942 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 



was the proyenitur of a family of extraordinary garden 

 value. I'hey unfortunately are not perpetual bloom- 

 ers, but for covering pergolas, pillars arches or fences 

 or permitted to ramble at will over banks, these 

 hybrids of Wichuriana, such as Dorothy Perkins, Lady 

 Gay, Hiawatha, Excelsa and others, are a great joy in 

 their season, and a valuable addition to gardens. 



Then there are miniature types of these popularly 

 known as Baby Ramblers, because they make little 

 bushes and flower in clusters. These, too, are worthy 

 of the best attention, especially so because they have 

 the additional merit of perpetual flowering, and with 

 recent additions to the family they can be had in all 

 coliirs fr(_)m white to crimson. 



I am ni>t going to enter into details of culture nut 

 of doors, for you are all practical men, and you all 

 know that Roses must be planted in beds or borders 

 where the soil has been deeply dug and well enriched 

 to a depth of certainl\- 18 inches, but better still if it 

 be 24 inches deep. 



You know also that they cannot compete with 

 shade trees or vigorous shrubs, and must therefore be 

 outside the zone of such root robbery of soil fertility, 

 and that with conditions right as to soil and plants 

 eternal vigilance must prevail against pests and dis- 

 eases. 



In conclusion, I submit that by reason of recent 

 improvements along the lines indicated, Roses today 

 more than at any time in their existence, are adapt- 

 able to extensive use in the various schemes of garden 

 decoration. — Read before Morris CoHnt\ Gardeners' and 

 Florists' Club. 



SEASONABLE SUGGESTIONS ON GARDEN 

 ; SEEDS. 



' For one to have a good garden, it is important to 

 have good seeds. We can afford to investigate the 

 parentage of our seeds very carefully. Peter Hender- 

 son, himself a very practical gardener and the head of 

 a seed-tirm which at his death was probably the largest 

 in the United States, once said: "If there is one thing 

 of paramount importance in vegetable gardening, it is 

 purity of seed," writes Leroy Cady in the Agricultural 

 Magazine. Nearly all gardeners realize this and are 

 careful to get only the best grade of seeds, even though 

 they are more expensive than others. The cheapest 

 seed is often the most expensive in the long run, since 

 it costs as much to plant and care for and yet does not 

 give the best results. 



The Pennsylvania Experiment Station has carried 

 on some experiments with cabbage for a number of 

 years. There was a diiTerence of from 3 to 12 tons weight 

 per acre in the yield of some of the strains tried. 



It does not matter where we purchase our seed, so 

 long as we are able to get good seed and the kind and 

 quality we pay for. Seed should be purchased from 

 firms of established reputation. Nearly all firms have 

 certain lines of seeds with which they take particular 

 pains ; in other words, they are specialists in those 

 seeds. It is often best to buy special seeds from such 

 firms. Seed guarantees are usually so worded as not 

 to place much responsibility on the seed-firm, and are 

 of little value. The seed-firm's good reputation is of 

 much more value. 



Many firms put out seeds of varieties that arc more 

 or less new each year. While it is true that all our 

 standard sorts were first novelties, so many of these 

 new things are of no great value that it is always safer 

 to stick to the tried sorts for the main crop, purchas- 

 ing only small packages of novelties for trial in a 

 small way. 



SUPERINTENDENT OF HORTICULTURE. 

 PANAMA-PACIFIC EXPOSITION. 



"W'illiain I'lumb. wiiu was appointed Superintendent of 

 Horticulture of the Panama Pacific Exposition, is well 

 and favorably known in the horticultural world. Air. 

 Plumb served his apprenticeship on some of the well 

 known estates in England, and since he has been in this 

 country has been in charge of some of the noted places in 

 the vicinity of New York or Boston. The show business 

 is not a new experience for Mr. Pkunb, for he was man- 

 ager of the two successful flower shows held in Madison 

 Square Garden, New York, some years ago under the 

 auspices of the New York Florist Club, of which club he 

 was one of the organizers and president for two terms. 

 Mr. Plumb is a member of the National Association of 

 Gardeners, and anticipates meeting many of its members 

 at the exposition on N. A. G. da\'. 



MR. WILLIAM PLUMB. 



At this time of the year almost every publication is 

 carrying advertisements of seed and nursery cata- 

 logues. Send for a number of these and look them 

 through carefully. Many have been made up at con- 

 siderable cost to the publishers, and contain many 

 interesting photographs and much valuable informa- 

 tion about the garden and fruit plantation. 



In selecting seed or plants from these, choose only 

 those in which the write-up is reasonable, not over- 

 drawn, and which is illustrated with plain natural 

 photographs. Let the gaudy sensational catalogue 

 alone, should one find the way to your home. It is 

 much easier to make lithographs than to develop new 

 and worthy varieties. The man who allows a cata- 

 logue to go from him that is at all misleading in state- 

 ment or illustration is apt to be none too careful in 

 iiutting ui) the customer's order. 



