228 



JOUENAL OF HOBTIOULTUBE AND COTTAGE GAKDEK£ii. 



[ Marcli 19, 1877. 



changing the verdant leaves to a sickly yellow, and eventually 

 kills it. Only one resoaroe is open, and it is a vigorous one. 

 Take np the plant as soon as it begins to lie down, cut limb 

 from limb, and plant as cuttings. Thus the variety may be 

 retained, though for the current year it may not bloom. Leggy 

 plants are beat increased by layering, and this should be done 

 deep enough to prevent the rain washing off the top soil. 

 Green twigs about 5 inches long twisted into the form of a 

 staple may be used to secure them, though I have found 

 galvanised wire very useful. 



Regarding exhibiting my remarks must be brief. One of the 

 chief matters to be considered is shading the blooms, and in 

 this great care should be exercised. I endeavour as much as 

 possible to shade the bloom without shading the plant, and 

 for this purpose the smaller the shade the better, for while the 

 bloom is being preserved from the sun's hot rays the plant 

 should not be deprived of the light so necessary to its exist- 

 ence. I have found, too, that it is just as well to cut the 

 blooms overnight as to do so on the morning of the show. 

 Placed in water in a cool airy cellar they look as fresh and 

 beautiful as when on the plant, and the risk of heavy rain and 

 the slimy perambulations of the snail are avoided. Manipula- 

 tion of blooms is to be reprobated, and a keen judge will soon 

 discover which has been handled and which has not ; and 

 however much smoothness may be desired it should not be 

 gained by the means indicated. Too many selfs in a pan 

 should be avoided ; two in a twelve or four in a twenty-four 

 will be found to be ample, and above all let the names of the 

 blooms be given. The public who pay to see them have a 

 right to know their names, in order that they may take a list 

 of any they fancy without the trouble of asking the exhibitor 

 in whose particular pan the fancied flowers may be shown. 



In concluding my remarks upon Pansies let me trust that 

 they may have awakened in a few at least an interest which 

 may blossom into a wider recognition of their merits, and cause 

 prizes to be offered in schedules which now know them not, 

 and if such is the result I shall be amply repaid for any trouble 

 I may have taken in calling your readers' attention to them. 

 To "A NoEiHERN Gakdener " my thanks are due for his 

 kindly remarks and friendly encouragement, and I hope his 

 suggestions of adventitious prizes being offered at special 

 shows will be adopted and spread to the great shows generally. 

 Who knows but we may not, like our friends " o'er the border," 

 have some day a National Pansy Society ? Respecting " C. R.'s " 

 animadversions upon my Pansies and the Judges who awarded 

 them the prize at the Nottingham Show last year, I must, in 

 all humility, submit that the verdict of three disinterested 

 florists is preferable to the ijisc dixit of an anonymous corre- 

 spondent. — M. H. MiLLEB, Leek. 



P.S. — In July I hope to send yon a few notes on the 1877 

 varieties which come under my ken. — M. H. M. 



LARCH TEEES AND THEIR CULTIVATION. 



The seeds of the Larch made use of in the plantations of 

 Scotland came from the Alps. The Russian variety appears 

 not to have hitherto succeeded, proving, perhaps, the inferior 

 quality of the seed imported from that country some forty 

 years ago, to the estate of the late P. Puaey, Esq. I was em- 

 ployed largely in planting Larch and other forest trees, but I 

 will confine myself to the Larch. There are two modes of 

 planting the Larch — in trenches and in cuts. In the first 

 method trenches proportioned to the height of the trees should 

 be dug in the autumn, and the soil exposed to the winter's 

 frost. In order to plant after the latter mode a rectangular 

 cut is made with two strokes of the spade; with the second cut 

 enough of the soil is raited to make room for the roots, which 

 when covered must be trodden down with the feet. This is an 

 economical mode of planting— prompt and effective. It is 

 usual to allow from one to two thousand trees per acre, but I 

 have found by experience that twelve or fourteen hundred are 

 sufficient. The Larch raising with its branches in the form 

 of a cone it is necessary during the first ten years of its growth 

 to allow ample space for the extension of its inferior branches, 

 which, in fact, should serve as a counterpoise to the summit, 

 and promote a regular etraightness of the trunk, which is a 

 most important quality in all timber of the Pine class ; in fact, 

 a crooked Pine is scarcely vendible, it will neither make planks, 

 beams, nor rafters. It is for such reasons that I recommend 

 the above mode of management for the Larch. 



The plantations must be regularly thinned in order to aid 

 their proper and effectual growth. The thinnings during some 



years may not return the expense of making them, but are 

 absolutely necessary to give room for the spread and more 

 rapid growth of the remaining trees. At the age of fifteen 

 years the convenient custom may be introduced of making use 

 of the Larches for the purpose of Hop poles ; at twenty-five 

 years the trunks may be converted into strong palisades and 

 rafters for the roofs of cottages ; and at the age of forty years 

 they become fit for boards, joists, and even for beams in the 

 construction of the largest edifices. Such is the growth of 

 this Vine in the climate of Scotland. 



It has been remarked that the Larch planted on poor soils 

 improves them in a remarkable manner, and that lands which 

 had produced nothing but stunted Heath and rubbish in a few 

 years had changed their face and become covered with green 

 herbage, from the leaves of the Larch falling on the approach 

 of winter and enriching the soil. In mountainous districts the 

 shelter afforded by these plantations to the flocks and herds 

 there fed may become an object of the greatest importance. 

 In ornamental gardens of a certain extent few forest trees are 

 more beautiful than the Larch ; its long and pendant interior 

 branches extending over the green turf produce a most grace- 

 ful effect. — W. Giles. 



BEAUTY OP GLAZENWOOD ROSE. 



SoiiE mystery appears to be attached to this Rose that re- 

 quires clearing up. The decision of the Floral Committee of 

 the Royal Horticultural Society is very unwelcome to many 

 who have purchased the Rose on the faith of its being flaked 

 and striped " like a Tulip ;" and now the upshot is that the 

 colour is " plain coppery yellow " and identical with Fortune's 

 Rose. Mr. George Paul is such an experienced rosarian and 

 so careful in regard to names that he is very unlikely to have 

 made any mistake in exhibiting his plants. 



Beauty of Glazenwood has, it appears, been largely sold, 

 seemingly in consequence of the glowing descriptions which 

 have been published and the " coloured illustrations " which 

 have been distributed. Coloured illustrations are useful aids 

 in conveying an idea of the appearance of a flower when the 

 figures are truthful ; but when over-coloured and unfaithful 

 to nature they become dangerous, and cause money to be 

 lost and tempers to be ruffled. I know of more than one case 

 where "coloured illustrations" have resulted in loss and dis- 

 appointment ; and have been informed (but I am reluctant to 

 believe in the truth of the assertion) that some of the coloured 

 plates of the day are paid for by the owners of the subjects. 



It appears that the first coloured plate of Beauty of Glazen- 

 wood Rose was published in the " Floral Magazine," and was 

 afterwards reproduced in the "Flore des Strres." I have not 

 seen the plate in the English periodical, but I have in the 

 Belgian publication ; and it is significant that the then Editor, 

 the late accomplished Louis Van Houtte, was careful to place 

 the responsibility in regard to the illustration on the English 

 owners of the Rose and the paper in which it was first por- 

 traited. 



The Rose as figured in the " Flore " is marvellously, almost 

 fabulously beautiful. The flower exceeds 4 Jinches in diameter, 

 the petals being shown of great substance and boldly reoturved, 

 the flower being also very full in the centre ; the colouring is 

 brilliant, the irregular flakes of vermilion on the orange ground 

 being firm and decided — in fact they are as distinct as the 

 flakes on a Carnation or a Tulip. The foliage is broad, robust, 

 very dark green, clearly veined and deeply serrated; conse- 

 quently it is not surprising that such a magnificent Rose should 

 have been largely bought and now offered in lists of " new 

 Roses." 



Now Beauty of Glazenwood as figured has not the slightest 

 resemblance to Fortune's Rose. Fortune's Yellow is not orange 

 flaked with vermilion ; it does not produce flowers <t to 5 inches 

 in diameter with recurved petals ; it has not broad, dark green, 

 much-serrated foliage ; and yet the plant exhibited as the real 

 Beauty of Glazenwood is declared by the highest authority to 

 be identical with Fortune's Rose. 



I will now turn to a description of Beauty of Glazenwood 

 which appears in vol. xxix., page 358, of the Journal of Horti- 

 culture. It is from the pen of Henry Curtis, Devon Nursery, 

 Torquay, and is as follows : — 



''A few years ago we looked ugon the list of forthcoming 

 new Roses with much greater interest than at the present day, 

 for so many new varieties are annually poured into the market, 

 which prove mere costly rubbish, that we have had a cooling- 

 down. Had Mr. Smith's illustration o£ Beauty of Glazenwood, 



