With regard to its cultivation an,
airy and dry situation is the chief thing to be looked to.
It cannot endure much or continued wet ; under such cir-
cumstances mildew invariably attacks it, and I have seen
plants dead in November while others in a drier situation
have out-lived the winter and bloomed throughout the
following season. It cannot, however, be considered per-
fectly hardy, and should be placed in a cold pit or airy
situation in the greenhouse during winter, and kept close
to the glass, watering it sparingly. In the case of mildew
occurring, to which most Roses are liable, the plants should
be sprinkled with sulphur, and if attacked by green-fly
fumigated or washed with tobacco-water. About the be-
ginning of May they may be turned into the open ground,
sheltering for a few days in case of frosty or biting weather
that they may become gradually inured to their new situa-
tion. They thrive very well planted on raised rock-work
in a roughish soil of sandy peat, or, in fact, in almost any
dry open situation where not too much exposed to cutting
winds. Thus treated they will continually give forth their
flowers from July to the commencement of the autumn
frosts, when they may be taken up, potted in sandy peat
in pots well drained, and again placed in a pit or green-
house for the winter. If under any circumstances the
removal of the plants is not desired, a handglass may be

Rosa Berberifolia Hardii. 21

placed over them, lifting it off in mild favourable weather.
This plant being known as delicate has probably deterred
many from attempting to cultivate it ; but the same may
be said of many of the choicest and most interesting pro-
ductions of Flora — they are delicate, yet by a right system
of treatment are they not often made to repay a hundred-
fold the additional care of the painstaking cultivator ?
That this plant is not unmanageable may be gathered from
the fact advertised a month ago that there were nearly 400
plants here in perfect health.

THE HISTORY AND CULTIVATION OF
THE EOSE.

\Lectu7C before the Stamford Hill, Clapton, and Stoke- Aewington
Gardeners^ Association, Dec. St A, 1845.]

''T^HE subject on which I am invited to speak this
X evening is, The History and Cultivation of the Rose.
I need scarcely say that it would occupy a great length
of time to enter into all the details of the subject ; and,
indeed, when we consider the form in which it is brought
forward this evening it would hardly seem necessary to
do so. It has appeared to me the preferable plan to
compress in as small a compass as possible that which
is most interesting and practically useful. In pursuing
this course I trust the most important facts — both historical
and horticultural — will be found recorded, though some
must necessarily be spoken of rather briefly. For
convenience sake I shall divide the subject into four
heads : Bringing first before your notice the History of
the Rose ; I shall then proceed to make a few remarks on
the formation of the Rosetum, and the arrangement of
Roses generally ; in the third place I shall treat of the

22 The History and Cultivation of the Rose.

cultivation of the Rose ; and conclude by offering a list
of a select few varieties which experience gives me
confidence in recommending for particular purposes or
localities.*

The History of the Rose then will first engage our
attention. The Rose is indisputably a flower of antiquity,
and it has been admired and cultivated by almost every
civilised people. As if too beautiful to be excluded from
the natural Flora of any country, we find it very
generally diffused over the earth's surface, gracing alike
the temperate regions of Asia, Africa, and America, and
the whole of Europe, where, blooming in its native
wildness and simplicity, it is almost universally prized
and admired. But while Roses are to be found in almost
every country, the different species are by no means
equally distributed. While some are confined to
particular localities, others — as the R. canina, the species
commonly seen in our hedge-rows — luxuriate not only
in one country, but throughout Europe generally ; and
R. canina is found even in Africa and America. Who
were the first people to bring this flower from its natural
habitats to be a dweller in cultivated grounds must ever
be a matter of conjecture. It probably attracted the
notice of the virtuoso in plants at a very early period ;
perhaps when they Avere valued only for their medicinal
properties, or as objects of pleasant associations. We
may follow in imagination the busy doings of the plant-
collector in the earliest times, and fancy him gathering
and fixing in one spot the beautiful productions scattered
around him. We may further suppose that the most
beautiful and the most useful would be the first collected,
and this would give to the flower under consideration a
very early period of recognition by the human race. The
famous gardens of Babylon, which existed 2000 years

* It is thought unnecessary to bring again under notice the varieties of this
distant period.

The History and Cultivation of the Rose. 23

before the Christian era, would in all probability contain
the Rose. We have, however, no proof of this, though the
probability is still increased when we consider that the
adjoining country — Persia — has ever been celebrated for
the Roses it naturally produces. Quitting, however, the
precincts of conjecture, we come to facts. In the time of
Solomon, about 500 years later, the Rose was evidently
in favour with the Jews. In the Book of Wisdom the
following passage occurs : — " Let us fill ourselves with
costly wine and ointments, and let no flower of the
spring pass by us. Let lis croivii ourselves with Rose-buds
before they be zvithered." From this passage we may infer
that Roses were used by the Jews, most probably in times
of festivals or public rejoicings, and hence this custom
among the Greeks some centuries later. Again, in the
Book of Ecclesiastes we find mention made of the Rose : —
" Hearken unto me ye holy children, and bud forth as a
Rose growing by the brook of the field."

If we may judge from the writings of the Greek authors
we should pronounce the Rose to have been the Queen of
Flowers among the Greeks. With them it was consecrated
to the Graces, and to Harpocrates, the God of Silence.
Theocritus, on account of its transitoriness. compares it to
the course of human life. Homer uses it metaphorically
both in the Iliad and Odyssey. Sappho and Anacreon
make it the subject of their verses, the former styling
it the Queen of Flowers, and the latter the delight of the
Gods, the favourite plant of the Muses, and further speaks
of it as useful in diseases. Continuing its praises he says :
"What shall I say of its origin? When the sea had
formed from its foam the beautiful Venus, and bore her
on its wave rejoicing ; when from the brain of Jupiter
Pallas sprung forth a Goddess armed ; the earth in its
turn brought forth this admirable plant. The Gods in
jealousy, to hasten the period of its flowering, watered it
with nectar, and soon this immortal flower raised itself
majestically upon its thorny stem."

24 The History and Cultivation of the Rose.

The Egyptians cultivated Roses largely, and we read
that they sent quantities annually to Rome, before those
of the latter country were in bloom. At a feast given by
Cleopatra to Mark Antony, she caused the room of enter-
tainment to be strewed with Rose leaves to a considerable
depth, and spent a talent in procuring the requisite
number.

Several of the Latin authors make mention of the Rose,
and at the time that the Roman Empire was at its highest
pitch of splendour, the love of this flower was carried to
excess. It is related by Suetonius that the Emperor Nero
spent ;^20,ooo upon Roses at one feast. This certainly
seems monstrous, and can hardly be accredited even when
we consider the authority of Suetonius and the extra-
ordinary character of the Emperor. It was customary
for the wealthy inhabitants of Rome to take their meals
resting upon rose leaves. On the occasion of public
rejoicings the streets were strewed with flowers, and the
statues of their deities were adorned with crowns and
garlands of Roses. The practice of crowning themselves
with this flower also became so prevalent that a law was
passed forbidding it except on special occasions.

Although both the Greek and Latin authors wrote
very agreeable things about the Rose, and could doubtless
fully appreciate its varied beauties, they appear to have
known very little of the art of culture. Thus Theophrastus
tells us it was customary to set fire to the Rose trees in
Greece, without which precaution they would bear no
flowers. And Pliny relates that the art of forcing consisted
in watering the plants with warm water on the appearance
of the bud. From these statements it would seem that the
gardeners of those days did not let even the philosophers
into the secrets of their art. Nevertheless we read that
the Romans obtained Roses and Lilies in December by
introducing to their plant-houses tubes filled with hot
water, and Martial makes mention of Roses out of season
as a great luxury.

The History and Cultivation of the Rose. 25

From the fall of the Roman Empire little can be
gathered for a great length of time; the Rose shared in the
general oblivion to which flowers were consigned during
the dark ages. In the fourteenth century the Italian
writers mention it among other flowers, and the Italian
horticulturists have of late years obtained an unenviable
notoriety for their dexterity in making Roses assume the
appearance of being grafted on the orange, oleander, and
other plants.

The taste for flowers which attained to such an extra-
ordinary height in Holland during the seventeenth century,
has little bearing on our subject. Although the Moss
Rose was originally received in England from Holland, I
believe the Rose had little or no part in the extravagant
transactions which took place there during the Florimania.
Roses were cultivated largely in France during the four-
teenth century for uses in public feasts, &c. In several
villages in France there exists at the present day Rose
Fetes, at which among other ceremonies it is customary
for the villagers to place a crown of Roses upon the head
of the young girl who may be deemed the most virtuous.
Writers of various countries have delighted to dwell on the
Rose, and numerous are the ingenious and interesting
tales they have conjured up concerning it. We have not,
however, time to relate them here. Among our own poets
who have written on this flower, we number Chaucer,
Spenser, Shakespeare, Beaumont, Milton, Byron, Moore,
Cowper, Mrs Hemans, and almost every name of high
reputation.

With regard to the cultivation of the Rose in our own
country in the olden times, I have not been able to gather
much information. It might not have been cultivated to
a great extent, but the favourable mention made of it by
some of the early writers warrants us at least in supposing
it to have been an admired flower. In the fifteenth
century it must have been brought prominently before our
forefathers in the wars of the houses of York and

26 The History and Cultivation of the Rose.

Lancaster, when the adherents of the one party assumed
the red, and those of the other the white Rose, significant
of the cause which each espoused. Hence the old striped
Rose of our gardens, in which the colours of red and white
are blended, is very aptly named "York and Lancaster."
The late Mr Loudon, a name that must be ever dear to all
who take an interest in horticultural pursuits, mentions in
his Encyclopaedia of Gardening, published in 1822, that
the lists of the London and Paris nurserymen contained
upwards of 350 names, most of which were Gallica and
Chinese Roses. So great has been the improvement
among Roses of late years, that although there are
collections in this country consisting of 2000 varieties,
very i^w of those of 1822 would be found among them.
In the lists published at that time the varieties were
merely arranged alphabetically, but in the Rose growers'
catalogues of the present day we have the varieties cast
in various groups, and a Rose-grower's catalogue presents
a distinct system of classification. This method, which is
approved by the most eminent cultivators of the day, is
more floricultural than botanical. In the first place we
have two grand divisions — Summer and Autumn Roses.
Each of these is again divided into sections or groups,
the varieties of each group are then arranged alpha-
betically, and described. With respect to the botanical
arrangement of the Rose, full information may be obtained
by consulting a work published on the Rose some years
since by Dr Lindley, or by referring to Loudon's
Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum.

I shall now very briefly remark on each section into
which the Rose stands divided, according to the Rose
growers' catalogues of the present day ; instead, however,
of taking them in order as they are placed there, I shall
take them according to their date of introduction, and here
I should say that I very much regret that there are no
flowers at this season of the year by which I might point
out the distinctive features of each group. I have brought

The History and Cultivation of the Rose. 27

four plates xi( ibur different groups which may afford some
illustration, though they will not serve for the purpose
before mentioned.

The first foreign Rose brought to our country was the
Damask (R. damascena), which was introduced from Syria
in 1573) where it grows naturally in the form of a bushy
shrub, varying in height from 2 to 8 feet. It is the varie-
ties of this species, together with those of the Provence,
that are cultivated largely in some districts for the purpose
of making Rose-water from the flowers. But independent
of their yielding an article of commerce to the perfumer.
Damask Roses are not without interest to the Rose fancier.
To tJiem belong some very pretty pink Roses, with a
delicate shade of salmon pervading the flowers, rendering
them alike distinct and beautiful. Madame Hardy, too, a
well-known and beautiful white Rose is of this class.
They are only Summer Roses, but of very free growth,
thriving in unfavourable situations. From the Damask
Roses have sprung the Damask Perpetual, a class of Roses
very sweet and once much valued, but now almost super-
seded by the introduction of the Hybrid Perpetual, of
which we shall come to speak presently. According to
the authority of botanists, the }-ear 1596 saw several new
species of Roses introduced to England. The Provence
(R. centifolia), a dweller in the groves of the Eastern
Caucasus ; the Moss (R. centifolia muscosa), which was
received from Holland ; the French (R. gallica), of which
the striped Rose before you is a specimen ; the Musk (R.
moschata), indigenous to Madeira and the north of Africa;
the Austrian (R. lutea), an inhabitant of the south of
Europe — all tJiese ^xo. said to have been introduced in 1596.
The year following was added the R. Alba, a species
growing naturally in Piedmont and Denmark. Here were
the progenitors of several of the most popular Roses of the
present day, brought to our shores at about the same
period. Beautiful as they no doubt were then considered,
highly as they would be prized by the scientific in those

2o The History and Cultivation of the Rose.

matters, who could have dived so far into the ocean of
futurity as to foresee that from these species would spring
forth the admirable varieties we at present possess ? But
we know it has been so, and in contemplating still further
improvements by the process of hybridisation, what exten-
siv^e prospects open upon our view ; the iield for experi-
ment is boundless, and I believe yet brighter gems lie
hidden undeveloped in the forms of these species and their
varieties.

About the year 1629 the double yellow Rose (R.
sulphurea) was introduced from the Levant. This is the
Rose that seldom flowers to perfection in this country.
Much discussion has arisen as to the cause of this, and
methods of treatment directly opposite have been recom-
mended. It is impossible to reconcile such adverse
statements, but I believe a pure atmosphere to be of great
importance, and thus it will seldom flower in the immediate
neighbourhood of large towns. The aspect should be
south or east, and the soil stiff and moderately rich. It
has long been a matter of regret that this beautiful Rose
does not unfold its blossoms freely, but it is less so now
than formerly, because we have the Persian Yellow, which
is a near approach to it in colour, and which, so far as we
can judge of a newly introduced variety, will flower
abundantly.

The Evergreen Rose (R. sempervirens) was introduced
in 1629, but the varieties of this species are not very
numerous. It grows wild in Italy, France, and Greece, and
the group consists of very rapid growing Roses. For pil-
lars, or for covering old fences, or trees, they are without
equal; a growth of 10 ft. in the year is nothing extra-
ordinary with them, and they possess the valuable property
of holding their foliage through a great part of Winter.
The Boursault Rose (R. alpina), a native of the Alps,
was introduced in 1683, but the varieties now held in such
esteem are comparatively of recent introduction. They
are valuable as climbing Roses ; some are almost spineless.

The History and Cultivation of the Rose. 29

In 1789 the Chinese Rose (R. indica), was brought from
China, where it grows naturally, often to the height of 20
ft. This group is not so popular in the present day as
some others ; the varieties are, however, very valuable on
account of the profusion and constant succession of flowers
which they produce. The flowers are usually fine late in
the Autumn, the cold and wet at that season affecting
them less than the generality of Roses. From the Chinese
crossed with the Gallica or French Roses have sprung the
Hybrid Chinese, one of the finest groups of the whole.
From these, again crossed with the Bourbons and Damask
Perpetuals, have arisen another admirable group, the
Hybrid Perpetual. These are, in reality, Hybrid Chinese
continuing to flower during Autumn, and are very hardy
Roses. The Rose La Reine, of which there is a painting
before you, is one of the newest and best. Their growth is
vigorous, the flowers are large and handsome, and many of
them are well suited for cultivating in confined situations
where the more delicate kinds do not succeed well. The
Macartney Rose (R. bracteata) is also a n.ative of China,
from whence it was brought in 1795. There are only two
of this group worthy the attention of the amateur —
the single and Maria Leonida — and these when planted
against a wall in a dry warm situation are surpassingly
beautiful. The Rosa Multiflora is indigenous to China
and Japan. It was introduced here in 1804. The hybrids
of this group, Russelliana and Laure Davoust, are beauti-
ful climbing Roses ; the latter is rather tender, and requires
a wall or good aspect. The Rosa Banksia was brought
from China in 1807, and three years later the same
country furnished us with the Tea-Scented, of which the
Yellow Rose before you is one of the newest, and the tiny
Lawrenceana is from the same country. Beautiful little
Roses are these latter, exquisitely adapted for edgings to
Rose clumps. In 1817 the Noisette Rose was sent to
Paris from America, where it was supposed to have been
raised from a cross between R. Indica and R. Moschata.

30 The History and Cultivation of the Rose.

The Noisette Roses used to be recognised by the large
clusters of buds they produced, but many of the Noisettes
recently introduced have wandered far from the original
in this respect ; some, indeed, more closely resemble in
habit, constitution, and flowers, the Tea Rose. In 1822
the Bourbon Rose was sent to France from the Mauritius,
and is generally supposed to have originated by the
accidental hybridisation of the Rosa Indica with some
other species. The first Bourbon Rose was of a rose
colour, and only semi-double. For a long time the varie-
ties raised from seed and referred to this group were all of
a similar shade ; but within the last three or four years
there have arisen many dark rich coloured varieties, and
some pink and blush ones, which have made a pleasing
variety, and the Bourbons now form a group of the first
order. The R. Microphylla, much valued on account of
its curious and distinct appearance, was brought from
China in 1828. The calyx is completely covered with
sharp prickles ; the buds presenting a most curious appear-
ance, not unlike that of a hedgehog when rolled up in
defence against its enemies. These Roses require a good
aspect, as they are not only susceptible of frost, but from
great fulness of petals the flowers do not always expand
well. The R. Rubifolia is of recent introduction, having
been brought from America in 1830. There are now
several varieties, apparently vigorous growers, well suited
for climbing or pillar Roses. I believe Beauty of the
Prairies to be the best.

Besides the groups I have touched upon, we have
species natives of Britain, and the varieties which have
proceeded from these are of some interest to the amateur.
Among these are the Sweet Briar (R. rubiginosa) ; the
Ayrshire (R. arvensis) ; and the Scotch (R. spinosissima).
The other native species are of no interest in a floricultural
point of view.

We have now arrived at the second part of our subject,
and shall proceed to make a few remarks on the formation

I

The History and Cultivation of the Rose. 31

of a Rosetum and the arrangement of Roses generally.
The Rosetum usually consists of a series of clumps, or
groups of clumps, in which the varieties of each group are
arranged together. As Standard Roses form the main
feature in the Rosetum, we think the simpler the forms of
the clumps the better ; Standard Roses are decidedly
artificial objects, and squares, parallelograms, and other
geometrical figures admit of the best arrangement, and
are in perfect harmony with the character of the plants.
Circles, ovals, half circles, and the like filled with Roses on
stems of varying heights also look well. I have often been
struck with the effect produced by the Roses in the Jardin
du Luxembourg at Paris, where, perhaps, is the largest
collection of full-grown specimens in Europe. When in
full bloom the display is indeed gorgeous, the arrangement
perfect, and the effect beautiful. Yet the method of
arrangement is as simple as possible. In one garden the
plants are chiefly ranged in single rows running across a
square. In another there are many long narrow beds only
of sufficient width to admit two standards, and between
every two standards is planted a dwarf This is an
excellent plan, as it does away with the unsightly appear-
ance of a surface of bare ground which must unavoidably
lie exposed to view when standards only are planted.

Hertfordshire, famous for its Rose Gardens, can boast
of none to excel in beauty and v^ariety that of G. J. Bosan-
quet. Esquire, at Broxborne-bury. The principle feature
in this garden is three long beds running parallel. The
centre one is of considerable width, containing perhaps
seven rows stretching the whole length of the bed. The
centre row is the tallest, and the other rows planted on
each side of it gradually diminish in height as they recede
from this centre. Thus the bed shows two fronts. The
other beds, one on each side, are much narrower, and show
but one front. At one end of these beds is a raised temple
covered with Roses and other plants, from the interior of
which the sight during the blooming season is most im-

32 The History and Cultivation of the Rose.

posing. There are various other groups here, and some
fine specimens covering the walls. There are other Rose
Gardens in the county well worthy of notice did our time
permit.

In planting a Rosetum, if it be of any extent, we think
the Autumnals should be kept distinct from the Summer
Roses. This may be accomplished by introducing a row
of Pillar Roses. Let them be planted 3 feet apart to form
the division, and when they have grown to some consider-
able height remove every alternate plant, and form festoons
by running chains the entire length of the line. In the
event of walks intervening, arches and bowers may be
formed by means of rustic poles, and thus a distinct and
interesting feature is introduced. For forming edgings to
the beds in the Rosetum, the Lawrenceana and Miniature
Provence Roses are well suited. But it is not everyone
that wishes to form a Rosetum, though but few gardens
are without Rose clumps. For Standard Roses we think,
as before said, that whether in single clumps or in groups
of clumps the simpler they are formed the better. For
Dwarf Roses, however, full scope may be allowed for the
exercise of taste and ingenuity. If single clumps are
planted, a mixture of colours is desirable ; but where there
is a group of clumps, and each clump is filled with one
colour only, and the colours well contrasted, the effect is
admirable. For instance, let us suppose a series of clumps
formed on a lawn, and let us further suppose one bed to be
occupied with the Bourbon Queen, whose flowers are of a
salmon buff; let Cramoisie Superieure, of a rich crimson
hue, fill another ; Madame Bureau, white, a third ; and so
on. Or if we choose to introduce a Summer Rose, let us
take Harrisonii, whose golden blossoms are so abundantly
given forth early in summer. Now what, we ask, can
produce a more beautiful feature on a lawn than such a
group ? — flowers springing forth in the earliest of summer
and continuing to bloom till November, bidding defiance
to the frosts of autumn which disfigure so many of the

The History and Cultivation of the Rose. 33

richest beauties of the garden. Standard Roses planted
in single lines or avenues look well, or planted round the
borders of a lawn in small gardens. It is scarcely neces-
sary to say they are shown to greater advantage on a lawn
or from grass walks than from gravel. Standard Roses
are sometimes planted at intervals in herbaceous borders
and thus have a very pretty effect. Weeping Roses planted
singly on lawns form specimens of great beauty. The
Ayrshire and Sempervirens are best for the purpose,
and should be worked on stems of 5 feet and upwards.
Weeping Roses are formed by special pruning and
training. By cutting the plant in closely when young a
sufficient number of pendulous shoots will be produced to
form an umbrella-shaped head ; the following season these
left unpruned w\\\ form laterals. Henceforth, there is little
trouble to bring the tree to perfection ; the main shoots
should not be shortened, when the branches will extend to
the ground, producing flowers the greater part of their
length. There was one practice formerly very prevalent in
planting Standard Roses on lawns, viz., that of placing the
turf close up to the stem of the plant immediately after
planting. It certainly gives to the whole a neat and
finished appearance, but the sacrifice is too great for the
sake of neatness alone. Were the plant to be allowed
thoroughly to establish itself, and the turf to be then laid
on, it would not be so injurious, but it is desirable to avoid
even this. Turfing over prevents in some degree the air
from permeating the soil, and this proves anything but
beneficial to the growth of plants. Again, of what benefit
to a plant can the genial showers of spring be which have
first to pass through the thirsty turf and give sustenance
to the blades composing it ?

But we have dwelt long enough here, and proceed in
the third place to make some remarks on the cultivation of
the Rose.

In forming a Collection of Roses the first points that
should be considered are, whether the soil and situation
C

34 The History and Cultivation of the Rose.

are favourable or not. It is well known that a free airy
situation and a fresh loamy soil are most advantageous for
the cultivation of this flower; and in proportion as the soil
and situation depart from this, so are they the less favour-
able. And here allow me to intimate to those whose soil
and situation are not favourable that a hardy race of Roses,
the varieties of which flourish under such circumstances, is
infinitely preferable to the more beautiful but delicate ones
which, if they exist, will never flourish. I have no doubt
there are some persons present who have experienced dis-
appointment in the cultivation of the Tea-Scented and
other kinds in this neighbourhood, and although I shall
presently make mention of means by which I believe they
may be successfully grown, still under ordinary treatment
they do not thrive. Now in what degree are they superior
to the Hybrid Perpetual and Bourbon Roses, which do
thrive abundantly? True the colours of the latter are not
so delicate, their scent is not so grateful, but in some points,
one of which we may name " beauty of habit," they are
by many thought superior. The influences of a confined
situation or impure air it is difficult to remedy, syring-
ing the plants occasionally would doubtless prove of in-
calculable benefit. The soil, however, is a different matter,
and defects here are more easily removed. If the soil be
decidedly bad, the better plan is to remove it altogether to
the depth of i8 inches, replacing it with three-fourths turfy
loam in a rough state well mixed with one-fourth decom-
posed stable manure. Good soil, however, is of little use
unless the drainage be perfect, and in wet soils this must
be attended to. But let us not suppose there are many
soils so bad as to require wholly removing. Some there
are that are too light and porous, for these a good
dressing of marl or strong loam will be found beneficial.
Others are too strong and tenacious, here turf and sand will
be great improvers. It must, however, be borne in mind
that worked Roses thrive best in a strong-holding soil.
Transplanting is an operation of importance in the

The History and Cultivation of the Rose. 35

cultivation of the Rose. For this some recommend
autumn and others spring, but perhaps the season at
which it is performed is of less importance than the treat-
ment the plants receive after transplanted. It should
certainly be done wJien the grotind is in a good state so
that they plant well. The next point is to secure them
from the action of the wind, which is usually done by
means of stakes or iron rods. The whole surface of the
beds — or a yard square where single plants are placed —
should then be covered with stable manure, over which a
slight covering of mould may be placed for the sake of
neatness. In the event of a few dry days happening con-
secutively, either in spring or summer, a supply of water
should be given. By a little additional care at this era in
a plant's history — whether it be a young plant from the
nursery or an old one removed from one part of the garden
to another — it is probable that a perfect flowering will be
procured the first season after removal ; this is certain, the
plant will become more fully establislied, forming shoots
capable of producing abundance of vigorous blossoms in
after years.

Manuring is an important point in cultivation ; Roses
delight in a rich soil. Manuring once a year, and this
during winter if the manure is applied in a solid state,
is not too often. Liquid manure, in not too concentrated
a form, is excellent for Roses, but I almost hesitate to re-
commend the use of it on account of the additional labour
it imposes. If, however, a few favourites are treated with
it, it should be applied early in spring, so soon as the first
leaves appear, and for the Autumnals it should be repeated
immediately after the first flowering is over. For Pot-
Roses it is indispensable, and should be given at intervals
as the soil becomes dry. Though I am not over fond of the
use of artificial manures, still I think guano excellent for
making liquid manure, as it can be made with more certainty
as to strength than when made from the ordinary manure
heap. For Roses in pots one ounce of guano to one gallon

^6 The History and Cultivation of the Rose.

of pond water is sufficient, unless the beauty of the foliage
be considered more important than that of the flowers.

Pruning is one of the most delicate operations in the
whole practice of cultivation. On judicious pruning
depends not only the handsome formation of the tree
but the quality and quantity of flowers that will be
produced. Besides being a delicate operation, it is one
of which a correct knowledge can only be obtained by
practice and close observation. To offer a system of
pruning that might be applied generally, would be as
fallacious as for a physician to offer one rule of exercise?
diet, &c., to individuals of different temperaments and
constitutions. A method that is good in one stage of
growth, or for some particular variety, could not be
recommended in or for others. However, a iow passing
remarks seem called for. I71 general, the more vigorous the
habit of a plant is the less should the shoots be shortetied in
pruning. Thus the Hybrids of the Chinese and some of
the Noisettes, which are vigorous growers, should be
well thinned out and shortened back to 8 or 10 eyes.
On the contrary, small-growing kinds require close pruning,
such as the Chinese Tea-Scented and Damask Perpetual,
some of which require cutting back to 2 or 3 eyes. But
the system of pruning must be regulated in a measure by
the object sought. If large handsome flowers are wanted
in preference to number, a more rigorous system of pruning
must be followed than when the object is merely to enrich
and adorn the garden with a great display. Loose pruning
produces quantity of flowers ; close pruning quality. It
must, however, be borne in mind that too close pruning
applied to the vigorous Summer blooming kinds will cause
them to grow all to wood without producing any flowers.
With regard to the season best suited for this operation,
something depends on the time they are wanted to bloom.
Pruning in November doubtless causes an earlier bloom
than pruning in March. Nevertheless, we are not disposed
to recommend autumn pruning, and for this reason — a

The History and Cultivation of the Rose. 37

few mild days at Christmas time or in January will excite
the buds of November-pruned Roses, they push forth, and
the severe weather that almost invariably follows injures
them most seriously when in this state. Now, in March-
pruning we are secure from all this, and though by its
adoption the flowers may be developed a few days later,
yet it places us on the safe side of the question. As each
system doubtless has its advantages, let us see if we cannot
partially reconcile them. Let the heads be thinned out in
Nov^ember, and the shoots left for flowering be shortened
in the Spring. In pruning the Rose there are two points
that should be kept in view — the forming of a handsome
tree, and the obtaining of an abundance of good flowers.
To secure the first point it is necessary to begin our
operations when the plant is young ; a certain number of
shoots varying from 3 to 7, according to the strength of
the plant, should be marked out as standing at equal and
greatest distances from each other, and the remaining
shoots should be cut clean away. Close pruning is
necessary the first season after transplanting.

We have now reached a most interesting branch of
Rose-culture, namely, the raising of Seedlings. This
has hitherto engaged the attention of our English
horticulturists to a very slight degree. To France and
Italy are we indebted for our new varieties. But we
hope for better things. It is universally admitted that
we surpass the French in every other branch of Rose
cultivation, and why should we not in originating new
varieties .-* The only plausible reply that can be furnished
is — their climate is superior to ours. We admit it, and
propose a little extra care to remedy this natural difficulty.
We need not waste time in arguing that Roses can be
raised from seed in England — we have palpable proof of it.
Here in this immediate neighbourhood that admirable
Climbing Rose Blairii was originated. George the Fourth
is of English origin ; and Prince Albert — not H.P. Prince
Albert — but Hooker's Prince Albert, which is one of the

38 The History and Cultivation of the Rose.

finest formed Roses of the day, was raised in Kent. We
could adduce further proof if thought necessary, but this
establishes our position. Why then, the question naturally
arises, are so few good varieties originated in England ?
Because our Rose amateurs have not turned their attention
to this branch of cultivation. Now, to follow out this
subject. Such varieties as ripen their seed naturally here
should be planted in the best aspect of the garden, and
their flowers fertilised with the pollen of any others, the
combining of which may appear likely to produce good
and distinct varieties. Finely formed flowers and varieties
of good habit should be worked upon as much as possible.
To what extent hybridising may be carried I am not
prepared to say, but from existing hybrids it is evident
that the field for experiment is anything but circumscribed.
The following are good varieties for planting as seed-
bearers : — Rosa mundi, Moss du Luxembourg, Madame
Laffay, Harrisonii, Gloire des Rosomanes, Athelin, General
Allard, Aurora, Captain Sisolet, Chenedole, Great Western,
Marechal Soult. These all perfect their seeds in our
climate. Now, I almost question whether we could have
better varieties than these to work upon. From Athelin
have been originated some of our finest modern Hybrid
Perpetual Roses ; from General Allard was raised that
admirable variety Madame Laffay, and doubtless many
others sprang from the same source. Here then is
encouragement. It surely is only necessary to draw the
attention of the British gardening world to these facts, to
ensure the application of that same skill and industry
which in other branches have worked out such marvellous
results.

Rose seed is usually ripe in November, at which season
it should be gathered and laid by in damp mould or sand
till February, when the external covering will have decayed,
and the seeds may be rubbed out and sown. They may
be sown in beds or pans, taking care to protect from mice
and birds when sown, and from slugs when coming up.

The History and Cultivation of the Rose. 39

Some few will vegetate the first year, but many will lie
dormant until the year following.

The novel idea of introducing Roses in pots as exhibi-
tion plants was first given forth by the Horticultural
Society of London ; other societies have since adopted it,
and they now form a distinct and brilliant feature in our
floral fetes. The beautiful specimens of Roses that have
been produced growing in pots having fully proved them
to be suitable for the purpose, we may anticipate they will
become a very popular class of pot plants. If, indeed, we
consider the length of time they continue in bloom, the
richness, beauty, and variety of colour, their delicious
fragrance, and the handsome appearance of a well-grown
Rose-bush when in full bloom, it cannot be otherwise. I
have been occasionally asked, what are the advantages
gained by growing Roses in pots ? The same question
may be asked in reference to many other plants. But let
us consider what are the advantages. By growing Roses
in pots we may, with the aid of a greenhouse, have Roses
in bloom nearly the whole year round. Again, when
grown in pots, they are moveable and can be brought to
ornament any particular spot in the garden that may be
deficient in flowers, or be wanted to Icok gay at one
particular time. Then in some soils, as in low wet places,
and in some neighbourhoods, as in the vicinity of large
towns, many kinds cannot be grown well under any other
mode of culture. If further reasons for pot-culture are
required, we would say some of the most beautiful varieties
are incapable of enduring the rigours of our climate :
for them pot -culture admits of certain and perfect
development, Roses intended for growing in pots, if not
on their own roots, should be on stems not exceeding one
foot in height. The generality of Roses flourish in a soil
composed of two-thirds yellow loam in a turfy state, and
one-third decomposed manure. For the Tea-Scented and
Chinese Roses, however, and especially when on their own
roots, the soil should be made lighter by the addition of

40 The History and Cultivation of the Rose.

leaf-mould, or sand if the soil be not already sandy. This
compost should be thrown together in a heap at least
three months before required for use, and occasionally
turned that the component parts may become well incor-
porated, and ripened by exposure to the sun and air.
Plants that are removed from the ground, whether in
autumn or in spring, should be grown through the first
year with the view to establish handsome plants. Thus
they should be pruned closely, that the shoots may be
formed close at home ; these should be trained during
summer into the most favourable position, and kept some
distance apart, that the air may circulate freely among,
and ripen them. Pot-Roses, except where grown under
glass, should be kept plunged. In pruning they require to
be pruned rather closer than such as are growing in the
free earth, but the same rules are in a general sense
applicable to both. The greatest pest with which the
cultivator has to contend here is the Grub, with which all
Rose-growers are familiar. It is annoying and vexatious
enough to have a truss of flowers destroyed in the bud
under any circumstances, but here, where the plant is
so nicely balanced that the removal of one shoot destroys
the uniformity of the whole, it is doubly vexatious. It
however often occurs, and the only way. to prevent it
is to keep a watchful eye over the depredators. This
must be done from the time the buds first push, for then,
indeed, the ravages oftenest take place. It is not, however,
difficult to detect these rapacious pests ; a fine web drawn
over the leaf; the leaf rolled up, or the young leaves stick-
ing closely together — all these point out where they are
located, and it is only necessary to press the leaves firmly
between the thumb and finger to destroy them. If, how-
ever, this is neglected, sad are the results. We have said
the Tea-Scented Roses may be grown to perfection in pots
in the neighbourhood of large towns; a cold pit only is neces-
sary. Let them be placed here early in November, pruning
them at that season, and an abundant flowering will be

The History and Cultivation of the Rose. 41

obtained commencing early in May. No artificial heat is
necessary, unless they be required to flower earlier than this.
Roses, when grown in pits or a cold greenhouse, should
have abundance of air, and fumigating with tobacco must
be frequently resorted to for the destruction of the green-
fly. Plants pitted or housed in November will have made
shoots an inch long by February, when, if there is likely to
be a deficiency of shoots, some may be stopped, which will
cause two or three to be produced in place of one, but the
time of flowering will of course be retarded.

The practice of forcing the Rose has of late years
become very general, and perhaps there is none other of
Nature's productions led from its natural course and brought
to flower amid the chills of winter that excites so much
interest and delight as a Rose. Formerly the Moss and
Provence were the only kinds forced, but now we have a
charming variety by the introduction of the Tea-Scented,
Hybrid Perpetual, and other groups. Roses intended for
forcing may be housed in November and brought to flower
soon after Christmas, but if a perfect bloom be sought for
the first week in January is early enough to commence.
It is scarcely necessary to dwell on the desirability of
having the wood well ripened of the plants about .to be
forced. To accomplish this, when the plants are removed
from the forcing-house in Summer, and have made their
growth, they should be exposed to the full sun and air,
and not be too freely supplied with water. They should
be at rest at latest by the end of October. Roses are not
lovers of a powerful heat, and if I may so express myself,
we should lead rather than force them. We should bear
in mind that the nature of a plant is not changed by
forcing, but only the season at which its various functions
are performed ; it is introduced to artificial seasons; and we
should endeavour to make each artificial season approach
as nearly as possible to the natural season it represents.
Thus on the introduction of the plants to the forcing-
house, though it be the depth of winter, their spring in

42 The History and Cultivation of the Rose.

reality commences, and although from the little influence
of the sun at this period of the year all the advantages of
a real spring cannot be secured, yet we should approach
it as nearly as circumstances will permit. A gentle heat
should be commenced with, the fire should be lighted at
sunrise for the first fortnight, and extinguished at sunset,
unless the weather be frosty. A cool night teniperahire
in cojnniencitig is most essential. The plants should be
lightly syringed every morning, except two or three wet
days happen consecutively, when syringing may be
omitted. If the weather be mild, air may be admitted to
strengthen the swelling buds, and a day temperature of
50°, and a night temperature of 35° to 40°, is sufficient
at this early period of forcing. Soon the leaves will unfold
themselves when the temperature may be gradually raised,
ranging from 60° to 70^ by day and from 40° to 50° by night.

From this time no air must be admitted. The tempera-
ture may be raised by sudden bursts of sunshine to 80° or
90^ without any decided injury resulting ; if indeed it be
attempted to remedy this by the admission of air, it is pro-
bable that the leaves will curl up and drop, producing the
most disastrous effects. It will be found necessary to fumi-
gate the forcing-house with tobacco occasionally to destroy
the green-fly. An occasional watering with manure water
will also prove beneficial. Plants introduced early in Janu-
ary will flower by the middle of March, when a light shading
should be provided as the means of preserving the flowers in
perfection as long as possible. As soon as the buds show
colour syringing may be dispensed with, and at this time it is
customar)- with some to remove a few plants from the forcing
house to a colder house, where the flowers are more gradu-
ally developed, and their size and colour much improved.
By removing a few plants at different periods, and intro-
ducing fresh ones, a succession of flowers is also obtained.

Thus have I brought my subject to a close, and in
taking leave of you beg to thank you for the kind
attention you have so courteously given me.

A Plea for Summer Roses. 43

A PLEA FOR SUMMER ROSES.

\_From the " United Gardeners' and Land Stewards' Journal"
Jzatc 6th, 1846,/. 357.*]

THE Rose has its thousands of admirers, and with
that generous ardour which particularly distinguishes
those who engage in floricultural pursuits, many have
laboured to point out the method of culture they have
successfully practised, and by so doing have led others to
seek amusement from the same source, and to realise the
same pleasure experienced by themselves. Perhaps no
flower of modern times has been more universally patron-
ised than the Rose, and the results of this extended
patronage have been indeed remarkable. What vast
improvements may even our modern florists and amateurs
record in this flower. We have not only new features and
improved forms in almost every group of Summer Roses,
which it is more particularly my purpose now to speak of,
but we have a new tribe, a numerous Autumnal race,
sprung chiefly from the monthly and four seasons Roses,
which a few years since the most sanguine or far-sighted
cultivator could not have anticipated beholding. These
are indeed valuable, and it is not in the least my wish to
depreciate them. I am quite ready to acknowledge that
we find a rich treasure in the Autumnal gems, often
gladdening the garden with their lively and varied tints,
when even the Dahlia, Autumn's own flower, has shrunk
blighted from the chilling frosts. In pleading for the Rose
of Summer, I only seek for it a fair share of honour, and
in so doing I cannot help protesting against the unpardon-
able neglect with which some Rose cultivators seem

* This paper was written by the request of the late Robert Marnock, when
editor of the above-named Journal.

44 A Plea for Summer Roses.

inclined to treat it. I am my own gardener, so far as
relates to Roses, attending personally to their wants,
whether real or fancied, and, like many lovers of flowers,
find pleasure in anticipating the period of flowering. To
speak more plainly, I sometimes build castles in the air.
A sultry sun has driven me into a cool shady bower, where
I have for some time been revelling amidst the glories of a
June Rose garden, calling up to view one individual
specimen after another, until I have raised a host of half-
forgotten favourites each in full dress, a gorgeous spectacle,
and to which, notwithstanding every effort of the imagina-
tion, I could find no parallel among the Autumnal kinds.
Where, indeed, among the latter shall we find such a huge
mass of beauty as is presented to our view in a finely
bloomed specimen of Madame Plantier, in a Brennus, a
Fulgens, or a Beauty of Billiard ? Where among the
latter, shall we find the brilliancy of Feu Brillant, or
Eblouissante de Laqueue, or the sweetness and beauty of
many of those old globular - shaped Provence Roses ?
Where in autumn can we find anything approaching in
delicacy of beauty to La Seduisante, Felicite, and in dry
warm weather to Sophie de Marsilly ? Those compact -
growing, full-petalled, regular-shaped garden Roses, too,
are indispensable to all collections where exhibiting is an
object in view, or where perfection in a Rose is desiderated.
Among these, Boula de Xanteuil as a dark Rose reigns
supreme ; Kean as a scarlet is almost unequalled ; and
Grandissima, DAguesseau, and Columella, of various
shades of crimson, are perfect ; and these are Summer
Roses.

The Moss tribe is replete with beauty, and the varieties
which compose it must from their distinctness ever form
an interesting feature in the Rose garden. But have we
any Autumnal Moss ? Certainly none worthy of the name.
With June these lovely Roses fade, and the glory of the
Rose garden is departed.

If we turn again to the Hybrid Chinese, and view the

A Plea for Summer Roses. 45

perfect symmetry of form so strikingly displayed in Coupe
d'Hebe, we shall find that although this Rose "has but a
summer's reign," it will live in our remembrance when
numbers of the longer blooming ones are faded and
forgotten. We cannot surely dispense with the Persian
Yellow, the double Yellow Briar, or Harrisonii. Yet these
are Summer Roses. The only objection urged against
them is the transitoriness of their flowers. But they are
perfect of their kind, and till we have the like or superior,
blooming for a more extended period, they must find place
in every Rose garden.

It is then, I think, but just and fair for Rose cultiv'ators
to consider whether the disregard with which they treat
this one great compartment — Summer Roses — is merited,
whether by excluding or neglecting such they will not
materially lessen the beauty of their gardens. If it be so,
then their presence and beauty will be secured.

MORNING EAMBLES IN THE ROSE GARDENS
OF HERTFORDSHIRE.

{This was a pamphlet published in November 1849. As it is nearly
out of pri7it and will not be republished I have ventured to intro-
duce it here.]

BROXBOURNEBURY.— Pr^/;7>/^r, G. J. Bosan-
QUET, Esq.—Gar(fe?ier, Mr Fuller. — Broxbourne-
bury is about a mile from the Broxbourne station of the
Great Eastern Railway. Approaching it from the south-
east side of Hertfordshire we quit the high road to Ware
and Cambridge at the little village of Wormley. Crossing
the New River we pass through an avenue of oak trees, the
branches so intertwined as to completely over-arch the
road, forming a beautiful arcade about 500 yards in length.

46 The Rose Gardens of Hertfordshire.

This was the first object of striking beauty that we en-
countered, and although somewhat foreign to our subject
we cannot pass it unnoticed. Gratitude indeed demands
it, for although the day had but newly dawned, the shade
afforded by this archway proved most agreeable. It was a
true summer's morning — in this respect all that could be
wished for — and as we continued our journey we felt its
exhilarating influences. Nor did we venture to restrain
the mind from indulging in anticipated pleasures till it
revelled amidst the beauties it was soon to behold. It was
no secret that while Roses in many places were shrivelled
by the Fire King's scathing breath, or despoiled by
repeated attacks of insects, the summer of 1849 had
proved suitable to plants growing in the cool soil and pure
air of Hertfordshire, and it was agreed on all hands that a
finer bloom had rarely been witnessed.

Passing Wormleybury, the seat of the late Sir A.
Hume, Bart., a great patron of gardening, we wound along
a shady lane, whose banks gleamed with the Foxglove
(Digitalis), Campion (Lychnis), and Catchfly (Silene), and
whose hedgerows were crowned with Nightshade (Solanum),
Roses, and Honeysuckles, the latter yielding up their odours
to the " incense-breathing morn." Such an agreeable road
led to the park lodge, and a few minutes more brought us
to the pleasure grounds. We entered with a light step and
a buoyant heart (the usual accompaniments of pursuits like
these), and proceeding along the terrace leading from the
mansion to the Rosetum we were much struck with the
beauty of the Climbing Roses trained on a south-west
wall, tastefully intermingled with various climbing plants.
The most remarkable of the Roses were — Hybrid Chinese :
Fulgens and Blairii No. 2 ; Hybrid Bourbon : Victor Hugo ;
Multiflora: Russelliana ; Noisettes: Lamarque and La
Biche. Of other climbing plants we observed several of
the sweet-scented Clematis and Magnolias, a Wistaria, a
Gum Cistus, and a Lonicera. A few feet from the wall,
and running parallel with it, is a terrace-walk, gravelled

The Rose Gardens of Hertfordshire. 47

and about three yards wide, with flower beds on either
side ; on the right is the wall just described, and on the
left the lawn studded with ornamental trees and groups of
flowering plants. A Verbena garden occupies the end of
the lawn near the house ; in the centre is a basin orna-
mented with rock-work, and enlivened with a pretty-
fountain surrounded by a circle of light Norman arches
connected with chains over which the Tropxolum penta-
phyllum trails with a careless grace. The simplicity and
beauty of this arrangement is irresistible, and the effect
is heightened by the dazzling glow of the Verbenas
planted in the beds around. Turning to the left we pass a
thatched arbour completely fenced in from the the sun
with yew and laurel ; behind it is a collection of ferns which
luxuriate beneath the shade of two fine hickory trees.
A few steps onward and another turn brings us into a
winding walk about forty yards long overarched with
laburnums, whose golden racemes of flowers drooping from
the top of the arcade have a very pretty effect. Passing
two fine Rose-Acacia trees, whose fragile branches are
fastened to horizontal framework to protect them from the
wind, we enter a garden with six sides and six entrances
called the " Fountain Garden." There is a basin and
fountain in the centre, and the surrounding beds are filled
with the usual summer-blooming plants, as Heliotropes,
Petunias, &c. A few moments only could be spent here,
for adjoining it was the Rosetum, and the perfumes wafted
therefrom invited us to pass onward. As we did so we
caught occasional glimpses of the first object of our visit,
and on entering a brilliant spectacle was before us — above,
around, below, Roses glittered everywhere. Although from
long experience our eyes had become well accustomed to
Flora's gay and brilliant scenes, we must confess them
somewhat dazzled on the present occasion ; there was
indeed a galaxy of beauty. This was not our first visit by
many, and while we recognised several old flowers looking,
if possible, fresher and fairer than ever, we also met with

48 The Rose Gardens of Hertfordshire.

others less familiar. To speak of the plan of the Rosetum
should perhaps be our first effort, and then we will note
the names of a few varieties which most forcibly arrested
our attention.

First, then, of the soil. This is an alluvial loam, stiff,
and of considerable depth, and has been enriched by
repeated applications of decayed stable manure. The
Rosetum covers about an acre of ground, and is fenced in
on the one side by a wall, and on the other by a belt
of evergreens formed of Laurels, Portugal Laurels, and
Laurustinus very tastefully disposed. It is laid out in
plain beds, chiefly parallelograms, the tallest plants being
arranged in rows along the centre, the dwarfer ones
fronting them on either side sloping towards the walks,
which, except the outer one, are straight. The latter winds
gracefully, with Roses planted on either side, standards and
dwarfs alternately. The edgings of the beds are formed of
flints and pebbles, among which the Golden Moss (Sedum
acre), the Alpine Speedwell (Veronica alpina), and various
plants of lowly growth are made to creep. Among the
Summer Roses hardy kinds of Fuchsias are freely inter-
spersed with the view of enlivening the garden when the
Roses are out of flower. The Autumnals are separated
from the Summer kinds by a wire trellis covered with
Climbing Roses, the most conspicuous of which were —
Rose de Rosoviane : Gloire des Rosomanes. Noisettes :
Lamarque, Fellenberg, Du Luxembourg, Solfaterre, Cloth
of Gold. 7><a:-5r^«/^^: Nina and Madame Roussel. Occa-
sional Pillar Roses are introduced with good taste, and the
intersections of the walks are nearly all arched. For the
pillars and arches — Bourbon : Madame Desprez. Hybrid
Chinese : Celine ; and Ayrshire : Splendens — are most freely
used. At the back of the beds which bound the Rosetum
a row of Standard Climbing Roses is planted, the plants
being alternately three feet and five feet in the stem. The
heads rise, then droop, the spare branches being trained
along small chains hanging in graceful festoons. Of

The Rose Gardens of Hertfordshire. 49

these the most striking are — Ayrshire : Ruga, Splendens.
Boursmilt: Gracilis. Hybrid Musk: Garland. Bourbon:
Bouquet de Flore and Pierre de St Cyr. At one end of
the Rosetum is a raised temple or rustic arbour covered
with Sweet-scented Clematis (C. flammula), Virginian
Creeper (Ampelopsis hederacea), and honeysuckles.
From the foreground of this temple a splendid cozip d'ceil of
the whole is obtained. The ascent is made by a short
flight of steps built in true rustic style. On either hand is
a row of Fuchsias, whose coral-like blossoms hang in
magnificent profusion, and are admirably relieved by
masses of the silver-edged Vinca trailing over the ground
beneath. These are again supported by rhododendrons,
which form a bank in the foreground. The enticing cool-
ness of this retreat proved too much for our powers of
self-denial, and on entering we were not surprised to find
the inmost recesses filled with the perfumes which the
flowers exhaled. While meditating here we were led from
one class of plants to another, from the vegetable to the
animal kingdom, and as the various objects passed in rapid
succession before the mind, creation pointing to the
Creator, we silently wondered and adored. And what
a time for meditation ? The morning was delightful ;
calm, soft, and sunny, though a little hazy ; it was one
of those mornings in which one delights in Nature as a
companion.

" On earth 'twas yet all calm around ;

A pulseless silence, dread profound,"

reigned everywhere. The brooks ran clear, the flowers
were fresh, the groves were silent, the feathered choristers
having at once put off their natural shyness and dropt
their song.

But this is a digression ; our subject is flowers. One
thing struck us in reference thereto — the nice adaptation
of the varieties of Roses for particular purposes. Everj'
plant seemed to have been rightly chosen. The kinds of
pendulous habit had been selected on tall stems, and thus
D

50 The Rose Gardens of Hertfordshire.

their drooping branches displayed the flowers to great
advantage. The small-headed and erect kinds were grown
on dwarf stocks, and those of moderate vigour on stems of
intermediate height. This, although apparently a trifling
point, is as far as concerns the effect produced of vast
importance, and then it offers the additional advantage of
growing the kinds in the way in which they flourish best.
At the time of our visit (July) each of the plants had
recently received a small portion of guano, and afterwards
a supply of water, the effect of which remained to be seen,
although it must beyond doubt prove beneficial.

Thus far of the Rosetum ; let us now record a few of
the gems of this collection.* Of showy effective Roses,
kinds producing a striking effect en masse, we notice as
standards — French: Surpasse tout, William Tell, Cerise
superbe, and Souvenir d'une Mere. Hybrid Chinese, &c. :
Leopold de Bauffremont, Blairii No. 2, Fulgens, Adolphe,
Triomphe d'Angers, Madeline, Beauty of Billiard, Elizabeth
Plantier, Magna rosea, Globe White Hip, Henri Barbet,
Madame Plantier. Damask Perpetual: Crimson or Du Roi.
Chinese: Fabvier. Tea-Scented: Taglioni, Devoniensis, Le
Pactole, Lyonnais, Belle AUemande, Niphetos (the Mag-
nolia Rose of some). Noisette : La Biche, a very tall plant
with an immense head. Bourbon : Dupetit Thouars, Comte
d'Eu, Imperatrice Josephine, Madame Angelina. These
were, for the most part, immense standards, splendidly
covered with bloom.

Of Show Roses, kinds remarkable for the beauty and
symmetry of the individual flowers, we noticed — Damask:
La Ville de Bruxelles, Madame Soetmans. Hybrid Bour-
bon : Charles Duval, Paul Perras, and Coupe d'Hebe.
French : Adele Prevost, Kean, and Latour d'Auvergne.
Hybrid Perpetual: Geant des Batailles. Tea-Scejited:

* To retain these names in this and similar instances may be thought by
some a work of supererogation, as so many of these varieties are antiquated and
have passed away. But it has appeared to me that it may be interesting and
useful in the future.

The Rose Gardens of Hertfordshire. 51

Moiret, and Elise Sauvage. Bourbon : Souvenir de la
Malmaison (two plants with 100 flowers each), Acidalia.
Austrian: Persian Yellow. Alba: Sophie de Marsilly.

THEOBALD'S SQUARE.— Pr^/r/V/^r J. M. Britten,
Esq. — Gardener^ Mr Melady. — This place is about a mile
from the Waltham Cross Station of the Great Eastern
Railway. The spot is rendered interesting from historic
associations. Theobalds was formerly the residence of
royalty ; and from here Charles I. departed to place him-
self at the head of his army to oppose the troops of the
Parliamentarians, Earlier in history the famous Lord
Burleigh had a seat at Theobalds. The garden now under
consideration is not very extensive, but it is well and
neatly kept, and doubtless affords the proprietor more real
pleasure, and proves far more interesting to the stranger,
than some places of many acres. There is no Rosetum
here ; the plants are disposed in clumps and rows through-
out the garden. On the west front of the house is a trellis,
over which are trained Leopoldine d'Orleans (Semper-
virens), Ayrshire Queen, Fellenberg (Noisette), and Gloire
des Rosomanes. The pillars supporting the entrance are
covered with Ruga and Splendens, both light coloured
Ayrshire Roses. A walk, about 100 yards in length, leads
from this front of the house to a lake, on whose surface
floated a profusion of Water Lilies (Nymphasa alba), which,
gleaming from afar, presented a most lovely spectacle. On
either side the walk is lawn-ground planted with beds of
hardy evergreens and single specimens of ornamental trees,
interspersed with clumps of Roses, Geraniums, and other
summer-flowering plants. In the beds by the sides of the
walk we notice the following Roses — Hybrid Chinese, &c. :
Chenedole, Charles Duval, and Coupe d'Hdbe. Noisette:
Lamarque, Euphrosyne. Tea- Scented : Niphetos, Jaune,
Devoniensis, Goubault, and Cels multiflora. Bourbon :
Paul Joseph, Queen. Hybrid Perpetual : La Reine, Comte
d'Eu. Alba: Madame Legras, Princesse Lamballe. Hybrid

52 The Rose Gardens of Hertfordshire.

Chinese: General Allard, William Jesse, Lady Stuart, Ful-
gens. Bourbon : Armosa, Bouquet de Flore. FrencJi :
Boula de Nanteuil, Kean, Surpasse tout, Cerise superbe.
The Perpetual White Moss was also blooming here very
prettily ; and although the expanded flowers are neither
regular in form nor very double, the large clusters of well-
mossed buds it produces are unique and truly elegant.
Not only are these noted as superior kinds, but the trees
(for all were on stems) are large and handsome. There
was also less crowding and confusion of branches discover-
able than is usually seen in standard Roses owing to un-
skilful pruning. The standard Tea-Scented Roses were
particularly fine, which we believe due, in some part, to the
sheltered position they grow in, as the lawn on which they
were planted is open to the south only.

Passing to the east front of the house, we found the
pillars there covered with the White Banksise, Maria
Leonida (Macartney), and Coupe d'Hebe (Hybrid Bour-
bon), the two former white roses, the latter pink ; there
were also Clematis florida and C. azurea grandiflora, the
loveliest of the tribe. On the lawn opposite are two beds
of short standard Roses, the most striking of which were —
Hybrid Chinese, &c. : Magna rosea. Great Western, and
Parigot. Hybrid Perpetual: Mrs Eliot, Clementine Seringe,
and Jacques Lafitte. French: Village Maid. Tea-Scented:
Le Pactole, Niphetos, very fine, and Adam. Bourbon :
Dupetit Thouars. Noisette: Euphrosyne. Alba: La
Seduisante. There was a plant of the Maiden's Blush with
several old stems ; four of these had been budded about
breast high, and formed four separate heads : Lamarque
(Noisette), sulphur, and Ne Plus Ultra (Hybrid Chinese),
crimson, were the varieties. A splendid standard of La
Biche (Noisette), the head about twenty feet in circum-
ference, a perfect specimen, laden with blossoms, stood
singly on the lawn, and was a very striking object. There
was also a standard and a dwarf standard Ruga trained as
weepers, both very pretty. The natural soil of this garden

The Rose Gardens of Hertfordshire. 53

is a stiff loam of considerable depth, friable rather than
clayey. In the kitchen-garden is an arched rose-walk,
three yards wide, and of considerable length. The arches,
which are formed of wire, are about eight feet high and
about seventeen yards apart. Although from either end
there is the appearance of an unbroken arcade, yet when
traversing the walk the arches seem too far apart, and we
can imagine the effect more perfect were they placed at
about half this distance. There were no new kinds used
for covering them. Most of our old favourites were there,
and they answered the end perfectly.

THEOBALD'S SOU A'^Y.. — Proprietor, R. W.
Kennard, Esq. — Gardener, Mr CooPER. — The principal
feature in this garden is an arched rose-walk or arcade of
Roses. The walk, which is about eight feet wide and one
hundred yards long, runs under a wall with a west aspect.
The arches are about ten feet high. They were originally
covered with some of the fastest growing kinds, without
reference to merit, on which the finer kinds have been
budded from time to time. By this system time is saved,
the arches are quickly covered ; but we think the plan ad-
visable under peculiar circumstances only, as, for instance,
where the situation is unfavourable for growth. It is be-
yond question that the work never becomes so perfect as
when the best kinds are planted in the first instance. Not-
withstanding this remark, the effect of the arcade, when
viewed from the outside, is admirable. The varieties which
most particularly engaged our attention were — Semper-
virens : Leopoldine d'Orleans. Ayrshire: Ruga and
Splendens. Noisette : Lamarque, La Biche, Jaune Desprez ;
these six are light coloured flowers. Hybrid Chinese, &c.:
Blairii No. 2, Fulgens, Beauty of Billiard, Magna rosea,
Brennus, Duke of Devonshire, Belle Marie, Celine. Bour-
bon: Madame Desprez, Jacques, Bouquet de Flore. Rose
de Rosomane: Gloire des Rosomanes. Hybrid Perpetual :
Baronne Prevost, La Reine, Duchess of Sutherland.

54 The Rose Gardens of Hertfordshire.

Multijlora : Russelliana. These are from rose to crimson,
embracing the intermediate tints. Turning towards the
house we see on the south front projecting arches, against
which are planted Brennus and Amadis, dark flowers ;
and Lamarque, Ruga, Leopoldine d'Orleans, Hght ones.
These kinds are well suited for the purpose. We cannot
help singling out from am.ong the lawn trees two splendid
Cedars, a handsome deciduous Cypress forty feet high,
and an evergreen Cypress not less than fifty feet, a perfect
specimen. Approaching the borders of a small lake, we see
brick arches rising from grottoes covered with ivy, which,
viewed in conjunction with the old trees, are strikingly
picturesque. Passing beneath the arches we reach another
collection of Roses, principally standards, planted in
straight rows on either side of a walk about ten feet wide.
The highest stems are at the back, and the declination is
gradual as the plants approach the edges of the walk.
Among the Roses, herbaceous and various summer-flower-
ing plants are introduced, and thus the whole is made gay
and interesting. The soil here is a good loam, similar to
the last.

POLES near wake.— Proprietor, R. Hanbury,
Esq. — Gardener, Mr Barnes. — This place is about a mile
from the town of Ware. Roses are not at present the
most interesting feature of the gardens. The collections
of orchidaceous plants, greenhouse plants, heaths, &c., are
more perfect, and well worth the attention of connoiseurs
of these flowers. The gardens have been lately re-formed,
and consequently the Roses, which are pretty numerous,
comprise the best modern varieties. The natural soil
being an unkind clay, a soil of turf and manure was pre-
pared in which they are planted, and they have done well.
Tea and Chinese Roses are placed against the walls of the
terraces in every aspect, where they grow and flower as
well as could be wished, Beds of mixed Autumnal Roses
are planted in conjunction with the usual summer bedding

The Rose Gardens of Hertfordshire. 55

plants, with which they group admirably, and produce a
very splendid effect. Mr Barnes recommends the adoption
of this plan very strongly as a great saving of time to the
gardener at a season when time is invaluable, and as a
saving of expense to the proprietor. As there can be no
longer any doubt of their suitableness for this purpose, we
predict that they will ere long become generally planted.
Indeed, when we remember how constantly they flower,
and that their season is prolonged beyond that of ordinary
bedding plants, it is a matter of surprise that they have
not been more freely used. Want of variety, beauty, or
fragrance, cannot be offered as an excuse for this neglect.
In the Rose is to be found the softest and the hardest tints,
the purest white, the deepest crimson, and the intermediate
shades are innumerable. As to beauty and fragrance they
are too evident to need comment.

These remarks are made in reference to the present mode
of growing them, but we think much may be done to
improve the cultivation of Roses in flower-beds. The plan
of pegging down the branches we hold to be more than
questionable ; when adopted the flowers are brought so
close to the ground that the first shower of rain that falls
covers them with soil, after which the delicate tints will
not bear looking on. This plan further causes a few vigor-
ous shoots to arise from the base of the branches pegged
down, and an uneven growth and a scanty supply of
flowers are the results. The easiest remedy for this is to
grow the plants on short stems, but as such are by some
held objectionable, when on their own roots, a few wires of
sufficient strength to support the branches should be
stretched over the beds at a given height, according to the
habit of the variety or the position it may occupy. In
pruning cut off the branches just below these wires, and
the young shoots will rise and flower above. A little tying
may be necessary in some instances to keep the beds neat
and compact. Prune sparingly, manure freely, and the
desired end — a mass of flowers — will be obtained.

S6 The Rose Gardens of Hertfordshire.

YOUNGSBURY.— Proprietor, Lady Puller.— c;^^-
defier, Mr TERRY. — About two miles from the place last
described is Youngsbury, close to the little villiage of
Wadesmill. Entering by the lodge adjoining the high
road we pass through a fine park with a prettily undulated
surface, containing some handsome elm, ash, beech, and
chestnut trees, disposed in very elegant groups. The
principal of the Roses here are planted round the borders
of the kitchen garden, which, indeed, they may be said to
have converted into a Rose garden, which derives addi-
tional interest from the free interspersion of herbaceous
plants. One thing struck us as remarkably pretty, it was
the twining of honeysuckles around the stems of the free-
growing Roses. The honeysuckles are not allowed to
luxuriate in their natural wildness, but are well pruned at
the same time as the Roses, and are thus kept neat and
close. They were all one mass of bloom from the ground
to the heads of the Roses. An arched Rose walk (Tudor
arches), covered with the usual climbing Roses is also
worthy of notice. Next we encountered an arbour, the
roof of which was skilfully and tastefully decorated with
fir cones. This is near to the principal Rose beds, which
are in a small garden entirely surrounded by a wall. The
Roses are planted in the borders in straight rows, three feet
from plant to plant, and 2 feet from row to row. The
plants are large and well formed, principally dwarf
standards, and there are three or four of each of the finest
sorts, an excellent plan when cultivating for exhibition is
one end in view. Amongst others we noticed as first rate
— Moss: Bath white, Reine de Provence. Hybrid Chinese,
dfc: Brennus, Belle de Rosny, Charles Duval, Triomphe de
Laqueue, Marie de Champlouis, Coupe d'Hebe, Chenedole,
and Comtesse de Lacepede. French : Boula de Nanteuil,
D'Aguesseau, Oracle du Siecle, La Volupte. Hybrid Per-
petnal: Earl Talbot. Alba: Sophie de Marsilly. There is
also a border of Bourbon Roses which has been recently
planted in continuation of a group of the gay semi-double

The Rose Gardens of Hertfordshire. 57

old French kinds, which it is now intended to remove. We
noticed on the wall a plant of the Jaune Desprez, blooming
most profusely, and somewhat deeper in colour than is
usual. We were told of a curious circumstance in connec-
tion with this plant. It was on a three feet stem, and was
originally planted at some little distance from the wall.
The stem was bent downward till the head reached the
wall, the former was then covered over with some depth of
soil, in which state it remains flourishing as above de-
scribed. At each end of one of the greenhouses there is a
bank of ^oses planted in pjire clay under a wall with a west
aspect. It was obvious to remark how well the plants
throve, and how large the flowers were. All were worked
on the Dog Rose. The Hybrid Chinese were especially
luxuriant, but Bourbons, Noisettes, Chinese, and even Tea-
Scented, seemed alike to flourish. The following were
noted as large plants bearing fine flowers — French:
Village Maid. Hybrid Chinese, &c.: Brennus, Beauty of
Billiard, and Velours episcopal. Damask: Madame Hardy.
Brier: Harrisonii. Hybrid Perpetual: Comtesse Duchatel.
Noisette : Aimee Vibert and Miss Glegg. Bourbon :
Queen. Tea-Scented : Camellia blanc. Crossing the
lawn we caught a glimpse of a handsome Abies
Douglassii, thirty feet high, and then passed between
high laurel hedges overtopped with cedars, beeches, and
elms. We again entered the park, passed through an
avenue of limes, and crossed the river Rib whose sedg\'
banks were in full beauty. In the nursery, which we had
now reached, we found ourselves in company with more
Roses, and observed as standards — Hybrid Perpetual:
Madame Damene, Dr Marx. French: La Ville de
Londres, Kean. Damask: Deeseflore. Hybrid Chinese:
Grilony, Paul Perras, Lord John Russell, Belle Marie, and
Brown's Superb. We here met with a new enemy of the
Rose in the shape of a green caterpillar with a black head;
it was tolerably abundant, rolling up the leaflets for a
dwelling. It may not prove a pest of great magnitude,

58 The Rose Gardens of Hertfordshire.

but there is nothing like sounding the alarm on the first
appearance of the enemy, and Rose cultivators will do
well to look to it. There was, indeed, a beautiful lot of
Roses in this secluded spot, and as we cast a parting
glance upon them we uttered the sentiment of the poet —

" small is the worth

Of beauty from the light retired ;"

and could not pass on without wishing them a speedy
transfer to a more eligible situation.

The natural soil at Youngsbury is a blue clay, lying
close to the surface, extending to the depth of twenty
feet, where it rests upon chalk. The surface where long
cultivated has the appearance of a light vegetable soil.

But we must say a few words of the Pot-Roses here, of
which Mr Terry's skill as a cultivator is fully attested by
his success as an exhibitor at the metropolitan flower
shows. His plants are mostly on their own roots and
grown in large pots. He is not an advocate for plunging.
The plants were standing on solid ground, under a wall,
with a north-east aspect; and, judging from their healthful
appearance, they were perfectly happy there. The follow-
ing plants were very fine — Tea-Scented: Caroline, Bougere,
Comte de Paris, Goubault, Pactolus, and Princess Marie.
Bourbon : Queen, Souvenir de Malmaison. Hybrid Per-
peUial: Robin Hood. Hybrid Chinese, &c.: Las Casas,
Comtesse Lacepede, and Charles Duval. Chinese : Merlet
de LabouUaye, Mrs Bosanquet, and Madame Breon.
French: Boula de Nanteuil. Noisettes: Aimee Vibert,
and Lamarque. Atistrian : Persian Yellow and Harri-
sonii. The soil Mr Terry uses is the same as is generally
recommended for Pot-Roses.

DANE Y.'^^.— Proprietor, Charles S. Chauncey,
Esq. — Gardener, Mr Mylne. Leaving Youngsbury, we
proceeded about a mile along the high road to Cambridge,
and then entered a winding lane, running for two miles

\

The Rose Gardens of Hertfordshire, 59

and a half, to the seat of Charles S. Chauncey, Esq.,
called Dane End, near Munden. The Dog-Rose and Rosa
arvensis abounded in the hedges, and if we were not de-
ceived by the pace at which we were travelling, the sweet
briar also showed itself occasionally. Many fair flowerets
studded the wayside, and more than once did we regret
the want of leisure to cull a bouquet of these lovely gems.
But it was impossible. The sun was already high above
our head, and the time to which we wished to limit our
morning rambles almost expired. We reached the desired
spot, and immediately on entering were dazzled with the
sight of a bed of mixed Roses, dwarf standards, beneath
which glittered the lovely Eschscholtzia covering the
ground as with a sheet of burnished gold. Whichever
way we turned masses of flowers met our view. Standing
in the heart of an agricultural district, which we had just
quitted, and where every idle plant (excepting those by
the wayside) was doomed to quick and sure destruction,
the change was the more striking. We had for some
time been passing farm lands, which we could not but
admire for their freedom from wild flowers ; now we were
suddenly in the midst of a beautiful garden, appearing like
an oasis in a desert. The mansion stands some little dis-
tance from the road on gently rising lawn ground. In
front and near to the road is a walk describing a semi-
circle. On the lawn side of the walk beds of Roses of
graceful forms follow the margin, a mere strip of the lawn
intervening. There is in most cases a bed of a sort, and
they are principally Autumnals. We noticed especially as
suited for this purpose — Hybrid Perpetual: La Reine,
William Jesse, Madame Laffay, and Mrs Elliot. Chinese:
White, Cramoisie superieure, Gloire des Rosomanes, Bour-
bon: Bouquet de Flore, All these are evidently excellent
kinds for bedding. On the opposite side of the walk is a
herbaceous border about three yards wide ; it contains a
very good collection of herbaceous plants, and the most
showy kinds, such as Sweet Williams, Antirrhinums,

6o The Rose Gardens of Hertfordshire.

Rockets, &c., being freely interspersed, the effect is grand
in the extreme. At the back of this border is a wire
fence covered with free-growing creeping Roses and
honeysuckles. Behind this is a walk and a belt of trees
for shelter, among which the Scotch Laburnum and Yellow
Broom are plentifully introduced. At one end of this
border is a fine spreading Sycamore, whose agreeable
shade we gladly availed ourselves of for a few moments,
and then pursued a shady path to examine a row of the
Crimson Perpetual Roses nearly fifty yards long. The
plants were large and in full bloom, and are said to yield
a constant supply of flowers for bouquets from June to
Christmas, Thence we returned to inspect a large bed of
Roses, which contains the principal collection. They were
for the most part standards. The most striking for size
and beauty were — French : Latour d'Auvergne, William
Tell, and Madame Damoureau. Hybrid Chinese, 6rc. :
Magna rosea, Stadtholder, Madame Plantier, Devigne,
Coupe d'Hebe, and Beauty of Billiard. Hybrid Perpetual :
Dr Marx and Clementine Seringe. Bourbon : Bouquet de
Flore. Damask Perpetual: La Volumineuse. Turning
thence, we passed through an arcade of Roses, formed of
the Boursault and various kinds of Hybrid Chinese.
Ascending a gentle slope by the side of the house, we met
with a bed of the Gloire des Rosomanes,

" Warm rival of the flame that dyes
The heavens,"

and another of the White China, which we were informed
had withstood the frosts of ten winters without any
protection. Next in order was a bed of Bourbon, Madame
Desprez ; three beds of Noisette, Fellenberg ; and one of
the Beauty of Hertfordshire, a seedling raised here by Mr
Mylne, possessing very fine foliage and rose-coloured
flowers, resembling the Bourbon latifolia. These beds
were all upon the lawn, where the natural soil (chalk) rises
to within two inches of the surface ; the soil has conse-

The Rose Gardens of Hertfordshire. 6i

quently been made for them. On the right-hand side of
the walk we are now traversing is a bed of mixed Roses
five plants deep, at the back of which a wire fence separates
the garden from the park. Over the walk are arches of
Bourbon Roses, principally Gloire des Rosomanes and
Madame Desprez. Higher up is a bank of the original
Bourbon Rose, and another of the Copper and Yellow
Austrian, intertwined with honeysuckles. On the top of
the banks a row of Scotch Laburnums is planted on either
side of the walk, the effect of which in the flowering season
must be very good. Having reached the summit of the
hill, we meet with another border of Roses five rows deep,
containing the best modern kinds. Behind them is a belt
of Spruce Firs planted for shelter, and a row of Abies
deodara. From this spot is a pretty view of the valley
below, and a rising hill beyond, the village church pre-
senting a most interesting object. Descending over the
lawn, which is planted with single specimens of Coniferae,
we pass a handsome Pinus patula eight feet high, which
has stood eight winters unprotected, a handsome Crypto-
meria japonica five feet high, and a nice clump of Yews.
Various flower-beds, filled with the usual bedding-plants,
surround the house. Returning to the entrance we crossed
the road to the kitchen-garden, where we found Leopoldine
d'Orleans and Madame d'Arblay, both light Roses, in
magnificent bloom, covering an immense apple tree twelve
feet high, which they had almost destro3^ed. The Bishop's
Provence, Tricolor, Triomphe de Rennes, and the Globe
Hip, were also flowering prettily here. It was said the
Cloth of Gold bloomed well as a standard, planted on the
west border of a greenhouse. On a south border of the
kitchen-garden some Autumnal Roses are planted, over
which frames are placed in winter and spring, by which
means flowers are obtained some weeks before those
wholly exposed are in bloom. Against a south wall a
collection of dwarf-standard Tea-Scented Roses are placed
between the fruit-trees, and they were doing well. But

62 The Rose Gardens of Hertfordshire.

this notice is already far extended, and we must conclude
with a glance at the conservatory. On the outside of this
structure Tea-Scented Roses are grown, and trained against
the walls. In the interior is a specimen of Noisette
Lamarque budded close to the ground, which had risen
with a single stem twelve feet high and about an inch in
diameter ; it had formed an immense spreading umbrella-
shaped head, the branches drooping most gracefully.
There was also a plant of the lovely Tea-Scented Bougere,
nearly its equal in height and size, and both are said to
yield flowers all through the winter months. There "were
two plants of the Fuchsia corymbiflora, and one Fuchsia
Thomsonii, trained on a similar plan, and they were
exceedingly handsome. Beyond these the conservatory
was filled with various flowering plants, of which however
it is not our particular purpose to speak. The whole of
the Roses here are freely exposed to wind and sun, yet
they grow and bloom magnificently, and seldom have
we seen plants freer from insects of every kind. The
Autumnals receive a top-dressing of manure in June in
addition to the annual supply, an excellent plan which
ought to be more generally put in practice. This is one
of the oldest Rose gardens in the county, and is still one
of the best, and to this more than to any other do we
attribute the spread of that taste which has rendered
Hertfordshire so renowned for its Roses. The soil here is
naturally most unfavourable, the chalk lying close to the
surface, and in every instance where Roses have been
planted the chalk has been removed to some depth and
its place occupied with a mixture of loam and manure.

HAILEYBURY COLLEGE, HERTFORD
HEATH. — The Rev. Richard Jones. — Gardener, Mr
Cowell. — The principal collection of Roses here consists
of standards and dwarf-standards, planted four plants deep
to form a Rose-bank. At the back are arches on which
we noticed Gloire des Rosomanes, which had made shoots

The Rose Gardens of Hertfordshire. 63

seven feet long this year, Ruga (Ayrshire), Conspicua,
Henri Barbet (Hybrid Chinese), Lamarque, Jaune Desprez
(Noisettes). Among the kinds forming the bank, La
Volupte, Kean (French), Prince Albert (Hybrid Perpetual),
Queen of Denmark, Sophie de Marsilly (Alba), Paul
Perras (Hybrid Bourbon), were the most conspicuous.
There were also several very fine specimens of the Crested
Provence. On a border with a western aspect in the
kitchen-garden we noticed Persian Yellow (Austrian),
Requien, Minerva, Grande et Belle, Bernard, La Reine,
Madame Laffay, Stanwell (Perpetuals), Aspasie, Boula de
Nanteuil (French), Riego, Camuzet carnee, Coupe d'Hebe,
Great Western, Fimbriata (Hybrid Chinese, &c.), Madame
Angelina, Dupetit Thouars (Bourbons), Emerance (Hybrid
Provence), Comte de Paris (Tea-Scented). Maria Leonida
was planted as an edging to one of the beds, and under
the treatment here subjected to has a very pretty effect.
The shoots are pegged down in spring and clipped in
June, this keeps the plant dwarf, and it produces a mass
of its beautiful white flowers in the autumn months.
Being evergreen, and possessed of fine, large, glossy
foliage, it must become a great favourite if cultivated in
this manner. It is doubtless well known that under
ordinary circumstances the flowers do not expand freely,
but the pegging down and clipping which it undergoes
entirely cures it of this bad habit. On the east border
of the kitchen-garden the various families are planted
separately in beds, the divisions being marked out with
the Maria Leonida. The most striking plants here were —
Hybrid Chinese^ &c.; Velours episcopal, Chenedole, Jenny,
and Charles Foucquier. Hybrid Provence : Princesse
Clementine, and La Calaisienne. Moss: Perpetual
Mauget, Presque partout, Catherine de Wurtemberg.
Dainask : Ferox. The Crimson Perpetual invariably fails
here. On the front of the house a plant of the old Red
Moss had climbed about twelve feet high, and was
covered with its beautiful blossoms. There were beds of

64 The Rose Gardens of Hertfordshire.

Roses on the lawn facing the house, containing the leading
kinds of Hybrid Perpetuals. The Comte d'Eu, which was
among them, was said to be killed to the surface every
winter, but to break from beneath the ground in spring
and flower well. The cultivation of Pot-Roses is just
taken in hand here, and the young plants look healthy and
promising. The natural soil at a foot below the surface is
a yellow clay ; the surface soil is heavy, and in many
places full of cracks. It is the practice of Mr Cowell to
manure the Roses three times every year — in spring,
summer, and autumn. Burnt earth is used freely, and
found to produce marvellous effects.* The hoe is kept
constantly in use during spring and summer, and it is
doubtless owing to this painstaking that such fine flowers
are obtained : Baronne Prevost was measured seven inches
and a half in diameter, and other flowers were fine in
proportion.

We could not but remark the absence of the little green
caterpillars, the larvae of a saw-fly, which has proved so
great a pest in most Rose gardens for the last two years.
We were informed that it had abounded here also in the
previous year, but that a timely application of a remedy
which destroyed it then had proved equally efficacious this
spring. The following is the receipt : — To twelve gallons
of water put half a bushel of soot, stir it thoroughly, and
add a quarter of a peck of hot lime. Allow it to settle for
three or four days, when it becomes clear as claret. To
this quantity add. just before using, one pound of soft soap
dissolved in warm water. This proved an efficient remedy
after tobacco-water and other insect-destroying applications
had failed.

PONSBOURNE YKK^.— Proprietor, Wynn Ellis,
Esq. — Gardener, Mr ScOTT. — This seat is about five miles
north-west of the Waltham Cross Station of the Great

* For an account of the application of burnt earth, and the means of
preparing it, see "The Rose Garden," Ninth Edition, pp. 51 and 52.

The Rose Gardens of Hertfordshire. 05

Eastern Railway. The drive to it is prettily varied by hill
and dale ; and the park, which contains some magnificent
specimens of English oak, has a surface prettily and greatly
diversified. The subsoil at a foot below the surface is clay,
the surface soil is loam. The first group of Roses visited
was at the back of the kitchen-garden adjoining the park ;
they formed two long beds of three rows each, a straight
walk passing between, the edgings to which were composed
of the Red Fairy Rose arranged six inches apart. This
pretty miniature, which is richly deserving of more general
culture, makes very neat edgings, flowers during the whole
of the summer and autumn, and is never injured by frost.
In this instance it was adorned with thousands of its
beautiful ruby blossoms, whose brightness was rendered
more striking by the multitude of dark green leaves with
which they were surrounded. Among the kinds most
conspicuous here we noticed — French : Colonel Coombs.
Hybrid Chinese, (Sfc : Blairii No. 2, Brennus, Triomphe de
Laqueue, Charles Duval. Noisette: Bouton Nankin, Jaune
Desprez. Tea- Scented: Moiret. Microphylla: Double
Red. Chinese: Lady Warrender, Eugene Beauharnais.
Bourbon: Madame Desprez, Julie Deloynes. These and
other popular kinds are planted indiscriminately. Passing
thence we entered a small garden of a semicircular form,
one side of which is supported by a handsome belt of
spruce firs, and the other lies open to the sun. The
first object observed here was a bed of mixed kinds,
standards and half-standards, the former being planted in
the centre, and the ground beneath covered with dwarf
plants of the old Cabbage Rose. In this bed we parti-
cularly admired — Bourbon : Georges Cuvier. Noisette :
Solfaterre. Hybrid Perpetual : 'Ldidy Alice Vee\. Chinese:
Tancredi, foliage and flowers very fine. Tea- Seen ted :
Narcisse. Following a walk running by the side of the
spruce firs, we found many beauties to admire in a
border planted with standards. Noisettes: Euphrosyne
and Ophirie. Tea-Scented : Buret, Caroline, Pactolus,
E

66 The Rose Gardens of Hertfordshire.

Barbot, and Elise Sauvage claimed attention, no less
for their bewitching beauty than for their delicious
fragrance. There were also fine standards of Bourdons:
Paul Joseph (growing very vigorously), Bouquet de Flore,
Madame Tripet, and Comice de Seine et Marne. Hybrid
Perpetiials : De Neuilly, Dr Marx, Due d'Aumale, Rivers,
and Prudence Raeser. From here we proceed to the
American garden, which is a circle surrounded with trees.
There are five beds of American plants, and standard
Roses are planted round the outside, some of which were
suffering from their proximity to the large trees. There
were fine specimens of Hybrid Perpetual: La Reine.
Chinese: Eugene Beauharnais. Tea-Scented: Clara,
Niphetos, and Madame de St Joseph. A few steps
more brought us to the shrubbery, and thence we passed
to the lawn facing the house. The lawn slopes gently to
the park, where the ground rises again, shewing a wood of
beech trees on the right hand, and elegant groups of oak
trees in the distance. On the lawn are various clumps of
evergreens, their outline prettily broken and surrounded
with flowering plants arranged with discrimination and
taste. Interspersed are single specimens of ornamental
trees, rustic baskets filled with flowers, and, what is of
chief interest to us, four circular clumps of Roses. One
is composed of dwarf-standard Autumnals exclusively,
and the ground beneath is planted with mignonette and
cloves. There is also a clump of dwarfs on their own
roots. These clumps are planted with the best and most
popular sorts, which it is needless to specify. The
situation is much exposed, but nothing could be in better
health or bloom. Among such a crowd of interesting
objects there is a danger of overlooking some ; but a
standard of Leopoldine d'Orleans, standing alone on the
lawn, must not escape notice. It was trained as a
Weeping Rose, and formed a beautiful single tree. We
now entered the French garden in search of the last
group of Roses, and a gay and varied scene it presented.

The Rose Gardens of Hertfordshire. 67

On the upper bank was a group of mixed Roses,
principally standards, supported at the back with laurels,
the outline beautifully irregular. In the front grew scarlet
pentstemons, antirrhinums, and the Double White Fever-
few, forming a most agreeable mixture. A small hexagon
bed, planted with that lovely Moss Rose Celina, the
ground beneath covered with the Lobelia erinus, was a
perfect picture. How beautiful were the crimson flowers
of the Rose ! and how admirably were they set off by the
azure tint of the lobelia glistening through the openings
of the foliage! As we gazed on the Rose-buds just
opening to the sun, the " flowers yet fresh with childhood,"
while the songs of innumerable birds arose from the copses
and trees which surrounded us, the words of the Eastern
poet crossed our mind — " The nightingales warbled their
enchanting notes, aiid rent the thin veils of the Rose-bud
and the Rose." But the beauties of this spot were not
wholly of Roses. There were also clumps of verbenas,
scarlet geraniums, and other gay plants in full bloom,
relieved by the occasional introduction of raised rustic
baskets. At the bottom of this garden is a second bank
of Roses facing a walk, tall standards at the back, with a
gradual descent towards the walk, until the front row are
dwarfs. These are also the popular kinds, planted pro-
miscuously, and very thick, so as to present a mass of
colour. This point is thoroughly gained, and a row of
seedling calceolarias, planted just within the box-edging,
gives a charming finish to the whole.

HODDESDON. —PrcJ>riefor, JOHN WARNER, Esq.—
Gardener, Mr Wn^LIAMS. — This beautiful garden is about
a mile from the Broxbourne station on the Great Eastern
Railway, and is remarkable for the diversified surface
it presents. On the lawn fronting the house is a row of
tree paeonies, and fine specimens of the weeping elm, the
Abies deodara. Daphne pontica, Fern-leaved Beech, and
other ornamental trees. On the upper end of the lawn is a

68 The Rose Gardens of Hertfordshire.

raised terrace of considerable length from which a fine
view of this part of the garden is obtained ; the Essex
hills, embracing part of Nazing Common, affording an
agreeable prospect in the opposite direction. A shaded
walk descends "slowly winding" to a canal, over which
a rustic bridge is thrown ; the scene enlivened by an
excellent imitation of rocks formed of brick and cement
thrown with careless hand in the bed of the stream.
Near this spot is a rustic building which perfectly realises
the idea of —

" The calm retreat, the silent shade ;"

and an agreeable encounter on a summer's day is a retreat
so pleasantly shaded, suggesting, in addition to the ordi-
nary enjoyments of gardening, ideas of coolness and
repose. But our path lay onward, and we pursued it till
we entered the Dahlia garden, where we were confronted
by a Gothic arch in ruins, covered with ivy, and in
judicious connection therewith were antique windows
apparently dilapidated by the hand of time. On the side
of this garden, adjoining the lawn, was a border of Roses,
five plants deep, formed of standards and dwarf-standards.
It contained the usual popular sorts. Among the new
ones were Moss Laneii and Geant des Batailles, whose
brilliant tints recalled the description of Lovelace :

"Vermilion ball that's given
From lip to lip in heaven ;
Love's couch's coverlid."

In the centre of this garden is a column of Roses ;
several plants, principally Sempervirens, being planted at
a little distance from each other and then united into one
mass. The effect of this column was decidedly good, and
it is worthy of imitation. There was also a plant of
Leopoldine d'Orleans standing alone, trained as a weeper,
the finest specimen of such we had ever seen, and a
splendid Felicite Perpetue but little inferior. We also

The Rose Gardens of Hertfordshire. 69

noticed the Single Ayrshire trailing over and around a
large oak, whose trunk it completely encircled and
enlivened with its foliage and blossoms, and this was
no mean feature in the scene. Here we paused for a
moment to admire fine specimens of the Paulovnia
imperialis and Bignonia catalpa, when our ears were
greeted by the murmuring of a distant waterfall. And
agreeable indeed it was. Nay, more ; sweeter far just
then than the sounds of the sweetest music, calling up in
imagination all that seemed required to amplify and
complete the harmony of the scene — associating the fresh-
ness of the streamlet with the fragrance of the flowers.
We turned our steps thitherward, for it was not far, and
found it to proceed from a neighbouring brook, by the side
of which was a rustic seat covered with ivy, honeysuckles,
and Evergreen Roses. It was neither costly nor grand,
but it was natural, and fancy applied to it Spenser's
description of —

" an arbour green dispread,

Framed of wanton ivy flowering fair,
Through which the fragrant eglantine did spread
His prickling arms entrailed with Roses red,
Which dainty odours round about them threw."

This was indeed a delightful spot ; but we dared not
linger. A few steps more and we found ourselves in the
Rose garden. The soil, although naturally loamy, was
thought not sufficiently good, and the beds were originally
filled with prepared soil. In the centre of the garden is a
Rose temple. The ground on which it stands consists of
four beds of equal size, segments of a circle, the soil being
raised to form a mound about four feet high. Twelve
Gothic arches, the standards of which are of iron, seven
feet three inches high and six feet three inches apart,
describe the outside of the circle. From these rise several
rods which meet at the top, and are united to a rod rising
from the centre to form a dome. Two walks pass trans-

70' The Rose Gardens of Hertfordshire.

versely through the centre of this temple, thus leaving four
arches for ingress or egress. A seat surrounds the central
support. Among the climbing Roses which covered the
frame-work we observed — Macartney : Maria Leonida.
Hybrid Chinese: Fulgens, Brennus. Sempervirens: Leopol-
dine d'Orleans, Princesse Louise, Noisette: La Biche.
Multijlora : \jdMXQ. Davoust. Ayrshire: Ruga. In the
same beds with the Climbing Roses were interspersed
various dwarf hardy kinds on their own roots, to fill up
the ground. Various beds surrounded the temple, which
were planted with standard Autumnal Roses, of which the
following were the most striking — Bourbons: Cardinal
Fesch, Gloire des Rosomanes, Le Grenadier, Phoenix, and
Bouquet de Flore. Chinese : Gouvion St Cyr, and Eugene
Beauharnais. Tea-Scented : Belle AUemande, Niphetos,
Elise Sauvage, and Bougere. There are three rustic
figures mounted on pedestals introduced round the ex-
terior with good effect. Beyond these is planted a hedge
of dwarf Scotch Roses, over which we caught a glimpse of
the lawn studded with various ornamental trees and plants.
We wished to take a look at the Pinetum, where the
specimens, though young, are interesting ; but time, alas !
forbade. The Bath garden, too, was before us, and though
not remarkable for the rarity of its plants, through this we
must necessarily pass. In front of the bath is a prettily-
designed fountain, playing cheerfully enough, and from
which a straight walk with a border on either side leads to
a magnificent cut-leaved alder, whose branches are upheld
with arches covered with Climbing Roses. Following the
bank of the canal, we pass before a figure of Neptune
reclining on a rock rising from the waves, with a fountain
playing over andj^^around it. The island is planted with
weeping ash, weeping willows, and laburnums at its
edge, while scarlet thorns and tulip trees occupy the
centre. On this side of the canal is a lawn sloping to the
water, with a row of free-flowering showy standard Roses
in front. The next object of attraction is a span-roofed

The Rose Gardens of Hertfordshire. 71

house, built expressly for the cultivation of orchidaceous
plants, several fine specimens of which were in bloom.
The skill with which these plants are cultivated needs no
comment at our hands ; the prizes obtained at the principal
flower shows sufficiently attest the fact. The lawn is decor-
ated with flower-beds, among which single specimens of
standard Roses are interspersed. We noted the following
as the best — Boursmdt : Elegans. Hybrid Bourbon:
Coupe d'H^be, Las Casas. Bourbon : Queen, Madame
Desprez, and Cardinal Fesch. The natural soil of this
garden is gravel ; consequently the flower-beds are filled
with prepared soil. A plant of the Cloth of Gold, which
had occupied a south wall for three years, had never
flowered. By the side of it grew the Single Macartney,
which flowered freely and elicited general praise. A line
of arches covered with Roses and honeysuckles crosses
the lawn, and produces a very pleasing effect. Maria
Leonida (Macartney) and Leopoldine d'Orleans (Semper-
virens) were trained over a seat, the branches drooping
naturally from above with a careless grace, which art
might in vain try to imitate. A small bed of the crimson
Chinese Rose " Fabvier," its brilliant flowers glowing in
the sun, was the last object to rivet the attention.

At the end of this garden, adjoining the dwelling-house,
is a conservatory, well stocked with flowering plants ;
there is also an orange house, containing some fine speci-
mens of oranges and camellias.

BROOKMAN'S V K'^Y..— Proprietor, R. W. Gaussen,
Esq. — Gardener, Mr ELLIOT. — This seat is situate on the
high road from London to Hatfield. It is three miles from
the latter place, and nine miles from the Broxbourne
Station of the Great Eastern Railway. The drive from
Waltham Cross to Brookman's is a delightful one. An
object on the road worthy of notice is Goff's Oak, a vener-
able ruin, which tradition tells us was planted in the time
of William the Conqueror. Its huge trunk is but a shell,

72 The Rose Gardens of Hertfordshire.

although the summit is still crowned with verdure. After
passing this relic of antiquity, the road leads down a
precipitous steep, and over a gentle ascent to the ridgeway,
a road about two miles long, cut through woods of oak
and fir, which re-echoed with the voices of their feathered
inhabitants. On reaching the desired place, the collection
of Pot-Roses was first met with. They were not plunged,
but standing under a wall. Among the new kinds were
observed — Hybrid Perpetiials : Soleil d'Austerlitz, Madame
Trudeaux, and Cymedor. The Summer Rosery is com-
prised within a walled square, laid out in square beds.
The borders under the walls are filled with American and
herbaceous plants, and the walls are covered with standard
Roses, principally summer bloomers, trained in the manner
of fruit-trees. Ayrshire: Ruga. Sempervirens: Felicite
Perpetue. Hybrid Chinese, &c.: Celine and La Majesteuse.
Bourbon: Madame Desprez. Noisette: Lamarque (splen-
did), and La Biche — were among the most striking. In
the centre of this garden is a Rose temple, the outside of
which consists of eleven pointed arches ; from these chains
rise to a high standard in the centre, forming graceful
curved lines, which it is intended to cover with Climbing
Roses. The following are some of the kinds planted to
accomplish this object — Ayrshire: Ruga. Midtijiora:
Russelliana. Hybrid Chinese: Blairii No. 2 and Flora
MTvor. On a south wall was a standard Cloth of Gold,
which does not flower in summer, but blooms well in
autumn from the second growth. The beds in this Rose
garden are planted with standards and dwarfs intermixed ;
the plants having been added at different times without
strict regard to the proper heights, the arrangement is
somewhat incongruous. We were informed, however that
a fresh arrangement is contemplated. The following were
noted as fine specimens — Hybrid Bourbon : Coupe d'Hebe,
Henri Barbet, and Las Casas. Hybrid Chinese : Belle
Marie. FrencJi : Grand issi ma, Duchess of Buccleuch,
Boula de Nanteuil, and Latifolia. Hybrid Provence:

The Rose Gardens of Hertfordshire. 73

Aspasie. Damask : CEillet Parfait. A bed of dwarf
Red Moss and a bed of mixed Autumnals complete
this garden. The American garden, through which we
have to pass on our way to the new Rosery, consists of a
large circular space of lawn ground inclosed with a laurel
bank, and studded with round groups of American plants,
dahlias, and various bedding t plants. Adjoining this is
the new Rosery, which comprises a series of fifteen circular
clumps thrown together on a lawn, and planted principally
with Autumnals. The plants are dwarf-standards and
dwarfs. The groups are not kept separate ; the varieties
are planted indiscriminately. These clumps having been
recently formed contain many new varieties. The follow-
ing were thought good — Hybrid Perpetual: Due d'Alenoon,
Comtesse Duchatel, Olivier de Serres, La Reine, Robin
Hood, Baronne Prevost, very large, Le Commandant
Fournier, Comte de Montalivet, Sydonia, Leonie Vergier,
Cornet, Coquette de Bellevue, La Bouquetiere. Bourbons :
Amenaide, Lady Canning, Cezarine Souchet, Comte
d'Eu, Marianne, Theresa Margat, Souvenir de Malmaison,
Speciosa, Madame Tripet, Angelina Bucelle, Glory of
Paris, Vicomte de Cussy, Julie de Fontenelle, and Le
Florifere. CJiinese: Duchess of Kent and Joseph Deschiens.
Noisette: Pourpre de Tyre. Tea-Scented: Devoniensis.
On the lawn, among and surrounding the Roses, we
observed fine single specimens of Cedar of Lebanon, Cut-
leaved Alder, Silver Fir, and American Oak. The soil
here is a loose loam, which absorbs water readily ; it
is about eighteen inches deep, resting on a bed of gravel.
Returning to the American garden, we traversed a walk
about seventy yards long, completely over-arched with
hornbeam, and which leads to the lawn running up to the
front of the house. On the lawn were groups of clumps,
in which the usual bedding plants were introduced. From
the west front of the house there opens a most extensive
prospect. Looking down a gentle slope, a lake is seen in
the low ground ; around it, and on the rising ground, are

74 The Rose Gardens of Hertfordshire.

clumps of oak trees ; while an extensive range of hills,
bounded only by the horizon, appears beyond. Quitting
this spot, we approached the Fountain-garden, which is in
the form of a horse-shoe, with a wall at the back, and
laurel banks on either side. There is a fountain in the
centre, and the beds are filled entirely with verbenas.

REMARKS ON THE CULTIVATION OF TEA-SOENTED
ROSES AS CONSERVATORY CLIMBERS.

\_Frovi '■'' Paxton^s Magazijie of Gardetizng ajid Botany" 1849,

p. 43.*]

WHO can contemplate with indifference the beauty,
variety, and perfume of the Queen of Flowers, or
who can fix a limit to the circle over whose affections she
holds sway? Cherished alike by peer and peasant, her
circle of admirers is wide as are the dominions of our
beloved Sovereign — the Rose of England. Growing
spontaneously in almost every latitude of the northern
hemisphere, admired alike by the highly civilised inhabi-
tants of Southern Asia, and the less-favoured natives of the
icy north, wheresoever it dwelleth its presence is hailed
with joy and gladness. Sweet emblem of innocence, of
virtue, of humility, whence derivest thou that power which
gives thee such an influence over the mind of man ? Truly,
the Rose of the desert in its loneliness is suggestive of
modesty and retiring worth, and the gorgeous masses of
our flower gardens are realisations of grandeur, beauty,
elegance, and grace.

No wonder, then, that thy declared admirers are so
numerous, that thy presence should be sought so eagerly

* This article was written by the request of Mr (afterwards Sir Joseph)
Paxton.

Tea-Scented Roses as Conservatory Climbers 75

amidst the motley throng. No wonder that thou greatest
us at every step, from the garden of the humble cotter to
the Rosetum and conservatory of the wealthy and the
great.

But it is to advocate the claims of a particular class of
Roses, for a particular purpose, that I now take up the pen,
and these are the Tea-Scented. What we have said of
other Roses, may be said of them ; although the eye of the
florist may pronounce them less perfect than the descen-
dants of other species. The large guard petals at the
circumference of the flowers, and the want of regularity in
the arrangement of the inner petals, are not, perhaps,
exactly in harmony with his taste. And we do think that
their condemnation by some florists has in a great measure
blinded the flower-loving public to their merits. Without
courting controversy, we feel it incumbent on us to state
our views in reference to this point, believing that a just
estimation of their value would lead to their more general
cultivation. And first let it be remarked that we do not
yield them up as florists' flowers. Indeed tJiey are not, if
successful strivings to bring them to an ideal standard be
the criteria of such. They resist this arbitrary process, and
in proportion as they approach what it is said they should
be, they lose their own peculiar properties, merging all
their natural beauties in one single fancied point. Fortun-
ately, however, they are not very tractable in this respect.
The Tea Roses originated in 1848 resemble those of 18 10;
they have the large guard petals, the irregular disposition
of petals, and, for the most part, the same drooping habit
and glossy leaves as those of yore. Notwithstanding this,
the varieties we possess furnish us with abundant proof
that the object has been attempted, and the slight altera-
tion apparent consisting in the size of the flowers and
variety of colour we believe not due to the breeding for a
particular result, but the natural results of cultivation.
Strange that they should thus resist change, when the
types of other groups of more recent origin are lost in the

']6 Tea-Scented Roses as Conservatory Climbers.

varying characters of the floral races. Beautiful in their
irregularity, distinct in their properties, unique in appear-
ance, we confess that we admire them above all others,
and that their charms for us would depart were they aught
else than what they are. As well might we complain of
the div^ersified surface of the landscape, as of the graceful
irregularities in this charming group of Roses.

It has been said that the objections of minds flori-
culturally schooled has done something to render them
unpopular, but there is another cause existing in their
delicacy and susceptibility of frost. It is not intended
here to dwell upon their culture in the open air, though I
have proved by experiment that they may be grown
successfully, and with little trouble, in this manner. We
will, for the present, dismiss this point. I intend here to
confine my remarks to their cultivation as climbers for the
conservatory.

But am I at the outset met with the response " We
have abundance of such plants." Then I rejoin " Is not
the variety these will afford, combined with a delightful
fragrance, a sufficient plea for their introduction ? "

Then of their cultivation. We will suppose plants
intended for this purpose to be purchased in the spring.
They are perhaps in small pots, therefore unless the situa-
tion be freely exposed to air and light they should be
shifted into larger pots, using a compost of leaf mould and
loam, and cultivated with care during the first summer.
In the spring following they will be strong and well rooted,
and may be planted out in prepared soil — loam and leaf
mould as before. They may be pruned rather closely, and
watered with weak liquid manure as they become dry, and
the growing shoots trained with care according as they are
wanted to clothe round pillars or trellis-work.

They will probably rise from two to three feet the
first year ; and as they become evergreen under this
treatment they will grow and flower almost incessantly,
even in the depth of v/inter, if suffered to do so. But as a

Tea-Scented Roses as Conservatory Climbers, j-j

period of rest is necessary in order to ensure rapid progress,
this may be granted about midsummer, when Roses
abound out of doors — or immediately after a general
flowering — by keeping the soil about the roots almost dry.
When it is thought desirable to excite a new growth, it is
only necessary to prune and water the plants, and the end
is attained. If they are fortunate enough to escape
pruning by the cutting of the flowers for bouquets, a
second pruning on the completion of flowering will be
needed, and at this time any misplaced or unhealthy
branches should be removed. The same course of culture
may be gone through from year to year, training up the
topmost branches till the height desired be attained.

For the satisfaction of any who may doubt the
suitability of Tea-Scented Roses for this purpose, I would
state that there are sev^eral plants in the conservatory at
Orleans House, Twickenham, from ten to twelve feet high,
and at the time I saw them, about a year and a half ago,
they were most beautiful specimens, clothed with large
handsome foliage, the flowers regaling us with their
delicious sweets. The plants in the border of the conser-
vatory of the Horticultural Society of London may also be
referred to in support of my position ; these, I should
think (speaking from impressions only), are eight or ten
feet high, and there are specimens nearly equal the size
and beauty in many other places.

[New Roses.

78 On New Roses.

ON NEW EOSES.

{^From " The Gardeners' Chronicle^' Nov. 2gih, 1856,/. 788.]

IT seems to have become a fashion to depreciate " New
Roses," for what reason it is difficult to divine. Per-
haps the fable of the " Fox and the Grapes " is not
altogether inapplicable in the case. But that it is a
fashion, and a mere fashion founded on a little truth and
much error is my conviction, and for that reason I am
induced to offer an investigation of the matter. Let me
admit at the outset that numbers of worthless New Roses
are annually palmed on the public at high prices, but this
does not establish the position of your correspondent
" A. R." that " the old Roses are the best yet." Surely he
has just awakened from a long long sleep to recommend
among 12 "not beaten yet" such second-rate kinds as La
Reine, Madame Laffay, General Jacqueminot (Hybrid
China), Louis Buonaparte, and William Jesse. The first
is sometimes fine but very uncertain ; the second small
and transitory ; the third loose, flimsy, and often washy in
colour ; the fourth of indifferent shape ; and the last little
more than semi-double. Where would " A. R." find him-
self if he relied on such kinds in competition ? Surely at
the bottom of his class ; and their position is about the
same viewed from the mere decorative point of view. No
one can regret more than I do the dishonest practice of
sending out with falsely flaming descriptions so-called New
Roses, which are neither novelties nor improvements. The
practice is too general with flowers and fruits too, and
deserves to be strongly reprobated. I have known a
raiser of seedlings to offer from 10 to 25 new kinds in one
year at from 10 to 25 francs each, and not one of them
prove worth as many sous. The remedy is, I apprehend,
to be found not in repudiating novelties in toto, but by
keeping a watchful eye on the sources whence real

On New Roses. 79

acquisitions proceed, and whether a dealer errs from
ignorance, carelessness, or selfishness, ignoring him in
future transactions. Not that this rule should be too
strictly enforced ; no point in the entire range of horti-
culture is more difficult to arrive at correctly, there must
be some risk on the part of purchasers, all will err
occasionally but there are those who err continuously.
Now for the examination of facts. For twelve proved New
Roses, I would invite the attention of your readers to the
following — Hybrid Perpetuals : General Castellane, Gene-
ral Jacqueminot, Gloire de Vitry, Lord Raglan, Madame
Desiree Giraud, Madame de Cambaceres, Madame Masson,
Madame Martel, Madame Vidot, Souvenir de Leveson
Govver. Bourbon: Prince Albert; and Tea- Scented :
Gloire de Dijon. Although these have issued from the
hands of the raisers \yithin a space of two or at most three
years, I would place them in the scale against the twelve
of " A. R," (which are a sort of omnium gatJierum of all
time), notwithstanding the presence of the ideal Rose
Coupe d'Hebe in the opposite balance.

Thus far I write boldly, because supported by ascer-
tained facts, but I am now about to enter an imperfectly
explored territory to grapple with a more difficult question
— the improved New Roses. The difficulty in judging of
the quality of New Roses arises from the roots becoming
dried in their transmission to this country, so that they
seldom fairly establish themselves the first season. What
we are about to offer now must therefore be taken on trust,
but we believe we shall be found correct in the main. Of
the 70 or 80 new varieties imported and flowered here last
season the following bloomed to our satisfaction — Hybrid
Perpetual: Arthur de Sansal, Bacchus, Dr Hcnon, General
Simpson, Imperatrice des Francais, Mathurin Regnier,
Madame Knorr, Ornement des Jardins, Poeonia, Prince Noir,
Souvenir de la Rcine d'Angleterre, Triomphe de I'Exposi-
tion, and Triomphe d'Avranches. One word in conclusion.
Permit me to ask those Rose amateurs and dealers who

So On New Roses.

repudiated the New Roses two or three years since (and
there were many), whether their collections have not
suffered in consequence? And I believe there are as good
New Roses now as then. The object is to reach them ; to
draw out by the exercise of the judgment the few real
diamonds from amidst the multiplicity of paste imitations
glittering on every hand. To wait till these are known —
demonstrated — to be invaluable is to lose all the hope of
expectation, the surprise of novelty, and one or two years
of the enjoyment of possession.

{^Frorn " The Gardeners' Chronicle" Dec. 27 ih 1856,/. 855.]

Whatever I may think of your correspondent " A, R.'s"
knowledge of Roses, I must give him credit for skill in
argument. I humbly submit, however, that his skill is
that of the dexterous pleader rather than of the sound
logician. Now " A. R." says, " The old Roses are the best
yet," and among " 12 not beaten yet" he includes La
Reine, Madame Laffay, General Jacqueminot (Hybrid
China), Louis Buonaparte, and William Jesse. I, in good
faith, differ from him, and am content to leave the public
to judge between us ; to decide whether these Roses are or
are " not beaten yet," and whether after reducing the
numerous varieties of Roses to "the 12 best" (mark this)
they are more than second rate. This is the real question
at issue between us, and as " A. R." writes anonymously, I
might be allowed to leave the matter here without noticing
the insinuations contained in his article of last week. But
as the triumph of truth is alone my object, I will endeavour
to clear away the dust-clouds in which his dashing charge
has enveloped the matter. In the first place, he ought in
fairness to have seen that in my original article I spoke of
these Roses in comparison with his 12 "not beaten yet;"
whereas in the catalogues they are spoken of in comparison
with about 700 varieties. This alone explains the
apparent discrepancies so triumphantly paraded.

On New Roses. 8r

Things are small or large only by comparison ; thus,
Madame Laffay is small in comparison with 12 "of the
best" if of full size in comparison with Roses in general,
and so on with the rest. Does he not also see that
La Reine may be at once " magnificent " and " uncertain,"
Louis Buonaparte "glowing," large, and full, but "of
indifferent shape?'' His inference that "either the dealers'
catalogues are intended to take in the uninitiated by their
splendid descriptions, or else the Roses are what he says
they are," is puerile in the extreme. I apprehend the
uninitiated do not generally make sweeping statements in
matters with which they are imperfectly acquainted, and
then read the different catalogues for fragments in support
of their assertions. If they read without prejudice they
will not select the 12 recommended by "A. R." as the best
— at least the catalogues I have seen (I have not seen
Rivers') do not make them appear so. To show how little
practical knowledge " A. R." possesses of the case he has
in hand, he insinuates that the dealers make the New
Roses appear better than they are from interested motives.
This is quite the reverse of my experience. For years
past we have found the New Roses sell faster than we
could propagate them, if backed by our own recommenda-
tion, whereas the stock of old favourites is all but illimit-
able. I do not wish to become the apologist for the Rose-
growers' catalogues ; they need nothing of the sort at
my hands. The catalogues may not be correct in every
minute particular, but to argue thence that they are
" intended to take in the uninitiated " is ungenerous and
unjust. To show, however, that the many attach more
value to them than " A. R." does, I may mention one or
two facts in connection with our own : more than 20
editions have been published, amounting to nearly 50,000
copies, and the circulation is increasing every year. It
would have been more generous if " A. R." had ceased to
write anonymously before casting aspersions on a numerous
and respectable body of men who labour hard for the

F

82 On New Roses.

gratification of others with very moderate profit to them-
selves. Unless he think proper to pursue this course, to
stand forth in substantial shape a real man, he must
excuse me from continuing this controversy. I confess
that I am not sufficiently Quixotic in spirit to find satis-
faction in wrestling with a shadow.

\_Froin " TJie Gardejiers' Chronicle^'' February "jth 1857, p. 85.]

In an article on New Roses in last week's Chronicle,
extracted from the Florist, Mr Rivers expresses a hope
that some of the correspondents will " quietly give their
opinions on the subject." In a previous article in the
Florist by Mr R., he says — "The new Roses sent out
in 1855 have not cut a brilliant figure." In an article
published in the succeeding numbers, and penned before I
saw this statement, I gave it as my deliberate opinion that
"the present year had been more fruitful than many in
the introduction of really valuable novelties." These
antagonistic views may, I think, be fairly taken as the
points at issue. Subsequently, however, Mr R. qualifies
his remarks by the words " I ought to have added ' few
of,' which gives the exact state of the case," naming five
varieties of 1855 and two of 1856. It unfortunately
happens that few can pass an accurate judgment on these
differences of opinion ; the many may, however, shortly
be in a position to do so if they will only watch and wait,
and in the meantime it may prove interesting to hear
the question quietly discussed. I shall commence my
remarks from the first article in the Florist (November
1856). The statistics there given merely show what was
known to every cultivator of Roses, that numbers of
worthless new kinds are annually sent out at high prices,
and it is only just to say that Mr Rivers is neither the first
nor the only one who has used his influence to check this
dishonest practice. I cannot, however, agree with Mr
Rivers "to excuse our floral friends over the water" for

On New Roses. 83

sending out new Roses under false descriptions that
cannot be honestly recommended ; it is only due to
them, however, as a body to say that there are those
among them who have as high a sense of honour as any
English cultivator.

Whatever the New Roses of 1855 may have done at
Sawbridgeworth, I adhere to my opinion formed from
the blooming here, that the present season has been
more prolific than many in the introduction of valuable
novelties.

I cannot agree with Mr R. in the high value he
sets on the " Perpetual Moss Roses." Certainly they
are new, and there is something in the name, but I
regard our present varieties merely as the germ of a
group which will require years of close and successful
cultivation before its presence becomes indispensable in
the Rose garden. At the close of this article Mr R,
remarks — " One, after thirty years of admiration, is apt
to become fastidious, and to require great perfection in
shape, in colour, and in habit." This is no doubt true,
and perhaps may be taken to account for the severe
treatment the New Roses of the last year have met
with at his hands. Although in the Florist of October
1855 Mr Rivers writes — "One almost fears the point of
perfection has been attained, and that no better Roses
than those we now possess can or will be originated "
— it would, perhaps, be hardly fair to infer that Mr
R. doubts the progression of races. This indeed cannot
be, for while depreciating New Roses he recommends
a list of no less than twenty-eight new varieties of
Pears {see Gardeners' CJiroiiicle of the 27th of December
last). It seems rather that he has forgotten the old
proverb — " Nature docs not advance by leaps," and
expects too much from his " old friend of thirty \-ears
standing, the Rose." This proverb applies with peculiar
force to the various families of flowers. Every raiser of
seedlings knows that Nature does not advance by leaps.

84 On New Roses.

To look on New Roses as they appear from year to year
improvement is perhaps not great.

If we are seeking for striking results we must look
backward into the storehouse of time. I remember many
years ago the late Sir Abraham Hume, who was a great
patron of gardening, presenting my father with half-a-
dozen roots of Single Dahlias. How they were prized !
Every seed was saved and sown, and when the single row
of flat petals surrounding a yellow disc was converted into
a double flower, how great was the acquisition ? Those
were halcyon days for lovers of dahlias. The ground was
new and uncultivated, and numbers of valuable kinds, real
acquisitions, were readily obtained. As the improvement
went on, " Excelsior," the improver's motto, his standard
ever receding as he advanced, the ascent became more
difficult and gradual. But it still v/ent on. If we compare
the best modern dahlias with the original single ones, or
even with the early double ones, we cannot fail to be
impressed with the results. I remember also my young
eyes being delighted with the beautiful portraits of pelar-
goniums in Sweet's work, but what are they in point of
beauty compared with the pelargoniums of this day ?
Here again Nature did not advance by leaps, the improve-
ment was gradual, and if we had neglected those very
gradual advances we must have foregone the present
grand results. But let me come to my Roses, and I
will in this instance look back eight years only, in order
to show more vividly the effects of gradual improvement.

In 1848 the " Rose Garden " was published, wherein all
Roses then under cultivation, good and bad, new and old,
are described. In 1853 (a period of five years) the varieties
since introduced were described in a supplement, and
among them I find — AIoss : Duchesse d'Abrantes, Gloire
des Mousseuses, Madame Alboni, Princess Alice (Paul's),
the last-named not one of the " others " mentioned by Mr
Rivers as purchased in France — the purchaser retaining the
right of naming them — but raised by my own hands from

On New Roses. 85

seeds gathered and sown here. Hybrid French : Comtesse
de Segur. Hybrid Chinese, &c. : General Lamoriciere,
Paul Ricaut, Vivid (also raised here). Hybrid Perpetual :
Alexandrine BachmetefT, Angelina Granger, Auguste Mie,
Baronne Hallez, Baronne de Heckeren, Caroline de Sansal,
Comte de Nanteuil, Duchesse d'Orleans, Enfant du Mont
Carmel, General Bedeau, General Brea, General Castcllane,
Graziella, Joan of Arc, Lady Stuart, Laura Ramand,
Lion des Combats, Louise Peyronny, Madame Duchere,
Madame Phelip, Madame Rivers, Noemi, Paul Dupuy,
Prince Leon, Rosine Margottin, Souvenir de Lexeson
Gower, Standard of Marengo, Triomphe de Paris, William
Griffiths, Louise Odier. Tea-Scented: Canary, Madame
Villermoz, Narcisse. Bourbon: Dr Leprestre, Prince Albert
(Paul's), Reveil, Sir J. Paxton, Souvenir d'un Frere,
Vorace.

Here are forty-eight really valuable varieties introduced
in five years, and I would ask what would our Rose gardens
of the present day be without them ? So good are they
that they have become " familiar in our mouths as house-
hold words." And I believe there are as good New Roses
being gradually introduced now as then, although accom-
panied as then with shoals of rubbish.

It is very pretty to talk of fine crimson Tea Roses,
yellow Hybrid Perpetuals, and yellow Moss, but how are
we to obtain them ? It sounds like the echo of some
nursery rhyme. Nature does not advance by leaps. I do
not, however, say they will never be obtained, but they
have been a desideratum long thought of and asked for,
and their long absence proves satisfactorily to my mind
that the most skilled in these mysteries yet lack the
knowledge or means of obtaining them. Is it then wise
to reject the good things provided because we cannot at
once realise some visionary desires ?

The question of large and small collections I will, if
you think proper, discuss next week.

86 On New Roses.

\^From '■^ The Gardeners^ Chj-onic/e,^' Feb. \i,th, 1857, />. 100.]

In this my second article I will briefly consider the
question of large and small collections of vegetables,
fruits, and flowers, but more especially of Roses. I agree
with Mr Rivers that it is desirable to cut down the varieties
of vegetables, fruit trees, and flowers to a " sensible stan-
dard," and this would tend as much or more to the advan-
tage of the grower than to that of the purchaser. But I
apprehend this theory may be pushed too far, and is easier
to accomplish with vegetables and fruits than with trees
and flowers, because the palate is less variable than the eye
of taste. I would say to all who have not already done so,
cut dozvn your lists so far as to render it impossible for a
purchaser to select anythiyig bad or indifferent, but beyond
this, as a large grower, I am not prepared to go. To
confine my remarks to Roses, Mr Rivers must from long
experience be well aware that persons possessed of an
equally correct taste will not always select the same
varieties of flowers. What one will reject another will
highly approve, and in this dilemma, who is to fix the
standard ? Does he think the amateur will waive his claim
to select such varieties as may please his own taste in
favour of any grower's standard, however " sensible }" I
opine not, and in support of this opinion I make the
following extract from the January number of the " Scot-
tisJi Gardener," where the Rose question is cleverly reviewed
by a writer apparently seeking truth without prejudice.
" Some nurserymen cultivate only the Roses which have a
secondary period of flowering in autumn, and even Mr
Rivers is swaying towards that result.

"Prefixed to his catalogue of Summer Roses he has the
following paragraph — 'The numerous varieties of this
class, once nominally more than 2000, have now become
of secondary interest, except for showing as single blooms
for prizes, owing to the introduction of so many beautiful
Autumnal Roses, more particularly the varieties of Hybrid

On New Roses. 87

Perpetuals, which now comprise all that is most perfect
and beautiful in form and colour. A Summer Rose tree,
whether bush or standard, when its flowers have passed
away is a most uninteresting object ; in a {e\v years it is
most probable that with the exception of Moss Roses,
Summer Roses will be spoken of as things that were.'

" With all deference to Mr Rivers' acknowledged
authority and taste, we must protest against this doctrine,
in behalf of Scotland at least.

" We will not give up our Summer Roses. They are on
the whole hardier and better adapted for our climate than
the Hybrid Perpetuals, many of them raised at Lyons, or
in some of the warmer districts of France, and with a large
infusion of China blood in them. Many of the former,
such as Coupe d'Hebe, Chenedole, Kean, Madame
Soetmans, and some hundred others in the same families,
" make glorious summer " in July, when our weather is at
the finest, and at that season, so far as we have seen, they
are as yet not quite equalled by the Hybrid Perpetuals.
In Scotland, at least, the flowering of the latter in Septem-
ber and October — greatly to be prized in itself — is only a
faint Indian Summer compared with the full orbed glory
of the former season."

Now we can fancy another class of growers, whose soil
is light and warm, saying " We will not give up our very
full Roses, although in the best Rose soils they may be
indifferent or uncertain;" another class, "We will not
give up our sweet-scented or brilliantly coloured flowers,
although the florist may pronounce them deficient in shape
or fulness;" and so on throughout the whole range of
varieties.

In support of growing a moderately large collection of
Roses I would say a cultivator with a large connection has
not only to consult a variety of tastes, but a variety of
soils, climates, purposes, &c., and it is well known to the
least experienced that the same varieties are not equally
good in different climates, situations, and soils. Thus the

88 On New Roses.

south and west of England receive annually thousands of
Roses which would not flourish in the north, and thousands
travel to the north which would not meet with general
approval if transmitted to the south or west.

Again, the United States and some of our colonies
absorb a different stock, while the West Indies and similar
climates take varieties which would be rejected by all
others. ISiow, I apprehend it should be the object of a
large grower to meet the requirements of all ; if he culti-
vate only for one class of customers he must rest satisfied
with a very limited trade. But I will go back to the ques-
tion of taste, and seek an illustration from an analogous
point of view — the article of dress. What is it that draws
the crowds from various parts of the country to the large
drapers' shops in London and elsewhere ? Evidently not
quality and cheapness alone or combined, though these
may have much weight in the matter ; the grand secret is
novelty and variety, the power of choice. Where, then, is
the advantage of the small list over the large one — the
difference being only as 450 to 700. The large collection
includes the various items of the small, and many equally
select besides. Never was a greater fallacy promulgated
than to say the small list offers the purchaser advantages,
provided that, which is a fair assumption, nothing bad is
inserted in the other, and the descriptions are equally
accurate. Those who know Roses can easily pick out the
best for their individual purposes ; those who do not, will
not find perplexity in the smallness of the difference. The
question of a large or small collection of a flower seems to
me more a grower's than a buyer's question. If a grower
does not mind the trouble of cultivating a moderately
large collection of Roses of different degrees of merit, do
the interests of the buyer suffer ? Nay, rather the reverse.
Many buyers are not willing to pay first-class prices, and
there are many purposes for which first-class Roses are
not absolutely required. The grower of a moderately
large collection acts on the principle of the publisher who

On New Roses. 89

publishes at the same time two editions of a book ; the one
in the fk'st style large and handsome, the other small-^less
elegant — but still good and useful. Now, by this plan it
is found the sale of the best edition is not sensibly
diminished, while the cheapness of the other creates a
demand among those who while admirers would not
otherwise become purchasers. Thus an extended sale is
secured, and producers and purchasers are mutually bene-
fited. In conclusion, I would ask the uninitiated to pause
and consider whether in the recent efforts to depreciate
New Roses there may not be an interest of old Roses —
the old shopkeepers of commerce — as well as of new? And
in the complex movements on this wondrous ball I would
say take heed lest in steering to avoid Charybdis you
strike against Scylla.

[From " The Gardeners' Ch?-0fucle^' February 2\s/ 1857,/. 119.]

I ENTIRELY agree with Mr Rivers in his general views
as regards trade, which, if I rightly comprehend his
article of last week, amounts to this : — We should con-
sider it our privilege as well as interest to protect from
fraud those who trust in us. Further let me assure him
that I entertain the same friendly feeling which he
displays. If, being comparatively a young man, I may
be allowed to go so far, I would also say with him, " I
have no fear, or envy, or jealousy," and if I cannot add,
" I have lived long enough to forget them," I believe I
may sincerely say, " I have ever been too busy and too
happy in my calling to find room for their existence or
conditions for their growth." The question of Old and
New Roses is now fairly before the public, and had better
be ended than suffered to degenerate into " idle talk."
The most sceptical will doubtless have been satisfied by
the abundance of well-attested evidence that the most
questioned and maligned of my new favourites — The
Gloire de Dijon — is not only first-rate but suited to a

90 On New Roses.

climate very far " north of the Trent." My application of
one phrase, " Nature does not advance by leaps," I must
pause momentarily to defend. Mr Rivers says, "True as
regards unassisted nature, but decidedly false when
applied to gardening nature." Now I contend it is true
in both cases, and that the question is one of degree rather
than of fact. Mr Rivers fairly enough quotes certain
instances in support of his views, which he styles "remark-
able."

Now why, I would ask, are these instances considered
"remarkable?" Is it not because they are of rare
occurence — and if so are they not exceptions — and as such
do they not go to prove my rule ? I am perfectly
conversant with the cases quoted by Mr Rivers, and
could adduce others within my own experience — witness
Springfield Rival Dahlia — where these remarkable leaps
have disappeared before the steady power of progressive
culture. Would any vegetable physiologist, would any
gardener (scientific or practical), seriously repudiate pro-
gressive culture, and be content to wait for these remark-
able leaps? Few indeed are they, and far between.

The question of attaching the purchaser's name to a
seedling is usually made a condition of the purchase.
And for this reason : — the raiser is often unknown to fame,
and the purchaser fairly enough uses his own name as a
guarantee of good faith to the public. There is no fraud
or deception effected or intended, and no secrecy that I
am aware of is ever practised. The curious in these
matters may readily ascertain the most minute known
points of a variety's history.

A Day in the Elysian Fields.

91

A DAY IN THE ELYSIAN FIELDS.

[From '■^T/ic Scottish Gardener" (i860), vol. \x.,p. 109.]*

HIGH on an emerald throne, inlaid with gold and
glittering with brilliants, sat Flora (the Goddess of
Flowers), surrounded by a grove of orange trees. On her
right hand were Veritas (the Goddess of Truth), Astra^a
(Justice), Bacchus (Wine) ; and on her left Vertumnus
and his wife Pomona (Orchards) ; while at the foot of the
throne reclined Priapus (the God of Gardens), Robigus
(Mildew), Picumnus (Manuring of Lands), Bonus Eventus
(Good Success), and other of the rural deities. Around
were magnificent bowls overflowing with nectar, and golden
goblets filled with purple wine. It was autumn, the fruits
of the earth were garnering or garnered. Here lay a
massive pile of luscious pine apples ; there was heaped a
gorgeous offering torn from the clustering vine ; in one
spot arose a goodly store of pears and apples ; in another
mountains of nuts and walnuts, while the abundance of
downy peaches, figs, and pomegranates could only be
accounted for by the balmy air and genial sunshine of the
Elysian Fields. Tranquillity and happiness seemed indeed
concentrated there — the branches of the orange trees
were slightly stirred by the breath of zephyrs as they bent
beneath the weight of their golden fruit, while the circum-
ambient air was filled with the rich perfume which the
various flowers exhaled.

It was indeed a scene of unearthly beauty, a world of
spectral illusion but of seeming substance, a sight such as
mortals sometimes behold in Dreamland when the
imaginative soul shuffles off for the time her mortal coil,

* This article was written in reply to an attack on myself, and which at the
same time unduly lauded the Manetti Stock ; it was signed " Rosa Spinosa,"
and appeared in the " Florist," for January i860.

92 A Day in the Elysian Fields.

and goes in quest of what she is yet to see in " realms
untravelled by the sun." It was " a pensive though
a happy place," full

"Of all that is most beauteous, imaged there

In happier beauty — more pellucid streams,

An ampler ether, a diviner air,

And fields invested with purpurea! gleams ;

Climes which the sun, who sheds the brightest ray

Earth knows, is all unworthy to survey." — Wordsworth.

But whence is it, that a slight susurrus is heard occa-
sionally through the depths of the Elysian stillness .? Is
it the hum from the groves of Platanus " musical with
bees," and grander far in their massive shades than those
which waved over Plato and his scholars on the banks of
the Cephisus } Or is it the chirp of the Tettix or Cicada,
sitting on the bushes of Amaranth and Asphodel, " sing-
ing like a king," as Anacreon, the Greek wine poet, says,
" and sipping the dew of immortality " .'' It seems to
proceed from the earthward side of the Styx, and in
fact is a faint echo of the stir of the great Babel where
strife and noise incessantly prevail. What ! do the brawls
of earth reach even the Elysian fields? No : but they are
not quite forgotten or unknown till the shades have
drunk of the waters of Lethe. Flora is for the present in
Elysium ; and she must maintain her authority and do
justice among her subjects even there.

Hence the assembling of the rural deities ; hence the
air of expectation and the portentous silence, broken only
by fitful and approaching murmurs which reigned over
those shady groves and flowery plains. It was evident
that the time of some grave deliberation was at hand. A
calm thoughtfulness sat on every brow, while on the foot
of that emerald throne was inscribed, in letters formed
with diamonds, sapphires, and rubies. Justice to all and
favour to none. On a sudden the mystery was explained.
Pan was seen rising from the banks of the Styx, playing
on his rural pipe, attended by sundry satyrs, fawns, and

A Day in the Elysian Fields. 93

aegipans, who ushered into the presence of the assembled
deities the spirits of Roses recently departed from the
planet Earth. The mystery was this : Flora, in answer
to the petition of the Queen of Flowers, seconded by the
half-stifled moans of sundry of her ill-used subjects ex-
isting on a little island called Britain, had summoned a
council of the deities, and Charon had been charged to
land the deputation in the Elysian Fields.

"La Reine " having introduced the deputation,
" Brennus," a fine old Hybrid China, with a good deal
of the blood of the Gaul (R. gallica) running in his
veins, rose to address the assembled deities. He had
been chosen to state the case of his brother Roses,
because, as he had suffered least, it was assumed that
he would be able to speak without prejudice. He had not
been starved or worried from the planet Earth in the
same way as many of his brethren, but had been stubbed
up by his master, who was rather fanciful, because he was
only a Summer Rose ! (Expressions of surprise.) The
complaint of his brethren was this : — An attempt was
being made, and had in some sort succeeded, to ignore
the claims of their natural foster-mother, the Dog Rose,
in favour of a stranger known as the Manetti, drawn
from the sunny plains of Italy. There the latter grew
and kept her leaves nearly the whole year round, and
unfortunately could not rid herself of this habit in
England ; the consequence was, they were kept awake
late and aroused early in the year when the climate
demanded that they should be sleeping, and wearied, and
debilitated, they became an easy prey to the greatest
enemy of Roses in England — Messrs Autumn and Spring
Frost. (Hear, hear, from Robigus.) But this was not
all. Having liberally nurtured her foster-children during
the first year of their existence, the Manetti seemed to
become jealous of their growth, and ever afterwards to
stru"-gle for their abasement and destruction. Too often
she succeeded, as some of the spirits now before them

94 A Day in the Elysian Fields.

would attest, and the object of the deputation was to
implore the gods to disperse the mists which overspread
the subject, and enable mankind to draw their inferences
from facts exhibited in the clear broad light of day.

The Moss Rose (Mdlle. Rosa Bonheur) would not
detain the assembled deities many moments. She had
merely risen to say that she had been budded on the
Manetti, and the first year grew like a willow, but what
with the gross feeding of her fostermother, her constant
self-assertion, restless temperament, and addiction to
mildew, she (Mdlle. R. B.) never prospered after, and
ultimately fell a prey to starvation and frost. The
Florist^ a journal which modestly assumed to be the
organ of the rural deities (Expressions of dissent from
all, the hair of Astrsa starting up on end, while Priapus
was so astonished that he turned a complete somersault) —
well, she thought such was the case — the Florist advocated
the cause of their common enemy, and she entreated the
assembled deities to condescend to grant their prayer
and remove the film that had recently bedimmed her
aged eyes.

The Rosa Spinosa (the Scotch Rose) begged to say
that the last speaker, Mdlle. Rosa Bonheur, had painted
the case too forcibly. It was well known that she viewed
everything coideiir de rose, and what she said must not
be taken literally. An ignoramus — (cries of Oh ! Oh !
and Order) — well wasn't he an ignoramus to spell Manetti
with two i's — (uproar, amidst which Bacchus took a long
draught of nectar) — well he would say a rose-grower —
(hear, hear) — had tried to write down the ]\Ianetti, but
he was a prejudiced humbug — (order) — and couldn't grow
Roses on the Manetti or anything else. He had once
spoken of Mr Rivers' book of Roses as amusing rather
than instructive, and called the Manetti a "bubble." A
bubble forsooth ! He (Rosa Spinosa) knew it was not a
bubble, and if asked why, he answered emphatically,
" because it wasn't." (Derisive cheers.) The gods might

A Day in the Elysian Fields. 95

laugh but he knew he was right, and if they wanted
further proof, he could tell them that his American
brother the R. rubifolia said it was not a bubble, and his
veracity was iinimpeachable. (Cries of " Brother Jonathan.")
It was true the Manetti threw up numbers of underground
shoots, but what of that ; the Moss Rose often wouldn't
grow at all. If the Manetti was the first at work and the last
at work, was not that a recommendation in a commercial
country like England ? Every Rose for herself, said he,
and the gods for them all. Every Rose was at liberty to
enrich herself, and he had no sympathy with the lethargic
band who slept away so many precious hours on the plea
that they couldn't stand the cold. He thought — (pause) —
he thought — (another pause) — he did not know what he
thought, his memory seemed to fail him in the august
presence of the gods, but he knew what the King of Roses
thought. (Cries of Down, down.)

The Rosa Canina (Dog Rose) would like to know
what the opinion of Rosa Spinosa was worth, as he had
never been budded or grafted on the Manetti, and was
never likely to be. The writer who condemned the
Manetti had grown Roses on some stock or no stock
in a manner that distanced all competitors. (Hear, hear.)
He did not wish to appear dog-xwSiWc, but he differed in
toto from Rosa Spinosa who reminded him of the adage,
that " little people always thought a good deal of them-
selves."

The Damask Rose thought it but natural that Rosa
Spinosa should try to make light of the propensity of
throwing up underground shoots, as he was strongly
addicted to this habit, and might regard it in himself
as a virtue. With regard to two I's in J^.Ianetti ; he
overhead the printer's devil say (no doubt under the
impression that the character of the establishment was
concerned in it) that his master had met Signor ]\Ianetti
in Italy some years ago, and that he had t%vo eyes then,
and if he had but one now he strongly suspected that some

g6 A Day in the Elysian Fields.

jealous cultivator had knocked the other out in order that
he might the more easily get the blind side of him.
(Laughter from all the gods). He, the Damask Rose,
knew Rosa Spinosa very well, having lived for two years
in the same row ; he was the most ungentlemanly cynic
he ever knew, not liking to see anybody prosper but
himself. He was not grafted on the Manetti, but stood
on his own stumps, and a stumpy little fellow he was.
It was often a matter of surprise to him that a Rose with
so strong an understanding should be found constantly
coquetting with an Old Lady called the Florist, who was
pretty and nothing more. He used to cram this Old Lady
with the most awful fibs — (cries of Shame, shame) — which
the poor old soul received in perfect good faith, to the
amusement of the bystanders. He had observed during
the two years that she had been visited by R. Spinosa,
that she had broken up very much, and as her under-
standing grew weaker she became more florid in her talk
and tawdry in her dress. (Cries of " Paint and brandy.")
She became more tenacious of her own interests and fonder
of scandal. He saw one letter that R. Spinosa wrote
to her, in which, among other things, were the following : —

He said that one of the first periodical writers on horti-
culture, Mr Beaton, recommended the Manetti stock for
Roses. (Oh fie ! from Veritas.)

That Mr Rivers had written the only good book on
Roses ever published in England. (Cries of " Bosh," and
" Oily gammon.")

That Mr William Paul had denounced the Manetti
because he could not grow it. (Laughter from Bonus
Eventus, and signs of general disapprobation.)

That Roses budded on the Manetti would grow well in
sand or gravel if the big stones were picked out and
manure added. (Shake of the head from Picumnus, one
of the minor deities, asking if they would not grow
bottom upwards.)

He told the " Old Lady " — would she believe him ? —

A Day in the Elysian Fields. 97

that she was the biggest beauty in the universe. (Laughter,
and signs of impatience.)

The Hybrid Perpetual would simply relate his own
experience. In the month of January he was grafted
with two eyes on the Manetti, according to the most
improved method of the King of Roses. (Flora : " Who
was he ?") Although apparently not acknowledged by the
gods, he was a person of considerable importance in
England. He was known also under the name of Saudeur
Panache.* (A voice, " None of your * sawder ' here," and
laughter.) To continue he was kept in heat for a consider-
able time, and afterwards coaxed and petted till he made a
" decent " and comely plant. He did very well that year
while in a pot. The next spring he was sent to live in a
bleak row, and while those of his confreres who were on
their own stumps or budded on the Dog-Rose had their
roots placed near the surface, that they might be fed by
the air and warmed by the sun, he was "buried deep," so
that he suffered considerably from cold and hunger, conse-
quently he did not thrive. His master was at first angry
with him, tried a variety of dodges to induce him to form
roots on his own account, but this he could not do, and
was thenceforth utterly neglected till relieved by death.
Next to him on one side in the same row was one Manetti
with his roots close to the surface, and he grew and
flourished surprisingly. On him was budded a choice kind
which grew prodigiously, and to him was every friend of
his master's referred as a proof of the value of Manetti.
But it ivas only fair to say that he had been placed there as
a cutting, and never removed. Loud were the praises
constantly lavished on this prodigy. His neighbour on
the other side was Rosa Spinosa, always a liitle cynical
and jealous of receiving no notice ; he compared their
friend on the Manetti to an alderman glutted with turtle

* There was a Rose in my master's garden some years ago, known .is
Saudeur Panache, or King of Roses — Rose dii Roi.
G

98 A Day in the Elysian Fields.

and venison, and there was some truth in the comparison,
for the Manetti grew so vigorously that the stranger be-
came stuffed like a cobbed turkey. He was at length sold
and removed to a neighbouring garden, where he became
debilitated and subject to dropsy, of which, after sundry
tappings, he died. One day his master, after bringing a
party of friends to see him when in the height of his
prosperity, adjourned to a vinery hard by and sent for
champagne, with which he regaled them till the whole party
grew jovial. (Hear, hear, from Bacchus.) Presently they
burst into song, the words of the song he couldn't catch,
but the chorus, often repeated and loudly sung, impressed
itself on his mind —

" We will talk you to fame with a plausible tale,
And be ready with pen if that happen to fail ;
But what if both fail .' {Minim rest and Bass solo).
I'll still pocket the browns ;*
Oh ! this is the way to turn coppers to crowns."

He would only further say that while under this treatment
on the Manetti he was languishing, his brothers and sisters
on their own stumps and on the Dog-Rose attained to
vigorous manhood, and he dying, left them enjoying the
prospect of a green old age.

The Sempervirens rose to say that he had been budded
on the Manetti and grew well enough so, but must confess
he much preferred being on his own roots.

The Tea-Scented, in a small pot, approved of the
Manetti.

The Bourbon in a bad soil did best on the Manetti,
but his confreres did better in a neighbour's garden on the
Dog-Rose when they had taken pains to improve the soil.
(A voice, " What did he know about his neighbours ?")
If asked what he knew about his neighbour's garden, he
would remind the gods that flowers were different to other
sublunary things. What men called their odours, floating

* Browns —Coppers. — Jiose tin JRoi.

A Day in the Elysian Fields. 99

in the air, were their spirits, which could under certain cir-
cumstances flit at will through the air from their earthly
homes.

The Goddess of Flowers was observed to frown at times
during the discussion, and at length she remarked, more
in sorrow than in anger, that she had listened to the state-
ments of the deputation with equal pain and attention.
She was grieved to find her Rose children squabbling.
There had been mischief-making somewhere. She knew
Rosa Spinosa had been a wild lad in his youth, and she
feared he was a bad boy still. Spines, she said, were given
to Roses not for offence, but for defence. She thought
that he had been silly enough to lend his name and
tongue to some ill-conditioned mortal who had some
selfish, if not malignant, purpose to serve. The race of
men, or at least some of them, were rather worshippers of
pounds, shillings, and pence than loyal subjects of the
Queen of Flowers. She reprobated such conduct, and
hated those guilty of it more than couch grass or the
worst weed that grows. As presently advised she was
strongly in favour of her tried and faithful servant the
Dog-Rose ; she did not think she would change her
opinion. But as she did not wish her fair fame to be
sullied by the slightest imputation of partiality, she would
take the whole case into consideration, would try experi-
ments and hear further argument if necessary, and
pronounce judgment on a future day.

The deputation now prepared to depart, " La Reine "
remarking that as neither the originator or advocate of the
cause of their misfortunes was "owned of the gods" they
might solace themselves with the hope of a speedy justice.
Pan once more awoke his rural pipe, and the deputation
followed him to the banks of the Styx, where Charon was
in waiting to receive them. When half-way over it was
discovered that Rosa Spinosa had been left behind.
Smarting under the lash of the Damask Rose he had
stolen off for a carouse with Bacchus, and when last seen

loo A Day in the Elysian Fields.

was intermeddling with a group of ^gipans, one of which
had seized him by the middle with his whisking tail, and
seemed resolved to detain him as a plaything for their
company. " La Reine " confessed that fearing the irrita-
bility and jealousy of his disposition she had sprinkled his
roots with the waters of Lethe, which accounted for so
sharp a Rose having lost his memory when before the
^ gods.

g Rose du Roi.

31 =^— ^=^^_

5/3

C->

CC

ON ROSES.

[Frovt " T/te Gardeners' Chronicle" {Leading Article), 1863,
p. 172, et seq.'\

■g 5 XT OTWITHSTANDING the signal revolutions which
^ 1 \l modern times have witnessed in the Kingdom ot

"rt Flora, the Rose still reigns supreme. Queen, not only by
^ hereditary and prescriptive right, but also by universal
assent, she occupies the same throne and sways the same
sceptre now as when Nero feasted and when Sappho sang.
Times have changed, and in the onward march of events
the Rose has gathered and is still gathering richer and
more glowing vestments from the loom of her bountiful
foster-mother Nature, and now, as then, in gorgeousness
of apparel, in grace, in sweetness, she stands forth un-
rivalled and alone. Never was there a more opportune
moment than the present for bringing the Rose under
notice as a hardy decorative plant, for such it must be
considered, notwithstanding that the winter of 1860-61 in
great measure cleared our garden of Roses as they were,
good, bad, and indifferent. If we have to mourn over
the loss of some cherished gems, we have at least the
satisfaction of being rid of the rubbish which had been
Accumulating on our hands for the last quarter of a

On Roses. ioi

century. And now that we are recovered from the
consternation produced by the slaughter of that period,
and Roses are again cheap, good, and plentiful, it may be
well to consider how we can best reproduce those pictures
of the past, which, though becoming dimmed by distance
of time, are still fresh in memory. [In future numbers
this question, with other branches of Rosology, will be
discussed by a correspondent who is able to speak on all
matters connected with Rose culture with the authority
which experience alone can impart.*]

No one with a knowledge of the Rose as it is would,
we presume, think of refilling his garden with the varie-
ties of the olden times. And if, owing to the scarcity of
buds or from other causes, any grower should have re-
newed his stock with such materials, he will probably find
it easier to grow than to dispose of them. We have
entered on a new era in Rose culture. Summer Roses
are less valuable than formerly. We cannot, indeed,
altogether set them aside, but we shall do well first to
reduce the groups, and then the number of the varieties.
The Moss, the Austrian Brier, the Hybrid China, &c., are
the only groups of this division that are likely henceforth
to be extensively cultivated. The French and kindred
groups, sweet, bright, and beautiful as they are, must
yield to the equal beauty and greater durability of the
Hybrid Perpetuals. The Bourbon and Tea-scented races,
if inferior to the last-mentioned in hardiness and exacti-
tude of form, so far surpass them in redundancy of bloom
that they are altogether indispensable.

But another question arises — " In what wa}- shall
these Roses be cultivated ?" Certain kinds are best as
Climbing, Pillar, or Weeping Roses, but in general it is a
matter of indifference whether they are grown as standards
or dwarfs — budded or on their own roots. The purposes
for which they are required, and the positions they are

* This sentence was inserted by the Editor. — W. P.

I02 On Roses.

intended to occupy, will in most cases settle this question.
But apart from these considerations, we think that tall
standard Roses have been too plentifully used in orna-
mental gardening. A Rose tree, except when viewed
from a distance, is more beautiful growing under the eye
than on a level with or above it. And for these reasons ;
the face of a flower is more captivating than the base
or sides, and the upper surface of the leaves is more
highly finished than the lower. One lesson taught us
by the winter of 1 860-61 should not be forgotten, viz.,
that budded and grafted Roses are sometimes killed when
those on their own roots pass safely through the severest
frosts. All lovers of Roses should plant at least one of
each of the most valued sorts on its own roots ; the winter
may indeed kill the shoots of these plants above ground,
but the dormant buds beneath the earth will remain safe,
and will quickly restore the plant to its original state.
The practice of planting budded and grafted Roses in
autumn has been unwisely extended to those on their
own roots. Against this we enter a caution. A greater
mistake, we believe, could not be committed. Doubtless
many examples of non-success might be traced to this
cause. Leaving out of the question the cases of Roses on
their own roots which have been nursed up in heat to get
them quickly into the market, the custom of transferring
a plant from a pot into the ground in early autumn,
exposed before it is established to all the vicissitudes of
an English winter, is contrary alike to sound theory and
practice. Plant such in April or May, when the growing
season has commenced, and the result will be a well-
established plant before the winter arrives, and one that
will live and flourish in spite of its trials and difficulties.

Summer Roses. 103

No. I.— SUMMER ROSES.

\From " The Gardeners' Chronicle^' 1863,/. 196.]

Can we dispense with Summer Roses ? This is a
question which we think admits of an emphatic " No."
The Autumnals are undoubtedly invaluable ; among
them the Hybrid Perpetuals furnish us with flowers
of perfect form and exquisite colours, and yield a
succession of bloom that prolongs the gay season of
the garden to the very verge of winter ; the Bourbon,
Chinese, and Tea-scented flower still more abundantly in
the later months of the year, and are consequently even
more valuable in those gardens which are visited by their
proprietors in the autumnal months only ; but for gor-
geousness of effect none of these equal the Summer Roses.
The flowers, which with the Autumnals are spread over a
lengthened period, are with the former concentrated on
a point of time ; and if they were counted, flower for
flower, throughout the season, we doubt whether the
balance would not remain in favour of Summer Roses.
It would appear then to be a matter of choice whether
we receive the boon at once or by instalments ; and
certain it is that the garden is stripped of its gayest
scenes and some of its brightest ornaments if we alto-
gether exclude the Roses of June. Such is my conviction,
and following it I shall venture to enumerate the principal
Summer groups, describing a few of the most desirable
varieties from each.

The Boursault contains one variety, Amadis, which
must not be lost sight of. It is one of the hardiest,
thriving alike in shade and sunshine, and growing in the
least favourable soils and situations. It is most valuable
as a Pillar and Climbing Rose, producing myriads of
crimson purple flowers on shoots utterly devoid of thorns.
It requires very little pruning.

104 Summer Roses.

The Scotch Rose is valuable because it blooms so
abundantly, and often a month earlier than other Summer
Roses. Planted singly it forms the prettiest dwarf bush
imaginable ; it also makes an excellent low hedge. The
flowers are small and globular — principally white, red,
blush, and purple, but there are intermediate shades — and
very sweet. They resemble each other too closely to
need describing. The plant will flourish on the shallowest
of soils, and may be pruned closely every winter.

The Damask, formerly an important group, may now
be brought down to three or four varieties. La Ville de
Bruxelles is a full-sized Rose of free growth, with beautiful
light green foliage ; the flowers are salmon-rose margined
with blush. Leda, or Painted Damask, is in its best form
worthy of a place in every garden ; the flowers are blush
edged with lake, exceedingly pretty and distinct. Where
care is not taken to preserve the marked form it is apt
to degenerate and lose the lake margin, when as a wholly
white flower it is comparatively worthless. Madame
Hardy is still the best of white Summer Roses, and cannot
be too highly praised. For form, purity of colour, hardi-
ness, and freedom of growth and flowering, it is still
unrivalled. It makes a beautiful bed on a lawn, and as
such, where quantity of flowers is required, should not be
too closely pruned. Madame Soetmans is a creamy
white, sometimes shaded with buff; a large full flower
of excellent properties, and in its best state quite a show
Rose. All these require moderately close pruning, and
will grow in any common garden soil.

The Provence Rose includes the Cabbage, the
Crested, and the White, none of which can yet be spared.
The first and last are too well known to require descrip-
tion ; the Crested is similar to the Cabbage, except that
the sepals are beautifully fringed with moss. The globular
form is in perfection here, and the fragrance of these Roses
is proverbial. A sub-section of this group, known as the
the Miniature Provence or Pompon, is also highly

Summer Roses. io:

interesting on account of its dwarf growth and tiny flowers.
These delight most in a rich soil, and should be subjected
to close pruning.

The Moss Rose will always rank high where grace
and beauty are fairly appreciated. Baronne de Wassenaer
is a vigorous growing sort, producing clusters of bright red
flowers, of good size and globular form ; it must not be
pruned much. Captain Ingram is distinct and handsome,
the flowers are dark velvety purple, almost black. Celina,
now an old favourite, is not yet surpassed in its way ; the
growth is compact, and the flowers are of the richest
crimson shaded with purple, well mossed, and produced
in gorgeous abundance. This makes an excellent bed,
and should be pruned closely. The Old or Common Red
Moss remains a model of beauty ; the hybridiser has
varied this group exceedingly, but never yet produced
any sort to surpass the original ; indeed the best varieties
of true Moss Roses have been derived from sports rather
than from seed. Clemence Beaugrand is a beautiful bright
pink Rose with large double flowers ; the growth is vig-
orous. Comtesse Murinais is a large double almost white
Rose, not equal to the White Bath in form or purity, but
it grows freely everywhere, which the latter does not.
Gloire des Mousseuses is of first-rate excellence ; the
flowers are blush, very large, full, less globular than the
original sort, but well mossed. Gracilis or Prolific re-
sembles the old variety very closely, but is of dwarfer
growth, and flowers more profusely ; it forms a beautiful
bed of about the same rate of growth as Celina. Marie
de Blois produces rosy lilac flowers of good shape and
size, and is above the average in merit. Nuits de Young
bears velvety purple flowers, very dark and very double.
Princess Alice, a variety raised from seed by me some
ten or twelve years since, is, I find, still quoted and com-
mended in four out of five Rose catalogues that I have
looked into ; the flowers are blush with pink centres,
something in the way of Maiden's Blush ; the buds are

io6 Summer Roses.

well mossed. Princess Royal for form and colour is one
of the gems of this group ; the flowers are salmon-flesh,
not over large ; the growth is hardly vigorous, but both
growth and flowers are improved by close pruning. Pur-
purea rubra is a good free hardy sort with large full
purple flowers. Reine Blanche is a large full pure white
Rose, of perfect outline, but rather flat ; it grows as freely
as Madame Hardy, and has some points of resemblance
to that variety. White Bath, the best of the white Moss
Roses where it thrives well, is unfortunately capricious,
which detracts much from its value. Every garden should
have a bed or beds of Moss Roses, either on their own
roots or budded close to the ground. Manure highly,
prune closely, and they will yield a rich harvest of the
sweetest and most beautiful flowers.

No. II.— SUMMER ROSES.

[From " TAe Gardejters' Chronicle" 1S63, p. 221.]

The Fren'CH and its Hybrids, once the leading group
of the genus, has been depreciated more than any other
by the improvements of modern times. It must not,
however, be yet laid aside. The varieties grow freely in
any common garden soil, and produce fine masses of highly
fragrant flowers in the summer time. The colours are
varied and beautiful, the growth compact, and the plants
require close pruning. Adele Prevost is a pretty silvery-
blush Rose of good form, and flowers very freely. Boula
de Nanteuil is a superior crimson-purple variety with fiery
centre, still one of the best of very dark Summer Roses.
Cynthie produces pale rose-coloured flowers delicately
margined with blush, and is also a free flowering sort.
The Duchess of Buccleuch is a large bold dark rose-
coloured flower with blush margin, a little coarse, but
still a show Rose. Grandissima, or Louis Philippe as it is
also called, is a good purplish rose-coloured variety. Kean

Summer Roses. 107

is by no means a bad show Rose, the flowers are rich
velvety purple dashed with scarlet, large and full. CEillet
Parfait produces pure white flowers broadly striped with
rosy-crimson ; the flowers are not large, but they are neatly
formed, the growth is not vigorous, but is improved by
close pruning ; taken altogether, this is one of the best
striped Roses. Blanchefleur deserves a word of special
commendation, it is hardly a show Rose, but its white
flesh-tinted flowers are produced in such gay profusion
that scarcely any Rose of its colour is so eflective. La
Volupte, or Letitia, is still a show Rose of a bright rose
colour, the petals exquisitely arranged.

Some of the French Roses are beautiful in colour and
outline, and the petals are admirably disposed. Their
fault as show Roses is that they have a papery appearance
owing to the delicate texture of the petals, and they fall
out of shape too soon after gathered.

The Hybrids of the Chinese, Bourbon, and
Noisette are the glory of the Rose Garden in summer,
and many of them are excellent show Roses also. Hardy
and free, they are alike suited for pots, pillars, or standards.
Some should be pruned very little, others moderately, few
close. If those of strong growth be cut much they grow
too vigorously, and are scant of flowers. Blairii No. 2
cannot be too highly commended as a wall Rose where a
great height or breadth is required to be covered quickly.
The growth is extraordinarily rapid, and the foliage and
flowers fine ; the latter are of a blush pink, very large and
double ; prune sparingly. Charles Duval, although an old
Rose is still a good one, the flowers are deep pink, large
and full, the foliage is handsome. Charles Lawson is a
first-rate pot Rose, and good either as a standard or pillar,
the flowers are of a vivid rose colour, large and full, quite
a show Rose. Chenedole is a beautiful Rose with flowers
of a light vivid crimson, the growth is very vigorous, and
it is equally good as a pot, pillar, or standard Rose. It
should be pruned very little. Coupe d'H<5be is one of the

io8 Summer Roses.

gems of this group, and hardly surpassed by any other
Rose, the flowers are of a rich deep pink, exquisitely
cupped, large and very double. Like the preceding it is
good as a pot, pillar, or standard Rose, but should be
pruned tolerably close. General Jacqueminot produces
flowers of a rich purplish crimson, which are glowing and
effective on the tree or pillar, but hardly suited to figure at
the exhibitions. Juno as a pot Rose is of matchless
beauty, and is good out-of-doors in fair weather, but
unfortunately the flowers, which are rose edged with
blush, are quickly soiled by rain or wind. This variety,
which partakes somewhat of the group Alba, should be
pruned closely. Madame Plantier is one of those profuse
blooming Roses admirably adapted for bedding, the flowers
are white, produced in clusters, individually below the
average in size. Madeline is desirable for its distinctness,
the flowers are flesh colour edged with crimson, not over
large, but quite full and very beautiful. Paul Perras is a
very superior pot Rose, growing to the largest size as such,
the flowers are of a pale rose colour, large, full, and fine.
Paul Ricaut is a bright crimson flower, large, full, of
glowing colour and exquisite form ; most valuable as a
pot Rose, but good also as a dwarf or standard. It should
be pruned rather closely. Perfection is a peach-coloured
flower, not large but distinct and perfect in form. Vivid,
one of my earliest seedlings now ranking among the old
varieties, is still unequalled as a brilliant coloured standard,
wall, or pillar Rose ; the flowers are of the richest crimson,
and so abundant that no Rose in the garden can compare
with it for effect. It requires very little pruning.

The Roses of the Alba group, of which the Maiden's
Blush and the Celestial may be taken as the types, are
still valuable for their delicate colours and distinctness.
Felicite and La Seduisante, both flesh-coloured Roses with
blush-coloured margins, are the best. Then there are
Madame Audot, flesh colour ; Madame Legras, white ; and
Queen of Denmark, pink, which are not surpassed in their

Summer Roses. 109

way. Sophie de Marsilly is a fair weather Rose, ex-
quisitely beautiful when first opening if lucky enough to
escape the rain and wind, the flowers are blush with rosy
centres, large and full. Common soil and moderate
pruning suit these Roses, which are valuable in the garden,
but not large enough for show Roses.

The Austrian section contains the only hardy yellow
Roses that are worthy of general cultivation, and these
flourish best in country air. Harrisonii, a yellow variety
of American origin, produces almost double flowers in
magnificent profusion. It is best grown as a Weeping
Rose, and pruned once in two years only. The Persian
Yellow has flowers of a deeper hue and more double than
the preceding, the young leaves have the fragrance of the
sweet briar. The Copper Austrian, although single, is so
rich and distinct in colour that everyone should possess it.
All these are valuable.

The Ayrshire are most appropriate for covering
banks, running up trees, poles, and high buildings. The
growth is slender but very rapid, they form the best of
Weeping Roses. Dundee Rambler, Ruga, Splendens, and
Thoresbyana, all white or nearly white varieties, are the
best.

The Evergreen Roses are not unlike the last,
except that they hold their leaves through a great part
of the winter, they are suited to the same purpose and
require but little pruning. Felicite Perpetue, Leopoldine
d'Orleans, and Rampante, which are the best, produce
white flowers ; Banksiaeflora, whose flowers are white
with creamy centres, is pretty and distinct ; Myrianthes
renoncule, flowers blush shaded with rose, is also interest-
ing and useful.

The Banksian Roses form a most distinct and
beautiful group wholly unlike any others, and are well
worthy of more extended cultivation. The flowers are
very small, double, and exquisitely formed, they are
produced in clusters, and those of the white variety are

no Autumnal Roses.

very sweet. To grow them in perfection they should be
planted as conservatory climbers, or if grown out-of-doors
are best trained against a south wall in a soil that is dry
and warm. If left unpruned for two to three years,
merely nailing the shoots to the wall, they will bloom in
perfection.

No. III.— AUTUMNAL ROSES.

[^Frotn " The Gardeners' Chronicle" 1863,/. 270.]

I SHALL here, as with Summer Roses (p. 103), de-
scribe the leading groups only. The PERPETUAL Moss
are desirable because they prolong the season of Moss
Roses ; beyond this not very much can be said in their
favour. They are for the most part of shy growth, and
not overburdened with moss. They require a rich soil,
and should be pruned closely. Empress Eugenie is the
prettiest of the group, but also one of the most diffi-
cult to preserve in health, being naturally a short-lived
Rose. The flowers are bright red, of medium size, full
and perfect in form ; the growth is dwarf General Drouot
grows freely enough, but the flowers, which are crimson
and purple shaded, are only semi-double. Hortense
Vernet produces white flowers, shaded with rose. Madame
Edouard Ory is one of the best ; the growth is free, the
flowers bright rosy carmine, large, full, and fine. Per-
petual White Moss is also an excellent variety ; the
flowers are white, produced in clusters, well mossed ;
perhaps the most interesting of the group. Salet is a
good Rose, very free and hardy; the flowers are bright
rose, margined with blush, large and full.

The Hybrid Perpetual, now the leading group of
the genus, is of comparatively modern date, being a new
branch of an old stock. In 1837, my friend, M. Laflay,
of Bellevue, sent me a beautiful purplish Rose, which he
called Princesse Helene, describing it with all the enthu-

Autumnal Roses. hi

siasm of his warm and kindly nature. This was the first
strongly-marked divergence from the now old-fashioned
Damask Perpetual Roses, which were then so much in
vogue, and from which this sprang. Fortunately this
hybrid produced seeds freely, and in three years we had
no less than twenty varieties. Now the number is legion,
and they take much the same position in the garden now
that the French Roses did a quarter of a century ago.
Well, they are the finest of Roses, and improving at a
more rapid rate than any other group ; form, colour, and
fragrance are here in perfection, and they are the hardiest
and finest of Autumnals. In looking through the list of
candidates for election it is a task of no ordinary nature
to bring down the number within reasonable limits. One
has a claim for form, another for colour, a third for
fragrance, and in some cases in which one or the other
of these requisites may be absent, the general habit of
the variety is so good or so elegant that it outweighs or
negatives these important considerations. I shall confine
my remarks at present to the cream of the old varieties,
reserving what I have to say of New Roses for a special
paper.

Anna Alexieff is one of those hard}' free-flowering
Roses that is invaluable for masses and conspicuous
situations in the garden ; the foliage is good and the plant
is almost always in bloom ; the flowers are rosy pink, of
good size and form, usually arranged in clusters. Anna
de Diesbach is quite the opposite to the last in every
character but colour; the flowers are composed of fine
thick petals, of immense size, but few and far between.
Auguste Mie is a truly beautiful silvery pink Rose of
exquisite form ; the shape is almost equal to Coupe
d'Hebc, which it resembles in some respects; it is good
for standard, pot, or pillar. Baronne Hallez is a dark-
red Rose of average size and superior form, sweet and
free, but hardly vigorous. Cardinal Patrizzi is one of the
finest Roses grown under glass, but it is uncertain out of

112 Autumnal Roses.

doors, and seldom more than second-rate there ; the
colours are brilliant red, shaded with blackish purple.
Caroline de Sansal, clear flesh colour with blush edges,
is a first-class show Rose when it can be found clean ;
it is, however, a fair-weather Rose only, and while it
cannot be dispensed with, it cannot be confidently relied
on. Colonel de Rougemont is a very large expanded
Rose of a pale rose colour, shaded with carmine ; it is of
rather delicate habit, and requires a rich soil and close
pruning, which extra attention it is quite worthy of.
Comte de Nanteuil is a perfect Rose according to rule ;
the flowers are rosy carmine, large, full, and quite circular
in outline ; quite a show Rose. The same may be said
of Comtesse de Chabrillant, whose flowers are pink and
very sweet ; this is not so constantly good as the last
named, but when in its best state, it is of matchless
beauty. Due de Cazes is a very distinct flower ; the
colours are purple, crimson, and maroon, very velvety,
and variously shaded ; it is a most effective Rose in the
garden if pruned sparingly ; the growth is vigorous.
Duchesse d'Orleans is a good show Rose ; the flowers are
lavender blush, large and full, the growth vigorous.
Empereur de Maroc, though not a show Rose, can hardly
be left out of a limited collection ; the rich velvety
maroon flowers, the summits of the petals folding back
with so much regularity and grace, are unique and lovely.
Francois Arago, with dark velvety purple flowers, is also
a valuable addition to our dark Roses ; it is hardy, free,
and the best of its colour. Frangois ler. is quite
first-class, whether for exhibition or garden decoration ;
the flowers are brilliant cherry, of good size and form.
General Jacqueminot is almost too well known to need
description ; the flowers are brilliant red, very velvety,
large, and very double. The introduction of this Rose
was quite an era in Rose culture ; it produces seed so
freely, and the seedlings have proved so good, that we
have already a numerous race derived from it. General

Autumnal Roses. 113

Washington has bright rosy red flowers of large size and
full ; it is sometimes splendid, but uncertain. Gloire de
Vitry is a first-rate show Rose, of a bright rose colour,
large and full ; the foliage is rather thin. Gloire dc
Santenay produces scarlety-crimson flowers, large, full,
and fine ; it is a little uncertain, but nevertheless a superb
Rose. Imperatrice Eugenie is a white Rose with rosy
centre ; the flowers are not large, but full and exquisitely
formed ; the habit is rather delicate. Jules Margottin is
an everyday Rose, the flowers of a bright cherry colour ;
one of the best for a standard or a bed. La Reine,
one of M. Laffay's original Hybrid Perpetuals, is not
yet surpassed in its zvay ; the flowers are rosy
pink, tinged with lilac, very large and globular it is
a magnificent flower, although a little uncertain. La
Ville de St Denis is still a good flower, rosy carmine,
large and full. Loelia is a silvery rose shaded, very large,
globular, and in every respect of first-rate quality. Lord
Raglan is one of those high coloured varieties, scarlet
crimson edged with violet crimson, that pleases every-
body ; the flowers are large, full, and of good shape ; the
growth is vigorous. Madame Boll is very different to
any other, appearing to have some of the old French
blood in it ; the flowers are rose colour with blush edges,
very large, full, and excellent. Madame C. Crapelet is a
flower of great finish ; the blossoms are rosy red, veined
and shaded with lilac, the form very beautiful. Madame
de Cambaceres is rosy carmine, often purplish, cupped,
large and full ; a good free hardy Rose with beautiful
foliage. Madame Furtado is a full rosy crimson flower,
very sweet, and one of the best for exhibition. Madame
Knorr is bright rose with pale edges, large, full, and
flowers freely. Madame Masson is a grand Rose, of a
reddish crimson hue shaded with violet, very large and
full. Madame Rivers has clear flesh-coloured flowers of
fine form, large and full ; growth vigorous. I remember
seeing this Rose at Lyons in the seedling state, but it is
H

114 Autumnal Roses.

better here than there. Madame Vigneron is one of
those silvery flowers tinged with rose or purple, large and
of good outline, although a little flat. Madame Vidot is
a model in form, and beautiful in colour also ; transparent
flesh, shaded with rose, large and full. Mdlle. Bonnaire
is perhaps the best of the white kinds with rosy centre ;
it is of good average size, full, and of exquisite form.
Prince Leon is a fine bright crimson variety, the form
and colour all that one could wish for, and in its best
state is quite a show Rose. Queen of Denmark is some-
times very fine, though a little uncertain ; the flowers are
lilac flesh, large, full, distinct, and beautifully transparent.
Queen Victoria, introduced by me, is still the best in its
way ; the flowers are white shaded with peach, the colour
of the old Celestial Rose, large and full ; the growth is
vigorous. Senateur Vaisse is one of those full bright
red Roses with large smooth thick petals much in advance
of the general run of these ; the flowers are large and
full, the growth vigorous. Souvenir de Leveson Gower
is a fine ruby-coloured flower, very large, full, and well
shaped ; growth vigorous. Souvenir de la Reine d'Angle-
terre has bright rosy pink flowers, very large, full, and
fine ; the growth is vigorous, and it forms one of the best
of Pillar Roses. Triomphe d'Alencon, with its fresh
bright red flowers, is sure to please ; Baronne Prevost,
which it somewhat resembles in growth and form, looks
faded by the side of it. Triomphe de Lyon is the best
of the very dark large well shaped Roses, although not
always clean and good. Triomphe de I'Exposition pro-
duces vivid reddish-crimson flowers ; it usually loses its
shape too soon to be first-class for exhibition, but it is
one of the most effective for garden decoration. Triomphe
de Paris is a good dark Rose of size, form, and fulness
above the average. Triomphe des Beaux Arts is a plum-
coloured edition of General Jacqueminot, excellent for
garden decoration, but scarcely full enough 'for a show
Rose. Victor Verdier is a decided step in advance ; the

Autumnal Roses. 115

flowers are rosy carmine with purplish edges ; a large
showy free growing Rose with beautiful foliage, good for
exhibition, and one of the very best for effect in the
garden. Victor Trouillard, although irregular in shape,
is valuable for its brilliant velvety crimson flowers and
beautiful foliage. Virginal comes in strong contrast to
the preceding ; the flowers are pure white, the habit rather
delicate, but the variety still indispensable. William
Griffith, a well known old Rose, is one of those glossy-
looking flowers of a pink or pale rosy hue, in its best
state very beautiful.

The Hybrid Perpetual Roses require high cultivation
to bring out their valuable qualities in full perfection ;
manure freely, and prune closely, watering occasionally
during the season of most rapid growth if the weather
should be dry. Those kinds which bloom very freely
should be relieved of a portion of the flowers when in
the bud state, by which practice the flowers that are left
will bloom finer, and the vigour of the plant be more
efficiently preserved.

No. IV.— AUTUMNAL ROSES.
[Frofu " T/ie Gardeners' CJironicIe" 1863,/. 365.]

The Bourbon Perpetuals form a small but beauti-
ful group of Roses, embracing those Hybrid Perpetuals
of some catalogues in which the features of the Bourbon
Rose predominate. In other words, they approach nearer
to the Bourbon than to the Hybrid Perpetual, but are
distinct from both. The flowers are remarkable for
their circular outline ; they are not ver)' large but are
more than usually abundant. The growth is moderate
and the foliage fine and handsome, noticeable for the
breadth of the leaflets. The varieties are best suited to
form low standards, dwarf standards, and bush Roses,
and if planted in a rich soil and pruned closely, they
bloom constantly and well throughout the summer and

ii6 Autumnal Roses.

autumn. Baron Gonella is one of the best of this group ;
the flowers are pink and lilac shaded, large, full, and
beautifully cupped ; the petals are large well rounded at
their circumference, and of unusual substance. Baronne
de Noirmont is also a good Rose, deeper and brighter
in colour than the preceding, and very sweet, but not so
prolific. Catherine Guillot is a gem, fine eveiywhere,
but especially so under glass ; the flowers are pink of
good average size, and quite full, the form perfect.
Comtesse Barbantanne is a flesh coloured flower, large,
full, and distinct, of hardy habit and vigorous growth-
L'Avenir has glossy pink flowers, large, full, and beauti-
fully cupped ; the growth is vigorous, the foliage fine.
Lord Palmerston is an exceedingly pretty Rose with
flowers of an empyrean brightness, which the pen of
the writer and the pencil of the artist have hitherto
alike failed to reach ; bright rosy cherry colour is an
approximation of the description ; the flowers are neither
large nor full, but they are nicely formed, produced
abundantly, and very sweet ; the effect of the tree in
the garden when in full bloom is brilliant in the ex-
treme. Louise Odier is a good hardy sort, with bright
rosy-coloured flowers, a first-rate pot Rose, and excellent
either as a standard or a bush. Madame Bruni is not
so well known as it deserves to be ; the flowers are
peach colour, Provence-scented, large, full, and of good
form ; a good show Rose when well grown. Mdlle.
Therese Appert is a peach-coloured flower, large, full,
and nicely cupped ; a free and constant blooming Rose
of moderate growth. Marguerite Appert is a pretty and
distinct Rose ; flowers blush, tinted with lavender, large
and full. Modele de Perfection is, in its best state, one
of the loveliest Roses I have yet seen ; it must, however,
be grown well to realise this character, for it is apparently
not the freest of this group ; the flowers are lively pink,
large, full, and globular, Reynolds Hole is a distinct
and desirable sort ; the flowers are pink, increasing in

AuTu;\iNAL Roses. 117

brilliancy as they advance in age ; the petals are large,

well formed, and of great substance, but not very
numerous ; the foliage is fine.

The Rose DE Rosomane is a new group formed
by the withdrawal from the Hybrid Perpetual of certain
varieties which differ therefrom in general aspect. In
the previous group are some of the most perfectly formed
Roses grown ; in the present are some of the most
brilliantly coloured. They are mostly of free growth,
and such are the very best of high coloured wall Roses ;
a few, however, are of dwarf growth, and these are equally
desirable for the garden generally, or for beds on lawns.
As the colours of the different varieties so nearly resemble
each other, it seems unnecessary to describe them indivi-
dually ; for walls or palings, Desgaches, Eclair de Jupiter,
Gloire des Rosomanes, Mdlle. Haiman, Oriflamme de St
Louis, Princesse Mathilde, Souvenir de Montceau are
the best ; for beds and borders, Comte d'Eu, Comte de
Falloux, Leonice Moise, and Louis XIV. may be safely
recommended.

The Bourbon Roses are, in my judgment, not at all
depreciated by the newly arisen splendour of their kins-
folk, the Hybrid Perpetuals. It is a quieter but not
lower order of beauty which greets us here. They are
not so well suited for show Roses, because they lack size,
but they are many times more valuable for those gardens
where Roses must abound in autumn, because they flower
much more abundantly at that season. Few of the
Hybrid Perpetual Roses bloom freely, some not at all,
late in autumn, whereas the Bourbons flower best and
freest at that season. If the plants are pruned closel)- in
spring, and the soil kept rich and moist, so that the\' be
kept growing, flowers, bright, sweet, and plentiful will be
sure to follow. Acidalie, the first on my list, is not so
pure in blood as some, being hybridised possibly with the
Provence Rose ; it is, nevertheless, very desirable, being
a good globular-shaped white Rose of vigorous growth,

ii8 Autumnal Roses.

very sweet, and blooming tolerably freely in the autumn.
Armosa, which has a little of the Chinese blood in it, is
one of the most prolific of Autumn Roses, yielding its
pink flowers almost without end. Aurore du Guide pro-
duces handsome flowers, sometimes purplish violet, some-
times crimson-scarlet ; one of the finest of the group, but
rather shy and uncertain. Bouquet de Flore is a good
hardy free kind, old enough, it is true, but still most
desirable ; the flowers are light glossy carmine, large and
double. Comte de Montijo is a pretty free-flowering
variety, rich reddish crimson sometimes shaded with
purple. Dr Leprestre has brilliant purplish flowers, some-
times shaded with red, large and full. Duchesse de
Thuringe has white flowers, delicately tinged with lilac,
and usually arranged in elegant clusters. Dupetit Thouars
is one of those brilliant crimson flowers which one cannot
pass by in any garden ; it, withal, flowers freely to the
very confines of winter. Empress Eugenie has rosy blush
flowers with purplish edges, large and full, and is one of
the freest, hardiest, and best. Ferdinand Deppe is a good
Rose, with reddish violet flowers. George Peabody came
originally from America, and is one of the very few from
that country that is worthy of general cultivation ; the
flowers are rich crimson, shaded with purple ; hardy, free,
and good. Julie de Fontenelle is a beautiful Rose, similar
in colour to the last, inferior to it in size, but superior in
form. Justine is a free blooming sort, with clear rose or
rosy-pink flowers. La Ouintinie is one of the finest of
this group, but uncertain ; the flowers are bright crimson,
changing to blackish violet ; large, full, and of good form.
Madame Angelina is a rich cream-coloured flower, with
fawn or salmon centre, and is a beautiful and distinct
Rose, of rather dwarf growth. Marquise Balbiano is a
good, free, hardy sort ; flowers rose colour, tinged with
lilac ; large and full. Marquise de Moyria and Menoux
are both good sorts of the same colour — carmine. Mrs
Bosanquet is still a first-rate free-blooming Autumn Rose,

Autumnal Roses. 119

not a true Bourbon, however, but slightly partaking of
the Chinese ; the flowers are white, tinged with flesh
colour. Omar Pacha is a fine brilliant red Rose, free and
hardy. Pierre de St Cyr has pale glossy pink flowers, of
good size and form, and usually abundant. Queen is one
of the freest and best ; flowers salmon flesh, often tinged
with buff; excellent for masses, Reveil is a fine hardy
dark variety ; its flowers crimson shaded with violet.
Sir Joseph Paxton is of a growth more than usually
vigorous ; the flowers are of a bright rose shaded with
crimson ; large and full. Souvenir de Malmaison is one
of the best Roses yet raised, and in place everywhere ;
the flowers are delicate flesh colour, their margins almost
white ; very large and full ; excellent for massing.
Souvenir d'un frere is a very showy free-flowering Rose,
with brilliant crimson flowers. Vicomte de Cussy is a
good Rose, flowers cherry colour, tinged with purple ;
large and almost full. Victor Emmanuel is a good dark
purplish flower, shaded with maroon ; large and double.
Vorace is sometimes fine, but rather uncertain ; the flowers
are dark crimson purple ; large and full.

No. v.— AUTUMNAL ROSES.

\^Fro7n " The Gardeners' Chronicle^' 1863,/. 389.]

It was originally my intention to have completed my
remarks on old Roses before dealing with the new, but
I am reminded that any information on the latter is of
more value in April than in May. Therefore this digres-
sion. To-day I will review the New Roses of 1861-62,
next week those of 1862-63, and subsequently resume my
remarks on the older varieties of Roses.

Nearly all the good Roses of 1861-62 — and there are
many — belong to the group Hybrid Perpetual. Alpha-
betical arrangement compels me to open this series with a
flower of my own raising, Beauty of Waltham ; some
thousands of plants having been sold within the year,

I20 Autumnal Roses.

this Rose will doubtless soon be well known, and in
my judgment it is not yet equalled for the combined
qualities of brilliancy, substance, form, vigour, sweetness,
and hardihood. Charles Lefebvre is certainly one of the
finest of that set, the i^owers are crimson shaded with
maroon, intensely rich and glowing, of large size, good
substance, and perfect form. Due de Rohan is also a
first-class Rose of vigorous growth, with handsome foliage;
the flowers are large, full, and globular, in colour bright
vermilion. Francois Lacharme is a rich rosy-crimson
flower, large, full, and of good form, quite first-rate. La
Brillante is of the most exquisite colour when newly
expanded, but soon pales even without a sun ; it is of
good average size, perfectly cupped, and nearly full.
Louise Darzens is quite a gem, producing its pure white
exquisitely formed flowers in great abundance; it might
almost be called a perpetual Madame Hardy. Madame
Charles Wood is a robust-growing sort with large showy
crimson flowers and beautiful foliage, in size, form of
petal, and substance quite a show Rose, although the
flower expands rather quickly and is soon overblown.
My ideal of a Rose has always been, and still is, a half-
blown deeply cupped or globular flower ; the old Baronne
Prevost is beautiful of its kind, and so is La Fontaine, but
neither of these forms, call them compact, expanded, or
what you may, is at all comparable with the globular or
deeply cupped flower. Madame Ernest Dreol is a good
Rose of the Baronne Prevost style, but brighter in colour,
and with petals of greater substance. Madame Julie Daran
has with me been a little uncertain, but this may be
accidental rather than constitutional ; it appears a good
hardy Rose with large globular glossy vermilion-coloured
flowers. Maurice Bernardin is quite first-rate, large, and
full, in colour bright vermilion. Monte Christo is a beau-
tiful Rose, indeed one of the most beautiful, but rather
difficult to manage; the flowers are blackish-purple painted
or flushed with scarlet — not the natural flush of health, but

Autumnal Roses. 121

rather a hectic glow, too clear and beautiful to be associated
with hardihood and longevity ; one flower is however a suffi-
cient recompense for a year's care. Olivier Delhomme is a
bold showy crimson Rose of good form and hardy constitu-
tion, the foliage particularly handsome. Prince Camille de
Rohan is quite distinct from any Rose I have yet seen ; the
flowers are dark velvety maroon, the circumference in-
clining to blood red, the colours very rich and splendid.
Professor Koch may be called a crimson Coupe d'Hebe
flowering in the autumn, a Rose of first-rate quality.
Robert Fortune belongs to the useful rather than the
brilliant ; it does not flower so freely as some, but the
flowers, which are rosy crimson, are large, full, sweet, well-
formed, and always good. Souvenir de Lady Eardley
yields an abundance of large almost full reddish-scarlet
flowers, the growth is exceedingly vigorous, the foliage
fine. Souvenir de Comte Cavour (Margottin) is a good
enough Rose, though not over large, the flowers are
crimson and black shaded, very rich looking and effective
on the tree. Vulcain was good last year, and has been
better in the forcing houses this spring ; the flowers are
bright purplish-violet shaded with black, very dark and
distinct. The foregoing were the best of the last year's
Hybrid Perpetuals with me. The experience of other
growers may have been different, and I should be glad
to hear their views. There were also two Tea-Scented
sorts which pleased me much — Gloire de Bordeaux and
Triomphe de Guillot Fils. Belle de Bordeaux, which is a
year older than the first-mentioned, was exhibited several
times last year under the name of Gloire de Bordeaux.
The latter was with me lighter in colour and finer in form,
but they resemble each other almost too closel)'. Triomphe
de Guillot P'ils is white shaded with rose and salmon, very
large, full, and sweet. If an addition to the foregoing be
required, the following stand next in rank in rny note-book
for that year : — Alexander Dumas, Gloire de Chatillon,
Madame Caillat (very good), Marechal Vaillant, Souvenir

122 Autumnal Roses.

de M. Rousseau, Paul Feval, Wilhelm Pfitzer, Madame
Clemence Joigneaux (good, but common in colour),
Turenne, Madlle. Claudine d'Offoy, and Francois Louvat.
The number of good new Roses brought out in
1861-62 was certainly above the average, and there was
a large accession of what are termed velvety Roses.
Velvety Roses ! It may fairly be asked, what are they ?
There is a something on the face of the petals of certain
Roses, that which we have hitherto endeavoured to express
by the word " velvety," but this word is wholly in-
adequate to convey the real appearance. The richest
velvet, however soft and pleasing, is dull and heavy-
looking beside our flower; the latter has all the softness
and richness of velvet, and a something superadded which
I have never met with except in the petals of flowers, the
coats of insects, or the plumage of birds. The pen cannot
describe it, the pencil cannot paint it. What we should
call it I do not know. May we look on it as analogous
to the youthful tint on the human cheek — the " glow of
life" which forms so broad a line of demarcation between
the animate and inanimate, which constitutes alone an
immeasurable distance between the simplest works of
nature and the highest efforts of art.

No. VI.— AUTUMNAL ROSES.

[From " T/ie Gardeners' Chromcle" 1863,;^. 413.]

Last year's brood, the proved new Roses, have been
already dealt with, and they were, as a whole, the best
lot ever issued in a single year. Let us now endeavour
to obtain some glimpses of this year's novelties, the forth-
coming brood, some of which only have yet bloomed in
England, and these under glass. The opinions expressed
concerning them must not be taken as fixed and unalter-
able ; although the majority were seen and described in
the raisers' grounds last summer, and are now blooming

Autumnal Roses. 123

in the forcing-houses here. But Roses as grown and
shown by the raisers in the dry warm climate of France,
afford no precise information as to their suitability for
British gardens, nor can we gather this with certainty
from flowers produced here under glass. I never make
up my mind as to the quality of a new Rose till I have
seen it in flower in my own hands out of doors. But a
little light is better than darkness or obscurity, and we
need not refuse to look on them in the twilight, because
they have not yet shown themselves in the full broad
light of day. Taken as a whole, the forthcoming brood
appears more varied than that of last year ; there is more
novelty, but hardly so many bold and striking Roses.
The best of the two years put together make a splendid
and richly varied group. Alfred de Rougemont, H.P.,
a Rose from the " Sunny South," is crimson purple,
shaded with fiery red, very bright and large ; double
only with me, not " full " as the raiser describes it. Full
is a term too freely used by our confreres on the other
side of the Channel, and must be taken with due
caution, because applied to new Roses which we should
not describe as more than double. Alba Rosea (Tea-
Scented), " a seedling from Devoniensis," may be pro-
nounced promising ; the flowers are white with a slightly
rosy centre, large, double, of fine form, and very sweet.
Baron Adolphe de Rothschild, H.P., is a grand Rose,
highly decorative, but not floriculturally perfect ; the
growth is vigorous, the foliage splendid ; the flowers
are red, produced in large clusters as in Chenedole,
beautiful when first expanding, but corrugating and
losing colour quickly, and hardly full enough. Baron
de Rothschild, H.P., is a more perfect, though a less
showy Rose than the last ; the flowers are dark reddish
carmine, sometimes shaded with violet, petals smooth
and of good substance ; form, size, and habit above the
average. Beaute Fran^aise, H.P., will please generally as
a garden Rose ; the flowers are violet red, velvety, the

124 Autumnal Roses.

rev^erse of the petals fiery red, large, and full ; somewhat
in the style of Lion des Combats. Due d'Anjou, H.P.,
is a purplish crimson flower, shaded with dark red, in
the way of Baronne Prevost, but much darker and very
sweet ; the flowers are very large and full, the growth
vigorous. Emotion is a good Bourbon Rose in the way
of Souvenir de Malmaison, not so large, but with higher
and most exquisite colouring and perfect form. The
flowers of Gustave Rousseau, H.P., are bishop's
purple, shaded with violet-red, of good form and size,
the summits of the petals reflexing. Imperatrice Marie
Alexandrina, H.P., is a blush or almost white Rose, not
large, but of good form and full, very promising. Jean
Goujon, H.P., is one of the boldest and showiest of this
year's brood ; the flowers are usually clear red, though
sometimes shaded with purple, large and full. John
Hopper, H.P., is a good rose-coloured flower, w^ith
darker centre, large and full, with fine foliage. I saw
this Rose growing by the thousand with the raiser last
summer, and admired it much, but am not sure that it
will prove constant in autumn. La Esmeralda, H.P.,
is one of the Jules Margottin race, but darker and
brighter ; large, full, and very promising. La Tour de
Crouy, H.P., introduced by the same raiser as the last,
is a rose-coloured sort, shaded with white, very large
and full. Lady Emily Peel, H.P., is described by the raiser
as " white, bordered (lisere) with carmine;" I have never
seen it otherwise than most delicately tinted with carmine ;
it is, however, a prettily shaped Rose of delicate beauty.
L'Eclatante, H.P., is a fine bright red Rose, changing to
violet-red as the flower advances in age ; of good form and
almost full ; colours and habit fine. Le Rhone, H.P., is
vermilion, a large, brilliant, well-shaped flower, but not
" full " as described by the raiser ; it is notwithstanding a
very promising Rose. Lord Clyde, H.P., is a fine showy
Rose, crimson and purple, deeply shaded ; the petals are
not very numerous, and some might pronounce it a little

Autumnal Roses. 125

coarse. This is one of a batcJi of seedlings I raised, but
we parted company some three years ago, up to which
time it had bloomed in summer only. Lord Herbert, H.P.,
is one of the Beauty of W'altham race, at present in my
nurseries only ; it is of quite a new colour, and stands
described as rosy-carmine, but blue pink would perhaps
more nearly express tlie colour ; it is a large, full, and
finely shaped flower. Lord Macaulay, H.P. (Wm. Paul),
is a velvety scarlet-crimson flower of great substance and
brilliancy, of good size and form, with splendid foliage.
Louise Margottin, B.P., is a pretty delicate peach-coloured
flower, not over large, but nicely formed in the way of
Louise Odier. Madame Alfred de Rougemont, H.P., is pure
white delicately tinged with rose or carmine ; a fair sized,
full, and beautifully formed flower, as free as Louise Darzens,
and something of the same habit. Madame Brianson,
H.P., is a very large, quite full flower, reddish carmine
shaded with light red ; form perfect, foliage fine ; it is
quite possible that in some soils this Rose will not always
open freely. Madame Emain, H.P., is a fine purplish-red
Rose, globular, large, and almost full. Madame Freeman,
H.P., is white, slightly tinted with lemon, of average size,
globular in form, and full ; a nicely formed white Rose of
free growth and thoroughly perpetual. Mrs Wm. Paul,
H.P. (so named by Verdier of Paris), is one of the best of
the season ; the flowers are bright violet shaded with fiery
red, large and full, usually produced in clusters and
thoroughly perpetual. Mdlle. Adele Jougant, T., produces
pale but clear yellow flowers ; not large nor very double,
but pleasing and very sweet ; the growth is free and it
forces well. Murillo, H.P., is a large, full, and well-formed
Rose of vigorous growth, flowers rich purplish-red shaded
with carmine and violet. Princess i\lice, H.P., has flowers
of a bright salmon-pink, the reverse of the petals whitish,
large, full, and very sweet; the flowers, which are abundant,
are usually produced singly ; the growth is erect and free,
the shoots almost thornless. Red Rover, H.P., is a fiery

126 Autumnal Roses.

red Rose, large and very showy, not very double, but the
finest of all late blooming brilliant pillar or climbing Roses.
Soeur des Anges, H.P., is a delicate rosy-white flower, very
large and full, distinct and beautiful. Souvenir de Charles
Montault is a free flowering variety of the Rose de Roso-
mane group, producing large double cupped flowers of a
brilliant red; the habit is good, the growth free. Triomphe
d'Angers, H.P., pleased me much both abroad and at home;
the flowers are red shaded with blackish violet, brilliant
and velvety, full, of good size and form ; it grows and
flowers freely. Triomphe de Nancy, H.P., is a blackish
velvety-crimson cupped flower, with large round petals; one
of the darkest. William Paul, H.P. (so named by Guillot
of Lyons, the raiser of Geant des Battailes and Senateur
Vaisse), is a descendant of the " Senateur," and will be a
favourite with lovers of colour ; it reminds one of the most
brilliant of the old " French " Roses now discarded because
so transitory; black, edged with scarlet, though not liter-
ally true, conveys the appearance of the colour ; it is of
average size ; in the early stage of the flower nicely cupped,
sufficiently full, and very durable ; the plant appears hardy,
the growth free.

The above named sorts are described from my own
notes taken from plants in bloom. In addition to these I
am growing the following : — Baronne de Lassus de St
Genies, Caravane de Nismes, Comtesse de Courcy, Com-
tesse de Polignac, Deuil de Prince Albert, Dr Spitzer, Due
de Bassano, Grandiflora, Hortense Blachette, Le Juif
Errant, Madame Charles Roy, Madame Crespin, Madame
Helye, Madame Valembourg, Peter Lawson, Prince Plenri
des Pays Bas, Senateur Favre, Vainqueur de Goliath,
Veloutec d'Orleans, all Hybrid Perpetuals ; and Comtesse
de Brossard, Tea-Scented. This second undescribed list I
have either not yet seen, or seen only in such condition
that I cannot speak favourably of them. To condemn
them on present evidence would, however, be unfair. No-
thing is more uncertain than the first year's blooming of a

Autumnal Roses. 127

Rose that has spent a week or more on a French railway,
and afterwards been tossed by sea and land. For these,
then, I must beg a remand. Time, which proves all things,
will shortly enable us to form a correct estimate of their
value.

No. VII.— AUTUMNAL ROSES.

{From " The Gardeners' CJironicle" 1863,/. 461.)

I GLADLY return to the review of Old Roses, highl)-
interesting and important as are the new. There is less
restraint; one breathes a freer air in company with old
friends whose faces, habits, and sentiments are familiar to
us. I always feel when talking or writing of New Roses
much as I do when in company of strangers — that to be
at once truthful and polite, one must be guarded. If others
experience the same feelings, I can understand the why
and wherefore of Mr Radclyffe's very just observation,
that " Rosarians keep all their knowledge to themselves."
But strangers should be talked to, and New Roses talked
of notwithstanding, and in order that the greatest amount
of good may be derived from it, we should exercise to the
utmost our own good nature, and draw in return on our
neighbour's charit}'. Now to our Old Roses.

The Noisette, as we remember it originally, is not
worthy of comparison in point of size with the modern
kinds that have descended from it, enriched as they have
been with a plentiful infusion of the blood of the Tea-
Scented. There are only Airaee Vibert and Miss Glegg,
white, and Fellcnberg, crimson, of the old style of Noisettes
(small flowers in large clusters) that we should consider
worth recommending in the present state of Rose culture.
Amongst those mixed with the Tea-Scented, America is
a first-class Rose under glass, although it seldom opens
clean and perfect out of doors ; it is most beautiful at
this moment planted out in one of my Rose-houses, quite

128 Autumnal Roses.

equal though somewhat different to the finest Gloire de
Dijon. CeHne Forestier or Liesis is a hardy yellow Rose,
and one that blooms freely enough out of doors; the
growth is so vigorous that it forms an admirable variety
for a weeper, wall, or house. Cloth of Gold is the finest
of all yellow Roses, but difficult to manage ; it is best
planted against a south wall, and pruned but little ; if
budded on the Dog- Rose, the growth will usually be vigor-
ous, and the flowers as plentiful as one can reasonably
expect from so large a Rose. Cornelia Koch reached me
from America some two or three years ago, and has been
most beautiful in my forcing-houses ; it is straw colour,
large, full, and globular. Desprez a Fleurs Jaunes is still
valuable as a wall or house Rose on account of the dis-
tinctness and sweetness of its flowers, which are red, buff^
and sulphur, the rapidity of its growth and the magni-
ficence of its foliage. Miss Gray, or Isabella Gray, was
introduced by me from North America, although I never
recommended it ; it is a good Rose occasionally, but un-
certain, even under glass, and of no use out of doors
except against a south wall ; it is, perhaps, the deepest
yellow in this group. Lamarque is a charming sulphur-
coloured Rose, large, full, and globular; this also is a good
wall or conservatory Rose. Miss Glegg is a beautiful,
pure white Rose, of dwarf growth, flowering abundantly
and in clusters, and therefore well suited for planting in
masses. Ophirie is quite unique in aspect, copper colour,
and a vigorous Rose with handsome foliage ; it is in
character as a weeping standard, on a pillar, or against
a wall. Solfaterre is a nice sulphur-coloured Rose, large
and very double, of vigorous growth, but apt to cast its
leaves, from which habit it is hardly to be recommended
for general purposes. Triomphe de Rennes seems a good
hardy canary-coloured sort, of vigorous growth, with fine
foliage ; the flowers are large, full, and fine. The best
places for these Roses are in the conservatory to clothe
pillars, or in the Rose-house ; next in order, on walls or

Autumnal Roses. 129

pillars in sheltered situations. Aimee Vibert, Fellenberg,
and Miss Glegg are an exception to these remarks, as they
are best suited for borders or beds out of doors.

The Chinese or Bengal Roses are invaluable for
flowering in small pots or for planting in beds on lawns,
as no Roses flower so abundantly and so late in the year.
Archduke Charles is quite an oddity ; the flowers expand
shaded rose, changing to crimson on exposure to the sun,
which is contrary to the general rule, as the sun usually
lessens rather than heightens the colour of flowers after
expansion. Cels Multiflora is a pretty flesh-coloured Rose,
large, full, free-flowering, and very hardy. Cramoisie
Superieure is an admirable sort for bedding ; the flowers
are rich velvety crimson, not large, but full and abundant.
Duchess of Kent forms a pretty enough variety, being
white edged with rose ; the habit is very dwarf. Eugene
Beauharnais is something like Cramoisie Superieure, but
the colour is more purplish ; it is a good hardy Rose of
free growth. Fabvier is almost scarlet, and one of the
best bedding Roses we have for placing on lawns ; it
flowers so profusely and is so dazzling that a bed of it
will make a garden radiant with splendour. Madame
Breon is a large full flower of a rich rose colour, good
and free. Madame Bureau produces pure white flowers,
large and very double, is good for pot-culture, but scarcely
hardy enough for planting in beds out of doors. President
d'Olbecque is one of the hardiest and freest of Chinese
Roses ; the flowers are cherry red, very pretty and dis-
tinct ; the plant is of hardy constitution, thriving equally
well as a dwarf or as a standard.

No. VIII.— TEA-SCENTED ROSES.

\F7-ovi " The Gardeticj-s' CJironicie,'" 1863, p. 533.]

The Tea-Scented is the only first-class group that re-
mains unnoticed, and this is quite worthy of a separate
I

I30 Tea-Scented Roses.

paper. It is unfortunate that the most beautiful varieties
are, as a rule, the tenderest. Those who have grown them
out of doors only, can form no idea of their increased
beauty when cultivated under glass. Plant them out in a
house with or without heat ; if heat be employed they will
grow stronger, bloom earlier, and suffer less from mildew.
The strong-growing sorts may be trained to pillars, or up
the rafters of the house in the way of vines, and will pro-
duce flowers from every joint. The intermediate and
dwarfer kinds maybe grown as pyramids and bushes. Tea-
Scented Roses succeed admirably grown in pots under
glass, especially if worked on the Manetti, and require little
pot-room and little pruning when in a young state. If
grown out of doors, the best plan is to plant them in a
border in front of, but a little distance from, a south wall,
for if fastened to the wall they are liable to suffer from the
attacks of red spider. Budded on the Dog-Rose in August
and allowed to remain dormant through the winter, they
form beautiful objects in the flower garden during the suc-
ceeding summer and autumn. No lover of Roses should
object to Tea-Roses because they are tender, or on the
assumption that they are difficult of culture ; they are
better worthy of a house or frame than half the greenhouse
plants that are cultivated, and far easier to manage than
one-fourth of the Hybrid Perpetual Roses. But then they
must not be treated as ordinary Roses. If grown out of
doors a warm and light rather than a moist and heavy soil is
required, and they should not be pruned till late in spring
(April). Distinct in colour, exquisite in form, rich in
foliage, and surpassing all in delicacy and power of frag-
rance, they deservedly hold a very high position among
the subjects of the " Queen of Flowers."

Abricote is a good hardy free-growing sort, though
scarcely vigorous ; the flowers are fawn colour with apricot
centre, large and double, very beautiful in bud. Adam has
rosy-blush flowers, very large and full, and is one of the
sweetest and best. Amabilis is a good hardy vigorous-

Tea-Scented Roses. 131

growing sort, with large full flesh-coloured flowers.
Auguste Oger has large rosy flowers with deep coloured
centres, and is of moderate growth. Auguste Vacher is
distinct and good, the flowers are yellow shaded with
copper colour, of good average size^ and quite full, the
growth is moderate. Belle de Bordeaux is of rampant
growth, and the branches are well clothed with beautiful
deep green leaves ; the flowers are pink, large and full.
Bougere, although one of our oldest Roses, cannot yet be
dispensed with ; the flowers are rosy-bronze, very large,
full, and globular ; the growth is vigorous. Clara Sylvain
is a good pure white Rose with creamy centre, large and
full, of moderate growth. Comte de Paris is a beautiful
flesh-coloured flower, shaded with rose ; large, full, hardy
in habit, and of great excellence. Comtesse Ouvaroff is
beautiful in bud, but does not always expand symmetri-
cally ; the flowers are rose-shaded, large and full. Devoni-
ensis, which is an English seedling raised at Plymouth, is
still one of the best ; the flowers are pale yellow, very large,
full, and beautiful. Due de Magenta has immense salmon-
coloured flowers, which, if few in number, are of unequalled
breadth and substance. Elise Sauvage, Madame William,
and L'Enfant Trouve — for I regard these as one and the
same — is one of the sweetest and lov'eliest of the group ;
the flowers are yellow with a rich orange-coloured centre,
and very sweet ; the habit is sometimes robust, but more
usually delicate. Enfant de Lyon deserves a special word
of commendation on account of the freedom with which it
flowers, and the exactitude of its form ; although it re-
sembles Narcisse a little too closely it is of a paler yellow.
Eugene Desgaches is quite first-class ; its large, full, and
globular clear rose-coloured flowers are very beautiful ; the
growth is vigorous. Gloire de Dijon stands unrivalled and
alone; it is as hardy as a summer Rose, having lived through
the winter of 1860-61 in places where all the Hybrid Per-
petual Roses were killed. Flowers of this Rose were sent
to me from Dijon, and exhibited at one of the Horticultural

132 Tea-Scented Roses.

Society's Shows at Chiswick before it was sold to the
public. I have seen it grow 20 feet in a season trained
against a house, producing leaves of a size and substance
truly remarkable ; the flowers are yellow, fawn and salmon,
variously shaded, large, full, and globular. Josephine Mal-
ton is a beautiful but delicate Rose, with cream coloured
flowers, large and double. Julie Mansais, I may add, is
not one of the freest of Roses, but when well grown it is
certainly one of the loveliest; the flowers are usually white,
though sometimes tinged with lemon ; large and full. La
Boule d'Or is the deepest yellow of this group, and some-
times beautiful under glass ; out of doors the buds are
often as hard as a cricket-ball, and as little disposed to
open ; it is nevertheless desirable for its colour, and is
hardy, vigorous, and free. Loose petals of this Rose were
sent to me from Paris the year before it was introduced. I
was struck with the colour, but adjudged it too hard in the
bud. Rosists can make out a flower from a petal as
physiologists an animal from a bone. Louise de Savoie
is a fine large pale yellow Rose, good for under glass.
Madame Bravy is a prettily-shaped cream-coloured flower
good out of doors as well as within. Madame Damaizin
is very free both in growth and flowering, and hardy also ;
the flowers are salmon colour, large, full, and sweet.
Madame Falcot is quite first-class ; it is much in the style
of Safrano, but deeper in colour and more double ; it re-
mains to add that it does not grow so freely as that
old favourite. Madame de St Joseph has very large sal-
mon-pink flowers, powerfully fragrant, and of great beauty;
it is best under glass. Madame Halphin differs from
all others ; the flowers, which are large and tolerably full,
vary from salmon-pink to yellowish white. Madame
Pauline Labonte is a large flat salmon-coloured Rose,
showy and very hardy. Madame Villermoz is one of
the gems of this group ; the large full wax-like flowers —
white shaded with salmon — and splendid foliage unite to
form an object of rare beauty ; the habit is also hardy.

Tea-Scented Roses. 133

the growth free. Marquise de Foucault produces variable
flowers, white, fawn, and yellow ; large, very sweet, of
perfect outline, but not full. Moiret is a grand old Rose,
but one that is only occasionally to be caught in per-
fection ; the flowers are pale yellow, shaded with fawn
and rose ; very large, full, and of great substance. Narcisse
deserves universal cultivation ; the flowers are yellow with
creamy edges, perfectly circular and full, reminding one of
a transverse section of a hard-boiled egg ; the plant is
hardy, the habit good and free. Niphetos is a match for
Due de Magenta in size, though more globular in form,
and of a different colour — pale lemon to snowy white.
President ranks also amongst the largest and most beauti-
ful of this group, surpassing both the preceding in
fragrance and form ; the flowers are rose shaded with
salmon. Safrano in the bud state is one of the most
beautiful, but the expanded flower is thin and poor ; the
buds are apricot, the flowers fawn colour ; the plant grows
so freely, flowers so abundantly, and is withal so un-
common in colour, that it forms a most attractive object
in the garden. Sombreuil is a good hard)- free-flowering
white Rose, of large size and vigorous growth, well suited
for out of doors. Souvenir d' Elise Vardon is an in-door
Rose, varying in colour from white to creamy }'ellow, very
large and of great substance ; the flowers are usually few
but fine. Souvenir d' un Ami, or Victoria as it is some-'
times called, is not surpassed by any other in the group ;
the fl.owers are salmon and rose shaded, large, full, and
globular ; the constitution is hardy, the foliage fine.
Vicomtesse de Cazes, if of loose and irregular shape,
produces flowers of exquisite colour — coppery yellow —
and cannot be set aside as a decorative Rose for house
or garden ; it is very sweet, free, and tolerably hardy.

134 Brief Rules.

No. IX.— BRIEF RULES.

[From " T/ie Gardeners' Chrojticle," 1863,/. 581.]

Perhaps I cannot do better than end this series of
papers on Roses by a few brief rules, which may assist
those who delight in managing their own plants, but have
not the leisure or inclination to study their habits and
requirements.

1. The best soil for Roses is a strong loam well
enriched with decayed stable manure ; if the soil is not
of this nature, it should be improved by the addition of
such as far as possible.

2. For light soils use cow-dung and poudrette instead
of stable manure, merely mulching with the latter early
in May.

3. Prune at two seasons ; thin out the supernumerary
shoots in November, and shorten those that are left in
March.

4. Remember that the Summer Roses should be
thinned more freely, and shortened less than the Autum-
nals.

5. Always cut back to a bud which has a tendency
to grow outwards, rubbing out those buds which are
directed inwards.

6. Destroy Aphides so soon as seen ; by brushing
them off or washing the shoots with tobacco-water out
of doors, and by fumigating with tobacco under glass.

7. Check mildew by dusting sulphur on the leaves
while moist with rain or dew.

8. Water freely during the growing season if very dry.

9. Never buy old Roses on the Manetti stock until
you have proved that they will not flourish in your soil
either on the Dog Rose or on their own roots. The
new Roses you viust buy on the Manetti, or wait till
they are raised by the slower process of budding or by
cuttings.

Brief Rules. 13;

10. Avoid plants that have been "coddled," by raising
and growing in heat during their early stages of exist-
ence. Thousands of Roses are annually sold which have
the seeds of disease and early death previously sown by
the forcing process. Such, if they live, do not grow
vigorously, and often remain stationary or feeble for a
length of time.

1 1. At whatever season Roses on their own roots in pots
are purchased, they should be planted in the open ground
in spring and summer only (May, June, or July) ; once
established they may remain permanently there.

12. Roses in pots should be re-potted, removing a
portion of the old soil early every autumn ; they require
closer pruning than the same sorts growing in the ground;
they should be watered with weak liquid manure so soon
as the young leaves expand, and until the flowering is over.

13. Roses intended for forcing should be brought into
a state of rest in August or September, and be pruned
shortly afterwards.

14. Roses under glass should be shaded when coming
into bloom, but with a light shading only, such as Tiffany
No. I or Scrim.

15. Most of the Tea-scented Roses thrive best under
glass, and are worthy of this especial care. They may be
grown in pots, in a cold pit or house, or be planted out
in a house, standards or dwarfs, with or without heat.

16. Buy only such new Roses as are recommended
from trustworthy sources. A new Rose that is not at
the least equal to or different from all its predecessors is
not worth growing, and to grow such is almost as dis-
appointing as to read a new book that is not worth
reading.

17. When growing for exhibition look to form and
colour as well as to size ; the day has gone by for mere
bulk to triumph over symmetry of form and variety and
brilliancy of colour, whether in pot Roses or others.

These rules might be extended almost indefinitely ;

136 Two Rose Shows.

I have aimed at bringing out the cardinal points only.
I believe that I have read and interpreted differently to
some certain pages in Nature's Book of Roses during the
quarter of a century that I have been actively engaged in
the cultivation of this popular flower. But I certainly
shall not quarrel with those earnest, industrious, and true
fellow-workers by whom I am surrounded because they
differ from me. On the contrary, I am not without hope
that these papers, often hastily written in the limited
leisure of active business life, may induce such to state
their experience. He is no true student of Nature who
prefers his own views to the advancement of the art or
science to which he has devoted himself Light from any
and every source should not only be freely admitted, but
frankly acknowledged, and honourably prized. Vive
r Horticulture I Vive la Rose !

TWO ROSE SHOWS.

{From " The Florist-' iZ67,p. 180.]

I THINK it was Thackeray who remarked that actors
when not playing always went' to the play ; and,
whether exhibiting or not, I never miss seeing the two
Rose Shows. The 29th day of June found me at the
Crystal Palace, and a more auspicious day for exhibitors
and visitors could hardly have been desired, although it
was perhaps rather hot for the Roses, which in many
cases showed signs of fatigue long before the close of
the Exhibition. The Show was undoubtedly a success ;
yet I fancy that I have seen more competitors in some
of the classes, and a greater number of fine Roses, the
diminution in the number of the latter being attributable
probably to the severe winter and spring we have just

Two Rose Shows. 137

passed through. It may be said that this influence was
local, and local I believe it was in the intensity of its
effects, but it was, if I mistake not, general in so far as
the effect produced on the quality of the flowers. I have
said, and say again, that the Crystal Palace is not a place
in which to show plants and flowers to advantage, nor
one in which to keep them in the highest state of fresh-
ness throughout a long summer's day. There is too
much light, too much heat, and the magnificent surround-
ings lessen rather than add to the importance and effect
of the Exhibition. Why does not the Company erect
in its beautiful gardens canvas tents, the best of all
contrivances for displaying plants and flowers to advan-
tage? Let us hope to see this done at no distant future ;
and if the tents could be connected with their own Rose
garden — the interior of the temple filled with Pot Roses
and pyramidal bouquets of cut Roses in vases — the
Crystal Palace Company might safely count on making
this not only the best Rose show, but one of the most
interesting floral fetes of the year.

As the clock struck twelve I took up my position at
the entrance, note-book in hand, and, sore trial of patience
though it was, stuck to the ropes for four long hours, by
which time I had brought the last flowers under view.
Willingly would I have moved faster, but to go with the
stream and see, or diverge and not see, were the only
alternatives. I preferred the former course, and having
fairly carried it out, will now give my readers the benefit,
if benefit it be, of the following extracts from my note-
book, relating of course to new or little known roses only.

Madame Josephine Guyet, crimson, much in the way
of Senateur Vaisse, large, full, and of tolerable form ;
apparently good, but not indispensable.

Xavier Olibo, blackish crimson, shaded with amaranth;
pleasing in colour when it does not burn, but irregular in
shape ; pretty, but much over-praised.

Marie Baumann, bright carmine, the flowers large,

138 Two Rose Shows.

smooth, and nicely formed, something in the way of
Beauty of Waltham.

Madame Pillion, beautiful fresh pink, colour very
lovely, outline good ; the flower not of any great depth.

Abel Grand, rosy blush, colour fresh and pleasing ;
a very nice Rose, something in the way of Duchess of
Sutherland.

Marguerite de St Amand, rosy flesh-colour, large and
full, having the free habit of Jules Margottin.

Leopold Hausburg, carmine shaded with purple,
large, good outline, slightly coarse, and scarcely double
enough.

Charles Rouillard, rosy lilac, with red centre, large,
full, and of perfect form, the colour at the circumference
of the flowers sometimes a little dull.

Alpaide de Rotalier, transparent rose, large, full, and
of good form ; fine.

Madame Eugene Appert, salmon rose, large, full, and
finely formed ; colour fresh, pleasing, and distinct.

Mdlle. Theresa Levet, rose pink, large, full, distinct,
and of globular form ; very desirable for the combination
of form and colour.

Alfred Colomb, bright red, large, full, globular, smooth ;
quite first-rate.

Monsieur Woolfield, rosy pink ; a very large but some-
what coarse globular flower.

Francois Treyve, crimson scarlet ; good, but scarcely
first-rate as shown.

Duke of Edinburgh, a dark flower, something in the
way of Prince Camille de Rohan.

Comtesse de Palikao, pretty rose colour, apparently
growing paler soon after expansion.

Madame Bellender Ker, white, something in the way
of Mdlle. Bonnaire ; desirable as a white Rose.

Ville de Lyon a large, finely shaped Rose of a
melancholy colour.

Chevalier Nigra, pretty pink, not over double.

Two Rose Shows. 139

Triomphe de Soissons, flesh colour, distinct and pretty,
but scarcely first-rate.

Mdlle. Annie Wood, clear red ; large, full, and of good
form.

Mdlle. Jeannie Marix, dark slate ; very large.

Souvenir d'Abraham Lincoln, dark crimson and
purple ; not over large.

Felix Genero, a nice globular flower, of a dull lilac
colour.

Miss Ingram, flesh-coloured white; somewhat globular
in form.

The Show at Kensington on the 2nd of July was in
some sort a repetition of that held at the Crystal Palace
three days before. The flowers, if less numerous, were
fresher at the outset, and remained so till the close of the
Exhibition, the sky being cloudy, and the day compara-
tively cool. We say of the Rose Show at Kensington
as of that at Sydenham — the Roses should be shown
under canvas to secure the twofold advantage of a more
favourable light and a cooler atmosphere.

In addition to the kinds already commented on we
saw in fine condition here : —

Madame James Odier, clear pink, something in the
way of Coupe d'Hebe ; colour and shape good.

Madame Hoste, delicate pink, distinct in colour, perfect
in outline, not always very double, and apparently not
of strong constitution.

Semiramis, clear pink, edges blush ; large, full, and of
fine globular form.

Fisher Holmes, reddish scarlet shaded with crimson ;
very brilliant, large, and moderately full.

Prince de Portia, vermilion, colour striking and beauti-
ful ; large, full, and finely formed.

Exposition de Brie, brilliant red, large and full ; a
very fine but somewhat coarse flower.

Charlotte Corday, red shaded with purple ; large, but
hardly first-rate.

I40 Two Rose Shows.

Comtesse de Paris, rose colour, large and full, fine
smooth petals, good outline, not very double.

Josephine Beauharnais, pink edged with silver ; very-
large, full, and of fine form.

In addition to the above I noted the following simpl)-
as good : — Achille Gonod, George Prince, Duchesse de
Morny, Princess of Wales, Madame Emain, and La
Esmeralda.

The Pot Roses were, as is usual at this season of the
year, of indifferent quality at both Shows, and not worthy
of comparison with the plants shown at an earlier date.
Some of them were, in fact, calculated to throw discredit
on the names they bore. Yet Pot Roses must not be
omitted from our future Rose shows ; they form a dis-
tinctive feature, and it is interesting to see the whole
plant before one, as so much more may be learned from
it than from mere cut flowers. The growers must,
however, bestir themselves and bring them in better
condition.

On comparing these exhibitions with those of former
years, it is both important and interesting to note how
many of the old Roses are falling aside before the
increased size, improved form, and other desirable quali-
ties of recent introduction. Although some of the old
kinds, as Caroline de Sansal, Charles Lefebvre, Countesse
de Chabrillant, Beauty of Waltham, La Ville de St
Dennis, Madame Knorr, Lord Macaulay, Madame Vidot,
Mdlle. Bonnaire, Pierre Notting, &c,, still hold their own
against all new comers, and probably will do so for
at least a generation, how many of our old favourites
present were eclipsed by later acquisitions, and how
many had totally disappeared ! And while it cannot
be gainsaid that there are second and third-rate new
Roses as well as second and third-rate old Roses, it is
still undeniable that the pick of the novelties evince a
progress which is real, solid, and satisfactory.

In Abbe Berleze we have an improved Geant des

Two Rose Shows. 141

Batailles ; in Madame Victor Verdier an improved
General Jacqueminot ; in Lady Suffield an improved
Duchess of Norfolk ; and there are other improvements
too numerous to mention. We have also in Alfred
Colomb, Antoine Ducher, Charles Verdier, Comtesse de
Jaucourt, Horace Vernet, Jules Calot, Black Prince,
Madame Pulliat, Madeleine Nonin, Monsieur Noman,
Paul Verdier, Thorin, and others, new colours and styles
which only require to be seen to be coveted. It is true
that some of the last-named did not appear at the exhibi-
bitions, or appeared only in doubtful condition, but I
have seen them both at home and in the grounds of
the raisers in a state of beauty that justifies unquali-
fied commendation.

GAEDEK ROSES.

[From " The Florist j' 1867,/. 213.]

" "P) OSES at the exhibitions and Roses in one's own
X\- garden are different things," said an old Rose
amateur to me the other day, and so much is there in
this remark, that having already given a paper on Roses
at the Exhibitions, I turn now to treat of " Garden
Roses."

It is perhaps scarcely necessary to remark that those
who admire Roses in all their native loveliness on bush
or tree should hardly choose their varieties from the cut
specimens met with at the flower shows. Lovely they
are, it is true — for when and where is the Rose not
lovely ? — but there is a " getting up," a weary look about
them, which reminds one of the late hours of the ballroom
rather than of the charming freshness and native simplicity
of home life. And how can it be otherwise ? When we
consider that these Roses have been gathered from fift}-

142 Garden Roses.

to sixty hours before the public is admitted to see them,
a part of which time they are packed in boxes almost
immured from air and light, the wonder is that they look
as fresh as they do.

Then, again, the mere exhibitor of Roses runs too
much after one idea — form — to be a safe guide when
choosing for garden decoration. He does not heed
sufficiently habit and constitution, and hence the sym-
metrical flower of the exhibition table is often the
offspring of a weakly or shabby tree. We want good
Roses ; but we want also, for the purpose of general
gardening, varieties of hardy constitution that will grow
and flower well, and live to a good old age, without the
petting and coaxing which so many of the modern
varieties require. To choose Roses, unless exhibiting
is the main object in view, one should see them in their
rural homes, where the act of "getting up" is seldom
practised, and pretty faces count only at their proper
worth — should see them when newly opened by the
breath of morn, and while still wet with the dews of
heaven. Freshness is the crowning beauty, the inde-
scribable and irresistible charm of the Queen of Flowers,
and this freshness is wanting in nine-tenths of the flowers
met with on the exhibition tables. But there is more in
the matter than this. The practised Rosarian may gather
from a solitary bloom, or a trio of blooms, whether the
plant is of hardy or delicate constitution, whether the
bearing is handsome or awkward, whether the flowers are
generally or only occasionally fine, and the many other
little points important though often overlooked in the
hasty generalisations of this busy age, and which go to
make up a good Rose — the practised Rosarian, I say, may
arrive pretty accurately at these facts from cut specimens,
but woe be to the unpractised who decides and acts on
such evidence. Daily experience confirms the opinion
long entertained by the writer, that they who want Roses
tb decorate their gardens should choose from growing

Garden Roses. 143

plants rather than from cut flowers. Acting on these
views, I lately, when visiting the Rose gardens in France,
made notes of the best garden Roses, and these I have
corrected by comparison with the collection growing here
under my own eye.

First, I would observe that the Amateur who wishes
for a fine display of Roses in June and July will lose
much if he excludes from his list certain varieties of
Summer Roses. Among the Moss Roses there are : —
Comtesse de Murinais (white), Gloire des Mousseuses
(blush), Marie de Blois (lilac), the old-fashioned Moss
and the Crested Moss (pink). Baron de Wassenaer (red),
and Captain Ingram and Purpurea rubra (purple), all
free, hardy, profuse, and beautiful. Of Damask Roses,
Madame Hardy and Madame Soetmans are still un-
surpassed as white flowers, although rarely met with at
the exhibitions. The varieties Felicite and La Seduisante
compel us to retain the group Alba ; these are improved
varieties of the Maiden's Blush, and although there are
now Hybrid Perpetuals of similar character, they are so
delicate as to be short-lived and scarcely manageable.
Neither are the old French Roses to be hastily ignored,
for in GEillet Parfait and Perle des Panaches we have
the two best striped Roses (white, striped with crimson and
rose) that have yet appeared. Again, where effect is
valued, where masses of bloom are desired, there are
none comparable to the old Hybrid Chinas — Charles
Lawson, Chen^dole, Coupe d'Hebd, Juno, Madame Plan-
tier, Paul Perras, and Paul Ricaut. Nor must we forget
to include Harrisonii (Austrian), a plant of matchless
beauty when covered with its golden globes in May and
June. Yet how few of these ever put in an appearance
at the Rose shows ! If our new Hybrid Perpetuals pro-
duced the masses of bloom in summer which the above-
mentioned kinds do, and continued to bloom constantly
throughout the autumn, it would be well to take them in
preference. But this is not the fact. Cultivators know

144 Garden Roses.

well that the majority of these Hybrid Perpetuals produce
fewer flowers in summer, and scarcely an equivalent in the
later flowers. The difference is, perhaps, hardly appre-
ciable in the sum total of flowers. It is this — The
Summer Roses pay you a good round sum down at once;
the Autumnals the same, or a nearly similar sum by
instalments. The latter are valuable because they give
us flowers when

" The last Rose of Summer is faded and gone ;"

but it cannot be said that they produce the splendid effect
of the Summer Roses in the months of June and July.
Let me not be misunderstood. I have no wish to
depreciate the Autumnals ; all I contend for is, that
each has its peculiar value, and the Rose garden is in-
complete without a goodly portion of these summer-
blooming kinds.

Having stated my views in reference to Summer Roses,
I now turn to the Autumnals, among which the Hybrid
Perpetuals and Tea-Scented hold the highest rank alike
as garden and show Roses, although the same kinds are
not always equally suitable for both purposes. Among
the Hybrid Perpetuals the following will be found to
o-ive very general satisfaction : — Alfred Colomb, Alphonse
Damaizin, Anna Alexieff, Baron Adolphe de Rothschild,
Beauty of Waltham, Charles Lefebvre, Comtesse de
Chabrillant, Dr Andry, Duke of Wellington, Elizabeth
Vifyneron, Exposition de Brie, Fisher Holmes, Francois
Louvat, General d'Hautpoult, General Jacqueminot, Glory
of Waltham, Jean Rosenkrantz, John Hopper, Jules Mar-
o-ottin. Lady Suffield, La Brillante, La Duchesse de
Morny, Leopold Hausburg, Lord Macaulay, Madame
Alfred de Rougemont, Madame Charles Wood, Madame
Rivers, Madame Victor Verdier, Marechal Vaillant, Mar-
guerite de St Amand, Pierre Notting, Prince Camille de
Rohan, Princess of Wales, Senateur Vaisse, Souvenir de
la Reine d'Angleterre, Triomphe des Fran^ais, and Victor

Garden Roses. 145

Verdier, Of Bourbon Perpetuals, Baron Gonella, Baronne
de Noirmont, Comtesse de Barbantanne, Madame Charles
Baltet, and Madame de Stella are excellent. Louis XIV.,
of the Rose de Rosomane group, is also invaluable on
account of the rich deep red globular flowers which it
produces. Among the charming Tea-Scented varieties
the best are : — Alba Rosea, Bougere, Devoniensis, Eugene
Desgaches, Gloire de Dijon, Homer, Madame Damaizin,
Madame Falcot, Madame Margottin, Madame Villermoz,
Marechal Niel, Narcisse, Niphetos, Rubens, Safrano,
Sombreuil, and Souvenir d'un Ami. Of Bourbons I
recommend Empress Eugenie, Souvenir de Malmaison,
and Mrs Bosanquet ; while of Noisettes, Aimee Vibert,
Celine Forestier, and Fellenberg are the most effective
in their way.

The colours and general character of the above
varieties may be readily ascertained by reference to any
of the great Rose growers' catalogues.

BEDDING ROSES.

[From " The Florist^' 1868,/. 74.]

BRILLIANT and beautiful as the ordinary " bedding
plants" are, there are few gardens that can be at once
economically and effectively arranged without a certain pre-
paration of permanent plants, which once planted exonerate
us from the labour, expense, and risk of removal in autumn
and replanting in spring. Of such, Roses stand in the very
first rank. To establish this point we would ask those of
our readers who may have taken an interest in gardening,
either from the amateur or the professional point of view,
over a lengthened period of time, whether they have not
occasionally met with groups or masses of Roses the rich-
ness and effect of which they would gladly see reproduced
J

146 Bedding Roses.

in their own gardens ? The answer will we know be " yes,"
with a stress laid on the word "occasionally" conveying the
impression that the task is not easy to accomplish. But
this, in our judgment, is not the case. The task is easy if
only the right means are pursued towards its accomplish-
ment. The Rose as a bedding plant is seldom fairly and
properly treated. It is known to be a hardy plant, and is
treated as such ; that is to say, the ordinary nursery plants
are taken at planting time, put out at once, and expected
to do for themselves what in the case of ordinary "bedding
plants " is done in advance by the cultivator. These latter
are grown under glass with the utmost care till they be-
come strong, planted out in the most suitable soil that can
be made, and afterwards tended with assiduous watchful-
ness. Now, if lovers of Roses would attain a like measure
of immediate success, they must not shrink from the same
forethought and care. It would pay them a handsome
rate of interest could they be induced to buy their bed-
ding Roses a year in advance, grow them the first year in
pots, and plant them out in May after the spring frosts are
gone, for then the same brilliant effect would be obtained
the first season as with other bedding plants. It is, further,
more important with permanent plants than with those
which are replaced every spring that the soil should in the
first instance be made all that is requisite, because there is
not the same opportunity of after modification or renewal.
Lovers of Roses, treat your favourites with the same con-
sideration and care that your friends give to their " bedding
plants," remembering that from the slower growth of the
Rose a longer period of time is required to obtain the
strong-established plants they work with, and your gardens
will be varied and improved by the addition of one of the
richest and most effective of bedding plants.

Taken from a practical point of view, bedding Roses
may be arranged in three groups according to their habit
of growth — the dwarf, the moderate, the free. In a good
soil and climate we should prefer the dwarf and moderate,

Bedding Roses. 147

and under less favourable circumstances the free. The
following will form a pretty group of four beds of dwarf
Roses of neat and equal growth, producing masses of
flowers throughout the summer and autumn : — Bourbon^
Queen (bufQ, China, Fabvier (crimson), Tea-Scented, Nar-
cisse (yellow), and Bourbon, Victor Emmanuel (purple).
Of moderate growth and nearly equal in freedom of flower-
ing are: — The Common China (pink),Cramoisie Superieure
(crimson), Mrs Bosanquet (white), and Madame Falcot
(yellow). Of free or vigorous growth : — Noisettes — Fellen-
berg (crimson), Celine Forestier (yellow), Aimee Vibert
(white),and /iT.P., General Jacqueminot (crirhson);are among
the best. These twelve varieties, grouped in fours of equal
growth, are the first we should claim for our own garden
on the ground of their freedom and constancy of bloom.
But this by no means exhausts the treasury. A goodly
store remains which, if less effective in massing, produce
flowers of larger size, and approaching more nearly to the
florists' standard of beauty. Of these, the descriptions of
which will be found in any of the Rose catalogues, we may
instance: — Hybrid Perpetuals — Anna Alexieff, Baronne
Prevost, Beauty of Waltham, Dr Andry, Duchesse de
Morny, Elizabeth Vigneron, General d'Hautpoult, Globosa,
Jules Margottin, La Brillante, Lady Suffield, Lord Mac-
aulay, Madame Victor Verdier, Prince Camille de Rohan,
Prince de Joinville, Princess of Wales, Senateur Vaisse,
Triomphe des Frangais, Triomphe de I'Exposition, and
Victor Verdier. BoURBON — Souvenir de Malmaison; and
Tea-Scented — Gloire de Dijon, Safrano, and Sombreuil.
Let us now trace briefly the best method of obtaining
as quickly as possible the desired masses of flowers. Re-
member at the outset a rich, deep, moderately strong loam
is the soil in which the Rose delights. It should be neither
wet nor dry, but moderately moist, and if this is not the
natural state of things in the garden, the nearer that it can
be approached artificially the better. If budded plants are
chosen they may be planted at any time between November

148 Bedding Roses.

and March. If plants on their own roots be preferred,
buy them in spring, and grow them in pots the first year
plunged in an open situation in the garden, attending to
watering, and keeping them free from insects ; protect
them slightly in winter, and plant them out in May.
Water carefully when the soil is dry until the roots have
taken firm hold of the ground, and for five months in the
year the beds will be flushed with blossoms. On the
approach of winter a slight protection will again be
necessary, especially for the Chinese and Tea-Scented
kinds. Branches of any evergreen tree or the haulm of
asparagus stuck pretty freely among the plants, but not
so thickly as to prevent the circulation of air and en-
courage an excess of moisture, are the readiest means,
and sufficient to accomplish this. Late in February one-
half, and in April the remaining half of these branches
may be removed preparatory to pruning. The varieties
of dwarf growth may be pruned very closely ; if on their
own roots they may be cut down nearly level with the
ground, when they will push up from beneath with a
surprising strength, and produce immense trusses of
flowers. The moderate growers should be pruned less
closely, and the free or vigorous growers least of all.
With the latter, when the growth is very free, it is some-
times desirable to bring a given number of the strong
branches into a horizontal position to cover the beds and
increase the quantity of flowers. On this point, as on
many others, practice is the best and safest instructor.

Bedding Roses are yearly in greater demand, and we
often experience the difficulty of the limited number of suit-
able varieties. " I want a series of beds of Roses on my
lawn," says Mr A, " but the sorts must be of hardy constitu-
tion and of compact growth ; they must flower freely and
continuously, and have at least some fragrance." Desirable
qualities, no doubt, but qualities still hard to find com-
bined in all shades of colour. Notwithstanding, we have
some kinds of this character, and there is no reason why

Bedding Roses. 149

we should not make use of these in the present, and hope
•for a greater variety in the future. If raisers of seedling
Roses had selected for freedom and perpetuity of flowering,
as well as for size and symmetry in the individual blooms,
we feel assured that we might ere now have been in pos-
session of Roses of every hue, masses of which would vie
in brilliancy and effect with the most gorgeous denizens of
the garden. Fortunately in the olden times, before the
florists' canons had obliterated all other considerations,
these qualities were estimated at their true worth, and we
have them in great perfection in the first twelve varieties
quoted. What we want further is the same qualities of
freedom and constancy of flowering, in every shade of
colour, that those who plant their gardens chiefly for
effect may have their Rosarium as well as those who
plant for the beauty of the individual flowers. We should
rejoice to find that some of our raisers of seedlings had
taken the matter up from this point of view, for we should
anticipate important results from powers judiciously em-
ployed.

THOUGHTS ON ROSES.

[From " The Florist," 1868,/. 193.]

THE spring and summer of 1868 will doubtless be
long remembered by English horticulturists, and
be often referred to in the future. Little or no rain fell
from February to August. Cloudless days and cloudy
nights were the usual order of things, so that even the
refreshing dews, so customary and so beneficial to vege-
tation in our climate, were almost denied us. Newly
transplanted Roses have in some places suffered much,
especially where the plants had been removed from a

150 Thoughts on Roses.

rich to a less genial soil, and this notwithstanding mulching
and watering them.

Laborious as is the work of a nursery or garden on
a moist clayey soil, our sympathies this year must be
reserved for those who have a lighter and more "work-
able" staple. On such the Roses have been simply
miserable. Even on strong soils, fine as have been the
growth and flowers, the latter have been unusually
evanescent, opening in the morning and fading before
night. One might water again and again, but watering
at the root does not produce much moisture in the air,
one necessary condition of a favourable Rose season.

I have often ventured to point out the superior fresh-
ness and beauty of the early Pot Roses as exhibited in
April and May, and never was this more apparent than
in the present year. In my judgment the Rose will
not be fairly and fully represented at our flower shows
till we have a grand show of Pot Roses in April or May,
at which Roses in pots shall figure riot by dozens but
by hundreds or thousands. Time was when stove and
greenhouse plants were partly if not chiefly represented
by cut flowers, but when the plants came to be shown
in increased beauty and greater quantities, the cut flowers
excited but little interest. So will it be with Roses.
Can any of our readers recal the cut Roses at our Rose
shows this year? In many instances they lay flagging
and shrivelling in the heat, even before the public were
admitted, and long before the fashionable hours of four
and five o'clock arrived a great number were things of
the past. Could anyone have gathered from them a
correct idea of the varied beauty of the Queen of Flowers,
or have noted varieties for their gardens with any cer-
tainty that they were choosing the best .'' If not, where
is the practical value of our Rose shows as at present
arranged and conducted .'' For a sultry day at the end
of June or beginning of July — by no means an un-
common occurrence — would invariably produce similar

Thoughts on Roses. 151

results. True, there is much in a name, and the name
of a Rose show falls sweetly enough on the ear ; but
if the thing is to continue popular, or to be anything
more than a pretty sound, the Rose must be brought
before the public in all its native freshness on bush and
tree. " I never buy a Rose now from the cut flowers
shown at the exhibitions," said a Rose amateur to me
the other day, " for there you see nothing but the flower.
I want to know something of the foliage, the constitution,
and the habit of the tree, especially whether it produces
few or many flowers, and whether eleven out of every
dozen are good or bad." Turning to our gardens, it is
yet too early to speak of the year 1868 as a whole,
because if a "dripping time" should set in, we may
reasonably expect a grand display of Roses in the
autumn. The summer growth on Rose soils is un-
usually firm and mature, and the wood doubtless well
stored with organised matter, which only requires the
stimulus of moisture in earth and air to produce the
grandest results.

I of course must only speak of my own Rose ground,
situate at Waltham Cross in the Valley of the Lea. The
soil is a strong loam, 4 feet deep, resting on gravel.
Water usually stands in this gravel within 4 feet of the
surface. The ground has been thoroughly drained, the
mains being 4 feet, the contributaries 3 feet 6 inches deep.
Being surrounded with water, water has been freely used,
but I have little faith in water alone on this soil ; it
requires to be supplemented either by mulching or keep-
ing the surface loose by means of the hoe or fork. The
latter is the grand panacea on this soil for all the ills
which trees and plants are heir to ; gravel and water,
however, are not very far from the surface, and the water
is doubtless constantly setting upwards by the law of
capillary attraction.

Such a season as that just passed teaches us some-
thing. We learn a little by it, and have to unlearn a

152 Thoughts on Roses.

good deal. One's faith in many varieties would be sadly
shaken were he to judge them by this season alone. Some
of the favourite show Roses, whose reputation has been
built up by cut blooms alone, have scarcely appeared in
box or on tree in anything like showable condition,
whereas some almost-forgotten favourites, both new and
old, have acquired or regained a high reputation. The
best twenty-five varieties of the year with me have been : —
Alfred Colomb, Antoine Ducher, Beauty of Waltham,
Black Prince, Dr Lindley, Elizabeth Vigneron, Felix
Genero, Fisher Holmes, Frangois Louvat, Jean Lambert,
La Duchesse de Morny, La Ville de St Denis, Lord
Macaulay, Louise Peyronny, Madame Victor Verdier,
Mdlle. Annie Wood, Mar^chal Vaillant, Marie Baumann,
Monsieur Boncenne, Monsieur Noman, Pierre Notting,
Praire de Terre noire. Prince de Portia, Queen Victoria
(Wm. Paul), and Souvenir de Monsieur Boll. Do we seek
the why and wherefore of this ? The reply is, constitution
and substance. A Rose with good constitution and sub-
stance stands best the vicissitudes of climate, be it rain,
frost, or sun heat. Thousands of Roses of perfect beauty,
but of delicate constitution, will be found to have suc-
cumbed to this tropical summer, and this year's experi-
ence should teach us not to pay too much respect to the
one idea of form, but to look after substance and consti-
tution also. Another year may teach us some other fact,
and so, little by little, with Roses as with other things,
is a wide and correct knowledge built up by experience.

R

FAST LIFE AMONG THE EOSES.

[From " T/ie FlorisV' 1869,/. 56.]
ECENTLY I proposed the following query when

writing on new Roses: — "Do many kinds, really
vigorous when beginning life anew from the seed, fail and

Fast Life among the Roses. 153

sink under the fast life which, if there is anything in them,
they are often compelled to lead ? "

Many letters have reached me on this subject, and
assuming that the writers are readers of " The Florist" I
cannot do better than answer them through its pages.
One correspondent, writing anonymously (I wish people
would not write anonymously), facetiously asks if " I mean
to assert that there are fast individuals of the genus Rosa
as well as of the genus Homo ; for if so he would wish to
have them pointed out, that he may set his mark on them,
and have them excluded from the precincts of his domain."
Very good ! Another asks whether, as a practical horti-
culturist, I can possibly believe in "that absurd theory"
the wearing out of races. There are other questions of a
more serious, modest, and practical bearing which I need
not quote, but I will endeavour to answer all by an
amplification of the original sentence.

First, let me say I had no intention of using the word
"fast" in its slang signification, but literally as "swift,
moving rapidly, quick in motion " (Walker). I have heard
it said of a certain London firm that it kills or incapacitates
a new partner by overwork every three years. A clever
man and a willing worker is admitted, and finds such
scope that he is almost always overtaxed. Now it is much
the same with new Roses. So soon as a new Rose is seen
and known to be good, it is by some subjected to all sorts
of stimulants — as excessive heat, moisture, manure, &c. —
to get the greatest possible quantity of cuttings, grafts,
and buds from it in the least possible time ; these are
taken off in rapid succession, and the young plants thereby
acquired are again and again subjected to the same
treatment. As a consequence the tissues are weakened,
the functions of nutrition are deranged, and debility
ensues from " the fast life which the plant is compelled to
lead." I do not say that individual plants cannot be
brought back into their original health and vigour by time
and skilful treatment ; on the contrary, I have proved that

154 Fast Life among the Roses.

they can ; but they often remain in a debiHtated condition
for a long time after having been raised by this extreme
forcing process, and there is danger of the reduced vigour
becoming fixed or chronic. If by skilful and natural
cultivation the vigour of a rose can be increased and
maintained (witness Climbing Aimee V'ibert and Climbing
Devoniensis), surely it is probable that the converse is
equally true, that by unnatural and unskilful cultivation
the vigour may be diminished and lost. Most practical
horticulturists must, I think, have met with instances of
both amongst the various classes of plants to which they
may have given special attention.

My object in penning the original sentence was to
enter a quiet protest against a practice which I should be
glad to see discouraged and discontinued.

F

ROSES AND ROSE SHOWIN&

[From " The Florist,'' i86g,^. 173.]

ROM many parts of England letters have reached me
conveying the unsatisfactory intelligence that the
first bloom of Roses has been indifferent. Aphis and
mildew, with buds sealed, dingy in colour, and falling un-
expanded, were doubtless very prevalent features in the
summer bloom of 1869. But to all who may have ex-
perienced these disappointing results I would say — take
courage. Wash your plants to destroy the insects, dust
with sulphur to check the spread of mildew, water if dry,
cut off all remnants of passed and passing flowers, and
bide your time. I have often seen an indifferent summer
bloom followed by a magnificent display in autumn ; and
if the present and next month prove favourable there is
good reason to expect such a result this year.

But while the summer bloom of Roses has been gene-

Roses and Rose Showing. 155

rally indifferent it has not been universally so. In my
nurseries, and in other nurseries and well-known gardens
in Hertfordshire, the flowers on the old plants never were
finer or more abundant. The mass of my young plants
are hardly yet in full bloom, as it is my practice to remove
the first blossoms, by which means larger heads, a more
regular growth, and more thoroughly ripened wood — con-
ditions essential to the future wellbeing of the plants — are
obtained. This stopping of the young shoots produces an
intermediate flowering in July and August, which has been
already good, and still promises well.

It may be some consolation to those who have suffered
disappointment this year to know that it is a matter of
season rather than of cultivation, and therefore more or
less beyond their control. The cold nights and sunless
days are at the bottom of the mischief. I have recently
been through the principal nurseries in France, and find
the same result, only in an exaggerated degree there as
here. Never -were the Roses there so few and indifferent.
The grand Rose Show, which was to have taken place at
Brie-Comte-Robert in July, has been postponed, and the
growers intend showing their flowers at Tournay in Sep-
tember.

Finding but little work for the eyes when in France, I
made the best of the circumstances by using my tongue
and ears in discussing various knotty points in Rose cul-
ture with the most intelligent growers.

In England there are two classes of Rose growers,
those who grow for plants, and those who grow for flowers.
The two points are not usually combined in the same indi-
vidual with the highest degree of success. As the results
sought are different, so are the means used in their attain-
ment. Those who grow for show let the dormant buds of
the last year's budded plants flower from the first growth,
and by means of high manuring, copious watering, and
disbudding, induce a fat growth and fat flowers, which, by
the use of hand-glasses, flower-pots, mats, canvas, and

156 Roses and Rose Showing.

other warming, bleaching, shading, or disbudding processes,
as the case may require, obtain flowers of a size and com-
plexion which are not often met with except on the exhi-
bition tables. True, the garden during this process is in a
state of infinite disorder, but what does that matter to your
exhibitor ? He grows for a purpose and attains it. The
grower for plants, on the contrary, stops the shoots of the
last year's budded plants when only >a. few inches long,
whereby he destroys the first bloom ; but he gets a later
bloom, and what he chiefly aims at, instead of a few stout
and often ill-ripened shoots, many well-placed shoots of
moderate growth, and well-ripened.

In France, although some growers show and some do
not, there is not this broad difference in their practice of
cultivation. All grow for plants. I discussed at length
with several of them the different ideas of showing preva-
lent in England and in France, and agreed with them
that the extra size of the flowers obtained in England by
the disbudding process was dearly bought by the absence
of flower-buds. I discussed this with M. Margottin,
especially at the flower-show at Sceaux, where the Roses
were in some cases very good. There was one fully
expanded flower of each sort exhibited, surrounded with
leaves, and two, three, or four beautiful buds in various
stages of development. There was far more beauty, to
my eye, in these Roses than in the larger flowers seen
afterwards at the Crystal Palace and Kensington, leafless
and budless, bald and unnatural, though very tidily set
up like so many rows of balls or of tea-cups in a toy or
china shop. But chaain a son goiit.

The effect of a Rose in the garden, the tout ensemble,
constitution, constancy, durability, leaves, and buds, as
well as flowers, enter more into the calculation of the
French than the English grower. Here, too, I think that
the Frenchman is right. But here, again, chaam a son
gout.

Of the new Roses of 1867-8, I have seen the following

Roses and. Rose Showing. 157

good both at home and abroad : — Alice Bureau, Aristide
Dupuis, Baron Haussmann, Boule dc Neige, Clotilde
Rolland, Comte Raimbaud, Cure de Charentay, Duchesse
d'Aoste, Elie Morel, Francois Fontaine, Imperatrice
Charlotte (of doubtful constitution), La France (a grand
garden Rose), Madame Barriot, Madame Chirard, Madame
la Baronne de Rothschild (very beautiful), Madame Marie
Cirodde, Madame Noman (a good flower, but delicate),
Pitord, President Willermoz, Prince Humbert, Reine du
Midi (much like La Reine), Souvenir de Caillat, Souvenir
de Francois Ponsard, Sophie de la Villeboisnet, and
Vicomtesse de Vezins — Hybrid Perpetuals ; Souvenir de
Pierre Vibert — Perpetual Moss; Clotilde (much like
Bougere), and Jean Pernet — Tea-Scented. The colours of
these varieties will be seen on reference to any of the
Rose growers' catalogues.

Of the new Roses of 1868-9 ^ ^"^ waiting for further
evidence, and shall make them the subject of a separate
paper by-and-by.

KOSES IN POTS:

How to Produce them in London and other
large Towns.

[From " The Florist;' 1869,/. 193.]

I AM not fond of climbing high mountains or cracking
hard nuts, but the former, even when they seem in-
accessible in the distance, are often found to yield most
pleasurable exercise to the hardy pedestrian, and there
are mechanical appliances for dealing with the latter
which at once save appearances and leave us free from
the risk of dental injury. Now, the art of growing Roses
in large towns is to the many who only look on from the

ii;8 Roses in Pots.

distance as an "inaccessible mountain," which they would
rather not attempt ; and to those who know little of
mechanical appliances, it appears as a " hard nut," which
a too sensitive appreciation of the dental organs teaches
them to reject.

Will my readers bear with me while I endeavour to
show what I stedfastly believe, that Roses, however diffi-
cult of cultivation in London and other sooty towns out
of doors, may be grown with perfect success there under
glass.

Our town friends may remonstrate, " Well, but we
have tried them, and they won't do." Yes ; but how
have you tried them ? Probably you have bought some
plants at is. or is. 6d. each, and placed them in a house
with bedding plants, camellias, and a host of other things
whose conflicting interests rendered it impossible for the
poor unfortunate Roses to receive anything like reason-
able treatment. It should be remembered that what is
" one plant's meat is another plant's poison," and how
would our growers of orchids or stove and greenhouse
plants succeed if they bought small plants, and if Roses
were cultivated in the same house with them, and a treat-
ment followed with the view of reconciling such antagonistic
interests? The growers of orchids, &c., buy good-sized
plants, have houses built expressly for them, or existing
houses modified to suit them, and so it must be if the
town gardener would succeed with Roses.

Well, then, what should the Rose-house be ? As to
dimensions, these may vary according to the means or
wants of the cultivator ; but a span-roofed house, so con-
structed that the plants may be kept close to the glass,
and a free circulation of air secured, is the best form of
structure. Heating, although not absolutely necessary,
is yet desirable, both as a protection against severe frost
and to secure the development of earl)^ flowers. In the
next place, buy plants well advanced — plants that have
passed their early and tender years in the nursery, under

Rosfis IN Pots. 159

experienced and watchful care, and in a kindly atmos-
phere. Bear in mind that men will thrive on diet and
under discipline that would be fatal to infants, and mature
plants of Roses will flourish where young and tender
plants would die.

Let us assume, then, that the cultivator has a suitable
house and suitable plants, which he houses unpruned at
the beginning of winter. His first act of cultivation is
to prune them. If he wants the best of his flowers in
March and April he prunes in December, and applies
gentle heat early in January. As the days lengthen, the
heat may be gradually increased. In sunny weather
the syringe should be used freely, especially in the
morning. Watering must be regularly attended to, care
being taken in the early stages of growth not to water
too much ; more water will be required as the leaves
increase in size. Smoking must be resorted to on the
first appearance of green-fly, and repeated often enough
to keep the plants entirely free from these destructive
visitants. Mildew must be guarded against. A small
pepper-box with finely punctured holes should be kept
at hand filled with sulphur, and this should be dusted
freely on the leaves whenever the mildew is seen. A light
shading should be provided, to be used as soon as
the buds show colour. When the flowering is over, the
plants should be rested by lowering the temperature of
the house and by withholding water. In about a month
growth will recommence with the advancing temperature
of the year, when water must be again given, and the
same routine of culture pursued ; a second flowering
will then take place in June, before the Roses are in
flower out of doors. When the second flowering is over
the plants may be plunged out of doors, syringing
frequently ; an occasional flower will come forth, but
it is desirable to rest them there till required for use
again in December.

If no heat is applied to the house, less moisture

i6o

Roses in Pots.

should be used, and the first flowering will take place
in May, the second in July and August.

The best season for re-potting Roses is September.
Shake a good portion of the old soil away, using larger
pots when required. There is no better soil for Roses
in pots than strong turfy loam and cow-dung, with
sufficient drift-sand to render it thoroughly porous.

I shall conclude this paper with a list of a few good
sorts, which appear best suited to realise the objects in
view : —

Hybrid

Anna Alexieff
Beauty of Waltham
Duchesse de Caylus
Comtesse de Chabrillant
General d'Hautpoult
General Jacqueminot
John Hopper
Jules Margottin
Elizabeth Vigneron
Fisher Holmes
Charles Lefebvre
Alfred Colomb
La France

PERPETUALS.
Lady Suffield
Louise Peyronny
Madame de Stella
Madame Rivers
Madame Victor Verdier
Mdlle. Therese Levet
Marie Baumann
Marechal Vaillant
Monsieur Noman
Pierre Netting
Princess of Wales
Prince Camille de Rohan
Victor Verdier

Bourbon Perpetual. — Comtesse de Barbantanne.
Noisette. — Celine Forestier, Solfaterre.

Ajax

Archimede

Gloire de Dijon

Goubault

Homer

Climbing Devoniensis

La Boule d'Or

Tea-Scented.

Madame Damaizin
Madame Falcot
Madame Maurin
Madame Pauline Labonte
Madame Villermoz
Marechal Niel
Monsieur Furtado

Roses in Pots. i6i

Marie Sisley Safrano

Nina Souvenir d'un Ami

Nisida Vicomtesse de Cazes

President Zelia Pradel

Regulus

The above will be found a very good lot to begin with,
and the newer and less certain kinds can be added at
pleasure, as required.

KOSES AT THE ROYAL BOTANIC SOCIETY.*

\Extract front '''' The Gardeners^ Chronicle" July z^th 1874,^. I09-
Leading article by the Editor.']

HEARTILY do we congratulate Mr William Paul, of
Waltham Cross, on the success of his attempt to
break away from the conventionalism and formality with
which a Rose show is invested. Again and again we have
protested against the ugly way in which our Rose shows,
and we may specially add our fruit shows, are arranged.
Only a week or two ago we remarked that the arrange-
ment at Rose shows seemed intended to exemplify how
even such beautiful flowers as Roses might be rendered
ugly and unattractive. At that time we were not aware

* In July 1874 I made a Rose show in the gardens of the Royal Botanic
Society, and the high encomiums passed on that eflort by a "leader" in
"The Gardeners' Chronicle" 1874, p. 109, and by the daily press aroused
the jealousy of certain ordinar}' exhibitors, who did their best to negative the
results expected to arise from it, and this gave birth to a controversy in the
pages of " The Gardeners' Chronicle." I have thought it desirable to repro-
duce that "leader" and my articles, and if any readers of these pages shoukl
be sufficiently interested in the matter to wish to follow the whole of the con-
troversy they will find it in the later pages of that Journal for the year 1874.
I do not include these papers from a love of controversy, but because strangely
enough they serve to elucidate certain occult practices in cultivation.
K

i62 Roses at the Royal Botanic Society.

what Mr Paul had in store for us, and did not know that he
had planned for the highly successful evening fete at the
Royal Botanic Society in the Regent's Park a series of
beds and combinations which were the talk of the town
tne next day, and which will, we hope, silence those who
have said so often that the thing cannot be done.
Admitting that for the moment Mr Paul was an autocrat,
having only his own will to consult and his own materials
to work upon, he has nevertheless proved that something
tasteful can be accomplished, and that vastly increased
attractiveness is the result. Conventional usages take a
long time to uproot, especially when, as in this case, they
have some admitted advantages. For our own parts we
do not think these advantages at all outweigh the
distressing ugliness of what should be the loveliest of
floral parqueterie. It is difficult to understand why we
have put up so long with long straight stages and ugly
rectangular boxes with flowers jammed into them, and all
packed closely side by side without variation of level, with
nothing to set off, var}% harmonise, or contrast with the
masses of colour. Why, even Roses themselves cannot
bear such a test as that without sufl'ering — a good Rose
loses half its attractiveness — a bad one shows its effects
more fully than it otherwise would do. " But the judges "
— ah ! — " the judges have to be considered." Undoubtedly
they have. They should have every facility given them
for comparing the flowers, and for coming to a right
conclusion as to their merits. But surely he must be a
very inefficient manager who in such a case as this could
not so contrive his plan as to satisfy at once the require-
ments of the judges and the tastes of the spectator.

"Again, it is said the exhibitors would raise objections.
Perhaps they might at first, but they are far too long-
sighted a race not to see that if the arrangements were
well carried out, and facilities given for comparison, that
their interests would be far better served than they now
are. In the case of a Rose show, and still more in the

Roses at the Royal Botanic Society. 163

instance of a fruit show, it would be a much more easy
task to fulfil the requirements of good taste, to satisfy the
convenience of the judges, and of the exhibitors, than in a
general flower show, and yet as a rule it is precisely in
these less complicated shows that the least attempts are
made at good grouping. Mr Paul has now shown us how
the thing can be done, and the advantages are so self
evident that we shall expect to see many others following
in his footsteps. The annexed plans will show the general
method of arrangement better than long description, and
will, we think, make it manifest that it is quite possible to
secure a beautiful and effective arrangement without
interfering with the convenience of the judges and
connoisseurs. Almost any change would be a relief from
the stereotyped monotony and ugliness of our present
system. The idea of Mr Paul, which he so successfully
carried out, was to show the effect of groups of beds of
Roses on grass, with due attention to harmony of colours.
In most cases each bed was occupied with one variety
only, but beds of mixed colours were occasionally intro-
duced for the sake of variety. In some groups strong
contrasts were arrived at, in others harmony of colouring,
shade softening into shade. The flowers were placed in
short stone bottles, in which the flowers were loosely
arranged with buds and leaves as they grow naturally on
the bushes. The extent and completeness of the arrange-
ment may be surmised from the fact that about 6000
trusses of flowers were used. The varieties employed
were those best suited for planting in masses, such as
General Jacqueminot, Firebrand, Madame Victor Verdier,
crimson ; Marquise de Castellane, Peach Blossom, Madlle.
Therese Levet, rose coloured ; Madame Plantier and Mrs
Bosanquet, white ; Madame Falcot, yellow ; and most of
the leading Roses, new and old, of every colour and shade
Taken individually, Firebrand, which may be described as
a crimson Baronne de Rothschild, was the most effective
in the show.

164 Roses at the Royal Botanic Society,

.r-Ox D

NEW STYLE OF SHOWING ROSES:

PLAN.

REFERENCES TO PLAN:—

(A) I, Crimson ; 2, Blush ; 3, 4, Rose colour.

(B) I, Maroon; 2, 3, Rose; 4, 5, Crimson; 6, 7, White; 8, 9, Rose; 10,

Crimson.

(C) I, 2, \Vhite ; 3, 4, 5, Rose ; 6, 7, 8, Crimson.

(D) I, 2, 3, Yellow; 4, 5, 6, 7, Rose colour ; 8, 9, 10, Crimson ; 11, White.

(E) I, 2, White; 3, 4, Crimson; 5, 6, Mixed; 7, 8, Rose, various; 9, 10,

Crimson, various; 11, 12, Yellow, various; 13, 14, Rose, various;
15, 16, Mixed ; 17, Crimson.

Roses at the Royal Botanic Society. 165

" The figures will serve to show the arrangements of the
colours. Thus in A the space numbered i was filled with
crimson Roses ; 2 with blush varieties ; 3 and 4 with
flowers of rose coloured hue.

In B, I was filled with maroon flowers ; 2 and 3 with
rose ; 4 and 5 with crimson ; 6 and 7 with white ; 8 and 9
with rose ; and 10 with crimson coloured flowers.

In C, I and 2 were filled with white Roses ; 3, 4, and 5
with rose; and 6, 7, and 8 with crimson coloured flowers.

The arrangement of the flowers in D was as follows : —
I, 2, and 3 yellow ; 4, 5, 6, and 7 rose coloured ; 8, 9, and
10 crimson ; while 1 1 was occupied with white Roses.

The long bed E was filled with Roses of different
colours, thus : — i and 2, white ; 3 and 4, crimson ; 5 and 6,
mixed ; 7 and 8, rose coloured ; 9 and 10, crimson ; 1 1 and
12, yellow; 13 and 14, rose; 15 and 16, mixed; 17,
crimson.

When a Rose grower and a Rose exhibitor of eminence
sets the example, we see the fallacy of the objections
commonly raised, and we say to flower show managers and
to Rose exhibitors ' Go and do likewise.' "

\^Froin " The Gardeners' Clironiclcl' August Zth, 1874,/^. 179.]

I THINK I ought to answer the letter of my nephew
which appeared in " The Gardeners' Chronicle " of last
week, as it seems to me calculated to depreciate what I
consider one of my most successful efforts. When I had
disposed of the 8000 trusses of Roses used in the formation
of that Rose garden, Mr Wills, who had been watching my
movements at intervals during the da}', came forward, and
with unbounded enthusiasm pronounced it a decided hit.
That opinion was freely endorsed by the numerous and
brilliant company who for four hours hung upon the Roses
uttering varied exclamations of surprise and delight.
Your leader in "The Gardeners' Chronicle" of the 25th
ult. — every word of which as a Rose grower of thirty

i66 Roses at the Royal Botanic Society.

years' standing, and a raiser of some of our best English
Roses, I heartily endorse — put the matter before the public
in such a way that it might be turned to practical and
profitable account. I know it to be true that that series of
Rose beds, and the combination of colours, was "the talk
of the town the next day." But to my task. I assume at
the outset that there are two classes of Rose growers — (i)
those who grow for prizes, and (2) those who grow for
garden and house decoration. As the " blue riband "
has been introduced, I may say that in my opinion these
classes are as distinct as that which breeds and rears race-
horses is from that which breeds and trains horses for the
commoner and more useful purposes of life.

In paragraph 2 of my nephew's letter he seems to
ignore the fact that for many years, so long as I exhibited
for prizes, I took more first prizes than any other
exhibitor, having not very long since won five silver cups
in one day, and on another and more recent occasion, I
took thirty-seven first prizes in one week. I ought here to
be permitted to say that I discontinued exhibiting for
prizes, because I judged it more to my interest and to the
interest of my clients to grow plants for sale rather than
plants and flowers for prizes.

Paragraph 6 says the exhibitor " had no schedule to
hamper him, no policeman to turn him out at 10 o'clock,
and no need for any special selection of fine flowers." But
I had a rough and uneven surface to deal with ; I had to
be ready at 8 p.m., as exhibitors for prizes have to be
ready by 10 a.m., and as to the quality of the flowers, Mr
Wills testified (p. 146) that "the blooms were most
brilliant and beautiful." Their freshness, which was
remarked on over and over again, was due to the fact that
they were cut for the most part on the morning of the
show, whereas the prize Roses are usually cut the morning
before, and on show days often look fatigued and faded.
Paragraph 7 quotes Madame Plantier and Mrs Bosan-
quet as examples of the Roses of which my Rose garden

Roses at the Royal Botanic Society. 167

was composed. Now, this is not fair, and cannot have
been done from lack of information, as your leader, on
which this remark is founded, after specifying certain sorts,
equally good either as show or garden Roses, sums up with
these words, " and most of the leading Roses, new and old,
of every colour and shade." Paragraph 8 shows the weak
points of our Rose shows. The standard of size and shape
required there shuts out many of the best sorts for garden
decoration. The Rose shows as at present managed,
encourage breeding for shape and size, without any regard
to habit and constitution, and hence many new Roses are
woefully deficient in these fundamental qualities. Many
of the finest Roses in the stands at Rose shows are com-
paratively worthless for effect in the garden. Two out of
the three sorts recommended in paragraph 8, namely,
Mdlle. Bonnaire and Mrs B. Ker, are of this character ; the
flowers are pretty, but the plants are delicate and short
lived in the hands of ordinary growers, although they may
be " managed " by skilful rosarians. The third sort,
Madame Lacharme, grows freely enough, but I have often
looked over hundreds of plants of this sort when in full
bloom before I could find one clean and satisfactory flower.
The exhibitor for prizes may " manage " to show a bloom
or blooms, but for the garden I prefer infinitely the
glorious masses of Madame Plantier and Mrs Bosanquet to
any of the others. Paragraph 10 reads thus — "Whether
the exhibition of masses would serve the high educational
purposes which the production of the perfect blooms we
have aimed at has done is another matter ; a comparison
of the amateurs' stands of past times and of the last two or
three years, not only at the metropolitan but at local Rose
clubs and shows, proves that those of us who have troubled
ourselves to carry here and there fine examples have not
taught in vain."

I am not sure that I understand this, but if it means
that the exhibition of single flowers and small groups has
served the " high educational purposes " of the florist,

1 68 Roses at the Royal Botanic Society.

surely the exhibition of masses will equally serve the " high
educational purposes " of the landscape gardener. It is
amusing to find Mr George Paul claiming for himself and
colleagues the merit of teaching amateurs by exhibiting,
and pluming himself on the " proofs " (?) that they " have
not taught in vain." Where are the "proofs?" Is the
improvement in the amateurs' stands due solely or princi-
pally to the prize-showing nurserymen ? I think not ; the
amateurs' observation and experience in Rose growing, the
books he reads, the conversations he holds with his practi-
cal friends — amateurs, nurserymen, and gardeners — surely
count for something. By looking at a stand of Roses he
may learn how to sJiow them, but cannot learn by that
means how to grozu them. Paragraph ii tells us that the
writer and others could produce double and treble the
quantity of flowers of which this garden was composed.
So could I. But they have not even produced a like
quantity. A hundred thousand blooms might be cut
almost any day in July from the acres of Roses growing in
my nurseries. Let me say in conclusion that I do not envy
exhibitors for prizes, or wish to depreciate their efforts.
Honour should be given where honour is due, but some of
these men want all the '' cakes and ale," and in my opinion
Rose showing is not the be-all and end-all of Rose growing.

P.S. — I answer a postscript by a postscript. The idea
of holding a Rose show in York Minster is altogether
repugnant to my views of the fitness of things. The
Germans hold flower shows in their churches, Sunday
usually being the opening day, and money being taken at
the doors. I should be sorry to see our cathedrals or
churches turned into temples where even Roses were
bought and sold. W. P.

Roses and Rose Shows. 169

ROSES AND KOSE SHOWS.

\Froiii '-The Gardeners' Chronicle" August 22nd 1874, ;>. 242.J

1AM proud to find my name associated with the names
of Sowerby and Gibson — men who have already made
a position for themselves — men who have had fathers
before them whose names will live long and honourably
in the annals of English botany and gardening. I should
be glad if these gentlemen would tell your readers what
part they took in and what claim they make to the origin
and success of my Rose garden in the Regents Park
Botanic Gardens. Mr G. Paul quotes as my words " that
the standard of size and shape does not prevent our finest
garden roses being shown" and promises a list of varieties
to answer the " assertion." Now these words are not
mine, I therefore need not notice the inference he draws
or intends to draw from them. But it is considered very
unfair in controversy to misquote your adversary and then
make a show of refuting what he did not say. Mr G.
Paul says " he (Mr Wm. Paul) wishes the public to believe
that those growers who, whether from a desire to avoid
the necessary labour and expense, and a certain amount
of risk of being beaten, or from other causes, do not com-
pete, produce as good — nay, does he not insinuate better?
— plants than those who exhibit for competition. Surely
this is misleading the public." I reply, I insinuate nothing,
nor am I misleading the public. I have spoken out boldly
and in the plainest language that I can command in a
manner which I judge calculated to prevent the public
from being misled by others or misleading themselves.
I say, first, that the standard of size and shape required at
the Rose shows shuts out many of the best sorts of Roses
for garden decoration ; and secondl}-, that Rose plants
grown for prize-blooms, however fine the plants may be, are
not intrinsically so valuable to purchasers as plants grown
otherwise. These two propositions I think I can make

I/O Roses and Rose Shows.

clear to your readers, and I will endeavour to do so at an
early date. But I should like first to hear a little more of
the " Drawing-room" discussion. The little bit we have
already got is the fullest endorsement I could wish for of
an important feature (freshness) in my show ; and perhaps
when we have the remainder further correspondence on my
part may be rendered nugatory — who knows ? All that I
did and which was " the talk of the town the next day,"
may have been revolving for years in the hidden and
mysterious depths of other minds, and the horticultural
public may as well be informed as to who are its most
original and greatest thinkers. I am not afraid that they
will forget my Rose shows.

\From " The GardeJiers' Chroiiicle^'' Septeinber 5, 1874,/. 306.]

I HAVE said that " the standard of size and shape
required at the Rose shows shuts out many of the best
sorts of Roses for garden decoration," and this position I
will endeavour to establish.

In the latest edition of the " Rose Garden," published
in 1872, I have arranged Roses in thirty-two floral groups.
Of these not more than three, namely, Hybrid Perpetual,
Moss, and Tea-Scented, are fairly represented at our Rose
shows ; nine-tenths of the prize varieties are drawn from
one group. Hybrid Perpetual, while Hybrid Bourbon,
Bourbon, Bourbon Perpetual, and Noisette are restricted to
one or two sorts of each group.

Now, these prize varieties are selected from the florists'
point of view of " quality " in the flower ; the constitution
and habit of the plant do not influence the selections
or awards. They are made on the shape, size, and fulness
of the flowers alone. Well, large full Roses as a rule pro-
duce but {&\v flowers, and however beautiful these may be,
they are not plentiful enough to make a satisfactory
display on the plant, or to enable the cultivator to cut
freely for the purposes of indoor decoration. From the

Roses and Rose Shows. 171

present point of view, Roses may be divided into three
classes — i, prize Roses; 2, garden or decorative Roses;
3, Roses which in various degrees unite the leading
characteristics of the two former. Class i contains the
largest, fullest, most exact-shaped, or best coloured Roses,
but also many of the shyest bloomers and growers —
witness Paul Neyron (large, full, shy bloomer), Devienne
Lamy (large, fine colour, rather shy). Marquise de
Mortemart (desirable colour, shy grower), Louis Van
Koutte (fine shape and colour, shy grower). Nevertheless
the grower for prizes must select from this class, or he will
not win ; but if the grower for garden or indoor decoration
choose from these alone, failure will mark every step, and
he will be miserably disappointed.

The " high educational influences " of our present Rose
shows can refer only to these Roses, and I go far with Mr
Prior in the remark (p. 244) that "the morality of such
exhibitions as now carried on is open to serious doubt."
The one in a thousand who grows for prizes may perhaps
judiciously go to a Rose show to choose his varieties, but
the 999 who grow for garden decoration, or for the
ordinary purpose of cut flowers, would, in my opinion, be
misled by pursuing such a course. They had better far
choose from plants growing under ordinary culture in
gardens or nurseries. I appeal to the skilled gardeners of
England whether they would ever think of planting for
other purposes than exhibition some of the sorts of Roses
which figure so conspicuously at the Rose shows. But
the general public does not yet understand this.

Class 2 contains Roses of hardy constitution and elegant
habit, which produce plenty of good flowers. Although
these latter are not so large, so full, or so precise in form as
the former, they answer every purpose for which Roses are
grown, except prize winning — witness Boule de Neige.Comte
de Raimbaud, Due de Cazes, Fisher Holmes, Elizabeth
Vigneron, Prince Camille de Rohan, Louise Darzens,
Anna Alexieff, Madame Alfred de Rougemont, Glory of

1/2 Roses and Rose Shows.

Waltham, Princess Christian, Princess of Wales, Safrano,
Madame Falcot, Aimee Vibert, and Mrs Bosanquet. If
the prize-seeker select from this class, he also will fail and
be disappointed. These hardy, free-growing, free-flower-
ing Roses are not as a rule large enough, or full enough,
or regular enough in shape to win ist prizes. Class 3
contains those sorts which are not at one and the same
time the best show Roses and the best decorative Roses,
but which occupy a sort of debateable ground, standing in
various positions between the two, and which may be used
for either purpose. General Jacqueminot, Jules Margottin,
Dr Andry, Beauty of Waltham, and Lord Macaulay are
examples of this class. Let it be remarked, then, that our
present Rose shows draw principally from class i, shut out
almost entirely the varieties of class 2, and admit but few
from class 3, and these only from necessity and under
protest. It was once remarked to me by one of our
cleverest horticulturists that " the florists, having got hold
of the Rose, would in time bring it to the same pass that
they had brought other flowers to." I asked, " What was
that?" He replied, " They will improve (?) them so much
that the masses will not be able to grow them." And
surely the history of florists' flowers warrants this view.
But do not let it be supposed that I wish to depreciate the
Rose as a prize winning or florists' flower. It has a right
to be such. I simply hold that it has a higher and wider
title to popular favour than this, namely, that it is a first-
class decorative or garden plant. The florist, with his
artificial standard of excellence, after forcing or coaxing a
portion of poor plant nature into a mould of his own
conceiving, throws cold water on all outside of it. I do
not object to the first step ; men might be worse
employed ; but I cannot submit to be bound hand and
foot within the narrow limits of the florist's view. I hold
that there are other and even higher aims to secure,
namely, to obtain varieties which grow and bloom freely,
and display their flowers to adv^antage on the tree, and

Roses and .Rose Shows. 173

which shall be to the garden and to the house what
the prize flowers are to the exhibition tables.

I think that I have already proved my position. But
there are twenty-five out of the thirty-two floral groups
which I have not yet spoken of, and these the prize-
seeker never touches. Their value and beauty as garden
plants I need not, however, enlarge on, because they must
be well known to all who have any claim to be considered
rosarians. P.S. — I find in your columns (p. 238) Mr
G. Paul says, " All Teas are moderate growers." (!) Let
me ask, Are Gloire de Dijon, Climbing Devoniensis, Belle
de Bordeaux, Madame Berard, Madame Levet, Triomphe
de Guillot fils, and Cheshunt Hybrid moderate growers ?
Why, the same writer in his descriptive catalogue describes
these and many others as "vigorous," and says of Climbing
Devoniensis " of rampant growth," and of Cheshunt Hybrid
that " it grows vigorous as Blairii No. 2." But Cheshunt
Hybrid, although classed as a Tea Rose, is, in my opinion,
neither more nor less than a Hybrid China, giving an
occasional bloom in autumn, and ought never to have
been allowed to win prizes as a Tea Rose.

[From " The Gardeners^ Chronicle^'' September \gfh 1874, P- 368.]

The second proposition which I undertook to discuss
was, " that Rose plants grown for prize blooms,
however fine the plants may be, are not intrinsically so
valuable as plants grown otherwise." Let me relate how
plants which are expected to produce prize blooms are
cultivated. First of all, the best possible Rose soil, a soil
which few possess, is selected, and large quantities of
stocks are planted on it, after it has been deeply dug and
highly manured, in order that a great breadth of highly-
fed plants may be had to cut the flowers from.

Large quantities of water are given throughout the
growing season, the flower-buds are freely removed at an
early stage of growth, so that each plant is allowed to

174 Roses and Rose Shows.

develope only a limited number of flowers, and every
appliance is resorted to to encourage a strong growth,
as such is necessary to get size in the flowers. Mr Prior
remarks (p. 244) : — " Large plants may be produced,
veritable Titans or Tichbornes in bulk, but more pithy
than woody, &c." Here lies one of my objections to
sale plants which have been grown for prize blooms — the
quantity of pith in strong shoots is greater relatively than in
moderate shoots of Roses, and the wood is less hard and
sound. Now what are the consequences ? In the first place
these gorged shoots do not ripen sufficiently in our climate,
as in the gross shoots of peach trees, and the plants suffer
more from frost ; then the state of the roots being equally
gross, the shock of removal is greater, and this is a second
cause of sufl"ering. To me it is an oft-told tale, and
accords entirely with my own experience, that plants with
moderate-sized, well-ripened shoots, always thrive best
after removal. The " Tichborne " plants of the prize-
growers often die, and oftener still produce short feeble
growths the first year after removal ; some of these growths
die also, while those which live are longer than others
in realising the desired end of soundly constituted, well-
shaped plants. Let us suppose, which is seldom the
case, that the purchaser of such plants has the fine soil,
can dig it as deeply, manure it as highly, and water it
as constantly as the prize- grower. Even then the violence
of the shock these highly-wrought plants receive by
removal places him at a disadvantage. But supposing, as
is usually the case, that these plants are going into a good
ordinary garden, where the soil is only ordinarily good,
and where amidst the numerous claims pressing upon the
grower's time and consideration they can only receive
ordinary care and attention. Why, it is like moving a
rich man from his daily table of soup, fish, poultry, meat,
&c., to a diet of bread and cheese or cold meat. Men
from custom seem to thrive well under both conditions ;
but the sudden transition from the one to the other can

Roses and Rose Shows. 175

hardly be accomplished without material physical suffer-
ing. Hence I hold that the fact of being able to win
prizes with Rose blooms does not logically lead to the
conclusion that the prize-winner's sale plants are the best.
Reasoning from analogy, would anyone maintain that
the exhibitors of prize sheep, prize oxen, and prize pigs,
produce the best mutton, beef, and pork ? Now I argue
that the exhibitors of " fat " Roses are entitled to all the
money and all the honour of their prizes — which, as in
the case of exhibitors of prize cattle, are not won without
a large expenditure of money ; but to assume from their
" fat " flowers that their " fat " plants are better than other
people's plants is not only unwarrantable, but is contrar}'
to evidence and contrary to fact.

THE ROSE CONTROVERSY.

[^Frorn '"'■The Gardeners' Clironicle^^ September i()th i8~4, p. 369.]

YOUR correspondent Mr G. Paul seems to forget that
he was the attacking party in this controversy. If
he is making good his case, why the remarkable change
of front displayed in his last letter } Your correspondent
tells us that he applied for space at the Rose show but did
not get it. Is it good taste after so applying to depreciate
what he incorrectly terms the "happy thought of Mr
Sowerby," and the labour of another grower and exhibitor?
Against his opinion of this show (which he did not see and
inaccurately describes) are arrayed the opinions of all the
gardening papers, the leading daily papers from T/ic Times
downwards, the Council of the Royal Botanic Society, and
nearly 10,000 visitors. The idea which prompted it was
not conceived or worked out in opposition to existing
Rose shows, but to occupy ground which they failed to
touch ; to show Roses in a free and natural, rather than in

1/6 The Rose Controversy.

a crowded, formal, and artificial state — in a state in which
anyone might produce them with ordinary advantages and
ordinary cultivation, without the technical knowledge of
the florists' art. For this effort I think I should claim the
sympathy and support, rather than excite the alarm and
arouse the prejudices, of rival growers.

I have said that some good show Roses are also good
p-arden Roses, but that many are not. If he demurs to
this we here differ in opinion, and let the public be the
judge between us. I am not surprised that he finds we
agree on so many points about Roses and Rose showing.
Of course we do ; for here as in most other questions
nearly all men think alike on many points. But the
points on which we differ he does not meet and answer
fairly, but raises and argues on others as to which we are
o-enerally agreed. I have never disputed that many Roses
are equally good as show Roses and garden Roses, but
have clearly asserted it. I say that " the standard of size
and shape required at the Rose shows shuts out many of
the best Roses for garden decoration." He says that his
assertion " all Teas are moderate growers" was only
" meant to refer" to such as were moderate growers. His
criticisms on my examples of "Show Roses," "Garden
Roses," and " Show and Garden Roses," do not alter or
modify my opinion of the distinctions I endeavoured to
point out. He may claim Boule de Neige, Safrano, and
other similar good garden Roses as show Roses, but I do
not think many Rose growers will endorse that opinion,
or that these varieties will be found in many first prize
stands. Devienne Lamy and Marquise de Mortemart
may be in his opinion '^ doubtful Roses for show," but
they have been shown fine, and many who have bought
them through the flowers shown have found in these
instances, as in many others, that good show Roses and
good garden Roses are not always identical. To class
Comte Raimbaud with Roses of "dull colours," "dear
from old associations" shows, to put the most favourable

The Rose Controversy. 177

construction on that statement, that the writer is not an
accurate observer of objects, or a faithful chronicler of
events, as that Rose is very bright, and by no means an
old Rose. One would think from the whole tenor of his
letter, and from the remarks of some other writers, that I
was opposed to the improvement of the Rose, whereas I
am, and always have been, advocating it, and have been
for years, and still am, zealously engaged in working for
it. I love progress, but it must be upwards, not downwards.

I have no sympathy with the so-called progress which,
in placing one foot forward in an unsound position, is
compelled to turn and retrace its steps. I have never
objected to the florists improving the form, &c., of the Rose,
but to their neglect of the constitution of the plant, which
the public cannot form a correct judgment of from the
flowers on the exhibition tables.

I quite agree " that the public after a season or two
won't buy them" (that is, bad growers), but then the
mischief is done ; they have bought tJievi, and probably at
high prices, through the fine flowers shown — to find by
experience, which they pay for, that they are not worth
the trouble of growing. There are, in my opinion, very
few Rose growers of ten years' standing who cannot
recall many instances of this kind. Your correspondent,
in naming four Roses sent out by him, ought in common
fairness to have told your readers that two of them,
namely. Lord Clyde and Duke of Edinburgh, were raised
by me when partner with the late I\Ir G. Paul in the now
defunct firm of A. Paul & Son.

\^From " The Gardeners' Chronicle^'' October lo///, 1874, p. 465.]

The " argument " of this subject seems to be drawing into
a very narrow compass. I formerly expressed the opinion
" that Rose plants grown for prize blooms, howe\-er fine the
plants might be, are not intrinsically so valuable as plants
grown otherwise." I have met with nothing in the

178 The Rose Controversy.

controversy to shake this opinion. In the attempt to
controvert it in last week's " Gardeners' Chronicle," new
ground is taken up by starting from the point of " fine
blooms " instead of " prize blooms." The case there
assumed as the " negatives " in which " the worst possible
soil is selected" — "dug not deeply" — "as manure is injurious
none is given either directly or indirectly " — " water, how-
ever much needed, is withheld " — " and especially the
grosser feeding sorts are encouraged," throws no new or
valuable light on the subject, because it is only an
imaginary case opposed to actual facts. If these are " the
negatives of the practices of exhibiting firms," they are
only imaginary negatives, have no existence in fact, are
things in posse rather than ifi esse. Starving is not met
with in any Rose nurseries, whereas "cobbing" for prize
blooms is commonly practised. Now facts cannot be
successfully assailed by imaginary statements, but only by
facts. The treatment here assumed is not practised or
advocated, and no sane man is likely to practise or
advocate it. Although the grower for prize blooms selects
the best soil, digs it deeply, fills it with manure, deluges it
at times with water, and adopts various practices to get
the strong growth necessary to produce large blooms, it by
no means follows that the grower who does not compete
for prizes selects " the worst possible soil," and in other
matters rushes to the opposite extremes.

Is there no standing ground between the system of
cultivation which produces gorged plants, with more sap
and pith than wood and fibre, and that which produces
starved plants ? No one who reasons can doubt that the
health and constitution of a plant, as of an individual, may
be injured by starvation as well as by gluttony, but this is
a curious argument to advance against healthy and
moderate feeding. Some men and the lower animals
suffer from gluttony, but would it be fair in argument to
accuse those who condemn over-feeding of advocating
starvation?

The Rose Controversy. 179

The sentence " I also fail to see the justice of the
simile between a well- cultivated plant, with all its parts in
healthy fine condition, and a Dives removed from luxury-
to penury," is open to question. No such simile exists.
A gorged plant in which the natural equilibrium of wood,
pith, sap, fibre, &c., is disturbed cannot be called "a well
cultivated plant, with all its parts in healthy fine condi-
tion," although it is a Dives removed (and too often
harshly removed) from luxury to comparative penury. I
do not contend for starvation or repletion; neither is, in my
judgment, good cultivation. The best cultivation in
relation to maiden plants of Roses (and it is mostly
maiden plants that are sold by the nurseryman, and it is
from them for the most part that the prize blooms are
derived) is that which ignores too much fat, and produces
moderate solid wood, no stronger than our climate will
thoroughly ripen, and roots no coarser than can be
withdrawn from the ground without doing violence to the
plants.

STANDAED ROSES.

{^Froin the ''"Journal of Horticul(urt\'' August 24///, 1882,/. 170.]

THERE is a cry recently raised against Standard
Roses which I venture to think has been taken
up and pushed beyond the bounds of reason and common
sense, as many a cry has been in times gone by. If I were
asked, " Whence this cry ?" I should answer that it has
apparently been started by those who are innocent of this
particular form of the Rose while abounding in dwarfs. I
cannot understand why Standard Roses, which in the past
have been admitted on the highest authority indispensable
in the composition of garden scenery and otherwise
desirable in both large and small gardens, should be

i8o Standard Roses.

altogether undesirable now. Is not the cry an exemplifi-
cation of the old fable of " The Fox and the Grapes ? "

Nevertheless, I am free to admit that the former
popularity of the name, and the matchless splendour of
the objects, both as individuals and in groups, have led
people deficient in taste to place them in unsuitable
positions. But this surely tells no more against their
proper employment than the traveller's tale of the savage's
use of an Englishman's wardrobe does against the proper
employment by the owner of any special article of
civilised dress.

One great use of Standard Roses in large gardens
is the elevated masses of colour they present to the eye
both in near and distant views, while in small gardens the
avenue of standards is often one of its prettiest features.
Then what is more beautiful in the conservatory than
standard Tea-Scented Roses ? Without following out all
the uses to which they may be advantageously applied, I
venture to predict that they who discard them from their
gardens now, will miss them greatly in the future, and
seek in vain for something that will satisfactorily fill their
places. With greater reason might a cry have been raised
against the sorts of Roses that have been, and still are, in
some instances grown as standards. Here, indeed, is the
modicum of truth in the cry which gives it a temporary
hold on the public mind, and renders the matter worthy of
investigation.

It is beyond controversy that the natural term of life
of certain sorts of Roses when grown as standards is three
years, two years, or even one year only, as that of man is
three score years and ten, and that a prolongation of this
term carries with it all the accompaniments of old age.
What will the uninitiated say when they are told that
certain sorts of Roses seen at the Rose shows are budded
yearly by the exhibitors, and never cared for after they
have given their first year's blooms ? But it may here be
asked, "Why does the Rose grower bring such ephemeral

Standard RToses.

i«i

goods into the market?" His reply probably would be,
" Why does the public persist in purchasing them ? " and
add that it is not his business to dictate to his customers
what they shall buy, but to be prepared to supply what
they demand. The remedy on the part of the purchaser
would be to choose his sorts from trees seen growing
in nurseries or gardens, and in doing so inquire (if the fact
is not apparent on the surface by the age of the tree or
otherwise) whether the sort has a good constitution and
habit as well as a handsome flower.

There is one special advantage in growing Roses as
standards which was suggested to me by an old friend, a
distinguished horticulturist, when discussing the subject
the other day, and I will put it in his words — " I agree with
all you say, and will add one reason more : in growing
Roses as standards the flowers are brought near to our
eyes and noses, and those who, like you and I, are growing
old have not to bend the back or go on all fours to see and
smell them."

ON THE GROUPING OF THE GARDEN VARIETIES
OF ROSES.*

IF all the garden varieties of Roses could be brought
under view at one and the same time, they would be
found to compose a very heterogeneous mass. The Rose
has been treated as a domesticated plant for so long a
period that the varieties are almost innumerable and are
also remarkable for the extent to which they differ in
habit, foliage, and flowers. So widely have our modern
garden varieties departed from what may fairly be assumed
to be Nature's Roses, that it is difficult, if not impos-
sible in some instances, to conjecture from what species

* Read at the "National Rose Conference" of the Royal Horticultural
Society at Chisvsick, July 2nd, 1S89.

1 82 Grouping of Garden Varieties of Roses.

they have descended. Roses were grown from seed at
least 2000 years ago, and the seedlings would no doubt
vary in appearance of plant and flower even then. This
variation would go on widening and increasing up to a
certain period, and iinally the hybridising and cross-
breeding of modern times comes into play. The latter
process has so mixed up the botanist's species, that in
studying the modern varieties I often see, or fancy I see,
features or traces of more than one or two species in the
same variety.

Now, the grouping of the garden varieties of Roses,
might be attempted from various points of view ; for
example, they might be grouped (i) according to their
botanical affinities, (2) according to their season of
flowering, (3) according to their habit of growth, (4)
according to the colours of the flowers, and so on. If,
however, I rightly understand my work, I have nothing to
do to-day with botanical affinities. Monsieur Crepin, who
has greatly distinguished himself in this line, will no doubt
efficiently cover this ground ; I have to deal with Roses
from the cultivator's point of view. In taking up this
work, two lines of action present themselves to my mind as
the most desirable to follow — the one to sweep away every
vestige of the labours of previous workmen, and rear a
structure entirely new ; the other to preserve the founda-
tions and solid walls of the old building, re-arranging both
old and new materials in such order as congruity, taste,
and convenience may dictate. After due study and reflec-
tion I have chosen the latter course, and in doing so I have
not striven to differ as imich as possible from my prede-
cessors in this line in order to appear original, but as little
as possible that I might not add to the perplexities already
existing from the too frequent practice of changing names.
The classification which I have endeavoured to work out
has been largely influenced by the desire to bring into
closest proximity those garden varieties which have the
greatest external resemblance in foliage and flowers, so

Grouping of Garden Varieties of Roses. 183

that the whole may be readily grasped and most advan-
tageously dealt with by the practical mind in the decora-
tion of our gardens and our homes.

I do not for a moment suppose that any classification
would meet with universal consent. Probably no two
persons, even if possessing equal knowledge of the subject,
would agree to follow precisely the same lines. Should
they agree at the outset as to the primary objects to be
attained, they would almost surely attach different degrees
of weigJit to the numerous features they must study and
deal with, and on a summing up of the various details, they
would likely arrive at different conclusions.

This view of the subject does not, however, render the
attempt to grapple with it the less desirable, and however
inadequate for its solution may be the single ray of light
thrown upon it by any one individual, the desired goal may
be clearly indicated and attained under the additional and
converging rays of an intellectual discussion.

I propose to arrange all garden Roses under two
primary divisions: — Division I. SUMMER RoSES, and
Division 11. Autumnal Roses.

Division I. — S

Section I.

Group I.

The Scotch Rose

It

2.

The Austrian Briar

11

3-

The Double Yellow
Section II,

5)

4-

The Sweet Briar
Section III.

J5

5-

The Alba Rose

>J

6.

The Damask

>5

7.

The Provence

J»

8.

The Pompon Provence

51

9-

The Moss

)»

10.

The Pompon Moss

)'

II.

The French

5)

12.

The Hybrid French

11

13-

„ „ Chinese

SUMMER ROSES.

Section III. — contd.
Group 14. The Hybrid Noisette
„ 15. „ „ Bourbon

Section IV.
,, 16. The Prairie

Section V.
„ 17. The Ayrshire
,, 18. The Sempervirens

Section VI.
„ 19. The Boursault

Section VII.
„ 20. The Multiflora
„ 21. The Polyantha

Section VIII.
,, 22. The Banksian

i84 Grouping of Garden Varieties of Roses.

Division II.— AUTUMNAL ROSES.

Section IX.
Grotep 23. The Berberry-leaved

Section X.

,, 24. The Perpetual Scotch
„ 25. The Perpetual Moss

Section XI.
„ 26, The Macartney
„ 27. The Clynophylla

Section XII.
„ 28. Microphylla
,, 29. Rugosa

Section XIII.
„ 30. Hybrid Perpetual
„ 31. Bourbon Perpetual
„ 32, Rose de Rosomane
„ 2)3- Bourbon

Section XIII.— <:^«/^.
Group 34. Chinese

,, 35. Crimson Chinese

„ 36. Fairy

,, 37. Tea-Scented

„ 38. Climbing Tea-Scented

„ 39. Hybrid Tea-Scented

Section XIV.
„ 40. Musk
„ 41. Noisette
„ 42. Noisette Perpetual

Section XV.
„ 43. Ayrshire Perpetual

Section XVI.
,, 44. Polyantha Perpetual

Of the 44 groups into which the garden varieties are
cast, the summer kinds bloom in June and July only, but
the autumnal flower both in June and July, and some of
them throughout the autumnal months. Perhaps there is
no great difference in the number of flowers produced
plant for plant between given individuals of these two
primary divisions. The summer kinds produce large
quantities of flowers in the summer, and are consequently
more gorgeous at that season ; the autumnals flower then
more sparingly, and some of them give forth a second crop
of flowers at a later period, while others continue putting
forth driblets of flowers throughout the autumnal months
This I think may be stated as the actual difference between
the varieties comprising our two primary divisions. The
first division, summer Roses, may be arranged in 22 groups.

Division I— SUMMER ROSES.
Section I.
Group I. — The Scotch Rose is composed of low round
bushes, rarely exceeding 3 ft. in height, which when pro-
perly managed are literally covered with small double

Grouping of Garden Varieties of Roses. 185

globular, sweet-scented flowers of various colours. They
form neat banks and exquisite low hedges, are very dis-
tinct, and flower early sometimes in the month of May.

Group II. — The Austrian Briar. These approach
somewhat to the Scotch Roses, but the growth is more
vigorous and the flowers are larger. The Copper
Austrian which belongs here stands alone among Roses
in point of colour.

Group III. — The Double Yellow. Beautiful as this
Rose is, in size, form, and colour, it is so capricious that
very few care to be troubled with it ; nevertheless it may
form a subject of interest and amusement to those who
are fond of attempting the solution of difficult problems.

Section II.
Group IV. — TJie Sweet Briar. The species of this
Rose should find place in every garden, the fragrance of
its leaves in Spring, the delicately tinted blossoms in
Summer, and the rich glow of the scarlet hips in Autumn
are successive objects of delight. A Sweet Briar hedge
forms a picturesque object when suitably placed in the
garden. There are various hybrids, but they do not
possess the fragrance or interest of the species nor the
beauty of many other hybrids.

Section III.

Group V. — Tlie Alba Rose. This group which con-
tains the " Maiden's Blush," is desirable both for our
gardens and our tables, on account of the distinct and
delicately coloured blossoms, and the ample cool-looking
leaves which it supplies.

Group VI. — The Damask Rose. To those who look
closely into things these Roses are distinct enough, they
are sweet and bright, and there is a hardy roughness
in their appearance which is pleasing to look upon.
" Madame Hardy," one of the finest of white Summer
Roses, belongs to this group, and if we go back for a

i86 Grouping of Garden Varieties of Roses

remote ancestry of the Hybrid Perpetuals, one parent, the
Rosa bifera, the " Paestan Roses with their double spring,"
are found here.

Group VII. — The Provence Rose. These Roses some-
what resemble the Damask, but not very closely ; the
growth is more pendulous and the flowers are more
globular. The old Cabbage Rose is an example of this
group.

Group VIII. — TJie Pompon or Dwarf Provence.
These are a separation from the preceding on account of
their dwarf habit. They rarely exceed a few inches in
height, the flowers are tiny and produced in great profu-
sion. They form exceedingly pretty edgings to beds of
Roses of larger growth.

Group IX. — The Moss Rose. It is hardly necessary
to point out the distinguishing feature of this group, the
moss-like surroundings of the flower-buds being known
and appreciated by everybody. There are here certain
hybrids between the " Hybrid Chinese" and the " Moss"
which are of greater vigour than the true Moss, but in
such the mossy characteristic is less plentifully developed.

Group X. — The Pompon Moss. An exquisite little
group composed of two or three varieties only, separated
from the preceding on account of their pigmy stature.
The best varieties are " Little Gem" and " Moss de
Meaux," and their fairy-like aspect appeals irresistibly to
the lovers of the tiny.

Group XI. — The FreticJi Rose. There was a time, and
that within my memory, when this was the most important
group of Roses. But it is out of fashion now. A French
or Gallica Rose bush well cultivated is, however, still a
striking object in the garden, owing to the profusion and
brilliancy of its expanded flowers.

Group XII. — The Hybrid French. This group is very
similar to the last ; it furnishes us however with some very
lovely blush and creamy flowers, not to be parallelled by
flowers of the same colours in any other group.

Grouping of Garden Varieties of Roses. 187

Group XIII. — T/ie Hybrid Chinese. This group is not
so fashionable as formerly, although individuals of it, as
Chenedole, when in full bloom are gorgeously beautiful.
It is reasonable to suppose that they are hybrids between
the " French " and " Chinese " Roses. Where large headed
standard and tall pillar Roses are valued, these and the
varieties of the next two groups are of the very best.

Group XIY.— The Hybrid Noisette. Similar to the
last, except that the flowers are smaller and produced in
considerable clusters. The lovely white Rose " Madame
Plantier" belongs here.

Group XV. — The Hybrid Bourbon. These Roses are
probably hybrids between the " Bourbon " and " Hybrid
Chinese," resembling the latter parent in the more
prominent features. The well-known " Charles Lawson "
and " Coupe d'Hebe " belong here. This and the two
preceding groups are invaluable for planting where masses
of flowers are wanted for distant effect in summer.

Section IV,
Group XVI. — The Prairie Rose. This is a group of
promise rather than of actual merit ; I do not know any
one variety that I should care to grow in the garden.
Nuttall calls it a very fine flowering species, and it does
look as if something might come of it in the future if
judiciousl)' hybridised.

Section V.

Group XVII. — The Ayrshire Rose. These are climbing
Roses of hardy vigorous growth, well suited for covering-
rough places, whether banks, fences, or old trees on lawns,
or in shrubberies.

Group XVIII. — TJie Evergreen Rose. This is another
group of hardy vigorous climbing Roses, similar to the
last in appearance, and more valuable for many purposes,
as they hold some of their leaves during winter. " Folicitc
Perpetue " is a splendid white Rose for a wall or house

1 88 Grouping of Garden Varieties of Roses.

with north or west aspect, growing rampantly and
flowering freely there.

Section VI.
Group XIX. — The Boicrsault Rose. I have never seen
the varieties of this group grow and flower better than
they did on a north wall in my father's nursery some forty
years ago. Although a gravel walk ran within two feet of
the wall, the latter was every year completely covered with
hanging masses of flowers.

Section VII.

Group XX. — The Miiltiflora Rose. This group
furnishes some very pretty and distinct Roses, and I
remember when they were much more popular than at
present. Some of the loveliest varieties are tender, and it
is probably owing to this fact that they have lost caste.
Still they are well worthy of a place in some sheltered
spot in the garden.

Group XXI. — TJie Poljantha Rose. This is a com-
paratively modern group similar to the last, but sufficiently
distinct from it, from the cultivator's point of view., to
demand separation. The flowers are small and produced
in enormous clusters.

Section VIII.
Group XXII. — TJie Banksian Rose. This is the last
of our summer-flowering groups. The flowers are very
small and produced in clusters. The prettiest varieties
are the ordinary white and yellow, the former of which is
sweet-scented. Both in this country require a wall and
warm soil, and they should be pruned immediately after
flowering.

Division II.— AUTUMNAL ROSES.

Section IX.
Group XXIII. — The Berberry - leaved Rose. The
" Berberiifolia Hardii" is a well-known variety, with small

Grouping of Garden Varieties of Roses. 189

single yellow flowers, and a chocolate-coloured spot at the
bottom of each petal. It is not only singularly beautiful,
but has the great merit of distinctness.

Section X.

Group XXIV. — TJie Perpetual Scotch. The only
variety in this group of special value as a garden Rose is
the " Stanwell Perpetual." It flowers early and late, and
is deliciously sweet.

Group XXV. — The Perpetual Moss. It is a great
thing to have Moss Roses flowering in the autumn,
although the mossy surroundings of the buds is not so
prominent a feature here as with the summer-blooming
kinds.

Section XI.

Group XXVI. — Tlie Macarttiey Rose. Both the single
and the " Maria Leonida" are well worthy of cultivation.
They are best grown on a wall or fence, or in some
sheltered spot in the garden, as they are not very hardy.

Group XXVII. — The Clynophylla Rose. " Lucida
Duplex," which we place under this heading, is one of the
loveliest of blush Roses. I must confess that I have some
doubt whether it is in its right position here, and shall
not be surprised if in the future some other group should
establish a stronger claim to its possession.

Section XII.

Group XXVIII. — The Microphylla Rose. The original
Microphylla Rose is an exceedingly pretty variety, well
suited for placing against a south wall. Both leaves and
flowers are distinct and interesting.

Group XXIX. — TJie Rugosa Rose. Where large
showy Roses are valued these flowers will not fail to please,
and the bright scarlet fruit of the "Rcgeliana" and the
" Rugosa alba" is very attractive in the autumn.

190 Grouping of Garden Varieties of Roses.

Section XIII.

Group XXX.— The Hybrid Perpetual Rose. We have
here a group that requires something more than a passing
word, for it contains the largest proportion of our most
valued garden varieties, and which have all sprung into
existence within the last forty or fifty years. The
" Damask Perpetual," which were the immediate source of
this group, were exceedingly popular at that time, although
now scarcely ever heard of If we wish to trace their
origin still further back, and some may, as the " pedigree "
movement among Roses is fashionable just now, we must
go to the old Four Seasons Roses, which is a variety of the
*' Damask." Our first " Hybrid Perpetual " Roses were
hybrids of the " Damask Perpetual," and later on a
stronger race was reared between the "Damask Perpetual"
and " Hybrid Chinese," and still more recently a more
varied brood from between the " Hybrid Perpetuals "
themselves and various groups, the Tea-Scented and
Bourbon especially.

Group XXXI. — The Bourbon PerpeUial. It would
seem that we have here a race between the " Hybrid
Perpetual" and "Bourbon." The flowers are mostly white,
blush, and rose, not large, but nicely shaped, and there is a
finished appearance about them that pleases the lovers of
precision. They bloom more freely in the autumn than
the ordinary run of Hybrid Perpetuals.

Group XXXII. — The Rose de Rosoinatie. I have often
thought that this group has some of the blood of the
"Crimson Chinese" in it, and it is possible that some
" Bourbon " Rose might be the other parent.

Group XXXIII. — The Bourbon Rose. This is sup-
posed to be a hybrid between the " Chinese" and " Four
Seasons." The flowers as a rule are not large, but many
of them are rich in colour, finely formed, and produced in
great abundance. The long nights and copious dews of
autumn are particularly favourable to their development.

Grouping of Garden Varieties of Roses. 191

Group XXXIV. — TJie Chinese Rose. One of the
most valuable groups for massing in the flower garden, as
the plants scarcely cease flowering from June to Novem-
ber, As the flowers are small, and not very regular in
shape, they are seldom seen at flower shows.

Group XXXV. — The Crimson Chinese. Here we
have a group somewhat similar to the last in appearance,
and valuable for the same purposes. The flowers are
mostly small, and dark crimson.

Group XXXVI. — The Laivrcnceana or Fairy Rose.
Tiny bushes with tiny white, pink, and crimson flowers is
a correct description of the " Lawrenceana" Roses.

Group XXXVII. — The Tea- Scented Rose. This popu-
lar group cannot be too highly commended. Most of the
varieties grow and flower freely, but are not hardy, and
consequently must be protected during winter and spring,
except in sheltered or otherwise favoured situations. The
colours of the flowers are white, yellow, rose, copper, and
crimson of various shades, and the long shell-like buds
are of exquisite beauty. The fragrance is peculiar and
delicious, and they are excellent forcing Roses.

Group XXXVIII. — The Climbing Tea-Scented.
These are separated from the last on account of their
extremely vigorous growth. They are admirable for
planting against lofty walls, and flourish well as climbers
in the conservatory. " Gloire de Dijon" and " Marechal
Niel" are two of the best. I was the first to exhibit these
Roses in England, the former in 1854 and the latter in
1865. The following notice of the latter is from the
Journal of Horticulture, April i ith 1865, p. 286 — "Mr Wm.
Paul receiving in addition a first-class certificate for the
new Tea Rose Marechal Niel, with large deep yellow
delightfully fragrant flowers, a variety which will doubtless
take a prominent position among the Roses of its class."

Group XXXIX. — The Hybrid Tea-Scented. The
separation of these hybrids from the parent group has not
been made too soon, althoucfh I think some varieties that

192 Grouping of Garden Varieties of Roses.

have been placed here might have remained with the
"Tea-Scented" and others have been placed with the
" Hybrid Perpetuals." They are hybrids between indi-
viduals of these groups, and are not always a distinct
departure from one or the other parent. We gain some-
thing in constancy of flowering by this cross, but the
offspring is often susceptible to injury by frost.

Section XIV.

Group XL. — The Musk Rose. Interesting from the
peculiar odour of the flowers, and as the parent on one
side of the " Noisette " Roses.

Group XLI. — The Noisette Rose. The original
varieties of this group produced their flowers in immense
clusters, a peculiarity which does not distinguish the
modern kinds. It was a pleasing and distinct feature,
which ought not to be allowed to slip away. Many of the
modern kinds are hybrids of the " Tea-Scented," and are
not so hardy as the original " Noisette."

Group XLI I. — The Noisette Perpetual. These are
selected from the group " Hybrid Perpetual," on account
of flowering in clusters, they are hardy, and although not
large enough for show Roses are extremely pretty in the
garden.

Section XV.

Group XLI II. — The Ayrshire Perpetual. This group
is made for the convenience of one autumn-flowering
" Ayrshire Rose — Madame Viviand Morel."

Section XVI.
Group XLIV. — The Polyantha Perpetual. These
Roses are so novel in character, and so beautiful — " Perle
d'Or" for example — that one could dwell long on their
charms. They seem to be hardy and free-flowering, and
will no doubt soon rise into a large and important group.
The flowers are small, hundreds of them sometimes
clusterincr on a sinele stem.

Grouping of Garden Varieties of Roses. 193

With this group I conclude my task. This is the way
in which I would group the garden Roses of the present
day. But I believe great alterations and improvements
lie before us in the future. To those who are engaged in
the floricultural development of the Rose, I would say, do
not depend too much on following the beaten track, as the
result of doing so will be too great a resemblance in your
acquisitions. I have thrown away scores of good seedlino-
Roses because I thought they bore too close a resemblance
to pre-existing kinds. The raiser of seedlings should
endeavour to break new ground, strike out new combina-
tions by bringing the hitherto uncultivated species into his
arrangements, and it is reasonable to suppose that in
dealing with them in the present as with others in the past
he will ultimately be richly awarded.

I

ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF HYBRID
PEEPETUAL ROSES.

\^F?-pin " The Gardeners' Magazine^'' July i,ih 1891, /^. 396.]

DO not think it is possible to say when the first
Hybrid Perpetual Rose sprang into existence. It is
much easier to speak as to the origin of the group. It is
descended from the Four Seasons Rose (R. damascena)
through the Damask Perpetual on the one side, and the
Gallica, Hybrid China, Bourbon, and almost every other
group on the other side. If we go back to the year 1812,
when the Rose du Roi was raised in the gardens of St
Cloud, near Paris, we shall find in that variety a marked
divergence from all pre-existing kinds, and the compilers
of catalogues of that day must have been puzzled where to
place it. Apparently a hybrid between the Damask
Perpetual and the Gallica, it was grouped with the former
because it produced flowers in the autumn. In the
M

194 Development of Hybrid Perpetual Roses.

"Nomenclature du genre Rosier" of M. de Pronville
(Paris, i8i8), the R. damascena perpetua (Four Seasons)
is spoken of as still rare in our gardens, but there were
then at least three other varieties of it known under the
names of R. portlandica bifera, bifera, and bifera alba,
M. Vibert's catalogue of Roses of 1820 offers eleven
varieties of Four Seasons Roses, among which is Palmyre,
raised in 1817, and following, except in point of colour, the
Rose du Roi. These, and later on a few others, might
have been called Hybrid Perpetuals. But there was no
such class then. The Rose du Roi, in a catalogue of eight
hundred and thirty one varieties, was classed as a Hybrid
Gallica. There were Damask Perpetual Roses, and plenty
of them, more than iifty years ago, and they differed so
much in appearance that they formed a very incongruous
group ; still in a comprehensive Rose catalogue of 1837
now before me, there is no such group as Hybrid Per-
petual !

Matters horticultural moved slowly then. But there
was soon to be a general awakening in regard to the
improvement of garden flowers, and certain keen-eyed
reasoning horticulturists saw in the marked, although slow
development of the Rose, a new field in which they might
enter and work with brilliant prospects of success. New
varieties were consequently appearing in greater numbers
every year, but they were for a time still classed with the
Damask Perpetuals, although getting further and further
away from the first forms of that group. So late as the
year 1840, there was no group recognised as Hybrid
Perpetual, although amongst perpetuals were ranked three
evident hybrids, Rose du Roi, Bernard, and De Neuilly, the
two former allied to the Damask Perpetuals, and the latter
approaching more closely to the group Bourbon. In 1844
was published " La Rose," &c., by J. L. A Loisleleur
Deslongchamps, in which "Roses Perpetuelles remontantes"
figure as a separate group by the side of Damask Per-
petuals. These and others form the group of "hybrides

Development of Hybrid Perpetual Roses. 195

remontantes" of the French, and Hybrid Perpetual of the
English catalogues. The earliest of these were Du Roi,
Antinous, Belle Faber, Bernard, De Neuilly, D'Esquermes,
Due d'Enghien, Josephine Antoinette, La Mienne, Palmyre,
Requien, &c., and a little later on appeared Aubernon,
Baronne Prevost, Duchess of Sutherland, Lady Alice Peel,
La Reine, Louis Bonaparte, Madame Laffay, Mrs Elliot,
William Jesse, and some twenty others, all introduced
before 1846. Onwards from this date the novelties kept
increasing in number yearly, till sometimes as many as one
hundred new names appeared in a single year. Monsieur
Laffay, of Bellevue, near Paris, was the largest and most
successful raiser, but there were others as MM. Verdier,
Portemer, Guerin, Duval, Vibert, Guillot, and Lacharme,
who helped on the development. The favourite seed-
bearers with M. Laffay were for a long time Hybrid Chinas
and Hybrid Bourbons, crossed with the Bourbon and
Damask Perpetual, and the divergence of the offspring on
these two lines became year by year more strongly marked.
But M. Laffay did not restrict himself for any length
of time to these lines, using step by step almost every
popular form of the flower with the view of development,
hybrids of the Moss Rose being perhaps the rriost
original and distinct of his later gains. The de-
velopment of this group (Hybrid Perpetual) over the last
forty years is no doubt in the memory of many
of your readers. The group has now been so long
popular, and so many have been working to improve it,
that we may find among its various members traces of
almost every floricultural group into which the genus
Rosa stands divided. Most distinctly do we see traces
of the Moss Rose (Perpetual Moss), the Provence, the
Alba, the Noisette, the Bourbon, and Tea-Scented. In
dealing with the latter (Tea-Scented) the late Mr Henry
Bennett, of Shepperton, has been perhaps the most suc-
cessful operator. His earliest varieties, although distinct,
were not possessed of any marked excellence, but as time

196 Development of Hybrid Perpetual Roses.

went on he attained results which have given pleasure to
thousands of cultivators, and should long keep his memory-
green.

It will be expected that I should say something about
my own efforts in the development of Hybrid Perpetual
Roses. My objects from the first were to widen the range
of colour in the flower and strengthen the constitution of
•the plant. Later on the advancement of every feature of
the flower towards a fixed ideal took possession of me, and
for this I worked. Some of the results have been long
before the world, and it is not for me to pass an opinion
on them.

As to the future, I am of the opinion that an immense
deal may yet be done in the development of this lovely
group by cross-breeding. It is impossible to say, except
after actual experiment, what can and what cannot be
done. It is, however, sufficiently reasonable to suppose
that the various groups will intermix, almost without
limit, to justify a certain expenditure of time in making
the experiment.

SEEDLING KOSES.

[FfOfft " T/ie Gardeners' Magazine^'' indjuly 1S92,/. 363.]

I HAVE often wondered that our Rose amateurs do
not engage more frequently in the raising of Seed-
ling Roses. It is a most fascinating employment, and one
which the man of leisure might be content to call profit-
able. Leisure for reflection, and also leisure for planning
and acting, are, however, a sine qua 71011 of success, and
hence the grower of Roses for sale, with the constant calls
on his time and the difficulty of securing uninterrupted
leisure, finds it hard to follow as a matter of profit. Once
during my life I gave up a summer's holiday of some
weeks, and during the whole of the time did nothing but

Seedling Roses. 197

cross Roses. What pleasures of castle-building arose in
my mind as I saw the seed ripening, and the seedlings
which resulted from this and that cross springing into life.
Some things foreshadowed were actually realised, and I
gained, or thought I gained, in addition, a valuable insight
into some of the hidden workings of plant nature. Well,
it was a real pleasure, and those who can afford or may be
inclined to work for pleasure may here find a reasonable
amount of it.

To begin at the beginning, select a good number of
seed-bearing sorts, and if one cannot pursue this work in
a glass-house, it is well to place the plants in a warm soil
and sunny situation out of doors. As, however, our
autumns in England are not always long enough or warm
enough to ripen the seed of Roses perfectly out of doors,
it is better to grow the plants under glass in beds or pots
to bloom in May. By this means an extra month is
obtained to aid in the process of ripening, and that month
is June, when there is usually some warm and sunny
weather. Here are a dozen free-seeding Roses which I
should judge eligible as seed bearers — Moss, Celina ; H.P.
Jean Cherpin, Madame Victor Verdier, Duke of Edinburgh,
Victor Verdier, Henry Schultheis, Madame Vidot (indoors
only); Austrian, Harrisonii ; H.B. Coupe d'Hebe, Paul
Ricaut ; Bourbon, Baron Gonella ; T. Marechal Niel (in-
doors only) ; and H.T. White Lady.

Before commencing work we ought to have a pre-
arranged plan — some definite object or objects in view —
and work for their achievement. For instance, if we
want Moss Roses with flowers as handsome and sym-
metrical as the Hybrid Perpetuals, the union of the best
individuals of each group may be sought for. If we want
a Hybrid Perpetual Rose with leaves scented like those
of the Sweet Brier, varieties from these two groups may
be brought together. There would seem no bounds to
the variety of crosses that might be effected, but to con-
ceive and obtain somethino- that would " take" with the

198 Seedling Roses.

Rose-loving world would likely result in the most profit
to the operator.

It is well to remove the stamens from the flowers
of the seed-bearing plants about to be crossed before
they shed their pollen, and we should hardly call it super-
fluous work to enclose such flowers in a small canvas bag
after fertilisation.

When the seed pods of Roses begin to swell, and up
to the time of ripening, the soil, whether in beds or pots,
should be kept regularly and fairly moist; too wet or too
dry a soil is equally prejudicial to the perfect development
of the seed. The seed pods should likewise be left on the
plants till thoroughly ripe. When gathered they may be
sown at once or stored in sand and sown in February. It
was formerly my practice to sow out of doors, but I have
recently sown in beds under glass on account of the depre-
dations of mice and birds (greenfinches especially). Most
of the seeds, but not all, germinate the first year. Close
watch must be kept for mildew from the time the seed-
lings rise, and careful watering must be attended to.
Some will flower in a month or two, but these are not
often of any value as they are of weakly constitution.
The majority will flower when one, two, or three years
old, but some not till even a later period.

It is reasonable to assume that the flowering will be
closely watched, and any varieties that please should be
marked and budded on the brier stock as soon as sound
healthy buds can be obtained. When flowering on this
stock a year after being budded one will be able to judge
pretty accurately of the value of his acquisitions, and
can continue to propagate them if he think them worthy
of it.

Town Roses. 199

TOWN EOSES.

[From " TJie Jour7tal of Horticulture" July jth 1892,^. 6.]

SO much has been written on Roses of late that one
feels it almost necessary to offer an apology for
taking up the pen to add to the already abundant litera-
ture on the subject, and yet day by day we receive letters
seeking information on various points in Rose culture,
which show that the writers have not met with the infor-
mation they stand in need of or have failed to understand
it. The most numerous queries that reach us relate to
the management of Roses in and around large towns, and
to that phase of the subject I propose at the present
moment to give my attention.

Even in and around large towns the disadvantages
which vegetable life have to contend with vary to a
considerable extent. Dense smoke is not always the
most inimical of these. The existence of certain chemical
works filling the air with the noxious vapours they exhale
are often more pernicious. We have known Roses and
other plants prosper fairly well amidst dust and smoke,
but succumb rapidly after the working of a manufactory'
of chemicals. If the latter exist extensively, and the
consequences of the mischief they produce cannot be
modified by scientific or other means, we fear the culti-
vation of Roses within their influence will give little
satisfaction. But mere smoke, the smoke rising from the
consumption of ordinary coke and coal, unless in unusual
quantities, may be met and negatived to more or less
extent by proceedings which, if costly, may yet compen-
sate for the trouble and expense incurred.

In very smoky districts we would not recommend the
cultivation of Roses otherwise than under glass. A span-
roofed house, the slopes facing east and west, the top
lights removeable, is recommended for this purpose. It
should be heated with 4-inch pipes, and the plants may be

200 Town Roses.

either planted in beds or kept in pots. In districts less
smoky the plants may be placed in beds or borders out
of doors. As in both cases it is the pursuit of Rose
growing under difficulties, no point should be missed that
is likely to minimise the existing disadv^antages. A good
soil should be secured for them to grow in, A careful
regulation of the temperature and moisture should be
secured for the plants indoors, and shelter in spring and
winter be provided for those out of doors. Cleanliness is
in both cases very important. Not only keeping the
plants free from insects by smoking or washing, but keep-
ing the leaves free from sediments of various kinds should
be sedulously attended to. A good syringe is an indispens-
able instrument for this purpose, and a solution of soft-
soap and quassia forms an excellent wash. Never allow
dirt of any kind to remain settled on the leaves, nor allow
any insects to rest there long enough to look upon the
plants as a home.

Perhaps one of the greatest mistakes made when
about to grow Roses in smoky and other unfavourable
districts is in an unfortunate or injudicious choice of plants
and sorts. Free-breathing Roses are wanted for smoky
districts, as free-rooting Roses are wanted for heavy soils.
But little attention has hitherto been paid to these dis-
tinctions, although the practical cultivator knows how
important they are. First let me offer a list of sorts
that appear most likely to flourish in and around large
towns.

Fifty Roses for Very Smoky Districts, to be
Grown Under Glass.

Moss. — Crimson Globe and Zenobia.

Hybrid China, &c. — Charles Lawson, Chenedole, Coupe
d'H6b^, Paul Perras, Paul Ricaut, and Paul Verdier.

Hybrid Perpetual. — Albert la Blotais, Alphonse
Soupert, Anna Alexieff, Anna de Diesbach, Baroness
Rothschild, Boule de Neige, Captain Christy, Charles

Town Roses. 201

Dickens, Charles Lamb, Countess of Rosebery, Countess
of Oxford, Crown Prince, Dupuy Jamain, Edward Morren,
Elizabeth Vigneron, Ella Gordon, General Jacqueminot,
Heinrich Schultheis, Inigo Jones, Jean Rosenkrantz, John
Hopper, Jules Margottin, La France, Madame Cesar
Brunier, Madame Clemence Joigneaux, Magna Charta,
Marchioness of Lome, Merveille de Lyon, Mrs John
Laing, Paul Neyron, Pride of Waltham, Ulrich Brunner,
Victor Verdier, and Violette Bouyer.

Noisette. — Bouquet d'Or.

Tea- Scented and Hybrids, — Cheshunt Hybrid, Climbing
Niphetos, Gloire de Dijon, Madame Berard, The Bride,
Sunset, and White Lady.

Fifty Roses for Less Smoky Districts, for Beds
OR Borders Out of Doors.

Moss. — Baron de Wassenaer and Captain Ingram.

Damask. — La Ville de Bruxelles.

A Iba. — Celestial.

Gallica. — Cynthie, Duchess of Buccleuch, Ohl, and
Surpasse Tout.

Rugosa. — Mme. Georges Bruant.

Perpetual Scotch. — Stan well.

Hybrid Perpetual. — Alphonse Soupert, Anna Alexieff,
Antoine Mouton, Baroness Rothschild, Boule de Neige,
Centifolia Rosea, Coquette des Blanches, Dr Andry, Duke
of Edinburgh, Gabriel Tournier, Garden Favourite,
General Jacqueminot, Gloire de Margottin, Glory of
Waltham, Hippolyte Jamain, Jean Cherpin, La Duchesse
de Morny, La France de '89, Lord Bacon, IMrne. Isaac
Pereire, Magna Charta, Mrs John Laing, Paul Neyron,
Prince Arthur, Princess Louise Victoria, and Prosper
Laugier.

Bourbon. — Madame Baron Veillard, Madame Desprez,
Robusta, Sir J. Paxton, and Souvenir de Malmaison.

Noisette. — Aim^e Vibert, Celine Forestier, Revc d'Or,
and William Allen Richardson.

202 Town Roses.

Tea-Scented and Hybrids. — Gloire de Dijon, Grace
Darling, Pink Rover, Reine Marie Henriette, and
Waltham Climber.

Thus far of sorts. We have still a few words to say
with regard to the selection of plants. Above all things
avoid plants that have been made tender by the employ-
ment of excessive heat. In May of this year we were m
a house of young Roses where the thermometer stood at
96° in the shade at half-past six o'clock in the evening.
The grower very truly said " that was the way to make
them grow." But is it the way to produce plants that
will flourish in the future under the ordinary conditions of
plant life? We think not. What sort of men and women
should we expect our children to become if in their
infancy they were coddled in this manner? Again, we
have heard of plants from the north of Britain recom-
mended on the ground that " they are hardier than those
brought up in the south." This is a fallacy. The ripening
of the wood is, as all experienced persons know, the true
test of hardiness, and the shoots of Roses are not likely
to ripen better in the north than in the south. Once
more, plants that are overfed for the purpose of getting
large and fat flowers for exhibition, and plants that are
underfed through indolence or greed of gain, are equally
objectionable. Everywhere, and always, but in town
gardening especially, the purchaser should look for mode-
rate well-ripened wood when purchasing his Roses ; he
would do so if about to purchase Grape Vines or Peach
trees, and this state of the wood is as important in the one
case as in the others.

Part IL
TREES AND PLANTS.

NOTES ON THE VAEIETIES OF COMMON YEW
(Taxus baccata).

[From ^'•Proceedings of the Royal Horticidliiral Society"
March 1861, Vol. I., p. 491].

AS many of our favourite evergreens hitherto reputed
. hardy have been seriously damaged or destroyed
by the last winter's frost, we turn with increased interest
to those which remain to us uninjured. Bays, evergreen
Oaks, Arbutus, Euonymus, Laurustinus, Common Laurels,
Cypress, and in some cases, Portugal Laurels, are killed.
Araucarias, Deodaras, and some other South American
and Indian beauties have in many places complexions as
brown as ground rhubarb ; Phillyreas and more hardy
evergreens are stripped of their leaves. But our native
plant the Common Yew is safe ; none of the varieties have
a leaf injured in this valley of the Lea, where the thermo-
meter on Christmas Day i860 was 5 degrees below zero.

The Common Yew is no doubt well known to every
observer, but perhaps the numerous and beautiful forms
which have descended from it are as yet strangers to the
many. It is these varieties which I would now attempt to
describe. They are many in number, beautiful in appear-
ance, and vary greatly among themselves. Neat, graceful,
elegant, picturesque, sombre, massive, grand, are terms
which may be appropriately used to one or the other of
them.

204 Notes on the Varieties of Common Yew.

It is my present intention to look at them from one
point of vaew only, and that a popular one — their value as
ornamental trees in garden scenery — and so regarded, they
seem to fall naturally into four groups, viz. : —

Group I. — Varieties of a spreading habit, of which the
Common Yew is the type.

Group II. — Varieties of a pyramidal or columnar habit,
of which the Irish Yew is the type.

Group III. — Varieties of weeping habit.

Group IV. — Varieties zvitJi variegated foliage:

Group I. — Varieties of spreading habit.

1. T. baccata. Common Yew.

2. T. b. frnctic-luteo, the yellow-berried Yew. This is
one of the most elegant ; the pulp surrounding the seed is
of a dull yellow colour instead of red, as in the ordinary
kind. The growth is vigorous ; the leaves are of a very
pleasing green medium tint.

3. T. b. nigra. This is a striking plant, of bold and
rather varied growth ; the leaves are of a bluish or
blackish-green. It flowers abundantly, and is very effective
in the landscape, forming a somewhat sombre but grand
and massive tree.

4. T. b. procumbe7is, forms a huge spreading bush ;
leaves bright green, the plant looked at as a whole having
a reddish appearance.

Group II. — Varieties of pyramidal or columnar habit.

5. T. b. fastigiata, the Irish or Florence Court Yew, is
a plant of rigid growth, columnar in form, leaves dark
green. This plant is too familiar to require an extended
notice, although very useful in formal gardening. Seeds
of this variety produce for the most part the common Yew,
but some vary in form and tint.

6. T. b. cheshuntensis is a very graceful variety, of
pyramidal growth, the leaves small and closely set on the

Notes on the Varieties of Common Yew. 205

branches ; the colour is of a bright glossy green. It
appears to stand midway between the Common and Irish
Yew, but is less formal than the latter, and grows twice
as fast. This variety was raised by me some years ago
from the seeds of the Irish Yew.

7. T. b. pyramidalis. This variety resembles cJieshiuit-
ensis in outward form; the leaves are, however, broader
and shorter, and the bark of the young shoots reddish.

8. T. b. nidpathensis, the Nidpath Yew, resembles
ckeshunie?isis in the leaf, branch, and colour of the
foliage, but is of stififer growth, being columnar rather
than pyramidal in habit, with a disposition to spread at
the top.

9. T. b. stricta is similar to the preceding, but with
smaller and paler green leaves ; it is almost as erect as
the Irish Yew, and forms a compact dense tree. This
is a seedling from the Irish Yew, raised from the same
batch as chesJmntensis.

10. T. b. Tiana is a neat plant of dwarf habit and
compact upright growth, the leaves of a dark and more
glossy green than the Common Yew. It appears equally
suitable for a single tree on the lawn, for planting in
masses, for the shrubbery, or for a dwarf hedge in a
geometrical garden. This also is one of my seedlings
raised from the Irish Yew.

11. T. b. erecta is similar to the preceding, but of larger
growth, although with smaller leaves.

12. T. b. erecta Croivderi, the variety recently brought
under notice by Mr Crowder, of Horncastle, is of compact
pyramidal growth, and approaches more nearly to erecta
than to any other, but has smaller branches, and will pro-
bably not grow to so large a size. It appears of more
regular growth than erecta, and may perhaps be con-
sidered an improved variety of it.

13. T. b. ericoides (empetrifolia) is an interesting and
neat little plant of dwarf growth, closely set with branches ;
the leaves are small, the bark reddish.

2o6 Notes on the Varieties of Common Yew.

Group III. — Varieties of zueeping habit.

14. T. b. Dovastonii is a weeping variety, somewhat
picturesque, the branches shooting horizontally to some
distance from the main stem, and drooping at their points.
The foliage is ample, of a dull dark green.

15. T. b. Jacksonii is a distinct and elegant weeping
variety, with small light green leaves somewhat curled.

16. T. b. reciirvata is a handsome variety, with leaves
of a pale dull green. The habit is diffuse, rather drooping,
the leaves curled in the same way as in Picea nobilis.

Group IV. — Varieties zvith variegated foliage.

17. T. b. variegata, the Golden Yew, is a well-known
plant of great beauty, well suited for planting in masses,
and relieving the monotony of large surfaces of green.
The gardens at Elvaston Castle derived some of their
celebrity from the artistic working up of quantities of this
beautiful tree in contrast with the darker shades of green.
I have heard it said, on good authority, that the Golden
Yew is a male plant, but as I have seeded it, I strongly
suspect that there are two or more varieties of too close
an external resemblance to be distinguished. This sup-
position is strengthened by the fact that the offspring
from seed retain the variegation of the parent, though
differing slightly among themselves.

18. T. h. elegantissinia is paler in colour, and of more
erect and uniform growth than the last mentioned. Both
these varieties, if grown entirely in the shade, quickly be-
come green, but regain their golden appearance on re-
exposure to the sun. They make handsome formal plants
when worked standard high on the Irish or common
Yew.

19. T. b. ''silver variegated" is a seedling from the
Golden Yew, but which I never thought sufficiently dis-
tinct or attractive to merit a name.

Notes on the Varieties of Common Yew. 207

20. T. b. fastigiata ^-ar^V^^/rt, the variegated Irish Yew,
is a sport from the Irish Yew, with occasional silver leaves.
The plant is of slow growth, and still scarce, but it is hardly
striking enough to become a general favourite.

[In addition to the above I should now (1892) recom-
mend T. Dovastoni aiirea ; T. japonica aiirea ; T. gracilis
pendiila, and T. f. foliis anreis.]

NOTES ON THE VARIETIES OF ENGLISH
HOLLY (Ilex aquifolium).

[From " Proceedi)igs of the Royal Horticultural Society^''
April 1863, vol. Hi., p. no.

THE English Holly {Ilex Aqtdfolitmi) is a plant
well-known to every lover of nature. In Lindley's
" Vegetable Kingdom" it is placed between the genera
Cassine and Prinos, in the natural order of Aquifoliaceae,
or Hollyworts.

It is not, however, my intention to enter the domain of
the botanist ; that were a work of supererogation, as the
characteristics of the genus and species are already clearly
set forth in various botanical publications. My business
is with the varieties of the English species only, which
have been raised from seed by the cultivator, or have
come to us by what are known in the horticultural world
as freaks or sports of nature. Here, as with the varieties
of English Yew, which I was privileged to bring under
your notice a short time since (see " Proceedings of the
Royal Horticultural Society," vol. i., page 491). I hope
to render some service to horticulture by arranging and
describing, if not all, at least the most proviinent members
of this charming family. I do not indeed pretend to in-
clude all the varieties, as the differences are in some cases
so slight that it seems undesirable to perpetuate them.

The Holly is not geographically confined to Britain,

2o8 Notes on the Varieties of English Holly.

but extends throughout the middle and south of Europe.
The tree is, however, more beautiful, grows more vigor-
ously, and attains to a larger size in Great Britain and
Ireland than in any Continental country that I have
visited, owing, no doubt, to the moist climate which our
insular position secures to us. It may be difficult to
decide which is the handsomest, the original form with
its rich green leaves and scarlet berries, or the numerous
variations of green, gold, and silver ; but any one of them
would be sufficient to place it in the very foremost rank of
English evergreens.

In the second edition of Duhamel's treatise on hardy
trees and shrubs, it is remarked — " After the Pines the
Holly is the only evergreen tree indigenous in northern
climates which adorns the forest during winter. In that
drear season, when all others appear dead, it stands forth
an image of life, and rejoices the heart of the observer of
nature ; in sunshine its brilliant leaves reflect the feeble
solar rays, and in gloom they make a charming contrast
with the dead-leaf colour of the Beech, which is often
found in company with it." I heartily adopt the language
of Duhamel, and add that we have no evergreen shrub at
all comparable with the Holly for usefulness, variety, and
beauty. The Holly forms an admirable single tree or
group of trees, alike appropriate on lawns or in woods and
hedgerows. It is also the densest and warmest of hedge-
plants, though of slow growth in comparison with the
Hawthorn. It is again invaluable as an undergrowth in
plantations and preserves.

There is a fine group of the original English Holly
growing nearly opposite the entrance to Panshanger, near
Hertford, a seat of the Earl Cowper, and numberless fine
specimens may be seen in the hedges of that district. I
have observed two distinct forms of the wild Holly growing
in the Hertfordshire lanes, the one prickly, the other
smooth, the latter growing more vigorously and becoming
the larger tree. Perhaps it may be the latter that Southey

Notes on the Varieties of English Holly. 209

alludes to in his elegant poem " The Holly Tree," when he
says : —

" Below a circling fence its leaves are seen

Wrinkled and keen,
No grazing cattle through their prickly round,

Can reach to wound ;
But as they grow where nothing is to fear.
Smooth and unarmed the pointless leaves appear."

It may seem ungracious to throw a doubt on so charming
a fantasy, and my opportunities of observation have not
been sufficiently extended to allow me to speak decidedly,
but as far as I Jiave observed, the evidence is not conclu-
sively in favour of Southey's view.

Many exquisite pictures of Holly and Hawthorn
carelessly intertwined exist in Epping Forest, and they
are scarcely less lovely when the Hawthorn is in blossom
than when the Holly is in berry. The Holly hedges at
Tyninghame, in Scotland, planted about 1705 by Thomas,
sixth Earl of Haddington, have attained a world-wide
celebrity. They are 2952 yards in length, from 16 to 25
feet in height, and from 14 to 17 feet broad at the base.
Mr Lees, the intelligent gardener there, informs me that
they are clipped annually in April. The soil is a fine deep
yellow loam, resting on gravel. A clipped Holly hedge
near one of my nurseries here was once a source of attrac-
tion to every passer-by. Though now neglected, it
originally formed a dense, impenetrable fence, inaccessible
to birds, and impregnable to those boys to whom palings,
walls, and ordinary fences offer difficulties, tempting even
for the pleasure of overcoming them.

The common green Holly is propagated by seeds
gathered at Christmas, stored in heaps, and sown in light
sandy soil the autumn following. The varieties do not
reproduce themselves true from seed, and are consequently
increased by cuttings, layers, budding, and grafting. From
a large sowing of the berries of variegated Holly once
made in these nurseries only one plant reproduced the
N

2IO Notes on the Varieties of English Holly.

variegation, the, others reverted to the type. Some years
ago I met with a beautiful Holly with broad prickly
leaves in the Botanic Gardens of Edinburgh, which the
late Mr M'Nab informed me was raised from the Ilex
perado, hybridised with the English Holly.

In a recent correspondence with Mr James M'Nab,
he obligingly furnished me with leaves of several seedlings
still growing there raised from the I. perado, supposed to
be fertilised with the English Holly, a large flowering
plant of which was growing in the immediate vicinity. It
is interesting to note the variation of these seedlings.
Not one has the smooth entire leaves of the female parent
(/. perado)^ but all bear more or less resemblance to the
English Holly. One is scarcely distinguishable from the
latter ; another has almost ovate leaves ; a third, large
broad leaves 3 to 4 inches in diameter ; while the young
shoots of a fourth are of a purplish hue. Some of these
varieties are reported to be less hardy than the English
Holly, which unfortunately diminishes their value for cold
exposed situations.

It is worthy of remark that the green varieties seem
in many cases to repeat themselves as to form in both a
gold and silver dress ; and I willingly indulge the hope
that at no distant period some at least of those splendid
acquisitions of modern times, as /. latifolia and /. tarajo,
may, by the skill of the hybridiser or cultiyator, or by
some natural freak, be brought to assume distinctly varie-
gated forms.

Loudon observes (Arb. et Fruit. Brit., p. 506) that the
collections of Hollies in the time of Miller appear from
his lists to have been more extensive, and to have been
attended to with much more care than they are at present.
There are fine specimens of the Gold Holly at the Grange,
Hoddesdon, the residence of the Rev. C. G. Chittenden,
growing on a gravelly soil, three of which are the variety
known as the " Old Gold," while the fourth is the "Golden
Queen." Previous to the winter of 1860-61 these and two

Notes on the Varieties of English Holly. 211

of the Silver variety formed the most perfect living pyra-
mids imaginable, averaging 30 feet in height, their lower
branches sweeping the ground. The Silvers were killed
by that winter ; the Golds, although much injured, are
gradually recovering. There is still a magnificent pyra-
mid of the Silver Holly, probably matchless for size and
beauty, growing on the lawn at the Misses Harman's,
Theobalds, near Waltham Cross. It is '40 feet in height,
and 30 feet in diameter at the base, and each year is
literally covered with berries. The soil here is sand or
gravel, the sub-soil clay.

There exists a difference of opinion as to the best
season for transplanting Hollies. Some say transplant
in summer, immediately after the first growth ; others
say early in autumn ; and others again late in spring.
Now, I have transplanted with success at all these
seasons, but am in favour of early autumn or late spring,
attaching great importance to the adherence of soil to
the roots, and looking for more complete success if the
weather is showery at the time, and immediately after the
work is done. The Holly in a young state likes the
shade, and flourishes most in a rich sandy loam that is
tolerably dry ; it is, however, less particular in this respect
than many trees.

With these preliminary remarks I shall proceed to
arrange and describe the principal varieties : —

ILEX AQUIFOLIUM. L. (The Common Holly).

A. — Leaves Green.
I. Green Hollies, resembling the 4. Long-leaved green

type

2. Broad-leaved green

3. Blunt-leaved green, smooth or

almost smooth

1. Gold-blotched

2. Long-leaved gold edged

(rt) Prickly {b) Smooth

{a) Prickly {b) Smooth

5. Small-leaved dwarf green

6. Curled-leaved green

7. Broad-spined green

B. — Leaves variegated.

3. Broad-leaved gold-edged

4. Silver-l)lotched

5. Silver-edged

212 Notes on the Varieties of English Holly.

A.— LEAVES GREEN.
Group I. — Green Hollies resembling the type.

1. Ilex Aquifolium. — This must be considered as the
progenitor of those which are to follow, and is too well
known to need description. Its dominant feature consists
in the dark glossy green leaves of elliptical outline, armed
with long spiny teeth, and very much undulated at the
margin. The offspring are in some few instances hybrid-
ised with other species, but in the majority of cases they
are mere variations from seed or sports of nature.

2. I. A. pendula. — This beautiful variety resembles the
parent except that it is of drooping growth. It forms the
handsomest of all pendulous evergreen trees, and bears
berries as freely as the type.

3 LA. fructti- aurantiaco — The orange-berried Holly
also resembles the type, except that it bears orange-
coloured instead of red berries, and is highly ornamental.

4. LA. fructii liifeo. — Yellow-berried, has paler foliage
and berries than the preceding, and is altogether of a
smoother aspect ; a beautiful tree.

5. /. A. compacta. — Forms a closer and denser bush
than the common sort, with shorter and thicker leaves, and
scarcely rises into a tree.

6. /. A. Handsworthiana. — Similar to the preceding,
but of larger growth with longer leaves.

Group II. — Broad-leaved green.

7. LA.Beetii. — Leaves broad, much waved. A shining-
leaved, smooth-looking sort, having somewhat the aspect
of Ilex cornuta.

8. /. A. Foxii. — Leaves larger in every part, and darker
in colour than the preceding. A compact, good-looking

sort.

9. L. A. hyhrida. — Leaves and shoots more erect than
in the two previous kinds, forms a handsome pyramid, and
bears berries freely.

Notes on the Varieties of English Holly. 213

10. /. A. platyphylla. — A handsome dense bush, thickly
clothed with broad flattish leaves.

11. LA. nigrescens. — This is sometimes called Mader-
ensis nigrescens, and is no doubt a hybrid between /.
maderensis and /. Aquifolium. Leaves broad, long, smooth,
and shining. A handsome sort of vigorous growth.

12. /. A. atrovire7is. — Here is another hybrid appar-
ently from the same source, with broader, flatter, and
lighter coloured leaves than the preceding. A very fine
showy Holly.

13. LA. ShepJierdii. — Leaves very broad and prickly ;
a blackish - green tree, densely clothed. One of the
handsomest.

14. /. A. nobilis and /. A. altaclerense. — Two of the
many seedlings apparently raised from the same source as
the three preceding, but not considered sufficiently dis-
tinct to be kept apart.

Group HL — Blunt-leaved green, smooth,
or almost smooth.

15. /. A. IcEvigata. — A close growing variety of neat
aspect, with moderate sized thick fleshy leaves.

16. /. A. ovata. — Leaves oval, thick, dark green, beauti-
fully chiselled at their margin, habit close and uniform.
Invaluable as a medium sized evergreen of the richest
aspect.

17. /. A. Scotica (qy. scnrtica). — A beautiful tree with
roundish, dark, glossy leaves of a leathery consistence, occa-
sionally cupped at the points. One of the handsomest.

18. /. A. Hendersonii. — A free-growing handsome
variety with broad, almost smooth, dull, dark leaves of
the richest aspect.

19. /. A. Hodginsii. — A good useful blunt-leaved
Holly, which must not be confounded with L A. Shep-
herdii, which is sometimes miscalled Hodginsii.

214 Notes on the Varieties of English Holly.

Group IV. — Long-leaved green,
(a) Prickly.

20. /, A. Donningtoniensis. — Leaves very long, pointed,
waved, thick ; spines few and irregularly placed. This
forms a dark impenetrable bush of distinct and pleasing
aspect.

21. /. A. Smithiana. — Leaves long and flat. It forms
a graceful tree, quite distinct both from that which pre-
cedes, and that which follows it.

22. /. A. WJiittingtoniensis. — Leaves long and very
spiny.

23. /. A. heterophylla. — Leaves light green, very vari-
able both as to size and smoothness, some entirely free
from thorns, but generally prickly.

24. /. A. ciliata major. — A dark purplish green looking
kind, with long hair-like spines, leaves very glossy. One
of the best.

25. /. A. arbntifolia. — Spines close set on the edge of
the leaf, and very long. Distinct and handsome ; leaves
light green.

{b) Smooth.

26. /. A. senesce7is. — Leaves tolerably broad, shining
dark green, some almost spineless. A handsome variety
of freer growth than the type. This sort bears berries
freely and stands the smoke well.

27. /. A. FisJieri. — Leaves very large, acutely pointed,
mostly smooth. A fine showy Holly, of giant growth.

28. /. A . heterophylla major. — Leaves large, long, smooth,
pleasingly undulated, one of the best.

29. /. A. laiirifolia. — Leaves quite smooth, dark green,
growth spreading and free. An excellent sort.

Group V. — Stnall-leavcd dzvai'f green.

30. /. A. serratifolia. — Leaves small, with pale green
margins. A compact growing and very pretty sort.

Notes on the Varieties of English Holly. 215

31. /. A. angustifolia. — Leaves longer and flatter than
the preceding, and less distinctly marked at the edges.

32. /. A. ciliata. — Leaves purplish-green and shining ;
distinct and handsome.

"i^T^. I. A. niyrtifolia. — Leaves small, pale green, thickly-
set on the branches, producing an elegant dwarf bush.

34. /. A. puviila. — A very pretty dwarf Holly, with
glossy flattened leaves.

Group VL — Ciirled-leaved green.

35. LA. tortiiosa. — A dark green, spiny, curled-leaved
Holly, of dwarf growth, and very pretty.

36. /. A. crassifolia. — Leaves lighter in colour, thicker,
and more curled than the preceding. Very distinct.

37. /. A. ferox. — This, the well-known Hedgehog Holly,
is the most spiny of the tribe, and is at once distinct and
handsome.

38. /. A. recurva. — The Screw Holly is also a very
excellent variety, and highly ornamental.

Group VI L — Broad-spined green.
39 LA. latispina minor. — A small thick-leaved kind of
dwarf growth ; spines few and long.

40. /. A. inonstrosa. — A very spiny variety, quite a
curiosity from the singular contortions of the spines.
Foliage lighter green than in latispina.

41. LA. latispina. — A variety of vigorous growth, with
broad flat leaves and (ew long spines. Tlie spines of this
variety almost invariably turn outwards or downwards ;
those of the two preceding inwards or upwards.

^.—LEAVES VARLEGATED.
Group VHL — Gold-blotched.

42. /. A. Cookii. — Leaves broad and handsome, though
but faintly marked with gold. A sport from the gold
striped. The original plant is now growing at Sir W.
Cooke's, Bart., of Wheatley Hall, Doncaster.

2i6 Notes on the Varieties of English Holly.

43. /. A. reairva variegata. — Too often resembles the
common Screw Holly, but one of the handsomest when
well variegated.

44. /. A. ferox aurea. — The gold-blotched Hedgehog
Holly is a very good variety, but here, as with the pre-
ceding, there are many shades of variegation, some of
which are much handsomer than others,

45. /. A. flamniea angustifolia. — An exceedingly showy
and distinct variety. Leaves long, smooth, pleasingly
undulated, and well blotched with gold. Bears berries
freely.

46. /. A. aurea picta. — The Gold Milkmaid ; leaves
very prickly, rich gold, variously blotched.

47. /. A. picta. — Leaves large, well blotched, and very
handsome.

48. /. A. flava. — The Bronze Holly; leaves bronzy-
yellow, exceedingly rich in winter.

49. /. A. nmltispina. — Leaves green and gold, vari-
ously blotched, and very prickly. Discovered growing in
a bed of green hollies in my nurseries at Waltham Cross.

Group IX. — Long-leaved Gold-edged.

(a) Prickly.

50. /. A. aurea nana. — Leaves long, very prickly, well
edged with gold ; a beautiful compact bush, of low
growth.

51. /. A. aurea angustifolia. — Rather larger than the
preceding, and of freer growth, but not so gay.

52. LA. aurea inyrtifolia. — A fine free flat-leaved sort,
of good average colour ; very compact, and invaluable for
flower beds in winter.

53. /. A. aurea Scotica. — Leaves dark ochreous yellow;
good and distinct.

54. L. A. Walthamensis. — Leaves very long, moderately
broad, well edged with gold. One of the best; of more
erect and probably freer growth than the Golden Queen.

Notes on the Varieties of English Holly. 217

This and /. A. imdtispina are at present only in my
collection.

55. /. A. aurea miicronata. — Leaves rich medium gold.

56. /. A. aurea serrata. — A fine showy holly, but not so
densely clothed with leaves as some ; spines few.

{b) Smooth.

57. /. A, aurea Icevigata. — A fine free-growing variety,
with flat deeply-margined leaves.

58. LA. aurea pmnila. — Waterer's Gold. The leaves
are rich in colour ; an excellent low bush, of compact
growth, well clothed with foliage.

Group X. — Broad-leaved Gold-edged.

59. /. A. aurea vestita. — Not one of the gayest, but a
good useful sort, very free and hardy, and thickly set with
glossy leaves.

60. /. A. bicolor. — Leaves broad and short, well edged
with bright gold. This bears berries freely.

61. /. A. speciosa. — The Golden Queen ; the hand-
somest of the section, but does not grow so vigorously as
some.

62. /. A. aurea inarginata. — The old gold-edged, an
excellent variety, and grows very freely ; the gold margin
is however dull in comparison with that of the preceding.

63. /. A. obscura. — A good hardy free sort, the branches
closely set with leaves, edged with bronzy-gold.

Group XI. — Silver-blotched.

64. /. A. albo-picta. — The Silver Milkmaid ; a distinct
and interesting variety.

65. /. A.ferox argentea. — The Silver Hedgehog Holly,
also a good hardy sort, and forming a dense bush.

Group XH. — Silver-edged.

66. I. A. argentea angustifolia. — K fine dwarf bush,
with bright prickly leaves.

2i8 Notes on the Varieties of English Holly.

^y. I. A. argentea elegmitissinia- — Leaves long and
prickly, bright and elegant ; larger in all its proportions
than the preceding.

6^. I. A. argeyitea stricta. — Leaves flat, well edged,
growth erect ; forms a fine pyramid.

69. /. A. argentea longifolia. — The Hands worth New
Silver-striped ; leaves very long, well edged ; a first-class
sort.

70. /. A. lucida. — The Silver Queen ; leaves broadly
margined with silver ; the gayest of the group.

71. LA. arge?itea latifolia. — Leaves almost round, well
edged ; growth compact.

72. /, A. albo-marginata. — Leaves large broad dark
shining green ; very handsome, and grows to a large size.

'j}^. I. A. albo-niarginata pendula. — This is similar to
the preceding, but of a beautiful pendulous habit.

Several of the above have been raised or introduced
by Messrs Fisher, Holmes, & Co., of the Handsworth
Nurseries, near Sheffield, and I am indebted to that
eminent firm for the opportunity of exhibiting the follow-
ing varieties, lent to me for the occasion : — atirea myrti-
folia, latispina minor, d^r\d piimila.

I have only to add that, in my opinion, the most
ornamental of these varieties are — of the green-leaved
section : pendula, fructu luteo, Beetii, platyphylla, atro-
virens, Shepherdii, ovata, Scotica, Hendersonii, Donning-
toniensis, Smithiana, ciliata major, senescens, Fisheri,
heterophylla major, laurifolia, angustifolia, ciliata, myrti-
folia, tortuosa, ferox, and recurva ; and of the variegated-
leaved section : recurva variegata, ferox aurea, flammea
angustifolia, aurea picta, flava, aurea nana, aurea myrti-
folia, Walthamensis, aurea serrata, aurea pumila, bicolor,
speciosa, argentea angustifolia, argentea elegantissima,
argentea stricta, argentea longifolia, lucida, and albo-
marginata.

Landscape Gardening. 219

LANDSCAPE aARDENING.

\_From " The Gardeners' Chronicle" Leading Article, August i^h
1864,/. 770.]

SOME one has noted as a characteristic of the pre-
sent age its tendency to diffusion, expansion, and
universahty. Horticulture and Landscape Gardening,
quiet professions as they are, are nevertheless influenced
by this onward movement. Horticulture is rapidly be-
coming a science built on the solid and secure foundation
of the physiologist's labours in the field of vegetable
anatom}-. Landscape Gardening, roused and excited by
the progress of the sister arts, and aided by the introduc-
tions of modern travellers and hybridists, has entered
on a new era, and embraces a field wide as it is fertile,
and one in which the most industrious and gifted may
find ample scope for the exercise of his ingenuity and
taste.

Time was when Landscape Gardening had but few
professors, and the materials with which they had to
work were limited in the extreme. Hew would Brown
and Repton, Price and Gilpin, have rejoiced over the
trees, shrubs, and plants which their successors have at
their disposal ? Readily accessible by hundreds and
thousands, in a condition to produce immediate effect,
and at a price which recent improvements in the art of
propagation have made marvellously low, we can only
imagine what would have been the effect of England's
landscapes now had these things been accessible in their
day.

But while modern landscape gardeners revel amidst
the wealth and variety of these later times, they should
not forget that the happier days in which they work
entail upon them increased responsibilities. And while
reminding them of this fact, we cannot but record here

220 Landscape Gardening.

our conviction that they have not hitherto sufficiently
availed themselves of the treasures recently brought
within their reach. If they are acquainted with them,
they have not shown the alacrity displayed in other
branches of art in availing themselves of their aid ; if
they are not, it is surely an important part of their
business to study and master them. We predict that he
who shall first do this, and display in good taste the
almost infinite variety in form and tint now existing
among trees and shrubs will not only obtain for his
profession a higher rank, but win for himself the best
position in it.

Familiar acquaintance with many of the leading
gardens and estates in England compels us to say that the
great want in the landscape is variety. There is a
monotony in form and colour that should be, and must be
corrected. Why indeed should it not .' There is no lack
of materials. As to form, there are spreading, columnar,
and weeping, large-leaved and small-leaved trees in
abundance. As to colour, there are light green, dark
green, silver, gold, and purple trees, shrubs and plants ad
infinitum^ to say nothing of the varied tints of spring,
and the changing hues of autumn. When planting an
estate or garden these objects, or the best of them, should
be so chosen and arranged as to heighten the beauty of
each other by harmony or contrast ; and convert the pre-
sent unmeaning landscape into a series of beautiful
pictures, perfect in themselves, yet sufficiently connected
to form a complete whole.

Are we met by the objection that there is not even
yet sufficient variety to accomplish all this? We join issue
with the objector. It is true that we cannot find among
trees and shrubs the bright colours and strong contrasts
met with in flowers. But we do not want them. We
would not have the whole country a flower garden. We
seek not repetition or repletion, but would rather avoid
both. Quite as appropriate in their sphere are the more

Landscape Gardening. 221

sober hues. The remedy we seek is to be found in breadth
rather than in intensity of colour. " In further elucidation
of these views we are promised a series of papers from a
well-known correspondent." *

ORNAMENTAL PLANTING.

[From " T/ie Gardeners' Chronicle^'' August 27, 1864,/. 819.]

No. L— SPRING.

I HAVE somewhere met with the remark that the poet
revels most in the beauties of spring, the painter in
those of autumn. The landscape gardener when selecting
trees should perhaps be conversant with and consider the
effect they produce at all seasons. Spring is the time of
promise in gardening, and I purpose in the present in-
stance to confine my remarks to that season. The
dominant features of tree scenery in spring are : —

1. The outline of the trees.

2. The colours of the flowers.

3. The colours of the leaves.

I. TJie outline of trees. — From among the various forms
which trees assume, I may perhaps be permitted to
instance the following as clearly defined points of de-
parture— spreading, rou)id-Jieaded, pyramidal., and zveeping:
Not that it is intended to say that all trees are well
defined examples of one or other of these forms ; for it is
admitted that in many there is an absence of strongly
marked character, and that a tree may be neither perfectly
spreading, round-headed, pyramidal, nor weeping, but in
the intermediate forms will generally be found a dominant
habit which renders them easily referrible to one or other
of these divisions.

* The last sentence was added by the editor.

222 Ornamental Planting.

Spreading. — This is the form most prevalent in nature,
and such must be the staple of ornamental planting. The
Ash, the Beech, the Oak, and the Spanish Chestnut, are of
this character. Look abroad on the uncultivated land-
scape, and the probability is that nothing else will meet
the view, unless it be a few Lombardy Poplars whose
spire - like tops everywhere break into the blue vault
above.

Round-Jieaded. — Of these the Robinia inermis is perhaps
the most strongly marked. This beautiful tree is not
planted in England half so much as it deserves to be. In
France it is met with at every step, and the dense masses
of leaves of a fresh bright and beautiful light green, never
fail to attract the attention of the traveller. Most of the
round-headed trees are, however, of moderate or small
growth, and therefore better fitted to fill various positions
in the flower garden, than to adorn the distant landscape.

Pyramidal. — Pyramidal trees of large size are more
numerous than round-headed ones. The Lombardy
Poplar, Turkey Oak, and White Beam tree (Pyrus Aria),
are well known examples of these. There are also pyra-
midal forms of the Acacia, the common Oak, the Elm, the
Elder, and a beautiful new Alder known in nurseries as
Alnus asplenifolia. Then among evergreen trees we have
the common Cypress, the Red Cedar, and the Irish Yew.

Weeping. — The Weeping Birch and Weeping Willow
are both familiar trees, and form good illustrations of this
group. They are less common round London than many
other kinds, but they are distinct and attractive and not
likely to be passed unnoticed.

2. The colours of the flozvers. — Trees and shrubs which
flower in spring are especially valuable, and fortunately
there is no dearth of such. A group composed of Scarlet
Thorns, Laburnums, and Lilacs, will furnish an example of
what may be effected by the introduction of spring
flowering trees.

Ornamental Planting. 223

3. The colours of the leaves. — Some deciduous trees
put forth their leaves early, others late ; but at whatever
time they appear, being constantly moistened with the
showers of spring, they present the eye with an agreeable
freshness which we in vain look for at a later date. The
varied tints of the bursting leaves form a most agreeable
feature in the landscape in spring — the blood-red of the
Purple Beech, the yellow of the Caragana, offer contrasts
in themselves pleasing, but which lessen in intensity as
the summer advances.

With evergreens the difference in colour between the
new growth and the old, especially in the Pine tribe, is too
strongly marked to escape notice, and produces a very
pleasing variety. The darkest and the lightest shades
of green are often thus brought in immediate contact.
Within view of the spot where these lines were written
is a stream, whose margin at the time they were penned
was overhung with the pale tender green spray of a
Weeping Willow ; behind were dark masses of the
common Yew, and still further beyond groups of blos-
soming Hawthorn. The effect of this combination was
admirable. Onward still, and in the distant upland were
trees innumerable, but so far as could be distinguished,
each seemed but a counterpart of the other.

Although not in a severely critical mood, I have been
indulging the fancy by obliterating certain objects within
range of sight — some of the comparatively meaningless
trees which in many instances have been planted by the
hand of man, but more commonly by nature.

In their places I have conjured up examples of the
rarer and more modern trees, and the landscape thus
improved lies before me in increased loveliness. I have
gazed and am satisfied. The youth and freshness of
spring are still there, but the monotony has disappeared ;
the whole landscape is inspirited.

In endeavouring to give utterance to these views I do
not seek to ignore the fact that the prevailing colour in

224 Ornamental Planting.

tree scenery is green, var>'ing in shades, but still green.
This is as it should be, for no other colour in nature is so
agreeable to the eye. Let us then take this colour as the
ground work of our operations, and retain its ascendancy,
but let us vary and increase the pictorial effect of the
landscape by a more liberal introduction of other colours.

Every domain should be in itself a picture, or rather a
series of skilfully united pictures.

No. II.— SUMMER.

[From " The Gardeners' CJtrojiicle," September 2,rd 1864,/. 844.]

Whatever may be the beauty of trees in spring, there
is an incompleteness attending it — the incompleteness of
progress ; it is not until the arrival of summer, when the
leaves have attained their full size, that trees appear in
full dress, and produce that depth of light and shade in
which the lover of nature finds so much pleasure.

If we seek to produce variety through the diversity in
form of the leaves, we shall find no difficulty in doing
so. There are the needle-shaped, of which the Pines, Firs,
and Junipers are examples. The small-leaved, which in-
clude such trees as the Oak, the Elm, the Beech; the large
leaved, to which belong the Catalpa and Paulownia ; and
the compound-leaved, grand examples of which are met
with in the Ailantus, Kolreuteria, &c.

But the colour of the leaves in summer is the most
fertile source of variety. There are light green — for
example, Taxodium distichum, and Gleditschia ; dark
green — Fraxinus crispa and Castanea vesca ; purple —
Beech, Elm, and Sycamore ; yelloiu — variegated Turkey
Oak, Ash, and Sycamore ; wJiite — Acer negundo varie-
gatum and Silver Poplar. I know of no trees so beautiful
in the landscape in summer as the two latter, on account
of the idea of coolness they suggest by the glitter of their
white leaves. The Aspen, too, is desirable at the same
season, the ceaseless play of its foliage disclosing a breeze

Ornamental Planting. 225

so faint as to be scarcely distinguishable by any other
test.

Then as to shade — we want shade in summer. Trees
which produce the densest masses of foliage should be
selected for this purpose and planted in appropriate spots.
Although "deciduous" trees are in their greatest beauty at
this season, we cannot altogether dispense with "ever-
greens." The latter are invaluable on account of the
variety they produce, and also for the coolness and almost
impenetrable shade which they afford.

" Before me rose an avenue
Of tall and sombrous Pines
Abroad their fan-like branches grew
And when the sunshine darted through
Spread a vapour soft and blue
In long and sloping lines."

The Abies Douglasii, A. Deodara, and Pinus Austriaca
stand in the very foremost rank, both as summer and
winter trees, for avenues, groups, or single specimens.

The examples above given are mostly trees attaining
to considerable size, and familiar samples of such. There
are, however, others of medium and lowly growth similar
in form, colour, and general character.

Among novelties I have not forgotten the remarkably
beautiful trees introduced from Japan by Mr Fortune and
Mr Veitch. Some of these, the Acers especially, are
wondrously beautiful, but are they hardy? Time is neces-
sary to prove this. It is reported that some are difficult of
propagation, and if so it will require time before they
become sufficiently reasonable in price to be generally
available.

No. III.— AUTUMN.

{^From " The Gardeners' Chronicle^' September ijth 1864,/. 893.]

The feature of Tree scenery in autumn is the chang-
ing and varied colours of the leaves. As green is the
O

226 Ornamental Planting.

dominant colour of the mature leaf in summer, so is russet
brown that of the falling leaf in autumn. But there are
some trees whose leaves grow brighter as they advance
to maturity, and in the red, purple, and yellow hues which
they assume in autumn we find materials to vary and
increase the beauty of the landscape.

The leaves of the scarlet Maple and the scarlet Oak
change to a fine red ; those of the Norway Maple, the
Birch, the Ash, the Koelreuteria, and the Tulip tree to
yellow ; the Liquidambar dies a variegated mass of green,
red, purple, and yellow ; and there are various inter-
mediate tints, which if less marked, are nevertheless of
infinite value. These, in our opinion, are seldom suffi-
ciently used in the composition of tree scenery. The
Sumach (Rhus typhina) is valuable not only for the
brilliant tints of its dying leaves but also for the feathery
tufts of flowers which it produces, and which become dry
and remain on the tree during autumn and winter.

Trees which bear fruits or berries are also worthy of
notice at this season. The red and the yellow berried
Mountain Ash are beautiful. Then there are numerous
varieties of the Thorn (Crataegus) producing yellow, red,
and black berries, some of them of large size ; and the
Siberian Crab and the Transparent Crab, when laden with
their respective fruits, are objects of matchless beauty.

As the greater number of English landed proprietors
spend the autumn at their country seats, it becomes of
first importance that every feature of beauty at that
season should be fairly and fully developed. But what
is the fact? We know of many first-class English resi-
dences where the monotony previously condemned in
spring exists alike in autumn. From universal green to
universal brown, and back again as the seasons revolve, is
all the change that takes place. The flower garden,
planted and arranged with exquisite skill and taste, forms
a series of glowing pictures, but everything beyond is dull,
tame, heavy, and monotonous. Now, we would not that

Ornamental Planting. 227

the garden should be a whit less beautiful, but the pro-
prietor of a demesne is not expected to spend all his time
there. The pursuit of country sports, if nothing else, will
take him into the outlying parts of his estate, and as he
traverses the dewy meads amid fogs and falling leaves
the intervals of sport may be enchantingly filled up by the
contemplation of a varied, vigorous, and well-composed
landscape. Whatever therefore is left undone, at least
the park and the outlines of woods and plantations should
be varied and adorned by all the forms and colours that
can be drawn from the rich repertory of the vegetable
kingdom.

At this season, as at others, there requires a due
admixture of the deciduous and the evergreen to attain
all that is desirable. The airiness, the grace, the glow of
the former is rendered far more beautiful when associated
with the more solid-looking and durable forms of the
latter. As the deciduous forms are stripped bare, and
their leaves scattered by the autumnal whirlwind, it is
pleasant to contemplate the permanency and repose of
the evergreens, fitly represented by the Pine and Yew.

No. IV.— WINTER.

\Froin " The Gardeners^ CJironicle" October Zth 1864,/. 963.]

It may probably startle some of my readers when I
essay to speak of the " Beauties of Winter." But the real
lover of nature who possesses the mens sana in corpore sano
will find in the changes of the seasons pleasure rather
than discomfort. To an individual thus soundly consti-
tuted the balmy breezes of spring, the noontide heat of
summer, the whirlwind of autumn, and the snows of
winter, with their varying preliminaries, accompaniments,
and sequences, are only so many fresh sources of know-
ledge, gratification, and delight. To draw on one's own
experience, I remember riding over a bleak plain one
December day many years ago, in face of a biting north-

228 Ornamental Planting.

cast wind, with the thermometer 20 degs. below the
freezing point. Shortly afterwards I entered a wood of
Scotch Pines, and was struck with the change of climate —
a change of which the thermometer gave no adequate
indication, and which deeply impressed me not only with
the sense of increased personal comfort, but also with the
value of shelter to the young and delicate objects of
vegetable life. I thought then, and have thought since,
that the horticulturist who measures the probable influ-
ences of the weather by the thermometer alone does not
rise to a correct estimate of the powers he has to contend
with.

Thus, while I regard with no antipathy the biting
frost and the searching wind, knowing that these things
are of vast importance in the order of nature's laws, it is
my purpose to advocate the use of those objects and
agencies which art and science have placed at our dis-
posal to modify and subdue those influences uncongenial
to the comforts of an English home.

The real value of SHELTER can scarcely be too highly
estimated in many of the delicate operations of modern
gardening, and the idea of it when associated with warmth
is no less pleasing to the mind in winter. On both
grounds the free use of evergreefis w^hen forming new
gardens or plantations is strongly advocated. They are
invaluable for the shelter they afford and the idea of
warmth which they convey. But a garden or pleasure-
ground planted wholly with evergreens, few would be
bold enough to advocate ; such would be heavy in
summer, and monotonous in winter. Evergreens may
abound, but they must not superabound. To abound
even, they require to be judiciously varied. The free and
spreading forms should be mingled with the formal ; the
laro-e-leaved and small-leaved kinds must be properly
arranged and adjusted ; the light green, the dark green,
the glaucous, and the variegated, must be represented in
varying proportions to suit the character of the mansion

Ornamental Planting. 229

and the surrounding scenery. A group of the Golden
Holly forms a glowing picture in winter ; the Silver Holly
with its clusters of bright red berries is no less pleasing ;
the yellow green of the Laurel and the black green of the
Yew produce a beautiful contrast both in form and tint,
and they may at times be brought in contact for the sake
of contrast, and at times be separated and softened down
by the intermediate tints of light and glaucous green.

But the beauty of our gardens out of doors in winter
need not be wholly dependent on the forms of trees and
the tints of their foliage. There are some few plants
which bear berries, and these should be introduced with-
out stint. Besides the common form of Holly so familiar
to us through its bright red berries, there are also the
yellow-berried and the orange-berried varieties, both noble
trees, well worthy of general cultivation.

Then there are the Thorns, alluded to in a former
paper, which retain their fruit through a part of winter,
the Pyracantha, the Arbutus, the Skimmia, the Coton-
easter, the Pernettya, the Privet (both black and yellow-
berried), the Ivy and others. The beauty of the bark of
certain deciduous trees in winter is also a feature which
should not be lost sight of. The true Silver Birch, glitter-
ing in the sunshine and bright even in the gloom, is one
of the most prominent of these ; the golden-barked Ash,
the yellow, purple, and white-barked Willows, the red-
barked Dogwood, and the snake-barked Maple, belong
also to the same category. To those who are profession-
ally interested in, or may have the leisure to study the
subject, the spray of the leafless trees in winter opens up
a boundless source of pleasure and instruction. Infinite
is the variety of nature ; every kind of tree differs in the
form, character, and direction of the spray, and it is at
least a harmless pleasure to engage mentally in the dis-
entanglement of the sinuous masses or to track their
labyrinthian paths.

Again, there are trees whose leaves, though they

230 Ornamental Planting.

change, remain on the branches during winter ; the
Beech, the Hornbeam, and the Turkey Oak are famiHar
examples of these, and their dress of rich russet brown
provides both shelter and warmth. Lastly, there are some
few shrubs and trees which blossom even amidst the
storms of winter ; the Andromeda floribunda, with flowers
chaste and pure as driven snow ; the Chimonanthus
possessing at once a rare and delicate beauty and an
unapproachable fragrance ; the Cornus, the Forsythia,
and the Jasminum nudiflorum belong to this class.
These are the beauties of winter, and by a wise use of
them the gardens of England, now often so bare and
cheerless at that drear season, may be made bright,
pleasant, and joyous. Comparative warmth and comfort
may be secured within the charmed circle of the sheltered
English home, while in the distance we hear " the stormy
wind howling among the trees and raving over the plain."
My next essay will form a classified list of materials for
ornamental planting.

No. v.— PICTORIAL TREES AND SHRUBS.

[From " T/te Gardenej-s' Chronide^^ October i<^th 1864, /. 1035.]

It is not my intention here to offer a general list of trees
that can be used intact in ornamental planting. Informa-
tion of that kind to be of any value must be founded on a
knowledge of the particular soil, situation, and objects in
view. My purpose is merely to single out a few of the
most prominent trees — representative trees may I call
them ? — which it would seem desirable to introduce every-
where for the sake of their strongly marked characters,
beauty, or distinctness. Around these, others of similar
character may be gathered, should it be found necessary
to extend the number of any particular group. From
this point of view I shall arrange the materials which I
propose to select, under the two leading heads of Form and
Colour.

Ornamental Planting. 231

Under the primary division of for^n the following sub-
divisions appear warranted : —

1. Pyramidal trees and shrubs.

2. Round-headed trees and shrubs.

3. Spreading trees and shrubs.

4. Weeping trees and shrubs.

5. Trees and shrubs luith large compound leaves.

6. Trees and shrubs with large sitnple leaves.

7. Trees and shrubs with small simple leaves.

8. Pillar, clijubifig, or wall plants.

9. Trailing plants for loiv banks, rock-work, Ferneries,
&c.

I. Pyramidal Trees and Shrubs.
Evergreens.

Abies excelsa pyramidalis Juniperus hibernica

Cupressus sempervirens „ stricta

„ torulosa „ virginiana

Ilex Aquifolium argentea Pinus Laricio

stricta Quercus Ilex Fordii

Ilex Aquifolium ovata Taxus baccata fastigiata

„ balearica „ ., pyramidalis

Juniperus excelsa Thuja gigantea

„ fragrans „ pyramidalis

Deciduous.

Alnus glutinosa laciniata Quercus pedunculata

„ asplenifolia fastigiata

CrataegusOxyacanthastricta Robinia Pseud-Acacia pyra-

Fraxinus monophylla midalis

Larix europaea Sambucus pyramidalis

Populus fastigiata Ulmus campestris stricta

Pyrus Aria „ montana fastigiata
Quercus Cerris

232 Ornamental Planting.

2. Round-headed Trees and Shrubs.

These require to be grown as standards, and some of
them kept in this form by occasional pruning.

Evergree7i.

Buxus, of sorts Juniperus virginiana, in vars.

Cerasus Laurocerasus Laurus nobilis

„ „ colchica Viburnum Tinus

„ lusitanica Taxus baccata, in vars.
Ilex Aquifolium

Deciduous.

-^sculus Hippocastanum Prunus myrobalana

,, rubicunda „ spinosa fl. pi.

Caragana Chamlagu „ prunifolia

Cerasus Chamaecerasus Pyrus arbutifolia

,, vulgaris fl. pi. Robinia Pseud-Acacia
Crataegus, of sorts umbraculifera

Cytisus, of sorts Syringa persica

Ornus europaea Viburnum Opulus sterilis

3. Spreading Trees and Shrubs.

This, the commonest form in the vegetable kingdom,
will be sufficiently represented by the selections made
under other heads.

4. Weeping Trees and Shrubs.
Evergreen.
Cotoneaster buxifolia Juniperuscommunispendula

„ microphylla „ „ oblonga

Ilex Aquifolium pendula pendula

„ „ albo-margin- Juniperusvirginianapendula

ata pendula „ „ viridis

Abies excelsa pendula Taxus baccata Dovastoni

„ „ monstrosa „ „ Jacksoni

Glyptostrobus pendulus

Ornamental Planting.

233

Deciduous.

Amygdalus communis

penduia
Betula, three sorts
Crataegus Oxyacantha

penduia
Cytisus, of sorts
Fagus, two sorts
Fraxinus, three sorts
Gleditschia Boqui
Juglans regia penduia

Ligustrum, two sorts
Populus, two sorts
Pyrus, two sorts
Quercus, two sorts
Robinia Pseud-Acacia

penduia
Salix, four sorts
Sophora japonica penduia
Tilia alba penduia
Ulmus, four sorts

5. Trees and Shrubs with large compound leaves.
Evergreen — Mahonia aquifolium

Ailantus glandulosa
Aralia japonica
Fraxinus, of sorts
Amorpha fruticosa

Deciduous.

Gleditschia, of sorts
Juglans, of sorts
Rhus typhina

6. Trees and Shrubs with large simple leaves.
Evergreen.
Aucuba, of sorts

Cerasus Laurocerasus

colchica

Cerasus lusitanica
Photinia serrulata
Yucca, of sorts

Deciduous.

Acer, of sorts
Castanea, of sorts
Catalpa syringaefolia
Liriodendron tulipiferum
Magnolia, of sorts

Paulownia imperialis
Platanus, of sorts
Populus candicans
Rhamnus latifolius

^34

Ornamental Planting.

7. Trees and Shrubs with small simple leaves.

Artemisia Abrotanum
Berberis, of sorts
Buxus, of sorts
Cotoneaster, of sorts
Fontanesia phillyraeoides
Wellingtonia gigantea
Cupressus, of sorts
Juniperus, of sorts

'ergreen.

Thuja, of sorts
Taxus, of sorts
Phillyrea, of sorts
Ouercus Ilex
Abies, of sorts
Cedrus, of sorts
Picea, of sorts
Pinus, of sorts

Berberis, of sorts
Betula, of sorts
Coriaria myrtifolia
Crataegus, of sorts
Hippophae, of sorts
Hypericum, of sorts

Deciduous.

Populus, of sorts
Prunus, of sorts
Pyrus, of sorts
Salix, of sorts
Spirsea, of sorts
Ulmus, of sorts

8. Pillar, Climbing, or Wall Plants,

P. Pillar or Climbing. W. Wall Plants.

Evergreen.

Berberis Darwinii, W.
Ceanothus, of sorts, W.
Cotoneaster, of sorts, W.
Crataegus Pyracantha, W.
Escallonia, of sorts, W.
Eurya latifolia variegata, W.
Garrya elliptica, W.
Magnolia, of sorts, W.

Osmanthus, of sorts, W.
Photinia serrulata, W.
Rhamnus Alaternus, of

sorts, W.
Hedera, of sorts, W. P.
Jasminum revolutum, W.
Lonicera, of sorts, W. P.

Deciduous.

Cercis Siliquastrum, W.
Chionanthus fragrans, W.
Cydonia, of sorts, W.

Forsythia viridissima, W.
Magnolia, of sorts, W.
Rosa, of sorts, W. P.

Ornamental Planting.

= 35

Rubus, of sorts, W. P.
Ampelopsis, of sorts, W. P.
Aristolochia sipho, W. P.
Atragene, of sorts, W. P.
Bignonia, of sorts, W.
Clematis, of sorts, W. P.

Jasminum, of sorts, W. P.
Lonicera, of sorts, W. P.
Tecoma, of sorts, W. P.
Vitis, of sorts, W. P.
Wistaria, of sorts, W. P.

9. Trailing and Dwarf Flowering Plants for
Low Banks, Rock-w^ork, Ferneries, &c.

Cistus, of sorts
Cotoneaster, of sorts
Crataegus Pyracantha
Daphne Cneorum
Hypericum calycinum
Ruscus Hypoglossum
Skimmia japonica
Cryptomeria nana

Evergreen.

Abies, dwarf sorts
Juniperus, trailing sorts
Arctostaphylos uva ursi
Pernettya, of sorts
Polygonum vaccinifolium
Vaccinium vitis ida;a
Hedera, of sorts

Deciduous.

Amygdalus, dwarf sorts
Cydonia, of sorts
Cytisus, of sorts
Genista, of sorts
Philadelphus coronarius

nanus
Ribes alpinum pumilum

Rubus fruticosus fol. varie-

gatis
Salix, dwarf sorts
Ampelopsis, of sorts
Aristolochia Sipho
Memispermum canadense
Periploca graeca
Vinca, of sorts

In addition to the foregoing, sundry spring-flowering
bulbs as Snowdrops, Winter Aconites, Scillas, Lily of the
Valley, Narcissus Bulbocodium, and minor Fritillarias,
Erythronium, dwarf Iris, Leucojum vernum, and others
may be added to the Fernery. They will flower early and
disappear before the Ferns are in condition.

236 Ornamental Planting.

No. VI.— PICTORIAL TREES AND SHRUBS.

[I^rom " T/ie Ga?-de;iers' Chronicle ^^ November 26th 1864,^. 1131-]

In continuation of my last paper, I come to speak
of the second division — COLOUR — under the following
heads : —

1. Trees and shrubs with the leaves light green.

2. Trees and shrubs with the leaves dark green.

3. Trees and shrubs with the XtdMes purple.

4. Trees and shrubs with the leaves j/ellow.

5. Trees and shrubs with the leaves white.

6. Trees and shrubs whose leaves acquire bright colours

in autumn.

7. Trees and shrubs with red, yellozu, or zvhite bark.

8. Flowering trees and shrubs.

9. Trees and shrubs zvhich retain their berries.

I. Trees and Shrubs with light green leaves.

Evergreen.

Abies excelsa rubra Juniperus oblonga pendula

„ orientalis „ thurifera

Berberis fascicularis hybrida ,, Virginiana

Buxus balearica Pinus pyrenaica ,

Cedrus Deodara Ruscus racemosus

Chamaecyparis sphaeroides Thuja Wareana
Ilex balearica ,, orientalis

Juniperus chinensis Wellingtonia gigantea

Deciduous.

Acer platanoides Catalpa syringaefolia

„ Pseudo-Platanus Chionanthus virginica

Ampelopsis hederacea Cistus capitatus

Ornamental Planting.

237

Coriaria myrtifoHa
Gleditschia triacanthos
Juglans monophylla

„ laciniata
Lonicera hybrida nova
Mas:nevillea

Negundo fraxinifolium
Quercus laciniata
Rhus cotinus
Taxodium distichum
Tilia europaea
Vitis vinifera apiifolia

2. Trees and Shrubs with dark green leaves.

Everzreen.

Araucaria imbricata
Berberis Darwinii

,, dulcis
Cerasus lusitanica
Cotoneaster microphylla
Cupressus Lambertiana
Garrya elliptica
Hedera Roegneriana
Ilex Aquifolium

„ „ fructu-luteo

„ „ lauri folia

Deciduous

Ilex aquifolium scotica

,, „ Shepherdii

Ligustrum japonicum
Mahonia Aquifolium
Pernettya mucronata
Picea, of sorts
Pinus, of sorts
Phillyrea, of sorts
Quercus Ilex, of sorts
Taxus, of sorts

Alnus, of sorts
Castanea, two sorts
Clematis odorata azurea
Cytisus Laburnum
Euonymus, two sorts
Fraxinus, two sorts
Liquidambar

Pavia, two sorts
Potentilla dahurica
Prunus, of sorts
Ornus europaea
Salix caprea pendula
Sophora japonica

3. Trees and Shrubs with purple leaves.

Deciditous.

Acer Pseudo-Platanus Berberis vulgaris foliis

purpurea purpureis

Acer japonicum atro-
purpureum

Corylus Avellana purpurea

238

Ornamental Planting.

Daphne mezereum foliis

purpureis
Euonymus atropurpureus
Fagus sylvatica purpurea

Quercus pedunculata

purpurea
Quercus pedunculata nigra
Ulmus montana purpurea

4. Trees and Shrubs with yellow leaves.

The leaves here are not absolutely yellow, but the
effect in the landscape is that of this colour.

Evergreen.

Abies excelsa Finedonensis
Aucuba japonica
Buxus sempervirens aurea
Cupressus thyoidesvariegata
Euonymus japonicus foliis

aureis
Ilex Aquifolium aurea, &c.
Juniperus virginiana aurea
Hedera canariensis foliis

aureis
Osmanthus ilicifolius

varieratus

Pinus Pinaster variegata
Rhamnus Alaternus foliis

aureis
Rhamnus Alaternus foliis

maculatis
Retinospora pisifera aurea
Rhododendron ponticum

variegatum
Taxus fastigiata aurea

„ baccata aurea
Thuja aurea
Vinca eleo-antissima

Deciduous.

^sculus Hippocastanum

aureo-variegatum
Acer Pseudo-Platanus

variegata
Cornus mas. foliis variegatis
Castanea vesca variegata
Fagus sylvatica foliis aureis
Fraxinus aucuba^folia
Hibiscus syriacus foliis

variesfatis

Ligustrum vulgare

variegatum
Liriodendron tulipiferum

variegatum
Quercus Cerris variegata
Sambucus nigra foliis aureis
Symphoricarpus vulgaris

foliis aureis
Spiraea opulifolia lutea
Weisrela rosea variesrata

Ornamental Planting.

239

5. Trees and Shrubs with white leaves.
Here as before the leaves are not absolutely white, but
the effect in the landscape is that of this colour.

Evergreen.

Abies alba glauca
Astragalus tragacantha
Bupleurum fruticosum
Cedrus Deodara
Chamaecyparis spha^roidea

atrovirens
Cineraria, of sorts
Euonymus japonicus foliis

argenteis

„ radicans variegatus
Ilex Aquifolium argentea,

of sorts
Juniperus virginiana glauca

Deciduous.
Amygdalus communis foliis Populus alba

variegatis
Cistus algarvensis
Crataegus Oxyacantha foliis

argenteis
Elaeagnus argentea

„ fulva

Hippophae rhamnoides
Negundo fraxinifolium foliis

variegatis
Philadelphus coronarius

variesfatus

Juniperus virginiana foliis

argenteis
Juniperus Sabina depressa
,, „ variegata

Lavandula spica
Phlomis fruticosa
Pinus excelsa

„ strobus nivea

„ monticolor
Rhamnus Alaternus foliis

argenteis
Santolina chamjecyparissus
Taxus, two sorts

„ argentea
Pyrus aucuparia foliis

variegatis
Pyrus salicifolia

„ malus foliis variegatis
Rubus fruticosus foliis

variegatus
Ulmus campestris foliis

variegatis
Ulmus montana varieeata

6. Trees whose leaves change to red, scarlet,
or yellow in Autumn.

Deciduous (Red.)
Ampelopsis hederacea Acer rubrum eriocarpum

Acer circinatum Azalea, of sorts

240

Ornamental Planting.

Berberis vulgaris
Cornus alba
„ mas.
Crataegus punctata
„ prunifoHa
Cerasus nana flore-pleno
Diervilla humilis
Euonymus atropurpureus
Liquidambar
Ostrya virginica

Deciduous
^sculus Hippocastanum
Acer platanoides
„ Pseudo-platanus
„ saccharinum
Amelanchier Botryapium
Amygdalus nana
Betula, of sorts
Cerasus padus bracteosa

„ virginiana
Crataegus coccinea maxima
„ grandiflora
„ Oxyacantha aurea
„ pentagyna
Euonymus latifolius
Hydrangea nivea

Pyrus, of sorts

Quercus coccinea and others

Ribes aureum

Rhus cotinus

„ Toxicodendron

„ typhina
Spiraea ariaefolia

„ prunifolia flore-pleno
Viburnum Lentago
„ opulus

(yelloiv. )

Gleditschia triacanthos
Kolreuteria paniculata
Liriodendron tulipiferum
Magnolia tripetala
Morus alba
Pavia flava
Populus, three sorts
Pyrus torminalis
Salisburia adiantifolia
Spiraea laevigata

„ opulifolia

,, ulmifolia
Syringa vulgaris
Tilia europaea

7. Trees and Shrubs with white, yellow,
or red bark.

Deciduous.

Acer striatum (white)
Betula alba (white)
Cornus alba (red)
Hippophae rhamnoides

(white)
Populus argentea (white)

Fraxinus excelsa aurea
(yellow)

Salix glauca (white)
„ purpurea (purple)
„ vitellina (yellow)

Ornamental Planting.

241

8. Flowering Trees and Shrubs.

Everg7'een.
Andromeda floribunda Kalmia latifolia

Arbutus, of sorts
Berberis Darwinii

„ dulcis
Ceanothus, of sorts
Cistus, of sorts
Daphne, of sorts
Erica, of sorts
Garrya elliptica
Helianthemum, of sorts

„ myrtifolia
Ligust.rum lucidum
Magnolia exoni«nsis
Mahonia, of sorts
Rhododendrons, of sorts
Spartium junceum
Ulex europasa flore pleno
Viburnum Tinus

Deciduous.

yEsculus, of sorts
Amelanchier Botryapium
Amygdalus, of sorts
Azalea, of sorts
Berberis, of sorts
Buddlea globosa
Calycanthus floridus
Cerasus, of sorts
Chimonanthus fragrans
Clematis, of sorts
Cornus mas.
Coronilla emerus
Crataegus, of sorts
Cydonia japonica

„ „ flore albo

Cytisus, of sorts
Daphne mezereum
Deutzia, of sorts
Forsythia viridissima

„ suspensa

Fuchsia, two sorts
Genista, two sorts

Halesia tetraptera
Hibiscus, of sorts
Hydrangea nivea
Hypericum Kalmianum
Jasminum, of sorts
Kalmia latifolia
Lonicera, of sorts
Liriodendron tulipiferum
Magnolia, of sorts
Pavia, of sorts
Persica, of sorts
Philadelphus, of sorts
Prunus, of sorts
Pyrus spcctabilis
Rhus Cotinus
„ typhina
Ribes aureum

sansfuineum

ilbidum

„ speciosum
Robinia hispida
viscosa

242

Ornamental Planting.

Rosa, of sorts
Spiraea, of sorts
Syringa, of sorts
Tecoma, of sorts
Viburnum Opulus sterilis

Viburnum macrocephalum

,, plicatum

Weigela amabilis

„ rosea
Wistaria sinensis

9. Trees and Shrubs which retain their
Berries.

Arbutus Unedo
Aucuba japonica vera
Berberis Darvvinii

„ dulcis
Cotoneaster microphylla

„ buxifolia

Crataegus Pyracantha

Evergreen.

Gaultheria, two sorts
Hedera, of sorts
Ligustrum sempervirens
Mahonia Aquifolium
Pernettya mucronata
Skimmia japonica
oblata

Ilex Aquifolium, in varieties Vaccinium Vitis idaea

Deciduous.

Berberis vulofaris

Lieustrum vulsare

foliis
purpureis

xantho-
carpum

Cotoneaster Isvis Pyrus aucuparia

Crataegus Oxyacanthaaurea „ ,, fructu-luteo

„ coccinea maxima „ malus astracanica

„ Layii „ „ prunifolia

I have now reached the end of the task which I pro-
posed to myself, and on reviewing these papers find that
I have touched but slightly on certain points of interest
and importance which appear well worthy of fuller treat-
ment. It strikes me that the subject would be rendered
of more interest to the readers of " The Gardeners'
Chronicle," if such were taken up by other hands. Fresh
ideas would likely thus find utterance, and the purpose of
my labour be more fully accomplished.

I

Hardy Pictorial Trees. 243

HAKDY PICTORIAL TREES.
No. I.

\_Froin " The Gardeners' Chronicle^ December \si l866, /. II39-]

N the autumn of 1864 I endeavoured to show (see p.
219) that the scenery of gardens, parks, &c., might
be improved by introducing more plentifully trees with
white, yellow, and purple leaves. The natural outlines
of different trees was also pointed out as worthy of
more attentive consideration, and the use of berry-bearing
trees, especially for winter, strongly recommended. The
interest which the public took in my collection of " Hardy
Pictorial Trees," shown at the International Horticultural
Exhibition in May last, has again drawn my attention to
this subject, and I propose now to enter into fuller detail,
and to furnish descriptions of a few of the most promi-
nent and interesting kinds, under the heads of " Form,"
" Colour," and " Berry -bearing Trees." In the present
paper I shall confine my remarks to " Form," and assum-
ing that the spreading form, which is the commonest in
Nature, is already more than sufficiently recognised, I
will pass that by in order to dwell more fully on the
" Pyramidal" and " Weeping" forms.

Trees and Shrubs of Pyramidal Growth.

Abies excelsa pyramidalis. — Evergreen. Height 100
feet. This is a vigorous-growing v^ariety of the Spruce
Fir, of close habit, presenting to the eye a dense mass of
dark impenetrable x-erdure. It forms a fine single tree,
and is quite worthy of a good position on a lawn.

Cjipresstis scnipervircns (the common Cypress). — Ever-
green. Height 30 feet. One of the handsomest and
most vigorous of pyramidal evergreens, but suitable only
for sheltered or elevated situations, as in exposed and low
damp places the tree is usually injured or destro}-ed b\-

244 Hardy Pictorial Trees.

frost in a young state. Once it becomes old and loses the
vigour of growth consequent on youth, the tree is hardy
enough.

Cnpressiis toriilosa. — Evergreen. Height 30 feet. This
is somewhat similar to but of smaller growth than the
preceding, pleasing by the refinement of its beauty rather
than by its boldness and rigidity. It is also somewhat
tender in a young state north of London, although some
beautiful old trees are often met with there.

Ilex Aqid folium argentea stricta (the Upright Silver
Holly). — Evergreen. Height 20 feet. The only naturally
pyramidal form of the variegated Holly with which I am
acquainted, although Hollies in general, improving under
a free use of the knife, may be cut into this form if re-
quired. This kind has leaves broadly edged with bright
silver.

Ilex Aqiiifoliuni ovata. — Evergreen. Height, 30 feet.
One of the handsomest of the green Hollies. The leaves
are rather small, dark green, ovate, of great substance, and
thickly set on the branches.

Ilex balearica (the Minorca Holly). — Evergreen.
Height, 30 feet. This is of free and rapid growth, and
quite distinct from all other kinds. The leaves are broad,
pale green, smooth, and the branches are usually thickly
set with berries, which remain on the tree during winter ;
a very handsome tree.

Junipems excelsa. — Evergreen. Height, 20 feet. We
have here a very beautiful and hardy Juniper of close
growth ; the whole tree of a greyish tint. Like most of
the Junipers, it appears to thrive best in lightish soil.

Ju7iiperiis fragrans. — Evergreen. Height, 30 feet.
Similar to the last, but of more rapid and diffuse growth ;
the branches powerfully fragrant.

Junipems ericoides. — Evergreen. Height, 12 feet. A
very neat plant with reddish leaves, producing a distinct
and pleasing effect among other shrubs and trees, especially
in the winter.

Hardy Pictorial Trees. 245

Juniperiis hibernica (the Irish Juniper). — Evergreen.
Height, 20 feet. A greyish-looking plant of close com-
pact growth, and neat in the extreme. Excellent for
light sandy soils.

Juniperiis virginiana stricta (the Upright Red Cedar).
— Evergreen. Height, 30 feet. This is a very beautiful
close-growing variety of the Red Cedar, apparently but
little known, but valuable for its dense tufts of rich dark
foliage and great hardihood, and thriving in almost any
soil.

Pimis Larico. — Evergreen. Height, 100 feet. The
true Corsican Pine is one of the grandest and most beauti-
ful of strictly pyramidal Pines, so hardy and so free that
it deserves a fuller recognition than it has hitherto met
with at the hands of planters. Some splendid columns of
it exist at Pampesford Hall, near Cambridge, which arc
worth going many miles to see.

Quercus Ilex Fordii (Ford's Evergreen Oak). — Ever-
green. Height, 30 feet. A tree with small dark green
leaves, quite distinct from the other kinds of evergreen
Oak, and very hardy.

Tax us baccata fastigiata (the Irish Yew). — Evergreen.
Height, 20 feet. One of the most rigid and darkest of
evergreens, the leaves being of a blackish-green. Good
for groups, lines, or avenues. Very hardy, growing in any
soil.

Taxus baccata pyramidalis . — Evergreen. Height, 20
feet. This is apparently a hybrid between the common
and Irish Yew, less rigid and dark than the latter, more
diffuse, but still of pyramidal growth. A handsome tree
of free growth, and very hardy.

Thuja gigantea. — Evergreen. Height, 30 feet. A
beautiful tree, the colour a rich grass green. It should be
removed yearly in the nurseries, or does not transplant well.

TJiuja pyramidalis. — Evergreen. Height, 20 feet. This
tree, comparatively but little known, is one of the loveliest
of the Arborvitxs, and very hardy. The branches, which

246 Hardv Pictorial Trees.

are pale green and fan-shaped, turn their edges outwards,
which character is at once distinct and pleasing.

Almis aspleniifolia. — Deciduous. Height, 30 feet. The
handsomest of the Alders ; the growth is regular and the
leaves finely cut.

Fraxiims vionopJiylla. — Deciduous. Height, 20 feet.
A large simple-leaved Ash of a dark green hue. Very
effective in mixed plantations.

Popuhis fastigiata (the Lombardy Poplar). — Deciduous.
Height, 100 feet. A most desirable tree for breaking the
sky outline of plantations, being of distinct form and rapid
growth. Hardy, thriving in any soil, the leaves dying off
bright yellow.

Pyriis Aria (the White Beam Tree). — Deciduous.
Height, 40 feet. A handsome tree with large simple
leaves, white on their under side. Hardy, free, distinct,
and effective.

Quetxits pediinadaia fastigiata (the Pyramidal Oak). —
Deciduous. Height, 50 feet. A very desirable large
pyramidal tree, of regular growth, and great beauty.

Robinia Pseud- Acacia pyraviidalis (the Pyramidal
Acacia), — Deciduous. Height, 40 feet. A beautiful tree ;
leaves clear light green, hardy, and of rapid growth.

Sambucus pyramidalis (the Pyramidal Elder). — Decidu-
ous. Height, 12 feet. A distinct tree, producing dense
tufts of dark green leaves.

Ulmiis 7nonumentalis. — Deciduous. Height, 30 feet.
Apparently an upright variety of the English Elm, of
regular, rapid, and handsome growth.

Ulmiis viontaiia fastigiata (the Pyramidal Mountain
Elm). — Deciduous. Height, 30 feet. A hardy free-
growing kind, with large dark leaves. Distinct and
effective.

As already stated, I have in the preceding brief list
selected only a few of the most marked in character, and
those which I conceive to be the most generally useful.
This list might, if desired, be considerably extended.

Hardy Pictorial Trees. 247

Weeping Trees and Shrubs.

Cotoneaster inicrophylla. — Evergreen. Height, 4 feet.
This is a beautiful plant for beds or the front of
shrubberies, the dark green leaves and scarlet berries
producing a nice contrast in the winter. There are
several other kinds, of which C. buxifolia and C. marginata
may be instanced, which, as well as the species described,
form beautiful evergreen weeping lawn trees when grafted
on 5 feet stems of the Hawthorn.

Ilex Aquifoiiuju penduia (the Weeping Holly). — Ever-
green, Height, 20 feet. A really pendulous variety of
the common Holly, producing its bright red berries in
great profusion. It may be grown from its own roots as a
weeping p}-ramid, or be budded on tall stems of the t)-pe,
and in either case it is a valuable addition to our hardy
evergreens.

Ilex Aguifolium albo-niarginata penduia (the Weeping
Silver Holly). — Evergreen. Height, 12 feet. Equally
valuable with the preceding, either as a standard or
pyramidal weeping tree.

Abies excelsa penduia (the Weeping Spruce Fir) —
Evergreen. Height, 40 feet. There are several varieties
of this tree, which doubtless have been selected at various
times by different observers. They vary much in character,
and while all are interesting, some only possess the
regularity of growth and finished beauty which make
them desirable in formal gardens.

Biota penduia.— Evergreen. Height, 12 feet. A
distinct and beautiful weeping tree, with light green leaves.

Juniperus conununis penctula. — Evergreen. Height, 12
feet. A weeping form of the common Juniper, of free
elegant growth, and very hardy.

Juniperus oblonga penduia. — Evergreen. Height, 10
feet. A variety of smaller growth than the preceding,
with long flexible branches, producing a small tree of
perfect beauty.

248 Hardy Pictorial Trees.

Juniperus virginiana viridis. — Evergreen. Height, 20
feet. A weeping variety of the Red Cedar, with bright
grass-green leaves, far superior to all other weeping forms
of this tree. This and the two preceding varieties of
Junipers rank among the most beautiful of small weeping
trees, and should abound in all suitable positions.

Taxiis baccata Dovastoni. — Evergreen. Height, 12 feet.
A dark green almost black-leaved weeping Yew, of
vigorous growth, distinct form, and very hardy.

Taxiis baccata Jacksoni. — Evergreen. Height, 10 feet.
Another form of the Weeping Yew, of smaller growth ;
leaves pale green, very elegant.

Amygdaliis communis pcndiila (the Weeping Almond).
— Deciduous. Height, 12 feet. A distinct form of a well-
known and valuable spring-flowering tree.

Betula alba pendtda (the common Weeping Birch). —
Deciduous. Height, 50 feet. These trees, being raised
from seed, vary in character, some being much more
pendulous than others, and assuming the weeping habit at
an earlier age.

BeUila lacuiiata pendtila (the Cut-leaved Weeping
Birch). — Deciduous. Height, 50 feet. The most beauti-
ful of the genus, the bark white ; hardy, and free, the
leaves finely cut.

Cratcugus Oxyacantha pendula (the Weeping Thorn). —
Deciduous. Height, 12 feet. So regular in growth and so
pendulous is this variety that it forms a very elegant tree
for planting singly on lawns, when grafted on stems of the
common Hawthorn. It is also very suitable for planting
in shrubberies.

Cerasus ChamcEcerasjis (the Weeping Cherry). —
Deciduous, Height, 10 feet. This also is a beautiful
lawn-tree ; when worked on 5 feet stems of the common
Cherry it forms a neat and compact pendulous head.

Fagus sylvatica pendula (the Weeping Beech). —
Deciduous. Height, 30 feet. This, when worked on stems
of the common Beech, 8 or 9 feet high, forms a capital

Hardy Pictorial Trees. 249

arbour, the branches soon reaching to the ground, the
broad leaves forming a complete screen.

Fraximis excelsior pcndula (the Weeping Ash). —
Deciduous. Height, 30 feet. A noble weeping tree, also
suitable for arbours, hardy, and of rapid growth.

Fraximis lentiscifolia pendula (the Chinese Weeping
Ash). — Deciduous. Height, 20 feet. Of smaller growth
than the preceding ; the branches small and flexile, very
pendulous.

Fraximis excelsior aurca pendula (the Gold-barked
Weeping Ash). — Deciduous. Height, 15 feet. A beau-
tiful half-pendulous tree, the yellow bark of the branches
having a fine effect in the winter when the tree is denuded
of its leaves.

Gleditschia Bujoti. — Deciduous. Height, 10 feet. One
of the most graceful of small pendulous trees.

Ligustriim vidgare variegatiim (the Variegated Privet).
— Deciduous. Height, 6 feet. When worked on 5 feet
stems of the common Privet this forms a very graceful
pendulous tree, the golden hue of the leaves showing to
great advantage.

Popidus grandidendata pendula (the Weeping Poplar).
— Deciduous. Height, 30 feet. There are several
varieties of weeping Poplars, but this is one of if not the
best.

Qiiercus pedunculata pendula (the Weeping English
Oak). — Deciduous. Height, 40 feet. This forms a fine
feature in the landscape when of some size and age.
There are also weeping forms of Quercus Cerris (Turkey
Oak) and Quercus Tauzin, both highly ornamental.

Salix babylonica (the W^eeping Willow). — Deciduous.
Height, 40 feet. One of the commonest and most beau-
tiful of pendulous trees, which can scarcely be misplaced
in planting where the weeping form is desired.

Salix americana pcndula (the American Weeping
Willow). — Deciduous. Height, 20 feet. Of finer growth
and more decidedly pendulous than the preceding ; forms

250 Hardy Pictorial Trees.

a graceful lawn tree when worked on stems of the common
kind.

Salix caprea pe?idula (the Kilmarnock Weeping
Willow). — Deciduous. Height, 10 feet. Leaves larger
and shoots stouter than either of the preceding ; forms a
dense umbrageous tree when worked on stems of the
common kind.

Salix VVolseyatia. — Deciduous. Height, 10 feet. Cer-
tainly one of the prettiest weeping trees when worked on
stems of the common kind ; the leaves are of medium size,
almost round, and thickly set on the branches.

SopJiora Japonica pendida. — Deciduous. Height, 12
feet. A decidedly pendulous tree, with dark green
leaves.

Tilia alba pendula (the Weeping Lime). — Deciduous.
Height, 20 feet. A beautiful weeping tree ; the leaves
white on the under sides.

Ulviits microphylla pendula. — Deciduous. A weeping
Elm with very small leaves, forming a pretty tree when
worked on 6 feet stems of the common Elm.

Ulnius montana pendula (the Weeping Mountain Elm).
— Deciduous. Height, 20 feet. A handsome broad-leaved
variety, with dark green leaves. Distinct and remarkably
effective.

Ulnius rugosa pendula.— Deciduous. Height, 25 feet.
This is more thoroughly weeping than either of the
preceding forms, often making shoots many feet in length
in a single year.

As with the pyramidal forms, so also with the weeping,
it would be easy to extend the number of varieties ; the
preceding list is merely a selection of those which seem to
me the most valuable.

If it were desirable to extend these descriptions,
proceeding from the form of the tree to the form of the
leaf, I might associate together the following : —

Trees and shrubs zvitk large compound leaves^ includ-
ing Mahonia aquifolium, Amorpha fruticosa, Ailantus

Hardy Pictorial Trees. 251

glandulosa, Aralia japonica, ^-Esculus, of sorts, Fraxinus,
of sorts, Juglans, of sorts, Rhus typhina, and the Hke.

Trees and shrubs ivitk large simple leaves, including the
Aucubas, Laurels, Portugal Laurels, Photinias, Yuccas,
Maples, Spanish Chestnuts, Catalpas, Tulip Trees,
Magnolias, Paulownias, Planes, Poplars, &c.

Trees and shrtibs zvith small simple leaves, embracing
the Conifers, with their needle-shaped leaves ; and the
Berberis, Box, Phillyreas, Yews, and the like.

I apprehend, however, that these are so familiar to all
likely to be engaged in planting, that to describe them
would be superfluous. Suffice it then to record them here,
and to remark that the best forms of them should not be
lost sight of when making arrangements for planting.
Let it be remembered that well-arranged plantations
should comprise the widest possible diversity both in form
and colour.

No. n.

[Frotn " Tlie Gardeticrs' Ckrotucle" Febniary 2«c/, 1867,/. 103.]

From the " Form " of the tree, as treated on at p. 1 139 of
your last year's volume, I proceed to " Colour " of foliage,
under which head will be included — light green, dark
green, purple, gold, silver, and the tints of autumn,
reserving flowering trees and shrubs to be treated on
hereafter.

Trees and Shrubs with Leaver Light Green.

Abies orientalis. — Evergreen. Height, 60 feet. A
beautiful medium-sized tree of dense formal growth ;
leaves very glossy.

Aucuba Japonica vera (male and female). — Evergreen.
Height, 6 feet. Leaves dark green, a splendid evergreen,
the female bearing scarlet berries in the winter. Of the
numerous varieties of green-leaved Aucubas, A. himalaica,
and A. japonica macrophylla, longifolia, and viridis are
the most desirable that I have yet seen.

252 Hardy Pictorial Trees.

Berberis fascicidaris Jiybrida. — Evergreen. Height,
6 feet. This is perhaps the handsomest of the Mahonia
section of Berberries. The leaves are of a lighter green,
and longer and narrower than those of B. aquifolium ; the
flower spikes are also much longer. An indispensable
low evergreen.

Cedrus Deodara. — Evergreen. Height, lOO feet. One
of the grandest and most beautiful of Conifers, suitable
for specimens, groups, or avenues ; varying much in form
and colour, embracing the erect, spreading, and pendulous,
the light green, dark green, and glaucous. There are also
selected varieties in commerce under the names of C. D.
crassifolia, viridis, and robusta.

Jimiperiis chinensis (the Chinese Juniper). — Evergreen.
Height, 20 feet. A graceful medium-sized tree of free
growth, usually covered with flowers in winter and early
spring. J. oblonga pendula and J. thurifera have also
light green leaves, and are beautiful kinds, quite distinct
in character.

Pimis pyrenaica. — Evergreen. Height, 60 feet. Per-
haps the handsomest of this section of two-leaved Pines.
The foliage is of a most beautiful light green, the bark
cinnamon colour.

Thuja orientalis (the Chinese Arbor Vitae). — Ever-
green. Height, 15 feet. A very beautiful evergreen,
hardy generally in the neighbourhood of London,
where it appears to thrive well, and is not particular
as to soil. A very available plant on account of its
cheapness.

Welliiigtonia gigantea. — Evergreen. Height, 100 feet.
A beautiful and gigantic tree of rapid growth. Good for
specimens, groups, and avenues.

Acer platanoides (the Norway Maple). — Deciduous.
Height, 40 feet. A handsome hardy tree of rapid growth,
and not particular as to soil. Young and dying leaves
yellow.

Catalpa syriugcu/o/m.— Deciduous. Height, 25 feet.

Hardy Pictorial Trees. 253

A medium-sized formal tree with large flat leaves, pro-
ducing purplish-white Bignonia-like flowers.

Coriaria myrtifolia. — Deciduous. Height, 3 feet. A
dwarf shrub with frond-like branches. Distinct and
graceful.

Gleditschia triacanthos. — Deciduous. Height, 40 feet.
A picturesque tree with distinct and elegant pinnated
foliage ; the leaves dying bright yellow in autumn.

Negundo fraxinifolmm. — Deciduous. Height, 30 feet.
An umbrageous tree, hardy, and of rapid growth.

Rhus Cotiims (the Venice Sumach). — Deciduous.
Height, 5 feet. A pretty dwarf shrub, covered in summer
with pink feather-like pedicels and flowers. Decaying
leaves reddish yellow.

Taxodmni distichidin (the Deciduous Cypress). Height,
60 feet. A beautiful feathery tree, varying much in
character from seed, and delighting most in damp soils.
When the tree becomes of some age the roots often
obtrude in large knobs above the ground.

Tilia eiiropcea (the Lime Tree). — Deciduous. Height,
70 feet. A hardy tree of rapid growth, not particular as to
soil, and well suited to the vicinity of large towns ; flowers
sweet-scented, decaying leaves yellow.

Trees and Shrubs with Leaves Dark Green.

Araucaria itnbricaia. — Evergreen. Height, 60 feet.
This tree is unique among evergreens, nothing approach-
ing it in boldness and rigidity ©f form and darkness of
foliage. Good as specimens, groups, and avenues.

Berberis Aquifoliuui. — Evergreen. Height, 5 feet. A
hardy free-growing flowering evergreen, of great beauty,
which can scarcely be misplaced, and which is generally
available on account of the lowness of price. For clumps,
the fronts of shrubberies, and underwood for game, it is
equally valuable, producing masses of yellow flowers in
spring, and berries in autumn, the latter proving valuable
food for game.

254 Hardy Pictorial Trees.

Berberis Darivinii. — Evergreen. Height, 5 feet. The
handsomest of the Berberries ; of free growth, covered
with a profusion of orange-coloured blossoms in summer,
often repeated late in autumn.

Cerasus lusitanica (the Portugal Laurel). — Evergreen.
Height, 20 feet. A hardy handsome evergreen, of free
growth, producing spikes of white flowers in June, followed
by purple fruit in autumn. Good for shrubberies ; forms
also a handsome round-headed standard tree, much used
in formal gardening.

Cjipressus Lambertiana. — Evergreen. Height, 50 feet.
The hardiest of the Cypress tribe ; of free growth, and
very handsome.

Garrya elliptica. — Evergreen. Height, 10 feet. One of
the most striking and beautiful of evergreens, covered with
numerous pendulous green catkins throughout the winter
months ; the pollen is so plentiful in spring that if the tree
is shaken the air is filled with a cloud of yellow dust.

Ilex Aquifolium (the Holly). — Evergreen. Height, 10
to 20 feet. The varieties of this plant with dark green
leaves are so numerous that I cannot include even all those
worthy of notice ; Shepherdii, nigrescens, ovata, scurtica,
Donningtoniensis, Fisherii, laurifolia, serratifolia, latispina,
and ferox, are distinct and very select This, when we
combine leaves and berries, is certainly the first of
evergreens, and should abound in every garden and
plantation.

Ligiistrwn japoniaun (the Japan Privet). — Evergreen.
Height, 5 feet. A handsome evergreen shrub, producing
spikes of white flowers.

Picea Nordnianniana. — Evergreen. Height, 80 feet.
"Very hardy, free, and of incomparable beauty. Suitable
for specimens on lawns, groups in parks, and avenues. Of
other Piceas — Amabilis, grandis, Lowii, nobilis, magnifica,
and pinsapo, are of a high order of merit.

Piniis insignis. — Evergreen. Height, 60 feet. A mag-
nificent Pine, of the loveliest and richest dark green, but

Hardy Pictorial Trees. 255

unfortunateh' not very hardy, and therefore suitable only
for high situations or dry subsoils.

Pimis aiistriaca. — Evergreen. Height, 60 feet. A
noble Pine, very hardy, and not particular as to soil ; as
the plants vary much from seed they should be selected if
wanted for avenues or single specimens ; the variety is not
usually so great as to produce incongruity in groups.

QuercHS Ilex (the Evergreen Oak). — Height, 40 feet.
The various kinds of this tree are invaluable in winter,
almost rivalling the Holly in regard to foliage and outline.
Unless removed almost yearly in the nurseries the plants
are apt to die when transplanted ; it is therefore safest to
plant them small and from pots.

PJiilly7'ea latifolia. — Evergreen. Height, 12 feet. A
medium-sized evergreen, excellent for shrubberies.

Alnus cordifolia. — Sub-evergreen. Height, 20 feet. A
handsome dark -looking tree.

Fraximis monophylla. — Deciduous. Height, 30 feet.
A bold rigid-looking Ash, with broad simple leaves.

Ornus eu7'opcra (the " Flowering Ash). — Deciduous.
Height, 25 feet. A handsome small tree, producing
clusters of white flowers freely in June.

SopJiorajapo)iica. — Deciduous. Height, 30 feet. Very
distinct and ornamental, the leaves pinnate, bluish green,
the bark dark green.

No. HI.

[From " T/ie Gardenei's' Chronich'^' March 9, 1S67, /. 237.]

Trees and Shrubs with Purple Leaves.

Acej' Pseudo-Platamis piirpiirea (the Purple Sycamore).
— Deciduous. Height, 40 feet. A distinct variety of the
common Sycamore ; the underside of the leaves purple,
deepening in colour as they advance in age. Acer japoni-
cum rubrum should be a valuable plant here, but from
what I have hitherto seen of it the growth is delicate.

Berberis imlgaris foliis purpuyeis (the Purple Rerberis).

256 Hardy Pictorial Trees.

— Deciduous. Height, lo feet. A very distinct and
beautiful shrub, the numerous yellow flowers contrasting
admirably with the reddish-purple leaves in spring.

Coryliis avellana purpurea (the Purple Nut). — Decidu-
ous. Height, 6 feet, A valuable shrub, with broad dark
purple leaves.

DapJinc mezereumfoliis ptirpiireis (the Purple Mezereum).
— Deciduous. Height, 4 feet. Free only in warm loamy
soils, but desirable for the colour of its leaves.

Etionymus atropurpureus. — Deciduous. Height, 6 feet.
A very distinct and effective shrub, occasionally presenting
a mixture of green, scarlet, and purple leaves.

Fagus sylvatica purpurea (the Purple Beech). — Decidu-
ous. Height, 40 feet. The monarch of purple-leaved
trees, well suited for parks and the outline of shrubberies,
There are many varieties of this tree, shading from copper-
colour to blackish purple.

Querctis nigra (the Black Oak). — Deciduous. Height,
30 feet. This beautiful tree is at present but little known ;
the leaves are as dark as those of the Purple Nut, and
there seems a probability that if it does not rival it will at
least take a place beside the Purple Beech in the future of
gardening.

Ulmus montana purpurea (the Purple Elm). — Deciduous.
Height, 50 feet. This tree is less marked in colour than
most of the preceding, yet when it becomes of some size
the effect is sufficiently striking to make it desirable.

Trees and Shrubs with Leaves Yellowish
OR Golden.

Aucuba japonica inaculata (male and female). — Ever-
green. Height, 6 feet. Very useful and ornamental in
beds or shrubberies, and stands the smoke of large towns
better than any other evergreen. The female plant bears
an abundance of scarlet berries. Of other golden-leaved
Aucubas, among the best are limbata, bicolor, and lati-
maculata.

Hardy Pictorial Trees. 257

Buxus sempervirens nurea (the Gold-edged Box). —
Evergreen. Height, 8 feet. An invaluable and very
hardy evergreen of formal growth, that may be clipped at
pleasure.

CJiam(2cyparis spk(sroidea variegata. — Evergreen.
Height, 10 feet. A graceful Cypress-like plant. Leaves
green, beautifully blotched with gold.

Eleagmis pungetis variegata. — Evergreen. Height 8
feet. Leaves green, broadly and distinctly margined with
bright gold.

Eiionymtis japonicus aureo-variegatiis . — Evergreen.
Height, 8 feet. Leaves dark green, with bright yellow
blotch in centre, very beautiful. Euonymus japonicus
aureo-marginatus is also a beautiful variety of this plant,
the leaves being regularly edged instead of blotched with
gold.

Ilex Aquifolunn anrea (the Gold Holly). — Evergreen.
Height, 3 to 20 feet. The old Gold Holly is perhaps the
best for general purposes, because it grows so freely. Of
others, picta, flava, aurea angustifolia, bicolor, speciosa,
and obscura are the best ; aurea nana and aurea pumila
are beautiful dwarf kinds of great value in ornamental
gardening. In the garden and in shrubberies these
Gold Hollies can hardly be omitted.

Jimiperus virginiana aui'ea (the Golden Cedar). —
Evergreen. Height, 20 feet. Leaves green and gold in
patches ; an effective and beautiful small tree.

Ligustrum japoiiieiim variegatuni (the variegated Japan
Privet). — Evergreen. Height, 6 feet. Leaves dark green,
beautifully blotched with gold.

Ligustrum luciduin variegatuni (the variegated Chinese
Privet). — Evergreen. Height, 8 feet. Leaves green, much
larger than the preceding, evenly and broadly margined
with gold. A very showy plant.

Retinospora pisifera aurea. — Evergreen. Height, 6 feet.

A Juniper-like plant, of a golden hue.

Rhododendron ponticum foliis aurcis. — Evergreen,
o

258 Hardy Pictorial Trees.

Height, 6 feet. Leaves green, well edged with gold. A
bright-looking and beautiful evergreen.

Taxus baccata aurea (the Golden Yew). — Evergreen.
Height, 20 feet. A very hardy and effective gold-coloured
tree.

Thuja aurea (the Golden Arborvitae). — Evergreen.
Height, 4 feet. A dwarf compact golden-hued plant of
great beauty.

Tliuja orientalis foliis aureis. — Evergreen. Height, 10
feet. Leaves green and gold in patches, very effective.

Castanea vesca variegata (the variegated Spanish
Chestnut). — Deciduous. Height, 10 feet. Leaves green,
broadly margined with bright gold, very beautiful in early
spring.

Fagus sylvatica foliis aureis (the variegated Beech). —
Deciduous. Height, 20 feet. There are several varieties
of variegated Beech, the one much handsomer than the
rest, the leaves distinctly edged with bright gold.

Fraxinus auaib(Efolia. — Deciduous. Height, 30 feet.
Leaves green and marbled with gold, as in the Aucuba ;
very graceful.

Hibiscus syriacus foliis variegatis. — Deciduous. Height,
4 feet. A beautiful dwarf shrub, well variegated.

Ligustrum vulgare variegatum (the variegated common
Privet). — Deciduous. Height, 6 feet. Leaves green,
regularly margined with bright gold, very effective.

Prumis Padus aucubcefolia. — Deciduous. Height, 25
feet. Leaves green, distinctly spotted with yellow ; a
very interesting tree.

Quercus Cerris variegata (the variegated Turkey Oak).
— Deciduous. Height, 30 feet. Leaves green, well mar-
gined with yellow. A distinct handsome tree.

Samhicus nigra foliis aureis (the Golden-leaved Elder).
— Deciduous. Height, 20 feet. Leaves green, margined
with gold.

Spircea opulifolia lutea. — Deciduous. Height, 5 feet.
Leaves yellow. A most beautiful dwarf shrub in early
spring.

Hardy Pictorial Trees. 259

Symphoricarpos vulgaris foliis mireis. — Deciduous.
Height, 6 feet. Leaves green, edged with gold. A very
pretty shrub.

Weigela rosea variegata. — Deciduous. Height, 4 feet.
Leaves green, well edged with gold. A beautiful plant.

No. IV.
\Frotn " The Gardeners' Chronicle^'' April loth 1867, p. 404.]

Trees and Shrubs with Leaves Silvery
OR Whitish.

Abies alba glaiica. — Evergreen. Height, 20 feet. A
variety of the white Spruce Fir, forming a beautiful
medium sized tree, with bluish white leaves. Very effec-
tive in the landscape, especially when the sun shines on it.

Aiicuba japonica medio-variegata. — Evergreen. Height,
4 feet. Leaves green, with distinct white blotch in centre,
bearing red berries in the autumn. Very distinct and
handsome.

Bupleuruni fruticosuiu. — Evergreen. Height, 5 feet.
A bluish-white-looking shrub with greenish-yellow flowers.
Very hardy, free, and distinct.

Cedrus Deodara. — Evergreen. Height, 100 feet.
Among the seedlings of Cedrus Deodara may be selected
plants of a bluish-white colour, which are invaluable for
the variety they afford.

Chamcecyparis sphceroidea glauca. — Evergreen . H eight,
10 feet. A bluish-white Cypress-like plant. Distinct and
pleasing.

Euonymus radicatts variegatiis. — Evergreen. Height,
I foot. A beautiful silvery-looking plant, very desirable
for the front of borders and shrubberies, also for the
edging of flower beds.

Ilex Aquifolium argentea (the Silver Holly). — Evergreen.
Height, 10 to 20 feet. The silver Hollies, like the gold
and green, vary much in size and character. Among the

26o Hardy Pictorial Trees.

best are ferox argentea, argentea angustifoHa, elegantissima,
longifolia, lucida, marginata.

Juniperus virgmiana glaiica. — Evergreen. Height, 30
feet. Leaves greyish white, distinct and beautiful. There
is also a variety of this species in which the leaves are
produced in patches of green and white, which is very
ornamental.

Ligustruin ovalifolium variegatum. — Evergreen. Height,
8 feet. Leaves green, distinctly and broadly margined
with silver ; very showy.

Phlomis fruticosa. — Evergreen. Height, 2 feet. Leaves
greyish white, flowers yellow. A pretty and distinct dwarf
plant.

Pinus excelsa. — Evergreen. Height, 100 feet. A free-
growing and very handsome white-leaved Pine, good for
specimens, groups, and avenues.

Pzniis strobus nivea (the Snow Pine). — Evergreen.
Height, 100 feet. A handsome silvery-leaved Pine of
slender but graceful and rapid growth.

Picea nobilis glauca. — Evergreen. Height, 100 feet.
One of the most beautiful of the Piceas, the leaves almost
white.

RJiammis Alaterjius foliis argcnteis. — Evergreen.
Height, 10 feet. Leaves green, broadly and regularly
margined with silver. A very beautiful plant, best against
a wall, except in warm dry localities.

Acer Neginido variegatum. — Deciduous. Height, 20
feet. Leaves almost white, hardy, of free growth, and
altogether one of the most beautiful white-leaved trees
ever introduced.

Amygdalus communis foliis variegatis (the Variegated
Almond). — Deciduous. Height, 20 feet. Leaves green,
well and regularly edged with white. A showy and
beautiful tree.

Hippophae rJiamnoides (the Sea Buckthorn). — Deciduous.
Height, 1 5 feet. Leaves and bark greyish white, distinct
and effective. Well adapted for the seaside.

Hardy Pictorial Tkees. 261

Philadelphus coronarius variegatiis (the Variegated
Syringa). — Deciduous. Height, 3 feet. Leaves green,
broadly margined with white. A beautiful dwarf shrub.

Populus argentea vera (the Silver Poplar). — Deciduous.
Height, 60 feet. Leaves and bark much whiter than those
of the Abele Poplar. A beautiful cool-looking tree in
summer, worthy of very general adoption.

SliepJierdia argentea. — Deciduous. Height, 6 feet.
Leaves like frosted silver. A beautiful dwarf shrub.

Tilia argentea (the Silver Lime). — Deciduous. Height,
40 feet. Leaves large, whitish above, quite white under-
neath, very effective when the leaves are moved by the
wind.

Ulmus cavipestris variegata (the Variegated Elm). —
Deciduous. Height, 40 feet. Leaves white and green.
Very effective.

Under the head of colour we must rank those trees
whose leaves change before their fall in autumn. The
most effective are : Red — Acer rubrum (Scarlet Maple),
Berberis vulgaris, Cornus alba (Dogwood), Liquidambar,
Quercus coccinea (Scarlet Oak), Rhus Cotinus (Venice
Sumach), Rhus typhina (Stag's-horn Sumach), Spirsea
aritiefolia. Spiraea prunifolia fl. pi.. Viburnum Lentago,
Viburnum Opulus (Gueldres Rose), Crataegus prunifolia.
Yelloiv — yEsculus Hippocastanum (Horse Chestnut), Acer
platanoides (Norway Maple), A. Pseudo-Platanus (Syca-
more), A. saccharinum (Sugar Maple), Amelanchier
Botryapium (Snowy ]\Iespilus), Betula (Birch), of sorts,
Cerasus Padus bracteosa '(Bird Cherry), Cerasus Virgin-
iana, Crataegus (Thorns), of sorts, Gleditschia triacanthos,
Kolreuteria paniculata, Liriodendron tulipiferum (Tulip
Tree), Magnolia tripetala, Morus alba, Pavia flava,
Populus (Poplars), of sorts, Salisburia adiantifolia,
Syringa vulgaris (Lilac), and Tilia europaea (Lime). The
colours of the decaying leaves were less vivid than usual
last autumn, owing probably to the quantity of rain that
fell late in summer.

262 Hardy Pictorial Trees.

No. V.

\_Froin " The Gardeners^ Chronicle" June 15/// 1867,/. 628.]

Flowering Trees and Shrubs (Evergreen).

So numerous are the species and varieties of hardy flower-
ing trees and shrubs that there is a difficulty in reducing
the number within reasonable limits. Many of the old
kinds which have had a name in the past, must now give
place to kinds of recent introduction, which while they
serve to fill the place of the former as regards general
character and foliage, excel them in the beauty of their
flowers. In making a selection, the amateur will be
guided by the season at which he wishes to have the
greatest display; in some places this may be spring, in
others summer, and in others again autumn. Leaving
this and other special objects to be sought out and
realised by the individual planter, I can but deal with the
matter from a general point of view, selecting the most
desirable kinds at whatever season they may flower.

A^idrovieda floribiinda. — Height, 2 feet. This beauti-
ful dwarf evergreen, which is covered with numerous spikes
of snow-white flowers in winter and early spring, thrives
best in peat or light loam. It is worthy of a special plot
in every garden.

Arbutus Unedo. — Height, 15 feet. This is the type of
a numerous family, all more or less interesting, thriving
best in light loam. The flowers are white. Of the scarlet
flowering kinds, A. U. Croomii is the largest and hand-
somest. A. Andrachne hybrida is also a beautiful kind,
with large shining leaves, and long spikes of white flowers.

Berberis Aquifolium. — Height, 5 feet. A dark green
evergreen with ample foliage, producing an abundance of
)-ellow flowers in early spring, succeeded by clusters of
purple berries in autumn. Hardy, handsome, and free,
thriving in any soil, this plant on account of its beauty and
cheapness should be abundantly planted. It forms ex-

Hardy Pictorial Trees. 263

cellent cover, pheasants and birds generally feeding freely
on the berries. B. fascicularis hybrida is also a beautiful
kind of taller growth.

Berber is Darivinii. — Height, 5 feet. Perhaps the loveli-
est of this genus, thriving in common garden soil. The
flowers are rich deep orange, often so abundant as to com-
pletely cover the plant.

Ceanotlius pallidus. — Height, 6 feet. A beautiful shrub,
producing spikes of sky-blue flowers, very hardy. Of
other species, azureus, dentatus, divaricatus, rigidus, and
papillosus are good, but not quite hardy ; they are how-
ever valuable and suitable as wall plants.

Daphne pontica. — Height, 4 feet. This is a valuable
hardy plant on account of the sweetness of its insignificant
greenish flowers, which perfume the garden and shrubbery
in the evening. D. Cneorum, and D. Cneorum fol. var. are
also charming plants of trailing habit, with pink sweet-
scented flowers. The latter are of less easy culture than
the former and require light loamy or peaty soil. D. Fioni-
ana is a pretty dwarf free-blooming kind with lilac flowers,
thriving like the D. pontica in any soil.

Erica, in varieties (the Hardy Heath). — The varieties
of hardy Heath are almost endless, if we include, as from
the mere decorative point of view we may well do, the
Gypsocallis (Alcor Heath) and Calluna (Ling or Heather).
They range in height from i to 4 feet, are mostly very
hardy, and thrive best in peat. For a small collection take
the following — C. vulgaris, 6 varieties; Erica, 10 varieties;
Gypsocallis, 4 varieties. The flowers are white or red.

Garry a elliptica. — Height, 8 feet. A fine evergreen,
with dark shining oblong leaves, producing in mid-winter
catkins resembling those of the Filbert. The plant is
sometimes damaged by frost in winter, but quickly
recovers. Thrives in an}- soil.

Kalmia latifolia. — Height, 6 feet. This is one of the
chastest of what are popularly called American plants ; the
leaves are of a beautiful dark green, the flowers white,

264 Hardy Pictorial Trees.

tinted with pink. K. myrtifolia is similar in character,
but has flowers of a deeper colour. K. glauca is a lovely
little plant, rarely exceeding i or i| feet in height, covering
its branches with pale red flowers in April and May. All
these require peat or light loam.

Ligustrimi liicidum (the Chinese Privet). — Height, 12
feet. A very handsome evergreen, but scarcely hardy
enough for the climate of London except in dryish soils
and sheltered situations.

Magnolia grandiflofa exonieyisis. — Height, 30 feet. One
of the grandest of flowering evergreens, most suitable for
training against mansions and dwelling-houses, where in
time it will rise to the height of 30 or 40 feet. The large
oval flowers are white, very fragrant. Thrives best in sandy
loam or peat.

Rhododendron. — Of all flowering evergreens the Rhodo-
dendrons are pre-eminent. They require peat or turfy
loam, natural or artificial. The garden varieties are so
hybridised that I shall not attempt to bring them under
any one species, but simply give a list of names and
colours of a few of the best. R. arboreum, catawbiense,
maximum, and ponticum, are the species from which our
best garden varieties have descended. White, variously
spotted with black or brozvn, or shaded : Album elegans,
Chianoides, Gulnare, Ingramii, Madame Miolan Carvalho,
Minnie, Mr Otto Forster, Mrs Mangles, Papilionaceum,
Zuleika. Lilac: Fastuosum, maculatum superbum, Sher-
woodianum. Pinkish JVhite : Star of England. White or
blush edged luith rose: Bylsianum, concessum, Comtesse
de Morella, Limbatum, The Gem. Peach colour :
Standish's Perfection. Pose and cerise: Blandyanum
superbum, Etoile de Flandres, Lady E. Cathcart, Madame
Titiens, Mrs John Waterer, Paxtonii. Crimson of various
shades: Blandyanum, Fleur de Marie, Atrosanguineum,
Barclayanum, Grand Arab, lago, John Waterer, Robert
Burns. Purplish crimson and lake: Brayanum, General
Wilson, Neilsonii. Blood colour: Brebnerii. Purplish

Hardy Pictorial Trees. 265

claret: Blatteum, maculatum grandiflorum. Bluish
purple: Schiller. (5^^ NOTE A., end of volume),

Spartium junceuni (the Spanish Broom). — Height, 8
feet. One of the gayest of flowering evergreens ; flowers
yellow, thriving in common soil.

Ulex europcea flore pleno (the double-flowered Furze). —
Height, 5 feet. A compact evergreen, thriving in common
soil, the yellow flowers are produced so freely in spring
that it forms a complete golden bush. Very effective, but
apt to suffer from severe frosts.

Viburnum Tinus (the Laurustinus). — Height, 8 feet.
This is perhaps the most beautiful of winter-flowering
dwarf eveigreens, thriving in common garden soil. It is
sometimes damaged in low damp situations if the winter
be severe, but is seldom killed. Viburnum lucidum (the
black Laurustinus) and V. suspensum are also valuable
and handsome eversrreens.

No. VI.
\_From " The Gardeners' Chronicle" August 2>rd 1867, p. 805.]

Flowering Trees and Shrubs (Deciduous).

As in my last paper, which dealt with evergreen flowering
trees and shrubs, I shall here select and describe only a few
of the choicest of the deciduous kinds.

^sculus Hippocastanum (the Horse Chestnut). — Height,
60 feet. One of the grandest of flowering trees, to v/hich
the avenue in Bushy Park bears ample testimony. The
double-flowering kind (/E. H. flore-pleno) is equally beauti-
ful, and more suitable for many purposes, growing slowly,
and seldom attaining to more than half the height of the
former. * The Scarlet Horse Chestnut (/E. H. rubicunda)
is of still slower and smaller growth, rarely exceeding 20
or 25 feet in height, and from its symmetry and beauty
forms an admirable park tree.

A melanchier Botryapium (the Snowy Mespilus). — Height,

266 Hardy Pictorial Trees.

30 feet. This is one of the most beautiful of spring-
flowering trees, growing well in common soil. The white
blossoms are produced in such abundance as to completely
cover the tree early in April.

AmygdaUis communis (the common Almond). — Height,
20 feet. Another spring-flowering tree of great beauty ;
the flowers are pink, profusely adorning the tree in March
and April. Hardy, free, thriving in any soil, and appar-
ently indifferent to the smoke and confinement of large
towns. The double-flowering Almond is also a good
hardy tree ; the dwarf Almond (A. nana), of which there
are both red and white varieties, is very useful and pretty
in the front of shrubberies, rarely exceeding i foot or i|
foot in height.

Azalea. — See Rhododendron viscosiim.

Buddlea globosa. — Height, 12 feet. This is a very
showy plant, producing numerous globes of orange-
coloured flowers in the summer. It is unfortunately not
very hardy, and except in sheltered situations is best
placed against a wall.

CalycaniJiiis floridus (the Carolina Allspice). — Height,
6 feet. The flowers of this plant are not striking or showy,
but their delightful fragrance commends it for general
cultivation. The leaves die off bright yellow. It prefers
a peaty soil, but this is by no means indispensable.

Cerasus sylvestris fiore-plcno (the double French Cherry).
— Height, 20 to 30 feet. We have here one of the most
beautiful of spring-flowering medium-sized trees, the
branches in early spring being literally covered with large
double white flowers.

C. vjUgaris flore-pleno (the common double-blossomed
Cherry) is also a beautiful tree, usually of somewhat less
vigorous growth. There is also a beautiful dwarf variety
C. japonica fl.-pl. rarely exceeding 4 feet in height, with
double white flowers, and a double rose-coloured variety,
well worthy of general cultivation for shrubberies and
forcin£[-.

Hardy Pictorial Trees. 267

Coronilla Euierus. — Height, 6 feet. This is a pretty
dwarf shrub, the flowers yellow, tipped with red, produced
in May and June. It is very hardy, thriving in any soil.

Cratcegus Oxyacantha punicea (the Scarlet Thorn). —
Height, 15 feet. No plant is more beautiful in early spring,
the dark red flowers being produced in magnificent pro-
fusion. The species and varieties of Crataegus are almost
endless, and nearly all are desirable when space admits of
their introduction. The best for ornamental planting are
the double white (C. Oxyacantha fl.-pl), the double pink
(C. O. punicea fl.-pl.), and the double crimson (C. O. coccinea
fl. pi.), the last named promising to eclipse all others in
point of effect.

Cytisus albus (the White or Portugal Broom). — Height,
6 feet. This is desirable among white-flowering shrubs on
account of the mass of flowers it produces in early spring.
There is a variety (C. A. incarnatus) bearing white
flowers tipped with pink, also very beautiful. The common
Laburnum (C. Laburnum, height, 20 feet) belongs here,
and there are many dwarf-growing varieties of great
beauty, ranging in height from i to 4 feet ; of these
nigricans, patens, purpureus, purpureus flore-albo, elon-
gatus, supinus, and capitatus, may be regarded as the
best.

Daphne Mezereum (the Mezereon). — Height, 4 feet.
Both the white and pink varieties of this plant are
desirable on account of flowering in mid-winter.

Deutzia gracilis. — Height, 2 to 3 feet. A pretty dwarf
shrub of free hardy growth thriving in any soil ; admirably
adapted for the front of shrubberies. The white flowers
are freely produced in early spring. D. scabra is similar
in character, although of larger growth. U. crenata flore-
pleno is very handsome, the flowers white, often tinged
with rose colour. All these are excellent for forcing.

ForsytJiia viridissitna. — Height, 4 feet. The flowers of
this plant, which are greenish yellow, appear in great
profusion in winter before the leaves. Hardy, thriving in

268 Hardy Pictorial Trees.

any soil. F. suspensa is also a good hardy climbing
shrub.

FiicJisia Riccartoni. — Height, 8 feet. This plant is
almost hardy, and if injured by frost will spring up from
beneath the ground and flower freely in the autumn. The
same may be said of F. virgata. Both bear red flowers,
and are very graceful.

Genista tinctoria flore pleno. — Height, i foot. This
beautiful little pknt is profusely adorned with yellow
flowers in early spring, and is well suited for the front of
borders and for rockwork. G. purgans is a very showy
kind, and, as in the case of many species of Cytisus, forms
a fine lawn tree worked on stems of the Laburnum.

Hibiscus syriacus (Althaea frutex). — Height, 5 feet.
There are few autumn-flowering shrubs so handsome as
these, and they grow freely in any soil. There are many
varieties with red, white, purple, and variegated flowers ;
some are single, others double.

Liriodendron tulipiferian (the Tulip Tree). — Height, 60
feet. One of the grandest of park or lawn trees, but re-
quiring considerable space. The leaves are large and
curiously cut ; the flowers, which are greenish yellow, of a
deeper colour inside, are produced in June and July.

Alagnolia conspiciia. — Height, 20 feet. This plant is
usually placed against a wall, but in light loamy or
peaty soils it thrives well in the open garden, where the
masses of large white oval flowers make it a conspicuous
object in early spring. M. purpurea and M. Lenne, the
latter especially, are beautiful purple-flowered kinds. M.
Soulangeana is also a desirable variety, the flowers being
white tinged with purple.

Persica vulgaris flore pleno (the double-flowering Peach).
Height, 15 feet. We know not whether to admire these
plants most as pyramids in the forcing-house or as stan-
dards out-of-doors ; in both positions they are exquisitely
beautiful. The double rose, double crimson, double white,
and camellia-flowered are the best. A striped variety of

Hardy Pictorial Trees. 269

great beauty was introduced from China a few years
since, but the variegation has in many cases that we know
of disappeared.

Philadelphns coronarius (the Syringa). — Height, 10 to
20 feet. This old-fashioned plant cannot yet be dispensed
with ; it is indeed one of the most useful of shrubbery
plants. Among other kinds, P. grandiflorus, speciosus,
verrucosus, and Zeyheri, are perhaps the best.

Pninus doinestica flore pleno (the double-flowered Plum).
— Height, 20 feet. This is a useful early-flowering tree,
and the same may be said of the Cherry Plum (P.
myrobalana). The double sloe (P. spinosa flore pleno) is
perhaps the most beautiful and useful of the Plums, flower-
ing early, profusely, and remaining a long time in flower ;
it is of smaller growth than the preceding, rarely attaining
the height of 12 feet.

Pyrus spectabilis. — Height, 30 feet. One of the most
effective of spring-flowering trees. The flower-buds are
deep red in April, changing to rose-colour on expansion in
May. Ver}' hardy and free.

Pyrus Mains Jloribunda. — Height, lo feet. A beautiful
medium-sized tree, covered with pink buds, expanding
white edged with pink in early spring. \'ery effective.

RJins Cotinus (the Venetian Sumach). — Height, 5 feet.
The reddish feathery pedicels of this plant attract the
attention of all observers, and are quite unique in appear-
ance in the shrubbery and garden. Free, hardy, and
highly ornamental. R. typhina (the Stag's-horn Sumach)
is a singular looking pinnate-leaved low tree, not without
beauty.

Ribcs sanguineuni (the Red - flowering Currant). —
Height, 6 feet. One of the hardiest, finest, and loveliest
of early spring-flowering shrubs; there are pink, red,
white, and double red varieties, all worthy of universal
cultivation. There are other species interesting enough,
but hardly equal to the above for effect in ornamental
planting.

270 Hardy Pictorial Trees.

Robinia hispida (the Rose Acacia). — Height, lo to 15
feet. A beautiful low tree, the branches of which are
exceedincrly brittle, and liable to be broken by the wind
in exposed places. The flowers are rose colour, produced
in loose racemes from June to September.

Rhododendron viscosum. — Height, 3 to 4 feet. Under
this heading we class the Azaleas of gardens ; and where
peat is of ready access, the Ghent Azaleas are most desir-
able. They are very showy and effective in early spring,
the colours being mostly yellow, buff, and orange, but
there are also white, pink, and scarlet varieties. The
Azalea mollis is also of great value here.

Rosa (the Rose). — Although Roses fall naturally with-
in our scope, space will not allow of more than the briefest
allusion to them. Standards in beds or lines on lawns,
and dwarfs in beds or borders are equally in place. Their
culture and lists of varieties are now matter of everyday
discussion.

Spircea aricefolia. — Height, 6 feet. This is one of the
best, and perhaps the best, of the white Spiraeas ; but ulmi-
folia, Lindleyana, and prunifolia are also very good. Of
pink kinds we should select S. bella, californica, callosa,
and Douglasii. All are hardy and free-flowering, and will
grow in almost any soil.

Syri7iga vulgaris (the Lilac). — Height, 10 to 20 feet.
Among common flowering shrubs the Lilac is deservedly
a great favourite, and in addition to the old-fashioned
sorts. La Liberte, Dr Lindley, Charles X., alba grandiflora,
Madame Lemoine, and Marie Lequay are acquisitions.

The Persian Lilac (S. persica, 6 feet) and the Siberian
Lilac (S. rothamagensis, 8 feet), of which there are both
red and white varieties, are also valuable where a lower
growth is required.

Viburnum Optilus sterilis (the Gueldres Rose). — Height,
10 feet. The beautiful balls of white flowers which this
tree produces in spring give it a high rank among flower-
ing shrubs. It thrives in the commonest soil, and should

Hardy Pictorial Trees. 271

be planted freely, and cut into shape if it becomes
straggling. Viburnum plicatum, of which the original
tree is in these Nurseries, and Viburnum macroccphalum
are also of great beauty.

Weigela rosea. — Height, 4 feet. One of the hand-
somest of flowering shrubs, the flowers covering the
branches with their rosy-coloured blossoms in May.
There are many varieties of this plant, all worthy of
general cultivation ; amabilis, Stelzneri, and Van Houttei
are perhaps the best.

No. vn.

\_F7-om '"'■The Garde7iers' Chroiiide^^ September "jth 1867,/. 926.]

Climbing Plants.

What garden is so fortunately circumstanced as to
have green hedges on all sides for boundaries, and within
no buildings the walls or boards of which left bare are
anything but sightly } But the ugliest walls and buildings
may be covered — may be converted into breadths of
beautiful foliage and flowers by the use of climbing plants.
Various are the objects to which these climbing plants
may be applied, as for instance to cover trellis-work and
pillars, to be trained in a recumbent position, or to be
clipped to form edgings to flower beds ; but my object
now is not so mucli to suggest uses for them as to
enumerate and describe the best. Of climbing plants
valuable for the beauty of their leaves in winter, the
different kinds of Ivy, green and variegated, stand pre-
eminent and almost alone. Of the 40 different kinds
cultivated here, the following are considered the most
desirable : —

Hcdera canarieiisis anrea niaciilata. — A plant of rapid
growth, leaves large, well clouded with gold.

Hedera inarginata argentea. — Leaves green, broadly
margined with silver ; growth free and rapid ; the best of
the white-leaved Ivies.

272 Hardy Pictorial Trees.

Hedera donerailcnsis minor. — Leaves small, dark green,
deeply cleft ; shoots numerous and slender ; growth rapid.

Hedera minor marniorata. — Leaves small, beautifully
marbled with white ; growth rapid ; exceedingly pretty.

Hedera poetica. — Leaves of medium size, pale green,
almost entire, very glossy, the whole plant looking as if
varnished ; growth very rapid.

Hedera latifolia inaculata. — Leaves large, marbled, and
clouded with gold and silver ; growth rapid ; very hand-
some.

Hedera digitata. — Leaves dark green, long and pointed
at the apex, broad at the base, deeply cleft ; growth rapid,
but shoots less numerous than most others.

Hedera pabnata. — Leaves dark green, of medium size,
very broad and deeply cleft, veins unusually prominent ;
very vigorous.

Hedera sagittcBfolia. — Leaves medium size^ dark green,
very distinct.

Hedera Helix foliis anreis. — Leaves small, green and
gold, some wholly of each colour, others finely blotched ;
growth rapid, very beautiful.

Hedera rhombea. — Leaves broad, dark green, narrowly
but regularly margined with silver ; very distinct and
elegant.

Hedera japonica. — Leaves small, regularly and clearly
margined with white ; growth dense and moderate ; ver>^
pretty.

Hedera Walthamensis. — Leaves very small, green;
growth very rapid. The prettiest of all small-leaved
Ivies.

Hedera canaricnsis foliis aiireis. — Leaves large, some
entirely green, others blotched, or entirely gold ; growth
vigorous, very handsome.

Hedera algeriensis variegata. — Leaves large, broadly
margined with white ; growth rapid ; one of the hand-
somest.

Hedera canarietisis nova (the new Irish Iv\-^. — Leaves

Hardy Pictorial Trees. 273

larger and of a paler green than the common Irish Ivy,
also of more rapid growth.

Hedej'a algeriensis. — Leaves pale green, large, entire ;
a very handsome sort, of rapid growth.

Hedera Rcegneriana. — Leaves dark green, large, thick
and leathery ; growth rapid ; very handsome. This and
the two preceding are the best kinds for covering a large
surface quickly.

Of Evergreen Shrubs, suited for placing against walls,
I recommend Jasniiniun revolutum (flowers yellow),
Ceatiot/ius, of sorts (flowers blue), Cratcegtis Pyracantha
(flowers white, berries orange red), Escallotiia, of sorts
(flowers red or white), PJiotinia serrulata (fine large glossy
leaves), RJianimis Alatermis (the green, the gold, and the
silver varieties).

The following are amongst the best of climbing plants,
selected for the rapidity of their growth or the beauty of
their flowers ; they lose their leaves on the approach of
winter : —

Ampelopsis Jicderacea (the Virginian Creeper). — Very
hardy, very rapid in growth ; leaves dying off scarlet in
autumn.

AristoLochia sipJio. — Also a rapid climber ; best against
a wall, where the splendid large round leaves are protected
from the wind and displayed to great advantage.

Clematis Amelia. — Flowers lilac blush. This variety is
very hardy, flowers freely, and grows rapidly.

Cleviatis asurea grandiflora. — Flowers fine purplish blue.

Clematis Flammula sempervirens. — Flowers white, very
sweet. This plant is of very rapid growth, and sub-
evergreen.

Clematis Fortunei. — Flowers white, double, large and
fine.

Clematis Hclaie. — Flowers pale blue, almost white,
very hardy and free.

Clematis Jackviani. — Flowers dark purple, hard}' and
free. Very beautiful.
R

274 Hardy Pictorial Trees.

Clematis lanuginosa. — Flowers light blue ; one of the
best.

Clematis montana. — Flowers white, small, growth very-
rapid.

Clematis odorata asurea. — Flowers blue, small, very-
sweet ; a beautiful sort.

Clematis SopJiiaJlore pleno. — Flowers pale blue, whitish
towards the centre, double.

Clematis Standishii. — Flowers deep blue, free, hardy
and good.

Clematis viticella ve?iosa. — Flowers reddish - purple,
striped, very handsome. There are also other varieties of
Clematis well worthy of culture.

Jasminum 7i7/diJlonim. — Very hardy, of rapid growth,
the branches covered with bright yellow flowers in mid-
winter.

Jasminiun officinale (the Common Jasmine). Flowers
white, very sweet, growth rapid.

Loniccra aiireo-retiailata. — Leaves green and gold,
beautifully marbled, the gold colour usually predominat-
ing, very handsome ; growth rapid ; sub-evergreen.

Lonicera brachypoda. — A rapid growing climber, the
shoots well clothed with beautiful green leaves, invaluable
on account of the masses of foliage it produces ; sub-
evergreen.

Lonicera flava nova (the Yellow Trumpet Honeysuckle).
— Hardy, free, but of moderate growth only ; flowers pure
yellow.

Lonicera flexuosa. — A beautiful sort, producing fine
masses of foliage and clusters of red and yellow flowers
late in the year. Of rapid growth ; sub- evergreen, but
not very hardy, therefore should be put in a sheltered
situation or against a wall.

Lonicera Magnevillea. — A hardy free-growing kind,
producing an abundance of large trusses of flowers.

Lonicera grata (the Evergreen Honeysuckle). — Flowers
yellow, red, and white ; sub-evergreen, hardy and free.

Hardy Pictorial Trees. 275

Lonicera Periclymenum belgicuvi (the Dutch Honey-
suckle).— A capital variety for common purposes, hardy
and free.

Lonicera Broivnii. — This is perhaps the best of the
scarlet trumpet Honeysuckles.

Passiflora cccrulea r-aceviosa. — A good plant for a wall
in a sheltered situation. Of other hardy Passion-flowers,
P. Colvillii and P. Neumanni are the best.

Rosa. — Of Climbing Roses the best for arches and
like purposes, where a rapid growth is required, are the
" Boursault " and " Sempervirens;" for walls or fences, the
vigorous kinds of "Noisette" and "Tea-Scented;" for
pillars, the vigorous kinds of " Hybrid Perpetual " and
" Hybrid Bourbon."

Tecouia radicans major (the Trumpet Flower). —
Flowers yellowish red: growth when established very
rapid. A magnificent plant for a south or east wall. Of
other hardy Tecomas, T. atrosanguineum (dark crimson)
and T. flava spcciosa fyellow) are the best.

Vitis (the Vine). — Where masses of broad handsome
foliage are required there are no plants more beautiful
than certain kinds of the Vine : Coussi Noir, Castello de
Donello, and Muscat Noir de Jura are among the best, the
leaves changing in autumn to crimson, yellow, and scarlet.
Vitis apiifolia laciniata has beautifully cut leaves ; V.
labriisca foliis piirpiireis has leaves of a purple tint ; and
V. JieteropJiylla variegata, leaves green, marbled with
white.

Wistaria sinensis. — This is the Queen of climbing
plants ; the growth is often slow for the first two or
three years, but when the plant becomes established the
growth is very rapid, often covering enormous spaces.
The flowers are pale blue, produced in clusters in the way
of the Laburnum.

2/6 Hardy Pictorial Trees.

No. VIII.

[^From '•' The Gardeners' Chronicle, October ic)th 1867, p. 1072.]

Berry-Bearing Trees, &c.
Berry-bearing trees are so beautiful in autumn and
winter that one would expect to find them more exten-
sively planted than is customary. The Pyrus aucuparia
(Mountain Ash) is perhaps one of the most attractive of
these, but there are many others equally interesting to the
close observer.

First, of the evergreen kinds —

A 7'd2itns 2nied0 {the common Arbutus). — Height 15 feet.
This fine evergreen thrives best on a light loamy or peaty
soil, and requires a sheltered situation when planted north
of London. Berries red.

Aucuba japonica. — Height, 4 to 6 feet. Perhaps the
greatest acquisition that has been made to hardy ever-
greens of late years is the many new and beautiful varie-
ties of Aucuba. Of berry-bearing kinds the best are —
A. japonica, A. j. foliis ajireis, A. himalaica, A. viacro-
phylla, A. picta, A. lojigifolia, A. viridis, and A. latimacu-
lata. Berries bright red, larger than those of the Haw-
thorn, produced in clusters, and remaining on the tree
throughout winter and spring.

Berberis Aquifoliwn. — Height 5 feet. A first-class
evercrreen, growing anywhere, the yellow flowers, dark
green leaves, and purple berries are alike beautiful.

Berberis Darwinii. — Height, 5 feet. A neat and hand-
some evergreen ; leaves dark green, flowers deep orange,
berries purple.

Cotoneaster microphylla. — Height, 4 feet. A beautiful
dense dwarf evergreen, suitable for beds, edgings, and
low walls, and thriving in common soil. C. bnxifolia is a
similar kind, but larger in all its parts. Berries red.

Crat(Egiis py7^acantha. — Height 8 feet. A beautiful
wall plant, laden in winter with clusters of scarlet or
orange-coloured berries.

Hardy Pictorial Trees. 277

Ilex Aquifolium (the common Holly). Height, 20 to
30 feet. The common Holly is too familiar to need de-
scription ; among the numerous varieties there are, how-
ever, some which seldom produce berries. The best
selection from the berry - bearing point of view are —
/. Aquifolium, Aquifolium pendula, fruchi aurantiaco,
fructii luteo, hybrida, platyphylla, nigrescens, scurtica,
Hendersonii, Hodginsii, senescens, flammea angustifoha,
bicolor, aureo-margitiata, obscura, albo-picta, albo-marginata,
balearica, and maderensis. Berries red, yellow, and
orange.

Gaultheria procumbens. — Height, 6 inches. A pretty
dwarf shrub, requiring peat ; flowers white, berries red.

Gaultheria SJiallon. — Height, 2 feet. A handsome
shrub, requiring peat ; flowers white tinged with pink,
berries purple.

Hedera (the Ivy). — There are among climbing and tree
Ivies varieties which produce berries ; of the " climbing
kinds the best are — H. ain-eo-maculata ^ marginata argeniea,
marginata canescens, albo-luiescens, Helix foliis aureis, and
canariensis ; of the tree kinds I recommend — arborescens,
baccata lutea, canariensis arborescens, Helix arborescens,
H. a. foliis aureis, and Rccgneriana arborescens ; berries
yellow or purple.

Pernettya speciosa. — Height, \\ foot. A beautiful
dwarf evergreen, thriving best in light loam or peat ;
flowers white, berries red. There are also varieties bear-
ing white and pink berries. P. mucronata and P. angusti-
folia are also desirable berry-bearing kinds of similar but
somewhat larger growth.

Skimmia japonica. — Height, \\ foot. A pretty dwart
evergfreen ; berries red. 5. oblata is also a very handsome
kind.

Vacciniinn Vitis id(za. — Height, i foot. A prett)- dwarf
evergreen, thriving best in peat ; flowers pale pink, berries
red, the latter remaining on the plant throughout the
winter.

2/8 Hardy Pictorial Trees.

Of deciduous berry-bearing trees the most remarkable
are : —

Berberis vulgaris (the common Berberry). — Height, lo
to 15 feet. A useful shrub, growing freely in the
commonest soils, equally valuable for its bright yellow
flowers, and coral-like berries, B. v. foliis piirpureis is
also a very desirable kind ; the flowers and berries similar
to the last, the leaves of a rich purple in early spring and
summer.

Cotoneaster frigida. — Height, 15 feet. In sheltered
situations this shrub is often sub-evergreen, and is plenti-
fully adorned with clusters of bright red berries throughout
the autumn and winter.

CratcEgus (the Hawthorn). — Height, 10 to 20 feet.
There are many varieties of Crataegus which are interesting
and valuable on account of their berries. C. Oxyacantha
aurea, C. aroma (berries yellow), C. coccinea maxuna and
C. Z(2;'zV (berries red), are perhaps four of the most
desirable.

Ligustruni vulgare (the Privet). — Height, 10 feet.
There are two varieties of this plant, one with black, and
another with yellowish berries, both pretty in hedges, and
in various situations where not too prominent. L. semper-
virens (the evergreen Privet), is also a handsome variety.

Pyrus aiicupaj'ia (the Mountain Ash). — Height, 20 to
30 feet. Here, as with the Privet, there are two desirable
kinds ; the red and yellow-berried. Both are handsome,
the former more particularly so. They are among the
best of fast-growing medium-sized trees, and thrive well
near London, and in large towns generally.

Pyrus Malus prunifolia (the Siberian Crab). — Height,
15 to 20 feet. This tree is equally beautiful in flower and
in fruit. P. M. astracanica (or Transparent Crab) is also
well worthy of cultivation for the beauty of its fruit. I
have also received recently some varieties of Russian
Apples, the fruit of which produces a fine effect on the
trees.

Hardy Pictorial Trees. 279

Euonynius euj^opccus (the Spindle Tree). — Height, 10 to
20 feet. This pretty shrub, which abounds in the hedge-
rows in many parts of England, produces an abundance of
bright orange, rose-margined fruit in autumn, at which
season it is very beautiful. There is also a white-fruited
variety, but this is not of great merit.

Symphoricarpus racemosus (the Snowberry) — Height, 5
to 6 feet. Of shrubs bearing white berries this is the most
showy, and it is so free and hardy that, like the Euonymus,
it thrives everywhere.

Nearly allied (from the pictorial point of view) to
berry-bearing trees are trees with bark of various colours,
and such are very interesting in winter when denuded of
their leaves. Of white barked trees, Acer striatiun, Betula
alba, Hippopiiae rhamnoides, and Popuhis argentea are the
best ; Cornus alba has red ; Salix vitelliiia and Fraxinus
excelsa aurea, yellow ; and Salix purpja'ea, purple bark.*

THE IVY.

\_From " The Gardeners' Chronicle^'' November 2,0th 1S67, p. 121 5.]

NOW that winter is approaching, we naturally turn to
the evergreen forms of trees and shrubs to aid us
in tiding over the dull season with gardens and gardeners.
The summer flowers and the summer leaves are alike

* Since these lists were written a few good things have come under my
notice which it seems desirable to add. They are as follows : — Evergreens:
Abies Alcoquiana, Abies pungens glauca, Cedrus atlantica glauca, Diplopappus
chrysophylla, Ligustrum Ibota, Pernettyas, with white, rose, and lilac berries,
Phillyrea decora, Juniperus chinensis aurea, Thuja occidentalis lutea, Taxus
Dovastonii variegata, Taxus adpressa variegata, Taxus japonica variegata,
Taxus gracilis pendula. Deciduous Trees and Shrubs : Acer Negundo aureum,
Acer Prince Hendjery, Acer Schwedlerii, Acer Wierii laciniata, Betula
pendula purpurea, I.iriodeudron tulipiferum aureum, Ptelia trifolia aurea,
Populus canadensis aurea, Populus Bolleana, Prunus Pissardii, Pyrus prunifolia
pendula, Tilia dasystila, Cornus Spathi aurea, Sambucus serratifolia.

28o The Ivy.

gone, and desolate indeed is that garden which does not
contain a goodly proportion of these winter gems. Let us
hasten to fill the void, if void there be, for the garden in
winter may be made as interesting and beautiful in its
way as in spring or summer. Each season has its natural
and distinctive features, the embodiment of which should
be a pleasing task to the skilful gardener.

Having on former occasions arranged and described
the principal varieties of the Yew (Taxus) and the Holly
(Ilex), I now venture to deal with the Ivy — a plant alike
remarkable for its antiquity, beauty, and pleasant associa-
tions. We have here no new favourite. The plant was
known to and valued by both Greeks and Romans, was
woven into crowns and chaplets on festive occasions, and
was also used by them medicinally.

In " Seemann's Journal of Botany" (1864) is a very
interesting paper on the Ivy, which every admirer of this
plant should read. The writer brings all known varieties
under three species : —

1 . Hedera Helix^ the European Ivy.

2. H. Canariensis, the African Ivy.

3. H. Colchica (Raegneriana), the Asiatic Ivy.

In our country H. Helix abounds both naturally and by
the hand of the planter, and I conceive that there are few
who cannot look back with pleasurable emotions on some
old church, ruin, or " Ivy-mantled tower," the picturesque
forms of which remain indelibly fixed on the memory."
So plentiful is the plant in England that one can scarcely
take a walk or drive without meeting with the various
forms covering banks or park palings, and ascending trees
to a great height, the topmost shoots often assuming
a shrubby or tree form. In the words of one of our most
popular authors, " a rare old plant is the Ivy green."

From the cultural point of view the Ivy is valuable as
an evergreen climbing plant, on account of its free, rapid,
and accommodating growth. It can scarcely be dispensed

The Ivy. 281

with in suburban gardens ; and even in large towns it
generally thrives well, suffering from the smoke less than
most evergreens. For covering walls, fences, trees, and
rockwork, for screens when supported by lattice, for
pillars, edgings of beds, and arches, or arcades, in flower
gardens it is alike suitable. My collection here, which
consists of more than 40 sorts, is grown in three separate
ways; (1) as pillars; (2) to cover old roots, laid on the
ground to form a screen ; and (3) in pots. Pillars of Ivy
form beautiful objects, especially in the winter season.
Those who have seen the gardens at Elvaston in winter
will no doubt remember the pleasing effect of the masses
of golden Ivy which abound there. When planted and
trained on rockwork or old trees, it is curious and interest-
ing to watch the shoots creeping and clinging to the sur-
face, now losing themselves in the recesses, then emerging
and spreading to the light their broad masses of beautiful
leaves of green, gold, or silver. A well-kept mass of Ivy,
whether on wall, or tree, or rock, is in winter a beautiful
sight. When grown in tubs or pots as low pyramids, the
varieties of this plant are also extremely useful for garden
decoration. In the collections of climbing plants shown
at the International Exhibition in the spring of 1866, no
plants were admired so much as the masses of Ivy.
Associated with the water and the rock as they judiciously
were, the shoots which formed the base of the pyramids
drooped gracefully over the sides of the baskets, hiding the
latter, and calling up a new feature of beauty by being
reflected in the water below. Of the many variegated
kinds it must be told that some onl}^ are completely happy
as pillars, at least such is my experience ; but the most
delicate are beautiful in pots, and even against walls, and
are quite worthy of such positions. Further, the Ivy is
not only valuable as a climbing and creeping plant, but
also as an evergreen shrub. The tree or bush forms which
it assumes, and of which there are several, are first-class
front-row evergreens for beds and borders. A little prun-

282 The Ivy.

ing keeps them as compact as Aucubas and Laurustines,
and in the green, gold, and silver leaves, and the black and
yellow berries, there is infinite variety and beauty. The
sweetness of the flowers too must not be forgotten. The
greater number of the varieties cultivated in English
gardens belong to H. Helix, and these I shall first
describe : —

I. — Hedera Helix (European Ivy).
Group I. — Climbing varieties.

1. H. Helix. — Leaves small, dark green. Growth rapid.

2. H. h. niarginata canescens. — Leaves green, long and
narrow, broadly edged with gold.

3. H. h. niarginata major. — Leaves green, of medium
size, broadly margined with yellowish white ; berries freely.
Growth rapid. One of the best.

4. H. h. marginata elegans. — Similar to the preceding
in general appearance, but the leaves are larger and
narrower at the base. Growth moderate.

5. H. h. marginata pulchella. — Leaves green, small,
broadly margined with white. Growth moderate. Very
beautiful.

6. H. h. marginata robiista. — Leaves green, large,
margined with silver. Growth free and rapid, one of
the best.

7. H. Ji. marginata argentea. — Leaves green, large,
well margined with silver. Of free, rapid growth. One of
the best.

8 . H. h. marginata elegantissima. — Leaves green , broadly
margined with white ; very showy. Growth moderate.

9. H. h. minor marmorata.' — Leaves green, beautifully
marbled with white, small. Growth rapid. Exceedingly
pretty.

10. H. Ji. palmata. — Leaves dark green, of medium size,
very broad, deeply cleft ; veins prominent. Growth very
vigorous.

The Ivy. 283

11. H. h. paliiiata <7/^;r«.— Similar to the preceding in
general character ; the leaves occasionally clouded with
gold.

12. H. Ji. penusylvanica. — Leaves wholly green, large,
deeply cleft ; veins prominent. Growth free.

13. H. Ji. cJirysocarpa. — -Leaves dark green, small.
Growth rapid. Berries yellow.

14. H. Ji. digitata. — Leaves dark green, long and
pointed, broad at the base, deeply cleft. Growth rapid,
shoots less numerous than in most others.

15. H. h. digitatd nova. — Leaves dark green, of medium
size, deeply cut. Growth rapid.

16. H. h. sagittcsfolia. — Leaves dark green, of medium
size, broad at the base, long, narrow, and pointed at the
apex. Very distinct.

17. H. h. Glyniii. — Leaves pale green, of medium
size, almost entire; very glossy, looking as if varnished.
Growth very rapid, forming dense masses of foliage.

18. H. h. doneraiknsis minor. — Leaves dark green,
small, deeply cleft, growth rapid ; shoots few and slender.
Very distinct.

19. H. h. crenata. — Leaves green, broad, regularly cleft ;
the veins very conspicuous, similar to but larger than
those of H. h. palmata. Growth free and rapid.

20. H. Ji. tanrica. — Leaves dark green, of medium size.
Growth rapid.

21. H. h. walthamensis. — Leaves dark green, very
small, growth rapid, shoots very slender. The prettiest
of all the small green-leaved kinds.

22. H. Ji. foliis aiircis. — Leaves green and gold; some
wholl}' of each colour, others finely blotched. Growth
rapid. Very beautiful.

23. H. Ji. foliis argcnteis. — Leaves green, broadly mar-
gined with white ; small. Growth moderate. Very
showy.

24. H. h. Cavendishii. — Leaves green, well margined
with white ; small. Growth moderate.

284 The Ivv.

Group II. — Tree or Bush varieties.

25. H. Ji. arborescens. — Leaves dark green, long and
narrow ; forms a close, round, evergreen shrub ; well set
with dark purple berries in winter.

26. H. h. arborescens baccata lutea. — Leaves green,
narrow pointed ; of the compact growth of the preceding,
and well covered with yellow berries.

27. H. h. arborescens alba hitea. — Leaves green, well
margined with gold and silver ; large. One of the most
beautiful,

28. H. h. arborescens foliis aureis. — Leaves long, nar-
row, dark green, finely blotched with gold. Grows and
bears berries freely. Very beautiful.

2. — Hedera Canariensis (African Ivy).
Group III. — Climbing varieties.

29. H. canariensis. — Leaves dark green, large. Growth
very rapid. Bears berries freely. This is generally known
as the Irish Ivy.

30. H. c. nova. — Leaves much larger and of a paler
green than the type, also of more rapid growth. This and
H. (Roegneriana) colchica are the best of the green-leaved
kinds for covering large spaces quickly.

31. //". c. aiireo maciilata. — Leaves sometimes green,
but usually green finely clouded with gold ; large. Growth
free and rapid. One of the most beautiful.

32. H. c. latifolia viacidata. - Leaves green, marbled
with creamy white ; large. Growth rapid.

33. H. c. foliis aureis. — Leaves large, some entirely
green, some entirely gold, others again green blotched
with gold. Growth vigorous. Very handsome.

34. Hedera algeriensis. — Leaves pale green, large,
entire. A very handsome sort, of rapid growth.

35. H. a. variegata. — Leaves green, broadly margined
with white ; very large. Growth rapid. One of the
handsomest.

The Ivy. 285

Group IV. — Tree or Bush variety.

16. H. c. arborescens. — Leaves dark green, very large,
broad, and almost entire ; berries freely.

3. — Hedera Colchica (Asiatic Ivy).
Group V. — Climbing varieties.

37. H. colchica {Rcsgneriana). — Leaves dark green,
large, entire, thick, and leathery. One of the handsomest.

38. H. rhojiibea variegata. — Leaves dark green, slightly
but regularly margined with silver, broad and smooth.
Very distinct and elegant.

39. H. japonica. — Leaves green, clearly and regularly
margined with white, small. Very pretty, producing
dense masses of foliage.

Group VI. — Tree or Bush variety.

40. H. colchica arborescens. — Similar to No. ^^J in
general character of leaves, but instead of climbing, rapidly
forms a stout round bush, well set with berries.

As a guide for those who may wish to select varieties
for special purposes, I would recommend as suitable for
covering large spaces quickly, Nos. 12, 19, 29, 30, 32, 34,
37, among green varieties ; Nos. 3, 6, 7, 32, 35, 38, among
silver varieties; and Nos. 11, 22, 31, 33, among gold
varieties. Breadth or masses of any one of these three
colours may be obtained by the use of the above varieties.
For low walls or fences, basket handles and margins of
beds, the best greens are Nos. i, 17, 20, 21 ; the best silver,
Nos. 4, 5, 8, 9, 38, 39 ; the best gold, Nos. 2, 22, and 31.
All the tree or bush varieties are worthy of cultivation as
front-row evergreens {see Note C, p. xii., beginning of
volume).

286 On Trees and Shrubs in Large Towns.

ON TREES AND SHRUBS IN LARGE TOWNS
(Their Selection and Cultivation).

[From " T/ie Gardeners' Chro?iicle" October 2,isi and November "jih
1 89 1,//. 513 atid 556.]

THE desirability of plantin^^ trees, more or less, in and
around our large towns is, I think, now universally
admitted. The contention that the introduction of trees
occupies space already overcrowded, impedes the circula-
tion of the air, and minimises the light of heaven, will not
bear the test of examination. No sane person would
advocate the planting of every square yard of ground
in a town or city, nor would he recommend planting so
closely as to shut out the light or impede the circulation
of the air. One great fact in favour of the practice is,
I think, the influence of active tree life in purifying the air
and rendering it healthier and more suitable for human
consumption.

It would seem, then, that the practice can be upheld on
the ground of utility alone, but the sum and substance of
human life are not bounded even by that comprehensive
word utility ; within its just limits, too, there is the shade
and shelter to enjoy, the eye to please, and the mind to
exercise and soothe, and what is more likely to attain
these ends than the introduction of beautiful trees with
their varied leaves and flowers amid the dingy and
monotonous masses of town buildings. It has always
seemed to me that the introduction of trees to towns
.should be regarded by the inhabitants as a forecast of
work in the interests of health and enjoyment, and they
may be so managed as not to interfere with convenience
or comfort either in the present or the future.

The subject seems fairly open to discussion under the
following heads: — i. What to plant; 2, The selection of
individual trees ; and 3, How to plant and cultivate them.

On Trees and Shrubs in Large Towns. 287

I. With regard to " what to plant," we have but little
to guide us beyond the knowledge derived from observa-
tion and experience. We know that certain trees flourish
in certain towns — take the Plane tree in London as an
example — whereas another tree similar in appearance to
the ordinary observer languishes, and a third quickly dies.
T have never yet met with a complete solution of this
problem, nor am I prepared to offer one. I can only
suggest probable causes. We know that some trees thrive
best in a heavy soil, some in a light one ; some in a dry
soil, some in a moist or wet one ; some like a warm
climate, some a cold one. We know that trees derive
their nourishment partly from the soil through their roots,
and partly from the air through their leaves — trees breathe
and perspire through their leaves. The leaves are fur-
nished with numerous pores or openings on both their
surfaces, through which the functions of breathing and
perspiring are carried on. These openings vary in size
and number in different species of trees and plants. This
variation may probably account in some measure for
certain trees sustaining better than others the effects of
living and breathing in an impure atmosphere. Again,
it may be that the digestive organs of some are stronger
or less unfavourably influenced than others by bad air.
And here I would remark that by bad air I do not mean
simply fog and smoke, bad as those are, but air further
polluted by the noxious gases constantly streaming into it
from various chemical works which exist in most large
towns. I witnessed lately a case which illustrates this
remark. A row of Aucubas had flourished for years in a
large town, despite of smoke and fog, but perished shortly
after a manufactory of chemicals was raised near to
them.

The Plane tree (Platanus orientalis var.) grows well in
London and some other large cities and towns in England
where the Chestnut, the Larch, and others are not quite
satisfactory, and where the Conifera;, with the exception of

288 On Trees and Shrubs in Large Towns.

the Pinus austriaca and the Cupressus Lawsoniana, will
hardly grow. But the Plane tree does not do well every-
where, which, on generalising from a number of isolated
facts, would seem to be due either to soil or climate.
However this may be, we cannot, in the present state of
our knowledge on this subject, do better than trust
to observation and experience by planting in each
district those trees and plants which we know do well
there.

The least observing cannot fail to have remarked that
in smoky districts deciduous trees thrive better than ever-
greens. This is probably due to the former dropping their
leaves every autumn, and renewing them every spring,
which the latter do not ; their leaves remain on the trees,
their pores becoming choked with sediment from the
air, and healthy action consequently impeded. Deciduous
trees and shrubs should, therefore, abound in all town
plantations.

Guided principally by observation and experience over
a somewhat extended surface of country and a lengthened
period of time, I have ventured to compile the following
list of trees and shrubs suitable for plantations in large
towns. For the smaller towns with open surroundings
this list may be considerably extended.

Deciduous Trees exceeding 12 feet in height
when full grown.

Acer Pseudo-Platanus Betula alba

„ „ purpurea Catalpa syringjefolia

„ dasycarpum Carya, of sorts

„ macrophyllum Crataegus coccinea, corallina,

„ platanoides grandiflora, Paul's new

Ailantus glandulosus double scarlet, fl. pleno

Alnus, of sorts (the double pink), stricta,

Amelanchier Botryapium pentagyna,and almost any

Amygdalus communis other free grower

On Trees and Shrubs in Large Towns. 289

Cytisus Laburnum
Fagus sylv^atica

„ „ purpurea

Fraxinus excelsa

„ pendula
Gleditschia triacanthos
Juglans regia and nigra
Liquidambar styraciflua
Liriodendron tulipferum
Ornus europaea
Platanus occidentalis
„ pyramidalis
Populus alba, canadensis

nova, fastigiata, monilifera

(the black Italian), and

alnnost any other
Pyrus Aria

Pyrus aucuparia, and many
others

Rhus typhina

Robinia Pseud-Acacia, and
any other (a good town
tree in sheltered places,
but very brittle and easily
broken with the wind)

Salisburia adiantifolia

Salix vitellina, babylonica,
and many other Willows

Sophora japonica

Tilia europsea

Ulmus latifolia, stricta, mon-
tana and its vars., glabra
pendula, and vegeta

Deciduous Flowering Shrubs under 12 feet
when full grown.

Azalea, in variety

Berberis vulgaris, fol. pur-

pureis, and many others
Colutea arborescens
Cornus alba, mas. and many

other varieties
Cydonia japonica
Euonymus, in variety
Forsythia viridissima
Fuchsia Riccartonii

Philadelphus coronarius, and

many other varieties
Rhus Cotinus
Ribes sanguineum and

aureum, and many others
Sambucus aurea nova, and

many others
Spiraea, in variety
Symphoricarpus racemosus,

vulgaris foliis variegatis

Hibiscus syriacus, in variety Syringa, the Lilac, in variety

Hypericum Kalmianum
Leycesteria formosa
Ligustrum vulgare, variega-

tum, and others
Lonicera Ledebourii
S

Weigela rosea, and many

others
Viburnum Opulus sterilis,

and many others

290 On Trees and Shrubs in Large Towns.

Evergreens.

Mahonia japonica and Aqui-
folium

Osmanthus ilicifolius, varie-
gatus, rotundifoHus (good
town plants,but verybrittle
and liable to get broken b\'
heavy snow)

Olearia Haastii

Aucuba, in variety

Berberis dulcis and Darwinii

Buxus handsworthiana, and
one or two other broad-
leaved varieties

Cotoneaster Simonsii, and
others

Daphne pontica

Euonymus japonicus, radi- Phillyrea, of sorts
cans variegata Rhamnus Alaternus

Hypericum calycinum Skimmia japonica and ob-

Ilex Aquifolium (common lata

green, & any other smooth- Viburnum Tinus

leaved free growers) Yincaelegantissima,&others

I.a.speciosafGolden Queen), Yucca, any variety
aurea pumila, and some Veronica Traversii
few others Kalmia, in variety

I. a. albo marginata, and Taxus baccata, Crowderii,

some few others.
Ligustrum ovalifolium,ovali

folium variegatum
Ligustrum lucidum and jap- Cupressus Lawsoniana

onicum Pinus austriaca

elegantissima, fastigiata,
and perhaps others
Common Rhododendrons

Climbing Plants.
Ampelopsis hederacea Lycium europaeum

„ Veitchii

Clematis flammula.and some

others
Hedera (the Ivy), all the

free-growing sorts
Jasminum officinale

]\Ienispermum canadense
Passiflora coerulea
Periploca graeca
Vitis riparia (sweet-scented
Vine)

2. The selection of individual trees, &c. — Anyone
visiting a nursery with a view of purchasing will often
meet with two styles of trees — the one with clean, straight,

On Trees and Shrubs in Large Towns. 291

vigorous shoots ; the other with shoots of more compact
and moderate growth. The former have been planted at
considerable distances apart when in a }-oung state and
left to grow undisturbed for years, hence their vigorous
appearance. They are the most tempting to the eye, but
not really so good as the latter, which assume the less
vigorous form because they have been frequently trans-
planted from a young state. These latter are specially
desirable for town planting. The conditions under which
they have to live in the future are not over-favourable to
growth and longevity, and it is always a harder task, even
under the most favourable conditions, to transplant the
former with success. The former will please the eye best
when newh' planted, but the latter will look and be the
best at the end of the first }'ear's growth and afterwards.
And the cause of this is easily explained, even to those
who have but a limited knowledge of tree-nature. A tree
or shrub that has remained for a long time undisturbed in
the same place pushes its main roots downwards to a great
depth, and laterally to great distances, forming, as it does
so, but few fibres. Now, in removing such a tree when
sold, the roots are almost invariably shortened, and the
chances of life and prosperous growth seriously diminished.
But the frequently transplanted tree has shorter main roots
and more abundant fibres, all of which ma)' be dug out
with the tree, and replanted with it in its next home,

The question of how often trees should be transplanted
in the nurseries to be safe for removal is sometimes asked,
but it is not easy to give a precise and definite answer.
Some trees, as the Wellingtonia, are best removed once
yearly ; others, as Willows and Poplars, will stand very
well for four years, and there are intermediate cases ; but
none should be left undisturbed for more than four years.
Here, in choosing the style of tree, a practical knowledge
of gardening is almost indispensable, for it is not alwa}-s
easy for the uninitiated to feel sure of his ground. An3-onc
who has followed these remarks must see, on reflection,

292 Ox Trees and Shrubs in Large Towns.

that the present mode of obtaining trees for new planta-
tions is almost as bad as it can be. A list is prepared,
names and heights given, and sent round to a certain
number of nurserymen for prices. On their return the
prices are compared, and the lowest tender is usually
accepted. This is the way to obtain the desired things for
the least expenditure of money in the first instance. The
articles are there by name, of the specified height, and of
fair appearance. But the chances are — the process of
cultivation for safe removal when sold being a costly one
— that the trees offered at the lowest price are of the least
value, having been cultivated to sell rather than to prosper
in the future. I have known man}- cases where plantations
have been filled on this principle, and tlie owners have had
the mortification of seeing numbers of subjects die off at
once, and others drag on a miserable but short existence,
which would not have been the case had they been
frequently transplanted from their infancy upwards. It is
a costly experiment to plant badly prepared trees, however
good-looking they may be, as the sum total of good ones
is of small consideration in comparison with the total
expenditure of what ma\- be called cultural and collateral
expenses. And then, what a loss of time and enjoyment
are incurred in waiting for the bad trees to die before
clearing them out and replacing them with good ones. I
would here go so far as to say that a large tree may be
removed with the same chances of success as a small one,
provided it has been properly prepared for removal before-
hand. The only qualifications of this remark are, the
contingencies of a bad soil, an unfavourable season, or
careless planting.

3. It now remains to speak of the planting and after-
management of the trees : —

First, of Soils. — Soils are so various that it is impos-
sible to particularise every one of them. If, however, we
speak of loam, peat, chalk, clay, sand and gravel, we shall
embrace the greater part.

On Trees and Shrubs in Large Towns. 293

Loam, in all its varieties, is a soil in which most trees
and shrubs thrive well. It requires nothing more than
loosening to the depth of 2 feet 6 inches, and enriching b}-
the addition of manure, much or little, according to its
natural poverty or richness. There ma}-, however, be
extreme cases in which the loam is so light that it can be
improved by the addition of clay or marl, or so heavy
that a portion of sand would be valuable.

Peat, if not wet or too sandy, will suffice for the
prosperity of many trees and shrubs, and here manure
and clay are valuable improvers. Many kinds of peat
are precisely the thing for Rhododendrons and Azaleas,
but we have found them thrive equall}' well in light
fibrous loam. Wet peat bogs are a bad soil for most
trees, because they are at once poor and sour, and are
best improved by draining and exposure to the air for
some months previous to the introduction of the trees, at
which time manure may be added.

Clay should also be exposed to the air for some
months before planting in it ; if wet, it should be drained
and enriched and ameliorated by manure and sand or old
mortar, the debris of old brick buildings.

Chalk is not a bad subsoil, as it is cool, though poor;
and if it comes within 2 feet 6 inches of the surface, it
should be removed to that depth, and replaced with loam
and manure. Rhododendrons abhor chalk, and should be
kept from the influence of water containing its properties
in solution.

Sand and Gravel are bad soils for trees, because poor
and dry, and they should be removed to the depth of
2 feet 6 inches at the least, and replaced with loam and
manure.

All soils that arc wet should be drained, for few
trees will thrive long if their roots are placed in stagnant
water.

When preparing beds or borders for trees, the whole
of the soil should be loosened by trenching to the depth

294 On Trees and Shrubs in Large Towns.

of 2 feet 6 inches, and converted or improved where neces-
sary on the above principles.

In planting single trees, it is a good plan to make
what gardeners call " stations," to give them a good start
in life. By a " station" is understood a piece of ground,
say 3 feet square, the soil of which is loosened to the
same depth, and improved by the withdrawal or addition
of materials if necessary, according to the suggestions
already given.

If a good practical gardener is employed in planting,
he wants no instructions from me or anyone else ; but as
this is not always the case, I will venture on a few
remarks.

When planting trees, the roots should be carefully
spread out, and fine mould settled between them before
filling up the ground, which should afterwards be firmly
trodden down above them. The careless and foolish
practice of allowing the roots of trees, when planting, to
be huddled together with their ends often turned upwards
instead of downwards, is often the cause of indifferent
aftergrowth and premature dacay. Trees should not be
planted when the ground is sodden with water, lumpy, or
sticky.

Large trees require staking, that the wind may not
sway them to and fro, and hinder the formation of fresh
rootlets. The tree-guard too, is often a necessary adjunct
as a protection against mischief or accidents.

For the first year after planting, trees and shrubs
should be watered copiously, heads and roots, in dry
weather, driving the water with moderate force upon the
leaves, with the object of removing the impurities that
will have settled on them. As time goes on the pruning-
knife will be called into requisition, to preserve the
symmetry of the trees, and prevent an overgrowth that
would interfere with the free circulation of air, or prove an
inconvenient obstruction of light. Nothing that I could
say on this subject would be strictly applicable to the

On Trees and Shrubs in Large Towns. 295

numerous individual cases which would continually arise.
They must be weighed and decided on by the individual
knowledge and good sense of an experienced practical
gardener.

It may be thought that before concluding this paper
I should say something about the humbler denizens of
the garden — the bulbs and flowering plants which add so
much to the beauty of our parks and recreation grounds.
But this opens up a wide field, which can hardly be satis-
factorily traversed within the limits of space at my dis-
posal. I can only say that many bulbs and herbaceous
plants are available here. By bulbs I do not mean merely
Hyacinths and Tulips, to which we have been long
accustomed, but to many things, as Scillas, Narcissus, Iris,
Gladioli, Crocuses, and Snowdrops, which would do well
if planted in rich sandy soil.

One strong reason for the use of bulbs is, that they
can be brought to their work in a prepared and efficient
state, and can be renewed yearly where necessary. Per-
haps there are but few instances in which they would
prove satisfactory if allowed to remain to flower a second
year, when the previous year's growth had been made
under the trying influences of a town atmosphere. The
same may be said of some bedding and herbaceous
plants — they should be renewed annually.

AN HOUR WITH THE HOLLYHOCK.

[ This was originally published as a pamphiel, the second edition, in
1855. As it is nearly out of prints and "will not be republished, I
have ventured to introduce it here^

THE Hollyhock (Althaea rosea) belongs to the natural
order Malvaceae, and in the Linna^an classification
of plants we find it in the class and order Monadelphia
polyandria. In the botanical catalogues it is described as
a hardy biennial with red flowers, blooming in August

296 An Hour with the Hollyhock.

indigenous to China, first known in England in 1573. Dr
Turner, however, in a work published in 1564 (nine years
earlier!) speaks of it as a well-known plant. According to
these authorities, then, whichever may be correct, it is
no new candidate for popular favour. But we think it
may lay claim to a still higher antiquity. Pliny, in the
fourth chapter of his twenty-first book, writes of a Rose
with the stalks of a mallow and the leaves of a pot herb.
What can this be, if not the flower now under discussion ?

The old English writers spelt the word Hollihocke,
Holyoak, and Holyock, whence it is supposed to have
been derived from the Saxon " Holihec." Linnaeus con-
sidered it a distinct genus, and named it Alcea, from the
Greek word ^AXxV, in allusion to its medical properties, on
account of which it was formerly much valued.

In a work translated from the German,* and published
in London nearly three centuries ago, we have the follow-
ing particulars :

" There be divers sorts of Mallowes, whereof some be of
the garden and some be wild, the which also be of divers
kinds. The garden mallow (Hollyhock), called the winter
or beyond-sea Rose, is of divers sortes, not onely in leaves,
stalkes, and growing, but in proposition, colour, and
flowers ; for some be single, some double, some white,
some carnation, some of a cleere or light red, some of a
darke red, some gray and speckled." Then follows a
description, in which it is called " the Great Tame Mallow,
with great round rough leaves, larger, whiter, and unevener
than the leaves of the other hockes or mallowes. The
stalke is rounde, and groweth sixe or seaven foote high or
more. . . . The root is great and long, and continueth a
long time, putting forth yeerely newe leaves and stalks."
It is there called Malva sativa and Rosa ultramarina.

It is evident that at the close of the sixteenth century

* A new Herbal, or Historie of Plants, translated from the German of
Rembert Dodoens by Henr)' Lyte, Esq., London, 1586.

An Hour with the Hollyhock. 297

the Holl) hock was much prized and generally cultivated ;
for Gerard, writing at that time, states that it was then
sown in gardens almost everywhere. In Gerard's Herbal
(edition 1636) are three plates of Hollyhocks — "the Single
Garden Hollihocks," which we assume to be the type of
the garden varieties of our day; "the Jagged Strange
Hollihock," whence apparently have descended Sulphurea
palmata and others of that strain ; and " the Double
Purple Hollihock." The writer also speaks of another,
" which bringeth forth a great stalke, of the height of ten
or twelve feet, growing to the form of a small tree. The
flowers are very great and double, as the greatest Rose
or Double Peiony, of a deepe red color, tending to
blackness."*

In Miller's "Gardeners and Florists' Dictionary" (Lon-
don, 1724) we find the Hollyhock described as "a plant of
considerable variety, bearing red, white, purple, black, and
other coloured flowers. They neither want beauty nor
stature, seldom bearing their flower- stems less than six
foot from the ground, and are commonly garnished with
their rose-like blossoms above half their height." . . . "Mr
Bradley directs to plant them out into a rich ground,
in either September or March, and then the}' will begin to
flower in July or August ; and that in order to make their
flowers large they should be frequently watered in the
summer time ; though they die to the ground every
winter, they spring again, and will stand several }-ears ;
and for their largeness and lastingness may very well be
planted among the flowering kinds in wilderness works, or
in lines in avenues of trees." Miller informs us that he
received seeds from Istria, gathered from plants growing
spontaneously in the fields : the plants raised from them
bore single red flowers ; but other seeds received from
Madras produced double flowers of various colours.

* This last description applies with remarkable accuracy to some of our
finest modern varieties.

298 An Hour with the Hollyhock.

Plants bearing single flowers might have been expected
from seeds gathered in the fields ; whereas the latter were
probably selected from long-cultivated plants, whence the
issue would, as a consequence, be more varied, and more
highly organised.

It is scarcely necessary to say that the Hollyhock is
not indigenous to Britain. Linnseus assigns it to Siberia;
but China is generally given as its native place. In the
south of China it is found only in a cultivated state ; the
northern parts and Chinese Tartary are more correctly the
districts it naturally adorns. It does not appear to
extend to Japan ; for in Thunberg's " Flora Japonica" it is
spoken of thus : " Crescit nbiquc cidta. Floret lunio hilio.
V aria t Jlori bus, albis, rubris, plenis et simplicibus!' The
French ascribe it to Syria, and plants bearing yellow
flowers have been found wild among the rocks around
Kurreechane.

We think, from the evidence afforded, we shall not
exceed the bounds of truth in claiming for our flower a
three-hundred years' naturalisation on British soil. We
can imagine how much it would be cherished on its first
introduction, though the flowers were but single and pro-
bably dingy in colour. It was a stately plant, tall,
majestic, and not without a share of rude massive
grandeur, which would well adapt it for the decoration
of early British gardens. As with most flowers of long
standing, we have no sources whence to draw the mate-
rials for a history of its early development. Such events
were not chronicled in the olden times ; and hence, for
want of facts, we must be content to suggest probabilities,
and drop the early links in the chain of History. Start-
ing from the period of its introduction, and allowing a
{e.w generations to be raised successively from seed in an
improved soil, it is reasonable to suppose it would become
varied in colour, and increase in size and fulness as the
natural result of cultivation. This would likely obtain for
it an enlarged circle of admirers, which would give fresh

An Hour with the Hollyhock. 299

impulses to the cultivator, and thus hasten on its civilisa-
tion. This state of gradual improvement probabl)- went
on for a space of 250 years, and might have continued to
this moment, had not one cultivator stepped out of the
beaten track, and, working free from professional tram-
mels, followed a course of culture dictated by his own
observation and experience. This man was Mr Charles
Baron, a man unversed in garden literature, unused to
move among the skilled in the hidden and mysterious art,
and probably knowing little of the vegetable kingdom
beyond what existed within the boundary of his own small
garden plot. The Hollyhock was his favourite flower ; to
attend to it was his recreation ; his labour was a labour of
love. And thus a shoemaker of Walden, by concen-
trating his attention on a single species of plant, soon
distanced all competitors, and originated those flowers
which form one of the most striking and gorgeous features
of modern flower gardens. To rightly appreciate his
labours, we must not compare his seedlings, known as
Magnum Bonum, Rosea grandiflora, &c., with those figured
in Gerard's Herbal, in which the flowers, sparsedly
scattered along the stem, nod and droop at the bidding
of every breeze — for they had long been numbered with
the things that were — but with those of other cultivators
of the same date. The distinguishing characters of the
kinds he originated are their more perfect form, greater
substance, closer arrangement of petals, and greater
proximity of the flowers on the spike. Hence, they
would appear an advance in every important point. But
we must not suppose this improvement to have been the
offspring of a single effort. From month to month, and
from year to year, did this indefatigable cultivator toil,
and the result is a monument of perseverance as well as
skill. As we look upon this flower in its improved con-
dition, we cease to wonder at the rapid increase in the
number of amateurs, for what other surpasses it in warmth
of colouring, symmetr}', and general magnificence? We

300 An Hour with the Hollyhock.

do not know that we could do better than quote here the
remarks of a contemporary writer — "The Hollyhock for
several years past has had much to complain of from the
undue neglect with which it has been treated. Here and
there it has found a discerning patron, but, generally
speaking, the floral world has been influenced by a Dahlia
excitement, from which it is now subsiding in sober dis-
position to judge all flowers by their respective merits.
The Rose is again the queen, and the Hollyhock is again
at court."* It is true the Dahlia, the Pelargonium, and
others, have each their peculiar beauties, and their absence
would create an immeasurable void in Flora's throng ; the
only pity is that they are robbed of their gay attire by the
first breath of frost, while the hardy nature of the Rose
and the Hollyhock carries them forward fresh and beauti-
ful throughout the chilly months of autumn. When others
languish and decay, they fearlessly confront the blast?
their many-coloured blossoms often enlivening for a
long period the desolation caused by a single frosty
night.

It has been said that fine Hollyhocks are originated
in Scotland and France. In the autumn of 1850 I saw
the most celebrated collections in both countries, as well
growing as on the exhibition tables. There are two dis-
tinct strains in Scotland. The varieties of the one strain,
although superior to the common English kinds, are
inferior to those of Mr Baron ; those of the other have
sprung from Mr Baron's stock. Some of them, while
bearing different names, appear identical with the English
kinds, which appearance is supported by the fact that
certain kinds are reproduced true from seed. But if not
identical — a point difficult to pronounce upon when we
consider the variation of soil and climate — they certainly
bear a close resemblance. It is not my wish to depreciate
the varieties of Scotch origin. I have seen large and

* The "Botanic Garden," by B. ^Liund, F.L.S., No. 977.

An Hour with 'iiik Hollyhock. 301

handsome flowers in Scotland, remarkable for smoothness
and brilliancy ; but it must be told that northern and
southern florists do not altogether coincide in their ideas
of a perfect flower, and each judges according to his own
standard. Moreover, the Scotch flowers do not improve
in an English climate, and our flowers are probably better
here than there.

Much has been said of the beauty of the French
Hollyhocks (Rose tremieres). We have taken considerable
pains to visit the principal collections, to ascertain whether
they were worthy of introduction to British gardens.
Those of MM. Pele and Bacot, both in the neighbourhood
of Paris, are the best. They are superior to the old
English varieties, but inferior to the modern ones. In
conversing with the French growers, it was evident that
the Hollyhock had not yet taken a very high standing in
their country ; they had not learned to view it critically ;
it had not, so to speak, become a Florist's flower ; and
hence any variety the tout enseinble of which produced a
pleasing effect was cherished, without much regard to the
individual points of form, colour, substance, &c. Some of
the mottled or variegated kinds were pretty and distinct ;
but we could not discover any that would stand the test to
which they would be submitted by the English florist.

It may be some gratification to the lover of this flower,
in a utilitarian age like this, to be able to assert a claim for
his favourite on the ground of utility. In the " Flora
Historica"* we find the following: "The Hollyhock is
likely to hold a higher rank in rural economy than that of
feeding bees. For some years past it has been known that
a good strong cloth may be made from the fibrous bark of
the flower-stalks of this plant ; and in the year 1821 about
280 acres of land near Flint, in Wales, were planted with
the common Hollyhock, with the view of converting the
fibres of this plant into thread, similar to that of hemp or

Phillip's Flora Historica. London, 1824.

302 An Hour with the Hollyhock.

flax. In the process of manufacture it was discovered that
the plant yields a fine blue dye, equal in beauty and
permanence to the best indigo."

This historical notice will, perhaps, be thought suffi-
ciently extended, and we proceed to lay before our readers
a brief account of the culture of this flower. In passing,
we may, perhaps, be allowed to state our views of the
purposes to which the Hollyhock may be applied in
garden-decorating, and the positions it is best suited to
occupy.

We do not remember that we were ever more struck
with the value of this flower for producing effect in garden
scenery than by the sight of a round clump planted among
groups of trees, shrubs, and dwarf-flowering plants, at
Haddo House, Aberdeenshire, a seat of the Earl of
Aberdeen. It was in October, and the foliage of the trees
was surpassingly beautiful, the leaves had assumed the
tints peculiar to that season, and, "touched by autumn,
seemed as they were blossoming hues of fire and gold."
The flower-beds beneath were in dazzling glow, scattered
like so many separate pictures over the lawn, whose
verdant and smoothly-shaven surface grouped them in a
neat but agreeable frame. Beautiful as were these
features, viewed individually, we felt a want of continuit}^
a sense of incompleteness, until the eye fell upon a group
of Hollyhocks, which, towering aloft, blended harmoniously
with trees and flowers, producing a perfect whole. In this
instance various colours were placed in the same bed,
which was in good taste ; but we can conceive of circum-
stances in which several small clumps slightly dispersed,
each filled with a single colour, would be more striking
and equally effective.

The Hollyhock is a capital plant for the borders of
plantations or shrubbery walks ; it forms a finer distant
object in such situations than the Dahlia, is less lumpish,
and continues blooming to a later period of the year.
Again, it may be planted to advantage in the background

An Hour with the Hollyhock. 303

of an herbaceous border, so that the lower part of the stem
is hid from view by the plants in front. In both these
situations it may be planted singly, in irregular lines, or in
groups of three or five. And here, perhaps, the less choice
kinds are more in character than the finest, as a high state
of culture is neither convenient nor expected. To be
effective en masse is all that is looked for, and the showiest
should be chosen, the hardy kinds of brilliant colours, and
left to assume their natural form of growth.

It is sometimes said that it is not a suitable plant for
small gardens. We think, however, it may be agreeably
disposed there in avenues, or in groups of three or five
near the boundary, filling up in front with dwarf shrubs,
herbaceous, or summer-flowering plants. // appears to us
anything but difficult to effect such an arrangement ivith this
plant as shall relieve the flatness often so tiresome in small
gardens.

The amateur, who cultivates with the view of producing
the flowers or spikes in the highest state of perfection, will
probably prefer planting in square beds or rows. This is
convenient for shading, and places the whole under the eye
at one time. If planted in beds, set them three feet apart ;
if in rows, three feet from plant to plant, and four feet from
row to row, that one may walk conveniently between
them.

In regard to the soil suitable for the Hollyhock, it
happily is not over fastidious in this respect. It is a gross
feeder, as its fleshy porous roots and large soft leaves,
with high perspiratory powers, abundantly testify. It is
found to thrive well in common garden soil, although, if a
choice is at hand, a rich moist loam may be preferred.
We need, perhaps, scarcely say that a situation airy and
freely exposed to the sun is indispensable if we wish to
carry culture to the highest pitch of success.

As our remarks are intended for the guidance of the
beginner, we will suppose him to have obtained a supply
of plants in October or March, and from that period we

304 An Hour with the Hollyhock.

will trace their culture. First, let us ask, " Have these
plants been raised from grafts, cuttings, or from seed ?"
Cuttings or seedlings we think preferable, where the
correctness of the latter can be guaranteed by the raiser
having previously bloomed them ; but as some kinds only
are reproduced true from seed, it is likely the stock will
consist partly of plants raised from cuttings or grafts.
One thing is certain, the stock should be renewed every
year, either by purchasing or propagating. However
abundantly old plants may bloom, they will not produce
such large handsome spikes of flowers as young ones.
Whether obtained in autumn or spring, they should be at
once transferred from the small pots, in which they have
been Icept for convenience in removal, to larger ones,
using a compost of turfy loam, sand, and decomposed
manure, placing them in a cold pit until they may be
safely planted in the open ground in May.

In preparing the ground for planting, it should be dug
two-spit deep. Where spring planting is intended, throw
up the earth in ridges in autumn, that it may become
mellowed by the winter's frost. In all cases this practice
is beneficial, but it is especially so where the soil is of
close texture or retentive of moisture. A good dressing
of manure, not too far decomposed, may be strewed over
the soil previous to ridging, and mixed in during the
operation. One advantage of this is, the manure will keep
the clods light, and give the sun and air a free entry ; and,
further, the soil will become more evenly impregnated
with the nutritious properties of the manure as they are
washed down by the rain. One point, when planting,
of too great importance to be overlooked, is the state of the
ground. To use a common gardening phrase, the earth
should " move like an ash-heap" at the time this work is
done : rather would we wait a fortnight beyond the most
advantageous season, than plant when the ground is wet
or clammy. The plants should be set firmly in the
ground three feet apart, not too low, pressing the soil well

An Hour with the Hollyhock. 305

round the neck with the hands or by a gentle stroke of
the foot. This done, watering must be attended to if
the season be dry, using weak liquid manure, breaking
the surface of the ground with a hoe the day after the
water is given. Frequent loosening of the surface of
the soil is indeed an important part of culture, and
should be attended to throughout the whole of the grow-
ing season.

Autumn planting is very good for the hardy free-
growing sorts, provided the plants are sufficiently strong to
be planted out early in October ; otherwise we should
advise their being kept in pots under glass during winter,
and transferred to their permanent places early in May.
Vigorous healthy plants of hardy sorts, when well
established, seldom suffer much from the frost of winter
when growing in the open air, provided the soil be well
drained ; but where the sorts are delicate, the plants
feeble, or not well rooted, it is far otherwise. We know an
instance of an amateur losing nearly one-half of his stock
during winter, the plants being in the condition last
described. In all cases it is a wise precaution to earth up
the plants remaining in the ground at the close of autumn,
that the rain may not settle around them ; and if a few
small hand-glasses can be spared to shelter any rare or
delicate kinds, so much the better. Bloomed seedlings are
almost invariably strong, and may be transferred to a
permanent situation in the garden immediately that the
flowering is over ; other seedlings, whether raised in
autumn or spring, should never be planted out until the
end of April or early in May.

When transplanting is done in autumn, the plants
should be guarded during the first winter against the
injurious effects that may arise from changes of the
weather. When a sudden thaw succeeds frost it is no
uncommon thing to find the plants upheaved, and their
roots partially exposed. It may sometimes be advisable
to replant them ; but in most cases the necessary end may

3o6 An Hour with the Hollyhock.

be attained by drawing the soil around them when dry,
and pressing them gently back with the foot.

It is worthy of remark that the season of flowering may
be greatly prolonged by striking and transplanting at diffe-
rent seasons. There is a great difference in the period of
flowering between plants removed early in autumn and
late in spring ; and of this we may avail ourselves to
lengthen the succession or to obtain a full bloom early or
late, as particular circumstances may require. Early-
rooted cuttings and old plants may be induced to bloom
in July, and late-rooted cuttings and spring-sown seedlings
in November. Hence there will be no difficulty in obtain-
ing a supply of flowers for four successive months. This
is a feature in the Hollyhock well worth noticing.

As is well known, many of our noble mansions are
little visited by their proprietors except in the autumn
and winter months, and every effort is required to make
the garden as attractive as possible at those seasons. In
such cases the Hollyhock is an indispensable flower, and
should be planted in masses of colour, especially in those
situations where seen from the principal walks or windows
of the mansion.

Every flower has its enemies. The Dahlia has to
battle with the thrip and earwig ; the Pink and Carnation
require protection from the wire-worm ; the enemies of the
Rose are " legion ;" and the Hollyhock suffers from the
slug. It is in winter and early spring that these creatures
feast on the leaves with most relish ; and as a preference
is shown to the youngest the loss is all the greater, for
they are most actively engaged in administering to the
wants of the plants. Happily for us our enemy is not
remarkable for agility. Slug-traps are numerous and well
known to all who possess a garden. A pair of keen eyes,
aided by a bright light in the morning or evening during
moist weather, proves a most effective method of checking
their ravages. A less troublesome one is perhaps to strew
a few cabbage leaves around the plants, beneath these the

An Hour with the Hollyhock. 307

little creatures take refuge, and may be easily caught and
destroyed. Some are exceedingly minute, and to guard
against them it is well to strew lime, wood-ashes, or soot
around the plants.

Fogging of the leaves in winter is very prevalent among
Hollyhocks. The plant is then in a state of comparative
rest ; the leaves are very apt to decay, and if they are not
speedily removed the contagion spreads. As a preventive
of this evil the frame should be set in a sunny place, and
too much air can scarcely be given, provided moisture and
severe frost be excluded.

As frost is not unusual in the months of April and
May — the time we recommend for spring planting — the
plants which have been brought from a frame will still
require some protection. For this purpose an inverted
flower pot answers admirably. It may be placed over the
plant in the evening, and removed again with the rising of
the sun. It should be borne in mind at this stage of
culture that the Hollyhock is a lover of moisture, and
water should be given abundantly, especially during dr}-
weather.

But while paying proper attention to young plants from
which we expect the finest blooms, we must not forget to
administer to the wants of those which have gladdened
us with their blossoms during the preceding year. The
ground, especially if there have been many visitors, will be
trodden firm, and should be well broken up with a fork
early in March. A good dressing of manure should be
worked in during this operation. The Hollyhock is not a
flower that will long lie dormant beneath the influence of
the sunny days of spring. Soon the flower stems begin to
rise, and often so numerous that it is desirable to remove
some. This should be done so soon as they are sufficiently
formed to enable one to judge which will be the strongest.
Allow no plant to develope more than three spikes, some
two only, and a weak plant one. In all cases where growing
for exhibition a single spike is sufficient, the object then is

3o8 An Hour with the Hollyhock.

to obtain as fine a development as possible ; but when
i^Towing to produce effect in the garden, the object is more
thoroughly obtained by the dwarfer growth and greater
body of colour produced by three or more spikes. To those
lovers of flowers who object to the Hollyhock on account
of the height to which the flower stems rise we would
suggest a remedy. Instead of one, two, or three spikes,
encourage four, five, or even six to rise, and when they
have reached an approved height cut their tops off, and
the habit of the plant will be entirely altered. If one
spike is fixed in the centre and left taller than those which
surround it the effect is highly pleasing. Beyond this there
are many varieties naturally of a dwarf and bushy habit.
The most of the leading modern kinds commence the
formation of flower buds at about two feet from the
ground. If the situation be at all exposed the spikes
must be tied to stakes at an early period, the first tie
may be advantageously made at the height of about
fifteen inches. At this period of growth the wood of the
stem is soft, and the tie should be made with a broad band
of bast not twisted, and so made that it will slip up the
stake as the stem rises. As the stem cannot be drawn
close to the stake without injuring the flowers, two stakes
will be necessary where one stem only rises from the plant.
The stakes should be placed opposite, and the stem
brought between them, so that the three objects form a
straight line; pass the bast round the stem of the plant,
drawing it to the one stake, and perform the same opera-
tion a few inches higher up, tying in the opposite direction,
and so on, tying to each stake alternately as the stem rises.
When two or three stems rise from one plant three stakes
will be necessary, and they should be placed triangularly,
tying as before.

It is a peculiarity of the modern kinds to produce the
flowers so close together on the stem that some must be
removed or the whole become crowded, and press each
other out of shape. It is therefore a good plan to remove

An Hour with the Hollyhock. 309

a portion as early as possible after the formation of the
flower-buds ; the nourishment which the supernumerary
ones would have absorbed is then directed to the develop-
ment of those which remain, and they grow to a larger
size. A pair of long narrow-pointed scissors is an excel-
lent instrument for this purpose, cutting the buds away
close to the stem. Once looking over is scarcely sufficient ;
this branch of culture will require close and repeated
attention during the rising of the flower-stem. In some
instances, one-half of the buds require to be removed.

It is customary with some, and necessary where culti-
vating for exhibition, to shorten the spike by cutting off
the top when it arrives at a certain height. This, again,
increases the size of the flowers, but shortens the dura-
tion of the blooming season. Hence, we should recom-
mend this practice only when large flowers is the chief
aim of the cultivator, when from the habit of the variety
or the richness of the soil there are signs of a too gigantic
growth, or when, as before stated, the natural habit is con-
sidered objectionable.

Thus have we briefly passed under review the various
practices of culture from the period of placing the cutting
or seedling in the ground to the commencement of flower-
ing. Hitherto all has been labour; not dull, uniform, or
uninteresting, it is true, but cheerful, health-giving, varied,
and amusing. Our operations have not been carried on
in the unhealthy atmosphere of the laboratory, nor amid
the discordant sounds of the mechanics' workshop. We
have breathed unintermittingly the free fresh air, the blue
vault of heaven alone our canopy, our accompaniments
the chirp of insects and the song of birds. Already, then
have we reaped some reward ; and such are the charms
encircling floricultural pursuits that even our manual
labour, decoyed by hope, is ever pleasantly and insensibly
impelled. The winter season is, perhaps, the least interest-
ing ; there is then little to do, although that little is not
unimportant; our joys are those of anticipation, and

310 An Hour with the Hollyhock.

reflection tells us that rest is necessary to ensure a
vigorous growth and perfect development of flowers. In
spring all is activity ; our hopes rise with the growth of
the plant, and by its blossoming are our expectations
realised. And hope clingeth even around decay. We
know that the flowers must fade ere the harvest can be
secured, and to that end are we looking for the continua-
tion of our stock and the rearing of flowers more dis-
tinguished for beauty. And this is one of a class of
recreations that is obtaining so great a hold on the
affections of our countrymen — a recreation which is made
to fill agreeably the hours of relaxation, and to adorn the
dwellings which they love. Other countries may surpass
us in the mere love of flowers, but gardening, considered as
an art, is essentially an English recreation. It accords
thoroughly with the quiet contemplative character,
domestic habits, and religious nature of an Englishman.
And surely it is a source of gratulation to find the love of
gardening, with its moralising and refining tendencies,
spreading in every conceivable direction.

A few years since gardening was confined to the
opulent, the man of leisure, or the curious. Now, few men
of business are without their pet flowers — their Hollyhocks,
Roses, and the like. Even our husbandmen, whose
gardens are, as they should be, chiefly devoted to the
useful, can yet find spare nooks in which to place the
flowers they love. And whether they be the wild flowers
of their native valley, gathered in their course to or from
the scenes of their labour, or a few exotics, the gift of some
kindly neighbour, they become alike tokens of industry
and sweet memorials of home. Modern changes have
made gardening comparatively inexpensive, and one of its
greatest recommendations is its freedom from selfishness —
its accessibility to all. Yes, indeed, the cultivation of
flowers is one of the least selfish of human pleasures ; it
has a special tendency to subdue this dominant principle of
the human breast. How few of the gardens of the wealthy

An Hour with the Hollyhock. 311

in this land are altogether closed to the public ; and the
number of visitors to them testifies at once their sense of
the boon conferred and their appreciation of the beautiful
objects they contain. And while the tendency of these
visits is to improve and refine the less wealthy who may
thus enjoy what their means does not enable them to
possess, they promote a kindly feeling, and help to bind
together the various classes of the community.

The flowering season, then, is at length arrived, and
with what pleasure do we hail the first flowers as they
break upon the sight. With their expansion we feel
rewarded for the year's toil. What symmetry of form
marks our choicest productions ! What variation, what
brilliancy, and what delicacy of hue, pervade the assembled
mass ! Well may we exclaim as we admire —

" Who can paint
Like Nature ? Can imagination boast
Amid its gay creation hues like hers ?
Or can it mix them with that matchless skill,
And lose them in each other, as appears
In every bud that blows ?'"'

The interest increases day by day; every visit, how-
ever oft-repeated, discloses some new candidate for admir-
ation—" something to please and something to instruct ' —
till from the solitary flower blushing at the base of the
spike the flower-stalk rises a column of beauty. The
spike, at the time of the expansion of the blossoms,
is probably five or six feet high ; and as we count the rows
of embryo flowers which stud its length, and know that
they will still expand, we wonder where and when our joys
will end. The arrival of winter alone is likely to stay
their unfolding, and that is too far in the distance to mar
our present enjoyment.

It should be our aim to preserve the column as long as
possible. If any flowers expand irregularly, of bad colour
or form, they should be immediately cut out, when the

312 An Hour with the Hollyhock.

space created by their removal will be filled up by the
fuller expansion of the surrounding flowers.

There is now an additional demand on our activity
if the flowers are required for exhibition. One of the
most urgent of the requirements of our favourites is a
shade, to protect them from sun, rain, and wind. Where
the plants are so disposed as to admit of it, a canvas
awning is perhaps the best contrivance. Let it be so
constructed that it may be drawn up and down at pleasure,
and used only as a protection against rain and strong sun-
light. But there are circumstances under which each
plant may require a separate shade, and how shall we
accomplish this ? Four pieces of deal quartering, about an
inch or an inch and a quarter square, may be nailed
together in the form of a pyramid, and of a given height,
according to the height of the variety. This placed over
the plant, the lower ends are fixed firmly in the ground,
and the part where the flowers are is covered with cheap
calico dressed to stand the weather.* The bottom and
top of this shade being entirely open, it is particularly
cool ; and being much narrower at the top than at the
bottom, the flowers are well shielded from the sun and
rain.

Now, for a time at least, we have little to do but to
enjoy their beauty. If the weather be dry, frequent and
copious waterings must be made ; for the Hollyhock is a
great consumer of moisture, and the water should be given
in such quantity that it may sink into the soil to a
considerable depth.

If the cultivator have the leisure, or be fond of
employing himself among his flowers, he will find an

* The following glaze for calico is recommended by "The Gardeners'
Chronicle." — "Three pints of old pale linseed oil, one ounce of sugar of lead,
and four ounces of white resin. The sugar of lead must be ground with a
small quantity of the oil, and added to the remainder, incorporated with the'
resin by means of gentle heat. Lay it on the calico with a brush. One coat
annually is sufficient."

An Hour with the Hollyhock. 313

ample field for amusement in the crossing of the various
kinds with the view of obtaining novelties and improve-
ments. If this end be contemplated, we should advise a
separate plot to be set apart, however small, that he may
carry on his plans unmolested. Other advantages likewise
accrue from this arrangement. First, no shading is
necessary when growing for seed ; it would, indeed, be
injurious. Then the finest varieties may be set together
beyond the fertilising influence of the inferior ones.
Again, the best situation for obtaining seeds is a warm
sunny border with a rather dry soil, but such is not the
most suitable for the production of large handsome flowers.
Perhaps we could not raise the question, "What constitutes
a good Hollyhock ?" more opportunely than at the present
juncture ; for without a distinct conception on this point
much labour in hybridising will, to say the least of it, be
but ill-directed.

Before discussing this point, I would off"er, for the
consideration of my readers, the " Suggestions for the
Guidance of Exhibitors," printed by the Committee of the
Grand Hollyhock Show held at the Surrey Zoological
Gardens in August last : —

" Quality, rather than the size of individual flowers or
length of spike, should be the first point of consideration.

" The petals of the flowers should be of a thick
substance, the edges smooth and even.

" The florets forming the centre or ball should be
compact, closely set, rising in the middle to the form of a
half globe, with a stiff guard petal extending about half an
inch around the base, or in proportion to the size of the
centre ball, so that the different parts of the flower may
have a uniform appearance.

" The arrangement of the flowers on the spike should
be regular, not crowded together in a confused mass, nor
loosely hanging with open spaces between them, but
so disposed that the shape of each may be distinctly
seen.

314 An Hour with the Hollyhock.

" When the spike is fully blown, the uppermost flower
should crown or cover the top.

"A few small green leaves projecting between the
flowers increases the beauty of the spike.

As a last point, it is highly important that the colours
be bright, strong, and distinct."

Here we have the collective opinion of the principal
growers of the Hollyhock in England, both florists and
amateurs. It will be observed, the first aim is to enforce
the doctrine of quality before quantity ; and in this effort
we believe all true lovers of the beautiful will sympathise ;
for if an object is to be pronounced beautiful or perfect in
proportion to its size, then should we prefer the unwieldly
bulk of the hippopotamus to the delicate, graceful, and
symmetrical organism of the Italian greyhound. Without
objecting to any of the opinions given above, we may
perhaps be allowed to qualify and more clearly define
certain of them. The ball forming the centre of the flower
should in no case exceed half a globe, and the smallest
flower admissible should be five inches in diameter. Open
spaces in the flower termed pockets are highly objec-
tionable. We would not limit the length of the spike, and
the longer the footstalks, provided they be strong and
hold the flower well up to view, the better. In striped,
edged, mottled, and shaded flowers, the ground and over-
laying colour should be distinct, well defined, and free
from all confusion. The guard petals should be flat, of
great substance, neither ridgy, serrated, nor curled.

We think it will be tolerably evident to all who have a
just view of the flower under discussion, that the distance
of the ideal standard from the existing forms is sufficiently
great to offer encouragement to the seedling raiser, and at
the same time not so far removed as to be unattainable.
The florist requires a stimulus beyond that presented by
ordinary forms ; and why should not he be permitted to
body forth an ideal beauty, as well as the sculptor, the
painter, or the poet .' And who shall say his object shall

An Hour with the Hollyhock. 315

not be realised, drawn from the inexhaustible stores of
nature? None, I ween. The florist is no mere dreamer.
He may be an ardent thinker, but he is an ardent worker
too ; and he has a right to expect a rare though not
unattainable success. Yes ; reasoning from analogy, he
has a right to expect this as the result of labour. Look at
what has been accomplished in other walks of floriculture.
Compare with the original species the Roses, the Dahlias,
the Pansies, which decorate our parterres, and behold there
the results of patient perseverance and unremitting skill.
If the improvements in these flowers have been less rapid
during the last few years, we must remember that they
have long lain under the hand of the improver, and, as a
consequence, much of the work is done. But with the
Hollyhock almost a new field for speculation and experi-
ment lies open before us ; certainly this is no bare trodden
ground ; the grass is scarcely bent beneath our feet ; the
few alone have trampled on it. Why should we not unite
in one flower the desired qualities now scattered over half-
a-dozen ? If we are seeking form and fulness, we shall
find them in Beauty of Cheshunt and Honourable Mrs
Ashley. By bringing these in contact with such flowers as
Aurantia superba. Black Prince, and Napoleon, may we
not possibly raise varieties which shall combine the shape
and fulness of the former with the colours or habit of the
latter } If we wish to obtain flowers of any particular
colour, of increased size or substance, the most probable
means of so doing is to unite that colour with a flower
conspicuous for those qualities. Why should we not have
the colour of Scarlet King in combination with the shape,
size, and habit of Beauty of Cheshunt? or a Black Prince
like Pourpre de Tyre ? We have yet no flower of a golden
yellow ; none even an approach to orange ! And although
we do not aspire to the prevision of the prophet or seer,
we venture to foretell the speedy acquirement of striped
and laced flowers equal in beauty to the finest pink or
carnation. Then as to substance, there is room for

3i6 An Hour with the Hollyhock.

improvement. Indeed, so many points crowd upon the
mind that we fear we may become chargeable with
partiality in thus particularising. But as we cannot pursue
this argument further, we may just briefly say, that we
certainly must not consider our work done until we realise
in every colour the form of our ideal standard.

Let us suppose, then, that we are about to plant a
seminary, and have decided that it shall contain twelve
varieties : how shall we select them ? The following have
been chosen with the view to embrace every important
feature of the flower in the greatest perfection :

1. Beauty of Cheshunt.* y. Metropolitan.

2. Black Prince, improved. 8. Pourpre de Tyre.

3. Fireball, superb. 9. Professor Dick.

4. Glory of Cheshunt. 10. Walden Rival.

5. Honourable Mrs Ashley. 11. White Globe.

6. Lizzy. 12. Sidonia.

With these materials and a camel-hair pencil we are
prepared for crossing. The best time for carrying on this
work is the morning, so soon as the dew passes from the
flowers. There are, perhaps, no varieties, however double,
which will not yield stamens or styles to a close inspec-
tion. It is only necessary to collect the pollen from the
stamens by passing the brush lightly over them, and to
convey it to the flower required to produce seed, drawing
a muslin bag over the flower after the operation. Such
kinds as are not very double and seed freely, may be
grown in a rich soil, and the spikes may be shortened,
leaving, after thinning, about twelve flowers on each.
Never allow a bad or imperfect flower to remain for seed ;
invariably pull off such immediately that it appears. The
very double kinds may be grown in a poor soil. The
spikes should not be shortened, but the flowers of all will
require a plentiful thinning. As the flowers at the lower

* For the characters of these varieties see Descriptive Lists.

An Hour with the Hollyhock. 317

end of the stem die off, the petals should be drawn from
the calyx, to prevent moisture from gathering round the
seed-vessels, which would injure, if not destroy, the seed.
Hand-picking is, perhaps, the best way of accomplishing
this ; and if the petals are ready to be separated, they will
yield to a slight pull with the finger and thumb. Crossing
may be repeated day by day, as the flowers expand, until
we reach the top of the stem. The plants should be
watered freely during the formation of the seeds ; and as
the latter ripen (the shrivelling of the calyx is a tolerably
correct test of fitness) they may be gathered and tied in
coarse muslin bags, separately or not as the cultivator
may please, and placed in a dry, airy, sunny situation
With such as flower late the spikes may be cut from the
plants and placed upright in a greenhouse, or under a
south wall, where the seeds will ripen better than if
detached from the stem. The seeds first gathered may
be sown immediately, as there will be time for them to
germinate and become strong before the commencement
of winter. The bulk of the seed, however, cannot be
sown to advantage before the spring ; and early in
February is perhaps the best time if flowers are required
the same season. In both cases we would sow thinly in
pots, placing them in a pit or house where they would
command a gentle bottom heat ; and so soon as four or
six leaves are formed the seedlings should be transplanted,
four round a 4-inch pot. Those raised in autumn may
remain in a cold frame during winter, or if in a greenhouse,
they should be placed close to the glass, exposed to air
and light. Watch closely for slugs, and remove any
leaves that may decay. In April they may be transferred
to the spot where intended to flower; and to do them
justice they should not be planted closer than two feet
from row to row, and one foot from plant to plant. They
should be watered and hoed frequently during the summer,
and tying up can scarcely be dispensed with. They will
flower in September and October of the same j^ear ; and

3i8 An Hour with the Hollyhock.

as any show themselves of inferior merit they should be
destroyed, which will give the remaining ones more room
for development. Some varieties come true from seed, or
so nearly so that it would require the most practised eye
to distinguish them ; others come true in colour, but vary
much in degree of fulness and general quality ; while
others again vary both in colour and quality — maroon
flowers producing white, yellow, red and the like. The
seed may also be sown out of doors during any of the
summer months, but the flowering will not then take place
until the summer and autumn of the following year.

We now proceed to offer a few remarks on propagation.

We know of but four modes of propagating the Holly-
hock— (i) By seed ; (2) By cuttings; (3) By dividing the
roots ; and (4) By grafting. The first mode has been
already discussed : it remains for us to consider the
others. Propagation by cuttings is the best mode of
obtaining good plants, and the practice may be carried
on from March to October. Most of the old plants give
an abundance of young shoots early in spring ; and so
soon as these become a little hard they may be cut off
close to the stem, leaving about three of the best shoots
for flower-spikes. Place three or four cuttings around a
5-inch pot, in a rather light sandy soil. Plunge them in a
close frame, where in a few weeks they will have formed
new leaves and roots, and may be potted off, each in a
separate 4-inch pot. As fresh shoots form on the old
plants they may be treated similarly, up to Midsummer,
after which period we would prefer leaving the wood to
become quite hard before making the cuttings. In the
latter case a single eye is sufficient to make a plant ; but
the wood-shoots, and not the flower shoots, should be
chosen. It sometimes happens that the eyes developed
at the base of a main spike produce wood-shoots, but
they more usually produce flower-shoots. The latter take
root and form plants, but are not of the best descrip-
tion. Cuttings made from single eyes may be cut

An Hour with the Hollyhock. 319

obliquely at the lower end, and completely buried beneath
the soil, leaving the foot-stalk only protruding above ;
they should then be placed in a close frame, and the eyes
quickly push through the soil, and form stout healthy
plants. These when rooted may also be transferred to
single pots, there to await transplantation in autumn or
spring, as before recommended.

Propagation by division is best carried out in autumn,
immediately that the flowering is over. A large well-
ordered plant may sometimes be divided into several, but
in general three or four is a more advantageous number.
Nothing certainly is gained by breaking the old plants
into too many pieces : every separate part should carry
with it a good share of roots. Seedlings and others that
may bloom late cannot be divided till the spring. March
is perhaps the best time, and the fragments, if not broken
too fine, will flower well during the first autumn.

Propagation by grafting may be performed to greatest
advantage in spring. Dig up any old plants not valued
for blooming, and cut off the fleshy roots about the thick-
ness of the little finger into inch or two-inch lengths. On
these graft the young shoots, inserting the place of
junction beneath the soil, giving to each a separate pot,
and placing them in a close cold frame. This mode of
propagation we describe, but do not recommend. Plants
raised from cuttings or seeds are certainly preferable.

It is but the few who grow for exhibition, but they are
often the most ardent cultivators ; and we must say a few
words on this subject ere we conclude.

There are two modes of exhibiting Hollyhocks —
by single flowers, and spikes. Some cultivators have
advocated the withdrawal of prizes for single flowers,
and depending on spikes alone. It is freely admitted that
the exhibition of spikes creates a greater display, and
affords a truer idea of the nature and properties of the
flower. On this ground, then, we admit the desirableness
of encouraging this mode of exhibiting, but doubt whether

320 An Hour with the Hollyhock.

the entire exclusion of single flowers will not prevent many-
amateurs from entering the list as competitors. To
exhibit single flowers does little damage to the garden at
home, and they are easily conveyed to the place of
exhibition. To exhibit spikes requires too great a sacri-
fice where a few plants only are grown ; and moreover,
they form, however closely stowed away, a somewhat
cumbrous package. We know that many amateurs derive
as much pleasure from the gratification they afford others
by their pursuit, as in marking the brilliancy of colour and
symmetry of form, or inhaling the sweets of their favourite
flowers. The most emulous of such would pause ere he
cut seven spikes of his finest kinds from a limited collec-
tion. He could not reconcile himself to behold tarnished
in a day what would have given pleasure for a lengthened
period had the spikes been allowed to remain on the
plants. We think, then, there should be two classes, one
for spikes and one for single flowers. Make the former
the more valuable prize, as it deserves to be, but do not
exclude the latter.

The spikes exhibited usually vary in height from two
to four feet. The flowers near the base of the stem are
generally the finest (although this depends in some
measure on the state of the weather in which they are
formed and expanded), and consequently the aim should
be to preserve such. To this end all lateral flower-spikes
should be destroyed, and the top cut off the main about
four feet from the lowest bud, at the time this expands,
that the flowers may close over the top and the spike look
complete. This, which is called "crowning" the spikes, is
most essential when cultivating for exhibition. It is
an operation of some nicety ; not that it is difficult to
crown the spikes, but difficult so to manage them that they
are in perfection on a given day. Practice is the best
guide; indeed the end can only be attained with certainty
by the best considered practice. By shading, the greater
part of the spike may be kept in a showable condition for

An Hour with the Hollyhock. 321

ten days or a fortnight. In choosing for exhibition,
whether spikes or single flowers, we should be guided by
the standard previously laid down ; the nearer the flowers
approached to that the more perfect should we consider
our stand. It may not be necessary for the mere culti-
vator for amusement to dive so deep into the science
of floriculture ; this of course is a matter of choice ; but
the exhibitor should certainly obtain a clear conception of
what constitutes a good flower before he enters the field of
competition.

The Hollyhock had, perhaps, scarcely been exhibited
in its grandest state until recently, owing to the Dahlia
shows at which it had usually figured falling behind the
period of its greatest beauty. To those, however, who
witnessed the exhibition at the Surrey Zoological Gardens
on the 22nd of August last year, nothing need be said in
its praise as a stage-flower. The beautiful columns of
brilliant and well contrasted colours, relieved by the quiet
protrusion of numberless small green leaves, formed a
picture which a Baptiste or a Lance might have rejoiced
to look upon and longed to copy. And while listening to
the opinions of various amateur and professional cultivators
as to the result of this first attempt at a " Hollyhock
Show," one pronouncing this flower to equal the Tulip in
brilliancy and beauty, another extolling the richness,
variety, and quantity of colour presented to the eye, all
agreed that the attempt was decidedly successful, and that
the Hollyhock would henceforth rank as a first-class
exhibition plant.

Let us now consider what is the best description of box
for conveying the flowers in. As it will not be required to
show them in, but merely to protect them during transi-
tion, the more economically this can be contrived the
better. It may be made of three-quarter inch deal, the
boards closely fitted to exclude dust, rain, &c. The
length should not be less than four feet, and a box to hold
seven spikes should be three feet wide and fourteen inches
U

322 An Hour with the Hollyhock.

deep ; a common lid, with shifting hinges, lock in front,
and handles at ends, complete the shell. The interior
fittings are trifling. About three inches from one end a
second end must be made with holes bored thus

large enough to receive the lower end of the spike, which,
when placed there, must be tightly wedged, filling the
space between the two ends with wet moss. Now, at the
other end of the box a false end is necessary, formed of
three pieces, the lowermost fixed, the others moveable
at will, and made to slide up and down in a groove, with
holes corresponding to those in the opposite direction.
These holes should be bored on the exact line where two
pieces meet, so that when the centre piece is removed, the
half of each hole is withdrawn with it. In these holes drop
the small end of the spikes, surrounding the part in
contact with the wood with wadding before sliding down
the corresponding piece. Flowers thus packed have
travelled from London to Edinburgh without receiving the
slightest injury.

The best contrivance for showing the spikes is perhaps
in large pots filled with wet sand and nicely covered with
green moss. When single flowers are shown, a common
box, such as is used for Dahlias, Roses, and the like, is all
that is required.

THE HOLLYHOCK.

[From " The Gardeners' Annual,'^ 1863,/. 56.]

CAN we dispense with the Hollyhock ? The Rose is
a more general favourite, and in its varied states of
standard, climber, and bush, a more available plant ; the
Dahlia is still the " Queen of Autumn ;" but for the odd
nooks and corners in small gardens, and for planting in

The Hollyhock. 323

masses for distant effect in large gardens, there is no
flower so suitable as the Hollyhock. As to the height
to which it grows, this cannot be fairly urged to its dis-
advantage; there are positions in almost every garden for
which this feature renders it peculiarly adaptable. The
best of our " bedding plants" are of lowly growth ; we
must look down upon them to appreciate their beauty.
But we cannot always be looking down, be the prospect
ever so charming. And there is a new feature of beauty
in that garden where on raising the bent head and down-
cast eye we meet with spikes of Hollyhocks breaking the
flatness of the general surface by streaks or lines of rich
and varied colours rising high among the leafy trees. In
many beautiful gardens that we have visited we have been
more than disconcerted by the abrupt transition from
" bedding plants" to trees, moderated as this has some-
times been by raised baskets and pillars of summer
climbers. Beautiful as are these latter they are not
sufficiently massive. The Hollyhock, and, as far as wc
know, the Hollyhock alone, effectively fills the vacuity.
We know that it has been the fashion with some to decry
this plant, calling it coarse, formal, and weedy. Ad-
mitting that there is some truth in this, may we be
permitted to ask, is it not also bold, striking, and effective,
and are not these elements worth combining, at some
sacrifice, with the rich, the bright, the beautiful ?

Thus far of its value in garden scenery. But it has
lately come to be considered as a florist's flower. The
busy brain and hand of the cultivator have been engaged
in its improvement, and those who remember the Holly-
hock of twenty years ago cannot fail to remark how
complete has been the success. Not only has it become
even more useful and effective for garden decoration, but
it has received a degree of elegance and symmetry from
the hands of the cultivator that has fitted it to take a
position in company with the most distinguished of Flora's
subjects.

324 The Hollyhock.

The Hollyhock flowers naturally in August, but by a
little management the bloom may be prolonged, and con-
tinued from July to November. Old plants that have
bloomed the year before will bloom the second year in
July and August. Cuttings taken and rooted, or seed
sown out of doors the previous summer, will bloom in
August and September. Seed sown in pans as soon as
ripe, and wintered under glass, will bloom in October of
the following year. By using these three sorts of plants
a succession of flowers may be kept up. If an early
bloom only is required, old plants must be planted ; if a
late bloom, young plants and seedlings.

In planting for effect we would always recommend
planting three or more of the same sort close together in
a group, choosing the clearest and most distinct colours,
and those which produce the densest and broadest spikes.
When growing for exhibition the form of the flower is
of course the primary point for consideration, and here it
is usual to plant in lines 3 or 4 feet apart, that the culture
of the plants may be more carefully and more conveniently
attended to. There are some sorts which are alike suit-
able for exhibition and garden decoration, but both objects
can scarcely be attained conjointly. But as to culture,
the Hollyhock is not particular in regard to soil ; it will
grow and flourish almost anywhere. The finest spikes we
have yet seen were grown on a strong moist loam that
had been deeply trenched, richly manured, watered in dry
weather, and well cultivated by frequent and deep hoeing.

Cuttings of Hollyhock, single eyes taken in July and
August, and placed round pots in a cold frame, will root
in a month, and may be placed in single pots and stored
in a cold frame through the winter, repotting into larger
pots in February, and planting out in April. Seed should
be saved from the best formed, the smoothest, and the
most double varieties only, and to insure a fair crop of
seed it is necessary to pull the flowers from their stalks so
soon as the former begin to decay.

The Hollyhock. 325

There are two seasons at which the seed may be sown;
first, in July, in the open ground, the seedlings to be trans-
planted or not according to the convenience of the culti-
vator ; and secondly, in October, in pans, to be potted
into single pots in November, and kept under glass till
planted out in April. If the seedlings sown in the open
ground are to be transplanted before flowering, October
is the best time, and next to that April.

In planting out, whether from the ground or pots, a
showery day should be chosen, and after planting, the
stems should be surrounded with a little stable manure.
If the weather or soil be dry, water copiously till the
flowering declines. The Hollyhock, with its large surface
of leaves and great perspiratory powers, consumes a great
quantity of water, especially at that period of its growth,
in June and July, when the leaves so rapidly increase in
size. So soon as the spikes rise from the crown of the
plants, stakes should be driven in at least 2 feet deep, and
allowed to remain the same height above the ground,
which is sufficient to hold any spike, and will not inter-
fere with the flowers. One, two, or three spikes may be
left to each plant, remembering, however, that the fewer
the spikes the larger will be both spikes and flowers.
Sometimes the flowers are so thick on the spike as to
interfere with the expansion of the guard petals. In such
cases thin out the flower-buds when about the size of a
nut. Tie up with strong bast from time to time as the
spikes rise. Top the spikes at any given height ; in
sheltered situations they may be allowed to rise to 9 feet,
but where much exposed to wind, 7 feet should be the
maximum. Shading is necessary if growing for exhibi-
tion, especially with the delicate-coloured varieties, whicii
quickly soil if exposed to sun, wind, and rain. Fortu-
nately this soiling is not sufficiently great to interfere with
the effect of the spike in the garden, and as shading is
troublesome and unsightly, it may well be dispensed with
except where growing for exhibition.

326 The Hollyhock.

Some few years ago the Hollyhock suffered great
depreciation from being attacked by a disease which
baffled the skill of our best cultivators. Thousands of
plants, both young unbloomed seedlings and named sorts,
suddenly decayed, often just as the first flowers were
expanding, when it was impossible to refill their places.
This, we believe, was attributable to the unwholesome
plan, too generally adopted, of forcing the plant, causing
it to grow out of season, and in a close unnatural
atmosphere, in order to obtain a more rapid and ex-
tensive increase by root-grafting. If we have rightly
studied the vegetable kingdom, there are few plants will
bear this strain put upon them without suffering a
diminution of vital power, not always quickly recovered,
but often conveyed downwards to the offspring, alike
through cuttings and seeds. Certain it is that by the
discontinuance of this practice the disease gradually
disappeared, as far as we know, and is now almost
extinct.

THE HYACINTH.

[Fro>n ''''Proceedings of the Royal Hortiatllta-al Society"
1862, Vol. I I., p. 611].

OF the many candidates for popular support in the
present extended list of garden favourites there are
few receiving more attention at the present time than the
Hyacinth. Its beauty, fragrance, and variety are so many
separate points of attraction, and the season at which it
blooms is worthy of especial consideration. By the
appearance of the Hyacinth winter is driven from its last
strongholds, and the garden suddenly rejoices in all the
brilliancy of a summer parterre.

Then the plant is of such easy culture, that while the
highest attainments in the art may be reserved for the

The Hyacinth. 327

patient exercise of skill and industry, the " prentice hand "
in gardening may reasonably expect to attain to fair and
satisfactory results. In a word, the plant is more manage-
able than many of its compeers, and hence there is less
fear of failure from the oversight of any of those little
kindnesses and attentions which the skilled horticulturist
knows so well when and how to apply.

In treating of the culture of Hyacinths, three separate
points occur to me: — (i) The possession of good bulbs;
(2) the season of planting ; (3) after culture ; and these
1 shall proceed to discuss separately.

I. — Good Bulbs.

The best Hyacinths are imported from Holland. A
more beautiful sight could scarcely be conceived than the
gardens in and around Haarlem in the spring and early
summer months, with their acres of ground radiant with
millions of Crocuses, Tulips, and Hyacinths ; blue, white,
red, and yellow, of the richest and most varied hues, the
more grateful to the eye, and the more impressive, because
following so closely on the footsteps of winter. As is well
known, the culture of the Hyacinth and its allies is a
specialty in Holland. I do not see why it should not be
the same here, as the differences in some localities,
climates, and soils of England, appear to me insufficient to
account for it not being so.

Perhaps our horticulturists are too nmch occupied with
other matters, and certainly it would be commercially
unwise to enter the field against such skilful and indefa-
tigable contemporaries without first acquiring a thorough
knowledge of so distinct a branch of the art of gardening.
We may, and I believe do, grow and bloom them as well
here as there. But the question remains, can we bring
bulbs of our oivn grozvth into the market of the same
quality and at the same price ? The answer is, not at
present. We can, in the present state of our knowledge
and practice, buy and sell cheaper than we can produce.

328 The Hyacinth.

The Hyacinth being a bulbous plant, the sources of
supply, at least during the early stages of growth, depend
on the nutriment stored up in the bulb the year before.
Thus it will be inferred that it is as important to obtain
good bulbs as to grow them well when obtained. And I
would here caution the cultivator against placing too much
confidence in large bulbs. True, if a bulb is sound, solid,
weighty, and well stored with eliminated food, the larger
the better ; but there are many large, showy, y>v///j bulbs
sold every year in Holland and in England which fail
before these tests, and which it requires a practised eye
and hand to apply. Then again there are some beautiful
sorts of Hyacinths — of which Grootvorst is a familiar
example — which seldom produce large handsome bulbs-
On the other hand, there are some indifferent kinds which
generally produce bulbs of great size and beauty. But
further, bulbs of the same kind differ in value in the hands
of different cultivators. In proof of it we need only
adduce one fact — and whether it be attributed to the
greater skill of the cultivator or to the superiority of his
soil, the fact remains — that there is a difference of 20 per
cent, in the prices of the different growers, and the highest
priced stock always commands the readiest market.

Having laid the foundation of a successful culture by
the acquisition of good bulbs, let us pass to the next point.

n.— The Season of Planting.
The natural period of rest for the Hyacinth is from
June to October. If planted before the latter month, the
shortening of the natural period of rest diminishes the
vigour of growth and the beauty of the flowers. So if the
planting be delayed far beyond that period, however well
the bulbs may be kept, growth commences, the bulb feeds
on the deposit of the previous year contained within itself
without the means of recruiting the suppl}', and a loss of
power is the consequence. Plant then in the month of
October, applying a greater or less degree of heat, according

The Hyacinth. 329

to the season or seasons at which the flowers are wanted.
If a very early, a very late, or a long succession of bloom
be required, some should be planted earlier and some later,
but the month recommended above is the best if the finest
possible bloom is required, without regard to any definite
period.

III. — After Culture.

The culture of Hyacinths falls naturally under three
heads — i. in pots ; 2. in glasses ; 3. in the open ground.

I. Hyacinths in Pots. — It is a matter of no small
importance to secure a suitable soil, for although the plant
in the first instance feeds on itself, the roots, once in
action, draw largely from the soil in order to replace the
nourishment withdrawn from the bulb. A sandy loam
should form the bulk of the soil, but such being usually
poor, it must be enriched by a plentiful addition of
manure. Cow-dung is the best of manures for the
Hyacinth, and it is a good plan to obtain it in a fresh
state, mixing it with the loam six months before required
for use, turning the whole over two or three times in the
interval that the different substances may be well mixed
together. When planting, place the bulb in the middle of
the pot, setting it quite upright on a small bed of sand,
and so that the apex of the bulb may be half an inch
above the level of the soil. Soak the soil with water and
when well drained place the pots, in the first instance,
out of doors on solid ground that worms may not enter.

Surround the sides of the pots with cinder ashes, and
cover the top with about six inches of the same material.
In about two months remove the pots to a cold frame,
covering with a mat for five or six days to avoid a sudden
transition from darkness to light. When the mats are
withdrawn give more or less air, according to the season at
which the bulbs are wanted to flower, bearing in mind
that the more air given the better, provided the frost be
completely excluded.

330 The Hyacinth.

The long drooping leaves which we see with some
cultivators is due to a too warm or too close atmosphere.
So soon as the flower-spike rises, a stiff wire should be
passed between the bells the whole length of the spike,
the lower end bent outwards till it reaches the circumfer-
ence of the pot, winding it round the outside of the pot
beneath the rim to keep the spike upright and steady.
Plenty of water should be given from the time the leaves
begin to grow till the flower shows symptoms of decay,
when a gradual diminution should take place.

When the leaves turn yellow, water should be entirely
withheld, and the bulb should be taken from the pot at the
end of July, and stowed away in a dry place for planting
in beds the following year. The same bulbs can scarcely
be recommended for planting in pots or glasses a second
year, but are very good for planting out of doors. Masses
of Hyacinths may be planted in ornamental pots or
baskets, forming the whole mass of one colour, or the
centre and circumference of different colours ; and thus
ordered, they are at once elegant and effective.

2. HyacintJis in Glasses. — Under this form of culture
we have in the Hyacinth the most beautiful of house
plants in winter and early spring, arriving at the same
degree of perfection in town and country. The single
kinds, to my eye always the most beautiful, are especially
preferable for glasses on account of their greater earliness
and hardihood. Soundness of bulb, at all times important,
is more than commonly important here. Set the bulb in
the glass so that the lower end, whence the roots are
emitted, is almost, but not quite, in contact with the water.
Use rain or pond water. Keep the glasses filled up as the
water sinks by the feeding of the roots and evaporation.
It is a general practice to place Hyacinths in glasses in a
dark cupboard or some other place where the light is
excluded, and a very good practice it is, for the roots feed
more freely in the dark, and thus the system of the plant
becomes better stored with food. They may remain in

The Hyacinth. 331

this situation for one or two months, according to the
temperature in which they are placed, and should not be
too suddenly transferred to the light. Here, as with
Hyacinths in pots, when the flowering is over the bulbs
may be brought gradually into a state of rest by a diminu-
tion of the supply of water. This done, dry them, store
them away, and in due season plant them in beds out of
doors to bloom there the following year.

3. Hyacinths in the Open Ground. — I have never yet
seen so much done with the Hyacinth as an out-of-door
plant as I conceive might be done on principles similar to
those which have been so admirably carried out in regard
to "bedding plants." We have here red, white, and blue
— to say nothing of the so-called yellow — of innumerable
shades. Surely there is ample material for a more
extended application of those principles, especially if the
aid of the Tulip be called in. The Tulip gives an abun-
dance of yellow, a colour deficient in the Hyacinth. By
the combination of these two flowers, a gorgeous and
complete flower-garden may be had in spring as well as in
summer, and neither a repetition of the other, but each a
change.

The Hyacinth is an admirable spring flower. It
suffers less from wind and snow, from sleet and hail, than
many hardy spring flowers ; indeed, almost less than any
other. To-day the snow falls and the plant is hidden and
frozen ; to-morrow the sun shines, and it is as erect and
bright as ever.

Hyacinths out of doors should also be planted in
the autumn (November). Let the apex of the bulb be
placed four inches beneath the surface of the soil, and after
the soil is put on add two inches of decomposed manure
as a security against severe frost. In February, when all
fear of severe frost is gone, the manure may be removed.
The same soil as that recommended for pot culture is
suitable for Hyacinths out of doors. But it may not
be generally convenient to remove and replace soil in the

332 The Hyacinth.

flower garden. Well, this is by no means a sine qua non
of success. We recommend it, but do not insist on it.
The convenience of the cultivator must determine the
matter. But if a soil be unusually light and poor it
should be enriched and watered abundantly; if close and
heavy it should still be enriched, and will usually be
improved by mixing with it a good proportion of clean
road or river sand.

ZONAL PELAEGONIUMS IN WINTEK.

\Froin " The Gardeners' Chrofiicle,'^ December 8//i 1866, p. 1 163.]

THE rain of a gloomy December day has driven me
into my house of Zonal Pelargoniums, now in full
bloom. I am temporarily a prisoner, but cannot be idle.
How beautiful these Pelargoniums are ! how gorgeous the
colours ! and what a contrast they present to the leafless
trees and sombre evergreens which I have just quitted.
Scarlet and other warm coloured flo\\'ers which abound
here, seem to me particularly cheering in winter. I know
of no flower, not even the varied and gorgeous Chrysan-
themum, more lovely ; and there is none so useful for
bouquets at this season of the year. Conspicuous among
them for freedom of flowering, and variety and novelty of
tint, are Beaton's Hybrids and their successors, which are
literally covered with trusses, and seem as if they would go
on blooming throughout the winter. Judging from present
appearances, I think I am right in assuming that these
hybrids bear the same relation to the ordinary Zonals
that the Perpetual Carnations and Perpetual Roses do to
the common kinds of those flowers. On analysing them
and arranging them as to colour, what a charming variety
they afford ! Of pure whites, Madame Vaucher and Virgo
Maria are perhaps the best ; Bride is white with a crimson
eye, and Madame Werle is creamy- white laced with crim-

Zonal Pelargoniums in Winter. 333

son ; Peach Nosegay, dark lilac, is particularly lovely, and
Village Maid, which is of a clear deep pink with a large
well-defined white spot on each upper petal, is a very
decided advance on Helen Lindsay and Mrs Whitty ;
Mrs Wm. Paul, for size and form, is conspicuous among
the light pinks. Alexandra and Dr Hogg are the best
among the bluish purples. Perhaps the greatest gain
among Beaton's hybrids and their descendants, is the
multiplicity of rose colours of various shades — colours
previously unknown among Zonals ; Monte Rosa, Naiad,
Zephyr, Dryad, Amy Hogg, Celestial (very lovely), Wood
Nymph, and Tiara are beautiful in this class. Indian
Yellow is still alone as a }'ellowish orange, and Salmon
Nosegay is a distinct and pleasing colour, prolific and
showy. Among the various shades of carmine and cherry-
colour, Duchess, Banneret, Minstrel, Rebecca, and Waltham
Nosegay are pre-eminent. Of orange, Nimrod, Sir Joseph
Paxton, Prince of Orange, and Orange Nosegay are the
best. Of scarlets, we select Cardinal, Waltham Pet, and
Dr Lindley. And lastly, of blood-crimsons, remarkable
for depth and solidity of colour, there are Ossian, Crimson
Queen, and St George. Here are 34 varieties selected
for perpetuity of flowering, and described as they now
are, which it will be readily conceived is not exactly
as they appear out of doors in summer. But though
different they are equally beautiful, many of them even
more beautiful. The rain having ceased, I end my so-
journ in this Pelargonium house by gathering a bouquet
of the flowers, adding thereto a few leaves of the plain
green, the black zone, the red zone, the gold, and the
silver, which the above or others in company with them
furnish. While doing so I have been brushing against
Shrubland Pet (Beaton's again), and the house is filled
with odour. I add a few leaves of this, and walk off with
a bouquet fit for a princess. Meeting a great amateur
gardener in my way, he supplies me with a practical
deduction from the principles revolving in my mind by

334 Zonal Pelargoniums in Winter.

saying — " Well, well, this is beautiful ; I must add these
flowers to my future 'winter list.'" — "Yes, my kind friend,
indeed you must ; at least, if I mistake not, you are not
likely to reject a new idea that will add so much to the
beauty of your garden in winter."

But something remains to be said as to the culture and
management of those plants, which fortunately involves
no new study or complicated arrangement. Buy or strike
young plants in May or June. Continue to repot them
into larger pots as the roots fill the pots they occupy, till
the end of July. Pick off the trusses of flowers before
expansion during June, July, and August, encouraging a
free growth, till by the end of September the plants are
covered with new trusses beginning to expand. Now,
wherever the plants may have been grown, whether out of
doors or in-doors, remove them to a light airy house, con-
tinuing to water freely, and using just so much artificial
heat as may be necessary to dry up the moisture of the
house, which if in excess damages the flowers. Do not
water the leaves nor spill water about the house. Give
plenty of air in fine weather. By following this plan cer-
tain Pelargoniums may be had under glass at mid-winter,
as gay and beautiful as in our parterres in summer.

LEOTUEE ON SPKING FLOWERS.

\Delivered by the request of the Council of the Royal Horticultural
Society at South Kettsingtoji^ March 21st 1865.]

THE subject which has been proposed for my Lecture,
and which I readily accept, is the Cultivation of
Spring Flowers. There is so much poetry in those
words — Spring Flowers — that I find it difficult to refrain
from indulging a sentimental mood. The first flowers of
the garden and the first warblings of the grove are inspiring
themes to the dullest fancy, and to those least sensible of

Lecture on Spring Flowers. 335

the stirring of the poetic muse. I am bold to confess this,
undaunted by the recollection of the sensations of Hamlet
and Horatio in their midnight watch on the platform
before the Castle at Elsinore —

Hamlet. The air bites shrewdly — it is very cold.
Horatio. It is a nipping and an eager air —

undaunted too by what our great humourist, Hood, has
said in his poem on Spring : —

'" Come, gentle Spring ; ethereal mildness, come ;'
Oh ! Thornsojt, void of rhyme as well as reason,
How could'st thou thus poor human nature hum —
There's no such season.

Let others eulogise her floral shows.

From me they cannot win a single stanza ;

I know her blooms are in full blow, — and so's
The Influenza.

Her Cowslips, Stocks, and Lilies of the Vale,
Her honey-blossoms that you hear the bees at,

Her Pansies, Daffodils, and Primrose pale —
Are things to sneeze at.

In short, whatever panegyrics lie

In fulsome odes, too many to be cited,
The tenderness of Spring is all my eye,

And that is blighted.'''

Now, I am not disposed to quarrel with the poet for
drawing so desolate a picture of an English spring ; on
the contrary, in his facts and fancies I think I find powerful
reasons for the extensive cultivation of spring flowers.
Our gardens may be decorated and enlivened, our hearths
and halls perfumed and adorned by the grateful odours
and brilliant tints of early flowers.

Spring flowers are not cultivated so extensively as
they should be in English gardens. There is no reason
why our gardens should be so bare and desolate as they
generally are in spring. Every country mansion which is

336 Lecture on Spring Flowers.

tenanted in the early months of the year might have a
garden of gay spring flowers exclusively, or one in which
they were largely combined with evergreens — green,
variegated, and berry-bearing. Such a garden should
partake of the romantic and picturesque — wood and water,
rock and dell — rather than of the trim and formal. I would
gather the Primroses, Violets, and other hedge and wayside
flowers, and intermix them with such exotics as flower in
spring, and are found suitable to our climate out of doors.
There may be reasons, however, why it is not desirable to
give up a portion of the garden for the exclusive use of
spring flowers. Be it so. There is still no reason why
spring flowers should not be abundantly cultivated. They
may be planted in the ordinary beds of the flower garden,
and removed when the season arrives at which it is
customary to plant out Pelargoniums, Verbenas, and other
summer and autumn-flowering plants. Or they may be
planted in front of the evergreen beds or borders which
exist in most flower gardens, and thus the general garden
will be made gay and interesting in spring as well as during
the other seasons of the year.

For the sake of convenience in the discussion of this
subject, as well as to assist the memory in the recollection
of details, I propose to arrange " Spring Flowers " under
two heads : — first, Hardy Spring Flotvers, or such as bloom
naturally out of doors in the months of February, March,
April, and May ; and secondly, GreenJioitse and Hothouse
Spring Flowers, or such as bloom naturally at the same
season, but require the protection of glass.

Of flowers which bloom naturally out of doors in spring,
bulbous plants form a very important class. Of these, the
Crocus, Snowdrop, Snowflake, Scilla, Hyacinth, Tulip, and
Narcissus take the highest rank. Their culture is simple.
They may be planted in beds or borders in the garden out
of doors late in autumn, and prefer a rich loamy soil.
They should be set so far beneath the ground, say from 4
to 6 inches, as to be beyond the reach of the winter's frost,

Lecture on Spring Flowers. 337

and if the weather prove more than commonly severe, an
additional covering of loose straw is no bad contrivance to
secure efficient protection. Bulbs or bulbous plants thrive
best under this peculiarity of culture ; they should be taken
from the ground in summer so soon as the flowers and
leaves are completely decayed, dried in the sun, laid up in
a dried room or storehouse, and replanted again in the
course of the autumn months.

The Hyacinth has already been made the subject of a
lecture. I need not therefore refer again to that.

Crocuses and early single Tulips have been greatly
improved of late. Those who are not acquainted with
the modern kinds will be surprised and delighted with
their increase in size, and the colours are now exceedingly
varied, rich, and splendid. The Narcissus known as
Gloriosa is also a valuable addition to spring flowers on
account of the large handsome heads of white and yellow
blossoms which it produces, and the Narcissus minor
and N. Bulbocodium are also beautiful plants of lowly
growth.

Another important variety of spring flowers exists
among what are commonly termed " perennials or herba-
ceous plants." The Alpine Auricula, Polyanthus, Alys-
sum, Saxifraga granulata, Cheiranthus Marshallii, Iberis,
Primrose, Hepatica, Pansy, Daisy, Violet, Forget-me-Not,
Anemone, and others too numerous to mention, are of this
class. These plants are not generally particular as to soil,
provided it be not too moist. They are usually allowed
to remain permanently in the ground unless it is wished
to increase their number, when the roots are taken up and
divided shortly after the flowering season ; some may also
be propagated by cuttings, others by seeds. The single
Anemone, which, judiciously treated, becomes one of the
most beautiful spring flowers, thrives wonderfully from
seed. If sown in spring on a bed of light earth, the seeds
barely covered with sandy peat, a gorgeous crop of flowers
of rich, brilliant, and varied hues will adorn the garden in
V

338 Lecture on Spring Flowers.

the following spring. The Alpine Auricula, the Poly-
anthus, the Primrose, and the Pansy may be treated in the
same way, the last-mentioned succeeding admirably from
cuttings also.

There are some beautiful varieties of Pansy in use at
the gardens at Cliveden, the seat of the Duchess of
Sutherland, of various clear and decided colours, which
are invaluable as spring flowers on account of their hardy
nature and profusion of bloom. Nowhere has spring
gardening been carried out with so much spirit, persever-
ance, and success as in the extensive and beautiful gardens
just alluded to, where, under the able management of Mr
Fleming, the usual gay scenes of summer, with their odori-
ferous accompaniments, are realised in early spring. Mr
Fleming's admirable little book, " Spring and Winter
Gardening," in which his practice is clearly and pleasingly
detailed, and of which I am informed a new and enlarged
edition will shortly appear, is ,well worthy of study by those
who may wish to enrich their gardens with fresh stores of
spring flowers.

Again, hardy annuals, which are usually sown in
spring to flower in summer, may be sown in autumn to
flower in spring. A host of valuable spring flowers is
derivable from this source at a small cost of money and
labour. Candytuft, Catchfly, Erysimum, Gilia, Nemophila,
Saponaria, and Virginian Stock are amongst the hardiest
and best for this purpose, but the number and variety
may be considerably increased and extended. These may
be sown in August where intended to flower, or if the
soil is loose or the situation damp, such conditions being
unfavourable to their preservation during winter, it were
better to sow on solid soil in a moderately dry place, and
transplant the seedlings early in spring. Wallflowers and
other biennials should be sown in July.

The plants we have spoken of hitherto are of lowly
growth, but the most effective of spring flowers are found
among hardy ornamental trees and shrubs. We have

Lecture on Spring Flowers. 339

to search the garden for the tiny Violet and Lily of the
Valley, the Snowdrop, the Primrose, and the Hepatica ;
these are lost to the heedless many, who know not how
much modest beauty waits to be wooed in its retirement.
But the larger forms of vegetable life cannot be so passed
by. They rise before us, confront us at every step, and
prefer their claims with an eloquence and power that few
can resist.

The most conspicuous of spring-flowering trees and
shrubs are the different varieties of Almond, Mespilus,
Laburnum, Cherry, Peach, Pear, Plum, Thorn, Horse
Chestnut, Magnolia, Tree Paeony, Flowering Currant.
Lilac, Cydonia, Mahonia, and double - flowered Furze.
And this enumeration, large as it is, by no means ex-
hausts the catalogue of spring-flowering trees and shrubs;
it merely gives examples of what I consider to be the
most desirable. The Almond is one of the most beau-
tiful of spring-flowering trees; it blooms so early and
profusely. It is free, hardy, and accommodating withal.
Even London, with its limited list of " acclimatised " trees,
may justly reckon the Almond among the number. The
Laburnum, with its long racemes of golden blossoms, is
equally hardy and beautiful. The Horse Chestnuts, both
scarlet and white, are noble trees. But the most important
of spring - flowering trees are the varieties of Thorn
and double-blossomed Peach, and if these were more
generally known I have no doubt they would be more
extensively planted. Not only our gardens but our
shrubberies and parks are open to great improvement hv
the free introduction of trees like these, and but few soils
are of such a nature as to preclude their cultivation. In a
general way, these trees should be allowed to take their
natural growth, or at most be but balanced in growth b}-
encouraging or checking a weak or rampant shoot occa-
sionally. In special instances where artificial forms may
be desirable, Cydonias, Ribes, Lilacs, and the like may be
trained with round heads on stems or as pyramids.

340 Lecture on Spring Flowers.

I must pass on to the second part of my subject, to
speak of those plants which bloom naturally under glass
in spring. We find here an entirely different assemblage,
a gayer and more brilliant order of beauty. For the most
part they are natives of warmer climates, and the flowers
are of larger size, and endowed with richer tones of
colour.

Glass structures intended for spring-flowering plants
should be built as light and airy as possible. The colours
of flowers depend so much on light, that the lighter the
structures in which they are grown, the brighter and
stronger will be the colours ; and it is scarcely less
important that the structures be well ventilated. There
is much moisture in the air in spring, the damaging effects
of which in excess is best counteracted by securing a free
circulation of air.

The Cyclamen is one of the chastest and sweetest of
spring-flowering plants. Some of the species are hardy,
but I prefer to treat the whole as greenhouse plants. The
best mode of increasing them is by seeds, which should be
sown in June or as soon as the seed is ripe, in soil com-
posed of about equal parts of loam and sandy peat. Place
them in a cold pit. In September the seedlings may be
transplanted into single pots. They should retain their
leaves through the first winter, and be gradually brought
to rest when about twelve months old. The greater part
will flower during their second spring.

The Camellia, of which there are endless varieties,
stands forth prominently among spring flowers. The
Rose is universally acknowledged the Queen of Summer,
and I think we may justly call the Camellia the Queen of
Winter. Whether we consider the symmetry of its rich
and delicate blossoms, or the deep massive green of its
expansive leaves, from either point of view it is a lovely
plant. In the climate of Angers, in the west of France,
the Camellia is treated as an out-of-door plant. There, in
the nurseries of M. Leroy, thousands are planted in the

Lecture on Spring Flowers. 341

open ground, receiving as protection in winter nothing but
a slight thatch of reeds. I have seen it in this country
thriving well trained against a wall, but it is more satis-
factory to grow it under glass in the temperature of a cool
greenhouse. It may be planted out there or grown in
pots. The soil should be composed of equal portions of
rich loam and sandy peat. Weak liquid manure is an
excellent stimulus during the season of growth and flower-
ing, enriching the colour of the leaves, and increasing the
size and beauty of the flowers. Whether planted out or
grown in pots, a little warmth, a moist atmosphere, and
plenty of moisture at the root are desirable during the
season of growth. This period over, abundance of air
should be given, or better, the plants if in pots should be
re-potted and placed out-of-doors on the north side of a
hedge or wall where the morning sun only can reach them.
On the approach of autumn (September) the plants should
be reconveyed to the greenhouse. The most vigorous and
healthful Camellias I ever saw were in the gardens of
Oulton Park, when under the care of the late Mr
Errington, who informed me that he watered the plants
half the year with guano water. The flowers and leaves
were of prodigious size and substance, and the latter as
dark in colour as those of the Portugal Laurel.

I shall never forget the impressions I received from a
visit to the Messrs Loddiges' Camellias at Hackney some
twenty years ago. I am almost afraid to say what I
believe, that some of the plants were 30 or 40 feet high,
the branches thickl)' interwoven and bending beneath the
weight of thousands of gorgeous blossoms. The ground
beneath was thickly strewed with the fallen flowers, pro-
ducing a complete carpet of richly variegated colours.
Blackbirds, thrushes, and other song birds built their nests
among the branches, flitting hither and thither, delighting
the ear with their varied melodies, the scene reminding
one of the grandeur and beauty of a tropical forest.

The Indian Azalea is another spring-flowering plant of

342 Lecture on Spring Flowers.

rare beauty, which, Hke the Camellia in one respect, merely
requires protection from frost in winter. At Digswell
Rectory, near Wehvyn, a plant of the white variety lived
in the open air through several winters. No one who has
attended the flower shows of this metropolis — for which
our country still stands unrivalled and alone — can fail to
have remarked the rich and varied masses of colour which
the Azalea presents to the eye. Azaleas are of easy
culture. Grafted plants are best. The soil they prefer is
sandy peat, which should be firmly pressed in well-drained
pots. A moderately close, warm, moist atmosphere during
the season of growth assists in the formation and setting
of the flower-buds. Azaleas are best placed out of doors
and slightly shaded from the sun during the summer
months. A minute insect, the thrip, is a great pest to
this plant, and requires checking by the frequent use of
tobacco smoke.

In addition to these we have Heaths and Epacrises,
which delight in a peaty soil, and require careful watering
and little heat ; Acacias, Correas, Cytisuses, Veronicas,
and sundry stove and greenhouse plants, and last though
not least, many rare and beautiful Orchids. The latter are
usually made the object of special culture, and their high
prices have hitherto kept them in comparatively few hands.
Their culture is not, as is supposed by some, difficult, and
as they become more plentiful they will doubtless enter
largely into the purposes of in-door spring gardening.
There remain under this head certain Annuals not suffi-
ciently hardy to endure the winter out of doors, but which
if sown in May, June, and July, and grown under glass,
will bloom freely and beautifully during the spring months.
Such are the Chinese Primula, the Cineraria, the Petunia,
Schizanthus, Stock, Mignonette, and the like.

In conclusion, I would venture a few remarks on the
art of forcing. Although all forced flowers are not na^u-
rally spring flowers, they are made so by the art of the
cultivator, and enter so largely into the decoration of our

Lecture on Spring Flowers. 343

conservatories and halls at that season that we cannot
possibly overlook them.

The art of" forcing" consists in accelerating the period
of perfection of fruits and flowers. The practice is simple,
but nevertheless requires an amount of knowledge, care, and
watchfulness which thoroughly test the capabilities of the
cultivator. By forcing, the fruits which ripen naturally in
autumn are brought to perfection in spring and summer ;
the flowers of summer are induced to bloom in winter and
in spring. Here, as with spring flowers, the glass structures
should be as light as possible. A low night temperature
should also be insisted on. Plants unduly excited or over-
worked by a high temperature during the day, require the
restorative of periodical rest, and this is best provided for
by a low night temperature. A difference of 15^' or 20°
between the maximum of day and night temperature is
seldom too much. The syringe must be used freely every
morning and evening when forcing, in order to prevent the
exhaustive effects of hot dry air ; and the quantity of water
sprinkled over the plants and house must be greater during
sunny than cloudy days, and in proportion to the increase
of temperature. It is well to lower the temperature of the
forcing house when the plants have arrived at that stage of
development at which the flower buds begin to colour.
The period of expansion is of course retarded by this
practice, but then the flowers are much better developed,
and the colours are stronger.

A great deal might be said on the preparation of plants
for forcing. Those of us who are accustomed to deal with
plants in this way know well that we may change the
flowering season of almost any plant. For instance, the
Rose, which naturally blooms in summer and rests in
winter, may be made to rest in summer and bloom in
winter. By a long-continued course of systematic treat-
ment the seasons may be completely reversed. Cold and
drought are the agencies by which we effect this ; and in
the absence of the one we may accomplish the end in view

344 Lecture on Spring Flowers.

by the use of the other. Plants have two periods of rest,
night and day, and summer and winter ; and a plant that
is made to rest in summer w'ill surely work out its course
by blooming in winter. It is worthy of further remark
that a plant if removed from the open ground and forced
one year, and then returned to its former position, will
bloom at an earlier period than its fellows which may have
been left undisturbed, so great is the force of habit even
among plants. On these grounds, then, is the practice of
forcing based.

I have only to enumerate a few plants which experi-
ence has shown to be well suited for the purpose of
forcing : — Amaryllises, Crocuses, Hyacinths, Tulips, Lily
of the Valley, Fuchsias, Pelargoniums, Azaleas, especially
the Ghent varieties, Deutzias, Red and White Dwarf
Almonds, Double White and Double Pink Japan Cherry,
the Double-blossomed Cherry, Plum, Peach, and Thorn, in
their kinds. Lilacs, Kalmias, Prunus trilobata, Rhododen-
drons, Roses, Syringas, and Viburnum plicatum.

Such of these plants as are grown in the ground out
of doors should be transplanted from the ordinary nursery
rows one year before they are required for forcing. This
will induce the emission of fibrous roots below, and the
formation of flower-buds above ground during the follow-
ing summer. Late in October dig up the plants, pot
them, and place them in the forcing-house early in
December. Every successive year less heat will be re-
quired to bring them into full bloom at a given date, or if
the same amount of heat be applied they will be brought
into bloom at an earlier period.

I add a brief synopsis of the most interesting and
attractive spring flowers, many of which have, however,
been already alluded to in this paper : —

L For Out-of-Door Culture. — Btdbs: Crocus,
Crown Imperial, red and yellow ; Cyclamen coum and
vernum ; Dog's-Tooth Violet, lilac and white ; Fritillaria
meleagris ; Hyacinths, garden varieties ; Muscari botry-

Lecture on Spring Flowers. 345

oides and pallida ; Narcissus, Ranunculus, Scilla, Snow-
drop, Snowflake, Tulip. Pcre^inial or Herbaceous Plants :
Alyssum saxatile and variegatum ; Anemone, garden
varieties, also A. nemorosa flore-pleno and Pulsatilla ;
Arabis, several sorts ; Aubretia deltoidea and purpurea ;
Caltha palustris flore-pleno, Cardamine pratensis flore-
pleno, Cerastium tomentosum and Biebersteinii, Cheir-
anthus Marshallii, Corydalis nobilis. Daisies, Dielytra
spectabilis, Epimedium rubrum and others, Forget-me-Not,
Gentians, Helonias bullata, Hepaticas, Iberis sempervirens,
Lily of the Valley, Paeonia tenuifolia, single and double ;
P. albiflora in varieties ; Pansies, Orobus varius and vernus,
Omphalodes verna. Polyanthuses, Primroses, Phloxes,
Polemonium Richardsonii, Pulmonaria virginica. Saxi-
frages, Sanguinaria canadensis, Vinca elegantissima,
Violets, and Winter Aconite. Biennials: Eschscholtzia
crocea, Honesty, Wallflower. Annuals: Candytuft, Catch-
fly, Collinsia bicolor. Erysimum, Forget-me-Not, Gilia,
Limnanthes Douglasii, Lupins, Nemophila, Saponaria,
Silene, and Virginian Stock. Shrubs and Trees : Almonds,
Berberis Darvvinii, Cherries, Cydonias, Deutzia gracilis,
Ericas, Double Furze, Horse Chestnuts, Lilacs, Mahonia
japonica. Magnolias, Mespilus, Mezereon, Peaches, Pears,
Pernettyas, Plums, Rhododendrons, Ribes, Skimmia, and
the Thorns.

n. For In-Door Culture. — Bulbs: Those already
mentioned, to bloom at an earlier date. Plants requiring
the protection of an ordinary Greenliouse : Acacia, Azalea
indica, Camellia, Daphne odora rubra, Epacris, Heath,
Paeonia Moutan, Primula denticulata. Rhododendron,
Richardia sethiopica, and Salvia gesneriflora. Greenhouse
Afinuals : Calceolaria, Cineraria, Petunia, Primula sinensis,
Mignonette, Schizanthus ; Intermediate, Brompton, and
Queen Stock. Stove Plants: Allamanda cathartica,
Begonia fuchsioides and incarnata, Clerodendron splendens,
Dipladenia crassinoda, Franciscea confertiflora and eximia.
Gardenia radicans, Gesnera cinnabarina and refulgens.

346 Lecture on Spring Flowers.

Ixora coccinea, and Monochaetum ensiferum. OrcJiias :
Coelogyne cristata, Cattleya Mossiae, Skinneri, and others ;
Cypripedium caudatum, villosum, and others ; Dendrobium
densiflorum and D. nobile, in variety ; Lycaste Skinneri,
Odontoglossum Pescatorei, Phalsenopsis grandiflora and
Schilleriana ; and Vanda insignis.

LEOTUEE ON SPEmG-FLOWEEING PLANTS.

\_Delivered by the request of the Council of the Royal Horticultural
Society at South Kensington, 26th March 1867.]

THE task assigned to me to-day is to give you a
popular account of this Exhibition, I shall pur-
posely avoid all scientific details ; my remarks will be
chiefly cultural ; working on the conception that some
present would like to hear how these plants are produced
— would like to see such in their own gardens — I shall
content myself with showing in as concise a manner as
possible how that object may be attained.

It is true there is a short road to the possession of
these plants, namely, to buy them as at present exhibited.
But by purchasing a plant when in the climax of its beauty
one does not realise all the pleasure and satisfaction de-
rivable from cultivating it from an early period of growth.
It will, I think, be allowed that every stage of progress in
a plant is perfect in its way, and there is a freshness,
change, and beauty in its gradual development.

I shall commence my observations by bracketing
together Hyacinths, Tulips, Narcissi, and Crocuses, which
are usually spoken of collectively as Dutch Bulbs. Be it
observed, these bulbs are among the least costly, most
easily cultivated, and most effective of early flowers. Al-
though called Dutch Bulbs, the original Hyacinths and
Tulips are natives of the Levant, and have been known in
this country for nearly 300 years. Now, however, their

Lecture on Spring Flowering Plants. 347

descendants, much altered in size, form, and colour, are,
or should be, annually imported from Holland, where
their cultivation is carried out on so large a scale as to be
an important branch of national industry.

I may, perhaps, be allowed to remark here that the
best Dutch Bulbs usually find their way into the hands
of the English dealers. The Hyacinths sent to this
country are grown from offsets of the roots, and are
usually four or five years old. In favourable seasons, with
free-growing sorts, or in the event of a scarcity of any
particular sort, three-year-old roots are sometimes sent,
but such do not produce the finest spikes of flowers.
Dutch Bulbs usually arrive in England in the month of
August, packed in bags and boxes in what is termed a dry
state, in which they somewhat resemble onions.

Now, with regard to the culture of these bulbs, I will
assume that the cultivator has obtained possession of good
bulbs — bulbs which have not been hastily forced into the
market, but which have the stamp of age, and which have
been skilfully handled throughout their previous stages of
development. Without this there is little hope of reaching
a high standard of excellence. If you start wrong no
after skill or attention will set you altogether right. Let
us then assume the possession of good bulbs. Now, they
may be grown in pots or boxes in earth, or in glasses in
water. I will first relate how they are managed when
grown in earth. Sandy loam, enriched by a free addition
of manure, is the best compost in which to plant them ;
plant in October, leaving the apex or crown of the bulb
just protruding above the soil, and afterwards thoroughly
soak the soil with water. When drained, place the boxes,
pots, or vases in which they are planted on the level soil,
covering them over with six inches of cocoa fibre, old tan,
or cinder ashes. Now the length of time they should
remain under this covering will depend on the period at
which they are wanted to bloom. If removed in January,
gradually inured to heat and light, well watered if dry, and

348 Lecture on Spring Flowering Plants.

placed first in a cold frame and then in a greenhouse with
gentle heat, they will bloom in great perfection early in
March. If removed in December and a little more heat
employed, they will flower early in February. If removed
in November, they should, a fair amount of heat being
employed, flower in January. It should be borne in mind
that a plentiful supply of water is requisite at the period
when the leaves and flower spikes are expanding, and
during the whole period of flowering. The spikes of
flowers should also be tied up almost day by day to
preserve their symmetry.

This, then, is the way in which the Hyacinths before
you are produced in pots. The rationale of cultivation in
glasses in water is the same ; but instead of pots glasses
are used, instead of earth, water, instead of covering with
fibre, we place the glasses if transparent in a dark cup-
board, principally for the reason that the roots feed most
freely in the dark. But we must not keep them in the
dark too long. Gradually inure them to the light when
the roots are fairly developed, and before the leaves
are two inches long. The season of flowering, as with
Hyacinths in pots, will depend on the temperature of the
house or room in which the}' are grown. It was remarked to
me to-day — "Your Hyacinths are unusually short and stout.
I have some good spikes, but they are slender, attenuated,
and disposed to droop. How is this ?" My answer is, they
have had at some period of their growth too much heat or
too little light ; either or a combination of both influences
would produce the elongation complained of Tulips,
Narcissi, and Crocuses, which are of a kindred nature with
Hyacinths, should be managed in the same way. All of
them may likewise be planted in beds or borders out-of-
doors, a few inches under the soil, in the month of Novem-
ber, when the Crocuses will flower in February, the
Hyacinths, Tulips, and Narcissi in March and April.

The next plant for consideration is the Lily of the
Valley. Although a native plant, abounding in the woods

Lecture on Spring Flowering Plants. 349

of many parts of Britain, it must not be supposed that it
could be suddenly drawn thence and produced in the
beautiful state in which it is exhibited at our flower
shows. This is a major variety, selected doubtless for
its size at some former period, and planted in rich soil,
where by gross feeding the plant has attained an unusual
development. The contents of these pots are prepared for
forcing in the following way : — Small pieces or crowns are
planted in beds in rich ground, and allowed to remain there
for three or four years till the whole bed becomes one mass
of roots thickly studded with flowering crowns. They are
cut out with the spade in small patches to suit the size of
the pots in which they are grown, and placed in the pots in
the autumn, when by subjecting them to different degrees
of heat a succession of flowers may be obtained through-
out the winter and spring. The plants are raised from
seed, which should be sown in June in pots filled with
equal parts of sand, loam, and peat. The seed should be
quite fresh to ensure germination, and requires to be raised
under glass. The plants will not usually flower until the
second spring, after which they should continue to increase
in size and beauty for many years. When the seedlings
lose their leaves, which they should not do till they are
about twelve months old, it is important that they be kept
in a dry state. Moisture when in a state of rest will
certainly injure and probably destroy them.

We come now to the Chinese Primula. This plant is
a native of China, whence it was introduced in 1820. It
is raised from seeds, which should be sown in the months
of May, June, and July successively, in pots filled with
light sandy soil, and kept under glass. When the seed-
lings have made their third or fourth leaf they should be
transplanted into small pots, giving each plant a separate
pot, and removing it at short interv^als into pots of larger
sizes. This plant does not dislike heat, but if much heat is
employed plenty of air should also be given or the colours
of the flowers will be washy and pale.

350 Lecture on Spring Flowering Plants.

There is a curious and interesting fact in the history
of plants which the Chinese Primula serves well to
illustrate. There is a tendency in most plants to vary
in form, size, and colour when transferred from their
natural or wild state and subjected to cultivation. The
type of the Chinese Primrose of to-day was pink or lilac,
and not more than one-fourth of the present size. By
culture, through the means of a rich soil and careful
attendance, the size has increased, and by watching for
even slight variations in form and colour, and selecting
such as the parents of future races, the change went
gradually on. A break, as it is termed, was at length
obtained — that is, a departure from the normal form. A
standard of excellence was set up, but it was found that
such, although occasionally realised, could not be retained.
It was found that seeds saved from the Red Primula would
sometimes produce both red and white flowered plants,
and seeds saved from White Primulas would do the same,
while the seedlings varied greatly in size, colour, and form.
The break was retained, but the result was uncertain.
The next step was to fix the alteration. Year after year
plants of the altered and more approved form, closely
resembling each other, were selected and placed apart,
and from these alone seeds were saved until the altered
form was fixed again — that is, seed saved from Red
Primulas produced, with almost unerring certainty, red-
flowered varieties ; seed saved from White Primulas white-
flowered varieties, both preserving the increased size,
altered forms, and clear decided colours of their immediate
progenitors.

Take another instance. There are before you plants of
the new Double Crimson Thorn. Strange as it may seem,
this is descended from the common Whitethorn or May
of our hedges. But this has not happened suddenly, but
by a gradation of changes. Most observers will doubtless
have noticed in our hedges that some of the plants produce
flowers of a pink tinge, though still with single flowers.

Lecture on Spring Flowering Plants. 351

This is the "break" previously explained, this was step
one. Some of the seedlings raised from these would
give flowers of a still deeper colour. This was step two
which we recognise in the single rose-coloured Thorn, a
variety found growing in a hedge at Geddington in
Northamptonshire. Some of the offspring of this w^ould
be of a still deeper colour — step three, the new scarlet
Thorn. A seedling or a sport from this or the original
May of our hedgerows would produce double flowers,
and here w^as step four, the double white or new
double pink Thorn. Now% I am not asserting that
all these steps are authentically recorded, but it is
well known to those who are practically engaged in
these matters that such is the rule of progress. But the
origin of this new double crimson Thorn we do know. It
is not a seedling, but what is called a sport from the Double
Pink Thorn, that is, a branch of the double pink produced
flowers of this deep and beautiful hue. The branch w^as
budded and grafted, and the young plants so obtained
produced flowers of the same vivid colour. In the same
way have been produced the many varieties of the Common
Hawthorn, one of the most notable, the Weeping Thorn,
having been selected from a bed of seedlings by General
Monkton ; the upright growing variety was selected from a
bed of seedlings by Mr Ronalds of Brentford. Now, it is
the same wath leaves as with flowers. Take the Pelar-
goniums before you. They are all originally produced
from green - leaved varieties, either from sports of
the branch, or later in their history from seeds of
the sports so fixed. The first variegated Pelargonium
originated by a branch of a green - leaved variety
producing variegated leaves. This branch was cultivated
till the habit became fixed. The seeds of these were saved
and sown, and a brood of young plants was produced,
retaining the variegation of the parent. The plants before
you, which are seedlings, show this tendency ; on some
there are both green and variegated leaves. Now, to fix

352 Lecture on Spring Flowering Plants.

either character is the problem. If we wish to retain the
green character we nip off all the variegated leaves ; if we
wish to retain the variegated character we nip off all the
green leaves from time to time as they appear, till the
plant produces leaves of one character only. It is the
same with the Aucubas. The green-leaved variety is the
normal form ; the variegated kinds are sports, either from
branches or from seeds. This is, in brief, the process that
has been worked out in all cultivated plants where leaves
or flowers show a wide divergence from the normal form.

The Camellia is a native of China, a country which has
supplied us with many of our richest horticultural treasures.
The type of our modern Camellias is a plant with small
single red flowers, in which the yellow stamens are
pleasingly conspicuous. There are now many hundred
double sorts, some few of which have been introduced at
various times from China, but the majority have been
raised from seed in Italy, France, Belgium, England, and
America. Most of the double Camellias are grafted on
the single red or type, which is found to strike easily from
cuttings placed in a cold pit in sandy soil in the autumn.
The grafting is usually performed late in summer, the stocks
chosen being two years old. The soil in which Camellias
appear to grow best is rough loamy peat with a plentiful
admixture of sand. The process of re-potting should take
place in summer, when the newgrowth is pretty well matured
and the flower-buds about the size of a French Bean. When
potting thorough drainage should be secured. Now,
although the plant is nearly hardy, successfully resisting
several degrees of frost, it is not well suited for the open
air in our climate on account of the cold and uncertainty
of the English spring. Spring is its season of growth,
and it then requires a high temperature to induce a vigor-
ous and well-matured growth. At this time, when bloom-
ing and growing, a plentiful supply of water should be
given, but at all other times, especially in autumn and
early winter, water should be given but sparingly. The

Lecture on Spring Flowering Plants. 353

premature decay and dropping of the flower-buds so
complained of in Camellias usually arises from too
dry a state of the roots at the season of grouch,
or too wet a state of the roots when the growth
is matured and the plant is in a state of com-
parative rest. So soon as the growth is matured it is
well to remove the plants from under glass, and to place
them on the north side of a wall or hedge where they
are protected from the mid-day sun. Camellias may
be planted out with advantage in the borders of con-
servatories, where they will attain the height of 20 or
30 feet, forming umbrageous trees of matchless beauty.

The chief points to look to in their cultivation, then,
are these : —

1. To secure thorough drainage in the soil.

2. To give heat and moisture during the periods of

flowering and growth.

3. To water sparingly from the time the growth is

completed till the flower buds are about the
size of a pea.

4. To secure the leaves from being blistered by the

sun. Green glass or Hartley's rough plate
glass is desirable for the Camellia house ; if
ordinary glass is used it should be slightly
white-washed in the month of March.

The subject will be continued next week.

[2fid April 1 867.]

In continuation of the remarks made last week, I shall
to-day endeavour to show the grounds of procedure and
the process of cultivation in the production of early
flowers.

The art of forcing, whether applied to fruits or flowers,

consists in changing their seasons, or in bringing them to

maturity at an earlier period than that at which they

blossom or ripen naturally out-of-doors. The art is by no

W

354 Lecture on Spring Flowering Plants.

means new. It was known to the Romans. Pliny tells us
that they used to obtain Roses at Rome before the
natural season by watering the plants with warm water
so soon as the buds were visible. The Romans in the
reign of Domitian had undoubtedly abundance of Roses
in winter. It is probable that the art of forcing was
borrowed from the Egyptians, and first practised at
Rome in the time of Martial, the famous epigrammatic
poet, who ridicules the Egyptians for still sending them
Roses when they had plenty of their own, and asks them
to send corn instead. Dr Deslongchamps relates, on the
authority of Seneca, that the Roman gardeners had at this
time found out the means of constructing hot-houses,
which they heated with tubes filled with hot water, and
thus induced Roses and Lilies to flower in December.
In dealing with this subject it seems desirable to show, in
the first place, the principles on which success depends,
and afterwards to describe the most important details of
cultivation.

The cultivator should never forget that a plant is
a living organism. There are the root, the stem and
branches, the leaves, the flowers, the fruit. The sap which
traverses all these parts is analogous to the blood in
animals. While the plant feeds principally by the roots,
and can receive food only in a fluid state, it feeds also by
the leaves, which breathe, digest, and perspire. The
leaves of plants perform functions analogous to those of the
lungs, digestive organs, and skin of animals. The roots of
a plant absorb moisture from the soil in which they grow.
This moisture or water containing various matters in
solution we call sap, which passes in a crude state through
the stem and branches to the leaves, where it undergoes
certain modifications. It is then returned into the general
circulation in an altered and matured condition, suitable
to the particular wants of the plant.

Further, plants have two periods of comparative rest,
arising from the alternations of day and night, summer

Lecture on Spring Flowering Plants. 355

and winter. The leaves decompose carbonic acid during
the day, liberating the oxygen, which they re-acquire
during the night. But winter is their longer and more
complete period of rest, although the roots are supposed to
be never wholly inactive except when frozen. Now this
state of rest, which is of vital importance to plants, may
be brought about equally by the agency of cold or
drought. Deciduous trees lose their leaves by the frost
on the approach of winter ; bulbous plants fall into a
dormant state by the drought of summer; and they equally
attain, although by different and opposite agencies, the
necessary state of rest. While it is possible to change the
seasons — which we do in forcing — without injury to the
plant, it is important not to annul or intrench too far on
any one of them. Spring, summer, autumn, and winter, if
changed as to date, must still be allowed to follow in
due succession, or the health of the plant cannot be
maintained,

I have judged these few remarks necessary in order
to render clear what is about to follow-. I shall not,
however, enlarge on these physiological questions, because
the lectures of Dr Masters, the first of which I was
fortunate enough to hear last Saturday, will no doubt
explain them with a skill and lucidity that I cannot
hope to reach.

I shall now pass on to consider certain principles in
the art of forcing, on the due observance and application
of which success depends. To elucidate my views I shall
take a single plant as an example, selecting for my pur-
pose the Rose. If a Rose is taken from the ground in the
autumn, before the natural period of rest has expired, and
suddenly thrust into the forcing-house where a high
temperature is maintained, growth will quickly re-com-
mence, and flowers follow in due course, but both leaves
and flowers will be feeble, and of indifferent quality. On
the contrary, had the plant been previously rested, both
leaves and flowers would have been fully developed.

356 Lecture on Spring Flowering Plants.

Hence it will be inferred that it is important to prepare
the plants — to grow them in pots one season before re-
quired for forcing — because in such condition they are
more under our control as regards the application of
moisture and heat ; we can rest them at pleasure, and
ensure a more regular growth and plentiful setting of
flower-buds.

In preparing Roses for forcing we draw them from the
ground in November, and place them in pots of various
sizes to suit the age and vigour of the plant.

We next plunge the pots in some sheltered spot in the
garden till the beginning of January, by which time fresh
rootlets will have formed, and the plants will be in a
condition to feed and grow. We now prune closely, and
place them in a pit or cool greenhouse, with the view of
slightly changing the seasons this first year. The mois-
ture and warmth of this house will induce an earlier
development of leaves, branches, and flowers than would
have taken place out of doors ; the flowers will probably
open in May.

Pruning is a very important branch of Rose culture.
The principal ends sought are threefold —

1. To maintain the plants in health and vigour.

2. To induce them to assume a form at once agree-

able to the eye and most suitable for the develop-
ment and display of the flowers.

3. To secure an abundance of fine flowers.

The Greeks were alive to the advantages arising from
the removal of some of the branches in Rose trees,
although, in the absence of a knowledge of first principles,
they took a curious method of accomplishing it. Theo-
phrastus, who lived about 300 years before the Christian
era, tells us they used to set fire to the Rose trees in
Greece, without which they would never flower. We are
elsewhere told that the extraordinary vigour and beauty
of some plants on which goats had been browsing first
gave the ancients the idea of pruning. We know by

Lecture on Spring Flowering Plants. 357

experience that if we leave a Rose tree unpruned for one
year it loses shape, and the flowers lose size, colour, and
consistency. If we leave it unpruned for two or three
years in succession, it rapidly degenerates. To this sub-
ject I shall recur by-and-by.

Disbudding, which may be considered an auxiliary to
pruning, is a practice which I value highly, and have
adopted for many years. A plant, if well fed, often pushes
forth new branches in such close proximity that as the
growth extends the branches crowd and stifle each other.
To prevent this — and here it should be remarked that a
few large vigorous leaves are more desirable than a
greater number of small leaves — we rub out and destroy
in an early stage of growth a portion of these incipient
branches, leaving such as have an outward tendency of
growth, and are placed at good distances from each other.

Now the flowering of these plants, if placed in a green-
house, will, as we have already said, take place in May.
So soon as the flowering is over they are gradually inured
to the temperature out of doors, whither they are shortly
conveyed. The second growth takes place out of doors,
and is again regulated by disbudding and the stopping of
any gross shoots. The plants being a month in advance
of Roses out-of-doors as to flowering and growth, may be
brought to rest a month earlier. Let us assume, then, that
it is the end of September and the plant is in a state of
rest. It should be our aim to keep it so for at least two
months. The best means of effecting this is to place it in
a house or shed where no heat is employed, keeping the
roots rather dry.

A word or two with regard to the forcing-house. It
should be constructed so as to secure as much light as
possible. The artificial spring which we create for our
plants does not secure for them the long and strong-
sunlight of their natural spring — it is the difference
between December and March, so that it is important
to secure all the light we can.

358 Lecture on Spring Flowering Plants.

As to the climate of the forcing-house, this is deserv-
ing of attentive consideration. If too dry it creates a drain
on the natural resources of the plants ; if too wet they
become gorged with moisture, and this probably is one
cause of mildew, I know not how to convey any precise
information as to the proper hygrometric state of the
atmosphere ; this is one of those points in gardening
which the practical man judges of by the appearance
of the leaves — tests by his own feelings when he enters
the house. The leaves should look firm, solid, and dark
green ; the climate should be soft, genial, and slightly
humid. The defect of climate, once ascertained, it is easy
to provide a remedy for ; if too dry, pour water on the
floor of the house, if too wet, admit air.

A knowledge of these facts and principles, then, is the
groundwork on which the intelligent cultivator proceeds
in the production of early flowers. He knows that if he
would accomplish any marked success before he forces a
plant he must rest it, and that to retain it in health he
must prune it, and approach as near as may be to those
conditions of air, light, moisture, and heat to which it is
subjected in its natural state.

I now proceed to the second part of my subject — to
describe the most important details of cultivation. Let
us assume that it is the month of December, and we have
at our disposal Roses which have been prepared as just
described, and which we wish to bring into full bloom in
March. We have a forcing-house into which we convey
them. The soil in the pots is saturated with water, and
we prepare for pruning. The Hybrid Perpetual and Tea-
Scented are the best Roses for forcing, but we must not
exclude the Moss Rose, which forces tolerably well, and is
of rare beauty. We prune the Hybrid Perpetual Roses
closely, the- Tea-Scented less, and the Moss least of all.
There is little fear of pruning either of the former out of
bloom, but the varieties of Moss Roses if pruned much
will produce leaves and branches only — no flowers !

Lecture on Spring Flowering Plants. 359

In illustration of these remarks, take the plants before
you. Here is a plant which was drawn from the ground
and potted last autumn. We are about to prune it. This,
be it remembered, is a plant in course of preparation for
forcing. Our first aim is to establish it in its new home;
we therefore prune closely, not thinking so much of flowers
in the present as looking for branches from which to obtain
flowers next year. Let us go forward three months, and
imagine that we see the same plant here in a more
advanced stage. It is true we have flowers here, but
that is due to a peculiarity in the variety. Most Roses
pruned as this was would have produced wood-shoots
rather than flower-shoots, as in this other example.

I must, in order to work out my illustration, ask of you
a little further exercise of the imagination. Imagine the
plants on the table to be twelve months older, and they
will be in this state. Now, as to pruning : If a Moss Rose
we should prune slightly, if a Tea-Scented Rose a little
more, if a Hybrid Perpetual closer still.

(Illustrations were here given of short, medium, and
long pruning by shortening the shoots of a pot Rose
according to each method.)

Our plants are in the forcing-house. The pruning
finished, we raise the temperature of the house to 50° by
day and 40° by night, and keep it about this mark for the
first fortnight. The plants should be syringed daily, in
the morning, and watered at various intervals as the soil
becomes dry. No fixed periods can be named for watering,
because the drying of the earth in the pots will depend
much on the amount of heat and sunlight. Usually once
a week, and seldom more than twice a week, will water be
required at this early period of growth. As the leaves
expand, the amount of heat may be increased to 60*^ or 65^
by day and 50° to 55° by night. We should now also
water our Roses more freely, and syringe twice instead of
once daily — morning and afternoon. It is January, and
although winter out of doors it is spring with them, and

360 Lecture on Spring Flowering Plants.

the nearer we can approach the climate of spring, minus
the night frosts, the greater amount of success we shall
attain. As we want a warm moist climate, we cannot
afford to give much air unless the weather be mild, and
then, even then, caution is necessary. When the leaves
become hard, which they do by February, more air may be
admitted, and towards the end of February, as the buds
show colour, the amount of air given may be still in-
creased. Throughout this period of growth (their spring)
a low night temperature should be maintained.

The Rose has many enemies. The aphis or green-fly
is one of the most formidable, and must be kept in check ;
the first aphis that is seen should be the signal for filling
the house with tobacco-smoke, which must be repeated
from time to time as they reappear.

Mildew is another annoyance to which Roses are
commonly liable. To maintain a healthy state of the
roots and leaves is the best preventive ; to dust the leaves
with sulphur the best remedy. I always keep in my Rose
houses a little machine called a " Sulphurator." If any
plant or branch is attacked by mildew, that plant or
branch is immediately syringed, and the machine brought
into use. The sulphur is driven against both the under
and upper sides of the moist leaves — the plant is indeed
enveloped in a cloud of sulphur — and the mildew is checked
or destroyed.

It is March, spring out of doors, but summer with our
Roses. The plants are free from mildew and aphis, the
leaves are clean, broadly developed, intense in the colour-
ing, and the gorgeous blossoms are ready to unfold. We
are here in full summer tide, although the Roses out of
doors are still in embryo. How shall we proceed to retain
these flowers in full beauty for as long a period as possible,
and yet develope the later and lingering buds. The tem-
perature of the house may be slightly lowered, and the
plants may be watered freely. Syringing may be discon-
tinued, or more sparingly applied. A slight shading —

Lecture on Spring Flowering Plants. 361

thin canvas is the best — should be drawn over the house,
which will materially aid in preserving the freshness of the
flowers.

By the end of May the plants may be removed from
the house and plunged in the ground out of doors to
complete their growth. If watered sparingly they will fall
early into a state of rest. In September they should be
re-potted, and will be ready for re-introduction to the
forcing-house in November or December following.

This, then, is the round of management by which these
Roses are produced, and so perfect has the art of forcing
become that the out-of-door Roses of June rarely excel
those which are produced in the forcing-house in early
spring.

One word more. We have been speaking of plants
growing in pots. But Roses may be planted out in the
borders of a greenhouse or conservatory. To such the
same principles of cultivation may be applied ; indeed,
the system of planting out has many advantages. I
should recommend all who are fond of Roses to adopt
that plan. By it they may have Roses during the whole
of the winter and spring months.

T

SPRING QARDENING.

\^'- Florist and Pomologist^' October 1868,^. 225.]

HE taste for spring gardening is rapidly spreading.
The stone has been cast upon smooth water, circle
succeeds circle, and will, doubtless, continue to do so, until
the movement is felt on every side, at wide distances from
the central motive power, Cliveden, Belvoir, and Hyde
Park have demonstrated to those who would see and read
and learn the perfect practicability of realising a beautiful
garden ablaze with flowers of every hue in the cheerless
months of March and April.

362 Spring Gardening.

The managers of these gardens are rightfully entitled
to be considered the pioneers of spring gardening ; by them
the ground has been cleared ; by them the plain path indi-
cated ; by others recognised and entered on. Henceforth
every good garden, when the family resides in the country
in spring time, must have its beds of evergreens and flowers
at that season, instead of the present bare unmeaning plots
of dull vapid earth. Flowers, at all times enjoyable, at all
times exhilarating, are doubly so in spring, from their
greater rarity, and from the bright contrast they present to
the desolation that reigns around.

An extraordinary summer like that of 1868 opens to
the active and observing mind many fresh avenues of
thought. The summer just past has been more favourable
to the March and April garden than to that of July and
August, as many a worker on light dry soils especially
knows to his cost. Such should not hesitate one moment
in seizing on this new idea, and in substituting for the dull
unsightly beds of earth, too prevalent alas ! in spring,
masses of bright and beautiful flowers.

Happily the task is neither difficult nor expensive ; the
plants used are frost-proof and cheap ; the labour is the
great item, and it would not be fair to represent that there
is not an increase under this head, but except where carried
out on a very extensive scale, spring gardening need not
entail any heavy additional cost even here.

In all spring gardening, bulbs must form an important
part of the material, and they indeed are not costly.
Hyacinths (red, white, and blue) may be bought at 21s.
the 100 ; Tulips (red, white, and yellow) at from 4s. to 12s.
per 100; and Crocuses (white, yellow, purple, striped) at
from IS. 6d. to 3s. per 100. Then there are Jonquils
(yellow), Snowdrops (white). Anemones (blue, white,
scarlet, and variegated), none of them beyond the reach of
moderate means, and numberless others calculated to
secure diversity and to combine in forming a pleasing and
harmonious whole.

Spring Gardening. 363

Of annuals and biennials to be sown in summer and
autumn, or purchased at a low price in the seedling state,
there is a rich and varied store. Of these, Lunaria or
Honesty (purple), Wallflower (three varieties, yellow, dark,
and brown), Silene (three varieties, white, pink, and red),
Myosotis (two varieties, blue and white), and Saponaria
calabrica (red), are among the most effective. There are
also Candytufts, Clarkias, Calliopsis, Collinsias, Erysimums,
Eschscholtzias, Gilias, Godetias, Leptosiphons, Limnan-
thes, Nemophilas, Venus' Looking-Glass, Virginian Stock,
&c., but these, according to my experience, do not succeed
after transplantation with that certainty which is necessary
to insure a complete and perfect garden. They are best
sown on the spot where they are required to bloom.

Spring-flowering perennials are also numerous and good.
Alyssum (yellow), Anemone nemorosa plena (white).
Anemone apennina (blue), Arabis alpina (white and varie-
gated), Aubretias, of sorts (lilac), Bellis or Daisies (white,
red, and rose), Hepaticas (red, white, and blue), Iberis
(white), Pansies (various). Phloxes (various). Primroses
(crimson, lilac, white, and yellow). Polyanthuses (various),
Alpine Auriculas (various), Saxifraga granulata plena
(white), these are a few only of the most showy perennials,
the number being almost without end.

In these brief remarks, intended to be merely sugges-
tive, the endeavour has been to bring into prominent view
a few of the best things only, but with these alone a rich,
massive, and perfect display of flowers may be had at small
cost in March and April. A more elaborate and beautiful
garden may be built up with rarer and more costly things,
not, however, to the exclusion of these, but in addition to
them, if the taste of the proprietor should pronounce this
to be desirable.

364 On the Camellia and its Culture.

LECTURE ON THE CAMELLIA AND ITS CULTURE.

\_Delivered at the Royal Horticultural Society's Meeting on the
i^th February 1 871].

" /^~^ IVE a dog an ill name, and hang him," is a
VJT proverb that is pretty generally known and under-
stood in every phase of English life. Now, I have to deal
to-day, so to speak, with a dog that has unfortunately
and in my opinion undeservedly, acquired an ill name,
and one object I have in view in taking up his case is to
endeavour to set him right with the public.

Those of us who have any knowledge of dog-nature
must be aware that if we keep a dog unduly shut up, or
feed him on unsuitable or insufficient diet, unless he be
of a very accommodating disposition he will most likely
manifest some signs of uneasiness or displeasure. Now,
animal nature and plant nature are much alike in this
respect. In dealing with the one as with the other, diet
and treatment are everything, and pet plants, like pet
animals, are sometimes neglected, sometimes ill-nurtured
by improper food, and sometimes fed or worried out of
health.

To drop metaphor, the Camellia japonica is a native
of China and Japan, and was introduced to this country
by Lord Petre about 1739. It was named in honour of
George Joseph Camellus, a Moravian Jesuit. Mr Fortune,
who has travelled both in China and Japan, has obligingly
given me the following account of the plant or tree in its
native countries : —

" I have met with the Camellia japonica growing as a
wild plant over a large tract of country in the central and
southern provinces of China, but its principal habitat lies
between the 20th and 30th degrees of north latitude.

" The early spring in the district alluded to is gene-
rally remarkably fine, and rather dry. From April to
J une the weather breaks, and becomes moist and showery.

On the Camellia and its Culture. 365

In the end of June and throughout July heavy rains and
frequent thunderstorms prevail. In August, September,
and October the weather is usually dry and fine The
south-west monsoon, which prevails during the summer
months, now changes to the north-east, and the weather
becomes variable during the latter part of the autumn and
winter. Those who know how to cultivate the Camellia
in Europe will see at once how well such a climate is
suited to its constitution. It has in its native home a
winter cold enough and dry enough to check vegetation
and to secure a period of rest ; an early and fine spring,
during which time the flowers bud forth into bloom ; a
moist atmosphere in the growing season ; and a dry and
warm summer and autumn to ripen the young shoots.

" I generally found the Camellia growing in woods,
where it was partially shaded from the sun by other trees,
and in these situations it often attained a height of from
30 to 40 feet. The wild plants have usually single or onl)-
semi-double flowers. The foliage of these trees is exceed-
ingly handsome — a dark glossy green. The double-
flowered kinds, which have been from time to time im-
ported to Europe, are garden varieties, and are only met
with in a cultivated state.

" There are several species of Camellia found in China,
but with one exception — namely, C. reticulata — none are
so handsome as C. japonica and its varieties, and of these
we in Europe have a more extensive and finer assortment
than the Chinese have themselves.

" In Japan the Camellia is also found in a wild state.
I met with it frequently in shady woods like those in
which I had seen it in China. In Japan Camellia
Sasanqua is used for ornamental hedges round the gardens
near Yeddo, the capital of the country. In November
these hedges are very beautiful, when the white and rose-
coloured varieties of the species are in full bloom."

The Camellias originally introduced by Lord Petre in
739 were killed by being kept in a hothouse — this was

2,66 On the Camellia and its Culture.

keeping the dog unduly shut up — and some years must
have elapsed before the plant was reintroduced, for it is
not found in the seventh edition of Miller's " Gardeners'
Dictionary," published in 1759. Abercrombie, however,
includes it in his list of hothouse plants given in the
"Garden Vade-Mecum," published in 1789. Several
beautiful varieties were introduced from China towards
the close of the last and at the beginning of the present
century, among them the Double White, the Double
Striped, Lady Hume's Blush, Fimbriata, and Imbricata ;
Reticulata, Cup of Beauty, and Princess Frederick William
were of later introduction. Others have been raised by
English, Continental, and American horticulturists. The
nurseries of Messrs Chandler of Vauxhall and Messrs
Loddiges of Hackney (both now abolished) produced
early in this century many beautiful new varieties, and
the late Mr Press of Hornsey and Mr Fielder of Enfield
added to the store.

Mr Chandler tells me that about the year 18 19, a season
very favourable for seeding, he saved about half a peck of
seeds from the variety known as Warratah, the flowers of
which had been fertilised with the pollen of the Double
Striped and other esteemed sorts. The seeds were sown
as soon as ripe, and vegetated in a few weeks, producing
several hundred plants. When two years old, and from 6
to 9 inches high, these seedlings were inarched on the
Single Red, and in two or three years they flowered.
From this crop were raised Chandlerii, Eximia, Elegans,
Florida, Aitonii, Rosa-sinensis, Corallina, Althceflora,
Woodsii, Insignis, Concinna, and others.

Mr Press appears to have been most successful with
the Anemone-flowered varieties, that is, those kinds which
have a cluster of small petals in the centre and a row of
large petals at the base of the flower. Of these. Eclipse,
Picturata, and Candidissima may be given as examples.
Mr Fielder's seedlings are more of the florist's type,
resembling the Old Double White in shape. Two of his

On the Camellia and its Culture. 367.

seedlings, Jubilee and Rubescens, raised some twenty-five
years ago, still rank among the best. Miniata, Lowii, and
Alexina were also raised by him. Mr Fielder tells me
that Miniata was raised from Sasanqua and Lepida, and
that he still considers Lepida, an old semi-double red
kind with large smooth thick petals, one of the best to
raise seedlings from. He further says that he has tried
numerous experiments with the view of raising seedlings
from Reticulata and Donckelarii, but has never succeeded
in doing so.

Although other English and Scotch gardeners have
been successful in introducing here and there a good
variety, the number of English raised sorts has not
recently been great. Judging by the names of the
novelties which are now reaching us, we may, I think,
reasonably assume that Italy is doing the best work in this
field at the present time.

In 1826 Chandler and Buckingham of Vauxhall
published " Camellia Britannica," a quarto volume with
eight plates, and in 1831 appeared "Illustrations and
Descriptions of the Camellia;," by Chandler and Booth, in
which some of the finest varieties then known were
figured and described. Shortly afterwards was published
a work on the same subject by the Messrs Baumann of
Bolwyller, and more recently a beautiful work by Mr
Ambroise Verschaffelt of Ghent appeared, the latter con-
taining innumerable and beautifully executed plates.

The Camellia is by nature a first-class town plant.
Some few years ago it was an object of special culture
both at Loddiges', at Hackney, and Chandlers', at Vaux-
hall. It was a great treat to lovers of flow^ers to visit
either of these establishments during the season of flower-
insf. I have seen both collections when at their best.
Chandlers' young plants always appeared to me the most
comely, but Loddiges' large plants were gorgeous beyond
description. They were planted out in a house some
30 or 40 feet high, and many of them were pressing

368 On the Camellia and its Culture.

against the glass at the top of the house. As you walked
beneath and gazed upon the broad, dark green massive
leaves, plentifully sprinkled with various coloured flowers,
blackbirds, thrushes, and smaller birds fluttered incess-
antly among the branches, where, with a keen sense to
comfort, they had built their nests in this splendid grove
of flowering trees. But all this, alasl has passed away,
and I know of nothing now in existence that can in
any way compare with it. We must turn our eyes in
another direction — to the improvement and multiplication
of varieties — if we would set up a claim to progress in this
branch of horticulture. Some of those old varieties are,
doubtless, surpassed by the recent introductions, if we
judge them by the symmetry of the individual flowers, and
where there were hundreds of Camellias in those days
there are thousands now. With this brief hrstorical sketch
I shall proceed to the more practical part of my subject.

Everybody acknowledges the Camellia japonica, or
Japan Rose, to be a beautiful plant, but many consider it
a difficult one to grow and preserve in good condition.
This impression derives support from the fact that we
often meet with plants which are misshapen and have a
meagre appearance, the flower buds sometimes dropping
off prematurely. If, however, the plants and varieties be
properly chosen, this need not be, except by default of the
cultivator. The Camellia may be grown and kept in
condition with as little trouble as the commonest of our
hardy plants. True, it requires special treatment, and I
shall proceed to lay before you the results of my experience
in cultivation under the following heads : —

1. Of Soils.

2. Of Climate.

3. Of Propagation.

4. Of General Culture.

And 1st, Of Soils. Camellias will grow very well in
either peat or loam, but it should not be poor peat or loam
— the dog will not thrive on insufficient diet. Chandlers
grew their plants in two parts loam and one part peat.

On the Camellia and its Culture. 369

Loddiges grew them in peat alone, in loam alone, and in a
mixture of both.

I have found Camellias grow more luxuriantly in loam
than in peat, but they flower more freely in a mixture of
both. Some people are accustomed to speak of loam and
peat as if these words possessed a precise and definite
signification, whereas, according to my experience, they
possess a very vague and indefinite one. There is rich
peat and hungry peat, sandy peat and fibrous peat, and
horribile dictii ! sour peat, which is usually gathered in low
wet places, and which every good gardener will studiously
avoid. Loams vary in a similar manner. The physical or
mechanical properties of the soil are of scarcely less
importance here than its chemical properties. We want a
soil that is open and porous, which it will certainly be if
sand and fibre abound in it.

The soil I prefer for the Camellia is composed of three
parts sandy loam and one part fibrous peat and leaf mould
in equal quantities. If sandy loam is not readily obtain-
able, light loam may be used with the addition of drift
sand. To this add a few small lumps of charcoal, and a
few pieces of crushed bones. Manure, however, I prefer,
given principally in a liquid state during the season of
flowering and growth only. These different materials
should be broken up and mixed together some months
before they are required for use, and be turned over
occasionally that the component parts ma}- become
thoroughly incorporated, and every part be subjected
to the mellowing influences of sun and air.

Secondly, of Climate. We have seen that the plants
first introduced were killed by being kept in hothouses ; it
is therefore amusing to find old Abercrombie including the
Camellia among hothouse plants fifty years later. The
fact is, the plant is nearly hardy in the climate of Britain,
and the less fire heat employed, except during the growing
season, the better. In the flowering season the flowers do
not expand kindly, and often fall speedily if placed in heat.

X

370 On the Camellia and its Culture.

In Devonshire, in many sheltered parts of the country, and
even in the neighbourhood of London, where the soil is
tolerably dry, the Camellia has been planted out both in
the open ground and against walls, where it has resisted
the frost of several successive winters. It must be told,
however, that some varieties are hardier in our climate
than others. One of the most skilful of American horti-
culturists has assured me that some kinds which usually
have a delicate and meagre appearance here are exceed-
ingly healthful and vigorous in the climate of New York.
We cannot count upon the Camellia as -a. flowering shrub,
only as an evergreen shrub out of doors in this country,
because the flowers produced under out-of-door culture
expand in spring, when they are often quickly spoiled by
the variable weather. In order to rejoice in all its beauties
we must then use glass structures. In winter and spring
it will suffer nothing, when under glass, from lO or 15°
of frost. Both Chandlers' and Loddiges' collections were
frequently frozen but never hurt.

When the flowering is over and the new growth com-
mences, say in March, a warmer climate than we usually
experience out-of-doors is desirable. A temperature of
60 to 70- by day and 50'' by night should be maintained
throughout the growing season, which we will assume to
be March, April, and May. The hygrometric state of the
air is not less important than its temperature at this
season. Mr Chandler attributes the dropping of the buds
to dryness of atmosphere and too much fire heat. What
gardeners call a moist air should be secured by syringing
the plants once or twice daily, copiously or lightly, during
the season of growth, according to the amount of sunshine
experienced. Soot water may be used with advantage in
syringing. A close dank atmosphere must be avoided by
the admission of more or less air from without, as the state
of the weather may permit. By the use of heat and mois-
ture at this season we seek to realise and combine a
vigorous growth with a full crop of flowers.

Ox THE Camellia and its Culture. 371

The health of the Camellia is much influenced by sun-
shine and shade. Some of the most remarkable specimens
for foliage I ever met with were planted by myself against
a west wall out of doors in my own neighbourhood, many
years ago, in a spot where the sun scarcely ever reached
them. Shade is necessary during the season of growth.
for without it few or many of the leaves, according to the
style of the house or the quality of the glass, will become
burnt or blistered. The flowers should also be shaded
when in bloom. When growth ceases, and the young
shoots become partly hardened and the next year's bloom
is set, the best climate is that out of doors. Remove the
plants from the house, say in June, to a north border, where
they get the morning sun only, leaving them there till the
middle of September, when they should be carried back
to the house before the soil becomes saturated with the
autumnal rains. These latter remarks, of course, apph-
only to plants in pots. But where the plants are in the
ground under glass, nearly the same effects of climate
may be secured by shading and giving air. In a few
words, I repeat the climate of England is very near to the
best that the Camellia can have. The plant should be
treated as a hardy evergreen with two slight exceptions —
we should hold in our hands, by means of glass structures,
the power of moderating a severe winter should it occur,
and the power of giving a slightly higher temperature
than that of our climate during the growing season in
spring.

I have often been asked, " How is it that Camellias
received from abroad, so vigorous and healthful in ap-
pearance when they arrive, almost invariably deteriorate
in this country.'" Some attribute it to climate, others
to soil. In my judgment it is due to the forcing system
they have previously been subjected to. These plants
are grown for too long a period in a hot, moist, shad}-
climate with the view of obtaining the largest possible
plants in the shortest possible time. The hue which

372 On the Camellia and its Culture.

captivates is not that of health but a hectic glow ; the
plants are really unsound, and it is no easy matter to
restore them to a sound state.

Thirdly, of Propagating. The Camellia is propagated
by cuttings, by grafting, by budding, and by inarching.
Propagation by cuttings is principally applied to the
species (the Single Red) on which the choicer varieties
are grafted, budded, or inarched. Many of the double
kinds root and grow well enough from cuttings, and are
grown largely in this manner in America ; but in this
country they appear to grow faster and thrive better
generally when grafted on the species. The young shoots
of the species when not over ripe, say in August, are cut
into pieces about two inches long and placed in pots of
sand and set in a close house or frame under glass, where
a gentle ground-heat is maintained until they are rooted
in the April following. They may then be placed each
in a separate pot and kept in the same house or frame
until they become established in the pots (September),
when they may be removed to pass the winter in a cold
pit. If heat be given during the growing season of the
second spring, these young plants, or stocks, as they are
technical!}^ called, will be ready for grafting in the follow-
ing autumn or spring.

Grafting is the method usually applied for increasing
the finer kinds of Camellias. In autumn or spring pieces
about 1 1 inches long, with two leaves on each, may be
cut off the plant which it is the intention to reproduce,
the lower end of these pieces should be pared flat on
one side, and the stems of the stocks being pared in a
similar manner, the two flat sides are then brought in
contact and bound together with cotton or bast. The
plants thus grafted should be kept in a close pit or house
for a few weeks, after which period they may be gradu-
ally inured to open air. In spring the dormant buds of
the scion or stranger plant may be allowed or encouraged
to vegetate, but those of the stock should be kept in

On the Camellia and its Culture. 373

check. When the adhesion is soHdified the ligature may
be withdrawn, the portion of the stock that has been left
till then may be cut away, and the stock or species is to
all intents converted into the variety we have laboured
to reproduce. The cultivation of these young plants is
henceforth the same as that of older plants.

Propagation by budding may be followed successfully,
but as I do not consider that mode so eligible as graft-
ing for the Camellia, I need not occupy your time b}-
entering upon it.

Propagation by inarching was much resorted to in
the olden times, and is a sure plan, and a capital one too,
if a few large plants instead of a greater number of small
ones are sought for. A good-sized branch of any favourite
variety may be united to the stem of any less valuable
kind in the same manner as in grafting, except that in
inarching the branch is not wholly detached until the
union is perfected. The two plants are set side by side,
a branch of the one is pared, laid, and bound on a pared
branch of the other, and when the union is complete (in
a few months) the two are separated, and the inarched
plant is treated subsequently as if it had been grafted.

Propagation by seed is principally used to obtain new
varieties. Stocks for grafting on are also raised in this
manner, but I prefer those raised from cuttings of the
species which is of a known hardy constitution, whereas
seedlings are apt to vary much in that respect. The seed
should be sown as soon as ripe, for if stowed away and
allowed to dry the shell or exterior coating becomes so
hard that the process of germination is retarded and the
chance of a crop lessened. Sow in pans in peat or light
sandy loam, covering with the same soil to the depth ol
1^ inches where there is artificial ground heat. Keep the
soil regularly moist. When the germ pushes through the
soil, constant shade is indispensable. The seed is often
long in vegetating — it has been known to lie dormant for
two years — and the seedlings will not usually bloom until

374 On thl Camellia and its Culture.

four or five years old. I can see no reason why Camellias
should not be raised from seed as extensively in England
as elsewhere ; it is merely a question of cost, and there is
certainly no finer field open to the experimentalist.

I now proceed to speak of Getieral Culture. A good
base to work upon in the cultivation of any particular
plant is furnished by ascertaining the precise conditions
under which it exists in its native habitats. We are not
bound to follow these conditions slavishly in all the details
of practice, but whatever the modifications we introduce
we should never lose sight of the natural life of the plant.
No doubt the best way to deal with the Camellia is to
plant it in a span-roofed house 30 or 40 feet high in
the highest part. The top lights of the house should
be moveable, and removed during June, July, and
August, and a light shading be made to take their place
during the day. If the lights cannot be removed, in
spring and summer a light shading of tiffany should be
run under the glass. Shading is essential during the
flowering season, and from the time the young leaves
expand. The soil should be effectively drained when the
beds are formed. A very slight heating power will suffice,
but we cannot altogether exclude this from our calcula-
tions.

But however desirable ground culture may be, the
Camellia must remain a pot plant for the many. The
chief points demanding attention under this head are —
re-potting, watering, and pruning.

Once a year at least, in August, every plant should be
turned out of its pot and thoroughly examined. If the
soil has worked into the rubble at the base of the pot or
tub in such manner as to impede the free egress of water,
remove the old rubble and substitute fresh. If any worms
are seen pull them out. Examine the ball of earth closely
to see that the water has in the past percolated every part
of it. If it has not, pierce the ball in various parts with an
iron pin in such a manner as not to injure the roots, and

On the CaiMellia and its Culture. 375

set it in a tub of water, leaving it there until thoroughly
soaked through. Plants that require larger pots or tubs,
of which we must judge by the quantity and condition of
the roots, may be at once transferred to such. The new
soil required to fill the outer circle of the larger pots
should be pressed down firmly with the fingers or a stick,
so that the outer circle of earth may be at once almost as
solid as the inner circle.

Watering is a point of the very first importance. It is
here that the dog is often starved, and, perhaps, as often
surfeited. The ill name he has acquired is, I believe, in
nine cases out of ten due to too much or too little water.
A copious supply should be given during the flowering
and growing seasons when real work is going on, but at
other times great caution is needed. I am favourable to
the practice of watering freely at long intervals as the
plant becomes dry, rather than to the common practice
of giving small doses at shorter intervals. The starved
appearance, the yellow sickly leaves often met with, if not
due to too poor a soil, are due to injudicious watering.
Rain or pond water should be used in preference to any
other, and water containing lime should be studiously
avoided. The practical hand can tell when a plant wants
water by rapping or lifting the pot, thus testing the condi-
tion of the soil by sound and weight ; but bv others,
whether water is required or not may be pretty accurately
judged of by the look of the plant, and by stirring the
surface of the soil.

Either too much or two little water during the season
of rest will cause the dropping of the flower buds before
expansion. These results, however, are not due to this
cause alone, but to any fault of cultivation that induces
debility. There are, too, some kinds which are naturally
or constitutionally liable to this defect, and others the
flowers of which expand with difificulty. The best advice
I can give with regard to such is to have nothing to do
with them, they are the surly dogs of the pack, and there

■}^y6 On the Camellia and its Culture.

are plenty in the pack of equal beauty and more accom-
modating disposition.

Pruning is an important operation, and should^ be
performed in spring just after the flowering season, but
before the new growth commences. If the plants have
been skilfully grown but little pruning is necessary, only
just as much as will keep them in shape. It is not
advisable to cut back into wood of more than one year's
growth, as the dormant eyes on old wood do not readily
push forth. They may, however, be stimulated to do so
by the agency of ground heat ; and under this head I
would allude to and condemn the barbarous practice of
cutting Camellia flowers with wood two years old adhering
to the flowers for the sake of obtaining a long stalk.
Scrubby, poverty-stricken, and misshapen plants are very
apt to result from this practice. It is well known that the
Camellia as a pot plant grows slowly, and like most
evergreens from temperate and cold climates it requires a
lengthened period of rest. The first six months of the
year are in this climate the natural period of flowering and
growth ; and during the second six months the plants
should be kept in a state of comparative rest. During the
season of growth we make the foliage and set the flowers ;
during the season of comparative rest we establish the
quality of the flowers.

What gardeners term " sporting " is a characteristic of
the Camellia. The Poeoniflora will often produce red and
white flowers on the same plant. Press's Eclipse usually
produces striped flowers, but occasionally a red or creamy-
white flower will appear. Many of the striped kinds will
also produce at times self-coloured flowers.

When removing the plants from the open-air in
September, the flower-buds, if too numerous, should in
part be removed.

The green fly occasionally attacks the Camellia, but
is easily disposed of by tobacco smoke. The scale is a
more troublesome though less common enemy. It may

On the Camellia and its Culture. 377

be removed by a brush. For the health as well as for the
appearance of the plants they should be kept clean, and
that useful domestic article known as soap is all that is
required for the purpose. Syringing with soap suds
occasionally is an excellent plan, and if the suds pass
to the roots it will benefit rather than injure them.

With regard to the best varieties of the Camellia,
opinions on this point will probably differ, according to
whether the individual flower or the general decorative
character of the plant is most valued. The Double White
combines these qualities, but there are others which
possess them singly. Many of the Anemone-flowered
varieties are among the most valuable for decorative
purposes, and they flower profusely and grow more
rapidly, ultimately forming large umbrageous trees. The
species known as reticulata is gorgeous as a conservatory
plant, but the florist would likely pronounce the flowers
loose and untidy in appearance.

In conclusion, permit me to reiterate the opinion that
the Camellia, far from deserving the ill name it has
acquired, far from being a difficult subject to deal with,
is one of the least expensive in its habits, and one of the
most tractable in its nature to be met with in the whole
range of flowering plants. But before venturing to deal
with it, it is only reasonable that we should ascertain its
nature and requirements. What can we expect if we
persist in keeping the dog unduly shut up or in feeding
him on unsuitable or insufficient diet ?

THE CAMELLIA.

[From " TAe Gardeners' Chronicle^' April \zth et seq. 1879,//. 461,
493, 524, 557, 593, 656, 687.]

THE Camellia derives its name from George Joseph
Kamel, or Camellus, a Moravian Jesuit. In the
Vegetable Kingdom, by Dr Lindley, the plant is placed in

378 The Camellia.

the Natural Order Ternstromiaceae (Theads), between the
genera Pyrenaria, Bliun, and Thea, Linn. It is there
remarked — "The different species and varieties of Camellia
japonica are the glory of gardeners." In the Linnaean
system it belongs to the class and order Monadelphia
Polyandria. The genus is thus described in Don's General
System of Gardening and Botany : — " Calyx imbricate,
surrounded by accessory bracteas or sepals. Stamens
monadelphous. Anthers elliptical, two-celled, bursting
lengthwise. Capsule furrowed, with a dessepiment in the
middle of each valve, separating from the free triquetrous
axis when ripe ; cells i — two seeded. Elegant evergreen
trees and shrubs, with coriaceous dark green shining leaves,
and large flowers resembling the Rose, of various hues."
In this work, published in 1831, the number of species
given is eight ; of varieties introduced from China, twenty-
six ; and of seedling varieties raised in the gardens of
Britain, fourteen.

In Paxton's Botanical Dictionary (edition 1849) seven
species only are enumerated and thus described : —

1. C. enryoides. — A greenhouse evergreen shrub, native
of China, producing white flowers in May. Introduced in
1824.

2. C. Jiybrida. — A greenhouse evergreen shrub, from
Liege.

3. C.japo7iica.— A greenhouse evergreen shrub, native of
China, producing red flowers in May. Introduced in 1739.

4. C. Kissi. — A greenhouse evergreen shrub, native of
China, producing white flowers in May. Introduced in
1823.

5. C. oleifera. — A greenhouse evergreen shrub, native
of China, producing white flowers in May. Introduced in
1819.

6. C. reticulata. — A greenhouse evergreen shrub, native
of China, producing red flowers in April. Introduced in
1824.

7. C. Sasanqua. — A greenhouse evergreen shrub, native

The Camellia. 379

of China, producing white flowers in Februar\-. Intro-
duced in iSi I.

There are also enumerated in the same work two
hundred varieties of C. japonica, three varieties of C.
Sasanqua — the plena alba (white), the plena rubra (red),
and the semi-plena (red).

The species of most interest from the decorative point
of view, C. japonica, is thus described — ''Leaves ovate,
acuminate, acutely serrated ; flowers axillary, sessile,
usually solitary ; ovary smooth. Native of Japan and
China."

The C. Sasanqua, although not introduced till 181 1,
is figured in A7i Historical Account of the Embassy to China,
by Sir George Staunton, Bart., published in 1797. The
writer says of it : — " The petals of this plant, called by the
Chinese cha-zchazv, or flower of tea, from their resemblance
to each other, and likewise the flowers of the Arabian
Jessamine, are sometimes mixed among the teas in order
to increase their flavour. The Camellia Sasanqua, which
grows upon the tops and sides of mountains, is assiduously
cultivated. It bears a nut from which is expressed an
edible oil equal to the best imported from Florence."

This species and its varieties, however interesting from
a botanical point of view, is now but little cultivated,
the varieties of C. japonica being more highly prized
by English amateurs and gardeners.

The History of the Camellia.

The Camellia japonica or Japan Rose, the species from
which nearly all of our more valued garden varieties are
descended is, as we have already seen, said to have been
introduced in 1739 ; but it is not mentioned in the 6th
edition of Miller's Gardeners Dictionary, published in
177 1. Notwithstanding this, I find it thus described in
A History of Plants, by John Hill, IM.D., published in
175 1 : — "Camellia. — The calyx is imbricated, and com-
posed of several leaves, the interior of which are the

380 The Camellia.

larger. It is an oriental, described by Kaempfer in his
Japan, 850."

In the Garden Vade Meaun, by John Abercrombie,
published in 1789, " Camellia japonica or Japan Rose," is
included in his list of both greenhouse and hothouse plants.
In the Practical Gardener, published in 18 1 7, and in the
2 1st edition o{ Every Man Jiis Otun Gardener, by the same
author (1818), one species (C. japonica) and seven varieties
only are enumerated. Loudon in the E?icycIop(£dia of
Gardening (1822) enumerates twenty-five varieties. In
the GreenJiouse Covipajiion (1824) are coloured plates of
two varieties, Waratah and Lady Hume's Blush, the
former of which is now superseded, but the latter is still
much sought after. It is there remarked, " New varieties
are continually originating by the nurserymen and other
growers from seeds. A number of hybrids are in an
advanced state but have not yet flowered."

The Camellia is frequently adverted to and figured in
the botanical and horticultural publications of this time,
and in the Transactions of the Horticultural Society, in a
paper read before the meeting December 5, 1809 (vol. i.,
p. 175), we find the following — "In October 1795, a
Camellia japonica was planted here (the South Hams of
Devonshire) among other shrubs in the open ground ; it
has stood every winter since without the smallest shelter,
thrives well, and has never had a branch or leaf injured by
the weather. It is now about 4 feet high, the size of a
Gooseberry bush, but has not flowered." Similar experi-
ments, which have been repeated frequently and in vari-
ous soils and situations, seem to prove that the plant is
nearly hardy in the climate of England, and may be
safely planted out-of-doors among other evergreens in
warm sheltered situations. But in thus treating it one
loses the beauty of the flowers, as owing to their being
produced in March and April, they are nearly always
spoiled by the spring frosts. We remember planting
out two varieties against a west wall in 1836, and these

The Camellia. 381

passed through the winter of 1837-8 uninjured although
there were 30'' of frost, and the Bays, Arbutus, and Laurels
standing in the open quarters only a kw yards distant were
killed to the ground. Mr Joseph Harrison (Trans. Hort.
Soc, vol. vii., p. 168) found the double white, the double
red, and the double striped grow satisfactorily out-of-doors
at Wortley Hall, Yorkshire, " planted in a brown loam on
a rocky substratum." He covered the soil to the extent
of 3 feet from the stem of each plant with 10 inches of
decayed leaves on the approach of winter, removing the
leaves in spring. In 1829 a paper on the Camellia, by
William Beattie Booth, was printed in the Tra7isactions of
the Horticultural Society (vol. vii., p. 519). In this paper
six species and twenty-three varieties are described, four of
the latter being figured, and it is there stated — " Of these
very ornamental plants the society has formed an extensive
collection, such as I may safeh' say is not surpassed at the
present time by any other in the kingdom." It appears that
the double white and double striped were introduced in 1792,
Lady Hume's Blush in 1806, fimbriata in 18 16, imbricata
and several other varieties in 1824.

Many of the varieties originally introduced are now
but little cultivated. Hardy plants of them may be met
with occasionally in the gardens of the nobility and old
English families, but some of the modern varieties raised
from them are more beautiful, and have been more
generally cultivated within the last forty years. Many
fine varieties have been raised in England, especially b}-
Mr Chandler, of Vauxhall ; Mr Press, of Hornsey ; and
Mr Fielder, of Enfield ; and France, Belgium, Italy, and
latterly America, have contributed largely to the improve-
ment of the flowers by selecting and preserving variations
by sports and by seed. In Loudon's Encyclopc^dia of
Plants (1829) eighteen garden varieties are enumerated,
and in Paxton's Botanical Dictionary (edition 1849), as we
have already mentioned, no fewer than 200 varieties are
given. At this date there were at least three establishments

382 The Camellia,

near London where the Camelh'a was extensively cultivated,
namely, those of Mr John Smith, Dalston; Messrs Chandler,
Vauxhall; and Messrs Loddiges, of Hackney. It was one
of our greatest treats of that day to see the Camellias at
Hackney when in flower in the early spring. They were
planted out in a large house, and many of the plants were
30 feet high, in splendid health and laden with blossoms. It
was a perfect forest of Camellias, tenanted with blackbirds,
thrushes, and other birds, which built their nests in the
trees, passing in and out at pleasure through the open
doors and windows. Probably there was never any floral
display equal to this in England before, and it may be
many years before we see the like again. Many of Messrs
Loddiges' large plants were, we believe, sold to the
Crystal Palace Company and removed to their palace
at Sydenham.

The Camellias of Messrs Lucombe, Pince & Co., of
Exeter, have obtained a world-wide celebrity, and are
worth going many miles to see. In nearly all the principal
srardens and nurseries few or many may be met with, but
we believe that as far as regards quantity and variety our
collection stands unrivalled at the present time.

The Floriculture of the Camellia.
It is interesting to trace the progress of the Camellia.
It is more than a century ago (1739) that the species C.
japonica, or single red, was introduced, but it was not till
early in the present century that the other species, with
several improved varieties, were imported. The beauty of
the plants naturally attracted the attention of the culti-
vator, and awakened in his mind the desire to increase the
number and variety of sorts. Probably the first step was
to sow the seeds indiscriminately, and to preserve such
kinds only as were considered different or more beautiful
than their prototypes. Artificial fertilisation was next
resorted to, and as the seedlings increased in number and
variety no doubt a standard of beauty was set up, to the

The Camellia. 383

attainment of which artificial fertilisation was directed.
In the Transactions of the Royal Horticultural Society, vol.
vii., p. 545 (1829), four Camellias are figured, which appear
to be all of the Anemone-flowered type. While not wish-
ing to disparage these we should judge that they were
selected from the botanist's rather than from the florist's
point of view. At that date, indeed (1829), the florist had
probably paid but little attention to this plant. Later on
we find, by the new varieties introduced, that the " double
white " was considered the more desirable type of flower ;
but even now it would be taking a very narrow view of the
value of this plant to exclude the Anemone-flowered kinds.
In our judgment the floriculture of the Camellia admits
of at least three types, which we shall describe, with the
view of guiding the cultivator in the improv^ement of
varieties : —

1. The Imbricated Form of Floiver. — Example, Double
White. The flowers here should be full, and the petals,
whether pointed or round, regularly arranged, thick,
smooth, and clear in colour.

2. The Anemone-floiuered — Example, Press' Eclipse.
The outer petals here should be large, thick, smooth, and
well rounded ; the centre being made up of a series of
small thickly-set petals, leaving a broad margin of the
outer petals.

3. The Large-petalled kinds. — Example, Consplcua.
The petals here should be few, but large, thick, and
smooth.

This is our idea of the three distinct types or strains of
flower that are open to development at the hands of the
florist. They all belong to C. japonica ; but if he choose
to extend the area for improvement he may set up
separate ideals for the other species, especially C. re-
ticulata and C. Sasanqua, but these do not at present
seem to present so fair a field for the exercise of his
ingenuity and skill, or to promise so remunerative a re-
turn for his labour.

384 The Camellia.

There are also already in existence some single and
semi-double varieties of C. japonica which are characterised
by the prodigious quantity of flowers they produce, and
there is room for improvement here by extending the
range and introducing intermediate tints of colour. The
cultivator who stands by hard and fast lines might pro-
bably look coldly on such kinds, but they have their
admirers, and they certainly are gorgeous objects from
the wonderful profusion of bloom they produce. The old
Corallina with its blood-red flowers, and Tricolor, white
flaked with crimson, are examples of these, and few of the
more exact flowers produce anything like the effect of
these, whether grown in pots or tubs, or planted out in
the conservatory.

In writing on the improvement of the Camellia by
raising seedlings from artificially-fertilised flowers, while
paying first and due regard to the shape, substance, and
colours of the flowers, it would be a great mistake to over-
look the constitution and habit of the plant. This is
unquestionably a point of vital importance, and the im-
prover who does not pay due regard to it only half does
his work. However beautiful a flower may be, if the habit
of the plant is inelegant or the constitution feeble, the
pleasure derived from its cultivation is considerably
lessened.

When fertilising artificially with the object of raising
improved varieties no flowers should be used except such
as are the most perfect of their kind, and on one side or
the other the habit should be comely, and the constitution
sound.

Proceeding upon these grounds, there opens before us
almost an unbounded field for the variation and ameliora-
tion of the Camellia. Former labourers have but broken
up the ground, and the rich harvest they have obtained
augurs well for the results of higher and more extended
cultivation. To particularise, there is the variety known as
Mathotiana, perhaps the finest in flower of all the crimsons,

The Camellia. 385

but the habit is unquestionably bad. Lady Hume's Blush,
although one of the oldest varieties, is still of unsurpassed
loveliness, but is generally, although not always, met with
in an unsatisfactory condition ; and even the old Double
White, which everybody grows, is open to improvement on
this ground — it is a long way behind Elegans, for example,
in constitution. Those who may engage in raising seed-
lings should seek to obtain a cross between such kinds
and others of good habit and better constitution. In the
present state of the Camellia we may conceive increase of
size and substance, higher models of form, an extension of
the range of colour, as well as improvement of habit and
constitution, and work for the realisation of our con-
ceptions. And in this labour Nature, though abounding
in vagaries, is on the whole working with us, or, to put
the matter more correctly, we are working with her, and
she often encourages us with unlooked for results, which at
once help forward our aims and surprise and delight us.

What florists call branch-sports are of frequent occur-
rence among Camellias, and this is a means of improve-
ment which should not be overlooked. It is not yet made
clear how these sports are produced, that is to say, it is not
within the gardener's power to produce them at will.
It would seem, however, that anything which leads the
plant out of its natural course — especially an excessively
vigorous growth — is favourable to their production. When
sports occur they should be scrupulously preserved by
inarching or grafting, a process which will be described
by-and-by.

The exactness of form of many varieties of Camellias
appeals strongly to the sympathies and taste of the
educated florist, and those who take more delight in colour
than in form will find here the most varying and delicate
shades of white, rose, crimson, &c., and the great substance
of the petals presents the eye with a charming solidity of
colour scarcely met with in any other group of cultivated
plants.

386 The Camellia.

General Remarks on Cultivation.

There is an opinion abroad, too prevalent and deeply
rooted we fear to be easily removed, that Camellias are
difficult to preserve in a healthy and flourishing state.
It must be admitted that they are often met with out of
condition, the plants scrubby, mis-shapen, bearing feeble
branches, yellow leaves, and flower-buds which expand
indifferently or drop off before expansion. These facts
we fear have done much to maintain the misconception,
or perhaps they are the foundation of the opinion, that
Camellias are difficult to grow. Having cultivated the
Camellia for many years, and possessing no less than
250 varieties, we may perhaps be allowed to say, without
laying ourselves open to a charge of presumption, that we
believe that while on the one hand no plant is more easily
managed, on the other hand no plant is so generally
mismanaged, or we might say so systematically ill-
treated.

Before proceeding further, let us propose half-a-dozen
questions, to which we will reply, and then pursue the
question of general cultivation.

1. Why are Camellias scrubby? — Answer, Because in
cutting off the flowers they are usually cut with long
stalks, and thus the eyes or wood-buds best stored with
food are cut away and the new growth thrown on to eyes
with a limited supply of food at their command. Or, as
another and wholly distinct cause, insufficient heat or
moisture is supplied during the period of growth.

2. Why are Camellias mis-shapen ? — Answer, Because
the trees are not pruned sufficiently, or are pruned at the
wrong season.

3. Why are Camellias so often seen bearing feeble
branches? — Answer, Because they are not sufficiently
nourished. This may be that they are grown in an
unsuitable soil ; it may be that too little moisture and
heat are given during the period of growth ; or it may

The Camellia. 387

be that the soil becomes soddened from insufficient drain-
age or too much water when the plants are not growing
or flowering.

4. Why are the leaves of Camellias yellow? — Answer,
Because grown in an unsuitable soil, or kept too dry
when flowering and growing, or too wet when in a state
of comparative rest.

5. Why do the flowers of Camellias expand indifferently ?
— Answer, It is with Camellias as with Roses, some kinds
— Valtavaredo, for example — are so full, or the petals are
so tightly folded, that the flowers will not expand fully in
our climate without the aid of heat. However healthy
and satisfactory the plants may otherwise be, such kinds
require more heat and moisture than is good for others
so soon as the buds show colour. But the same pheno-
menon is sometimes met with even in kinds not over
double. The cause, then, is unsuitability of soil, or too
much or too little water,

6. Why do the_ flowers drop off before expansion? —
Answer, This is natural to some kinds, of which the
Waratah is an example, and such kinds should be avoided.
In other cases the causes are similar to those which bring
about indifferent expansion, namely, bad soil and injudi-
cious management of watering.

In framing the above answers we have not overlooked
the fact that different phenomena may have their founda-
tion in one and the same cause. But we have put the
matter before our readers in this way in order that the}-
may find a direct and simple answer to questions which
are continually being put to us.

Before proceeding to discuss the cultivation of Camellias
in pots and Camellias planted out — each of which systems
will be followed under a separate heading — let us en-
deavour to give the reader a distinct conception of the
nature of the plant witli which he has to deal.

The Camellia is an evergreen shrub, a native of China
and Japan, and the nearer we can approach the climate of

388 The Camellia.

those countries in the respective seasons of growth and
rest, the more successful is our practice likely to be. The
plant is almost hardy in our climate. It loves the shade
and dislikes heat, except during the seasons of flowering
and growth, and even in the flowering season the flowers
are larger and last longer when opening in a cool tem-
perature. The young roots are fine, hair-like, and ex-
ceedingly numerous, requiring a light porous soil in which
to work and expand freely. From a cultural point of view
the Camellia may be associated with the Rhododendron,
not only thriving best in a similar soil (light fibrous loam
or peat), but requiring also in most points similar treat-
ment, with the addition of a glass structure from which the
frost is excluded to protect the flowers in winter and early
spring, at which period they naturally expand.

On Propagation.
The Camellia may be propagated in various ways. It
is grown from seed, principally with the view of obtaining
new varieties. The seed should be gathered as soon as
ripe, soaked in warm water for twenty-four hours, and sown
immediately afterwards in light fibrous loam or peat. If
sown in pans, covered with not less than an inch of soil,
and placed in a warm part of the greenhouse, it will pro-
bably vegetate in a few weeks, but it not unfrequently lies
in the ground for a year and a-half or even two years.
Care should be taken to keep the soil in an equable state
of moisture, and the cultivator here is more likely to err on
the side of giving too little water rather than too much
water ; the outer covering of the seed is very hard, and
heat and moisture are the agents by which we seek to
soften it to facilitate vegetation. When the seedlings are
rising they should be shaded constantly in sunny weather,
and when they have formed their third leaf they should be
carefully transferred into single pots with as much soil to
the roots as possible, and kept in the same temperature
and shaded as before.

The Camellia. 389

In a few months, when the growth stops and hardens,
they may be placed among other Camellias in pots, and
share in common with them the treatment which will be
advocated in our next paper. The blooming of seedlings
is often long deferred ; we have seen plants many years
old that had not given a single bloom. If the cultivator
wish for a speedy settlement of the value of his seedlings,
it is well to graft them on matured stocks as soon as he
can cut wood sufficiently strong for the purpose ; but this
process is expensive and unsatisfactory if applied exten-
sively, as he will probably by this practice propagate many
indifferent varieties.

The Camellia is also grown from cuttings. All kinds
do not succeed equally well in this way, and there is no
means of deciding this question except by actual experi-
ment. Consequently, the named varieties are usually
grafted on the species (C. japonica), or single red, which
is found to grow freely from cuttings.

Take pieces of the almost ripened wood in August or
September. Cut them into lengths of about 3 inches,
leaving two leaves to each cutting, and insert the cuttings
round the side of a 6-inch pot in a soil composed of sand
and peat. Plunge the pots in a cold pit, give one good
soaking in water, shade from the sun, and as winter
approaches protect them from frost. By the end of
February they should be removed to a close house and
placed on bottom-heat, where they will form roots in a
couple of months, when each rooted cutting may be trans-
ferred into a separate pot. These young plants should be
kept in a close house, syringed pretty freely, and shaded
until the new growth is finished and hardened, when they
also may be sent to join the general stock and subjected
to the general treatment.

Grafting is another means of propagating the Camellia,
and the means most generally resorted to. Take a two-
year-old plant of the species or single red which has been
obtained from seed or from cuttings, as above described.

390 The Camellia.

This is called the stock. Cut off the head to within an
inch of the ground level. Pare one side of the remaining
inch. Next seek a scion or graft — for these terms are
synonymous — pare the lower end so that it will lie on the
stock in such manner that the inner bark of the graft lies
exactly upon the inner bark of the stock. Bind the two
together with loosely-twisted cotton, and cover the point
of junction with tallow, wax, or grafting composition to
exclude air and moisture.

Grafting is usually performed in autumn, and that
season is considered the best, but it may be done at any
time between August and February. The stocks when
grafted should be placed in a close house with gentle heat,
or if a close house is not available, the desired conditions
may be obtained by the use of handlights.

About six weeks after grafting the graft will be found
united to the stock, not very firmly perhaps, but suffi-
ciently to admit of the loosening of the ligature. If the
ligature is wholly removed, it is, however, often necessary,
and always the safer plan, to retie with bast at the top
and bottom of the junction. Air may now be gradually
admitted, and after a time, say two months, these grafted
plants may be removed to join the general stock.

Inarching is an old-fashioned way of propagating the
Camellia, but it is still occasionally practised. It is
especially useful for converting large plants of indifferent
varieties into the handsome modern kinds. It may indeed
be considered as a species of grafting. The grafts instead
of being wholly cut off from the tree are laid on sideways,
while communication with the parent stem and root is
still maintained. This was for many years the favourite
method with nurserymen for propagating even small
plants of the finer sorts of Camellias. It was a very
safe plan, but both troublesome and tedious, and now
that grafting is so thoroughly understood that with skil-
ful propagators not one graft in a hundred fails, inarching
is practised only in exceptional cases.

The Camellia. 391

On the Growth of Camellias in Pots or Tubs.

It is only in large greenhouses or conservatories that
Camellias can be planted out with advantage ; the system
of growing them in pots and tubs is therefore more gene-
rally adopted. With this end in view the first thing to
provide is a good stock of suitable soil. It is not easy to
make plain in writing what that soil should be. The
terms loam and peat are very indefinite when brought to
the test of practical cultivation. We have found Camellias
do well in some sorts of loam (light, porous, and sandy)
with the addition of leaf-mould ; and we have found them
do well in peat alone that was sandy and rich in fibre and
decayed vegetable matter. Our present practice is to grow
them in a mixture of loam and peat, with the addition of
small quantities of leaf-mould and sand : — Six-twelfths
loam, three-twelfths peat, two-twelfths leaf-mould, and one-
twelfth sand. These materials should be collected and
mixed together twelve months before required for use.
The loam and peat should be chopped fine, but not sifted,
and after the whole is well mixed together the heap should
be turned over three or four times during the year that it
may be benefited both by the winter's frosts and the
summer's sun.

Camellias should be turned out of their pots or tubs
once a year to ascertain if the drainage is perfect, the roots
in a satisfactory state, and to see if any of the pots or tubs
are so full of roots that the plants require repotting with
more space. If larger pots are not wanted it may be well
to remove a portion of the bottom and top soil — so much
as can be taken away without causing a serious deprivation
of roots — replacing the old and washed soil with new ; and
here, as on all occasions when dealing with plants in pots
or tubs, taking care that thorough drainage is secured by
placing plenty of rubble in the bottom of the pots or tubs.

With regard to the season of repotting, some recom-
mend the month of March, just before the new growth

392 The Camellia.

commences, but we have found repotting at this season
unfavourable to the setting of flower-buds, resulting in
the formation of wood-shoots rather than flower-shoots.
It is our practice to repot early in September, when the
flower-buds are set and sufficiently hard not to be
injuriously affected by the process. At that season the
plants are or should be out-of-doors, under a north wall or
fence, and here they may remain for a month (early in
October), when they may be conveyed to their winter
quarters under glass. It is important when repotting or
transferring a plant from a small pot to a larger one to ram
the new soil firmly around the old, in order that the new-
soil may approach the old in solidity, for if only loosely
pressed the water at all subsequent periods will pass
through the loose soil alone, leaving the old or central soil
untouched. Although we have not given this in our
answers to questions on the unsatisfactory state of
Camellias as a cause, we are not sure that some of the
annoyances cultivators are subject to may not be attributed
to the looseness of the outer circle of the soil in plants
which have been repotted.

Let us assume, then, that the plants have been
examined as to the state of their roots and are placed in
their winter quarters. Whether they have a house to
themselves, which is desirable, or a house in common with
other plants, we proceed to follow up the treatment favour-
able to their development. Throughout the autumn and
winter months abundance of air should be given night and
day except in frosty weather, only so much heat being
maintained as shall exclude frost. The house should be
kept scrupulously clean, and the plants should be looked
over, with water-pot in hand, every second day, that they
may not suffer from drought, but of course only such as
are dry should be watered. A moderately moist state of
the soil is desirable till the plants begin to flower, when an
increased supply of water should be given in the shape of
weak liquid manure. It is probable that without forcing

The Camellia. 393

a few of the early flowering sorts and forward plants
will begin to flower in December. From this time the
flowers will increase in quantity up to the middle of
March, and decrease henceforth till the beginning of
April, when the flowering will be over and the plants
begin to grow.

When growth commences, heat and moisture should be
increased, but the increase should be by opening the house
late and closing early, rather than by the use of strong fire-
heat. Not only should an abundance of water be given
to the roots during the period of growth, but the plants
should be syringed freely both morning and evening.
When growth ceases, more air may be gradually given to
harden the newly formed shoots till all possible air is
admitted night and day by the middle of June, when the
plants may be removed to the north or shady side of
a wall or hedge, there to spend the months of July,
August, and September. When the plants are in flower,
as also when growing, a slight shade is desirable, in
the former case to protect and prolong the flowering,
and in the latter to prevent the young leaves from being
blistered by the sun. To this end tiffany or scrim fixed
inside the house answers perfectly, and a good substitute
for these may be found in painting the glass inside with
milk.

The proper watering of the Camellia is a cardinal point
in its successful cultivation, and here we meet with one of
those points which the practical man knows well how to
deal with, but which it is extremely difficult to convey to
the uninitiated by writing. The most we can do is to say,
water freely with weak liquid manure during the flowering
and growing season, from January to May, and be careful
not to give too much water during the season of compara-
tive rest, from June to January. Still, during this latter
period, the soil must not be allowed to become what
gardeners term dry, or foliage and flowers will alike
suffer.

394 The Camellia.

When the plants are removed from the house to be
placed out-of-doors, the smaller sizes may be tied out, and
the branches of the larger ones drawn into such- positions
as may seem desirable, by drawing them downwards or
side-ways, fastening the ligatures of bast to the strong side
branches or the main stem. We do not advocate much
tying for either small or large plants, but a stick here and
there, and the occasional drawing aside of a branch may
be done in such manner that the contour of the plant is
improved, without introducing an objectionable formality.

Pruning.

With regard to pruning, there is a diversity of opinion
as to the season at which it may be performed with the
greatest advantage. So long as the plants retain their
health and symmetry it is unnecessary to prune them at
all ; but if they lose it, this is one means by v/hich either
may be restored. September is in our opinion the best
month for pruning ; if done at that season the dormant
eyes to which we are looking for the formation of new
growth become well stored with food by the time the new
growth commences, and stronger and sounder shoots are
the results. But then by pruning in September you may
have to cut away the flower-buds and thus the season's
bloom is sacrificed. If the flowers cannot be spared, prune
in March immediately after the flowering is over, before
the new growth commences. It is best, if possible, to
restrict the pruning to wood of the previous year's growth,
as it is often difficult to induce the eyes to push into shoots
from old wood.

Camellias have their enemies in the shape of aphis, bug,
and scale. Aphis may be kept under by the use of
tobacco-smoke, and bug and scale may be destroyed by
brushing the parts where they post themselves with
paraffin. Cleanliness in all operations here is a preventive
which pays well in the long run, and no serious injury is
likely to occur when it is properly attended to.

The Camellia. 395

On the Planting-out and Cultivation of
Camellias in the Conservatory.

Perhaps we may say without fear of contradiction that
the Camellia is the handsomest of conservatory plants.
The finest examples in this county (Hertfordshire) with
which we are acquainted are at High Leigh, near Brox-
bourne, the seat of R. Barclay, Esq. A short time ago
we made a visit, in March, to see these Camellias. The
trees are all planted-out in the conservatory, and although
the time for catching them at their best was already
gone we saw enough to form an opinion as to their
appearance when at the height of their splendour, and
the extreme vigour and healthy aspect of their foliage
spoke volumes for the skill of Mr Dover, who has charge
of them. Some of the best plants may be enumerated as
follows: — Lady Hume's Blush, 15 feet high by 12 feet
through, thought to be possibly the finest plant of this
variety in the country; alba plena, 17 feet high by 12
feet through ; elegans, 20 feet high by 10 feet through,
the flowers were still lingering here in quantity, and com-
bined with the naturally effective foliage of this variety,
rendered especially so by good cultivation, presented a
sight of grandeur seldom surpassed in the plant world ;
La Innocenza, 12 feet high by 12 feet through, a fine
white Camellia, second only to alba plena.

The collection, which comprises, we think, eight plants,
also includes two fine plants of the variety Variegata (one
of them 18 feet by 10 feet), and alba plena 12 feet by
12 feet, which carried this year 3000 buds, two-thirds of
which were thinned out before flowering time, leaving the
tree to carry looo blooms. In the previous year 600
blooms were cut off this plant one morning. The plant
of elegans above alluded to was estimated to have between
3000 and 4000 buds, of which about lOOO were left to be
developed into flowers. Mr Dover appears to have no
secrets in their cultivation ; he considers soot and cow-

396 The Camellia.

dung in solution to be the best of manures, and agrees
thoroughly with the idea that watering Camellias is a
most important and critical matter. Pruning he does
about the end of March or early in April, before there is
much young growth, and he does not scruple to cut back
heavily when the symmetry of the plants or other causes
require it. He has proved that Camellias, when operated
upon at the proper season, will take the knife as freely
almost as the common Laurel. One of these gigantic
plants had been removed from one part of the conserva-
tory to another about a fortnight before our visit, Mr
Dover judging that as he did not care whether it flowered or
not the next season it would remove then with greater safety
and more favourably for a good growth than at any other
time. It must be said, however, to be an experiment,
and we trust one that will answer. These trees are all
pyramidal in shape and most beautifully filled in and
trained so that not a leaf is out of its place, the whole
forming a dense even unbroken surface of the deepest green.
When planted out in the conservatory, whether for
forming pyramids in the beds or borders, or for training
against the walls, the Camellia is generally but one of
a series of plants whose wants have to be studied and
supplied. As, however, all the plants likely to be placed
there flourish most in a well-drained soil, it is important to
secure thorough drainage at the outset. In preparing for
planting, the soil should be excavated from the beds
and borders to the depth of 3 feet, and if the surrounding
soil or subsoil be wet, pipes should be led from the bottom
to communicate with the drains outside. Six inches at
the bottom should be filled up with old bricks, rubble, or
coarse gravel, over which a layer of turf should be neatly
and firmly laid to prevent the fine particles of soil from
working into the interstices of the drainage. Now it
is almost certain that the different plants chosen for the
conservatory will require difterent soils, and to meet this
want is a point of practical importance. First mark out

The Camellia.

397

the position of each plant, and then pack the soil in
squares of about 3 feet of a suitable nature to each. We
have already described the soil we consider best for
Camellias when treating of pot plants, and the same
materials may be used here, but in a coarser state. Plants
of large size should be planted, and when transferring
them from the pots or tubs into the ground it will be well
to disentangle and spread the outside roots, working
a portion of the finer soil amongst them. The soil should
be trodden firmly around the old ball of earth, and when
the plants are fairly set the earth should be thoroughly
soaked with water from a fine rose watering-pot. Septem-
ber is perhaps the best month for planting, but it may be
done at any time excepting when the new growth is in
course of development. If planted in September and once
well watered, little further watering will be required till
the flowers begin to expand, although a daily s}'ringing of
the leaves for the first fortnight afterwards will be likely to
prove serviceable. A slight shading here, as elsewhere, is
desirable during the periods of flowering and growing, but
as other plants in the house may not require this, the
Camellia should be attended to individually. Warmth and
syringing are also required from the time the new growth
commences till it begins to harden, in order to secure
a full crop of flowers the succeeding year. The buds once
set an abundance of air should be given and partial shade
still maintained. The season of flowering will depend
much on the temperature of the house. As the conserva-
tory is usually managed they will appear in gradual
succession from December to March.

The Camellia is a capital wall-plant, thriving well
planted out in shaded situations with little light, either in
the greenhouse or conservatory.

On Forcing.

Although the natural blooming season of the cultivated
varieties of the Camellia is February, March, and April,

398 The Camellia.

there is no reason why a good show of flowers should not
be secured in the months of October, November, Decem-
ber, and January. This is brought to pass by forcing. If
when housing the plants in September or October a given
number be placed in the forcing-house, the flower-buds
will gradually unfold and in succession throughout the late
autumn and early winter months.

It is well not to apply too much heat in the first
instance or the first year that the plants are forced. Let
it also be borne in mind that here especially increased
heat should be accompanied by increased moisture both at
root and top.

A temperature commencing with 55° by day and 45°
by night, which may be slightly and gradually increased as
the flower-buds advance in growth, will be found to suit
them very well. When the plants have been forced two
or three years in succession 60^ by day and 50° by night
as a starting point will do no harm, and of course then the
period of flowering will be accelerated.

But Camellias, like all other plants, should be prepared
for forcing. By applying moisture and warmth in January
and February an early growth will be induced, and this
will be followed by an early ripening of the wood. Plants,
like animals, must have their periods of rest if sound health
and longevity are to be secured. If Camellias are made to
grow in January and February they will set their flower-
buds in April and May, rest in June, July, and August,
and be ready to work out their flowering in autumn and
winter.

Of course, forced Camellias must not be turned out-of-
doors till all danger from spring frosts is over, as by
forcing they become somewhat tender, and the young
leaves, even if fairly ripened, are liable to be disfigured
by frost. When the growth is finished and the buds set,
it is well to keep them in a cool house till the month of
June, when they may be conveyed to the north side of a
wall or fence, as previously recommended.

The Camellia. 399

From the above remarks it will be seen that CamelHas,
when systematic forcing is added to the usual routine of
culture, may be had in bloom for seven months in the
year at the seasons when flowers out-of-doors are rarest
and can indeed hardly be reckoned on for the purposes of
indoor decoration.

It may be well to remark here that Camellias, which
are always disposed to vary much in colour under the
varying systems of cultivation, are usually a trifle paler
when forced to bloom in mid-winter than when flowering
under the stronger and more abundant sunlight of March
and April.

On the Renovation of Debilitated and
Unsightly Plants.

How often we meet with Camellias, both large and
small plants, in what a good cultivator would call a
"deplorable state." Bare of branches at their base, the
old wood barren, and the new growth weak — the leaves
small in size and sickly in appearance — we look at them
with aversion rather than with delight. The}' are em-
bodiments of ugliness and weakness instead of personifi-
cations of health and beauty.

The cause of this we have already stated (p. 386) — we
have now to seek the remedy.

A free use of the knife in pruning, heat, and moisture,
are the means by which plants in this condition may be
restored to health and beauty. Take them in hand in
September. Turn them out of their pots or tubs, and
make sure that the ball of earth is moist all through, and
drainage satisfactory. It is no uncommon thing with
Camellias that have been for many years in pots or tubs
to find the centre of the ball of earth in which they grow
so hard and dry as to be almost imperx'ious to moisture.
This is a most unsatisfactory state of things. Plants in
pots and tubs have but a limited area of soil from which
to draw the food supplied through the roots, and a great

400 The Camellia.

part of this has become as sterile as the sand of Sahara.
The practised hand will know by the weight of the ball
of earth how far this state of things exists, but we know of
no rule by which the inexperienced can arrive at correct
conclusions. If any doubt exists, the safest way with
him is to get an iron pin about the size of a crow-quill and
pierce the balls through both perpendicularly and horizon-
tally, then place them entirely under water, in tubs or
in a pond, and leave them to soak for six hours. By this
means the whole mass will be saturated and not likely to
become dry again at the centre if watering be henceforth
properly attended to. When the plants are put back in
the pots or tubs see that perfect drainage is secured, and
press the soil firmly at the top so that it may be equally
solid from the centre outwards towards the circumference.
Now thin out and cut back the branches freely, leaving
the plants mere stumps in appearance, but taking care to
leave a few shoots or leaves to keep up the action between
roots and branches. Next place them in a house, and on
the turn of Christmas apply heat and moisture, and if
bottom-heat can be given it is a point in their favour,
although this latter condition is not absolutely indispens-
able. A temperature of 60° by day and 50° by night may
be maintained, and the syringe should be used freely
morning and evening. About March the new growth will
commence. Here and there a solitary eye will start into
life, and in some places along the bare stems where no
sign of life was previously seen clusters of eyes will rise
into being. Now is the time to refashion the plants.
Estimate the number of shoots required and mark out the
positions they should occupy, rubbing out the surplusage.
As growth proceeds and the leaves acquire some size weak
liquid manure should be given. From this time forward
these plants require the same treatment as that already
described for Camellias established in pots. Debilitated
and unsightly plants may sometimes be restored in a
single year, but it sometimes requires two or three years,

The Camellia. 401

much depending on the age and condition of the plant,
and beyond this, certain varieties break more freely than
others, and are consequently more easily renovated.

We believe that pruning both of healthy and unhealthy
plants might be entirely dispensed with if the practice of
rubbing out the supernumerary or ill-placed eyes (dis-
budding) was more freely resorted to in the earliest stages
of the new growth.

Descriptive List of the Best Varieties for
Various Purposes.

It always appears to us a most difficult matter to
give lists of the best of anything unless one knows the
circumstances under which they are to be grown, or the
precise objects the cultivator has in view. With regard
to Camellias, some value them for the symmetry and
beauty of the flower where even the ideal of beauty is
not always the same; some value more highly the habit
of the plant; some, where the glass structures are small,
ignore altogether plants of rampant growth; and others,
where there are large conservatories, require such to
furnish them. With the view of meeting all requirements,
I shall arrange the varieties in three groups : —

1. Exact or symmetrical flowers, selected to meet the
florist's taste.

2. Free-flowering varieties, which produce the finest
effect viewed eti masse.

3. Large-growing varieties, suited only for conser-
vatories.

I . Exact or Sytmnetrtcal Flotvers, selected to meet the
Florists Taste.

1. Adelina Benvenuti. — Flowers flesh-colour; flaked and
dotted with crimson, large, full, flat, imbricated; petals
pointed, even and regular; foliage and habit fine.

2. Adriana. — Flowers rosy-crimson, broadly striped
z

402 The Camellia.

with white, medium size, full, reflexed; petals round; foH-
age and habit good.

3. Alba Casoreti. — Flowers pure white, large, pale, flat ;
petals round, imbricated, even and regularly arranged;
foliage and habit good.

4. Alba plefia {the old Double W/izle). — Flowers pure
white, large, full; petals round, evenly and regularly
arranged; form perfect.

5. Amabilis. — Flowers pink, shading through flesh-
colour to white at the edges, sometimes veined with red,
large, full, and imbricated.

6. Aiiguste Delfosse. — Flowers deep bright crimson
striped with white, large, full; petals somewhat pointed,
evenly and regularly arranged; foliage and habit good;
very distinct.

7. Augustina superba. — Flowers bright pink, large, full,
cupped ; petals round, evenly and regularly arranged ; habit
good; a striking and fine variety.

8. Baro7i de Vriere. — Flowers pink or peach-colour,
with a white band down the centre of each ; petals of
medium size, full, flat, and imbricated; foliage and habit
fine.

9. Beauty Siipreme. — Flowers rosy-pink, faintly dashed
with white, of medium size, full, cupped ; foliage and habit
good.

10. Bella dArdiglione. — Flowers rose-colour changing
to purple or slate, occasionally striped with white, large,
full, imbricated, reflexed in the later stages of the flower.

11. Belle Jeannette. — Flowers crimson, tipped and
striped with white, large, full, cupped ; petals round ;
foliage very fine.

12. Benneyii. — Flowers rosy-red, slightly striped with
white, of medium size, imbricated, full ; petals round, even
and regular ; foliage and habit very fine.

13. Bicolor de la Reine. — Flowers clear blush-pink,
large, full, imbricated ; petals good and evenly arranged ;
foliage and habit good.

The Camellia, " 403

14. Bonomiana. — Flowers white, dotted and flaked with
rosy-crimson, large, full, flattish ; petals slightly pointed,
evenly and regularly arranged ; habit good, foliage small,
very free.

15. Centifolia carnea. — Flowers blush-white, sometimes
slightly dashed with rose, large, full, flat, imbricated ; petals
pointed; foliage and habit good.

16. C. H. Hovey. — Flowers dark velvety-crimson ; petals
round and symmetrical, imbricated ; habit vigorous, foliage
rich and ample.

17. C. M. Hovey. — Flowers scarlet crimson, large and
regular in outline ; petals finely formed and of great sub-
stance ; growth vigorous, habit fine.

18. Conite Boutourlin. — Flowers rosy-crimson, bright,
clear, large, and with finely rounded petals ; a noble flower;
foliage and habit fine.

19. Conitesse d'Hainhmit. — Flowers rosy-peach, shad-
ing oflf to white at the edges, large, full, flat.

20. Conitesse Woronzojf. — Flowers rosy-flesh, suffused
and veined with delicate pink, colour very lovely, full, flat;
petals round, imbricated,

21. Coradino. — Flowers rosy-crimson, large, full, and
flattish ; petals pointed, imbricated, very even and regular;
foliage and habit good ; a splendid flower,

22. Countess of Orkney. — Flowers white, often flaked
with crimson, of medium size, full, cupped ; petals bilobate,
even and regular ; foliage and habit good.

23. Cup of Beauty. — Flowers blush-white, slightly flaked
with crimson, large, full, cupped ; petals slightly incurved
in the early stages of the flower, round, even and regular ;
foliage fine.

24. Dante. — Flowers white, occasionally faintly striped
with pink, large, full, and of exquisite form.

25. DucJiesse d' Orleans. — Flowers flesh-colour, nicely
flaked with crimson, of medium size, full ; petals long and
rounded ; foliage and habit good.

26. Eughie Massena. — Flowers rosy-blush, shading off

404 The Camellia.

to white at the circumference of the flower, large, full ;
petals round and regularly set ; foliage good.

27. Exiniia. — Flowers deep transparent crimson, large,
full, cupped ; petals often toothed, but even and regular ;
foliage good.

28. Fanny Sanchioli. — Flowers milk-white, sometimes
partly pink ; petals round, imbricated, even and regular ;
foliage and habit good.

29. Fatinia. — Flowers soft rosy - cerise, large, full,
flattish ; petals round, even and regularly set ; colour
pleasing, foliage good.

30. Fimbriata. — Flowers white, large, full, flattish ; the
edges of the petals finely serrated, evenly and regularly
arranged.

31. Guillaiime III. — Flowers bright rosy-red; petals
round, even, and regular ; foliage and habit good.

32. Halleyi. — Flowers red, sometimes striped with white,
large, full, flat ; petals pointed, imbricated, even, and regu-
lar ; foliage and habit good.

33. Henri Favre. — Flowers bright rosy -pink, of medium
size, full, flattish ; petals rounded, even, and regular ; foliage
and habit good ; a beautiful shade of colour.

34. // 22 Marco. — Flowers fine bright red, with a band
of white running down the centre of each petal ; foliage
and habit good.

35. Innocenaa. — Flowers pure white, large, full, flat,
imbricated ; petals pointed ; foliage and habit good,

36. Jardin d'Hiver. — Flowers blood-crimson, large, full,
flattish ; petals somewhat pointed, even and regular ;
growth very free, foliage and habit fine.

37. Jeffersoni. — Flowers fine red, with a band of white
down the centre of each petal, large, full ; petals roundish,
imbricated, and perfectly arranged ; foliage and habit
good.

38. Jenny Lind. — Flowers white, sometimes slightly
tinted with lake, of medium size, full, cupped ; petals
round, even, and regular ; foliage and habit good.

The Camellia. 405

39. Jubilee. — Flowers flesh-colour, strewed with fine
rosy dots, and occasionally flaked with rose, large, full
and flattish ; petals somewhat pointed, even, and regular ;
foliage and habit good.

40. La Reine. — Flowers sometimes white, sometimes
blush, edged with white ; a most beautiful flower in either
state.

41. L'Avenir. — Flowers delicate rosy -pink, slightly
striped with white, large, full, flattish ; petals pointed,
imbricated, even, regular ; colours very beautiful.

42. Lady Humes Blush. — Flowers blush, lovely and
distinct in colour, of medium size, full ; petals pointed,
imbricated, and perfectly arranged ; form fine.

43. Lavinia Maggi. — Flowers pure white, flaked and
spotted with carnation, large, full, cupped ; petals pointed,
even and regular ; foliage and habit good ; a striking and
effective variety.

44. ULn7iaspettata. — Flowers rosy - red, sometimes
striped with white, of medium size, full ; petals round ;
foliage and habit good,

45. L Lnsubria. — Flowers deep clear red, faintly striped
with white, large, full, flat, imbricated ; petals rounded ;
foliage and habit good.

46. Ljicrezia Gazzarini. — Flowers fine rose, banded
with white, large, full, flat, imbricated ; petals round ;
foliage and habit fine.

47. Madame A. VerscJuiffelt. — Flowers white, shaded
with blush, flaked and spotted with red ; petals very
numerous, and closely and elegantly arranged ; a beautiful
variety.

48. Madame Cachet. — Flowers pure white, slightly
striped with rose, imbricated, large and fine.

49. Madame de Strekaloff. — Flowers beautiful pale
peach colour, sometimes striped with white, large, flat ;
petals round, imbricated, even and fairl}- regular ; foliage
and habit good.

50. Madame Lcbois. — Flowers crimson, of medium size,

4o6 The Camellia.

full, flattish ; petals somewhat pointed, very evenly and
regularly arranged ; splendid form ; foliage and habit
good.

51. Madina. — Flowers dark red, with band of white
down the centre of each petal, of medium size, full, flat ;
petals rounded.

52. Magnificent. — Flowers fine pale rose, sometimes
dashed with white, large, full, cupped ; petals round,
imbricated.

53. Manara. — Flowers dark blackish-crimson, with
white stripe on the outer petals, medium size, full, cupped ;
petals somewhat pointed, foliage and habit fine ; a grand
variety.

54. Marie Morren. — Flowers delicate rose, distinctly
blotched with white ; good.

55. MatJiotiana. — Flowers dark lurid crimson, large,
full, cupped ; petals pointed, very even and regular.

56. Mathotiana alba. — Flowers white, large, full, cupped,
and fine.

57. Montironi. — Flowers white, sometimes slightly
flaked with rose, or strongly suffused with rose, of medium
size, full, cupped ; foliage and habit good ; distinct and
beautiful.

58. Monsieur d'Offoy. — Flowers delicate rosy-pink,
sometimes white, tinged and slightly striped with pink,
of medium size, full, flat, even and regular, imbricated ;
foliage and habit good.

59. Mrs Anne Maria Hovey. — Flowers usually salmon-
pink, but sporting into white blush and carmine, these
colours often variously and beautifully combined in one
flower on the same plant ; a beautiful and most desirable
variety.

. 60. Mrs Cope. — Flowers blush flaked and dashed with
carmine, of medium size, full, cupped ; petals rounded,
even and regular ; habit good.

61. Mrs Abby Wilder. — Flowers white, occasionally
faintly shaded with flesh-colour and striped with lake, of

The Camellia. 407

medium size, full, imbricated, perfect in form ; foliage and
habit good.

62. Ninfa Egeria. — Flowers white, large, full, flat, im-
bricated ; petals round, foliage fine dark green; habit com-
pact; free and good.

63. Nymphceflora. — Flowers dark blood-crimson, veined
and shaded with purple, of medium size, full; petals round,
imbricated, evenly and regularly placed; foliage and habit
good; very distinct.

64. Pisani. —Flowers pure white, large, full, cupped ;
petals good and evenly arranged ; fine.

65. Prima Donna. — Flowers beautiful blush ; distinct
and fine.

66. Pri?tcess BaccJiiochi. — Flowers deep crimson, some-
times striped with white, medium size, full, flat, imbricated;
petals round.

6"]. Princess Charlotte. — Flowers white, sometimes
splashed with pink, of medium size, full, cupped; petals
round, even and regular; foliage and habit good.

6Z. Princess Frederick William. — Flowers blush, flaked
with crimson, large, full, flat ; foliage and habit good.

69. Pri7icipessa Aldobrandini. — Flowers flesh -colour
veined with pink, shading to white at the circumference,
of medium size, full, cupped; petals rounded; foliage and
habit good.

70. Rajia. — Flowers very dark rich crimson, some-
times faintly striped with white, of medium size, full, flat,
imbricated ; petals somewhat pointed ; foliage and habit
good.

71. Reijie des Beantes. — Flowers pale flesh colour, occa-
sionally tinged or striped with rose, of medium size, full,
flattish; petals round; foliage and habit fine.

72. Reine des Fleurs. — Flowers fine dark red, large,
full ; the petals thinly edged with white, pointed, perfectly
arranged ; habit good and free.

73. Rose la Reine. — Flowers rosy-cerise, occasionally
striped with white and veined with crim.son, medium

4o8 The Camellia.

size, full ; petals round, imbricated, even and regular ;
foliage and habit good.

74. Rubens. — Flowers rosy-red, striped, and sometimes
blotched with white, large, full, flattish ; petals pointed,
foliage and habit good ; a splendid flower.

75. Sarah Frost. — Flowers deep rosy-pink, sometimes
rayed with white, large, full, flattish ; petals round, even,
and regular ; habit good.

y6. Souvenir d'Emile Defresne. — Flowers rosy-scarlet,
with broad white band running down the centre of each
petal, large, full, flattish ; petals pointed, evenly arranged ;
foliage good.

'/']. Storyi. — Flowers fine deep pink veined with rose,
sometimes faintly striped with white ; large, full, flat,
imbricated ; petals rounded ; foliage and habit fine.

78. Targioni. — Flowers pale flesh-colour, occasionally
flaked with rose, large, full, cupped ; petals round ; foliage
and habit fine.

79. Trioniphe de Liege. — Flowers deep bright rose,
sometimes slightly striped with white, of medium size, full,
cupped ; petals somewhat pointed ; foliage and habit good.

80. Ubertina. — Flowers dark fiery crimson, large, full ;
petals pointed, imbricated, and regularly placed.

81. Ugo Foscolo. — Flowers dull purplish-red, faintly
striped with white, medium size, full, imbricated ; habit
good, distinct.

82. Valtavaredo. — Flowers clear light rose, of medium
size, full, cupped ; petals round ; foliage and habit fine.

83. Viconite de Nieidant. — Flowers rosy flesh-colour,
dotted and flaked with rose, of medium size, full, cupped ;
petals round ; foliage and habit good ; colours delicate and
pleasing.

84. Vicomte de Nieuport. — Flowers bright rose, large,
full, imbricated ; petals smooth and fine ; habit and
foliage good.

85. Victor Haquin. — Flowers deep fulgent rose, large,
full, cupped ; petals rounded ; foliage and habit good.

The Camellia. 409

2. Free-floivering Varieties, which produce the finest
effect when viewed " en masse!'

1. Alba simplex {the Single White). — Flowers white,
single, with a group of large golden stamens in the centre ;
petals large and thick ; foliage large and fine ; habit
good.

2. Aulica. — Flowers flesh-colour, suffused and veined
with pink, large, moderately full ; petals pointed, imbri-
cated ; foliage and habit good.

3. Bealii. — Flowers scarlet-crimson, semi-double, large,
cupped ; petals rounded ; foliage and habit good.

4. Bealii rosea. — Flowers rose-colour, semi-double, of
medium size, cupped ; petals round, smooth, and regular.

5. CJiandlerii. — Flowers dark blood-crimson, occasion-
ally blotched with white ; Anemone-flowered ; foliage very
dark and fine ; free, and of fine effect.

6. Conspicua. — Flowers bright rose, semi-double ; petals
large, round, and thick ; foliage fine ; habit good ; one of
the showiest.

7. Corallina. — Flowers deep lurid crimson, with tubular
petals ; large and semi-double, foliage and habit fine ; free,
and very effective.

8. Elatior. — Flowers purplish-rose, veined occasionally,
dashed with white, large, full, flattish ; petals round ; habit
good ; very free and showy.

9. Elegans. — Flowers rosy-pink, large, flat, rather loose ;
Anemone-flowered ; foliage and habit fine ; very free,
handsome, and showy.

10. Donckelaarii. — Flowers crimson, usually flaked with
white, semi-double, of medium size ; tubular petals ; round
foliage ; small, very showy.

11. La Pace. — Flowers rosy-pink, often dashed irregu-
larly with white, large, semi-double ; petals large and
pointed, somewhat crumpled and crowded in the centre of
the flower ; foliage toothed ; pleasing, show)-, and distinct.

12. Tricolor. — Flowers flesh-colour, shaded and flaked

4IO The Camellia.

with crimson and white, semi-double ; foliage and habit
fine ; very showy and free.

3. Large-growing Varieties, suited only for tJu
Co7iservatory.

1. Countess of Derby. — Flowers pale peach, sometimes
white, broadly flaked with rose, large and full ; petals large
and of great substance ; foliage fine ; habit straggling.

2. Marcliio7iess of Exeter. — Flowers fulgent rose, very
large and full, cupped ; petals round, even, and regular ;
foliage and habit good ; a free and noble variety.

3. Reticulata. — Flowers rosy - red, semi-double, very
large, and somewhat loose ; grand, and very showy ; habit
straggling.

4. Vandesia carnea. — Flowers rose-colour. Anemone-
flowered, large and full ; foliage and habit good ; distinct
and pleasing.

Part III.
FRUIT TREES

AND MISCELLANEA.

FEUIT GEOWING.

To the Editor of tlie " Times',' January 1889.

SIR, — Lord Fortescue has done an essential service
to the public by his letter to "The Times" of
December 27th, calling attention to and exposing the
fallacies that have been recently uttered and written on
the subject of fruit growing. The admirable letter of
your correspondent "F.R.H.S.," published in your columns
of the 29th inst., is a valuable sequel to it, and both
should be read and digested by everyone who may think
of engaging in this important branch of national industry,
I do not write without experience, having been engaged
for more than forty years in the study and cultivation
of fruit trees on an extensive scale. As the outcome of
this experience, I am satisfied in my own mind that
there are thousands upon thousands of acres of land in
Great Britain and Ireland which are at present yielding
little or no profit to owner or cultivator which might be
made to yield a handsome return to both if planted with
fruit trees. It is not, however, the labourer, skilled or
unskilled, who looks for a weekly return of his labour,
but the capitalist, who can afford to employ skilled labour
and wait for the returns, that must set the machiner}- in
motion.

Of the larger hardy fruits, Apples and Plums stand

412 Fruit Growing.

in the first rank, and are less particular as to climate and
soil than Pears and Cherries. Of the smaller fruits,
Strawberries, Raspberries, Gooseberries, and Currants
are the most important. Of fruits requiring glass,
Grapes and Peaches are likely to pay best. Supposing
young trees to be planted, which, looking to the future,
I should recommend, it will be five years at the least
with the larger fruits, and two years with the smaller fruits
before a profit on the undertaking can be looked for.
If the labourer is induced to engage in this work, how is
he to live during these five or even two years ? He
could not, I apprehend, borrow money from any existing
institution on such an investment as this, although I can
conceive it possible to found an institution that might
safely occupy this new ground, and I commend the
thought to the consideration of capitalists who may be
willing to help the labourer in this way. But to make
the enterprise a success, they ought also to choose his
ground, choose his sorts, and instruct him in the details
of cultivation, gathering, and marketing. Without this
additional aid he would probably fail. There is no
greater fallacy than to suppose that anyone could make
a fruit farm pay ; there are as good grounds for sup-
posing that anyone could make an hotel or a place of
amusement pay. Special knowledge is as necessary in
the one case as in the other. It has always appeared to
me that our landowners should be our fruit growers, as
far at least as regards the making of fruit farms, which
must be afterwards let on terms that would bring them
a fair return for outlay of capital, &c., and find profitable
occupation to both farmer and labourer.

I will not occupy your valuable space with further
details, as the paper I recently read " On Fruit Growing
for Profit" at the Fruit Conference of the Royal Horti-
cultural Society was noticed in "The Times," and printed
almost verbatim in "The Journal of Horticulture" and other
gardening papers.

Fruit Culture for Profit. 413

FEUIT CULTUEE FOR PROFIT IN THE OPEN AIR
IN ENGLAND.

[Read before the Society of Arts^ London, April yd 1889.]

THE question of fruit culture in the open air in
England is at the present time engrossing a large
share of public attention, and in my opinion not more
than the importance of the subject deserves. Anything
that will add to the income derivable from the cultivation
of the land by the employment of manual labour, and at
the same time add to the supply of wholesome and nutri-
tious food, should receive the amplest and most direct
encouragement. Our gardening papers have been fully
alive to this fact, and have ably discussed the question.
But the matter has not been allowed to rest there. We
have had fruit conferences, fruit leaflets, a controversy in
the "Times," and articles on the subject in the "National
Review" and the "Nineteenth Century."

Now, it may probably be a matter of surprise to some
that this simple question should have given rise to such a
diversity of opinion as to leave the outcome a matter of
perplexity and doubt. To those who know, the issue is
clear enough, but to those who do not know, the subject
must, I think, appear to be left in a hopeless tangle. The
task I have allotted myself to-night is the disentanglement
of this disorderly skein, and the attempt to lay the threads
of it before the public in clear straight lines, so that the
beginning, the middle, and the end of it may be distinctly
seen. Much that has been said and written on this subject
has about it the clear ring of truth, but statements have
also been made which if accepted and acted on will surely
lead to disappointment, vexation, and a wasteful expendi-
ture of money. To be told on the one side that " the
salvation of England depends on the future of its fruit
culture " — to be advised to break up rich meadows already

414 Fruit Culture for Profit.

giving a good return to owners and occupiers, to form
them into orchards, even in questionable situations ; and,
on the other side, that England cannot compete with
foreigners in the open market on account of climate,
facilities of transport, and unlimited competition, seem
to me to be extreme views which will not bear the test
of sober investigation.

For convenience in dealing with them, I will for the
moment call these extreme and opposing views optimistic
and pessimistic. The optimist is influenced in his opinions
by the fruitful orchards he meets with occasionally — the
result of skilful culture ; the pessimist by the unfruitful
ones which unfortunately abound — the result of ignorance
or neglect ; neither of them taking sufficient pains to
investigate the causes of these different aspects. The
" optimists " seem to think that fruit trees may be planted
with advantage almost indiscriminately throughout the
country ; the " pessimists " seem to think that it is of no
use for England to try to compete in the English market
with foreign countries. The " optimists," although skilful
dialectitians, seem to me to possess but a limited know-
ledge of the subject, so limited as not to know how much
remains beyond their ken, which if known would, I feel
sure, considerably modify their opinions. And further,
their knowledge seems to be derived more from books
than from the safer sources of observation and experience.
They perhaps read the gardening papers, and even write
for them occasionally, become members of some horti-
cultural society, and on the face of this announce them-
selves as experts when they are only novices. It is true
they offer some facts which have, at least in part, been
derived from the writings of experienced cultivators ; but
these facts are so skilfully incorporated with delusive
statements that their teaching is both misleading and
mischievous. Judging from the extraordinary gains which
they hold out as probable in the future, they do not seem
to know that there are already as keen, industrious, and

Fruit Culture for Profit. 415

clever men engaged in fruit-growing as in any other
business in this country, and although such make good
profits, they do not make large fortunes. On the other
hand, the pessimists, discouraged by the variation of
climate, facilities of foreign transport, and what they
consider unlimited competition, and the frequent dis-
appointments arising from various causes — some of which
they might have foreseen and controlled — throw up the
game in despair. Unfortunately, the abuse of our climate
is often favourably received by Englishmen ; but for some
sorts of fruit it is not, in my judgment, so bad as it
seems. It is less favourable than some in certain points,
but more favourable in others. Then foreign transport
is costly, and competition in good fruit is by no means
unlimited. With good cultivation there is no fear of over
production ; it is the indifferent fruit w^hich gluts the
market.

I have read not perhaps quite all but the greater part
of the recent writings and utterances on this subject, and a
great deal on the fruit culture of the past, but I do not
depend on that solely for the statements I shall put before
you, but to extensive reading combined with more than
forty years' experience in the study and cultivation of fruit
trees in this country. I may perhaps be excused for
saying that when 16 years old I had charge of an orchard
belonging to my father. That orchard was partly experi-
mental— planted wath all the best kinds, to prove which
sorts were most suitable for the district, and the best
flavoured — and partly a market orchard, consisting of sorts
already proved. Although my allotted duties were simply
to note the bearing qualities of the different sorts, and
overlook the packing for market, my boyish activities
were not bounded by these duties. There was not an
apple, or a pear, a cherry, or a plum, a gooseberry, or
a strawberry, that I did not test the flavour of over
and over again, and note my judgment of, for future
use. There were many visitors to that orchard, and I

4i6 Fruit Culture for Profit.

could conduct the epicure to the sorts with richest flavour
as well as the growers for market to the most abun-
dant bearers. From that period to the present time I
have always had in hand quantities of fruit trees, part of
the produce of which has been sent to the market. I have
planted scores and visited hundreds of orchards, and lived
to see some of the former arrive at a productive and pro-
fitable state.

With these preliminary remarks, I proceed to consider
the subject under the following heads: — (i) Climate and
Situation ; (2) Soils ; (3) Sorts ; (4) Cultivation ; (5)
Gathering, Storing, and Marketing ; (6) Holdings ; (7)
Statistics.

I. Climate and Situation. — Above all things should be
avoided a climate in which spring frosts are more than
ordinarily frequent or severe. A mild equable climate,
fairly dry, free from sudden changes of temperature, and
storms of wind and rain, should be taken in preference. I
do not believe in planting apples, pears, cherries, and
plums in the bottom of valleys. This is often done on
account of the quality of the soil. But it is of little benefit
to the grower to realise a good growth, the natural results
of a good soil, and abundant flowering, if his crop is
destroyed in the flowering state by the spring frosts.
Over the last few years there has been a wonderful show
of blossom on the fruit trees in the valley of the Lea, but
little fruit has followed, owing to the destruction of the
embryo by the severity of the spring frosts in this low
situation. This is the one point in climate that would
seem to render such a situation unsuitable for fruit culture
for profit, as it can be but partially amended by shelter or
any other means. It seems to me that many important
points desirable to secure success, which are well known to
those who are thoroughly versed in these matters, have not
yet taken hold of the general mind, and they cannot be too
often repeated till they do this. Only a few years ago I
was surprised to meet with an orchard, newly planted, at

Fkuit Culture for Profit. 417

the bottom of a moist valley, the climate of which in spring
was trying in the extreme for early buds and blossoms.
The sorts, too, were injudiciously chosen. Nevertheless,
the planter persevered with their culture until he found
that for three or four years in succession his trees produced
plenty of blossom but little or no fruit. He then destroyed
them, and cropped the ground with vegetables. But what
a waste of time and money, and what a source ef vexation
and disappointment !

I believe in planting on slopes or uplands, where the
spring frosts are less destructive, but even there distant
shelter should be provided, if not already existing. If
cheap quick-growing trees are planted for shelter, within a
few yards of the boundaries of the plantations when the
young fruit trees are planted, the former will afford the
necessary shelter by the time the fruit trees come into
bearing. I would emphasize to the utmost of my power
the necessity of a favourable climate and shelter. On a
farm of 200 acres there may be a difference of climate
that would render fruit culture profitable or unprofit-
able according to the position in which the trees are
planted.

In the valley of the Lea I find that in some years the
crop is mainly or wholly on the bottom, and in others on
the top of the trees. This I attribute to the spring frosts
being more severe in the one case near the ground, and in
the other at a greater elevation during the period of
flowering. Or it may sometimes be that the heavy
cropping of one part of the tree is the cause of a thin crop
on the same part the succeeding year.

2. Soils. — A light or medium loam, of good depth and
well drained is generally accepted as the most favourable
for the production of an abundance of good fruit. It
matters not if it be poor, provided manure can be obtained
at an easy distance or at a cheap rate. A bad soil in a
good climate often yields the grower more profitable
results than a good soil in a bad climate. A wet soil is
2 A

4i8 Fruit Culture for Profit.

always a bad soil. Thorough and deep drainage is
necessary when dealing with wet land about to be planted
with fruit trees, and this draining improves the climate as
well as the soil.

Chalk or gravel would seem to be a better subsoil than
clay, as the latter, especially if wet, favours the develop-
ment of canker. As to soils for the different fruits,
I would prefer for apples a medium loam ; for plums,
pears, and cherries, a light warm loam ; for strawberries
a light rich loam, cool and moist, with ready access
to water ; for raspberries a deep light loam, also cool
and moist ; for gooseberries and currants a deep strong
loam. But I would not convey the impression that
these soils are necessary ; in well-drained soils cul-
tivation may be safely extended even to strong or
clayey loams.

3. Selection of Sorts. — In this part of the business there
is perhaps no guide so safe as that of actual experience.
Sorts that are known to grow well and bear well in any
particular district may, provided the produce sells well,
be safely planted there. But this experience is always
limited. Valuable guides in the selection of sorts are also
to be found in the period of flowering, and the frost-
resisting powers of the blossoms.

As regards the period of flowering, some sorts flower
early, others late. A difference of three or four days
often makes the difference of a crop or no crop, as in those
three or four days a frost happens that destroys the
embryo of the early or expanded blossoms which leaves
the unfolded buds unscathed ; and this frost may not
occur again in the same season. Then as to the frost-
resisting power of the blossoms. This is not the same
in all cases ; some varieties appear naturally less sus-
ceptible of frost than others. Again, in some I have
observed that the embryo is better protected by the size,
form, and substance of the petals which surround it. In
some cases the petals, when unfolding, fall into a hori-

Fruit Culture for Profit. 419

zontal position, leaving the embryo fully exposed ; in
others they remain incurved, offering material protec-
tion. Then the siibstance of the petals differs con-
siderably, practically almost to the extent of the differ-
ence in our own clothing between a summer and a
winter coat.*

It has often been a matter of surprise to me that these
important facts have not commanded more attention from
our horticulturists. Here statistics would be of immense
value to the cultivator, and those who have the leisure and
inclination to provide them would be rendering a national
service in doing so.

Again, in selecting sorts we must not overlook the fact
that the same sorts of fruits do not flourish equally well in
all soils and situations. This I think, is more a question
of climate than of soil, and should be dealt with from that
point of view. Once more, the season at which the fruit
becomes marketable is an important point to the vendor.
A day often makes a great difference in the price of
strawberries, and apples should be early or late, with the
exception of such favourite sorts as Blenheim Orange and
Cox's Orange Pippin, to avoid clashing with the excess of
foreign importations. In my judgment the best foreign
apples do not equal good English fruit in qualit}', but they
often look more tempting, and answer the same purposes,
especially for cooking.

Of large fruits grown for profit, apples would seem to
stand first, plums next, then pears, then cherries ; of small
fruits, strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, and currants
are the most important. Filberts may also be planted to
give a profitable crop in odd sheltered spots where other
fruits would not grow well. But these different fruits do
not all require precisely the same climate and soil. The
apple is, perhaps, the least particular in these respects,

* Flowers of Fruit Trees were here handed round in illustration and con-
firmation of these remarks.

420 Fruit Culture for Profit.

some varieties of which will thrive and produce large crops
of good fruit in almost any well-drained soil when grafted
or budded on the crab or apple stock ; the paradise stock,
according to my experience, is not so good as the preced-
ing for field culture. I admit that apples grown on the
paradise stock, and pears grown on the quince stock, will
if highly cultivated produce the finest fruit, and are often
the most desirable for gardens ; but in orchards would this
high cultivation pay ? The grower for profit wants quan-
tity as well as quality, which apple and pear trees on these
stocks do not generally give.

There are twenty-four sorts of Apples which I should
plant in preference to others in my own county (Hertford-
shire), having an eye to the disposal of the crop as well
as to its production ; they are — Blenheim Orange, Cox's
Orange Pippin, Cox's Pomona, Devonshire Quarrenden,
Ecklinville Seedling, Duchess of Oldenburgh, Irish Peach,
Keswick Codlin, King of the Pippins, Lord Suffield,
Small's Admirable, Stirling Castle, Sturmer Pippin, War-
ner's King, Wellington, New Hawthornden, Cellini, Dutch
Mignon, Beauty of Kent, Lane's Prince Albert, Northern
Greening, Worcester Pearmain, Early Julien, and Golden
Spire.

I can speak favourably of the Ecklinville Seedling
apple from experiments made both in Herts and Sussex.
I planted in Sussex four years ago 200 dwarf Ecklinville
apples ; the soil, a quarter of an acre, was good, and had
been subsoiled 18 inches deep two or three years pre-
viously. The trees grew well ; the third year they pro-
duced 5 bushels, the fourth year 17 bushels, which sold on
the ground at 5s. per bushel. They were planted about
6 ft. by 6 ft., but strong growers might be planted 9 ft. by
9 ft., and small fruits, such as gooseberries and currants,
or vegetables, might be grown between the trees for
a few years. T estimate the prime cost and expenses
of planting and cultivating of the 200 Ecklinville

Fruit Culture for Profit. 421

apple trees, on a quarter of an acre of ground, in 1884,
as follows : —

Cost of trees, 200, 50s. per 100 . . . ;!^5 o o

Planting and digging o 15 o

Four years' cultivation at 15 s. per year 300
Rent, rates, &c., at los. per year ...200

Returns in iSSy and iSSS — £10 15

22 bushels of apples sold on the ground

at 5s. per bushel 5 10

Leaving a balance against the culti-

vator of -^550

Next year I expect to get the outlay back, and look
to the future for profits.

Now, I do not offer this statement of facts as statistics
from which any valuable inferences as to the future can
be drawn, but merely to show the probable result of the
first four years' cultivation. Of so-called. statistics I shall
have something to say by-and-by.

In exposed situations pyramid, bush, or two years'
untrimmed trees are preferable to standards, because the
fruit is not so liable to be blown down, and in large
orchards, if it should be decided to keep the surface
under grass, and the trees have stems 2| ft. to 3 ft.,
sheep could run under them to feed, and thus help the
returns.

Plums. — The Early Prolific and the Victoria are two
good ones ; other desirable sorts are Early Orleans, the
Czar, Diamond, Pond's Seedling, Prince Englebert, and
Belle de Septembre. Damsons also, of which the Shrop-
shire and Farleigh are well to the front, are usually a
profitable crop.

Pears want a better climate, and a warmer, richer, and
deeper soil than apples, and are not usually so profitable
a crop. They do well as a rule on a subsoil of chalk. Of
pears, Aston Town, Eyewood, Hessle, Williams' Bon

422 Fruit Culture for Profit.

Chretien, Beurre de Capiaumont, Beurre d'Amanlis,
Madame Treyve, Marie Louise d'Uccle, Vicar of Wink-
field, and Doyenne d'Ete are the most profitable sorts
to grow in Hertfordshire ; Louise Bonne of Jersey, where
it will grow well, and Marie Louise, where it will bear
freely, are also desirable varieties on account of their
superior flavour.

CJierries like a lighter and deeper soil than apples.
The May Duke, Bigarreau Napoleon, Kentish, Bigarreau
d'Esperen, Black Tartarian, Governor Wood, Frogmore,
Early Bigarreau, and White Heart are good sorts.

Strawberries. — Vicomtesse Hericart de Thury, Sir J.
Paxton, Elton Pine, President, Dr Hogg, James Veitch,
Loxford Hall Seedling, Premier, Oscar, and Sir C. Napier
are, according to my experience, the most desirable sorts
to grow for profit.

Raspberries. — Carter's Prolific, Fastolf, Fillbasket,
Yellow Antwerp, Semper Fidelis, Red Antwerp, and
Baumforth's Seedling are the best.

Currants. — Of currants I should choose Black Naples,
Red Dutch, Raby Castle, La Versaillaise, Cherry, and
Lee's Prolific.

Gooseberries. — Whitesmith, Warrington, Crown Bob,
Lion's Provider, Roaring Lion, Broom Girl, Dublin,
Lancashire Lad, and Companion are good sorts.

In selecting all sorts of fruits it should not be forgotten
that, as previously mentioned, some sorts flower later than
others, and the blossoms of some sorts are more frost-
proof than others, and thus the crop is often saved by late
flowering or frost-resisting blossoms. If I were about to
plant fruit trees for profit, I should look closely to these
matters in the selection of sorts. I would also examine
all the fruit trees, and talk to all the practical gardeners in
the neighbourhood whom I could persuade to listen to me,
to ascertain which sorts produced the best and most cer-
tain crops in the district,

4. Cultivation. — There is no greater mistake than to

Fruit Culture for Profit. 423

sujipose that the ordinary and unin.structed farm labourer
can plant and manage an orchard properly. You might
as well set him to make a coat or a pair of shoes. The
results of the former task would not be so quickly visible,
but they would be as unsatisfactory in the end. It would
surely make some of the present writers on this subject
blush to find how much wiser their forefathers were on
this subject. Hear what Henry Dethicke says in " The
Gardeners' Labyrinth," published more than 300 years
ago :— " Not sufficient is it to a gardener that he knoweth,
or would the furtherance of the garden, without any cost
bestowed, which the works and labour of the same require.
No. The will, again, of the workman, in doing and be-
stowing of charges, shall small avail without he have both
art and skill in the same. For that cause it is the chiefest
point in every faculty and business to understand and
know what to begin and follow." This was the wisdom of
our ancestors ; and this view has been endorsed by every
subsequent writer who knows his business, until a very
recent period. But now, at the close of this nineteenth
century, when everybody writes, it has become fashionable
for those who do not know to undertake to instruct the
public. Blind leaders of the blind ! they substitute bold
and reckless assertions for the thoughtful and painstaking
deductions from experiments made and recorded by ex-
perts of the past.

If I were about to plant fruit trees I would dig or
trench the ground two spits deep, A few light yielding
soils might be efficiently prepared by the subsoil plough,
but even in dealing with them the spade is a better
instrument than the plough. Of course, the manuring and
working of the soil is, or should be, more costly than in
ordinary farm operations, and the cultivation of the trees
by pruning, and keeping free from insects, is necessary,
and is also an item of cost in labour which must not be
lost sight of.

The practice of "sticking in" a few trees, by which is

424 Fruit Culture for Profit.

often meant merely digging a hole large enough and deep
enough to admit and cover the roots, in the way one would
stick in a post, cannot be too loudly condemned. How-
ever good the soil, however careful the after culture, no
satisfactory results can follow it. The soil should be well
prepared, and the trees carefully planted and cultivated
according to the recognised methods of our most intelligent
and experienced horticulturists.

It is impossible in the brief space of time allotted for
the reading of this paper to enter into the minute details
of cultivation ; I may say, however, that when planting,
the top of the roots should not be more than four inches
beneath the surface in heavy soils, and six inches in light
soils. The roots, too, should not be huddled together in a
dense mass, but be spread out and the soil worked in
between them.

All cultivators, will, I think, agree with me that an
annual manuring and sJialloiv digging is desirable, and that
the pruning-knife should be occasionally used ; thinning of
the fruit may also often be practised with advantage. The
trees, if standards, should also be staked to preserve them
from injury by the Avind. Of course, the digging cannot
take place in orchards that are laid down in grass, but
while I would not condemn such, they cannot be spoken of
as the highest examples of cultivation.

In some estimates of profits lately put forward it
appears to me that these costs in connection with the
cultivation of the trees and soil have not been sufficiently
allowed for.

The improvement of races by selection and cross-
breeding falls properly under the head of cultivation.
Much has been done in this way by our skilled horticul-
turists during the last few years. Many of the fruits
which now take a lead in the market were unknown there
a generation ago. The cultivation of new fruits, although
often very profitable, is, however, attended with consider-
able risk, and should be undertaken with due caution. It

Fruit Culture for Profit. 425

is well to try them on a small scale until such time as
their nature and qualities are fairly proved.

5. Gathering, Storing, and Marketing. — The gathering
of fruit is a point of great importance, and requires a
nice discriminative judgment on the part of the most
experienced cultivator. To make the best of it, it must be
ripe enough, but not too ripe. The colour of the skin is a
good guide to those who know\ though of little use to
those who do not know. Then a second test is the readi-
ness with which the fruit yields when gathered, but this
again is a matter which requires experience and judgment.
Some fruits are gathered and sent to market direct from
the tree, others require storing for maturation. For the
latter, a fruit room is necessary. A fruit room should be
dry and cool. If built with hollow walls and a double
roof, one of straw and one of tiles, heating may be dis-
pensed with. No windows are necessary ; fruit keeps best
in the dark ; but there should be shutters for giving air to
dry the moisture which exudes through the skin of apples
and pears for the first six weeks after they are stored.
Fruit can hardly be kept too cool, provided it is not ex-
posed to frost ; a temperature of 40^ is about the right
thing. Stored fruit should be laid in thin layers — single
layers if possible — on shelves ; if laid in heaps it is subject
to what gardeners call " sweating," and the quality becomes
deteriorated.

It must not be overlooked that some fruit — pears
especially — require a higher temperature than that men-
tioned above to mature and acquire a full flavour. But
this special management is perhaps more the business of
the fruiterer than the cultivator.

The fact should be kept in view that the grower's work-
is only partly done when he gathers and stores his crops.
He has to sell them. To this end he may have to sort
them, and pack them so that they may sustain no injury in
travelling ; he must also market them at the right time.
All this requires judgment and experience. A crop ma}-

426 Fruit Culture for Profit.

often be disposed of to advantage in the neighbourhood
where grown, and when this is the case the costs of pack-
ing, carriage, and commission are saved. Like other men
of business, the grower of fruit for market must be suffi-
ciently intelligent, industrious, and energetic to find the
best market for his wares, or he misses the reward of his
skill and labour.

6. Holdings.— \\. is often said one should not plant
fruit trees for profit except on his own land. But this
would unnecessarily limit the number of growers. A long
lease, however, is indispensable. According to calculations
I have made, but with which I need not trouble you, 30
years is the shortest lease I should advise anyone to plant
under, but this, of course, may be qualified in some measure
by the rent. If the lease be for a shorter period, I think
the tenant should expect from the landlord either a
renewal at the same rent as before, or that his trees
be taken at a valuation, or some equitable arrangement
made for compensation if the lease is not renewed. It
may be thought by some that this is asking too much from
the owner of the soil, but I do not think it is more than it
is his interest to concede. By such concession he may
secure a good tenant and a good rent, and there is ample
security for his rent in the value of the trees on the soil,
which there is not always in the case of farm crops,

I will read a brief extract from a recent number of the
Sussex Advertiser, in reference to land tenure in Kent : —
" One of the results of the unsatisfactory system of land
tenure now prevailing in this country is to be seen at
Knockholt, Kent. The lease held by Mr Edwin Bath, of
Curry Farm, in that parish, expires at Michaelmas, and he
is not allowed to renew his tenancy, nor can he recover
compensation from his landlord for a valuable plantation
of 30 acres of raspberries on the farm. Consequently the
extraordinary spectacle may now be seen of a reaping-
machine cutting down, and a steam plough following it,
rooting up this plantation, which has cost a very large

Fruit Culture for Profit. 427

expenditure of time and money to produce. When it
is considered that the produce of the plantation in question
realised in the present year upwards of ^1690, and that
the plantation was vigorous and in full bearing, some idea
may be formed of the sacrifice of property involved."

Without offering any opinion on the course here taken
by the tenant (as I know nothing of the case beyond what
is here stated), I think you will agree with me that such a
wasteful destruction as this is to be deplored.

Under this head, it has often struck me that the
manner in which the charges on land planted with fruit
trees are levied is not equitable, and is calculated to
discourage rather than encourage planting for profit. A
few words will, I think, make this plain. A man plants
fruit trees, not looking for any quantity of fruit for four or
five years. During that period he receives nothing, or
next to nothing, in the shape of produce, although rent,
charges on land, and expenses of cultivation are going on
and have to be met. Then, when his crop brings him a
larger return than ordinary farm produce would bring,
there is probably a re-valuation of the holding and the
charges on the land are raised ! Now, it would seem only
fair if the charges on land are calculated according to the
value of the annual crop, the planter of fruit trees should
pay nothing the first four years.

7. Statistics. — I should not be acting honestly in this
matter if I were to withhold my opinion that most of the
statistics lately put forward in favour of fruit growing in
England are not worth the paper they are written on.
They are ample enough on the score of returns, but
meagre in the extreme when dealing with expenditure.
But I would also distinctly say that I make no charge of
wilful misrepresentation against the authors of them. I
know from experience how carelessly such statistics are
often made up, in answer to inquiries relating to the past,
and how eagerly and inconsiderately they are received
when they tend to strengthen the preconceived opinions of

428 Fruit Culture for Profit.

the inquirer. And beyond this, some men dehght in
making themselves appear cleverer than their neighbours ;
and to this end will give forth the results of one profitable
year. But as one swallow does not make a summer, by
the same rules of argument, one year's crop cannot be
taken as an estimate of the future yearly income. A heavy
crop of one year is often succeeded by a light one in the
next, and to place this estimate on a sound basis, the
average of three, four, or five years should be taken.
Statistics, to be of any value, should begin at the beginning.
An account should be kept on both sides, from the first
shilling spent up to the period when the trees give a
marketable return. The sum total to this period may be
treated as capital sunk. After this, the average of not
less than four years should be taken as the probable yearly
returns. Or the matter may be looked at in another way.
The capital expended may be set down as money
borrowed, on which a fixed interest is to be paid till it is
returned.

An orchard of the larger fruits may be estimated to
last in a good bearing condition from thirty to fifty years,
according to the soil and management. Fruit trees come
into bearing sooner, and die out sooner, when planted on
sandy and light soils than on soils of a heavier or stronger
nature.

In conclusion, permit me to say that what I have
advanced should not discourage the planting of fruit trees.
On the contrar}'-, if I have been understood as I wish to be,
fruit culture in England may be judiciously extended in a
very considerable degree. But it should be guarded and
guided by the appropriate selection of climate, soil, sorts,
and above all a high system of cultivation directed by a
knowledge of the business. With regard to the question
of supply and demand, I believe that a much larger
quantity of English fruit would meet with a ready sale if
put before the public in a tempting state. I may also say
that I am clearly and decidedly of the opinion that there

Fruit Culture for Profit. 429

are thousands upon thousands of acres of land in Great
Britain at present bringing little or no profit to owners or
occupiers, which, if planted with fruit trees, might be made
to return a good profit to both. Not that I think large
fortunes are to be made by the enterprise, but that a fair
remuneration will be secured for the outlay of capital and
the application of knowledge, industry, and skill. Fruit-
growing as a recreation, or for one's own use, is one of the
most fascinating and diverting of occupations, and may be
pursued with satisfaction by the uninitiated. But fruit-
growing for profit is a different thing. Here knowledge is
wanted. The possession of it, rightly applied, will be
attended with success ; the absence of it with failure. It
is the height of folly to suppose that this, any more than
any other business or profession, can be made profitable
without preliminary instruction and training.

THE FRUIT QUESTION CONSIDERED.

\^Frp7n " The Gardeners'' Chronicle,''^ October \<^th 1889,/. 438,
repiiblisJied itt " Public Opim'on."^

ONE of the great benefits conferred on the community
by our rich public companies is that they can take
up and promote objects of national importance which are
often beyond the power of private enterprise. An instance
of this kind is before us in the recent gathering of fruit
growers and others at the Mansion House, called by the Lord
Mayor, to meet the Fruiterers' Company. That a largely
extended cultivation of fruit trees in England is open to
the enterprising, as a source of profit in dealing with the
land, will not, I think, be questioned by anyone who has a
thoroughl}' practical knowledge of the subject. The ques-
tion seems to be rather one of "when, where, and how?"

An increasing demand for fruit and the realisation of
remunerative prices, when it is judiciously handled, would

430 The Fruit Question Considered.

seem to mark out the present as a favourable moment to
enter upon the work. The " where " is not so easily
settled. There are some districts in England where soil
and situation are so favourable for fruit culture that they
might be wholly given up to it. And there are others
where little hope of profit could be entertained. These
are the extremes. Between them are thousands of
farms on which a few acres of land might be found
suitable for the purpose, and which would yield a
better profit under fruit culture than under any other
crop.

The fact that there are at present many farms in
England with orchards which yield no profit does not
militate against this statement. Investigation would dis-
close the facts that such have not been properly planted,
the sorts have not been judiciously chosen, or the manage-
ment has been bad. This brings us to the "how" of the
subject. Starting with a favourable situation and a good
soil, the rest depends on the sorts and varieties planted,
cultivation, and marketing.

Now, it is too much to expect of the farm labourer
that he should know how to select, plant, prune, and
cultivate fruit trees, and further, gather, store, and market
the fruit in the right manner and at the right time. Yet
this has been expected of him by many of our farmers of
the present, and for the want of knowing what to do he
has done nothing ! and neglect has been followed by the
usual consequences. How shall we get over this difficulty ?
Of course the farm labourer can be taught ; this know-
ledge is as easily acquired as that of managing horses,
cows, and sheep ; but then he has not been taught, and
until he has been taught the management of the orchard
should be committed to other hands.

It would be well if the farmer could himself acquire
the necessary knowledge, and manage the orchard and
fruit ; then an intelligent farm labourer could carry out
the details if definite instructions were intelligibly given.

The F"ruit Question Considered. 431

Otherwise he should employ skilled labour. Judging by
results, the farmers of the past were better fruit growers
than those of the present day.

The position of the cottager and small owner or
occupier differs little as cultivators from that of the
farmer. The former would necessarily have to depend
more on their own knowledge, as they probably could
not afford to employ skilled labour. If before com-
mencing operations they acquired a good knowledge of
the subject by observation, inquiry, and reading, they
would be likely to avoid a wasteful expenditure of both
material and labour.

The proposal of the Fruiterers' Company to offer
annual prizes for the best-managed fruit farms, planta-
tions, and orchards, is no doubt a good one, as calculated
to call attention to and develope a rising industry. The
recipients of these prizes would be, in the first instance,
proprietors, or leaseholder.-^ not likely to be largely in-
fluenced by these awards, which their knowledge, skill,
and industry, had merited and obtained ; their manage-
ment, although not incapable of improvement, w^ould have
already reached a goal which was at least satisfactory
to them because profitable. The national importance
and value of these awards, then, would consist in the
definite setting up of a standard or standards for the
uninitiated to study and reduce to practice. I would
venture to suggest that these prizes should have the widest
possible scope, framed so as to embrace the cottagers,
the small growers' holdings, the farmers' orchards, and
the fruit-farms pure and simple. The whole countr\'
should be mapped out into districts, and separate prizes
should be given for each district, so that the growers
in the least favourable climates might in this respect com-
pete with their fellows on equal terms. And further,
these prizes should vary in their nature from \-ear to year,
so as to comprehend in time the whole rationale of fruit
culture.

432 The Fruit Question Considered.

As to the old orchards existing in the country — where
the trees have been merely "stuck in," instead of being
being properly planted, where unsuitable sorts have been
used, or where cultivation has been long neglected, there is,
I fear, little hope for them in the future. Where unprofit-
able (and the majority I have met with are of this nature),
the best thing to do is to clear them away and begin
again, working on more intelligent and sounder principles.

There is no doubt that the slow returns on invested
capital often hinders the planting of fruit trees. It is
not everyone who can afford or has the patience to
wait four or five years for the profits of an investment,
even if in the future there is the prospect of handsome
returns. In addition, capital is required, and must be
found by owner or occupier, more or less, according to
the extent of the undertaking. To plant on one's own
land is best ; next on long leasehold ; if on a short lease,
the trees should be taken at a 'valuation if the renewal of a
short lease is unattainable.

ON THE FLOWEEING AND FLOWERS OF APPLES.

[From the '■'■ Journal of Horticulture^'' March 6th, \Z()o, p. 191.]

AS the seasons come round we occasionally hear it said
in early summer, "There will be no Apples this
year, the flowers having been destroyed by the spring
frosts." In a paper which I read recently before the
Society of Arts, London, on " Fruit Culture for Profit in
the Open Air in England," I called attention to the fact
that there were many days' difference in the date of unfold-
ing of the blossoms of the different varieties, and that the
general opinion was that the blossoms of the early bloom-
ing kinds were often destroyed when the late ones escaped.
This is no doubt partially true, but not absolutely so, nor
sufficient alone to account for a full or partial crop. There

On the Flowering and Flowers of Apples. 433

are other facts in connection therewith which I illustrated
by the flowers of Peaches and Nectarines which were in
bloom at the time the paper was read, and which is equally-
applicable to Apples. There is a difference in the size and
substance of the petals which, to borrow a comparison
from our own articles of dress, may be compared to that
between a full and meagre, a thick and thin coat, and
further in the form of the flowers, which if cupped or
expanded may be compared to the difference between
a buttoned and an open coat. So satisfied was I
that these latter peculiarities influenced the crop of
fruit that in the spring of last year (1889) I thought
it worth while to note carefully the date of flowering, the
size, shape and substance of the flowers and petals of
some ninety-five varieties of Apples growing in precisely
the same position and climate, and this table I now
submit to the public.

Date of Flowering, Name, Size and Shape of
Flowers, Shape of Petals, Substance of Petals
OF Ninety-Five Varieties of Apples.

Column i. — Size of flowers, S. small, ]\L medium, L. large.
Column 2. — Shape of flowers, Exp. expanded. Cup. cupped
Column 3. — Shape of petals, N. nayroiv, M. mcdhnn, B. broad.
Column 4. — Substance of petals, 2^1. medium. Thick, Thiu.

^

w-

v

o c

o ^

2

Date.

Name.

Size.

1"!

rt

j=a.

S^

55^

V. •

CO

May I

Irish Peach...

L.

Cup.

B.

Thick

May S

Duchess of Oldenburg

L.

Cup.

N.

Thin-

May 7

Flower of Kent

L.

Cup.

B.

Thick

Summer Thorle

M.

Cup.

M.

Thin

Keswick Codlin

M.

Cup.

M.

Thin

Beauty of Waltham ...

L.

E.xp.

M.

Thin

Red Ingestrie

L.

Cup.

M.

Thin

Tower of Glamis . .

L.

Cup.

B.

Thick

English Codlin

M.

Cup.

B.

Thick

Han well Souring ...

L.

Exp.

B.

M.

Hubbard's Pearmain

S.

E.xp.

M.

Thin

Red Astrachan

L.

Exp.

M.

M.

Oslin

L.

Cup.

N.

Thick

2B

434 On the Flowering and Flowers of Apples.

u-

^

ti

o i:

o ^

o

Date.

Name.

Size.

r3 (u

rt

.C FT

j=a^

^

C/}^

CA

3

May 7

Golden Spire

M.

Exp.

N.

Thin

May 9

Keddleston Pippin

M.

Exp.

N.

Thin

Kerry Pippin

L.

Exp.

B.

Thick

Lord Suffield

L.

Exp.

M.

Thick

Devonshire Quarrenden

M.

Cup.

M.

M.

Manks Codlin

M.

Cup.

M.

Thin

Pitmaston Russet Nonpareil

M.

Exp.

M.

Thin

Bedfordshire Foundling ...

S.

Exp.

N.

M.

Warner's King

L.

Exp.

B.

Thick

2\Iay II

Old Golden Pippin

M.

Exp.

N.

Thin

May Queen...

L.

Cup.

B.

M.

Emperor Alexander

M.

Cup.

M.

M.

Scarlet Nonpareil ...

M.

Exp.

M.

Thin

Adams' Pearmain ...

M.

Exp.

M.

Thin

Dutch Mignonne

L.

Exp.

M.

M.

Jolly Beggar

M.

Cup.

N.

Thick

Ringer

M.

Cup.

M.

Thick

Yellow Ingestrie ...

S.

Exp.

N.

M.

Brownlee's Russet

M.

Exp.

B.

Thick

Stirling Castle

L.

Cup.

M.

Thick

The Queen

L.

Exp.

M.

Thick

Baumann's Red Reinette...

M.

Exp.

M.

M.

Sturmer Pippin

M.

Exp.

N.

Thin

-May 15

Royal Russet

L.

Cup.

B.

Thick

Bramley's Seedling

L.

Cup.

B.

M.

Old Golden Reinette

M.

• Exp.

M.

M.

Grenadier ...

L.

Cup.

B.

Thick

Lemon Pippin

L.

Exp.

M.

M.

Boston Russet

L.

Exp.

M.

M.

Nonesuch ...

M.

Exp.

M.

Thin

Betty Geeson

L.

Cup.

M.

Thick

Calville Blanche ...

S.

Cup.

N.

M.

Norfolk Beefing

L.

Exp.

B.

M.

Dredge's Fame

L.

Exp.

M.

Thick

Lamb Abbey Pearmain

M.

Exp.

M.

Thin

Warwick Pippin ...

M.

Exp.

N.

Thin

Yorkshire Greening

L.

Cup.

B.

Thick

MinchuU Crab

L.

Cup.

M.

Thick

Cellini

L.

Cup.

B.

Thick

May i8

Cox's Orange Pippin

L.

Exp.

M.

M.

Rymer

L.

Cup.

B.

Thick

Blenheim Pippin ...

L.

Exp.

M.

Thick

Dumelow's Seedling

L.

Exp.

B.

Thick

Cox's Pomona

L.

Cup.

B.

Thick

Sam Young

M.

Cup.

M.

M.

Lord Burleigh

L.

Exp.

M.

Thin

Forge

L.

Cup.

B.

Thick

Margil

M.

Exp.

M.

M.

Reinette de Canada

L.

Exp.

M.

M.

Lewis's Incomparable

M.

Cup.

M.

M.

London Pippin

M.

Exp.

M.

M.

Herefordshire Pearmain

M.

Cup.

M.

M.

Gloria Mundi

L.

Exp.

M.

Thick

Allen's Everlasting

M.

Exp.

N.

M.

On the Flowering and Flowers of Apples. 435

w.

^

«j

Date.

Name.

Size.

0 ■-

0 ^

re

rt 0

rt 0)

^^

.ecu

(A)

J2
3
7j

May 18

King of the Pippins

L.

Exp.

M.

M.

Beauty of Kent

L.

Exp.

M.

Thick

Mabbott's Pearniain

M.

Exp.

N.

M.

Court of Wick

L.

Exp.

N.

M.

Golden Noble

L.

Cup.

B.

Thick

Fearn's Pippin

M.

Exp.

M.

Thick

Ecklinville

M.

Cup.

M.

Thick

Mannington's Pearmain

L.

Exp.

M.

Thick

Peasgood's Nonesuch

L.

Exp.

M.

Thick

Loddington

L.

Exp.

B.

Thick

Lord Derby

L.

Cup.

B.

Thick

Golden Pearmain ...

M.

Exp.

M.

M.

Duke of Devonshire

L.

Exp.

M.

Thick

Yorkshire Beauty ...

L.

Exp.

M.

Thick

Annie Elizabeth ...

M.

Cup.

M.

M.

Northern Greening

M.

Exp.

M.

Thin

Red Juneating

L.

Cup.

B.

Thick

Worcester Pearmain

M.

Cup.

N.

M.

French Crab

M.

Exp.

N.

Thick

Small's Admirable...

M.

Cup.

M.

Thick

Cockle Pippin

M.

Cup.

M.

Thin

Alfriston

M.

Exp.

M.

M.

May 21

Court pendu Plat ...

M.

Exp.

M.

Thick

Galloway Pippin ...

M.

Exp.

M.

M.

Lady Henniker

L.

Exp.

M.

M.

White Juneating ...

M.

Exp.

B.

Thin

Bess Pool

M.

Exp.

B.

Thick

Northern Spy

L.

Exp.

M.

M.

The first column relating to the size of the flowers
requires no further comment than that a large flower
surrounding and in close proximity to the organs of fructi-
fication would have a greater protecting influence than a
medium-sized or small one. The second column relating
to form is still more important from this point of view. It
must, however, be remarked here that the flowers of some
sorts are " cupped " from the time they open till they fall,
whereas others are "cupped" when opening, gradually
passing into the expanded form, and others, again, are
expanded from the beginning till they fall.

The third column relates to the size of the petals which
compose the flower, some being narrow, leaving openings
between them, others closing completely, and some even
overlapping. In the latter cases there is, I apprehend, a

436 On the Flowering and Flowers of Apples.

much larger amount of protection afforded to the deHcate
embryo. The fourth column relating to the substance
of the petals cost me the most thought and time. The
difference here is in some cases so slight as to require a
very sensitive touch to realise, although I believe it is not
without influence on the crop.

Many inferences may be drawn from the facts recorded
in the above table. I will only instance one. The popular
opinion that early flowering sorts should be avoided would
seem not absolutely correct. Two of the earliest flowering
sorts, "Irish Peach" and "Duchess of Oldenburg" are
constant bearers, which is due probably to the protection
the embryo receives from their large cup-shaped flowers ;
whereas two of the latest flowering sorts, " Bess Pool " and
" Northern Spy " are shy bearers, which may be due
to their natural constitution, but is open to the suspicion
of being influenced by the later frosts on the organs of
reproduction which are less efficiently protected. But
here, as in all cases of this nature, exceptions will occur.

ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF PLANTS

By Selection, Hybridising, and Cross-Breeding, having

Special Reference to the Hollyhock and the Rose.

\Reaii at the Hortictiltiiral Cono;ress at Mattchester, July 21, 1S69.]

THERE are two important methods of procedure
open to him who may wish to engage in the
modification or improvement of plants. i, selection ; 2,
hybridising and cross-breeding. The first method, "selec-
tion," is exceedingly simple, and may be successfully
followed by anyone who possesses or who may acquire
the habit of observing correctly. The second method,
" hybridising and cross-breeding," is more complex, and
requires, in addition to the habit of observing correctly,

On the Improvement of Plants. 437

an acquaintance with at least some of the laws of veget-
able physiology. In adopting the former, we seize upon
certain variations or phenomena which we meet with in
Nature, and endeavour to " fix" or render permanent that
which we are accustomed to call accidental ; in pursuing
the latter, we start with a conception which we labour to
convert into a fact. To the mere man of business selec-
tion is usually the more attractive ; the method is more
suitable to his habits of thought and practice ; but to the
scientific mind hybridising or cross-breeding are usually
more inviting, and the results more satisfactory. To both
methods are we largely indebted for improvements in the
vegetable kingdom, and it would be exceedingly difficult,
perhaps impossible, to say how much we owe to the
simple process of selection, and how much to the more
complex and scientific labours of the hybridist.

It will be my purpose to-day to place before you, as
fully and clearly as I can, a few instances of improvements
by both processes, drawing, as far as practicable, from my
own observations and experiments.

First, of selection. It is well known to observers in
this field that most plants, and especially cultivated plants,
when raised from seed, are prone to vary —

" The earth was made so various, that the mind
Of desultory man, studious of change,
And pleased with novelty, might be indulged."

We sow a handful of seed, and in some cases scarcely any
two of the young plants which arise therefrom prove
absolutely identical ; there is a difference in size or
appearance, in form, colour, or texture. This shows an
inherent capacity of progress or development. It is more
marked in cultivated than in wild plants, and the tend-
ency increases under cultivation ; yet it appears in both
states. Among wild plants I have met with no more
striking example than that of the Lychnis diurna, which
grows plentifully in the hedge-rows surrounding my

438 On the Improvement of Plants.

nurseries at Waltham Cross. The flowers of some of
these self-sown plants are much larger than others,
some are of a deeper colour, and some of a smoother
aspect and more rounded form; the habit of growth of
the different seedlings also varies greatly. The Dog-Rose
(Rosa canina) is another case in point. Examples of this
fact are, however, plentiful enough in Nature, and might
be adduced almost without limit if required. But it is
only by selection and cultivation that the most attractive
forms of these natural variations can be fixed and turned
to practical account. The advanced Lychnis, if neglected
and allowed to seed in its native wilds, would probably
produce offspring for the most part similar or inferior to
itself except rarely and at long intervals of time. If,
however, removed to a superior soil, more highly nurtured,
and the seeds gathered from the most attractive plants
only, the improvement would probably go on gradually
but regularly from generation to generation.

To elucidate further the principle and results of
selection, let us suppose an intelligent agriculturist ob-
serving in his wheat-fields some individual plant of wheat
more vigorous in growth, or more prolific, longer, stouter,
and fuller in the ear than those by which it is surrounded.
He wishes to retain this variation, knowing that if he can
succeed in so doing he will thereby increase his crop. He
sets a mark upon this plant, saves and sows the seeds
separately, selects again and again, from year to year,
those most in advance, be they few or many, until the
variation first noticed has become constant and fixed, and
perhaps even further developed. This process of selection
usually requires to be pursued through several generations,
some of the individuals from each successive sowing con-
tinuing to advance on the line first indicated, and the
whole drawing closer together, till in the end he establishes
the purity or constancy of the race. Once established or
fixed the variation will remain an improved race or breed,
and if the individual plants composing it are not absolutely

On the Improvement of Plants. 439

identical, they are yet sufficiently so for practical purposes.
In this instance we have supposed a case of selection
for a prolific tendency, but the same principle may be
applied to any other desired improvement, as quality of
grain, earliness or lateness of ripening, quantity or quality
of straw, and so on. Or, to take other instances from
agriculture. The farmer observes among his Mangel
Wurzel a plant remarkable for the large size of the root
and the small size of the top ; among his turnips a root
that has stood the frost uninjured, while others surrounding
it have been materially damaged ; he selects the Mangel
with the view of increasing the weight of his crop
without drawing too much from his land, the turnip
for the sake of obtaining a hardier race of this valu-
able root, and follows up the process of cultivation al-
ready described until he fixes the recognised and cov^eted
features.

As with the agriculturist, so with the market gardener,
whose superior vegetables are in great part due to the
judicious selection of the individual plants from which he
saves his seed. Perhaps half-a-dozen of the whitest and
closest heads of white broccoli are selected off many acres
as the source of the crop for the ensuing year ; and other
vegetables and flowers — as onions, lettuces, stocks, &c.—
are subjected to the same careful process of selection.

To continue : our seed-growers work on the same
principle, although in place of leaving a few only of the
best, the quantity of seed they require compels them to
rest satisfied with eradicating a few of the worst only, and
the value of their crop of seeds is, or should be, in propor-
tion to the thoroughness of the selection, or as the growers
term it, the purity of the stock. If in the bill dealing with
the adulteration of seeds now before Parliament a clause
could have been inserted ensuring the purity of the stock,
I should have considered that by far the most important
part of the measure.

I have intentionally given prominence to the above

440 On the Improvement of Plants.

cases, because I believe the farmer, market gardener, and
seed grower, whatever attention they may be giving to
cross-breeding now, have in the past derived their im-
provements chiefly, if not entirely, from selection ; whereas
the horticulturist has been for many years past working
more or less ardently in both fields. There has, however,
I believe, even with him, till recently been but little
hybridising or cross-breeding with vegetables ; more per-
haps, and for a longer period, with fruits ; and most of all,
and for the longest period, with flowers.

The vegetables and flowers which I have improved by
selection merely are somewhat numerous ; among the
former Parsley and Brussels Sprouts.

Parsley was the first plant I endeavoured to improve
by selecting for seed one or two individual plants from a
large bed, the unusually double or curled leaves of the
selected plants having pleased my fancy. The result was
so striking in the following year that I was encouraged to
persevere, and did so from year to year with increasing
success, until Paul's Parsley became household words.
Brussels Sprouts, the seed of which it was considered
necessary in those days to import from the Continent,
was the next plant taken in hand, and I proved over a
series of years, to my own satisfaction at least, that it was
neither the Continental soil nor air, but the practice of a
rigorous selection that gave to the Continental seed an
acknowledged superiority.

The Aster was the next plant taken in hand, and with
the same results. Stocks, Pansies, Roses, Cinerarias,
Hollyhocks, Zonal Pelargoniums, Chinese Primulas, and
Polyanthuses were taken up in due succession, similarly
dealt with, and similarly improved.

The Hollyhock would seem to demand at my hands
more than a passing word. To the improvement of the
flowers of this plant by selection I gave long and close
attention from the year 1853 to 1857. Let me submit to
your notice some^ef the results of the sowing of seeds

On the Improvement of Plants. 441

from selected plants without the interposition of artificial
fertilisation. The variety Gloria Mundi (yellow) gave
Sulphurea perfecta, Argo, El Dorado, Queen of the
Yellows, and King of the Yellows, all yellow flowers; and
Charles Baron (buff). El Dorado, a smooth yellow flower,
gave yellow flowers only, bright in colour, but rough and
irregular in form. Lady Willoughby d'Eresby (cream
colour) gave a lot of rough dirty whites. Lady Franklin
(deep pink) reproduced itself, and also gave sundry good
rose-coloured flowers. Lady Palmerston (blush) gave a
very fine brood of peach-coloured and pink flowers.
Purple Defiance (purple) gave a rough lot of purples.
Attraction (pink) gave a fine brood of pinks. Princess
Royal (cream and chocolate) gave a rough lot of dirty
cream and chocolate-coloured flowers. Crusader (pink)
reproduced itself, and also others of similar colour, vary-
ing in form. Celestial (blush) reproduced itself, and
various shades of blush of superb quality. Memnon (a
fine crimson flower) produced regularly some plants bear-
ing crimson, and others bearing purple flowers. Omar
Pacha (cream edged with white) reproduced itself A
purple seedling of good form and substance gave some
purple and some blush-mottled flowers of very indifferent
quality. A salmon-coloured seedling of fine quality gave
flowers of the same colour, but of indifferent form. A
fine dark shining crimson seedling gave flowers orange,
fawn, and buff, of middling quality, but no crimson. A
white-edged seedling gave flowers like the parent, but as
a rule not so good. A fine rosy peach-coloured seedling
gave rubbish. A nankeen-coloured seedling reproduced
itself almost without variation. A pure primrose seedling
of very high quality gave some primrose-coloured flowers
and some primrose with dark base, usually inferior to the
parent. A French white-veined seedling gave a lot of
prettily and variously veined flowers. An orange-buff
seedling gave also some few prettily veined flowers among
many very rough ones, of the colour of the parent. A fine

442 On the Improvement of Plants.

purple seedling gave purple, marbled, maroon, and lilac
flowers, all of superior quality.

Now, it might appear at first sight that the above
results militate against the theory of improvement by
selection merely. But it is not really so. It must be
told that the above is a record of general results only.
In most cases few or many individuals might have been
selected in advance of the parent. Let it further be
remembered that this is the result of one year's growing
only, and it certainly proves that a variation cannot always
be fixed by a single effort, which we are perfectly free to
admit. It shows also the tendency of the mass of seedling
plants raised from cultivated or advanced varieties to
revert to a less civilised state. It shows further, that a
variation once obtained, new ground once broken, often
proves a fertile source of further variation and advance-
ment. But of this I shall give an example by-and-by
Now I do not think that the variation in colour recorded
in some of the above cases was due to fertilisation either
by insects or other instrumentality. But it might be so.
I merely express an opinion on this point, founded on the
fact that the progeny of some varieties varied but slightly
throughout successive annual sowings, whereas that of
others varied greatly. The inference I should draw would
be, that some variations are capable of a more rapid
development, some are more sportive, and some more
readily fixed than others.

It will be further inferred from the above facts that
the finest flowers do not always produce the finest
progeny. And I have found this circumstance corro-
borated in dealing with other plants. Certain individual
sorts furnish a fine brood ; others, apparently equally good
sorts, an indifferent brood. Sometimes a flower or fruit
of indifferent quality will produce a high-class progeny,
and a high-class flower or fruit an inferior progeny. The
whole question is, I admit, beset with difficulties, and
offers a fine field for observation and experiment. The

On the Improvement of Plants. 443

exceptions to the rule, that the best flowers proceed from
the best parents, are numerous. Notwithstanding, unless
we possess special knowledge we cannot do better than
work upon this rule, for if we reject it we have nothing so
good to put in its place.

One word as to the special knowledge just alluded to.
Now and then a variation, peculiarly fitted for the work of
progress, will arise. Many years ago a Pansy named
Queen Victoria, raised by the late Mr Thompson, of Iver,
proved of this character ; and more recently the Roses
General Jacqueminot, Jules Margottin, and Victor Verdier
may be taken as prominent instances. From these in
their day, and for a certain period, many more good
flowers were raised than from all others of the period put
together. Now, if one acquires this special knowledge,
there is sure ground to work on. But I know of no law
by which this quality of a plant can be determined in
advance. In the present state of our knowledge, I con-
ceive that it can only be ascertained by observation and
experiment.

I have raised many thousands of seedling Hollyhocks,
Roses, Zonal Pelargoniums, and other plants, simply on
the principle of gathering the seed from the most advanced
plants and flow ers without any attempt at cross-breeding.
My success under this method of proceeding has been
greatest with Hollyhocks, as I could claim at one time
(about 1857) the finest Hollyhock of almost every colour
as of my production. This I account for by the fact that
the subject was a good one for experiment. Although
a flower long known to us, it had not been long subjected
to high cultivation, and was fully ripe for improvement.
With the Rose the case was somewhat different. It had
been experimented on by clever and industrious men in
France for a number of years, and doubtless I was here
traversing ground which some of them had exhausted long
before. However, success here has not been altogether
denied me, and to which I shall have occasion to allude

444 Oyi THE Improvement of Plants.

by-and-by. Of Zonal Pelargoniums I was fortunate
enough to become the possessor of a remnant of stock left
by the late Mr Donald Beaton ; and while many of the
variations and improvements that have issued from my
nurseries are the result of mere selection, others have been
carefully and systematically bred. The Polyanthus is a
flower with which I am now carrying on experiments,
with the view of rendering it more available in spring
gardening. Four years ago I selected certain colours
from a bed of mixed seedlings with the view of saving
the seeds of each separately, hoping in time to be able
to reproduce each colour true from seed. The first sowing
produced all colours from each variety, and while sub-
sequent sowings have done the same, yet each successive
sowing brings a larger proportion of the colour of the
parent ; and I do not doubt that ultimately each variety
will become fixed, that is, will reproduce itself true in
colour from the seed.

With regard to the progress of improvement after
selection, it would appear that the greatest progress does
not take place when the variation is young. The most
marked progress from a cultivator's point of view seems to
occur when the variation has been some little time under
cultivation, but before it loses the extra vigour not
uncommon to selected variations, A case illustrative of
this view has recently come under my observation. It is
that of a plant of the Primula sinensis, which I recently
exhibited before the Royal Horticultural Society under
the name of Waltham White. It is a white-flowered
variety with red leaf-stalks (the white-flowered variety has
commonly greenish white leaf-stalks). The growth is
exceedingly vigorous, the plant bearing a huge pyramidal
truss of large pure white flowers of great substance. It is,
in fact, a giant among Primulas, and a giant of goodly
and fair proportions. Now nothing could have been more
unpromising than the original variation from which this
grand result has been obtained. It was a coarse weedy-

On the Improvement of Plants. 445

looking plant, bearing rough misshapen flowers ; but there
were the distinct features of extraordinary vigour, and the
red leaf-stalk. The first year's sowing from this plant
produced more variation than improvement ; the second
more improvement than variation ; and now, in the fourth
year, the characters above described seem fixed, for all the
seedlings raised from a choice pod of seed have bloomed so
nearly alike in colour, size, form, and habit, that the
variation may be fairly pronounced improved and fixed.

Thus far I have confined my remarks to the variation
of plants from seed which appear to arise spontaneously,
and are of everyday occurrence. But there are other
variations occasionally taking place, which are known to
cultivators under the name of " sports." Sports are
variations from the leaf-bud rather than from seed, and
I class them under "selection" because in their case man
does not intentionally step in with the view of giving a
turn to the workings of Nature. Cultivation may, and in
many cases probably does, induce " sports," but cultiva-
tion is not deliberately pursued with that object. As an
example of these we may instance the well-known case of
the Nectarine, which was a sport from the Peach — that is,
a branch of a Peach tree produced the smooth-skinned
and otherwise different fruit known as the Nectarine, My
first efforts at improving the Rose were made in 1843,
and were induced by discovering a sport. I observed a
branch and flower of the Bourbon Rose Proserpine, then
recently introduced, of extraordinary vigour ; the flowers
were larger and somewhat lighter in colour than in the
original ; the leaves were of a lighter green, more obtuse,
and destitute of the customary red nerves and red colour-
ing round their circumference. This, which I believe I am
right in speaking of as a sport, was nevertheless not a very
marked example of this tendency. It was cultivated
separately and fixed, but did not depart sufficiently from
the original to be thought worthy of a new name, and was
consequently sold as a superior variety of the Rose

446 On the Improvement op Plants.

Proserpine. About the same time I observed a branch
of the Rose du Roi bearing pale flesh-coloured flowers.
This branch was propagated, and the new colour fixed.
When about to distribute this as a novelty, to my surprise
I received it from France under the name of CelinaDubos!
Now, although I know nothing of the history of Celina
Dubos as received from France, I yet know that it was
identical with my sport, and I think it is reasonable to
conclude that it originated in the same way. Also
about the same time I observed a branch on the Rose Dr
Marx producing leaves finely striped with gold, and a
branch of the Bourbon Queen with leaves beautifully
variegated with white. Both of these sports were pro-
pagated and fixed. Of Roses, the Moss group is the most
inclined to sport. I have in days gone by frequently seen
two or three varieties of the Moss Rose growing on the
same plant. I have seen the Baronne Prevost, which is
naturally a double rose-coloured flower, produce striped
flowers, and others nearly single. I have also seen Mrs
Bosanquet, a white Rose, produce a branch bearing red
flowers.

But the most notable recent case of this tendency is
that of the new double crimson Thorn, and this is remark-
able in having been observed in two different places about
the same time. It should be told, however, that both
these plants had been purchased from the same stock.
The particulars of one case are as follows : — A tree of the
double pink Thorn had been planted in a garden some
fifteen or sixteen years, when a branch was observed to
have started away from the centre of the tree with unusual
vio-our. It flowered, and lo! the flowers were crimson

o

instead of pink, presenting a marked contrast to those on
the lower part of the tree. The leaves, too, were of larger
size, greater substance, and more deeply lobed. Young
plants were propagated from this branch by budding and
eraftincr, and the character was fixed.

A few words with regard to the fixing of variations or

On the Improvement of Plants. 447

sports seem desirable here, and with that I shall close this
part of my subject. We have seen that variations or
sports are, when reproduced from seed, liable to vary
greatly in character, with a general tendency to revert to
the type. From the first sowing there will probably be
but few like the variation, but by successive repetitions of
the process of sowing and selecting the variation is at
length fixed. It is thus that many of our races of annuals,
as Asters, Stocks, Clarkias, Candytufts, Tropaeolums, and
the like, not readily propagated otherwise than from seed,
have been obtained. But the process of fixing variations
or sports from the leaf-bud is almost certain to proceed
without interruption. You graft, bud, or make cuttings of
the sported branch or plant, and the plants so propagated
usually remain unchanged.

I will now proceed to the second part of my subject,
namely, the improvement of plants by hybridising and
cross-breeding.

I have said that in hybridising and cross-breeding we
start with a conception which we labour to convert into a
fact. For example, we find existing in two separate flowers
or fruits certain high qualities as size, colour, form, flavour,
mien, &c., which we seek to combine in one and the same
individual. We cross or hybridise these two plants, sow
the seeds, and after few or many attempts one out of many
is likely to give the desired result. As a guide in hybridis-
ing and crossing it should be noted that our best observers
are of opinion that hybrids and cross-breeds derive their
form and habit in great part from the female, the colours
of the flowers from the male, while the constitution may be
acquired from either parent.

By hybridising we understand the crossing of two
different genera or species ; by cross-breeding the inter-
mixture of two different varieties of the same species.
Practically speaking the work is the same. It would be out
of place here to enter into a lengthened description as to
how far the different species of plants may be hybridised.

448 On the Improvement of Plants.

Doubtless there are limits ; I have tried on various
occasions and in various ways to obtain a hybrid between
the Pyrus spectabilis and the Cydonia japonica, two
different genera, but without success, and I announce this
because to acknowledge a failure is sometimes as useful to
others as to record a success. On the other hand, I have
succeeded in raising hybrids between the Moss Rose (Rosa
centifolia) and the Alba Rose, two different species ; also
between a Hybrid China Rose (R. gallica x R. indica)
and Rosa multiflora. Then, again, I have often tried in
vain to obtain crosses between certain varieties. So that
it does not seem to be exactly a question between species
and species, or between variety and variety as these are at
present classified by botanists, I have found, however, as
a rule that the more nearly allied the varieties the more
certain is the cross. The Tea-Scented and Noisette Roses
are found to cross readily, but then, although these form
separate floricultural groups, they belong to the same
species — R. indica. But the Hybrid Bourbon and Moss
Roses also cross readily, and here we have intermixed
three different species according to most botanists — R.
indica, R. Gallica, and R. centifolia The grandest and
the most beautiful of all the floral groups of the Rose — the
Hybrid Perpetual — has a curious genealogy : R. gallica
crossed with R. indica produced Hybrid China ; the latter
crossed with an autumn flowering variety of the R. dama-
scena produced Hybrid Perpetual.

My first attempt at crossing the Rose was made in
1843. I crossed three flowers of the Tea-Scented Rose
known as Goubault with the Bourbon Rose Souchet with
the view of obtaining a dark -coloured Tea-Scented Rose.
Let me call these flowers C, D, and E. C produced a very
large pod, which ripened perfectly and gave ten large
seeds. D produced a medium-sized pod with nine seeds
of unequal size, one being very large, four large, and four
small. E produced a small pod which contained thirteen
small seeds. Of these thirty-two seeds four only ger-

On TfiE Improvement of Plants. 449

minated ! Three of the plants were curious cross-breeds,
of no floral value, and having little in common with either
parent ; and one, in leaf, habit, and flower was very
similar to the wild Dog Rose. As the seeds were sown in
pots and placed under glass I do not think any stray seed
could have found place among them. I was here, no
doubt, unfortunate in the choice of my parent or parents,
and regard this issue as an instance of the well-known
tendency which the offspring of some cultivated plants
have of reverting to the normal form. The same year I
crossed about forty other flowers, but the crop of seed was
indifferent, and the result nothing worthy of record. This
non-success led me to submit to microscopical examination
the flowers of a number of varieties of the Rose with the
view of ascertaining which were likely to prove the best
seed-bearers. The result of that examination is given in
the ''Rose Garden," ninth edition, p. 112 et seg. The
conclusions I drew were : —

First. That certain varieties are sterile, and incapable
of forming perfect seeds under any circumstances. Of
these I found such kinds predominate as roll the petals of
the flowers inwards, the centre of the flower being
quartered in the manner of a crown. In others the pistils
were weak or imperfect. Secondly. That many kinds
where the pistils are perfect, which in their natural state
form seed-pods which wither before arriving at maturity,
may be induced to perfect their seeds by artificial fertilisa-
tion. This class of Roses is the best for him who intends
raising seedlings to choose his female parents from, because
there is little here to interfere with, mar, or counteract his
plans. Be it remarked, however, that there are certain
kinds which must not be confounded with the above —
kinds which, owing to the length of time the seed-vessels
are in arriving at maturity, never perfect their seeds in this
country. Thirdly. That those kinds which we find
seeding abundantly in their natural state are self-fertilised,
and that their abundant production of seed is due to this

2C

450 On the Improvement of Plants.

point mainly — the more perfect development of the organs
of reproduction, especially the polleniferous parts of
fructification.

Thus fortified I selected some 20 sorts of Roses,
planted them in a separate corner of the nursery, and
in the month of June 1846 crossed nearly a thousand
flowers. Success in seeding was complete. On the 30th
of September of that }"ear I gathered 223 well ripened
pods of seeds, some of them of extraordinary size. Two
successive gatherings of about 100 pods each, were after-
wards made at intervals of about a month, the whole
number of hybridised and crossed pods gathered and
stored amounting to 444. The seed was sown the same
winter, vegetated during the succeeding spring and
summer, and the seedlings bloomed at intervals over the
next six years — that is to say, some bloomed the first
year, others were six years old before blooming. The
result of the hybridising and cross-breeding was apparent
in many cases but not in all. Two of the most striking
and complete I will describe.

I had long thought that a bright dark coloured climbing
Rose was a desideratum, as at that time nearly all our
climbing Roses were white or yellow. To obtain this I
hybridised the Rose Athelin (hybrid Bourbon) with
Russelliana (multiflora). Paul's Vivid, a bright crimson
climbing Rose, of great repute in its day, and even now
sought after, was raised from this effort. Again, I had
conceived that if anything could add to the beauty of the
Moss Ross, it would be to impart to it the exquisite tint of
the R. alba or Maiden's Blush. To obtain this I hybridised
the Moss du Luxembourg with an alba Rose, and among
the offspring was a Moss Rose with flowers like the
Maiden's Blush, afterwards named " Princess Alice."

A few years later I raised from one and the same
sowing of English Rose seed, the Roses Beauty of
Waltham, Lord Clyde, Red Rover, Globosa, Princess of
Wales, Dr Lindley, and Duke of Edinburgh. Unfortun-

On the Improvement of Plants. 451

ately, in these cases the parentage of the offspring was not
preserved.

The next flower with wliich I experimented was the
Hollyhock. I crossed numbers of these flowers in the
years 1853-7. ^"^ blush seedling crossed with White Globe,
with the view of obtaining better blush flowers, gave,
among others, 10 seedlings answering to this end. Fire-
ball Superb crossed with Metropolitan, with the view of
obtaining a better scarlet Hollyhock, gave one plant of the
character sought. A pink seedling crossed with Lizzie,
with the view of combining the bright colour of the former
with the quality of spike and flower of the latter, gave a
large number of seedlings, 23 of which were realisations,
more or less complete, of the object sought. These are
three cases selected from many of similar import. With
regard to the results in crossing the Hollyhock, I mav add
that Mr Roake, of Clewer, at one time a most successful
raiser of seedlings, obtained three of his most marked
improvements, all differing in colour, from one fertilised
pod of seed, whereas with seedlings raised from seed pods
not fertilised he found the degree of progress slow and
uncertain.

Some of my latest efforts in hybridising and cross-
breeding have been directed to Zonal Pelargoniums.
Attempts to hybridise the Zonal varieties with the Unique
have never succeeded ; and \'et ]\Ir Wills has obtained
hybrids between the Zonal and Ivy-leaved, species pro-
bably as distantly related. He tells me that he hybridised
some thousands of flowers without success, until he thought
of dipping the h}'bridised flowers into water after applying
the pollen, bj- which means he obtained seeds and seed-
lings, two of which, evidently hybrids, are now before the
public under the names of Willsii and Willsii rosea. M}-
experiments in cross-breeding have been numerous, but
having been pursued chiefl\' with m}- own unnamed seed-
lings, which are unknown, I have little that is tangible to
place before }-ou. Two or three cases, however, in which

452 On the Improvement of Plants.

the varieties were afterwards named and sold, may prove
interesting, and give a clue to those who may care to trace
them. " Mrs Pollock," crossed with a green-leaved seedling
Zonal, produced some green-leaved, some golden varie-
gated tricolors, and one golden-edged variety after the
character of Golden Fleece. "Amy Hogg," crossed with
" Crusader," gave the result sought after in " Evening
Star." " Governor," crossed with " Alexandra," also gave
the result sought after in " Clio." " Dr Hogg," crossed
with "Rebecca," again gave the result sought after in
" Pcean." " Model," crossed with " Firefly," gave also a
form intermediate between the parents, which was after-
wards named " Annibal."

Leaving flowers, let us glance momentarily at fruits. I
have now growing in m}- nurseries a brood of seedling
Strawberries, the result of various crosses, the parentage
on both sides having been carefully preserved. As they
are not yet named, I can only speak of them as seedlings.
Two seedlings raised from " Sir C. Napier," crossed with
'■ Myatt's Pine," are worthless. Of eight seedlings between
" Eleanor " and " Carolina superba," four are worthless ;
one is flat and rough in flavour ; one resembles " Keen's
Seedling " in appearance, but is of a much richer flavour ;
one bears large fruit, remarkable for its solidity, of the
shape of " British Queen," with the fine rich flavour of
"Myatt's Pine;" and one is a full-sized handsome fruit,
of fine colour and good flavour, bearing abundantly, and
of hardy constitution. Two seedlings between "Oscar"
and "Myatt's Pine" are deficient in flavour. Of eight
seedlings between "Sir C. Napier" and "Crimson Queen,"
three are large handsome fruit, solid, heavy, of good colour
and rich flavour ; one is flat and insipid ; one is very acid ;
and three have no prominent character. Of five seedlings
between " Filbert Pine " and " Myatt's Pine," one is large,
of fine flavour, and very juicy ; one is small, of good
colour and flavour, solid, the flesh notwithstanding very
tender ; and three are deficient in flavour, one of which

On the Improvement of Plants. 453

is a prodigious bearer. Four seedlings between " Oscar "
and "British Queen " are all deficient in flavour. Of seven
seedlings from "British Queen," crossed with "La Con-
stante," five are worthless from the fruitist's point of view,
although one is so distinct in habit as to be scarcely like a
Strawberry, and one so positively nauseous in flavour that
it leaves an unpleasant sensation on the palate long after
tasting ; yet from the same fruit and parentage, one is of
good flavour, and another of positively fine flavour. Of
eight seedlings raised from "Admiral Dundas," crossed
with " Crimson Queen," four are small and almost flavour-
less ; two are large handsome fruit, of fine colour and fine
flavour ; one is very late, of pleasant but not rich flavour ;
and one is early, the fruit large, of moderate flavour, and
produced in extraordinary quantities.

I shall now conclude these remarks with a few practi-
cal deductions. We have seen that in the improvement
of races much may be accomplished by mere selection, but
hybridising and cross-breeding, if in some cases and with
some experimentalists unsuccessful, are in the hands of
others shorter and surer roads to the attainment of a given
object. We have seen that our best vegetable physio-
logists are of opinion that hybrids and cross-breds derive
their form and habit from the female, the colour of the
flowers from the male, while the constitution may be
acquired from either parent. This is sometimes, and may
be generally true, but the exceptions are so numerous
that they cannot, according to my experience, be said to
prove the rule. It is generally admitted that the most
perfectly developed flowers and fruits arc the best for the
improver to work upon, and this is, I believe, true as a
rule, although still attended with exceptions. Personally
I have learnt from my labours in this field never to lose
heart or hope. For sixteen years — from 1843 to 1859 — ^
had laboured with such qualified success in raising seed-
ling Roses that I had then minimised the amount of
labour by omitting the costly process, in point of time, of

454 On the Improvement of Plants.

keeping notes of parentage, &c., when in the following
year — -1860 — I was more than compensated for all past
labour by the extraordinary flush of success already
stated. I say, then, to my brother-horticulturists who
ma)- be working in this field — Never despair ; persevere
and wait.

" Let us then be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate ;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labour, and to wait."

iAIy experience in selecting, hybridising, and cross-breeding
tells me that he who is seeking to improve any class of
plants should watch narrowly and seize with alacrity any
deviation from the fixed character, and the wider the
deviation the greater are the chances of an important
issue. However unpromising in appearance at the outset,
he knows not what issues may lie concealed in a variation,
sport, hybrid, or cross-bred, or what the ground newly
broken is capable of yielding under careful and assiduous
cultivation. If we would succeed in this field we must
observe, and think, and work. Observation and experi-
ment are the only true sources of knowledge in Nature,
and while observing and experimenting we should above
all things guard against prejudices.

My remarks have hitherto been chiefly of horticulture,
and addressed to horticulturists. But there are three other
great and important classes of the community who are
deeply interested here — the agriculturist, the manufacturer,
and the merchant, to each of which I would momentarily
address myself

To the agriculturist I would say, You have of late
)-ears practised draining, deep cultivation, and high
manuring, and the increased fertility of your soil has
largely rewarded your industry, enterprise, and skill.
The next step with you is the improvement of the races
of your cereals and root crops. I have in the opening
of this paper shown what you may accomplish by selection

On the Improvement of Plants. 455

merely, but you may do far more by cross-breeding. I
believe that your produce may be improved and increased
by this means beyond what the boldest thinker would at
this moment dare to declare.

The manufacturer is also deeply interested in this
question, in at least so far as the raw material he uses is
drawn from the vegetable kingdom. As the horticulturist
has by selection and cross-breeding increased the size and
substance of his flowers, so may the manufacturer or his
agents, by selecting from other special points of view,
increase the productiveness and strengthen or soften the
fibre of their cotton, flax, hemp, and jute.

Again, if the horticulturist can increase the size and
productiveness, advance or retard the seasons, and im-
prove and vary the flavour of his fruits, why should not
the merchant or his agent do the same with his teas,
coffees, cocoa, and other vegetable productions? There
can be no question here that the one is as open to
modification as the other ; it only requires the thoughtful
interposition of the skilled brain and hand.

Thus we see how vast are the interests here involved,
how rich in prospect the unexplored territory in which the
horticulturist may be said to be the pioneer. The agri-
culturist, the manufacturer, and the merchant should in
their own interests, as well as in the interests of society, at
large, lend him a willing and a helping hand, and he in
his turn should rejoice to find his labours acceptable and
capable of so wide and beneficial a diffusion. I stand
before you this day and declare, what I honestly believe,
that we are here waiting but working at one of the chief
gateways of a grand Temple of Science, and not many
years will elapse ere many of its secrets will be revealed, to
the surprise, delight, and profit of the human race.

456 On Colour in Tree Sci£Nery.

ON COLOUR m THE TREE SCENERY OF OUR
GARDENS, PARKS, & PLEASURE GROUNDS.

[Read a f the Horticultural Congress at Oxford, July 2\st, 1870].

LAST year I had the privilege of reading a paper at the
_^ Manchester Congress of this Society " On the Im-
provement of Plants," which subject may be said properly
to belong to the " Science" of gardening. To-day I have
the pleasure of submitting to you my thoughts " On Colour
in the Tree Scenery of our Gardens, Parks, and Pleasure
Grounds," and here find myself dealing more directly with
the " Art " of gardening. While fully recognising the
progress both in the art and science of gardening which
has taken place in my day, I yet think that in this out-
lying but important province our professors have not made
so free and effective a use as they might have done of the
various tints of foliage which are to be found amongst
trees and shrubs.

Lest I should be misunderstood, permit me to state at
the outset that I hold the prevailing green with which the
earth is clothed to be the best colour that could have been
devised for the purpose, as blue is the most appropriate
colour for the sky. But the sky, which is beyond our
reach and power, is naturally subject to constant and con-
siderable variation, and is singularly free from monotony.
It is not altogether or long together of one colour. There
are light fleecy clouds continually breaking" up the hemi-
sphere of blue, varying in substance and colour; sometimes
hanging motionless, but oftener sailing noiselessly along
more or less rapidly and every moment changing in form.
Then there are the dark thunder clouds, and the golden,
silvery, purple, and roseate hues which often give both life
and brilliancy to the morning and evening sky.

But we have the power given unto us to vary and
adorn the surface of the earth, and I would here invite
public attention and invoke the artist's aid on behalf of

On Colour in Tree Scenery. 457

colour. There appears to me a monotony on the face of
our English landscapes arising from one uniform and all
pervading colour — green. This monotony I would seek
to remove by the introduction of trees with purple, white,
and yellow leaves. With the same end in view I would
also plant more freely the transitory red, yellow, brown,
and purple tints of spring and autumn, supplementing
these efforts by the introduction of berry-bearing trees —
trees with white, red, black, and yellow berries, and trees
with white, red, and yellow bark for winter ornament.

With these preliminary remarks I shall endeavour to
show, first, that the object I seek is desirable ; next, that
it is attainable ; and shall conclude with a few general
remarks and brief examples in support of my views.

I am free to confess that there is nothing in the whole
range of nature which yields me more pleasure than the
contemplation of a beautiful landscape. To stand on
some elevated spot in the English or Scotch lake district,
for example, and look down on a broad and varied ex-
panse of country ; to row upon the surface of the lakes
and look upwards upon the towering masses of rock and
tree ; to trace the lake shores, the lake islets, and water-
falls, is, I believe, a recreation of a higher intellectual and
more aesthetic order than the many who have not prac-
tised it might at first sight take it to be. A highly
cultivated American gentleman once said to me, "England
is a series of varied and improved landscapes. Now and
then in remote districts one catches a glimpse of nature
unaided and unadorned, but generally throughout the
length and breadth of the land high art has been so
skilfully applied as to effect the artist's object without
leaving behind any traces of the artist's hand. But I miss
the brilliant autumnal glow of the American forests; your
landscapes lack colour." This very nearly expresses m}-
ideas of English scenery ; the natural beauties of our
landscapes have in many cases been improved or de-
veloped at a sufficiently distant date that the old and

458 On Colour in Tree Scenery.

the new have become blended in one harmonious whole,
leaving no strong lines of demarcation between the work
of nature and the work of art, but the landscapes arc
generally cold and monotonous — wanting in variety and
colour.

If we proceed to analyse a beautiful English landscape
we shall find it composed of diversity of surface, light and
shade, wood, water, rock, and many minor accessories,,
which may or may not be present either singly or in
combination. These I mention, not to dwell upon, but to
dismiss as the recognised features of the landscape. My
business at present is with tree scenery, and principally
with one feature of it — colour. Our earth tints are pro-
minently neutral, often sombre, and to correct this should,
in my judgment, be a leading idea with the true artist in
landscape gardening. A piece of country however beauti-
ful by nature, a garden however perfectly planned, yields
more or less pleasure according to the skill and taste
exercised in the planting, just as the proportions and
beauty of the human form are improved or otherwise by
the style of dress — trees, shrubs, and flowers constituting
in fact the exterior dress of the garden and the landscape.
Now, it must be patent to those even who are but slightly
acquainted with this subject, that the labour of our plant
collectors abroad and plant cultivators at home have
placed within our reach many trees with coloured leaves —
purple, yellow, and white of various shades — and I hold
that these colours should be so blended with the prevailing
green as to remove the monotony which at present obtains.
That the effect of colour in the landscape would be gene-
rally appreciated was once brought home to me in a
peculiar manner. I was riding in company with some
friends through the park at Chatsworth in Derbyshire.
Suddenly we sighted a tree with reddish-brown leaves
rising from the green sward and surrounded at some
little distance with the usual green trees. Remote as it
was, we could not at the moment make it out, but all

On Colour in Tree Scenery. 459

admired it and agreed that it was at once telling and
beautiful. Led by admiration as much as by curiosity
we approached it, and discovered a dead tree retaining its
reddish-brown withered leaves.

I think that any cultivated observer who may dwell
ever so briefly on the tree scenery of Great Britain will
admit that the contrasts of colour, weak and little varied
as they generally are, present to him one of its most
pleasing features. If, then, the slight existing variation of
colour, restricted principally to the contrast between light
and dark green, is admitted to be an element of beauty,
may we not justly infer that we should gain something if
we varied and increased the contrasts by the use of
stronger and more distinct colours ? I think, then, that I
may fairly assume, that on a free and full consideration of
this subject, it will be generally admitted that a greater
variety of colour would be an improvement in the tree
scenery of our English gardens, parks, and landscapes.

I have next to show that the object I seek is attainable.
The arrangement of the colours of flowers in the flower
garden has of late years been worked out with wonderful
skill and effect. What were our flower gardens in this
respect thirt}' years ago ? I remember that results
predicted then were considered impossible by the man\-,
although they have been accomplished and more than
accomplished long ago. Now, as far as I am aware, no one
has yet applied the same principles in the arrangement of
trees and shrubs with coloured leaves. I ha\-e been told
that it cannot be done. But after a long study of the
question and numerous experiments, I have come to a
different conclusion, which I submit with all deference to
those who think otherwise. I believe that here, as in the
flower garden, there only needs a beginning and progress
will be rapid and success certain.

Many years ago I formed a collection of pictorial trees
and shrubs, and planted them closely together with the
view of watching their development and eradicating those

46o On Colour in Tree Scenery.

kinds Avhich might prove undesirable on more mature
acquaintance. This plan I rigorously pursued, and now
find myself in possession of a select list which I believe is
sufficient to carry out all that I shall advance.

In addition to the ordinary or prevailing green, I find
that I have five colours or tones of colour with which to
work: — (i) Light green; (2) dark green; (3) reddish
purple; (4) yellow or golden; (5) white or silvery; and
these may be combined in a variety of ways. Dark bluish
green has a good effect when placed in contrast with light
yellowish green ; white with dark green ; reddish purple
with light green ; reddish purple with yellow ; yellow with
dark green. And these contrasts by no means exhaust our
resources. I merely quote them from among a number of
experiments which I have actually tried and found agree-
able to my taste. I have indeed no intention here of
laying down any precise or definite rules for the application
of these principles. I aim at no more than to show that
the materials in colour exist, leaving their combination to
be dealt with by the ingenuity and industr}^ of a cultivated
taste.

It would be chimerical to suppose, unfair to expect,
that any person taking this subject in hand without
previous study or without the fullest acquaintance with
the materials which exist — some of them newly introduced
— would at once realise any great measure of success. To
such an individual the scheme would probably appear
Utopian. He might by a momentary effort call up in his
mind the short list of old and familiar trees with purple,
white, and yellow leaves — the purple beech, the white
poplar, the variegated Turkey oak, and some few others
still among the most valuable, but so few in number that
he would dismiss the subject as impracticable. But unless
familiar with the black and yellow oaks, the yellow elm,
acacia, and alder, the white-leaved Acer Negundo, and the
many beautiful maples recently introduced from Japan, the
host of richly variegated trees only now becoming plenti-

On Colour in Tree Scenery. 461

ful — in a word, unless familiarly acquainted with the latest
introductions of this kind — he would, I submit, be drawing
his conclusions from incomplete information.

In order to bring my views to a practical test, I have
here a diagram, in which I have merely sought to obtain
the identical colours existing among trees and shrubs, and
must refer you to the specimens exhibited to show that
these colours really exist. This diagram, hastily executed,
will perhaps also give some idea of the effect of the
arrangement of the colours which we possess*. The light
green here is supposed to represent the Larch, the dark
green the Yew, the reddish purple the purple Beech, the
yellow the golden Oak, and the white the variegated Acer
Negundo. There is also introduced here the ordinary
green of nature, which may fairly be taken as the ground-
work of our operations. Now, I am well aware, and would
not ignore the fact, that the colours of the leaves of trees
are influenced in some degree by cultivation and soil, but
this does not affect my argument, as in the majority of
cases they still bear the same relation to each other.

I have now to offer a few general remarks with brief
examples in support of the views which I have advanced.
Let us remember that we are working with pictorial trees
for pictorial effect. We have spring pictures, summer
pictures, autumn pictures, and permanent pictures.
Summer and permanent pictures are the most valuable
because of their greater durability. Specimens of these
are before you, and a list of their names will be given by
and by (st^e pp. 236 and 251.) The materials for spring and
autumn pictures can only be shown in spring and autumn.
The varying tints of the unfolding leaves of some trees
in spring, and the glowing colours of the leaves of other
trees in autumn, must be familiar to all observers, and
these trees are beautiful in their seasons, whether regarded
individually or in combination. But the\- are transitory.

* It is not considered necessary to reproduce this.

462 On Colour in Tree Scenery.

The varied and telling colours of spring, as a rule, quickly
subside into the universal green, and the bright leaves of
autumn fall speedily before the frost and gales of that
season. Yet both are desirable. The warm red and
yellow tints of the unfolding leaves are peculiarly cheering
in the cold days of early spring, and should be introduced
freely when planting. The splendour of the American
forests in autumn is a theme on which many travellers
have loved to dwell, and leaves from these forests may
be seen in that admirable Institution, the South Kensing-
ton Museum. The trees we have long had under culti-
vation, and they are not only available, but capable of
being wrought up with magnificent effect in this country.

Among the most effective of spring trees, the Corstor-
phine Plane (Acer Pseudo Platanus lutescens) (yellow), the
Acer colchicum rubrum (red), the Purple Horse Chestnut
(^sculus Hippocastanum purpureum) (purple), and the
Silver Poplar (Populus argentea) (white) may be instanced.
The shades of green at this season are also innumerable,
although for the most part gradually subsiding into one
nearly uniform tint.

The brightest among the leaves of autumn are perhaps
the Scarlet Oak (Quercus coccinea), the Liquidambar (L.
Styraciflua), the Stag's-horn Sumach (Rhus typhina), the
Ostrya virginica, and several varieties of Cherries, Pears,
and Maples ; these usually die ofT bright red. Of yellow
shades may be instanced the Lombardy and Ontario
Poplars (P. fastigiata and P. candicans), the Norway
Maple (Acer platanoides), the Horse Chestnut (^sculus
Hippocastanum), the Salisburia adiantifolia, the Lime(Tilia
europaea), the Tulip tree (L. tulipiferum), the White Mul-
berry (Morus alba) the Gleditschia triacanthos, the Mag-
nolia tripetala, the Juglans amara, the Acer Negundo, the
Kolreuteria paniculata, the Birch (Betula alba), and certain
varieties of Cherries, Pears, Thorns, and Maples.

As examples of planting for pictorial effect, nothing
can be more beautiful in the flower garden than pillars

On Colour in Tree Scenery. 463

or columns of Ivy, provided that they be appropriately
placed. Here we have dark green, light green, green
blotched with gold, and green edged with silver, all
calculated to form permanent pictures.

Standard and pyramidal golden Yews and golden
Hollies also form beautiful permanent pictures in the
garden. All permanent pictures are of course also winter
pictures, but the common Beech (Fagus sylvatica) deserves
special notice ; it holds its reddish-brown leaves through-
out the winter, and this colour stands in warm and
beautiful contrast with the Pines and other evergreens at
that season. The white bark of the Birch, the white,
purple, and yellow bark of certain species of Willows, the
red and yellow berries of the Holly, and the yellow and
black berries of the Privet are also invaluable for winter
decoration.

I have often admired the effect of three large trees
placed in juxtaposition in a garden in my neighbourhood,
whether by accident or design I have no means of ascer-
taining. Near the bend of a river is a Weeping Willow,
the pale green drooping branches appearing in the distance
almost to sweep over the stream. Behind rises a mass of
the dark feathery Yew, the plumes of foliage waving in
beautiful contrast of motion, form, and colour. Still
farther behind, there appears in spring rigid masses of
Apple blossom, the snow-white crimson tinted flowers
blending in beautiful contrast with the dark and pale
green of the Yew and Willow. Here we have the ever-
green and deciduous forms in combination, but they are
most effective as a spring or summer picture.

Of all the errors to be avoided in the association of
colours I would caution the planter against an arrange-
ment that should present a "spotty"' appearance. Broken
lines, or irregular shapes of colour, appear to me more
desirable in forming plantations or belts, than figures with
a more easily definable outline. On the face of belts or
woods, three or five plants of a kind may be planted in a

464 On Colour in Tree Scenery.

group, the outline being so broken that there are bays
and promontories. In parks and gardens, single trees or
groups of trees, each group of a distinct colour or shade of
colour, would seem most appropriate. In working out
these ideas we must never lose sight of harmony, remem-
bering, however, that there are harmonies of contrast
as well as of analogy.

There is another point which should on no account be
lost sight of There are some trees, the effect of which
is beautiful close to the eye, but which lose their distinc-
ti\e character in the distance. Such are more appropriate
to the garden, where brought in close contact with the eye,
than in the distant landscape. But there are others which
lose little or nothing from a distant view, and these facts
must be taken into account and acted on when planting.
As a rule, trees with variegated leaves are best placed
near to the eye, and those of one uniform tint are most
effective in the distance.

I have already instituted a comparison between the
colours of flowers and the colours of leaves, but there
is an important difference in them which I must not omit
to mention. The colours of flowers are often so bright
and pronounced that certain of them cannot be judiciously
brought into close contact ; they require an intervening
mass or line of some intermediate or neutral colour
to render the effect agreeable and satisfactory. Not so,
however, with the colours of trees ; they are so subdued in
tone that the association of the strongest colours does not
produce violent contrast. Again, for this very reason —
the colours of leaves being less bright than those of flowers
— it becomes necessary here to accomplish by breadth of
colour that which with flowers is effected by brilliancy of
tone. Thus it follows that great breadths of scenery may
be dealt with most effectively. It is indeed a mere ques-
tion of outlay, and nothing more, whether variety of colour
shall or shall not be extended from the garden to the outer
pleasure ground and shrubberies, the hills of plantations,

On Colour in Tree Scenery. 465

the outskirts of woods and forests, and the most distant
mountains and plains.

[For lists of trees and shrubs classified under the head-
ing of "Colour," see pp. 236, 251.]

ON FORM IN TREE SCENERY.

S^Read at the Hortkidticral Congress at Birmingham, June 27th 1872.]

THE bountiful Giver of all good gifts has distributed
His favours with a more equal hand than those
unaccustomed to the study of Nature and Nature's laws
might reasonably suppose. Man, the last and crowning
act of creative power, wisdom, and beneficence, is variously
endowed both mentally and physically ; one excels in
action, another in counsel ; to one is given great muscular
strength, to another power of endurance ; and as we
descend step by step in the scale of creation, we shall find
the same rule obtain. Among birds, those endowed with
the richest plumage seldom possess the highest gifts of
song. We gaze in admiration on the plumage of the
Peacock, and we listen in ecstacy to the song of the

Nightingale

There is more variety in the vegetable than in the
animal kingdom, but in the latter there is motion, which
compensates or more than compensates for the greater
variety in the former. Among trees, the colours of leaf
and petal are less vivid and durable than in plants of
lowlier growth ; among flowers, the most attractive in size
and colour seldom emit the most grateful odours; the
Hollyhock, the Dahlia, the Camellia appeal irresistibly
to the eye, but the lowly Violet, the Daphne, the
Mignonette, whose flowers one might pass a thousand
times unnoticed, fill the air with sweet and delicate
perfumes. Even among Roses, the intermediate or pale

2 1)

46^5 On Form in Tree Scenery.

colours, of which examples are found in the old Provence
and Tea-scented, are usually the sweetest.

In a paper " On Colour in the Tree Scenery of our
Gardens, Parks, and Pleasure-Grounds," read at Oxford
in the summer of 1870, to which this paper may be
considered the sequel, I endeavoured to show that the
absence among trees of the bright colours found in the
flowers of plants of lowly growth was in part compensated
for by the greater breadth and bulk of trees and shrubs.
The subject then was colour, the subject now is form ; and
apart from the utility of trees for shelter, timber, and
various domestic purposes, the almost infinite variety in the
outline, in the arrangement of the spray, and in the sizes
and forms of the leaves, places the tree world in a higher
position than it might at first sight appear to occupy.

Taken from the decorative point of view, tree scenery
may, I think, be divided into the beautiful and the
picturesque. As an example of the beautiful may be
instanced the avenue of Horse Chestnuts in Bushey Park ;
as an example of the picturesque, the groups of Scotch
Pines on Hampstead Heath. Variety is the leading
characteristic of the tree world. That this has not been
recognised, or at least not generally acted on by those to
whose lot has often fallen the disposal of our trees and
shrubs in what is called ornamental planting, has long
been a settled conviction with me. With your permission
I shall therefore endeavour to unfold my views on this
subject, in the expectation that I shall be enabled to
establish this position, and thus lead to higher and more
artistic arrangements in the tree scenery of the future.

I shall speak, first, of the form or outline of the
individual tree ; secondly, of the form or arrangement of
the spray ; thirdly, of tJie form of the leaves.

I. Of the Form or Outline of the Individual

Tree.

I have here diagrams of five of the most distinct forms : —

On Form in Tree Scenery.

467

^"^"^

f5;

mT^^^

1. Irregular. Ex. The Scotch Pine (fig. i).

2. Round-headed. Ex. Robinia inermis (fig. 2, p. 468).

3. Laminate. Ex. The Silver Fir (fig. 3, 469).

4. Columnar. Ex. The Pyramidal Oak (fig. 4, p. 470).

5. Weeping. Ex. The Weeping Willow(fig. 5, p.471).

468

On Form in Tree Scenery.

These I shall call representative trees, as a great
portion of the tree world may be classed under one or
other of these forms. There are, however, many inter-

mediate forms in which two or more of the above are
found combined. For instance, the Oak and the Beech
partake partly of the irregular and partly of the round-
headed ; the Cedar of Lebanon, especially when old, stands

On Form in Tree Scenery.

469

between the round-headed and the laminate ; the Hert-
fordshire Elm is both irregular and weeping, and is from
an early age one of the most picturesque of large trees.
Then some trees undergo modifications of form as they
pass from youth to middle and old age ; but these are

Fig. 3-

only so many additional points of variety which the
skilful planter will know how to seize and make con-
formable to his plans.

Now I think a very little consideration will lead to
the conclusion that with the variety shown to exist under
this one head only, very little excuse can be found for

470

On Form in Tree. Scenery.

the tameness and monotony often met with in English
plantations. I can well understand the reasons for, and
have often admired the effect of, large masses of any one

Fig. 4.

of these forms being thrown together under special cir-
cumstances. Further, nothing can be more correct or
beautiful than a group or groups composed of any one
of these when judiciously placed, and rising in harmony

On Form in Tree Scenery.

471

with each other or with the natural features of the land-
scape. What I find fault with, and wish to see altered,
is the unseemly jumble of trees so often met with. No
guiding principles having been observed in planting,
things beautiful in themselves are comparatively dull
and uninteresting' through the want of thought or taste

^.-^^^m

in their arrangement, or even displeasing through in-
congruity.

I am quite ready to admit that it is easier to condemn
that ^\■hich exists than to lay down any precise rules by
which the uninitiated may attain the end which seems to
me so desirable. I seek variety and contrast, but it must
be variety and contrast with harmony. The professional

472 On Form in Tree Scenery.

man, when engaged to put the finishing touch on a garden
or estate by planting, if properly imbued with the
importance of his task, should master all the natural
beauties and defects of the spot to be dealt with, including
its accompaniments and surroundings, and then study to
increase the beauties and remedy the defects.

Whether the beautiful or the picturesque predominate
naturally, it should not be reduced, but heightened by
every possible effort of art, and only varied by the intro-
duction of other features of beauty in such manner that
they may not rival or overpower but remain subservient to
this dominant natural feature.

Allow me to offer a practical illustration of this
remark. I was recently engaged to make suggestions
for the improvement of a park which had at no distant
period been increased in size by the addition of some
outlying fields, and had never, so far as I could observe,
been brought under the hands of the landscape gardener.
The dominant feature observable in this old park was the
picturesque ; the surface was variously undulated, and
there was a broad sedgy stream with hoary trees over-
hanging its banks winding through it and quitting it
near the principal entrance. Here was a lodge to which
the picturesque extended, but not in the fulness of beauty
to be found within. By planting groups of some of our
most beautiful and more regular trees around this build-
ing a new feature was introduced, affording variety and
contrast without destroying or marring the effect of the
natural beauties within. Again, when adding the fields
to the park, the hedge- rows which had been left greeted
the sight on every hand with hard unsatisfactory lines of
trees in positions and of a character quite out of harmony
with the surroundings. These lines were broken by
removing some of the trees, and grouping around others.
Again, in the immediate vicinity of the mansion, where
there was an impression of barrenness, symmetrical trees
were introduced, working those of irregular forms out-

On Form in Tree Scenery, 473

wards towards the park in such manner that the pictur-
esque and beautiful were gradually and insensibly blended.
I offer this as a general example of the way in which
trees ma}' be used so as to produce the best effect in the
landscape.

When planting in the vicinity of a dwelling-house,
whether it be a mansion or a cottage, we often find our-
selves under considerable restraint, because the form of
the trees requires to be in harmony with the character of
the building. It may not be necessary to consider every
style or order of architecture as requiring a different assort-
ment of trees ; for our purpose it suffices to divide the
whole into perpendicular, of which the Gothic may be
given as an example, and the horizontal, which is fitly
exemplified by the Italian style. Irregular, round-headed,
and weeping trees are in character with either, but the
laminate and round-headed are most pleasing to my mind
in connection with the perpendicular, and the columnar
and irregular with the horizontal. If the building be low,
tall-growing trees should be avoided, and the round-
headed, the laminate, and weeping are especially desirable,
because they direct the eye horizontally and downwards.
It should ever be borne in mind that the presence of lofty
trees in proximity to a low building has the undesirable
influence of still further depressing it.

As examples of the grouping of these representative
trees, the irregular and columnar and the irregular and
weeping will, I think, be most frequently available in
association. Two Scotch Pines and a Weeping Willow,
or a Scotch Pine and two Lombardy Poplars, make a
nice group when variety of form, colour, and character
are required. There is, however, scarcely any limit to the
variety that might be obtained by the combination of
these representative trees, but to make the best of them
two things are necessary — a wide knowledge of the nature
and appearance of the trees, and a correct taste in order
to combine them in such a way that they are not only

474

On Form in Tree Scenery.

in contrast, but also not out of harmony with each other
or their surroundings. When the irregular or varied
dominate in the surrounding tree scenery, separate groups
of the "round-headed," the "laminate," the "columnar,"
and the " weeping" may often be sparingly introduced
with g-ood effect.

Fig. d—The Oak.

2. On the Form or Arrangement of the Spray
AND Ramification of Trees.

This is a matter of less importance than the form or
outline of the tree, because it is only distinguishable when
immediately under the eye, whereas the outline of the tree
produces an effect on the landscape from a considerable
distance. For some purposes trees are divided into ever-
green and deciduous, the former holding their leaves
perpetually, the latter losing them annually on the
approach of winter. Although the spray and ramification
varies considerably and equally in both, we need here only

On Form in Tree Scenery.

475

entertain the question so far as it appertains to deciduous
trees, as the evergreen trees, retaining their leaves per-
petually, the spray and ramification are almost concealed
by them.

I give here examples of the spray and ramification of
four trees — the Oak, the Elm, the Lime, and the Beech
(figs. 6, 7, 8, 9) — having chosen them because they are
well-known and readily accessible. It should, however,

Fig. -J— The Elm.

Fig. 8 — The Lime.

be remarked that there are others differing as widely in
form and character as these.

To those who find an interest in tracing the wonderful
variety in the vegetable kingdom, there is here an ample
field for observation and reflection. Scarcely two trees,
scarcely two branches, can be found alike.

The change of a deciduous tree from the leafy to the
leafless state is a change in form and character, and hence
a new sort of variety. A deciduous tree in leaf is seen in
outline only ; when denuded of its leaves it shows also in

476

On Form in Tree Scenery.

section. Deciduous trees are not only more varied in
character than evergreens, but they are also more pictorial.
There is the early and late budding of the leaves, the
varied tints of which give colour to the tree scenery of
spring ; there is the fully developed leaves of summer ; the
changing and brilliant hues of autumn ; and lastly, the
interesting variety of the spray and ramification visible in
the leafless trees in winter.

Permit me to remark here that in my judgment there

9 — The Beech.

is no gain in rejecting either evergreen or deciduous trees
when planting. Evergreens, as a rule, are massive and
heavy ; deciduous trees are light. Evergreens alone pro-
duce gloom ; deciduous trees alone baldness — a judicious
combination of the two is productive of higher results
than can be obtained by the exclusive use of either.

3. On the Form of the Leaves.

The effect of the form of the leaves, although more
marked than that of the spray and ramification, is not
appreciable at any very great distance. It is, however,
a most important feature from a near point of view. In

On Form in Tree Scenery,

477

garden scenery it is scarcely less important than the form
or outline of the tree. Leaves arc numerously divided by
botanists, but for our purpose the following divisions seem
to suffice: —

1. Needle-shaped — Pine (fig. lo).

2. Lanceolate — Willow (fig. ii).

3. Round-lcavcd — Lime (fig. 12).

4. Cut-leaved — Plane (fig. 13, p. 478).

5. Compound — Black Walnut (fig. 14, p. 478).

Fig. 10.

Fig. II.

Fig. 12.

Here, as in the outline of the tree, the intermediate
forms are innumerable. In garden and shrubber}-
planting a most complete effect may be produced by an
arrangement founded on the forms of the leaves alone.
But so rich and various is the material at our command
here that it is by no means necessary to restrict ourselves
to this one feature, trees and shrubs often producing
beautiful summer flowers, coloured spring and autumn
leaves, or winter berries.

With regard to the arrangement of trees and shrubs
according to their leaves, violent contrasts should, I think,
be avoided. I would not place a tree with needle-shaped
leaves in juxtaposition with one bearing large round or
heart-shaped leaves. For example, a Scotch Pine (needle-
shaped) and a Willow (lanceolate) in association, would
please me better than a Scotch Pine and a Lime (round-

478

On Form in Tree Scenery.

leaved). Some compound leaves associate well enough
with the needle-shaped, and others produce a better effect
associated with the round or cut leaved. The lanceolate
is perhaps the most useful and accommodating form, as it
stands well in contact with almost any of the others.
Any one desirous of obtaining a full and accurate know-
ledge of this art would, however, gain more correct views
in a single hour by walking among the objects to be dealt
with, and placing them, mentally or otherwise, in juxta-
position, than could be conveyed by a week's writing or
talking.

I will give two or three instances where I have been
enabled to some extent to carry out the views I have

Fig- 13-

endeavoured to enunciate, and these may be inspected by
any who may be inclined to pursue the subject.

In carrying out improvements in the Temple Gardens,
London, it was required of me to hide from the view
of the Parliament Chamber a block of unmeaning buildings
on the other side of the river. The variety of trees was
limited by the climate of London ; and further, a huge
Catalpa stood in the way — a tree of historic fame. As
this could not be removed, the round formal head of the
Catalpa was brought in closest contact with trees of
irregular form, and its broad leaves were associated with

On Form in Tree Scenery. 479

trees bearing compound leaves. Around it were grouped
the Ailantus, Horse Chestnut, and Mountain Ash, with
an undergrowth of Aucuba, Phillyrea, silver Euonymus,
and Box, parted by various deciduous flowering small trees
and shrubs, as Lilacs, flowering Currants, double Sloes,
double flowering Peaches, and the like.

I have recently been engaged by the Metropolitan
Board of Works to carry out improvements at Hamilton
Place, London. Here again I was limited in my choice of
trees and shrubs by the climate of London. Evergreens
and shrubs were arranged as to form and colour so far as
it was possible to do so under the circumstances. A line
of trees planted by the side of the railings bounding Park
Lane were planted as follows : — Scarlet Horse Chestnut
and Mountain Ash alternately ; Turkey Oak, Mountain
Ash, Acacia, and Thorn in succession ; and again Thorn,
Mountain Ash, Acacia, Laburnum, and Thorn in
succession. Here the undergrowth was formed of ever-
greens and deciduous shrubs, variously mixed, to make as
agreeable a contrast as possible in form and colour with
the surrounding plantations.

The most complete piece of planting which I have
recently had the opportunity of effecting may be seen at
Hatfield Park, a seat of the Marquis of Salisbury. This
consists of a belt of shrubs and trees running by the side
of a lake. My instructions here were to make colour
rather than form the dominant feature, although the latter
was to be taken into account. The trees in groups ran
much as follows : — Scarlet Oak, White Maple, Scarlet
Maple, Variegated Turkey Oak, Purple Beech, Golden
Oak, Variegated Elm, Silver Poplar, Golden Willow
The shrubs and evergreens in masses succeeded each other
in the following order : — Mahonia japonica, Silver Holly,
Cerasus pseudo-cerasus, C. caucasica, Variegated Box,
Juniperus ericoides. Thuja aurea, Ilex balearica. Yews,
Mahonia Aquifolium, Juniperus chinensis, Aucuba japonica,
Green Holly, Berberis Darwinii, Portugal Laurel, Coton-

48o On Form in Tree Scenery.

easter, Green Box, Gold Holly, Laurustinus, Phillyrea,
Thuiopsis borealis, Portugal Laurel. Small groups of
deciduous shrubs, as Purple Nut, Golden Spiraea, Purple
Euonymus, Hippophae, Purple Berberis, Shepherdia, and
the like, were also introduced at intervals among the above
for the sake of colour. These are now in their second
year's growth, and require time to realise the intended
object ; but the effect, whether viewed in close proximity
or from the opposite shore of the lake, has attracted the
notice and received the commendation of some of our best
garden artists.

[For lists of trees and shrubs classified under the
heading of "form," see pp. 231-243.]

A PEEP AT THE PAEIS FLOWEE MAEKET.

^^Fro}n " The Florist^' November 1850,/. 27S.]

NO lover of flowers who visits the French capital
should fail to spend a morning at the flower
market. Though somewhat different in character from
similar exhibitions in our own country, it is certainly in
no respect inferior. I was in Paris on the last three days
of July — days remarkable in the political history of that
city — and so agreeable were my reminiscences of former
visits that I resolved to spend the early part of one of
those fete-days at the Marche atix Fleiirs. Accordingly
I arose at the dawn of day, and quitting my hotel in the
Rue de Rivoli was soon at the Qiiai aux Flejirs, where the
market is held. Long before I had reached the desired
place, I was reminded of my approach by the return of
earlier visitors. The thrifty housewife, with a heliotrope
under one arm and a rose beneath the other, was moving
with a brisk step, her affections, pro tern., divided between
the darlings of her choice, herself apparently unconscious
of the busy scene which surrounded her. Then the work-

A Peep at the Paris Flower Market. 481

man, who had risen long before the hours of labour, in
order that he might present to the sharer of his toils a
fresh and sweet token of his affection and esteem, was
bearing homeward a less costly offering in the shape of a
stock or a pot of musk. How refining and moralising
must be the influence of this love of flowers ! I wish it
were more general among labourers in our own land !

But I was aroused from reflection by my arrival at
the market, which indeed presented a busy scene. It is
a large paved square, planted with rows of acacia trees,
whose soft and elegant foliage, trembling in the breeze,
harmonised with the animated scene they overshadowed.
In the centre of this square was the bureau, where I
imagined the market-keeper dwelt, with the view of
preserving order and taking toll. Near each end was a
fountain, surrounded with a basin of water, apparently
constructed for use as well as ornament. Around these
and the bureau were lounging men in blouses, with large
baskets, flat at one side to fit the back, lying at their feet
waiting to carry off purchases. There was a walk in the
centre of the square, and the plants were arranged on
either side to face the walk. The stalls, which were
principally kept by women, who were enjoying their
morning's repast of bread and fruit, were set out with
order and neatness. There were Oranges, Oleanders,
Magnolias, Pomegranates, Roses, IMyrtles, Carnations,
Balsams, Cockscombs, Tuberoses, Fuchsias, Verbenas,
Amaranths, Mignonette, Marigolds, Asters, and indeed
almost every plant of the season, mingled together in
sweet and inextricable confusion. The plants certainly
were not large ; they were rather close and compact, laden
with blossoms, whose odours arose on every air we
breathed. Then the vast quantity of a sort, each
seemingly a counterpart of the rest, so nicely surrounded
with white paper, and placed so closely together that the
whole reminded one of a large flower garden.

I could not look on such a variety of beautiful objects
2E

482 A Peep at the Paris Flower Market

without wishing to know the prices at which they were
sold, and these I found were anything but extravagant.
But I paid for my inquisitiveness. I was quickly beset
by the men eii blouse before mentioned, who seemed to
take it for granted that I could not carry home my
purchases. It was in vain I declined their services — "they
were sure Monsieur Anglais would not carry plants
through the streets of Paris ; and if he did not intend to
purchase he would not demand the price." Who could
answer such arguments, backed as they were by the
reiterated cries from the vendors, " Ce n'est pas cher,
monsieur, ce n'est pas cher." No, indeed, thought I, as
I gazed on a pot of Forget-me-Not offered for six sous,
and contrasted its soft and delicate tints with the sunburnt
countenances around, and the horny hands which upheld
it ; it is not dear ; yours is no overpaid occupation ; truly
thou fulfillest the commandment of thy Maker — '' In the
sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat bread." Having pur-
chased this simple plant, and handed it over to the man
en blouse, I was allowed to pursue my course unmolested,
my new acquaintance acting as my protector.

One of the most striking features of the market was
the bouquets. I had noticed them on entering, but I now
caught sight of others, the flowers arranged with exquisite
taste, and which far surpassed all that I had previously
seen. These were lying at one corner of the market,
close to a heap of cut flowers, with which a flower-girl
was busily engaged. Bouquets were made with great
rapidity, and sold as rapidly as made. Retiring to a
respectful distance, sheltered by an acacia tree, I resolved
to watch the movements of the fair bouquetiere, and thus
obtain an insight into the difficult art of nosegay
making.

Although slight variations were introduced, one gene-
ral principle seemed to regulate the whole. One of the
prettiest that was manufactured was round and flat, and
arranged in this manner — The first act was to collect

A Peep at the Paris Flower Market. 483

together a handful of red roses, these formed the centre ;
around them was placed a narrow belt of mignonette ;
then a ring of white carnations ; next in order came a
band of purple pansies ; heliotrope succeeded, not regular
as the preceding, but scalloped ; then came a band of
pelargonium compactum (salmon-coloured) raised a little
above the other flowers ; last in order was a row of
dahlias and roses placed alternately ; and surrounding the
whole, fern leaves. While studying these manoeuvres, I
had resolved, if possible, to impress the knowledge thus
acquired more thoroughly on the mind by making there
and then a bouquet ; and seeing the boquetiere now little
occupied, I stated my wishes, and readily obtained per-
mission.

My instructress being again called off, did not
notice my proceedings until the bouquet was nearly
completed, when to her astonishment she discovered a
fac-simile of her own. " C'est mon habitude, monsieur,"
said she with unfeigned surprise, " c'est mon habitude."
" Et moi, aussi," was my reply. " Ah !" rejoined she,
" c'est la mode Anglaise." Her attention being again
called off in another direction, I had not the opportunity
of undeceiving her, although the gravity with which my
attendant, who was in the secret, regarded the whole pro-
ceeding excited my risibility more than once. But the
pleasant hours passed in the morning air had given me
a keen appetite, and having purchased the bouquet. I
left the market.

THE SHOWER

\From " The Florist,'' J loic 1S55, p. 164.]

OF the many delights experienced in the pursuit of
gardening, no mean pleasure arises from contem-
plating the gradual development of the objects cultivated.
We sow the seed and watch with interest the springing

484 The Shower.

germ ; we adopt the young and tender plant, nurture
it during hardships, trials, and difficulties, and hail with
delight the unfolding of new leaves and blossoms as
it rises to maturity. But beyond the direct pleasures and
influences of gardening it is no small gratification to
consider that it brings one continually in contact with the
beautiful and sublime in nature, and engenders habits
of observation and reflection which enable the mind
to understand and enjoy them. How rich and varying is
the aspect of Nature ! Who can do otherwise than rejoice
amid the new-born glories of spring? What fulness and
strength are exhibited in the manhood of summer ; what
beauty and variety in the mellowed landscapes of autumn !
And even winter is not without its beauties and attrac-
tions ; there is much to interest in tracing the ramification
of the leafless trees, or in watching the silent spread
of frost and snow as it covers them with a mantle of
matchless purity. If we turn from the seasons to the
different times of the day, fresh sources of contemplation
and enjoyment await us ; the leaves and blossoms gemmed
with dewdrops in the early morn, and the rich glow
of expanded flowers in the twilight at eventide are equally
interesting. Then there are new beauties awakened in
nature by the appearance of those phenomena known
as mists, clouds, and storms.

Perhaps there is no time at which a garden offers
so much that is exhilarating and delightful as immediately
after long-deferred rain. The recent dry spring has
placed us in a position to recei\-e with more than usual
gratitude the boon newly conferred. The long prevalence
of dry easterly winds, attended by sunny days and frosty
nights, had been little favourable to the progress of
vegetation. With what joy, then, did we inhale the first
breathings of the soft westerly wind, and with what
avidity did the thirsty earth drink in the falling shower !
The denizens of the garden seemed suddenly to awaken
with new life and beautv, leaves brightening, flowers

The Shower. 485

unfolding, as the warm rain moistened their parched
surfaces.

The recent shower forcibly called to our minds
a scene once witnessed in the forest of that kingly
residence, Fontainebleau. The day was serene and cloud-
less, and after spending the forenoon in the park and
gardens we sought the forest, that we might hold converse
awhile with Nature, beneath the agreeable influences of its
leafy shades. The last place visited, though not the least
interesting, was the " Hermitage," where some convulsion
of remote ages has cast on the surface huge blocks of
sandstone, sometimes bare, and sometimes clothed with
heather. The extensive and beautiful prospect afforded
here induced us to linger till the sun was low in the
horizon, and while closely engaged in the pursuit of
a beautiful green lizard we were startled by the rumbling
of distant thunder, and saw signs portending a coming
storm. The heavens grew blacker by degrees while the
peals of thunder reverberated among the distant hills.
We were six miles from shelter and therefore judged
it prudent to retire, and drove some distance through the
forest, the tempest scowling over our heads, and the
declining sun at our back. As the sun cast a lurid
purplish flame on the tufts of trees occasionally met with
in the glades and openings through which we passed, the
contrast of light and shade was intensely beautiful, and
the whole scene impressively grand and sublime. It was
striking to behold how greatly the aspect of the forest was
changed in the short space of an hour or two. Silence
reigned supreme ; the axe of the woodman, the hum
of insects, and the songs of the feathered tribe were
alike hushed. Some flowers which were seen in the
morning holding their faces up to the sun as it fell
through the trees above, were now folded up, whilst
the forest cattle before scattered were gathered together in
motionless groups or hid from view amid the dense tufts
of trees. Soon the " big rain came dancing to the earth,"

486 The Shower.

and it was indeed a shower fraught with fragrance and
fruitfulness.

The first sign of the breaking up of the storm was a
small spot of blue sky shown by the bursting of a cloud.
From this point the floating vapour which had just before
overspread the whole heavens gradually dispersed, opening
a view into the immensity beyond. It was most interest-
ing to watch the fantastic shapes the clouds assumed, as,
ever changing, they coursed along the sky in taking their
departure, sometimes black, at others thick and murky,
and anon of a fleecy lightness, their upper edges fringed
with gold.

But the warring of the elements ceased, the sky was
again cloudless, the fragrant earth, refreshed by the
shower, presented to the sight trees, herbs, and flowers
bespangled with liquid diamonds. The sound of the
axe again rose upon the ear, and the feathered inhabitants
of the forest issuing from their leafy tenements sat motion-
less on the outer boughs warbling in subdued accents their
evening song.

OLD HUMPHREY.

\F7-07n " The Florist^'' September 1857, p. 261.]

READER, have you ever enjoyed the privilege of
. perusing the writings of "Old Humphrey?"
Whether your answer be " yes " or " no," you may per-
haps feel inclined to ask in return, " What has Old
Humphrey to do with flowers ?" Grant me a little
patience and I think I shall be able to show at least a
remote connection, and one probably bearing on your
interests and pleasures. Let me confess at the outset
that I cultivate flowers for profit, but not for profit only,
for like most lovers of flowers I have my pet plants, which
serve to amuse my leisure hours and conduce to other
than pecuniary gain. In my early youth I was, through

Old Humphrey. 487

the kindness of friends, made acquainted with the works
of "Old Humphrey," and many are the solitary hours I
can look back upon as pleasurably and profitably spent in
their perusal. Manly simplicity of style, earnestness of
purpose, cheerfulness, buoyancy of thought, and confidence
in things unseen constitute the charm of his many writings.
Of the various subjects on which he wrote let us hear what
he had to say on flowers.

"On Flowers."

" How many gratifications do w^e daily enjoy ? and how-
disproportionate is our gratitude to the Father of Mercies
when compared with the number and magnitude of his
favours ! The skies above our heads and the earth be-
neath our feet are beautifully adorned by heavenly hands.
The balmy gale breathes health around us ; the brook and
the crystal spring pour forth their refreshing and invigo-
rating streams. By day the glorious sun gilds the creation
with his beams, and by night the silvery moon and the
glittering stars shed their grateful lustre.

"There are many things which give pleasure to age but
impart no enjoyment to youth ; and others, which afford a
gratification to the young, which the aged cannot share.
The rich can procure pleasures \vhich the poor cannot
obtain, and the poor man enjoys advantages that the rich
cannot purchase ; but some things appear equally to
delight the old and the young, the rich and the poor,
and among these may be mentioned flowers. Yes,
whether flowers flourish in the garden or bloom in the
greenhouse, whether they are scattered over the pathway,
sprinkled on the verdant banks, or widely strewn over the
mountains and the valleys, they never fail to please ; they
impregnate the air with their sweetness, and delight the
eye with their exquisite beauty. Think of the flowers that
you have gathered, smelt, and gazed on, and then ask
yourself if you have been sufficiently grateful for the
pleasures they have afforded you.

488 Old Humphrey.

" Sweet it is to enter the greenhouse filled with elegant
blossoms where the night-blowing Cereus, the Scarlet
Geranium, the Fuchsia, the Lobelia, the Camellia, the
Arum, and the China Rose are mingled with a thousand
other beautiful flowers. And sweeter still to walk in the
garden where, in their appropriate seasons, we may see
the lovely Rose, the gaudy Tulip, the stately Hollyhock,
the magnificent Tiger Lily, the gorgeous Paeony, the
Anemones, Dahlias, Carnations, Rockets, Stocks, and
Marigolds.

"And still sweeter than all, to roam at liberty in the
sunlit fields and sequestered dells where the modest
Primrose, the golden Buttercup, the splendid Foxglove,
the dancing Daffodil, and the sweet-scented Violet are
profusely scattered. Did you ever lie at your length at
mid-day on the side of the broad-breasted mountain
decked with Heath-flower, entranced with silent ecstacy .-^
Or sit on a shady bank gazing on the earliest Primrose of
the year with admiring wonder ? or bend in a retired nook
with intensity of interest over the blue minute flower of
the Forget-me-Not ? If you have not done these things
you know not the pleasure, the joy, the delight that may
be excited by a flower.

" Were the flowers of the world to be taken away, they
would leave a blank in the creation. Imagination cannot
suggest a substitute for them. Be grateful for the gift of
flowers. Look at the stateliest room in the stateliest
mansion ; see it decorated with carvings and gilding, with
paintings and sculpture, with china vases, ornaments, and
costly drapery ; fair though they be, the flowers in the
light wicker-basket on the stand are fairer still.

" ' Though all around be rich and rare,
The flowers are fairest of the fair.
And voiceless, as they are, impart
Sweet music to the eye and heart.'

"The blushing maiden, elegantly dressed, who trips
along )onder with a light heart and sparkling eye, steals

Old Humphrey. 489

ever and anon a glance at the Moss Rose-bud blooming
at her breast. We will not inquire who gathered and
placed it there, though, while his hand was employed, his
heart breathed the prayer that he never might plant any
thorn in her bosom. She could tell you if she would ;
nay, look at her happy face, and you may know without
her telling you, how much of calm delight and peaceful
pleasure may be crowded into the petals of a flower. The
poor aged widow in the almshouse must also have her
flower. Old and poor and lonely as she is, she has not
forgotten the time when she had a garden of her own ;
and now she sticks a bunch of Gilliflowers in her broken
blue jug, and placing it in the window, looks upon it wdth
satisfaction. And why should she not ? May her flowers
bloom, and her hopes of Heaven brighten. The aged
labourer, too, who held the plough in his boyhood, and
who now has near fourscore years on his forehead, when
his blue Sunday coat, with the broad skirts and big
buttons, is taken out of the oaken coffer, cannot wear it
in peace to the house of God unless it has a Sweet William
or Pink in the button-hole."

How simple ! how luminous ! how truthful ! how
practical ! Are not words like these, dropping from the
lips of a good and wise man, worthy of being treasured
up ? Do they not establish — yea, ennoble — a pursuit ?
Here is a man of undoubted goodness and talent, attached
to those things which engage our affections, and whether
we cultivate for profit or pleasure, do we not derive new
impulses from the halo of brilliancy and beauty with
which he surrounds them ?

On a recent visit to Hastings, I determined to make a
pilgrimage to Old Humphrey's tomb. It was a calm
summer's evening, the sky above was cloudless, scarcely
a ripple moved upon the sea ; the sun was slowly setting
in a flood of glory behind the western hill; as I ascended
the steep steps and acclivity of All Saint's churchyard.
Arrived at the summit, a humble stone, erected by the

490 Old Humphrey.

committee of the Religious Tract Society, marks the spot
where peacefully repose his perishable remains. On it
are engraved these words :—

" In his writings
He sought the honour of God,
And the highest happiness
Of mankind."

No body-stone presses on his dust ; the millefoil spreads
its beautiful green leaves over the ground, and the luxu-
riant grass waves silently to and fro beneath the long
shadows of the majestic elms, through which the old
church peers grey and mistily. Before and behind rise the
east and west hills, clothed with furze, and brake, and
bramble ; to the right extends a deep valley, the hill-sides
dotted with houses and trees ; to the left opens the bound-
less sea, murmuring in constant cadence a sweet but
solemn requiem. Beautiful spot ! how calm, how pictur-
esque, how lovely, how completely in harmony with his
character and works. As I stood, transfixed by the beauty
of the prospect, many were the visitors to this old church-
yard, and few departed without pausing and saying a kind
word over the tomb of George Mogridge, better known as
" Old Humphrey."

NATIVE SmaiNG BIEDS.

\;:' From The Florist^' May 1867, p. 98.]

WE have received through the post an anonymous
circular pleading in behalf of " our indigenous
singing birds." In a postscript the sender remarks — " I
hope you will help me in my endeavour to save our
singing birds." Beautiful creatures ! 3^ou have, and always
have had our sympathies, and bold indeed must be the
hand that would venture to molest you in our domain.
Your gay flutterings impart life ; your joyous warblings

Native Singing Birds. 491

music to the otherwise still though beautiful scenes of the
shrubbery and flower garden. What is the country in
spring time without birds ? The carolling of the Lark in
the early morning, the charms of song rising continually
throughout the day, and the whistling of the Blackbird
carried far into the " gloamin'," are no mean sources of
enjoyment to those who can appreciate the charms of a
country life. More than this, it appears to us that birds
have their rigJit of inheritance, as we have ours ; and while
we would jealously guard our own and the fruits of our
labour, we believe that we can do this without destroying
theirs. In other words — there is room for both of us in
this wide, wide world.

Is it true, as is alleged, that our singing birds are
diminishing in number, or are they merely changing their
locality — quitting the immediate vicinity of large cities,
where the craftsman is so rapidly destroying their means
of shelter and food, to find in the distant woodlands and
hedge-rows a more natural and congenial home? The
writer of the paper in question asserts that small birds are
actually diminishing, falling a prey to the gunner, being
shot in mere wantonness, principally by boys, for what in
their lack of wisdom they call " sport." Sport, indeed !
we do not envy the breast that can make sport out of
the sufferings' and death of even the meanest of God's
creatures. To kill for food, to kill in self-defence is justi-
fiable, but to kill for mere "sport" is, to our apprehension,
most blameworth)' ; and while we would plead for the
feathered songsters on the ground of their life, their
beauty, and their melody, we think we can establish a
strong case in their behalf on utilitarian grounds alone.
Some years ago a mania took possession of the French
farmers, and the destruction of birds was carried on with
a cruel success. Myriads of insects immediately infested
the country, which all the ingenuity of man was incapable
of contending with, and equally strong efforts had to be
resorted to, though with slow success, to rehabilitate the

492 Native Singing Birds.

birds so ruthlessly destroyed. Corroborative of this, we
would point to the swarms of caterpillars in the hedge-
rows and gardens round London of late years, and ask, Is
not this reasonably attributable to the diminution in the
number of our small birds ?

On the other hand, we know by bitter experience how
vexatious it is to have our fruits injured or destroyed
before fit for gathering — to have our seed-beds scratched
over immediately that the seed is carefully and laboriously
committed to the ground, or the springing germ destroyed
apparently in mere wantonness. And to this we are
certainly in no humour to submit. But is there no remedy
but death to the destroyer ? Cannot we devise means
of shutting off the depredators by means of netting,
thereby effectually preserving the crops, which is rarely
done by the most uncompromising plans of bird-killing?
Cannot we by such means divert the busy energy of the
birds so as to avoid the harm and secure a greater bless-
ing ? According to our view, there is a waste of thought
and labour in first devising means to destroy the birds,
and then having to provide something in the place of
birds to destroy the insects. Is it not less trouble and
sounder economy to protect our crops from the birds,
and thus compel the latter to search closer for insects
as a means of livelihood ?

In our judgment at least it is about as just to kill birds
for destroying or stealing a few seeds and fruit, as it would
be to hang a man for misdemeanour or petty larceny. If,
as in some places is the case, birds destroy much fruit, let
us remember that they also destroy many insects, for the
fruit season is short, the insect season long. It is well
authenticated that a blackbird or a thrush will destroy
twenty slugs or snails in a day, and we have often been
astonished when watching the proceedings of the smaller
insectivorous birds by a computation of the quantity of
insects a nest of young finches will consume in the course
of a day. Thus, we venture to hope that we have shown

Native Singing Birds. 493

that there is no just ground on which to destroy birds from
any point of view — utilitarian, humanitarian, or aesthetic ;
and in our most severely combative moods we should
remember that —

" He prayeth best who loveth best
All things both great and small,
For the dear God who loveth us
He made and loveth all.'"'

"MY FATHER'S GAEDEN."*

S^Froin " The Florist,'' July 1867,/. 150.]

WE have read through this book with sufficient care
and thought to feel justified in recommending it to
others. It is not a book on gardening in the strict sense
of the term, although there is in it a good deal of informa-
tion on gardening. This in general is accurately conveyed,
the aim of the author being apparently to inculcate habits
of perseverance and honest industry, which he does with
all the grace and energy of his simple, clear, and fascinating
style.

The hero, George Able, the son of a market gardener,
is sixteen years of age at the opening of the tale. His
father's garden, consisting of one acre only, is situate on
the Surrey side of the Thames and is adapted to the
growth of early vegetables, which had afforded the Abies a
decent livelihood for at least two generations. But the
rapid rise of buildings closed them in on every side, and,
notwithstanding their utmost efforts, their vegetables
refused to grow as of old, while the facilities of transit
by railway's from distant and more favoured localities
reduced the prices of their produce, so that they found

* " My Father's Garden," by Thomas Miller. London : George RouHedgc
& Sons.

494 "My Father's Garden."

their income gradually diminishing. To make matters
worse, a new railway takes from them three-fourths of their
acre of ground, which they hold only as yearly tenants, and
for which consequently, they can claim but small compen-
sation. At length poverty fairly stares the worthy family
in the face, when an idea strikes George's mother that he
might build a small greenhouse with some old bricks and
posts that had long lain unused on the ground. Old Able
is almost prostrated by his misfortunes, but George sets to
work, manages to buy the glass, receives a liberal supply
of cuttings from old friends of his father, and grows a
house full of "bedding plants." Our first extract will
serve to show that unlike many youths of his age, George
" calculated," and this habit of mind, no doubt, contributed
largely to his ultimate success : —

" I calculated that if everything went on prosperously
the most I could expect in the shape of return for the
outlay and labour would be from a few bedding-out
plants rather late in the spring, for I had no doubt, well-
known and respected as my father was, he would obtain
plenty of cuttings for me for nothing when he went round
among his friends, for no class of men are kinder to one
another than gardeners, or more ready to help each other
to a job of work."

Sister Jane, who was an invalid, and compelled to lie
down almost constantly through suffering from a spinal
complaint, not only sympathised with and counselled our
hero, but also lent him material aid in preparing cuttings,
which her nimble fingers enabled her to do much more
quickly than he could. As George's small greenhouse did
not wholly occupy his time, he wisely thought he might
try to earn a few shillings elsewhere, which, while it did
not prevent attention to his home duties and the develop-
ment of his plants, gave him what the industrial mind
delights in — constant and useful employment. To this end,
he undertakes to teach gardening to boys in a reformatory.

" The boys tried me very sorely for the first few days,

" My Father's Garden." 495

but when they found I never lost my temper, nor reported
them as I threatened to do if they did not be more atten-
tive and behave better, yet never fulfilled my threat, they
said ' I was a good sort and no gammon,' and I was soon
able to do anything I pleased with them, for I began in the
first instance by selecting them myself, for the head
gardener had long known my father. . . . The first one
I selected was an impudent-looking little rascal, who was
taking a sight at me with the end of his thumb to his nose,
and his four little fingers expanded, but there was such an
expression of good humour in his roguish face, that I
picked him out at once, while he blushed as if ashamed at
what he had done. . . . The second was a sturdy deter-
mined-looking little fellow, who was taken red-handed
with a lump of bacon he had snatched from off the open
window shelf, where it was exposed as if to tempt him,
and who offered no other defence than that he was hungry
and thought it would be jolly to have a frizzle as he had
got some 'toke.' His father was transported for felony.
I picked him out because he looked me full in the eye,
and a smile lighted up his firm square face as I placed
him beside his companion. The third I picked out was a
gipsy boy and had lived in tents. He was a swarthy little
scoundrel, and the expression of his dark eyes was like that
of a rat's. So I went on completing my number, partly
from the impression made upon me by their looks, and
partly from what the head gardener told me of their
precedents and behaviour while they had been in the
reformatory. I had arranged beforehand where they were
to commence and had marked out the ground, for there
were full two acres in all under spade cultivation. Spades
were given to them suitable to their age and strength, and
they were delighted when they got out into the open air."

As George's bedding plants came to maturity he visits
Mr Rose, a rich nurseryman in the neighbourhood, with
whom the family had long dealt for seeds, and does a
satisfactory stroke of business with him. Hut his cus-

496 " My Father's Garden."

tomers were not all of this type. Having as yet no
connection he was glad to sell some of his plants to
hawkers and costermongers. Later on, in a deal for
some "Christines," Mr Rose fairly "walks over" George,
although the latter slily tells him at the onset that he was
going to take them to his rival, Mr Smith. Mr Rose,
however, although a very " hard nail," was not the man to
benefit by others without seeking to render some return,
George, by steady perseverance, honesty, and exercise of
judgment, had improved in circumstances and gained very
general respect, although still short of capital. He wants
another greenhouse, but cannot bring his mind to build it
until he sees clearly how it is to be paid for. In his
difficulty he consults Mr Rose, with whom and his clever
daughter Polly he now stands on pretty easy terms, and
Mr Rose, by advancing money for bedding plants which
he would require, enables him to carry out his views.
After this the circumstances of our hero continue to
improve, and, like most true-hearted, courageous, and
intelligent men, he rises with his circumstances. He is a
great favourite with the opposite sex, especially with Mr
Rose's daughter Polly, and Lily the daughter of an officer
in the volunteers, which corps he has joined with an eye
to business. At length he becomes manager to Mr Rose,
and, as might be expected, marries Polly, and finally
succeeds to the business. Sister Jane, who recovers her
health, marries a clergyman ; while old Able and his wife
are amply provided for, principally through the restoration
of property which, unknown to them, had been purchased
by the grandfather. Old Mrs Able pleads successfully for
a dinner to the street-hawkers on George's wedding-day.
With the following extract we must conclude a much
longer notice than we had intended at the outset. George
is now a rich and influential man : —

" When I look back and consider the humble position
I occupied when a boy — and I think that but for the
encouragement my dear mother gave me, and the path

" My Father's Garden." 497

she directed me into, and which I followed obediently,
I might have all my life remained a poor hard-working
market gardener — when I think of this, I rebel against the
rule which advises us to rest satisfied with the lowest
estate we may be placed in, for I will not believe that it
was ever intended that one endowed with human intelli-
gence was pre-destined to remain stationary.

" There are and ever will be, I suppose, ' hewers of
wood and drawers of water,' and I pity those who remain
contented with such servile occupations. Those who ex-
claim against ambition raise a cry against progress, for it
is that which causes a spirited lad to strive to excel both
in the playground and in the school, and though on the
latter point I speak not from experience, as my education
was of the very humblest, yet I have known many who
won the honour of captaincy in our schools that went out
and distinguished themselves in the world, as they were
sure to do. Had I been kept down and remained only a
common market gardener, I should have striven hard as I
grew older to have carried off a prize at some exhibition
of vegetables for the finest cabbage or lettuce, if I could
have grown nothing better ; for I believe that in the
humblest calling we may for a time follow, anyone with
a right ambition will reach the top of it."

The tale is a sweet picture of family concord, and
points the road of honest and persevering industry as the
surest means of reaching an honourable end. We repeat,
lest we should mislead our readers, that this is not a book
on practical gardening, but it is one, nevertheless, that all
nurserymen and gardeners — young nurserymen and gar-
deners especially — should read. Joyous in spirit, clear,
vigorous, and simple in style, reminding us in this respect
of Swift without any of his coarseness, it bears a forcible
contrast to much of our garden literature. No fine words,
no bungling sentences, no flippancies or conceits — the tale
runs on like a smooth river, flowing through well-kept
banks studded with bright and beautiful trees and flowers,
2F

498 " Mv Father's Garden."

redolent of odours, joyous with song. Our young writers
on gardening, whose style is not yet fixed, could not do
better than take this as their model.

The book is plentifully adorned with pleasing illustra-
tions, and is a marvel of cheapness even in this age of
cheap literature.

HOETIOULTUEAL NOMENCLATURE.

^From " The Florist,'' Dec. \ZbZ,p. 274]

""XT THAT'S in a name?" is a question that has often
V V been raised, and doubtless as often settled —
at least to the satisfaction of the questioner. Now,
whether taken from the political, literary, social, or com-
mercial point of view, there is, we apprehend, much
in a name ; and if we descend from the general to the
particular, we fancy that from a horticultural point of
view it is not a matter of indifference. True it is that our
greatest poet has said, " A Rose by any other name would
smell as sweet," but we take leave to doubt whether it
would always seem as fair. We have observed that cer-
tain names at once take hold of the public, are in every
one's mouth, and make the novelty popular from the
beginning, whereas in other instances the reverse of this is
the case — the high qualities of the novelty require know-
ing to make the name popular.

If we look back on the past, or take the existing
nomenclature of plants, we find much that is incongruous,
and in bad taste. Botanists and horticulturists have alike
erred here. The former have transgressed by adopting a
frightful terminology, by compounding words of different
languages, and by applying words which do not correctly
interpret facts. As an instance of the latter, the word
coccinea (scarlet) is often applied to things crimson,
caerulea (blue), to things purple, and alba (white), to things

Horticultural Nomenclature. 499

which would hardly pass as such in the murky atmosphere
of the sootiest town. The horticulturist, even of our own
time, too often gives the reins to fancy, and after reading
some of our plant catalogues one would almost think that
the days of bright blue Roses and luscious out-of-door
Grapes had at length arrived. It may be pleasant enough,
and sometimes temporarily profitable, to give the reins to
fancy, when the practice not only amuses the mind but at
the same time fills the pockets of the performer. But
there is a large and increasing class of amateur gardeners
in the community — matter-of-fact people — to whom this
method of proceeding is obnoxious. There is delusion in
it. The purchaser acts, hopes, realises, and is disap-
pointed. The object has not fairly answered to the
character given of it. We do not accuse the giver of these
highly-coloured names of wilful exaggeration. The cul-
ture of flowers is not exactly that matter-of-fact occupa-
tion which some would represent it to be. There is poetry
in it, and the ruddy glow of imagination will often
unconsciously tinge the objects over which it delights
to hover ; but if the names are applied with a poet's
license, the descriptions should at least be precise, definite,
and truthful. If horticulture is to become a science to the
few, and remain a source of recreation to the many,
its votaries must remember that even in poetry, and
certainly in actual life, the imagination must be restrained
within due bounds, or the results will be neither intellig-
ible nor satisfactory.

But these are not the only points on which reform is
needed in the nomenclature of plants and flowers. Wiiere
is the cultivator who would not rejoice to see the long
French names of Roses and other plants reduced to a state
in which they might be spelt, pronounced, and understood
by all? Could not the nurseryman into whose hands
these novelties first pass, translate such names as are
translatable, and re-christen others? for many of such
names are at present a mere jumble of unintelligible

500 Horticultural Nomenclature.

sounds to those who are the oftenest called on to
pronounce them. To prevent confusion this work might
be delegated to some tribunal whose authority would
by common consent be acknowledged — and followed. We
once knew an ingenious labourer who remembered the
name of the Rose "Je me maintiendrai " by assimilating it
with the words "Jemmy maintain me," and we have
heard more than one philosophic nurseryman mourn over
the loss of time incurred in writing " Souvenir de la Reine
d'Angleterre " five hundred times over, when "Ajax"
or " Ino " would have answered every purpose.

Further, something may be said on the fitness of
names. A flower that would well become the name
of "Blushing Bride" would make a very indifferent
" Alderman," nor should we expect to see exactly the
same complexion in a " Vulcan " as in a " Venus." A
large Gooseberry might appropriately bear the name
of " Achilles," which would be far more euphonious and
agreeable to ears polite, than such names as "Bang up"
and " Thumper," which exist plentifully among this class
of fruit. In this instance, however, we would not advocate
a change of names already established — they are short
and easy enough, if homely or provincial — but that future
names be chosen from a more refined vocabulary.

Finally, we have seen it somewhere suggested, and
think the suggestion a good one, that newly introduced
species, the botanists' plants, should bear names coined
from the Latin or Greek languages, expressive of some
prominent feature ; and the horticulturist's plants, which
we are used to regard as mere variations of species, should
have applied to them popular names of our own language.
The names of the good and great ones of our own time,
and of all time, offer for this purpose a rich repertory
from which we might freely draw.

These suggestive remarks are thrown out with all
good humour for the consideration of those into whose
hands the naming of our plants and flowers usually falls.

Horticultural Nomenclature. 501

There are many cries for reform just now ; and among
small things it is nowhere more needed than in our
horticultural nomenclature.

A WALK THKOUGH THE VIA GELLIA.

IFrom " The Florist;' December 1868, ;!>. 27S.]

HAVING had occasion during the past summer to
visit Derbyshire on business, it occurred to us to
give up one day to a walk through some parts of its
beautiful scenery that we had not before traversed.
Communicating this intention to our household, the only
remonstrance we met with was from a bright boy of six,
mildly put — "You'll come back as soon as you can, won't
you, pa."

Finding ourselves at Matlock one July evening, and
having heard much of the picturesque and floral beauty of
the " Via Gellia," the mountain road to Middleton and the
Black Rocks, we fixed on this as the morrow's excursion.
We breakfasted and were on foot early, as all pedestrians
should be, and taking the road by Cromford were soon
deep in the valley. Right and left far up the hill sides,
and deep in the beds of the almost exhausted streams,
plants and flowers were strewn with a magnificent pro-
fusion. To attempt to enumerate and describe all these
would prove tedious, as the various species one is gene-
rally accustomed to meet with at wide intervals and
distances seemed gathered together here. Besides, our
English botany, never very deep, was sometimes tried
severely in settling the species, and then there were
species so universal as scarcely to need particularising.
So varied and so abundant were the forms met with at
every turn that we think the Via Gellia might be aptly
called the Valley of Flowers. Never certainly in all our
rambles (and in boyhood they were numerous and wide)

502 A Walk through the Via Gellia.

did we find ourselves in close contact with such a magni-
ficent collection of wild flowers, and we dwelt long in
imagination on the aspect of this valley in the fresh and
glorious months of April and May.

Up to this time we have been on foot nearly three
hours, a great part of the time having been spent in
gathering and examining at leisure the various plants met
with ; and now the pleasing murmur of a distant rill falls
on the ear. Soon by the roadside we meet with a crystal
pool, the water rushing down a mossy gully from a con-
siderable height and proving of a delicious purity and
coolness. We pause here for rest and shade. How deep
the stillness ! broken only by the murmuring of this sylvan
stream and the confused hum of innumerable insects wing-
ing their way in the noontide air. How delightful the
change to one whose ordinary occupations are among the
busiest haunts of men! The only sign of civilisation is
the road just traversed; the only sign of domestication an
unusually wild, shaggy, and picturesque specimen of that
picturesque animal the donkey. How delightful! But,
alas! no human happiness is enduring or complete. The
Via Gellia, beautiful as it is, is not altogether free from
worldly grievances. We are suddenly assailed by a host
of fierce flies — lean, hungry blood-suckers. In vain we
buffet, they are too active to be caught, too hungry to
be driven off. Now we try to remember that we should
return good for evil, and never retaliate except in self-
defence. But it really was unendurable. What was to
be done? Luckily we bethought us of our pipe. We
filled, lighted, and blew a cloud upon them fast and
furious. The battle was but for a minute; as suddenly
as they had appeared they were gone! We arose with a
hearty laugh, pursued our journey, thinking to ourselves,
" When a man gets a holiday but seldom, he cannot afford
to let it be spoilt by trifles."

Hitherto we had scarcely quitted the road, being
content with the number of species of plants growing by

A Walk through the Via Gellia. 503

the wayside. But what are yon small red berries here
and there rising above the leaves of some dwarf plant,
and glittering in the sun? Strawberries? Yes, straw-
berries! and very nice they are, too. They have not the
flavour of "British Queens," but their slight agreeable
acidity is very refreshing. We only wish they were a«
little bigger. Once off the road, once on the hillside, and
we find objects of fresh interest in quick succession — birds,
insects, geological specimens which we admire, examine,
and covet, but are obliged to dismiss. Descending again
into the road we tread over immense breadths of Lily of
the Valley of a vigour that a grower for exhibition might
envy. Ah! what is this? A toll-gate? Truly so. But
here, as in most rural districts, bipeds pass free. On we
go without let or hindrance. Oh! the pleasures of pedes-
trianism, of which this is only one example. No railway
extortions to combat, no trains to meet, or rather to luait
for, no coachmen or ostlers to fee, no 'busses to cram into ;
on we go, turn to the left, and commence the ascent of the
mountain road to the mining village of Middleton. " Only
a mile, sir," says the toll-keeper, " but a tough mile,
raytlier" We push on. To the right is a bank still
strewed with flowers, differing somewhat from those we
had found in the valley below, though generally we could
only note those seen from the roadsides, not having time
to explore the recesses, heights, and depths of the hillsides.
On the road to Middleton we met with wild Rasp-
berries, which we tasted and found very acceptable under
the circumstances. On the left of the road we are ascend-
ing is a deep ravine, bottomed by the Via Gellia, along
which we have just passed. The white road lies basking
in the sunshine. The sides of the ravine are clothed with
various forest trees — ash, mountain ash, and maple seem-
ing the most abundant, the Ayrshire rose and hawthorn
being also plentiful in places. As we ascend, the species
and number of plants seem fewer, and we altogether miss
those kinds which delight in moist situations. The views

504 A Walk through the Via Gellia.

from this road alone would repay a long walk or ride, but
there are richer splendours in store for us. Middleton is
at length reached, and one face of the Black Rocks is
prominently in view. Middleton struck us as a village of
poor dusky houses, but without any signs of deep poverty.
The cottagers had few exotics, but many wild flowers
in their gardens, among which the periwinkle and wild
chamomile seemed the favourites ; the mezereon and the
holly were of more than common luxuriance.

There is something exhilarating in the friendly
recognition you meet with from everyone in these out-of-
the-way places. It seems to say, " We are glad to see
you, and proud of the beauties of our district, which
we see by your faces you admire." In all thinly-peopled
districts there is at least the semblance of 4 universal
brotherhood. In large towns, on the contrary, fashion
makes it unfashionable to know even your next door
neighbour.

The Black Rocks are neither high nor difficult of
ascent, but from the top there is a magnificent and
extensive view — the village of Middleton on the left, the
town of Cromford lying immediately beneath, and a
glorious and apparently illimitable valley stretching away
on the right hand. " The finest view in England, sir,"
said a respectable man in rustic garb. We thought
probably so as we gazed, and the conviction grew upon us
that it was past our powers of description, and therefore
we shall not attempt to describe it. The breezes, the first
real breezes we had inhaled for months, felt peculiarly
refreshing, and we lingered till the descending sun re-
minded us that we were on foot and far from our night's
resting place. The top of the Black Rocks is decorated
with Scotch pines, their bare tough roots fantastically
interlaced on the surface of the ground, while behind
is a wood or forest of firs. The faces of the rocks are bare,
black, perpendicular, showing from the base as if of
stupendous size. The base is adorned with trees, beech

A Walk through the Via Gellia. 505

principally, with an undergrowth of fern which literally
covered us with brown dust as we brushed through it.
The form of the faces of the rocks in some instances,
reminds one of certain animals, particularly the antedelu-
vian giants.

Thus ended our day's excursion, for the return was
diversified only by a slight detour, taking Bonsai instead
of Cromford on the way back to Matlock Bath. Tired in
body but refreshed in spirit, we returned to our hotel,
carrying with us a large bouquet of wild flowers, and fully
satisfied that we had spent a day in and around the
Via Gellia which would give rise to many pleasurable
thoughts in the future.

FLOKIOULTURAL MILLINERY.

[From " The Florist^'' May i86g,p. 98.]

FLORICULTURAL MILLINERY! We can find
no better term to express our idea of a practice very
commonly followed with regard to plants and flowers
grown for exhibition, and on which we invite discussion.
It is well known to practical horiculturists that most of the
plants and flowers seen at our flower shows are more or
less " dressed." Is this legitimate or not ? and if legitimate,
is it desirable? Legitimate we think it is to a certain
extent, although, perhaps, no two individuals would draw
the line precisely in the same place. It is not, that we are
aware of, absolutely forbidden by any society,, and prece-
dent and usage may be urged in its justification.
Desirable we think it is not, and that for various reasons
which we shall state hereafter.

Every cultivator who has grown plants and flowers for
exhibition knows well that success depends chiefly on two
fundamental points — (i) Skill m production, which premises
knowledge and judgment in the choice and growth of
individual plants and flowers ; and (2) Taste and lightness

5o6 Floricultural Millinery.

of finger in the arrangemeiit and dressing, much the same
sort of skill as is required in tricking out a cap or a bonnet,
and hence the term we have chosen to express it — " Flori-
cultural Millinery." Now, these two points, which are
essentially distinct, are not in our judgment of nearly equal
weight, the "skill" in production being of far more
importance than the "taste and lightness of finger" in the
arrangement or dressing. Yet our experience, derived
from observation, compels us to say that we think the
" finish and symmetry," which are due in great measure to
" taste and lightness of finger," often exert an undue
influence. The eye is pleased by it, and the judgment does
not travel back so far as to inquire concerning the whence
and whither.

In making the above comparison we are well aware
that a cap or a bonnet has to be made by hand ; it cannot
be grown ; it is the work of an hour. On the contrary, a
plant or flower must be grown by a long and thoughtful
process. Produce, we say, by the means of growth in your
power, the finest plants and flowers you can ; but having
done this, rest satisfied ; do not supplement the efforts of
a year's thought and labour by the transient arts of
millinery.

We are free to admit that a plant must be tied up, and
this is better done neatly and with taste than in a careless
or bungling manner. Flowers, too, should be so placed in
their stands that they may be well seen, and the colours
should be so assorted and arranged that each may enhance
rather than detract from the beauty and effect of its
neighbour. Thus far we concede — nay, consider necessary
and commendable. But the little tricks resorted to to
make a plant or flower look other or better than it really
is find no sympathy in our nature. The flattening of
Pansies by pressure to meet the florist's canon that
Pansies should be flat ; the gumming and brushing of the
petals of Pelargoniums; the artificial packing of the petals
of Carnations ; the building-up of Dahlias ; the pinning of

Floricultural Millinery. 507

Hyacinths — all these practices are, in our judgment, of
questionable taste, and of even more questionable honesty.
By the use of them we may approach more nearly to the
florist's ideal, but we are reaching that ideal by trickery
and deception, rather than by horticultural skill and honest
labour.

Do not let us be misunderstood. We are not here
questioning the florist's canons, most of which we admit to
be founded on common sense and correct taste ; it is the
means often adopted to reach them that we take up the
pen to do battle with.

Is this " millinery " desirable? We think not, and on
other grounds than those we have already advanced. It
has always appeared to us that the decline in the cultiva-
tion of florists' flowers, or in what used to be popularly so
called, is due in some measure to this floricultural millinery.
A judge may be hoodwinked, a competitor may be
jockeyed by it. But the public — how does it affect them ?
They view, admiire, and purchase from these highly-dressed
flowers, but in their hands, even under the most skilful
cultivation, the antecedents are never realised. Hence
disappointment ensues, a suspicion of deception is
awakened, discouragement is the result, and the flowers
themselves go out of fashion.

We cannot but think, then, that in justice to the
public, and in the interests of exhibitors themselves, this
is a state of things which it is most desirable to remedy.
And the remedy lies with the judges. If exhibitors find
the arts above hinted at to tell with the judges, they will
continue to practise them. Perhaps no rules of any societ)^
can be made clear or stringent enough to ensure the
desired end. But horticultural societies might justly
intimate to exhibitors that the judges would be instructed
to recognise the skill of the horticulturist, rather than the
mode of the artist, and if the judges carried out such
instructions this would doubtless soon work a beneficial
chanee.

5o8 Insect Intoxication.

INSECT INTOXICATION.

\Froiii " The Florist," June 1870,/. 129.]

IT is well known that the flowers of the Hollyhock
(Althaea rosea) contain an abundance of honey,
and humble bees and hive bees seem alike fond of it.
But unfortunately the honey possesses an intoxicating or
stupifying property, the precise nature of which I do not
know. The first year or two that I grew Hollyhocks in
this neighbourhood the bees did not touch them, being,
I assume, new to them, the hidden treasures lay long
undiscovered ; but now they seem to prefer them to any
other flowers, and the otherwise gay scene is enhanced by
the motion and music of these winged labourers. They
sip and sip till they become too helpless to fly, although
they retain the power of stinging, as I have unfortunately
experienced more than once while handling the flowers.
It is indeed pitiable to behold the humble bee — he is the
greatest tippler — with rounded form and rustic garb
hanging by one leg to the petals of a flower, his portly
person suspended between earth and heaven, while he
vainly struggles to " hold on." Down at last he goes,
luckless wight ! for a fall of six feet cannot be pleasant,
even to a bee when gorged with feeding. Safe on terra
firma, he goes through a series of antics excessively ludi-
crous— running, tumbling, whirling, sometimes recovering
and taking wing, but oftener lying exhausted on the cold
ground till the next day.

The hive bee is less funny, but what a sad loss of time
to him ! for he oftener crawls into the pockets of the
flowers, and remains there while the earth revolves, and
till the sun again warms him into life and activity. I
wonder what account he gives to his queen of his long
absence and little gains as he returns slowly and leisurely
to his hive. But the worst remains to be told. Neither
of these insects seems to derive wisdom from experience.

Insect Intoxication. 509

Human reason and animal instinct seem alike assailable
by these seductive influences, for I am pretty certain,
judging by numbers, that the same individuals return
again and again to their drunken orgies.

ON THE EELATIVE VALUE OF CLARIFIED AND
UNCLARLFIED SEWAGE AS MANUEE.

\^Abrids:>nciit of paper 7-cad at Bright oti before the British Association
for the Advancement of Science, 1872.]

I TAKE it as a good sign of the times that the
sewage question is engaging the attention of some
of the first and most earnest minds in the country. Every
individual in England is interested in it from a sanitary
point of view, and to householders of limited means it is
a question of vital importance from a monetary point of
view. Our sewage must be effectually got rid of at what-
ever cost. We live by breathing as well as by eating and
drinking, and our sewage cannot any longer be allowed to
pollute the air we breathe and the water we drink, thereby
increasing the death-rate among the weakly and enervating
the strong. If we can dispose of it at small cost, rate-
payers will be charged low rates ; if only at great cost,
high rates ; and the difference between high rates and low
rates is equivalent to the difference between ease and
anxiety, comfort and hardships, in thousands of English
homes. But I am not here to-day to enter into all the
bearings of this wide and difficult question, but merel}' to
state my views of the value of " clarified" and "unclarified"
sewage as manures, and I contend that the vegetable
physiologist and practical horticulturist should be able
to throw some light on this branch of the subject. I may,
perhaps, be permitted to state that I have looked long and
earnestly at this question, both from the theoretical and

510 Clarified and Unclarified Sewage.

practical point of view, and from numerous experiments
have arrived at the conclusion that sewage when " clari-
fied " is a most valuable manure for porous or well-drained
soils, even when cultivated according to the recognised
systems. On the other hand, I have no faith in the value
of sewage of any kind, or for any land if used in an "un-
clarified" or sludgy state, unless accompanied with a
laborious and costly system of cultivation. In order to
show clearly the grounds of my preference for " clarified"
over "unclarified" sewage, it would seem necessary to
advert briefly to the sources whence plants derive their
food, and to the conditions favourable to the free use of
this food. Plants feed on the air through their leaves,
and on water through their roots. And here it is im-
portant to bear in mind that the roots of plants can no
more absorb solids from the soil than the leaves can
absorb solids from the air — water and gases are their
food — they cannot eat like animals, they live by breathing
and drinking. Whatever earthy or metallic compounds
may be found in the ashes of plants after incineration
■must have been introduced there in a state of solution,
or have been manufactured within the plants themselves.
" The water absorbed by the roots contains matters held
in solution ; these are deposited in the plant, and remain
there with about a third part of the water, the rest escaping
almost as pure as distilled water." — Decandolle PJiysiologie
Vegetale, Tome I., p. 113. Now, our best vegetable physio-
logists are of opinion that carbonic acid enters the plant
both in the water and the air ; the oxygen is after\yards
set free by the agency of solar light, the carbon remaining
behind in a solid state. I need not enlarge on the manner
in which plants feed through their leaves, because, practi-
cally speaking, we cannot influence them much through
this channel ; in out-of-door culture at least we influence
them chiefly through their roots. To this end — ist, we
put on or into the soil such manures as we judge likely
or have found by experience to promote the develop-

Clarified and Unclarified Sewage. 511

ment of certain parts of plants ; and 2ndly, we keep the
soil loose or open by ploughing, harrowing, hoeing,
digging, and the like, that the air and sun-heat may
freely enter the soil and render these manures readily
available. This embraces the theory and practice of
cultivation. Now, highly important as is the use of
appropriate manures to aid in the development of our
growing crops, as a cultivator I attach more importance
than is commonly attached to the physical conditions of
the soil, especially to keeping the surface loose and the
soil porous that the water may get away, and that the
air and sun-heat may follow wherever the water or clarified
sewage goes. The clarified sewage is food placed within
reach of the roots ; the presence of air renders this food
more plentiful, and the sun-heat stimulates the roots to
feed. The fertility of the soil is therefore largely in-
fluenced by the amount of air and heat which it contains.
This brings me to the principal objection which I have to
urge against putting sewage on the land in an unclarified
or sludgy state. I am free to admit that the sewage
clarifies in its passage downwards, presenting to the roots
the same food as if the sewage had been previously clari-
fied ; but the surface of the earth is thereby made to act
as a filter, and the physical conditions of the soil are
altered. The unclarified sewage in passing through the
soil has become clarified, but the pores of the soil are
more or less closed against the passage of air, and a solid
or half liquid glutinous mass rests on the surface of the
earth throwing back the sun-heat. The food is there, but
the stimulants of air and sun-heat are shut out or greatly
diminished, and the fertility of the soil is impaired in a
corresponding degree. Horticulturists know well the im-
portance of earth-heat, as many of their highest efforts
depend on it. The greatest authority on this subject
(Lindley in the Theory of Horticulture, p. 136) thus
alludes to it : —

" It may hence be considered an axiom in horticulture

512 Clarified and Unclarified Sewage.

that all plants require the soil as well as the atmosphere
in which they grow to correspond in temperature with
that of the countries in which they are natives. It has
also been already shown that the mean temperature of the
soil should be above that of the atmosphere," Again (p.
137) "Those who imagine that the advantage of drainage
arises from the removal of stagnant water or any such
cause alone, overlook the great and important fact that
drained land in summer is from 10*^ to 20'' warmer than
water-logged land." Again (p. 138) "As scarcely any of
our cultivated crops are natives of countries so cold as our
own, it is manifest that they all require to have the earth
warmed for them, or are much the better for it."

The free access of air to the soil in which plants grow
is not less important than that of heat.

"The roots of plants, notwithstanding their under-
ground position, are subject to the action of the air which
permeates the earth. We have long known that trees
suffer if we inter the base of the stem in such manner
as to exclude the air from their roots. The roots suffer
more from contact with stagnant water, even when richer
in nutritive matters, than when in contact with running
water, because the latter brings them a constant supply
of oxygen. M. Th. de Saussure found that plants whose
roots were placed in gas deprived of free oxygen died at
the end of a few days, whilst those placed in contact with
the atmosphere lived and prospered." — Physiologie Vege-
tate, Tovie I.,pp. 136-137.

Many years ago I used " unclarified " sewage exten-
sively, and for a lengthened period. The results were not
satisfactory until I adopted the practice of stirring the
surface of the soil after every application of the sewage.
The results then exceeded my expectations, but when
estimated were not found equivalent to the largely in-
creased cost of labour. Afterwards the sewage was
clarified by the use of quick lime and used for a
lengthened period in this state ; this was judged better

Clarified and Unclarified Sewage. 513

than the use of unclarified sewage without labour, but not
equal to its use with frequent hoeings. At present I have
two large cesspools into which the sewage is diverted
and allowed to settle, becoming almost clear by subsidence.
in which state it is freely used and found most valuable.*
In conclusion, I would say that I am of opinion that the
sludge in sewage is valuable as a manure. But I object to
its application to the surface of the soil in a sem.i-liquid
state. If so applied the surface of the soil should be
constantl}' stirred and broken, which, of course, involves
considerable expense. It then becomes a question whether
it is not more economical to separate the sludge, employing
it as a solid manure, or for other purposes, leaving a clari-
fied liquid behind for irrigation.

WHO IS EIGHT ?

\Fi-om " The Florist," July and At(g. 1874. pp. 155, 177.]

I HAVE often found a difficulty in the differences of
opinion expressed by competent judges as to the
merits of certain plants and flowers, and in no case is this
more remarkable than among Zonal Pelargoniums. As a
practical cultivator I can make due allowance for circum-
stances, soil, and climate, but these put together hardly
amount to a solution of the difficulty. I think the
anomalies must arise from the want of a clearly defined
and acknowledged standard to judge by. In the case of
Perlargoniums, for example, one grower or class of growers
will be influenced principally by the flower, another by the
truss, a third will be swayed by the habit of the plant, and
a fourth will weigh all these points in combination, giving
to each his estimate of their respective value, and pro-

* From experiments, not completed when this paper was read, I found
a marked difference in Geraniums watered with unclarified sewage and with
sewage clarified by lime, in every case in favour of the latter.
2G

514 Who is Right?

nouncing accordingly. Certainly, when dealing with a
plant which is used for such various purposes, it would
seem to help to an accurate estimate of value if the plant
were looked at from one or other of two points of view —
(i) as a florist's flower, in which shape, size, and substance
are the chief requisites ; and (2) as a decorative or bedding
plant, in which colour, habit of growth, freedom and
duration of flowering, should be placed in the ascendant.
This, I am aware, has been done in the Report of the
Royal Horticultural Society, so far as to classify them as
"bedding plants" and "pot plants," but the "doctors" still
differ widely, which I will proceed to show, by placing side
by side the opinions of the Floral Committee of the Royal
Horticultural Society of London, and those of two or
three of the largest growers of this plant in the vicinity of
London : —

Golden Tricolors.

Allan-a-Dale. — Discarded as a bedding sort, R.H.S. ;
recommended as superior for' bedding, E. G. Henderson
& Son.

Hong Kong. — Discarded as a bedding sort, R.H.S. ;
recommended as superior for bedding, E. G. Henderson
& Son.

Miss Batters. — Discarded as a bedding sort, R.H.S. ;
recommended as a bedding sort, H. Cannell.

Mrs Dunnett. — Discarded as a bedding sort, R.H.S. ;
recommended as superior for bedding, E. G. Henderso?i
& Son.

Saragassa. — Discarded as a bedding sort, R.H.S. ;
recommended as a bedding sort, E. G. Henderson & Son.

Silver Tricolors.

Caroline Longfield. — Discarded as a bedding sort,
R.H.S. ; proved fine for bedding, E. G. Henderson & Son.

Clarinda. — Discarded as a bedding sort, R.H.S. \
proved fine for bedding, E. G. Henderson & Son.

Who is Right? 515

Mrs Masters.— 'Discdixded as a bedding sort, R.H.S. ;
proved fine for bedding, E. G. Henderson & Son.

Mysterious A^/>//^. — Discarded as a bedding sort,
R.H.S. ; proved fine for bedding, First-Class Certificate,
E. G. Henderson & Son.

Miss Farren. — Discarded as a bedding sort, R.H.S. ;
a fine bedding sort, of first-rate quality, W. Paul.

Silver Margined.
Alma. — Discarded, R.H.S. ; recommended for bedding,

Johtt Eraser.

Princess Alexandra.— Discarded, R.H.S.; one of the
best for any purpose, H Cannell ; the best white-leaved
bedding variety, E. G. Henderson & Son ; an excellent
bedder, John Eraser.

Mountain of Snow.— Dlszzxded, R.H.S. \ recommended
for bedding, /(?/m Eraser.

Variegated 5/^//^.— Discarded, R.H.S. ; recommended
for bedding, /<?//// Eraser.

Bronze Zonals.
Beauty of Wolverstone —D\sc^.xded, R.H.S.; fine bed-
der, Doiunie &" Co.

Criterion.— Discarded, R.H.S.; very good, Doivnie

& Co.

Kentish /7^/'^.— Discarded, R.H.S. ; the finest bedder,

Doivnie & Co.

Midas.— Discarded. RH.S. ; probably the best of all
the Bronze Zonals, W. Paul.

W. R. Morris.— Discarded. R.H.S. \ extra fine, E. G.
Hefiderson & Son.

Plutus.— Discarded, R.H.S. ; a first-class variety in
every way, H. Cannell.

This brings me to the end of Zonal Pelargoniums
judged for the beauty of their leaves. In my next paper
I will deal with the varieties judged for the beauty of their
flowers.

5i6 Who is Right ?

[From " The Florist" 1874,/. I77-]

In my last paper I pointed out the difference of opinion
formed by the Floral Committee of the Royal Horticul-
tural Society and some of the largest growers of Pelar-
goniums as to the merits of the different varieties valued
for their leaves. In the present I shall proceed to place
side by side the opinions of the same authorities as to the
value of varieties judged by their flowers :—

Memnon. — Discarded for bedding, R.H.S . ; one of the
best bedders, H. Cannell.

Commissioner. — Not equal to others of similar character,
R.H.S. ; recommended for bedding, y^//« Fraser.

Claude Lorraine. — Not equal to others of similar
character, R.H.S. ; novel, distinct, and beautiful, W. Paul.
David Garrick. — Not equal to others of similar char-
acter, R.H.S. ; recommended for bedding, yic/^;^ Fraser.

Douglas Pearson. — Not equal to others of similar
character, R.H.S. ; one of the best dark bedding varieties,
H. Cannell \ first-class bedder, C. Turner.

Madlle. Nillson. — Not equal to others of similar char-
acter, 7?.//. 6".; a great acquisition for bedding, y^//;^ Fraser.
Diana. — Not equal to others of similar character,
R.H.S. ; recommended for bedding, W. Paul.

White Perfection. — Discarded as a pot plant, R.H.S. ;
fine for pot culture, /<?//;/ Fraser; fine shape and very free,
H. Cajinell.

George Peabody. — Not equal to others of similar
character, R.H.S. ; extra, Dozvjiie, Laird, & Laing.

Sydney T^irner. — Not equal to others of similar
character, R.H.S. ; a novel and distinct variety, Downie,
Laird, & Laing.

The iollowing are also given as not equal to others
of similar character by the Floral Committee of the Royal
Horticultural Society, and are offered by Messrs E, G:
Henderson & Son as of proved quality — Denil de la
Lorraine, C. Fox, Margaret, Miss Saunders, Mons. Chaties

Who is Right ? 517

Rouillard, Mr Gladstone^ Mrs Goodford, Sir Charles Napier,
Sir Thomas More, Thomas Speed, Troubadour, Velocipede.
To the last-named variety Messrs Henderson attach the
description, " Beautiful scarlet, splendid bedder and winter
bloomer."

COTTAGE GAKDENS ASSOCIATION.

\From "-The Garden^' December ^th 1882, p. 517.]

I SHALL not be surprised if in this matter I am met
at the outset with the remark that cottage gardens
already exist and have long existed in many of our towns
and villages, and that their past history, with few excep-
tions, is not such as to encourage any new movement in
this direction. I should at once admit the force of this
remark if applied to these associations as they have been
constituted and managed in the past, and rejoin that I
propose to m.ove on entirely new ground, where the
objections applicable to the past do not necessarily
apply.

Cottage garden associations have hitherto been con-
sidered too much a matter of charity or patronage, pet
schemes of local magnates, patronised by a class, encum-
bered with rules and trammelled by influences, religious,
political, or social, which, if good in themselves, do not
leave the tenant with that freedom and independence
which is not only necessary to the full enjoyment of his
holding, but which he is justly entitled to claim in return
for a fair rental duly paid.

In the scheme which I am about to submit for con-
sideration I would lay aside all idea of charity and
patronage, and seek to establish opportunities for im-
proving health and storing food similar to those which
the friendly society and the savings bank offer for the
storing of money. I would accomplish this end by means
of an association under the Limited Liabilities Company

5i8 Cottage Gardens Association.

Act, in which shareholders would receive a fair amount of
interest on capital invested. The chief objects I have in
view in connection with this movement are recreation and
thrift. I seek to provide a "hobby" for the humbler classes
of society, employment for their leisure hours, free from
the trammels of any one particular school of thought —
employment that is at once recreative, healthful, and re-
munerative. Let me endeavour to show, first, that it is
desirable to bring gardening within easy reach of the
liumbler classes of society ; and secondly, that the project
is practicable.

I.— DESIRABILITY OF THE PROJECT.

Am I not right in assuming that a '"hobby" of some
sort is almost necessary to men in every station of life to
complete satisfactorily the sum of human occupation. The
members of the upper and middle classes of society have,
from their means, position, and influence, a power of
choice in this respect which the labourer, the artisan, and
e\'en the small tradesman do not possess. Can they live
on from week to week and year to year performing their
work industriously and spiritedly without a " hobby .'' "
Or, if this in some cases be possible, would not the pur-
suit of one prove of incalculable benefit to them physi-
cally, mentally, and morally? I think it hardly necessary
to bring forward evidence in support of the opinion that
it would, and I think further that cottage gardening is a
suitable " hobby " for most men in the station of life to
which I have referred. It is not only beneficial in its
influences on both mind and body, but, unlike many
" hobbies," it teaches thrift, and is thus specially suited
for their requirements and means, increasing their stores
of wholesome food at a small cost. I think also that the
subject has an ediicational as well as a vioral, social, and
economical aspect.

In regard to the EDUCATIONAL Aspect, it seems to
me that in view of a further extension of the franchise it

Cottage Gardens Association. 519

has become very important that the adult masses should
be educated in a manner that will enable them not only to
see and hear, but to go one or two steps further — to think,
understand, and judge for themselves. There have been
demagogues in the past, there are demagogues in the
present, and the number is not likely to decrease with the
prospect of an extended franchise. Torrents of eloquence
will be poured forth in the future ostensibly to awaken the
labourer, the artisan, and the small tradesman to his true
interests, but really to advance the views or interests of the
declaimers. Now, cottage gardening strikes me as one
particularly desirable mode of adult education ; it deals
with things rather than with zvords. The child who begins
at school with the alphabet, and passes, perhaps slowly,
but gradually onward, accumulates knowledge almost
insensibly, and during the process thinking, understanding,
comparing, and judging usually play a more or less
conspicuous part. But the man, whether young, middle-
aged, or old, who has not been taught to read, write, or
calculate, or who has but a slender acquaintance with
reading, writing, or arithmetic, stands in need of more
practical, more direct, and quicker teaching. Well, I am
of opinion that such teaching is best conveyed by bringing
him in contact with some useful art in which he has to
deal with objects rather than with words, and in which he
can take an actual working part. And gardening is an art
of this character. Even cottage gardening demands and
encourages not only working, but thinking, understanding,
comparing, judging — does not occupy the mind with the
present alone, but is continually carrying it backward into
the past and onward into the future.

My experience does not lend support to the opinion
that you cannot get the working classes to think ; it may
have been true in the past, but it is hardly true in the
present. If in a given number of men who undertake to
cultivate plots of garden ground there is in the first instance
but one thinker, he and his surroundings will gradually

520 Cottage Gardens Association.

influence the rest. This is a work in which a Httle leaven
leaveneth the mass. The majority may in the first
instance copy only, but they will assuredly end by
thinking, understanding, comparing, judging. This habit
once contracted and applied to one thing will in due course
be extended to others, and gradually the barren waste of
mind will become more or less cultivated or fertile ; the
labourer, the artisan, and the small tradesman will no
longer be the sport of vain, pretentious men or the tool of
demagogues, but reasoning beings, who can solve at least
some of the plain political problems set before them. If
these views be correct, I think it follows that cottage
gardening is not only a valuable means of adult education,
but a political safeguard — a counterpoise to the pernicious
teachings of ignorant or false patriots — and likely to prove
a material help in the establishment of that order of mind
which is usually possessed of a sound political faith.

I pass on to the MORAL ASPECT. It is unquestionable
that men of high moral attributes, rich and poor alike, are
naturally drawn to gardening, and I believe it to be equally
true that the pursuit of it, whether for profit or as a recrea-
tion, produces a love of order and a distaste for low and
sordid pleasures. The physical exertion necessary for
successful gardening is healthful to the body, and the
interest arising from the ever -varying changes in the
aspect of vegetables, fruits, and flowers is equally health-
ful to the mind, and this has a moral as well as an educa-
tional influence. The sequence of events is so rapid, so
plain, so beautiful, that even the untutored mind can
hardly help having forced upon its attention what we are
accustomed to speak of as cause and effect. We sow the
seed, and however limited our experience, upheld by hope,
we rest assured that we shall see, and usually do see in
succession, the germ, the plant, and in some cases the
flower and the seed again. The habit of reflection is thus
perhaps insensibly acquired and cultivated, and the moral
nature is improved.

Cottage Gardens Association. 521

I would here ask you momentarily to contrast the
moral influences likely to ensue from a recreation such as
this, with those engendered by the too common practice of
the cottager in separating himself from his family when his
work is over, and resorting to the unhealthy atmosphere of
a taproom and its surroundings. Once there, he too
often spends his hard-earned wages in drinking and
smoking to an extent which is both extravagant and harm-
ful, and to which he is often stimulated by conversations
and amusements which are the reverse of healthful. Do
not, however, let it be supposed that I am passing an
unqualified condemnation on these luxuries and amuse-
ments ; it is the abuse of them only that I would condemn.
Let the cottager smoke his pipe, quaff his ale, and chat
with his neighbours if so inclined in his garden plot and
elsewhere. Labour creates thirst, physical exertion needs
rest, and happy the man who can be content to assuage the
one and enjoy the other under the healthy conditions of
his own home or garden. Here, as in the ale-house, he
may come in contact with men of his own age, men of the
same mental calibre and social status, seeking one common
aim, while his energies are aroused by the desire to do as
well or better than his compeers, and as this is a kind of
labour which naturally leads to healthy thinking while
working, his whole nature is likely to be improved by the
trains of thought awakened.

As a means of SOCIAL Lmprovement with the
humbler classes, cottage gardening must, I think, stand
in the very front rank of accessory measures. It is the
least selfish of social pleasures. It is at once social and
profitable. A man's wife and children can help in the
work, and while doing so look forward to share the
pleasures and substantial benefits of it day by day.
While he engages in digging and planting, they may
perform the lighter work. Can there be a plcasanter
sight than that of a cottager in his garden surrounded
with his children digging and sowing in spring, watering

522 Cottage Gardens Association.

and staking his early crops in summer, and collecting and
storing his potatoes, onions, parsnips, and carrots in
autumn for winter use? They sow pence in seeds, shil-
lings in rent and labour, and ordinarily gather in half-
crowns as the value of the produce, and this without
waiting for a longer period than the patience of an in-
differently cultivated mind is equal to.

It would be easy to provide statistics to show that
the return of interest on capital invested is equal to what
is here stated, but there is a shorter and equally certain
road to this object — the admission of the cultivator —
which will probably be considered satisfactory. " A B,"
a married man with a family, says — " I hold 24 poles of
land, for which I pay 6d. a pole. Last year I sold off this
plot sufficient to pay the rent, and then had vegetables
enough for my own family nearly all the year round. My
crops were potatoes, parsnips, carrots, onions, cabbages,
winter material, and scarlet runners. I believe those of
my neighbours who work at it find the cottage plot a
good thing." In reply to the question, " Does your garden
plot pay you .''" one cottager admitted taking no less than
;^io in one year in prizes at the cottagers' show. Another
— " It pays those who work, but some of them do not
work, and they find it does not pay." Another — " It pays
me very well, and would pay me better if I could afford
to buy manure. I keep fowls and rabbits, and use the
little manure they make, and can see to an inch where
it has been used." Another — " My crops would pay me
well for my work if I could get them myself, but my
garden is constantly robbed ; even my peas and beans
are taken." Another cottager told me that 12 poles of
land was enough for any cottager. Another said the
farmers in his neighbourhood did not approve of cottage
gardens, as the men worked in them in the early morning,
and went thence tired to their regular work. Another (an
ungrateful man, I fear) replied as follows — " They said the
plots were set out to help the poor, but it was the worst

Cottage Gardens Association. 523

bit of land in the parish, and the rent was more than the
farmers paid for good land.

With regard to the ECONOMICAL OR UTILITARIAN
Advantages of gardening, I hold the opinion that the
working classes would benefit largely by the free use of
fresh vegetables in diet. I say fresh vegetables, and
what means are so likely to furnish them with such as
a garden of their own ? And it should not be overlooked
or forgotten that the products of the garden are not
exhausted by the vegetables and fruits raised for present
or immediate consumption. There is a store of both
for winter use, and as these are successively brought
forth at that season, and the family reaps the sub-
stantial benefits of their past labour, they are pleasantly
reminded again and again of the delights of the garden
in the summer time.

If, as I hope, I have proved satisfactorily that it is
desirable to bring gardening within easy reach of the
humbler classes of society from an educational, as well
as from a moral, social, and economical point of view,
I may now ask to be allowed to consider

II.— THE PRACTICABILITY OF THE PROJECT.

I propose to establish a company under the title of
" The Cottage Gardens Association for Great Britain and
Ireland, Limited." This association is to be formed with
the view of providing labourers, artisans, and small
tradesmen, and others with suitable plots of ground to
be cultivated as gardens. The association proposes to
accomplish this end by purchasing or hiring on lease
suitable plots of land as near as possible to towns and
villages. As the principal object of the directors will
be to develop gardening as a source of both recreation
and profit to the humbler classes, they will not seek for
large profits on the undertaking, but merely a fairly
remunerative interest on the capital embarked. The
preliminary expenses will be confined to the outlay

524 Cottage Gardens Association.

actually incurred. It is proposed that the centre of
the association should be London, with branches through-
out the Kingdom — the latter under local management,
but subject to the general rules of the association. On
each allotment there may be erected a greenhouse and
arbour, the site and plans of buildings being first approved
by the directors of the association or committee of manage-
ment. In this scheme I think we have good grounds on
which to establish a claim to the kindly co-operation of
landed proprietors, municipal authorities, and the wealthy
class generally. Surely it is not an insignificant or unim-
portant aim that w^ould at once place within easy reach
of the toiling millions a source of health, recreation, and
increased supply of wholesome and nourishing food. I
cannot but think that in this rich, populous, and enter-
prising country shareholders will be forthcoming sufficient
to set the association fairly afloat, and that once at work
it will prove not only self-supporting but yield a fair
interest to the shareholders for their capital.

I derive much encouragement from the fact that the
love and practice of gardening among the humbler classes
is to a great extent inherent, and is rapidly increasing,
even under the difficulties which at present usually beset
it, and it is reasonable to suppose that it would take a
considerable development if small plots of suitable land in
accessible places could be rented at a fair value. In the
face of this fact there would, in my opinion, be little risk,
and the prospect of a fair profit, if representatives of the
towns and villages in England were to rent land easily
accessible, with the view of reletting it to cottagers,
artisans, and small tradesmen. A central association in
London, inviting the towns and villages to form branches
under local committees of their own choosing, conforming
to one central code, except in minor matters, should meet
with a ready response. No heavy responsibilities need be
incurred, the expenditure in any one district being regu-
lated by actual demand.

Cottage Gardens Association. 525

No doubt there would in many districts be a difficulty
in acquiring SUITABLE Land, but that difficulty does not
seem insuperable, and is probably less now than at any
recent period.

But it may be said all land is not suitable for cottage
gardening. Certainly not. In choosing land for cottage
gardens there are many points worthy of being taken into
consideration, such as position, quantity, quality, and rent.
There is no position equal to that attached to the cottage,
and where it is possible to acquire land adjoining cottages
without land, and attach it to them, this would be the
greatest boon. The cottages of our large landed pro-
prietors uaually have a small garden; but how often do
we see rows of cottages existing and still being erected
back to back with scarcely more land attached to them
than the cottages stand on. In London and the imme-
diate vicinity of large towns this may matter but little as
regards gardening, however valuable a plot of land might
be to the cottagers as a playground or drying-ground ;
but in positions where soil and climate permit of successful
gardening, on sanitary and social grounds no cottage
should be allowed to be built without a portion of cultivat-
able land being attached to it. I do not think that I
am exceeding the bounds of propriety in urging this
point on the attention of local boards and rural sanitary
authorities under whose supervision all plans of proposed
new buildings must now necessarily pass. If they^have not
already the power of enforcing this it should be given them
by Act of Parliament. I should like, too, to see every
country school teaching at least the elements of gardening,
and every agricultural and horticultural association owning
or renting a plot of ground and organising a plan by which
they might relet to the cottager and aid or advise him
otherwise in his undertaking.

If land cannot be obtained adjoining cottages, it should
be as near to them as possible. A walk of a mile or two
may not matter to the sedentary man who is constantly

526 Cottage Gardens Association.

sitting at his work, but to the ordinary labourer who is
standing or walking as well as working all day it is
laborious and distasteful, and it involves a serious loss of
time to both.

Where towns are large, and land in their immediate
vicinity is usually dear, a cheap railway fare to some
appropriate spot would be a boon, and is probably one
which railway companies might be disposed to grant. Nor
am I sure that railway companies might not be disposed
otherwise to aid the association. The unoccupied land
adjoining many railway stations is wisely allowed to be
cultivated by their employes, and they have other unused
spaces which might be available for cottage gardening^
due provision being made for the safety of their traffic.

Land taken for cottage gardens should be free from
the proximity of large trees, although a certain amount of
shelter if without shade and root intrusion is usually an
advantage. If water is come-at-able so much the better,
as crops are often starved and sometimes lost for want of
water in 6.xy weather.

As to the Quality of the Land, the richer the
better. It certainly should not be of that poor material
known as a hungry soil. If not rich, it should at least be
a soil that will answer to the application of manure at the
hands of those who may choose to apply it. Poorness of
soil is, however, of least importance in the vicinity of large
towns, as manure there is usually cheap, and sometimes of
no money value whatever. Land taken for cottage
gardens should not be of a character that becomes too hard
at times to be worked by manual labour ; hence strong
clays are objectionable ; on the other hand, soils too loose
and porous at the surface, or so near to sand or gravel that
rain passes rapidly through them, are equally objection-
able ; what is commonly understood as a medium loam is
the best of all soils for cottage gardens. It should, if
possible, be a soil that will work at all times. The
cottager, whose time is not often at his own disposal,

Cottage Gardens Association. 527

ought not to have to wait for the soil to be in a proper
condition to work, it ought to be ready at all times to suit
his leisure. Depth of soil as well as texture or substance
should be taken into consideration. Depth compensates
in some measure for want of solidity, as the roots of plants
will push deeper in light than heavy soils in search of
nourishment and support. A wet soil is always objection-
able, and unless such can be thoroughly drained before the
allotments are set out, it should be scrupulously avoided.

With regard to the SiZE OF THE ALLOTMENTS, they
should, perhaps, vary from 10 poles to 40 poles each. A
man with a family of boys would easily cultivate a much
larger plot than one without them, and the larger plot
would be a greater boon in finding them healthful and
profitable employment in their leisure, and in providing
a larger stock of vegetables and fruit for household use.
Again, a man whose daily employment was gardening or
similar work might probably not care for so large a plot
as one whose occupation was sedentary, or whose hours of
labour were less prolonged, to whom digging, hoeing, and
the various out-of-door operations of gardening would be a
change.

In every branch of the association there would of
course be a separate managing committee, and this, with
other matters of practical detail, would require a dis-
criminating adjustment at their hands. If a large plot
once granted was found to be indifferently cultivated, a
smaller one should be substituted for it after due notice.
There should be a cart-road touching one point of each
allotment, and a pathway for a wheelbarrow traversing its
longest side.

These, then, are what I should consider the principal
requirements of land purchased or rented for cottage
gardens. It is probable that all these advantages will be
rarely found in combination, but although all are desirable,
all are not necessary for profitable gardening. Hence, in
order to secure the right thing, a thorough practical know-

528 Cottage Gardens Association.

ledge of the nature and capabilities of land in those who
have the purchasing or renting of it for redistribution is
of the very highest importance.

The Question of Rent is one for each committee
of management to settle ; it must necessarily vary in
different localities and under different circumstances.
Supposing a piece of land to be taken at £4 an acre, it
would seem that the rates of 7s. 6d., 15s., 22s. 6d., and
30s. per allotment of 10, 20, 30, and 40 poles would not
be an unreasonable charge for small plots after division,
in order to cover preliminary expenses of management
and any deficit caused by occasional non-payment of rent.
If this proved too great a margin (and the preliminary
expenses would be found to vary considerably), the sur-
plus under this head might be returned to the tenants
/r^ rafa after the yearly balance of accounts was struck.
It would doubtless be a safe plan to insist on the pay-
ment of rent in advance, but this, I fear, would shut out
some whom it would be very desirable to reach. How-
ever, a difference might be made in the rental in favour
of those who were willing to pay their rent in advance.

There is one very important point in which the various
managing committees might render essential service to the
holders of allotments, namely, in securing for them the
best qualities and most suitable varieties of Plants and
Seeds on the most advantageous terms. Bad seeds and
plants are a serious loss to the cultivator, and it is best
known to those who have had the most practice in garden-
ing that some sorts of vegetables, fruits, and flowers are
more profitable to cultivators than others. For instance,
some varieties of cabbage liave the habit of spreading their
leaves in such a manner that they occupy twice the space
required by others without giving a corresponding return
in the size of heart. Again, some varieties of vegetables
and fruits are more delicate and some less productive than
others. To grow such, even if the quality were a shade
higher, which however is not always the case, might suit

Cottage Gardens Association. 529

the pocket of the rich, the taste of the epicure, or the skill
of the educated gardener, but would hardly be a wise
economy on the part of the cottager. A committee, or
some members of a committee, might reasonably be sup-
posed to know which were best or most suitable, and willing
to use their knowledge for the advantage of the cottager.
Such a committee or sub-committee, recommending or
supplying seeds and trees at cost price, would be likely to
render him an essential service, by securing for him the
most suitable articles at the smallest cost. But of course it
should be optional on the part of the tenant whether or no
he avail himself of the offer.

Let us endeavour to show how this might be worked
out. Suppose the committee offer to do this on condition
that the cottager send in a list of his wants by a certain date,
specifying quantities, and varieties also, if he prefer doing
so. These lists when collected should be sent to a reliable
nurser\'man or seedsman, who would likely sell a quantity
at a lower price than he would charge the individual for
the small quantities he would require to purchase. Cash
payments would of course be required in this case.

I have already mentioned that one cottager with whom
I am acquainted admitted taking no less than ;£"io in
prizes at one show.

Cottagers' Shows of vegetables, fruit, and flowers
are very useful in stimulating the cottagers to exertion,
but they should be so managed that no one exhibitor can
take all the leading prizes, and they should draw the
cultivator as a friend. The exhibitors should be divided
into three classes — (i) Cottagers zvhose ordinary occupation
is other than gardening ; (2) cottagers ivho are employed ifi
nurseries or private gardens ; and (3) shopkeepers or small
tradesmen, separate and distinct prizes being offered to
each class of exhibitors. No person should be eligible to
compete for prizes who rents a cottage at more than 8s.
a-week. The largest number of prizes should be for
vegetables, the next for fruits, and the next for flowers.
2H

530 Cottage Gardens Association.

The weight or number of each exhibit should not be
large. In addition to the prizes for production.s of the
garden, the show would almost certainly be rendered
more interesting and more useful if small prizes were
offered to children for collections of wild flowers.

The exhibits at cottagers' shows should be judged by
gardeners or seedsmen, men of character and knowledge,
that the awards may not be open to suspicion of favourit-
ism or incompetency, and that the articles brought to the
front may be accepted as standards of excellence. The
practical teaching convej-ed by the awards of such m.en
would be valuable to the cottager as a guide for the future
provided all exhibits were labelled with their proper dis-
tinguishing names.

Perhaps there is no feature of cottage gardening as it
is and has been in which the ideas of charity and patron-
age occasionally come out so disagreeably as at the
cottagers' show. Let anyone enter the tents of certain of
these exhibitions on the morning of the show, when the
cottager is bringing in his exhibits, and note the move-
ments and bearing of some of the managers, subscribers,
and patrons. I say some of them, because the ill-timed
assumption of social superiority is not universal nor even
general, but it is nevertheless too common to pass without
a word of comment. Sometimes the managers of the
show seem to expect from the cottagers the same amount
of courtesy and address to which they are accustomed in
the refined and educated circle of society in which they
ordinarily move, and grow indignant at the freedom or
irritated by the want of ready intelligence which they
meet with. Hodge is civil of course, but he is probably
excited and on new ground. If brusque in manner, and
slow in understanding "rules and regulations," this should
not be imputed as an offence. He does not mean it to be
so, and bigger men than he are often puzzled b\' '' rules
and regulations."

It has often seemed to me that the custom of accepting

Cottage Gardens Association. 531

Special Prizes from individuals is open to objections,
although I am sure they are usually offered from high and
generous motives. At the ordinary flower show some
nurserymen look on these as advertisements of the
cheapest and most remunerative class, and perhaps their
acceptance may be excused there on the grounds of
finance ; but at the cottagers' show, where very small
money prizes are given, special prizes surely are not
needed, and at both they open the door to a compromise
of independence. Mr A., whose sympathies are wholly
utilitarian, gives 3s. and 2s. for the best and second best
dish of potatoes. Mr B., who rejoices in the superiority of
an aesthetic nature, gives a like amount for the best
arranged bouquets. Mr C, who is fond of the table,
supports the cultivation of fruits, while Mr D., who is of
a domestic turn, offers 5s., or perhaps a guinea, to the
domestic of unexceptional character who has lived the
longest in the same family. When the prize -cards are
placed on such exhibits, the names of the donors, as John
Brown, Esq., are written in a large bold hand, while you
must put on your spectacles to read the nar.ic of poor
Hodge, who by his industry and skill has made two pecks
of potatoes grow where but one grew before. Again,
when the prizes are distributed on the ground, which they
often are in the afternoon of the show, the distributor has
been known to give some kindly words of advice in the
face of the company to some of the triumphant prize-
takers. Now, I do not think that these mistakes and
intrusions are frequent or over -balance the good which
results from the cottagers' show as it is, but I do say that
they reduce the value of it, and are unworthy of the issues
which naturally hang upon successful cottage gardening.

Finally, if a cottagers' show is held in connection with
cottage gardening, it should not be contrived primariK-
as an outing for the local residents at large, but as an
exposition of cottage industry and skill, and as a gala-
day for the cottager.

532 Literature of Gardening.

ON THE LITERATURE OF ANCIENT AND
MODERN GARDENINa.

Read before the Royal Society of Literature, London, zyd March 1 887.]

THE " Literature of Gardening" may be said to
commence with the earliest period of history.
In the second chapter of the Book of Genesis we read —
" And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden,
and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out
of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that
is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The Tree of
Life also in the midst of the garden, and the Tree of Know-
ledge of Good and Evil, And a river went out of Eden
to water the garden." And here I would observe that in
this the first garden of which we have any record not only
" every tree that was good for food," but " every tree that
was pleasant to the sight" was planted, so that ornamental
gardening was recognised at a date coeval with the crea-
tion of man.

The Bible throughout abounds in allusions to trees
and flowers. A passage in Deuteronomy would almost
seem to warrant the conclusion that experience had
revealed to the cultivators the existence of the sexes of
plants, although the discovery of this fact has been claimed
for a much later period — " Thou shalt not sow thy vine-
yard with divers seeds, lest the fruit of thy seed which thou
hast sown and the fruit of thy vineyard be defiled." —
Deuteronomy, chap, xxii., v. 9. In the first Book of
Kings (chap, iv^, v. 33) it is recorded of Solomon that "he
spake of trees from the Cedar tree that is in Lebanon even
unto the Hyssop that springeth out of the wall." In Eccle-
siastes (chap, ii.) we read — " I made me great works ;
I btiilded me houses; I planted me vineyards; I made me
gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all
kinds of fruits ; I made me pools of water to water there-
with the wood that bringeth forth trees." In Solomon's
Song frequent allusion is made to a garden — " Thy plants

Literature of Gardening. 533

are an orchard of Pomegranates " " Let my beloved come
into his garden and eat his pleasant fruits ;" and trees,
plants, and flowers were apparently ever present to this
author's imagination. In the 5th chapter of Isaiah it is
said, speaking of an unfruitful vineyard, " And I will lay
it waste; it shall not be pruned or digged;" and in
Jeremiah (chap, ii.) — "Yet had I planted thee a noble vine,
wholly a right seed; how then art thou turned into the
degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me." These
passages seem to show that pruning, digging, and raising
plants from seed were practised at that time. In the i8th
chapter of Isaiah we read — " For afore the harvest, when
the bud is perfect and the sour grape is ripening in the
flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning-hooks,
and take away and cut down the branches." The 31st
chapter of Ezekiel, which is full of beauty, contains special
reference to the trees of the Garden of Eden, comparing
them with the Assyrian.

The Garden of Eden is supposed to have been situated
in Persia, while that of the Hesperides, which contained
the Golden Apples (probably oranges) given by Juno to
Jupiter on the occasion of their marriage, and are de-
scribed by Scylax (600 B.C.), are supposed to have been
situated near Mount Atlas in Africa.

The famous Gardens of Babylon formed by Semi-
ramis (2000 B.C.) were composed of groves and terraces,
and contained objects both for use and beauty. Those
who may wish to see a description of them will find it in
the writings of Diodorus and Strabo, and in the early
pages of Dr Falconer's "Historical View of the Gardens
of Antiquity." Sir Thomas Brown, in his "Garden of
Cyrus," says — "Cyrus the elder, brought up in woods and
mountains, when time and power enabled, pursued the
dictate of his education, and brought the treasures of the
field into rule and circumscription, so nobly beautifying
the Hanging Gardens of Babylon that he was also thought
to be the author thereof."

534 Literature of Gardening.

The literature of the East abounds in allusions to
gardens. The Persians were greatly indebted to Cyrus
the younger for the enjoyments they derived from them.
Xenophon (about 40c B.C.) tells us (Memorabilia, lib. v.)
that wherever Cyrus resided or whatever place he visited
he caused the gardens, called Paradises, to be stocked
with everything beautiful or useful that the soil pro-
duced.

There is, however, not much to be said of the " Litera-
ture of Gardening" among the nations of high antiquity.
Jews, Egyptians, Assyrians, Persians, and Carthagenians
were no doubt practical gardeners and had gardens, but if
they wrote much on the subject, which is hardly probable,
very little has come down to us. Hesiod's "Works and
Days" is agricultural rather than horticultural, although
according to Pliny, Ovid, and Manilius he had originally
treated of the grafting of vines and olives and of various
trees and plants. He speaks of

" The good which Asphodel and Mallow yields,
The feast of herbs, the dainties of the held."

He also enumerates the oak, the vine, and the fig.

The gardens of Alcinous and those of Laertes, both of
which are described by Homer in the Odyssey, are said to
have contained fruits, vegetables, and flowers. The garden
of Alcinous is thus described : —

" Close to the gates a spacious garden lies,
From storms defended and inclement skies ;
Four acres was the allotted space of ground,
Fenced with a green enclosure all around.
Tall thriving trees confessed the fruitful mould.
The reddening apple ripens here to gold ;
Here the blue fig with luscious juice o'erflows,
With deeper red the full pomegranate glows,
The branch here bends beneath the weighty pear.
And verdant olives flourish round the year,"
***** *

" Beds of all various herbs for ever green
In beauteous order terminate the scene."

Literature of Gardening. 535

And again —

" Here a rich juice the royal vineyard pours,
And there the garden yields a waste of flowers."

Of Laertes it is said —

" Yet busied with his slaves to ease his woe,
He dressed the vine and bade the garden blow."

Epicurus is said to have been the first who laid out
a garden at Athens. Hesiod, Homer, Xenophon, Theo-
phrastus, Dioscorides, and yEHan are writers on the
subject. Pythagoras and Democritus also wrote treatises
on the properties of plants. Theophrastus, the successor
of Aristotle, wrote a history of plants, which by some has
been ascribed to Aristotle, although admitted not to have
been given to the world during his lifetime. However
that may be, it is much in advance of any book of an
earlier date that I have seen. In it the author not only
enumerates by name a great number of plants, but
describes them. We have, however, not very much from
the Greeks on gardening.

Coming downwards to the Romans, we find that Cato,
Varro, Virgil, Horace, and Martial wrote on trees and
flowers, and Columella has a good deal to say on gardens.
Varro tells us there are more than fifty authors (Greek
and Roman) who have written on agriculture and garden-
ing. Pliny's " Natural History" also enters largely into
the subject. We think we may fairly claim Virgil's
Georgics, 2 and 4, as belonging to the Literature of
Gardening, although we should not like to stand sponsor
for his theory of grafting. In truth, the Romans seem to
have held, contrary to fact, that any one tree could be
grafted on any other. In Columella's " Husbandry" the
whole of the 3rd and the greater part of the 4th book is
taken up with an account of vines and vine culture. He
treats of kinds, soil, climate, planting, pruning, digging,
and propagating, and states that a vineyard will speedily
decay if it is not supported by assiduous culture, for which

53^ Literature of Gardening.

he gives instructions. From the vine he passes on to the
chestnut and oak. In the 5th book he has separate
chapters " on the culture of provincial vineyards," " of the
several sorts of olive trees," " of pomiferous trees," and the
like. The loth book is "of the culture of gardens." The
nth book is also worth perusing, and there is a book con-
cerning trees, including vines, olives, figs, nuts, pome-
granates, pears, apples, and others too numerous to men-
tion, with a separate chapter " of the violet and the rose."
He quotes frequently from Virgil, and speaks of Celsus
and Atticus, " whom our age has most approved with
respect to husbandry." He has one chapter headed,
" What must be done every month by accommodating
all sorts of work to the times and seasons." Columella's
"Husbandry" contains a good deal of sound practical
advice as to gardening pleasantly conveyed ; altogether
it is a remarkable book for the age in which it was written ;
it stands quite alone, and will even bear reading now by
those who know enough of the subject to avoid being
misled by its few puerilities. There was at that time no
theory of gardening ; it was the practice of it handed
down from preceding generations, and extended by the
Romans, which Columella so amply recorded.

The Natural History of Pliny is of course generally
known. He treats of " the pleasures of the garden," " the
laying out of garden ground," "the natural history of
plants grown in gardens," " of sowing seeds," " of the
maladies of plants and their remedies," and gives a long
list of vegetables. He also writes " on the nature of
flowers and gardens," and while mentioning that Theo-
phrastus among the Greeks has written on the subject
of flowers, says none of the Roman authors have, to his
knowledge, written expressly of them.* He speaks also of
the succession in which flowers blossom — the spring flowers

*He however tells us elsewhere that Cato was the first, and for a long time
the only, author who treated of this branch of learning.

Literature of Gardening. 537

and the summer flowers — enumerating the violet, the
anemone, and the hyacinth among the former, and the
lychnis and two varieties of the pothos among the latter.
The properties of plants, trees, and fruits, are not over-
looked, and a long list of their uses as remedies classified
according to particular diseases is given, from which it
appears to me our early English Herbals have been
in a great measure derived. According to Pliny and
others the kings of Rome cultivated their gardens with
their own hands, and the Romans had pleasure gardens in
the very heart of the city. The love of the marvellous,
which in the present day records occasionally the "big
gooseberry " and the " fat rose " as at once a wonder and
a joke, seems to have existed then, for the Romans boasted
of " pampered " cabbages that the poor man's table was
not large enough to hold, and asparagus heads weighing
3 lbs. each. Pliny enumerates, among other plants,
twelve varieties of the rose and four varieties of the lily.
He classifies plants according to their stems and according
to their leaves, and had observed that some plants begin
to flower at the top and others at the bottom of the
stalk.

On the fall of the Roman Empire there is a chasm
which I suppose it is impossible to fill up. On the revival
of arts and learning gardening soon attracted attention.
Italy was apparently the first of European countries to
engage in agriculture and gardening, and Pierre de
Crescent was one of the earliest writers on gardens of
pleasure. This was at the end of the 13th century.
About two centuries later, Lorenzo de Medici had a
famous garden in Italy, and the taste gradually spread
in that country and to others. Filippo Re and Clarici are
the greatest early Italian writers on gardening. Later
on Malphigi stands high as a writer on the anatomy of
plants.

The Dutch were early in the field as gardeners, some
assert even before the Italians, but both nations have been

538 Literature of Gardening.

cultivators rather than writers, the " Hortus Amstelo-
damus" of Commelinus, and the "Dutch Gardener" of
Van Oosten being the principal works of Holland on
the subject after the revival of learning.

The Belgium of to-day stands high among European
countries both for practical and theoretical gardening.
Owing to the fostering care of the present and preceding
sovereigns the horticultural schools of that country are of
the first order, and the horticultural literature is sound and
comprehensive. There are now two monthly periodicals
on gardening and botany profusely and beautifully illus-
trated, and many works on special branches of garden
literature, as Verschaffelt on the Camellia, published
in Belgium, and which stand in the very front rank of
horticultural literature.

The literature of gardening is more plentiful in France
than in any other European country we have hitherto
spoken of. As early as the eighth century Charlemagne
in his " Capitularies " alludes to gardens, and gives a list of
what plants are best to set in them. The most elegant
writers in the French language have some charming
snatches on gardens, which I regret that time does not
allow me to introduce, but in the early history of French
literature there is but little on practical gardening. At
least from the time of Andre Lenotre (i/th century) the
French have given much attention to landscape gardening,
and the writings of Girardin of the past and Alphand of
the present are pretty familiar to those who follow this
subject. De Lille and Rapin are also well known by their
poems on gardens, while Etienne, Boyceau, Mollet, Liger,
Marion, Morel, Le Maistre, D'Argenville, and Watelet
wrote usefully and well. La Quintinye and Duhamel are
their greatest early writers on the subject, while Redoute's
" Les Roses" and "Liliaceae" are prominent among illus-
trated works. During the present century Charles Naudin,
Edouard Andre, Courtois Gerard, Poiteau, Hardy, Comte
L. de Lambertye, Vilmorin, and Decaisne are well to the

Literature of Gardening. 539

front. Numerous works, some illustrated, have been pub-
lished on the Rose, and scarcely any branch of gardening
has escaped elucidation either by books or pamphlets.
" Le Bon Jardinier," which is published yearly, is a work
of considerable merit. There are also horticultural libraries
in Paris and horticultural societies at Paris, Lyons, and
Lille, which publish journals recording their transactions.
The " Revue Horticole" and the "Journal des Roses" are
beautiful works now in course of publication in France,
and small books on flowers and fruits are continually
issuing from the press.

Germany is the last European country we think it
necessary to notice in regard to the literature of gardening,
and German works on the subject are to a great extent
translations or compilations from other sources.

We now come to the literature of gardening in Eng-
land. The earliest works I have on trees and plants are
the " Ortus Sanitatis" printed at the close of the fifteenth
century and Macer's "Herbal," the 'hxst printed edition of
which appeared according to Pritzel in 1487. My copy of
the latter is in Latin verse, but I have seen although I do
not possess an English translation of it. Both these works
are in the character of Herbals and are illustrated with
rude cuts of the plants they describe.

Dr Pulteney in his "Sketches of Botany " states that
there are several manuscripts on trees and plants in the
Bodleian Library which were written before the inven-
tion of printing, or at least before its introduction to
England, and there are several manuscripts in various
other libraries.

Johnson in his " History of Gardening" tells us that the
author of the first book written on the cultivation of the
soil in England was Walter de Henley in the reign of
Edward the Third (i 327-1 377). In a translation of this
work by Elizabeth Lamond (1890) it is stated that the
earliest edition was the English translation issued by
Wynk)n de \\'orde immediately followed both in the M.S.

540 Literature of Gardening.

and the printed copy by a tract on the planting and graft-
ing of trees, adapted and translated from Palladius.*

Dr Bulleyn (i 500-1 576) wrote on gardening, and tells
us that we had excellent apples, pears, plums, and cherries
in his time, although it was customary to import them from
France and Holland.

Thomas Tusser (15 15-1580) wrote "One Hundred
Points of Good Husbandry," a book which has gone
through many editions. This work is principally on
agriculture, but he gives lists of forty-two sorts of seeds
and herbs for the kitchen, twenty-two sorts of herbs and
roots for salads and sauce, eleven herbs and roots to boil
or to butter, twenty-one stewing herbs, forty herbs,
branches, and flowers for windows and pots, se^'■enteen
herbs to distil in summer, and twenty-five herbs to grow
in the garden for physic. He also gives a list of twenty-
seven sorts of fruit trees to be set or removed. The book
is written in verse, and is full of wise precepts on rural
affairs in general.

In "Arnold's Chronicle" (1521) is a chapter on the
" Crafte of graffynge and plantynge and alterynge of
frutys." Sir Anthony Fitzherbert published " The Book
of Husbandry" in 1532. The first part of Turner's " New
Herbal" was published in 155 1, but is botanical rather
than horticultural.

Thomas Hyll published " The Profitable Art of Gar-
dening" in 1563, and there are other editions of this book
about the same date.

Didymus Mountain published the first part of the
"Gardeners' Labyrinth" in 1571. He does not claim
originality. As a compilation it is valuable, bringing
together scattered fragments on practical gardening. A

* The earliest MSS. on gardening which I have seen appear to me copies
or translations of Latin authors, and abound in superstitious details. Later
writings too are repetitions of previous authors borrowed without acknowledg-
ment, a practice which presumably did not begin then and certainly has not
ended now.

Literature of Gardening. 541

second part of this book was publislied in 1577, and
numerous editions succeeded at brief intervals.

Plenry Lyte published a translation of " Dodoens'
Herbal" in 1578, an interesting book, because although
it does not embrace cultivation, the enumeration of plants
and trees, their description and nature, is very full and
valuable. Dodoens seems to have borrowed much from
Dioscorides, a Greek herbalist of the first century, as our
own Gerard later on borrowed much from Dodoens.

In 1578 appeared also a translation of Heresbach by
Barnaby Googe, under the title of " Foure Bookes of
Husbandrie, containing the whole art and trade of Hus-
bandrie, Gardening, Graffeing, and Planting, &c," of which
Johnson in his History of Gardening says : — " This is a book
replete with just observations, and though short and im-
perfect, still superior to any work that had preceded it."

Sir Hugh Piatt published "The Jewel House of Art
and Nature" in 1594, and the " Paradise of Flora" in 1600,
subsequent editions of the latter having the title of " The
Garden of Eden." I have both these books, but not the
first editions of them ; the former has little in connexion
with gardening, although the author claims to have pre-
sented the Lord Mayor with fresh green artichokes on
Twelfth-day, and with a score of fresh oranges which he
had kept from the previous Whitsuntide. " The Garden
of Eden " is really a book on gardening. The author says
in his epistle to the reader that " his collections are not
written at adventure or by an imaginary conceit in a
scholar's private study, but wrung out of the earth b)^ the
painful hand of experience." The publisher tells us there
was " not a gardener in England of any note but made use
of his discoveries and confirmed his inventions by their
own experience." He speaks of trees and plants as "God's
Vegetable creatures." The style is clear and elegant, con-
veying much sound instruction, but the author was living
in the dawn of gardening and did not discern all things
so clearly as he thought. He was in friendly communica-

542 Literature of Gardening.

tion with gardeners and lovers of gardening and seems to
have scrupulously acknowledged the services of those he
borrowed from.

In 1597 appeared the "Herbal or General History of
Plants" by John Gerard, but this work, important and
valuable as it was in regard to its influence on gardening,
is botanical rather than horticultural. In the same year
was published " A New Orchard and Garden " by William
Lawson, and with it " The Country Housewife's Garden."
These two works are usually found together, and seem to
have been written by a man who had a practical know-
ledge of his subject. The first is principally occupied with
the orchard, the second with herbs, but here he recom-
mends two gardens, one for flowers, the other a kitchen
garden. Gervase Markham, who wrote in the early part
of the seventeenth century, seems to have been an author
bv profession. His chief works are agricultural rather
than horticultural. In "A Way to get Wealth" he has,
however, a division — "The making of Orchards, planting
and grafting, the office of gardening and the ornaments,
&c.," but which seems to be the same as Lawson's " New
Orchard and Garden" already alluded to.

John Parkinson published his first book "Paradisiin
sole Paradisus terrestris" in 1629. I have read somewhere
that he intended the title of this book as a play on his own
name Park-in-sun. This work seems to me a new de-
parture in the literature of gardening, for it not only
recognises and figures the many 'varieties of flowers which
were springing into life under the hands of the cultivator
in his time, but it has a good deal to say — and says it well
— on the arrangement of gardens, and on the cultivation
and preserving of the plants which they contained. It is
the work of a scholar, and one who did not look with
indifference or contempt on the practical operations of the
art. His " Paradisi " or " Garden of Pleasant Flowers "
begins with the Crown Imperial and ends with the grapes.
In the large list of flowering plants which he enumerates

Literature of Gardening. 543

are: Tulips 137 sorts, Narcissus and Daffodils 95, Hya-
cinths 50, Crocuses 31, Irises 73, Anemones ^y. Ranun-
culuses 23, Geraniums 9, Auriculas 22, Primroses and
Cowslips 21, Carnations and Gilliflowers 52, Pinks 20,
Roses 24, and smaller numbers of other flowers. Con-
tinuing his work he takes up the kitchen garden as a
second part, and concludes with the orchard as a third
part. With both of these he deals somewhat briefly, but
still with no apparent diminution of interest. We have no
time to give extracts, and this is the less important, as the
"Paradisi," although not free from error, is a wonderful book
for the age, and should be in the possession of every lover
of gardening. In 1640 appeared the"Theatrum Botani-
cum," or Theatre of Plants, by the same author, which
some would likely consider a greater work, but which is
botanical rather than horticultural.

Walter Blith's "English Improver Improved," my
edition of which is dated 1652, is a book much in advance
of the times, and although principally agricultural it treats
of woodlands, orchards, and garden fruits. The next year
appeared "A Treatise of Fruit Trees," by Ralph Austen.
This is a good book, and contains much sound advice on
the subject on which it treats. The author exposes the
superstitions and errors of the earlier writers on gardening.
In 1654 was published anonymously " The Countryman's
Recreation " or the Art of Planting, Grafting, and Garden-
ing. This book, which has a copious table of contents,
touches on almost every point of practical gardening, but
while containing some good things abounds in vulgar
errors.

Samuel Hartlib's " Legacy of Husbandry" (1655) is a
genuine book, although not an original one. He sa}-s —
" Gardening is but a few years standing in England and
therefore not well understood," and again, that a Surrey
landlord feared the gardeners would spoil his ground by
dicrcring it! I have a curious little book stvled "Adam
out of Eden," by Adam Speed, Gent (1659). In it he tells

544 Literature of Gardening.

us that there are about London that do make yearly ;{i"200
an acre by gardening, but as he also tells us to graft
Apples, Roses, and Vines on Cherry Stocks, he cannot be
considered a reliable authority.

About this period Dr John Beale wrote several treatises
on orchards and fruit trees of considerable merit. "The
Gardens of Cyrus," by Sir Thomas Browne, also attracted
some attention at this time. But John Evelyn, by the
translation of" The French Gardener " and "The Complete
Gardener," and the publication of " The Sylva Terra and
Pomona " and " The Kalendarium Hortense," gave a great
stimulus to gardening. These works, as may be sup-
posed, were elegantly written, and written by one who
understood the subject and took a deep interest in it.
Robert Sharrock, Fellow of New College, Oxford, was the
author of two books on gardening, one " The History
of the Propagation and Improvement of Vegetables," in
1660, the other "An Improvement to the Art of Garden-
ing," published in 1694. These are good books, and would
doubtless be very welcome to many in those days. The
"Flora Ceres and Pomona" of John Rea was published
in 1665. It is a folio volume illustrated with numerous
formal plans for flower gardens, and copious lists of flowers,
fruits, and trees. John Worlidge wrote several works on
rural affairs. " Systema Agriculturse" (1669) and " Systema
Horticulturae " (1677) both treat of gardening, and are not
without merit. Drope published a small book on fruit
trees in 1672 ; it is full of sound instruction, which appears
to have been gathered from experience.

"The Planter's Manual," by Charles Cotton (1675), is a
work on fruit trees only, and gives lists of the best sorts of
fruits and pears for every month of the year. Moses Cooke
wrote a book on forest and fruit trees (1679), which was an
.authority in its day, aud passed through several editions.
Another work on fruit trees by T. Langford (1681) was
considered in its day a book of considerable merit, and
contains at the end a few pages " Of greens and green-

Literature of Gardening. 545

houses," with a catalogue of choice fruits and evergreens
to be had at Brompton Park. Other writers of this time
are Leonard Meager, Samuel Gilbert, and John Reid.
Gilbert in his " Florist's Vade Mecum " gives a list of no
fewer than thirty sorts of Roses which were cultivated in
gardens at that time (1683).

Sir William Temple wrote an essay on " The Garden
of Epicurus or of Gardening in the year 1685." It favours
the Dutch style of gardening, and is written with his
customary ease and elegance. London & Wise published
two translations from French authors between 1699 and
1706, with alterations and additions, which made them
standard works in their day. William Fleetwood, Bishop
of Ely, the greatest preacher of his time, brought out in
1707 " Curiosities of Nature and Art in Husbandry and
Gardening." It is very well written, but much behind the
age, and the writer evidently knew nothing of practical
gardening. Other authors of this period are John
Mortimer and William Salmon, while translations of
Van Oosten's " Dutch Gardener," and " The Theory and
Practice of Gardening " by Le Blond were offered to the
public.

The love of gardening displayed by James I., Charles I ,
Charles II., Queen Mary, and Queen Anne, and the means
they employed to promote it, had doubtless a great influence
on its literature, and we now find literary men helping
it forward by occasional efforts — Cowley's letter " The
Garden," addressed to Evelyn, may be given as an
example. In the early part of the i8th century John
Laurence wrote a series of works on gardening, chiefl}-
derived from his own experience, and which were much
in advance of previous writings on the subject.

Switzer is a great name in the garden literature of this
age, and if we had the time we might say a great deal in
praise of his industry and intelligence as an author. He
wrote " Icnographia Rustica " (1718), " The Practical P^ruit
Gardener" (1724), "The Practical Kitchen Gardener" (1727)

21

546 Literature of Gardening.

— all comprehensive in nature and sound in teaching — and
numerous other works, Richard Bradley was also a
voluminous and distinguished writer on gardening at this
date. His " New Improvements on Planting and Garden-
ing" and "Treatise of Husbandry and Gardening" are two
valuable works, although not distinguished by originality.

Passing over many writers of this period whose works
were useful but not remarkable, we come to Philip Miller,
the " Hortulanorum Princeps '" of the i8th century. His
"Gardener's and Florist's Dictionary" was published in
1724, in which work he was assisted by other gardeners of
the period. Successive editions of this work appeared, the
9th edition in 1792, edited by Professor Martyn of Cam-
bridge. This long remained a standard work on gardening
and botany, and translations were published in the French,
Dutch, and German languages. He published also " The
Gardeners' Kalender," 1731, which passed through many
editions, and some papers on gardening which appeared in
the " Philosophical Transactions."

Batty Langley wrote "New Principles in Gardening"
in 1728, and "Pomona," with numerous coloured plates, in
1729. The "Scot's Gardeners' Director," by James Justice,
was a book of some repute about the middle of this cen-
tury. Sir John Hill was a voluminous writer on gardening
and botany. His " Eden," folio, numerous coloured plates,
1757, is still an interesting book, and his "Vegetable
System" (1759), 24 vols, folio, full of plates, is a magnifi-
cent book, but of little practical or scientific value. Thomas
Hitt wrote a sensible book on Fruit Trees in 1757. Sir
William Chambers wrote "Dissertations on Oriental
Gardening" (1744)- Johnson, in his " History of Garden-
ing," says it is " puerile in the extreme," but with all
deference to this great and good man I must confess to
have read it with pleasure and I think with profit. In
1769 the Rev. William Hanbury wrote "A Complete Body
of Planting and Gardening," 2 vols, folio, and which was
published in numbers.

Literature of Gardening. 547

Numerous works appeared about this time which it
would serve little purpose to enumerate, many borrowing
largely from their predecessors. The early writers on
English gardening were mostly scholars who had little
knowledge of the subject ; the style was consequently
superior to the matter. Later on, when practical men
began to write more freely, the matter was superior to the
style. But as education became more widely diffused the
union of the two gave us a more satisfactory garden
literature.

The " Unconnected Thoughts on Landscape Garden-
ing," by Shenstone the poet, published in 1764, deserve
more than a passing word. They were apparently jotted
down at intervals while he was carrying out improvements
at his beautiful ferine ornce " The Leasowes," and might
be read with advantage by some of our modern improvers.

Having been brought by the sequence of time into the
arena of landscape gardening, we propose to diverge here
to follow briefly but separately the literature of that branch
of the art, although we have no intention of taking part in
the fierce but bloodless combats which ensued. We may
safely assume that the earliest gardens were simply
enclosed pieces of land with fences or hedges as a protec-
tion against cattle. Then followed formal plans to please
the fancy and for the convenience of access to the different
objects which the garden contained. Gradually following
upon this rose up artistic or landscape gardening. Men
wrote little on the subject, and the earliest literature of any
importance on this branch of the art, seems to have been
Lord Bacon's " Essay on Gardens." It is true that the
writings of Shakespeare abound in allusions to trees,
plants, and flowers, and later on came the essays of Sir
Wm. Temple, Addison, Pope, Lord Kames, G. Mason, and
Walpole. Switzer also wrote on the subjeet from the more
practical point of view, while Bridgeman, Kent, and Brown
were workers rather than writers. Whately, W. Mason,
and Rcpton, were distinguished writers on this branch of

548 Literature of Gardening.

the art at a still later date, and their works even now take
high rank with those of Marshal, Gilpin, Knight, and Price.
A fierce controversy raged between some of these writers ;
Knight and Price on the one side, and Repton and
Marshall on the other, were in the van of the contending
schools ; both wrote well but neither seemed to succeed in
making the other understand him, and it seems hardly
desirable here to open up the controversy. The chief
writings on the subject may be occasionally met with on
old book-stalls and purchased for a few shillings if any one
should wish to indulge in the luxury of an intellectual
puzzle. From this time, however, it may be said that
gardening took the position of an art, although many
years rolled by before it was elevated to the rank of a
science.

To return, John Abercrombie (1744-91) wrote from
experience, and his works, which are numerous, had a great
circulation, and considerable influence on the gardening of
his age. It is related of this author that he was invited to
write his first book on gardening " Every Man His Own
Gardener" by a London bookseller, and after much hesita-
tion consented to do so on condition that Dr Goldsmith
undertook the revision of it as to style before publication.
Goldsmith consented, but returned the MS. to the pub-
lisher saying the author's style was best suited to the
subject of which he treated. The number of books on
gardening continued to increase, many of them published
without the author's name. Garton, Weston, Colin Milne,
Meader, Boutcher, William Mason, G. Lindley, Bryant,
Felton, and Kennedy, are names worthy of being preserved.
William Speechly wrote " A Treatise on the Culture of the
Vine, &c." (1790), and "A Treatise on the Pine Apple,
&c." (1796), which in their day were standard works.

Dr Erasmus Darwin is entitled to recognition here as
the author of " The Botanic Garden " or " Loves of the
Plants," a very flowery poem (1781-89) and of " Phytologia"
or "The Philosophy of Agriculture and Gardening" (i8co).

Literature of Gardening. 549

In 1787 William Curtis commenced "The Botanical
Magazine," which has been published without intermission
to the present day. This work, which is beautifully illus-
trated, was for some years edited by Curtis and Sim, then
by Sir William Hooker, and is now edited by Sir Joseph
Hooker, and although botanical rather than horticultural,
can hardly be omitted from the Literature of Gardening.
A copy of this work sold recently for £i 18.

William Marshall, who took part in the Knight-
Repton controversy on landscape gardening, wrote a
good book " On Planting and Rural Ornament." H. C.
Andrews on Heaths, Roses, &c. (illustrated), Forsyth on
Fruit Trees, Haddock on Florists' Flowers, Steele on
Stove and Greenhouse Plants, M'Phail on General Gar-
dening, and Bucknall on Orchards, are writers of this
period still worthy of perusal. Repton's works on Land-
scape Gardening (1794-181 7) were paramount in their
day, and are still highly valued by many. But at the
close of the i8th and dawn of the 19th century the name
of Thomas Andrew Knight is the most prominent in the
Literature of Gardening, principally by the numerous
papers he contributed to the " Transactions of the Horti-
cultural Society of London," of which Society he was the
President. Of distinguished merit are the works of Walter
Nicol (1798-18 10) on General Gardening, and William
Pontey (1814-1823) on Forest Trees. Professor Martyn,
of Cambridge, in his edition of "Miller's Gardeners'
Dictionary" (i 803-1 807), furnished a valuable contribu-
tion to the Literature of Gardening.

But the greatest of writers on our subject was John
Claudius Loudon (i 783-1 843), whose works on every
branch of gardening raised it to a higher position than
it had yet enjoyed, and placed within reach of its votaries
full, clear, and accurate information concerning the details
of its various practices. His "Encyclopedia of Garden-
ing" and "Arboretum et fruticctum Britannicum" are
prodigies of industry and skill, and specially valuable as

550 Literature of Gardening.

works of reference. Cushing's " Exotic Gardener" and
Hogg's " Treatise on the Carnation, &c.," are both good
books of this period (1812). The " Hortus Gramineus
Woburnensis" by George Sinclair (i8i6)is a valuable
book, and the writings of Robert Sweet are entitled to
more than a passing word. His " Hortus Suburbanus
Londinensis," " The Hothouse and Greenhouse Manual,"
"Hortus Britannicus," "The Geraniaceae," "The British
Flower Garden," " The Florists' Guide," and " Flora
Australasica" (the four latter beautifully illustrated, and
still much sought after), have stood well the test of
time. Ronald's "Apples" is also a good book.

Henry Phillips wrote some interesting books on garden-
ing between the years 1 820-1 831, among others "Pomarium
Britannicum," " Sylva Florifera," and " Flora Historica."

William Cobbett wrote "The Woodlands" — a good
book — (1826), and "The English Gardener" (1833), which
are distinguished by the strong common sense and clear
style of this author. Other writers of this time are Patrick
Neill, Morris, Harrison, Chandler, Billington, and Loddiges.
Harrison commenced " The Floricultural Cabinet" in 1833,
a useful and elegant work which was published monthly
and extended to 27 volumes. Loddiges began " The
Botanical Cabinet," a high class work, in 18 17, which
stopped in 1833 ; it contains coloured plates of 2000
different plants. "The Botanical Register," also a high
class periodical, commenced in 1815, and stopped in 1847
with the 33rd volume. The later volumes of this periodical
were edited by Dr Lindley. " Maund's Botanic Garden,"
my copy of which in 13 volumes is not dated, is also a
beautiful book, the illustrations numerous, artistic, and life-
like. "The Horticultural Register," edited by Paxton and
Harrison, begun in 1832, extended to 6 volumes only, and
" The Floricultural Magazine," by Robert Marnock, in 1836,
to a like number. The " Magazine of Botany," by Paxton,
begun in 1834, had a longer and more successful run, ex-
tending to 15 volumes.

Literature of Gardening. 551

George Glenny, for some time Editor of " The
Gardeners' Gazette" and "The Horticultural Journal,"
and author of many Treatises and Papers on "Florists'
Flowers," was a clear and forcible writer, and helped much
to popularise that particular branch of the art.

The " Pomological Magazine," begun in 1827, is now
usually met with in 3 vols. ; it contains coloured plates
and descriptions of many of our best fruits.

"The Florist," commenced by Edward Beck in 1848,
closed in 1882. As I was for some time part proprietor of
this periodical I will only say that contributions to its
pages were made by some of our soundest and best writers
on gardening, and the illustrations of fruits and flowers were
generally acknowledged to be faithful representations
creditably executed.

Other works of this period entitled to high commenda-
tion are Stewart's "Planter's Guide" (1829), Johnson's
'History of Gardening" (1829), MTntosh's "Practical
Gardener" (1828), M'Intosh's "The Book of the Garden"
(1853), Chandler's "Camellia Japonica" (1831), and Thomp-
son's " Gardener's Assistant" (1859).

From about the year 1840 I was in a position to see
every book on gardening as it issued from the press, and
many books of earlier date which I had not previously
seen. I remember one little book which, speaking from
memory, was entitled " Outlines of the First Principles of
Horticulture," by John Lindley. Lindley was a systematic
and physiological botanist, and he utilised his physiological
knowledge in the construction of this little book. The
principles there laid down, afterwards extended in " The
Theory of Horticulture " and in the pages of " The Gar-
deners' Chronicle " by the same author, laid open to the
practical gardener sure grounds of procedure which raised
horticulture to the rank of a science.

The publication of the "Gardeners' Chronicle" in 1841
by Paxton, Lindley, and others gave a considerable im-
petus to the Art and Science of gardening. Lindley

552 Literature of Gardening.

proved a very competent editor ; not only did he write
clear, sound, and forcible leaders, many of them brilliant
and beyond what some had hitherto thought gardening
literature capable of bearing, but he drew around him as
contributors many of the best spirits of the gardening
world. It is a source of much pleasure to me while
penning this retrospect to remember that I had the
privilege of reckoning Loudon, Lindley, and Paxton
among my early friends, and later on Dr Hogg, who is
still happily living, in what may, I think, be fairly called
the golden age of garden literature. But the " Gardeners'
Chronicle," issued weekly, did not long occupy this field
alone. In 1848 appeared "The Cottage Gardener," by
G. W. Johnson, one of the soundest and best writers on
gardening the age has produced, and whose loss we have
but recently been called upon to mourn. This periodical,
changed in title in 1861 to the "Journal of Horticulture,"
and for some time past edited by Dr Hogg, who had
previously assisted Mr Johnson in his editorial duties,
at once attained a large circulation, and now deservedly
holds a very high position among authoritative works.
" The Gardeners' Magazine," edited by Shirley Hibberd,
is also an excellent weekly periodical of long standing ;
and " The Garden," edited by William Robinson, also
published weekly, is an elegant work enjoying a large and
high-class circulation. " Gardening Illustrated," " Garden
Work," "Amateur Gardening," "The Gardening World,"
and the " Horticultural Times," are also useful and cheap
weeklies ; so that now there are no less than nine weekly
periodicals on gardening published in England.

Of recent but not living writers we must not over-
look Donald Beaton and Robert Fish, and further,
Rogers. 1837 .... Vegetables and Fruits.

Rivers, T. 1837
Towers. 1839.
Ayres. 1850 .
Gordon. 1858

Roses and Fruits.
General Gardening.

Coniferae.

Literature of Gardening. 553

Smee, Alfred, F.R.S. . "My Garden." 1872.
Moore, Thomas, F.L.S. Ferns, &c., and *' Gar-
deners' Chronicle."

Of living authors who have published original works
on gardening we may mention : —

Anderson, J. . . . " The New Practical Gar-
dener."

Barron, A. F. . . . TheVine, British Apples,&c.

BURBIDGE .... Orchids, &c.

Douglas, J Hardy Florists' Flowers, &c.

Fish, D. T Miscellaneous.

*HlBBERD The "Gardeners' Magazine."

Hogg, Dr The Fruit Manual.

Do The "Journal of Horticul-
ture," &c.

*Kemp " How to lay out a Garden."

Masters, Dr. ..." Gardeners' Chronicle."

Mongredien . . . Trees and Shrubs.

Nicholson .... Dictionary of Gardening.

Paul, W., F.L.S. . . Roses, Villa Gardening, &c.

Rivers, T. F. ... Fruits and Roses.

Robinson, W., F.L.S. . The " Garden," &c.

ThOxMSON, D. . . . General Gardening.

Thomson, W. . . . General Gardening.

Veitch & Sons . . Orchids, Conifera^, &c.

* Williams, B., F.L.S. . Orchids, Ferns, &c.

Wright, J General Gardening.

This list might without favour be considerably ex-
tended, but we would remark here that some of our best
living writers seem now fully occupied in writing anony-
mously or otherwise for the numerous serial publications
on gardening.*

In conclusion, allow mc to offer a brief resume of the
work we have passed through.

* A few extracts from some of our best writers were here read, which it is
not thought necessary to reproduce. Other writers have also sprung into note
since this paper was written, and those marked thus (*) are no longer living.

554 Literature of Gardening.

We have seen that the Literature of Gardening com-
mences with the earliest historic period. The work goes
on through Jews, Egyptians, Assyrians, Persians, Cartha-
genians, Greeks, and Romans, to the fall of the Roman
Empire, the beautiful as well as the useful attracting the
notice of those several peoples. There is then a blank ;
gardening no doubt went on, but I can find no literature
of it worth recording. On the revival of learning in the
middle ages the Italians, French, and Dutch are the
earliest in the field, and are followed by the English and
other nations. Shortly after the introduction of printing,
books on gardening appear at intervals, till in the seven-
teenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries a flood of
garden literature pours in upon us. The gardener, the
herbalist, the botanist, sometimes working on their indivi-
dual lines, and sometimes on mixed lines, succeed each
other in due order. The gardener furnishes the physiolo-
gical botanist with facts, while the botanist renders the
gardener essential service by his labours in the fields of
systematic and physiological botany. The botanist's
figures and descriptions of nature's plants, and above all
his discoveries and publication of the facts of vegetable
anatomy, disclose to the view of the practical gardener new
fields for the exercise of his industry and skill, which he
joyously avails himself of, and the surface of the earth
grows more productive and more beautiful by the successive
uprising of new forms and tints under his fostering care.

THE DAWN OF LANDSCAPE GAEDENING IN
ENGLAND.

\^From " The Garden^'' Ap7'il ^th, 1890, p. 312.]

AVERY scarce tract on landscape gardening has just
fallen into my hands. It is entitled " An Essay on
Landscape Gardening, by John Dalrymple, Esq., author of

Dawn of Landscape Gardening. 555

" An Essay towards a General History of Feudal Property
in Great Britain." This John Dalrymple was a Scotch
advocate, and (I suppose subsequent to the writing of this
essay) according to Lowndes, 6"z> John Dalrymple, and if
the compiler of a book catalogue in my possession is to be
trusted, still later on became Earl of Stair.

I do not find this essay recorded in any of the
biographical manuals which I possess. The MS. was pro-
cured from Mr Dalrymple for Mr Shenstone through the
medium of Mr Dodsley about the year 1760, and became
thepropertyof Mr Bolton Corney in 1815. The last-named
gentleman edited and published it in 1823, but only a few
copies were printed. I may remark en passant I have
glanced cursorily through Shenstone's published letters,
but do not find any allusion to this pamphlet, although
Mr Dodsley's name frequently occurs in them.

It will, I think, be generally admitted that this essay
possesses much interest, (i) because it was written in the
dawn of landscape gardening, before the great con-
troversy on that art nearly a century ago, which has
settled down into the general adoption of the present style
of English landscape gardening ; and (2) because it is
probable that Shenstone (whose beautiful garden, or
rather /£t;;/^ ornce, "The Leasowes" was still talked about
in my early days) derived some of his inspiration from
this source. Shenstone, the author of " Unconnected
thoughts on Gardening," was a practical landscape gar-
dener as well as a poet of that age, and of his estate,
" The Leasowes," Johnson, in the " History of Gar-
dening," remarks, " when it came to Mr Shenstone's hands
it was a mere grazing farm, but he left it a perfect fairy-
land." About the time of which I am writing (1760)
Bridgeman and Kent had broken in upon the dull
uniformity of the existing style of laying out grounds, and
they are the only landscape gardeners mentioned (the
latter approvingly) by Dalrymple.

This brings me to the consideration of the essay itself,

556 Dawn of Landscape Gardening.

in which, whatever may be its merits or demerits, the author
has evidently thought the subject well out and gives his
conclusions generally, although not always, in a clear
style and with a logical precision which is rarely equalled
in writings on this subiect. The author commences by
asserting the desirability of uniting pleasure to utility in
gardening, and reminds us that this art is comparatively
young, and " not as yet arrived at the same degree of taste
to which some of the other arts have." His first principles
are thus stated : —

" There seem in Nature to be four different dispositions
of ground, distinct from each other and which create dis-
tinct and separate sentiments.

"The first situation is that of a highland country con-
sisting of great and steep mountains, rocks, lakes, im-
petuous rivers, &c. Such a place is Inverary. The
sentiment which a situation like this creates in the breast
of a beholder is obviously, and everyone feels it, that of
grandeur.

"The next is what one may call a romantic disposition
of ground, consisting of sunk vallies, woods hanging over
them, smooth rivers, the banks steep but accessible, and
the rocks appearing high, not so much from their own
height as from the trees Avhich crown, and the wild birds
that are continually hovering over them ; such a situation
is generally destitute of prospect ; but then in return, both
the whole and parts of it being very precisely marked, give
the same room to the imagination of the gardener that
they give to that of the landscape painter. Places like
this we have on the banks of many of our small rivers in
the low countries of Scotland. The sentiment which such
a situation seems to flatter is that of composure of mind
and perhaps even of melancholy.

" A third disposition is that of grounds running by
gentle falls and rising easily into each other. In situations
of this kind are placed many of the English modern
gardens, and particularly those which Kent delighted in

Dawn of Landscape Gardening. 557

laying out. Such a situation as this is generally attended
with great verdure, cultivation, and populousncss, and
naturally creates in the mind that sentiment of cheerful-
ness which society and action are apt to create,

" The last situation is that of a dead flat. A situation
of this kind may, from its verdure, or from its extent, or
from its contrast with other grounds which surround it,
create some particular sentiment, but merely considered
in itself it appears to create little or none.

" Nature not only raises these different sentiments,
upon the view of these different situations, but she gives
a love and attachment for one or the other of them
according to the different tempers of men. A man who
is fond of great projects or great exploits, or who has a
high regard for the splendour of his ancestors, will love
the first situation. ... A man in misfortune will naturally
retire to the second situation ; and for this reason many of
the convents abroad are observed to be built in such
places. A cheerful gay temper will naturally love the
third, and a person of no taste or feeling will as readily be
pleased with the sameness, and (if I may use the expres-
sion) uninterestingness of the last situation."

These remarks may not cover all the ground that the
modern landscape gardener claims as the just basis of his
practice, but considering that this is perhaps the first com-
prehensive treatise written on the subject it is marvellously
trite and true. A strictly formal style of gardening was
then in vogue, borrowed from Italy, Holland, and France,
while the excellent but meagre views put forth by Bacon,
Addison, and Pope were acknowledged as the written law.
London and Wise, Bridgeman and Kent had designed or
laid out gardens before this date, but they had published
nothing on the subject, and our author would seem to
have been more indebted to Bacon, Addison, and Pope
than to them, while giving free play to his own origin-
ality and force of thought. Perhaps he may also have
been aided in his task by Sir William Chambers' " Dis-

558 Dawn of Landscape Gardening.

sertations on Oriental Gardening," then recently published

(1744)-

Before descending from situations to details of practice,

he remarks that " as nature has created a love in different
tempers for one or other of them, it would appear to be the
perfection of art to second these her operations." This
remark, however, is qualified by the admission that it may
sometimes be desirable to soften or temper instead of
heightening any sentiment not agreeable in itself.

The author proceeds : — " The objects, either natural or
artificial, which enter into the composition of a garden are
chiefly four — buildings, grounds, water, and trees," to which
it may be said he might have very well added rocks. For
the first or highland situation he recommends the castle
with Gothic tower, with which the other buildings through
the garden should correspond, although there may be par-
ticular spots where the Doric or even the more rustic
Tuscan order would be proper to supply its place. If a
piece of water is to be made it should be a lake, not a pond.
■" The rapidity and noise of the rivers should be increased
by artificial bulwarks and impediments, as is done at
Inverary, and the falls of water should, either by the inter-
position of rocks, or of new streams brought over them, be
made to look more like cataracts than cascades." If a
plantation is to be made it should consist of the great forest
trees, and they should be planted irregularly. " As there
should be a greatness in the quantity of the plantation, so
should there be a greatness in the view of particular trees."
The chief natural defect of a highland situation is con-
sidered to be that it is generally ill-inhabited, and has too
much the appearance of dead life, and to counteract this,
" whatever buildings are erected should be in conspicuous
places to create a notion of life and populousness." It is
remarked " There is a fine gradation of inanimate objects
up almost into objects of life. A barren hill has a very
dead appearance ; covered with waving woods it has a
more animated show, but if a cascade is seen tumbling

Dawn of Landscape Gardening. 559

down that hill through these woods, it becomes still more
enlivened."

Of the "second" or "romantic" situation, he considers
the sentiment to be created by it is that of composure
rather than of grandeur. He still recommends the Gothic
for houses intended for use, but with regard to the archi-
tecture of ruins they may be of Grecian form ; the planta-
tions should consist of evergreen groves, the trees set very
near each other in the quincunx order, sometimes produc-
ing "long straight walks," and "long arched walks."
Water here should be smooth and quiet, and if a river, it
should be made to lose itself at the end in a thick wood,
and may be shaded in its course with Weeping Willow and
other trees. A small stream may be made to run purling
over pebbles, and if a waterfall or cascade is introduced,
the water should not be broken, but made to fall in one
regular sheet. " It is difficult to give directions for the
management of the ground in such situations ; smoothing
into a flat is always against taste ; and yet, perhaps, it
would here flatter the indolence of the mind." Again,
" The best disposition is to throw the ground into smooth
walks, following the course of the water and hills ; a soli-
tary walk in a deep valley, by the side of a smooth water,
and covered by the shades of the neighbouring hills and
woods, is the very region of melancholy." This is one of
the very fevv points in the essay in which I do not find my-
self at one with the author, I would not " flatter the
indolence of the mind," nor could I feel happy in "the very
region of melancholy." A garden and its surroundings
may very properly be designed and planted for rest and
meditation, but it is going a little too far, in my humble
judgment, to provide for indolence and melancholy. The
change of scenery presented by a varied and picturesque or
beautiful garden is the safest rest, but as to melanchoh-, is
it not dangerous to cater for its gratification ?

The third situation is that of a champaign rich country
full of gentle inequalities. " The sentiment which it creates

56o Dawn of Landscape Gardening.

is cheerfulness, and therefore in a garden in this situation
the disposition and assemblage should be such as may still
further carry on that sentiment." Here follows an eulogium
on Kent, succeeding which are the author's opinions of
water, planting, and buildings in association with
ground of this character. The river should be of a serpen-
tine form — sometimes losing itself in the appearance of
a thicket and sometimes in that of a lake, but for the
most part keeping its own pleasant meander. " The plant-
ing in such a place should consist of trees of the most
beautiful forms and colours, both of home and of exotic
kinds. They should be planted in the loose and open
manner, so that the beauty of each particular tree, and the
beauty of the ground they cover may be seen, or if the
particular roughness of a hill forces the gardener to plant
them in thickets, he should if possible make the colours
run into and lose themselves in each other like the colours
of the rainbow. As this is the situation in which the
beauty of single trees may be best seen, so it is here chiefly
that the connoisseur in the science of trees should exert his
knowledge and taste."

Nothing could be finer than this passage, and I would
commend it seriously to the consideration and adoption of
those \vho have the responsibility of choosing trees for
ornamental planting. Over and over again (in some
instances even as recently as this year 1890) have I looked
upon plantations for ornament with disgust rather than
pleasure, owing to the ill-chosen and ill-assorted individuals
of which they are made up. It is green, universal green —
even the various shades of that colour not being made the
most of — while the gold and silver tints, the brown, the
purple and other shades are almost or altogether ignored.
It is surprising how little known or used are some of our
most beautiful shrubs and trees. Am I going too far in
saying that the landscape gardener has only half learnt his
profession who lacks the knowledge of the habits, forms,
and tints of the modern as well as the old-fashioned hardy

Dawn of Landscape Gardening. 561

ornamental shrubs and trees ? As regards buildings, the
Chinese and Grecian architecture are recommended here,
also the simplicity and elegance of the Ionic order.

The fourth and last situation is that of a dead flat.
"The English in such a situation attempt to humour
Nature ; the French in such a situation attempt to hide
her. The first, from their too great love to her, expose
even her weakness ; the last, from their contempt of her,
conceal even her beauties. If these two tastes were to
make concessions to each other, perhaps the points of
perfection might lie between the two."

The moulding of the flat into the gentle unevenness
of Kent, which no one understood better than the late
Robert Marnock (and which is exemplified in his con-
struction of the gardens of the Royal Botanic Society in
the Regent's Park, London), is spoken of approvingly.
Art is here courted. But such a situation, as is aptly
remarked, is calculated to afford pleasure to the senses
rather than to the imagination. Buildings of all species
that have dignity in them are admissible here.

On the last page the author remarks : — " Could we
suppose a great monarch lavishing his treasures, as it is
said the Emperor of China has done, in beautifying the
face of Nature, the most fortunate disposition of grounds
for an attempt towards perfection in this art would be
where there was a considerable flat adjoining to the
palace ; where that flat ran into gentle unevennesses ;
where these unevennesses lost themselves in a romantic
retired situation ; and where that romantic situation again
opened and extended itself into a view of awful, magni-
ficent, and simple nature."

This passage recalls to my mind the gardens at
Drummond Castle, Perthshire, where the most cultivated
scenes are gradually and artistically blended with the
grandest and wildest in a manner that would almost lead
one to believe that the artist had been influenced by this
dictum in landscape gardening.
2 J

562 Dawn of Landscape Gardening.

When taking up the pen with the view of bringing
this essay under the notice of the lovers of gardening I
had no idea of running on to so great a length, and yet
much is left unnoticed that is well worthy of a thoughtful
perusal ; consequently I would recommend all who are
interested in the subject to get the pamphlet, and they
will not, I judge, regret the time spent in reading and
digesting its twenty-two small octavo pages.

The End.

Index.

563

INDEX.

Apples, flowering and flowers of, 432.
Autumn, tree scenery in, 225.
Autumnal tints, 239, 462.

Berry-bearing trees, 242, 276.
Birds, native singing, 490.
Brief rules for Rose culture, 134.

Camellia, the, 364, 377.

best sorts, 401.

botany of, 377.

climate for, 369.

floriculture, 382.

forcing, 397.

general culture of,
374, 3S6.

history of, 379.

in pots or tubs, 391,

planted out, 395.

propagation of, 372,
388.

pruning, 394.

renovation of, 399.

soil for, 368.

varieties, the best, 401.
Climbing and wall plants, 234, 271.
Colour in tree scener)', 456.
Colour of trees, 236, 251.
Cottage Gardens Association, 517.
Crossing, improvements by, 447.

Dawn of Landscape Gardening in
England, 554.

Elysian fields, day in the, 91.

Kloricultural millinery, 505.
Flowering and flowers of Apples, 432.
Flowering trees, 241, 262.
Form in tree scenery, 465.

Forms of trees, 231, 243.
Fruit culture, climate, 416,

,, for profit, 413.

,, gathering and storing,

425-

,, holdings, 426.

,, marketing, 425.

,, situations for, 416.

,, soils, 417.

,, sorts, 418.

,, statistics, 427.
Fruit growing, 411, 422,
Fruit question, the, considered, 429.

" Garden, My Father's," 493.
Gardeners' Chronicle, "Leader," on

Rose showing, 161.
Gardening, Literature of ancient ami

modern, 532.
Grouping of Roses, 181.

Hamilton Place, planting at, 479.
Hardy pictorial trees, 243.
Hatfield Park, planting at, 479.
Hollies, green, 212.

,, variegated, 215.
Holly, notes on varieties of, 207.
Hollyhock, the, 295, 322.
Horticultural nomenclature, 498.
Humphrey, Old, 486.
Hyacinth, the, 326.
Hybridising, 447.

Improvement of plants, 436.
Insect intoxication, 508.
Ivy, the, 279.

Laffay, i\L, his Roses, 16.
Landscape Gardening, 219.

,, ,, Dawn of, in

England, 554.

564

Index.

Leaves, forms of, 476.
Literature of gardening, 532.

Millinery, floricultural, 505.

Nomenclature, horticultural, 498.

Old Humphrey, 486.
Ornamental planting, 221.

Paris flower market, 480.

Pelargoniums, winter, 332.

Pictorial trees and shrubs, 230, 236,

243-
Pillars, plants for, 234.
Planting, ornamental, 221.

Ramification of trees, 474.
Right, Who is, 513.
Rockwork, shrubs for, 235.
Rosa berberifolia Hardii, 19.
Rose catalogues, 13.
,, controversy, the, 175.
,, cultivation of the, 33, 100.
,, gardens of Hertfordshire, 45.
,, groups of, described, 26, iSi.
,, history of the, 22.
,, lecture on the, 21.
,, rules, 134.
,, shows, two, 136.
Roses, 100.

,, and Rose showing, 154.

,, ,, shows, 169.

,, at the Royal Botanic Society,

161.
,, autumnal, 17.
,, ,, no, 184, 188.

,, bedding, 145.
,, fast life among, 152.
,, garden, 141.
,, grouping of, 18 1.
,, hybrid perpetual, development

of, 193-

,, manuring, 135.

,, new, 78.

,, pruning, 36.

,, seedling, 37, 196.

,, soil and situation for, 34.

,, standard, 179.

Roses, summer, 103, 184.

,, ,, plea for, 43.

,, tea-scented, 129.

J, ,, as conservator}'

climbers, 74.

,, thoughts on, 149.

,, town, 199.

,, transplanting, 34.

,, trip to Paris in search of
autumnal, 15.

,, variation of colours, 13.
Roses in pots, i, 39, 157.

,, —Aphis, 7, 9.

,, ,, exhibiting, 2.

n ,. forcing, 8, 41.

,, ,, protection of, 5.

,, ,, pruning, 6.

,, ,, soil for, 4.

,, ,, watering, 8, 9.

Rosetum, formation of, 31.

,, planting of, 32.
Royal Botanic Society, Roses at the,

161.
Rules, brief, for rose culture, 134.

Selection, improvements by, 437.

Sewage as a manure, 509.

Shelter, value of, 228.

Shower, the, 483.

Sports, 445.

Spray of trees, 474.

Spring flowers, 334.

Spring flowering plants, 346.

Spring gardening, 361.

Spring, tree scenery in, 221, 461.

Strawberries, crossing, 452.

Summer, tree scenery of, 224.

Temple Gardens, planting in, 478.
Town roses, 199.
,, trees, 286.
Trailing plants, 235.
Trees and shrubs, autumnal tints, 239.
,, ,, berry bearing, 242,

276.
,, ,, flowering, 241, 262,

265.

Index.

56:

Trees and shrubs, in lai'ge towns, 286.
,, ,, pyramidal, 231,243.

,, " ,, round-headed, 232.
,, ,, spreading, 232.

,, ,, weeping, 232, 247.

,, ,, with coloured bark,

240.
,, ,, ,, large leaves,

-33-
,, ,, ,, purple leaves,

237, 255.
,, ,, mall leaves,

234.

Trees and shrubs, with white leaves,

239, 259.
)j ,, ,, yellow leaves,

238, 256.

Via Gellia, a walk through the, 501.

Wall plants, 234.
Weeping trees, 232, 247.
Winter, tree scenery in, 227.

Yew, notes on varieties of, 203.

j Zonal pelargoniums, 332, 513.

WORKS ON HORTICULTURE

By WILLIAM PAUL, F.L.S.

Member of the Society of Arts ; Correspondiiii^ Member of the Massachusetts

Horticjiltural Society, of the Imperial Horticultural Society

of St Petersburg, and of the North of France Horticultural Society;

Member of the Association Horticole Lyonnaise, &^c., ■^c.

THE ROSE GAEDEN. Ninth Edition, Royal 4to., 360 pp., with
Twenty highly-finished Coloured Plates, by Severeyns, and Six-
teen full-page Wood Engravings, by Worthington Smith ; the
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The same, Imperial Svo., Illustrated with Woodcuts

only Nett price, 8s. gd.

'"The Rose Garden' is the ninth edition of Mr Paul's valuable standard work. The
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"We are glad to see it whenever it comes •"'m' trust to see it again and .-ig.iin."—
Gardeners' Chronicle.

WORKS ON HORTICULTURE— ^^«/////^^^.
ROSES AND ROSE CULTURE. Sixth Edition, Illustrated ... is.

" The best works on Roses are those of Mr \Vm. Paul." — Journal of Horticulture.

" The present work may be commended, not only for its low price, but for the extent of
the information given in a short space, and the thoroughly practical and admirable manner
in which it is written." — Gardeners' Chronicle.
\

'■ Ir is so complete, so explicit and yet so brief, as to justify his own description of it as
conveying the rrt//i>«a/f of cultivation in a nut-shell." — Gardeners' Magazine.

'• In this little shilling book, consisting of eighty-three pages, Mr \Vm. Paul tells amateur
Rose Growers all that is really necessary for them to know in order to make them successful
Rosarians." — The Garden.

TEE ROSE ANNUAL, 1860-61, 1861-62. Four Coloured Plates
each. Two parts. Eacli part ... ... ... ... 4s.

THE ROSE ANNUAL, 1877-78, 1878-79, 1879-80, 1880-81. Four.
Coloured Plates each. The set of four parts ... ... i6s.

The parts for iS-jS-jg, iSjg-So, and tSSo-St can be had separately,
price 4.S. per part.

WM. PAUL & SON'S ROSE CATALOGUE for 1883, 1884, 1885,
1886, 1887, 1888, 1889, 1890, 1891, and 1892. Post Free
IS. each ; or the :o years, 6s.

T'li'o Coloured Plates each, excepting the Catalogues for i88^ and iSgs,

luhich have One Plate each.

All, excepting the first and last issues, are printed on toned paper.

AMERICAN PLANTS. TheirHistory and Culture (Illustrated) 2s.

VILLA GARDENING-. Third Edition. Illustrated with numerous
Wood Engravings ... ... 2s.

LECTURE ON THE HYAODITH. Delivered before the Royal Horti-
cultural Society 6d.

" The best and fullest account of this plant that I have met with is by a famous horti-
culturist. Mr Paul, of Waltham Cross.' — Dnrzuin's Animals and Plants -under Domestica-
tion.

THE FUTURE OF EPPING FOREST. Read before the Society
of Arts, London, January 28th, 1880 ... 6d.

" Mr \Vm. Paul's contributions to the Horticultural Literature of the day hold a high
position amongst authoritative Works."— .5^//'^ Weelily Messenger.

WM. PAUL & SON, WALTHAM CROSS, HERTS.

^^ University of British Columbia Library

^'»,^ DATE DUE

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FORM No. 310

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AGRICULTURE

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