187Y.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



345 



a-Eoman villa, and perhaps two thousand 



well, I have assisted at the opening of Mound 

 Builders' graves, but it never seemed to me that 

 they were as old as these. We have to go among 

 these evidences of time in the Old World before 

 we can fully realize the fact that in the order of 

 Providence a thousand years is but as a day. 



But we must let the past go. How is horticul- 

 ture in these present times ? The best we could 

 do was to select types of various branches of 

 garden art and garden trade, and let these give 

 us an idea of wliole. 



The Eose trade has always been an important 

 one, and after a hasty run through Portsmouth, 

 Chichester, Brighton, and other interesting spots 

 along the south coast, and of which we know 

 we shall not have time to speak, I found myself 

 in the famous old stand of the Woods of Mares- 

 field in Sussex, and of whom all at least who 

 have admired the beautifiul Madame Charles 

 Wood — still one of the best hybrid perpetuals — 

 will love to know about. 



Eain ! — well, of course in England; but we 

 took temporary refuge vinder a beautiful tulip 

 tree and I felt at once at home. But remember- 

 ing that I really was in England, I took out tape- 

 line and measured five feet round. This is not 

 bad for only thirty years, and yet nobody could 

 tell me whj' American trees were so scarce in 

 England. In our own country we find most of 

 our garden pets foreign born ; but the bulk of 

 English planting, except with Conifera, is of their 

 own native trees. Then we were introduced to 

 the packing sheds for shelter, and were kindly 

 permitted to exaniine the details for transporta- 

 tion. Boxes are seldom used. The pots are 

 stood upright in stout shallow willow baskets 

 with a handle in each side. Light poles are 

 stuck in the edges of the basket, and then tied, 

 tent-like, at the top, and a "Eussianmat" 

 turned round the whole. These three feet over 

 baskets are charged to the purchaser at about 

 seventy-five cents. Nothing shows so much the 

 differences in the horticultural conditions of the 

 two countries. With us these " hampers " would 

 dry out " in less than no time," and the express 

 companies would growl because they could 

 " pack nothing on top " and raise the rates on 

 us. Basket making, by the way, is mostly in the 

 hands of the blind in England. 



Of course the most sti*iking thing of note in 

 an English Eose nursery is the quantitj^ that is 

 grafted on stems several feet high ; these are the 

 standard or tree-roses. There is this advantage, 



that the flower is then brought near to the eye 

 for examination, and for the nose to enjoy the 

 rose's delicious scent. We cannot have these in 

 our severe cliniate as all experience proves. 

 Here tliere were about an acre of them, and all 

 in full bloom. The stocks are simply of the 

 Wild Dog Eose — Eosa canina, and are gathered 

 by men who make a business of scouring the 

 woods for them, and sell them to the nursery- 

 men for about forty shillings a thousand, or one 

 cent a piece of our money. These are set out in 

 nursery rows and budded, and there is as much 

 rivalry among young English gardeners as to 

 who can bud the most roses, and do the rose- 

 work best, as there is among us to bud Peach 

 trees. Our climate brings the rose-flower to 

 early maturity, and almost annihilates the vari- 

 ous delicate tints and shades which characterize 

 varieties in England. If the following hybrid 

 perpetuals do as well Avith us as I saw them 

 here, they would prove among the best of their 

 colors :— Whitish pink or flesh color Baronness 

 Eothschild; Avhite clustered and Noisette-like 

 Boule de Neige; Louis Van Houtte, crimson; 

 Eliza Boyle, large blush white; Comptesse de 

 Maroonaise, of very pure white douVjle perpet- 

 ual moss ; Olga Marie, a very beautiful blush ; a 

 very pretty Noisette is Creme D'or— pretty for its 

 delicate brown tinted young foliage. .Of course 

 there is "any quantity" of Dwarf Eoses, and 

 there is the same rage to have them grafted on 

 the Mannetti stock that there was here thirty 

 years ago. It will probably not last. There is a 

 large number of glass houses here, and mostly 

 in connection with rose growing. Teas, Chinas, 

 and other of the more tender kinds, are grown 

 in pots in large quantities. It is strange that so 

 much care can be given to Eoses as are given 

 here, and yet the business be made to pay. The 

 best houses were of two-year plants, and all 

 models of health, and perfectly clear of insects. 

 Men are kept constantly going over the plants, 

 sponging the leaves with " Fowler's In-recticide." 

 After all, it does not take as much time to give 

 proper attention to things " in the bud," as it does 

 when we let work get the upper hand of us. 

 Besides the acres of roses, there is a fine col- 

 lection of fruit and ornamentnl trees as part of 

 the trade. The Hawthorne, or " Quick," is still 

 the hedge-plant of England and sells for about 

 ten dollars a thousand. It was a surprise to my 

 English friends to be told that hedge-plants sold 

 in America for the half or three-fourths less 

 than this. 



