Febniaiy 8, 1877. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICULTUEB AND COTTAGE GABDENER. 



95 



That is one conrse. The nest is to oloae the gardens and 

 leave " bag and baggage ;" disregarding the local Fellows, re- 

 jecting their aid, and depending on the purely (the counlrj) hor- 

 tioaltnrista for support. That policy has a fine, a plausible, 

 a patriotic sound with it, but if examined closely is it not a 

 deceptive sound ? It has been announced that a large number 

 of horticulturists are ready to come forward, but mark the 

 conditions — provided the Society leaves KenaiDgtoc. Now, as 

 it appears to me, comes the vital point. The Council cannot 

 by the action of the debenture-holders relinquish the South 

 Kensington connection, and because they cannot do what is 

 impossible horticnlturiets, as a national body, refuse their 

 support. That is one dilemma. The other is this — that the 

 gardens are an integral part of the Society for say two years ; 

 the country horticulturists refuse to give aj£(iunte support, 

 and, as it seems, to prevent the Society lapsing into bank- 

 ruptcy — instead of closing the gardens and rejecting the only 

 means of existence for the time being — the Council prefer to 

 make the gardens in some degree attractive and command 

 that support which can alone preserve the Society in a solvent 

 state, preserving it until better days dawn and until it can 

 depart in peace to perform the real work which both the 

 Council and horticulturists so earnestly desire. 



Because the Council have so determined — averting bank- 

 ruptcy and saving the Society — a furious howl is raised, va- 

 pouring fulminationa are launched by disappointed men, and 

 ieeble arguments are advanced in favour of the " perish-the- 

 Sooiety " policy, and the Council are pronounced as traitors 

 by those who know not what they say. The charge is ridi- 

 culous. Every member of the Council is a stranger to me, but 

 my common sense tells me that they are gentlemen of honour 

 and character or they never would have been appointed. But 

 v?hy not let the Society merge into bankruptcy and then start 

 afresh ? some may ask. It is very easy for the " aekers," but 

 how about the Council ? In case of a breakdown would not 

 all the odium rest on the members of the Council ? and would 

 not those who write screaming letters to the papers about tho 

 •dignity of horticulture be the first to point the finger of scorn 

 at them ? 



I have never written a line about the Society before, and 

 should not have done so now had I not read in a Saturday's 

 paper a wild tirade from a gardener whose reckless statements 

 are a libel on the common sense of the craft to which he 

 belongs. That writer shall not, at any rate without one pro- 

 test, assume to represent a body who can work as well and 

 think as clearly if they cannot talk and write as glibly as he 

 oan. A paragraph has lately been going the rounds of the 

 papers describing an extraordinary phenomenon of a sea 

 serpent wrapping its coils round a whale and dragging it into 

 the mud. I was forcibly reminded of that ludicrous circum- 

 stance on reading the burst bubble on Saturday last, and to 

 which the Editors from a sense of self-respect felt bound in a 

 great measure to refuse their sanction. 



The right — the seemly — way as it appears to me, is to 

 wait and give the Council a hearing, and then, and not till 

 then, to pronounce a verdict on the evidence then adduced. 

 One-sided judgment is unfair, unmanly, and unjust. — A 

 NoaiHERN Gaedexee. 



OLD-FASHIONED E03ES. 



When I wrote the article on climbing Eoaes which appeared 

 on page 41 I had not the remotest idea that the oLi Roses 

 therein mentioned could have commanded the attention which 

 baa been evoked respecting them. 



Letters have been sent to me (through the Editors) from 

 Tarions parts of the country — aristocratic letters, clerical letters, 

 and letters from villa residents, and even from artisans. I 

 should like to give extracts from some of these letters, but fear 

 they would occupy too much space, and besides the testimony 

 they contain is not really required, seeing that the value of 

 the old Rosea named has not been controverted save by one 

 writer, and him a "Savage" whom lean deal with without 

 supporting aid. 



The purport of the letters was a desire to know where the 

 old climbers could be obtained, or if cuttings of my parochial 

 Boeea could be sold or given. Had I received but one or two 

 letters I might have replied to them privately, but under the 

 present circumstances I can only treat all alilie by here saying 

 that, after having well considered the subject, I do not feel 

 warranted in aaking permission to post cuttings of Roses 

 (which are not my property) to different parts of the country. 



I fear that that reply may be disappointing to some, but there 

 is no reason that it should be so. 



In the first place, I should not be (in the end) doing a kind- 

 ness to the appUcants by sending them cuttings, because at 

 this season of the year Rose cuttings will not grow ; and in 

 the next place, to wait until they would grow would be a sacri- 

 fice of valuable time before their self-raised Roses were in a 

 strong flowering state. Rose cuttings I find grow well when 

 inserted in a shaded border during August or early in Septem- 

 ber, but are some time before they are large enough to cover 

 a trellis or bower. Were I requiring a plant or plants of any 

 of the old-fashioned climbers I should purchase them at the 

 nearest nursery. Strong flowering plants may be purchased 

 for Is. Gd. each much superior to those ordinarily raised from 

 cuttings in a private way. If my correspondents will adopt 

 that plan I am certain that they will be much better satisfied 

 than if I sent them cuttings which would probably die. Almost 

 every Rose-growing nurseryman can supply all the sorts of 

 " old-fashioned climbing Roses." 



And now to the Rev. Savage, for he tells us that he is a 

 parson. He submits a list of climbers for a church without 

 attaching any conditions. The climbers named as being suit- 

 able (and I grant beautiful) for his territory are of no use 

 whatever for hundreds of gardens where the Journal reaches. 

 The Roses which I named will grow anywhere and produce 

 such a bountiful profusion of blooms as to make " Cloth of 

 Gold" ashamed of itself. The Roses of " Wild Savage" ill 

 only grow in favoured pi ices ; in the " anywhere" places t ey 

 will not grow at all. With sueh.Roses as I named and " Wyld 

 Savage" quotes on page 77 I am told that my walls are desti- 

 tute of blooms for ten months in tho year ; but were I to plaiit 

 only those which he has substituted the walls would be desti- 

 tute of Roses for twelve months. I have planted every Rose 

 named by " Wyld Savage " except Cheshunt Hybrid, but only 

 one blooms at all well— Marechal Niel, the remainder being 

 either dead or as much out of place as a savage would be toma- 

 hawking in a place of worship. If the " Wyld Savage " re- 

 sides " where every prospect pleases," &c., he must not sup- 

 pose that all men are so happily situated. The climbers 

 named by him are an excellent selection for the tropics of 

 England, but for the chilling eastern and the biting northern 

 districts they are "no use at all at all." 



The Roees which I named, and for the purposes and posi- 

 tions for vfhich I recommended them, are incomparable. Their 

 value lies in their hardiness and their accommodating habits. 

 They will livs and bloom and luxuriate where the Savage's 

 tender pets would shrivel and die. 1 conclude by saying. Grow 

 the pets by all means and nurture them for their delicate 

 beauty, but do not forget the " old climbers " which flourish 

 in spite of heat, or cold, or drought, or wet, or shows, or 

 societies, or sheep, or savages. 



I should like to see " Wyld Savage's " church, and especially 

 the parson. We are both of us, however, I think too much 

 prejudiced to judge justly of each other's Roses ; but lest he 

 should think that I am afraid of his competition I will under- 

 take to cut next summer more blooms from one tree of Amadis 

 and send them to the Editors of the Rose journal (if their 

 ofiiQO will hold them) than " Wyld Savage " can out from every 

 tree on his church. — A Parson's Gaedenee. 



BAEBAEOSSA GEAPE. 



" J. W." (page 53) asks for information about this Grape, 

 and I very willingly give him my opinion of it. I consider 

 it to be a very excellent late Grape, and is not so much grown 

 as it deserves to be. Those who often fill whole houses with 

 Lady Downo's and Alicantes make a mistake in not planting 

 BarbaroEsa as the principal sort. It may be described as a 

 very robust grower, producing bunches as a rule double the 

 size of any other variety. The flavour is excellent when the 

 fruit is thoroughly ripened, and it keeps plump and fresh until 

 March. The berries are thin-skinned. They do not become 

 tough like some others, nor do they lose their flavour or size 

 through hanging long on the Vino. The bunches generally 

 weigh from 3 to 8 lbs. Some consider the latter size too large 

 for the table, but if necessary one big bunch can be made into 

 two or three little bunches by cutting off the handsome 

 shoulders. 



I have never had the slightest difficulty in growing this 

 Grape to the best advantage, the bunches having always been 

 produced in abundance, and the berries have never failed to 

 fiuieh well. I am never later than the 1st of March in starting 



