3^ 



IRISH GARDENING. 



The Snowdrop (Galanthus). 



ERHAPS because of its 

 earliness, as well as by its 

 extreme prettiness of habit 

 and purity of colour, the 

 poet's "chaste snowdrop, 

 venturous harbing-er of 

 spring'," holds first rank in 

 our affections. It does not 

 even wait until spring', but, 

 as becomes a " child of 

 winter," pushes its welcome 

 milk-white flowers from the 

 1 earth any time from Christ- 

 mas to .\Iarch. It is natura- 

 ^^ Used in meadows and copses 

 everywhere throug'hout the 

 British Isles, and is planted 

 in hundreds of thousands 

 every year by its admirers. 

 The bulbs are extremely 

 cheap, and no finer earl}' 

 spring; effect can be obtained 

 than by plantingf them in 

 numbers in g'rass land or in 

 association with crocuses, 

 winter aconites, or other 

 spring'-flowering' plants in our 

 beds and borders. They 

 grow well in any g'ood, ordi- 

 nary soil, and after planting- require no attention. The 

 generic name of the snowdrop is Giilanthtts, and there 

 are several species and varieties in cultivation. 





Snowdrops on a Lawn, 



Albert Agricultural College, 



Glasnevin. 



c^^ ^^ 5^^ 



Roses. 



By O'DONEL BROWNE, M.D. 



THIS, the latest of all books' sent out on Roses, will 

 come as a welcome addition to every rose- 

 grower's library. Coming from the pen of 

 one so skilled in rose growing, for Mr. Pemberton 

 ranks second among England's amateurs, one naturally 

 expects to find the book teeming with " lips," 

 and truth to tell there are plenty of hints given 

 in the book which are well worth laying to heart. 

 For, as he tells us himself, that for the last 

 thirty-three years he has not missed one London 

 show, it must be clear to everyone that he has 

 gleaned a useful store of knowledge from those 

 visits alone. 



The book itself is divided into two portions. 

 Part I. contains a chapter on the Rose, the 

 Flower of England, in which the history of the 

 rose is clearly laid forth, going back as far as 

 the time of the Romans, and gradually traced up 

 to its first entry to England. In this chapter it 

 is shown how highly the rose is favoured, and 

 how, as the "Golden Rose" of his Holiness the 

 Pope, it is the flower designated to mean the 

 emblem of mortality of the body, the metal the 

 immortality of the soul. Chapter II. treats 

 wholly on the botany of the rose, which shows what 

 a family tree this flower can boast of. Chapter HI. 

 gives a complete list of those wild roses that are 

 found in the British Isles, and it is interesting to note 

 that there is one belonging to Ireland. It was dis- 

 covered near Belfast, and the finder, Mr. Templeton, 

 was awarded a prize in Dublin by botanists. Chapter 

 IV. deals with wild roses of other countries, and is 

 useful in tracing the advance of new varieties. Rose- 

 growers of years ago will find names of their childhood 

 in Chapter V. under "Grandmother's Roses," but 

 as rose-growing is advancing our grannies' pets are 



disappearing. Chapter VI. gets us more on a level 

 with the rose such as we know it, and deals with our 

 now popular favourites in the garden, and in this 

 chapter, under the heading of the Tea-scented Rose, 

 will be found a most interesting and amusing account 

 of how the T. Rose came to us from Cliina. It is well 

 worth reading. 



Part II. is decidedly the most useful part of the work, 

 dealing, as it does, with the art of growing roses. Soil 

 and manure get plenty of space spent on them, as Mr. 

 Pemberton has shown us that he has gone very fully 

 into this subject. All kinds of artificial manures are 

 treated, the author laying great importance on the 

 right manure for the right soil, and condemning the use 

 of one stock prescription for all soils " As the 

 strength of a chain lies in its weakest joint, so the 

 minimum of any one essential ingredient (of the soil), 

 not the maximum of the others, is the measure of the 

 soil's fertilit}'." Planting is next dealt with, the writer 

 beirig much against wasting room in a rose garden. 

 The chapter on Pruning is exceedingly clear— far 

 clearer than in any other book we have seen — and yet 

 not one superfluous word is put in. The diagrams on 

 pruning are most useful, being done by Miss Pemberton. 

 The vai ious ways of propagating roses are fully gone 

 into, but what we consider the best bit in the book is 

 the chapter on Raising New Roses from Seed, or what 

 nurserymen call " Pedigree Roses." This chapter has 

 been corrected by the champion rose-raiser of the 

 world. Anyone who reads this chapter will see how 

 it is that our Irish rose firms charge so highly for their 

 novelties^ and rightly so, for they are, indeed, hard to 

 get. Anyone can propagate a rose on the market, but 

 few can put forth a new rose, such as we have coming 

 from the north of Ireland every year. This chapter is, 

 in our opinion, a grand one. Then last of all comes a 

 treatise on showing or exhibiting — not merely cutting 

 and putting flowers in a box " cocked up to be judged," 

 as a person remarked in our hearing the other day, 

 but tended froin start to finish — from the foal-stage to 

 the race-horse. It is here that Mr. Pemberton shines, 

 as anyone will see if they attend a London rose show 

 — exhibition or decorative — he is just as good at the one 

 as the other class. We owe a great deal to Miss Pember- 

 ton for having shown us how to "tie up "a bud. Lastly, 



Diagram showing how to " tie up" a bud. 



the whole book is well got up, well bound and printed — 

 a bold, large print — but there is one great loss in this 

 book, and that is the lack of plates and photos of roses. 

 Were there but a few good photographs it would 

 enhance the book greatly — but there, we must not look 

 for too much. We told you that we were soon to hear of 

 this book in a previous number of Irish Gardening. 

 Well, the second biggest English lion has roared. Buy 

 his worthy book and listen to him. It is a truly splendid 

 book. 



' Ro.sEs : Their History, Devhloi'MEnt and Cultivation. By 

 the Rev. J. H. Pemberton. Longmans. Price los. 6d. 



