1869.] CULTIVATION OF HARDY FRUITS. 11 



Mr Turner of Slougli does not show Ms cards, but when he comes 

 to play them on the green cloth or baize of the exhibition-table, no 

 man deals more honourably, knows the game more thoroughly, holds 

 more trump cards, or scores the honours more frequently. 



Messrs Wood of IMaresfield, perhaps the largest growers of the Rose 

 in the world, commend a mixture of well-seasoned animal manure, with 

 the top-spit of an old pasture, deep trenching, thorough draining, and 

 a free use of the pruning-knife the first year after planting. 



Concluding this long chapter, I would earnestly assure the novice in 

 Rose-growing that there is only one exception (and that in Egypt) to 

 the rule, " Ex nihilo nihil fit." If he really means to make the Rose 

 his hobby, and to enjoy the ride, he must feed him liberally and regu- 

 larly with old oats and beans. The Rose cannot be grown in its glory 

 without frequent and rich manure ; and again I recommend that the 

 best farmyard dung be dug in towards the end of November, if the 

 ground is dry, and that the surface-dressing, prescribed by Dr Rivers, 

 be administered in May or June. And if neighbours, w^ho are not true 

 lovers of the Rose, expostulate, and condemn the waste, quote for 

 their edification those true words of Victor Hugo in ' Les Miserables,' 

 " the heautifid is as useful as tJie useful, jperhaps more so.'^ 



AVe have found our situation, we have prepared our soils : we will 

 speak next of the arrangement of the Rosary, and then of the Rose 

 itself. S. Reynolds Hole. 



THE CULTIVATIOlSr OF HARDY FRUITS. 



INTEODUCTION. 



To whatever department of the economy of nature we turn our 

 attention, having for our object the study of the various means by 

 which we may obtain a desired end, there are difficulties to be over- 

 come, barriers to be surmounted, and mysteries to be solved, of which 

 none save those who have manfully tried can form an approximate 

 idea. In a climate such as Britain, these difficulties are even greater 

 than in many other portions of our globe, and to master these has 

 been the aim and end of long lives by many of those to whom we 

 look as the pioneers and princes of horticulture. Our seasons are so 

 changeable, our climate so variable, the soil of so many qualities, 

 consistencies, and component parts, that unless the cultivator brings to 

 bear upon his oi3erations the utmost amount of wisdom, skill, and 

 practical ability, no good results can ever be anticipated. A man 



