April 5, 1877. ] 



JOURNAL OP HOETICULTURE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



255 



are fan-shaped and drooping at the apex. They will bear a 

 large amount of hard treatment, and the plants are nseful for 

 any poBition. 



I now come to that prince of Palms Cocoa Weddelliana. 

 This is no donbt the most elegant Palm in cultivation, the 

 stem being slender, clothed with a quantity of matted black 

 fibre, the leaves on a fairly grown plant being 2.\ to 3 feet long, 

 and in cases of good culture 4 feet long, beautifully arched, 

 long, narrow, and dark green on the upper side and glaucous 

 underneath. The plants must be sparingly watered, grown in 

 a stove temperature, and slightly shaded from bright sun or 

 they will lose colour. This Palm is greatly benefited by 

 assisting the opening pinna) to expand. In doing this use the 

 handle of a budding knife, place it in the open part at the base 

 of the pinniB, and draw it gently out to the tip ; by so doing 

 yon save the plants from breaking the ends of the pinnas. 



I will lastly call attention to that beautiful Palm Verschaffeltii 

 eplendida. The stem is placed upon an inverted cone of ad- 

 ventitious roots, the petioles are sheathing at the base and 

 covered with spines, leaf entire, largely biped at the apex. I 

 have in my charge a young plant two years old, with leaves 

 2 feet long, 26 inches wide, a grand subject but very tender; 

 should never be in a temperature lower than 02°, or it soon 

 shows signs of distress. The soil used consists of peat and 

 loam with a good quantity of wood ashes. I use wood ashes 

 freely; I do so on account of their being to most plants a first- 

 class rooting medium, and keep the soil sweet in case of over- 

 watering. In mentioning those few Palms I wish to create a 

 more general use of them amongst amateurs, as I feel sure they 

 would find them vastly more useful than many short-lived 

 flowering plants. Combined with those they create a beautiful 

 effect, never failing to be admired by all who see them. — {Dar- 

 lington and Stockton Times.) 



JOURNAL DES EOSES. 



Chief Editor, M. Camillc Bernardin. 



SoiiE obliging unknown friend has sent me the second 

 number of the above. It has a charming cover, " red as the 

 Eose," to which the bride is compared whose wedding break- 

 fast the ancient mariner delayed for such an unconscionable 

 time. It is a foreshadowing of the "Rose .Journal " on this 

 side the water, which I see the programme of the National 

 Eose Society promises. 



The first article is on the Great Autumn Eose Show at 

 St. Germain-en-Laye. That was a Eose show indeed. Imagine, 

 those who can, six thousand " queens of flowers " shown by 

 five noted rosieristes ! M. Alexia Ponlain came first with 

 500 Eose du Eoi, 1-30 Jules Margottin, COO mixed kinds, and 

 230 of that " monstrueuEe Kose Paul Neyron." A medal was 

 given by the Minister of Agriculture (when shall we have 

 either the minister or the medal?), and the whole appears to 

 have been a great success in its way, though the Eoses men- 

 tioned are not, perhaps, very high-class ones. I pass over an 

 able article " on growing Roses in the open air," and another 

 charming account of a f>te of Roees at Grisy-Suisnes. This 

 latter ends with the remark that, "ou his return from the 

 crusades Thibault IV., Count of Champagne and Brie brought 

 back from Damascus the first Eoses which were cultivated in 

 Provence." "What would be the surprise of this Count of 

 Champagne and Brie if he could have assisted at the fair Eose 

 fete at (irisy-Snisnes ?" " On Choosing Roses " is the next 

 article. Among the Bourbons " Mistress Bosanquet " is com- 

 mended. We, I fear, are rather neglecting that lady now-a- 

 days. Also " EuviJrend Dombrain" is highly spoken of. No 

 one can speak too highly of that divine in the flesh, but as a 

 Eose I confess I think he may be equalled ; nor should I 

 venture to submit to him when acting as judge even the most 

 promising specimen of his namesake. 



I will not go through the lists, but in general the Eoses 

 mentioned are quite as much what we should call garden Eoses 

 as exhibitioners. Page 8 speaks of a special exposition of 

 Eoses at Lyons in July last. Twenty seedling Eoses were sub- 

 mitted to the judges. " The sovereign judges entered the 

 palace of Flora at 10 a.m." It is not said when they came out, 

 but only four Eoses happily survived the ordeal. Madame 

 Welche, a Tea, called after the wife of the Prefect of the Rhone, 

 gained the first prize. Mr. Henry Bennett, rosii'riste, Anglais, 

 became her happy proprietor, I mean the Rose's. Lazarine 

 Poizeau, another Tea, came second; then an H.P., Gabriel 

 Fournier, and then another H.P. with a good plain English 

 name to her, " Emma Hall ;" hke La France, she could not 



have chosen a better model. This article is signed by M. Jean 

 Sisley, Secretary to the Lyons Socicto des Eosiuristes. There 

 is an article on Mr. Laxton, a new red Rose, with a most 

 glowing portrait. An article ou the coming Paris Exhibition 

 in 1878. Another under the head of the New Roses of 1876- 

 1877. Some carefully guarded remarks on a very burning 

 question just at present. Speaking of a Eose, " which ought 

 to be a marvel indeed if all that is said of the goodness and 

 beauty of this new queen of flower born in England is true. 

 ' The Floral Magazine ' proclaims the apparition of this Rose, 

 which ought to constitute an epoch in the world of rosarians 

 of all countries through its extraordinary not to say incredible 

 colouring. This new Eose carries the name of Glazenwood 

 Beauty, because she comes from Mr. Woodthorpe's Glazen- 

 wood Nurseries, near Witham and Braintree, on the Great 

 Eastern Railway. She appears to belong to the series of Roses 

 Capucines, and to be originally from Japan. Growth very 

 abundant, vigour that of a climbing Eose .... her colour 

 almost incredible, that we lean to the responsibility of the 



artist who has so well drawn the picture We have seen 



numbers of young plants of this new Rose in the nursery 

 grounds at Suisues, where they seem to please themselves to a 

 marvel, but we await the blooming before pronouncing on the 

 flower and its colouring." — A. C. 



FRIENDS AND ENEMIES. 



I QUITE agree with " Wiltshire Eectok " in his remarks 

 at page 203 in your Journal as to the destruction of the 

 balance of power by the destruction of birds of prey ; and 

 much as I am annoyed by the depredations of blackbirds 

 and thrushes during the fruit season, and wish they were in 

 anyone's garden but my employer's, I know they do a positive 

 good during the other period of the year. I think all who 

 have a garden may have observed that during wet weather 

 that fruit is left untasted and uncared-for, but should a long 

 spell of hot dry weather ensue, good-bye to the fruits which 

 are not uetted-up. 



Although the garden here is embosomed in trees and 

 swarming with blackbirds and thrushes, I have not killed one 

 of either, bat I do occasionally walk about with a gun when I 

 feel inclined. The bullfinch is my game during the winter 

 months, but strange to say this year they have hardly taken 

 a bud. I presume the cause is that there is a sufficiency o£ 

 natural food for them without having recourse to the explora- 

 tion of the buds of fruit trees. I find the best way to secure 

 them is by a trap cage and a decoy bird hung in a quiet part 

 of the grounds, occasionally changing the position of the cage; 

 by this means I have sometimes succeeded in keeping them 

 pretty well down. 



To return to blackbirds and thrushes. Who has not seen 

 the former scratching away in right good earnest the leaves in 

 a hedgerow in search of slugs, Ac, and the latter with a large 

 snail in its beak battering it against a stone to break the shell 

 so as to feast on the unctuous matter inside ? Both of these 

 birds do an infinite amount of good, and there ought to 

 be a close season for them as for some other of our feathered 

 friends. — J. Gadd. 



ME. THOMAS DICKSON OF CHESTER. 



Although the firm of which Mr. Dickson was a member 

 (Messrs. F. & A. Dickson & Sons) is well known throughout 

 the United Kingdom, we in these more southern parts have 

 known but little of the individual members who compose it, 

 and so with myself. Although a good many years ago I visited 

 the Upton Nurseries and recorded my visit in the Journal, it 

 was not until last year that I had the pleasure of making the 

 personal acquaintance of the two gentlemen who were until the 

 other day the heads of it, and it was with great regret that I re- 

 ceived an intimation that the younger of the two brothers, Mr. 

 Thomas Dickson, was no more. Daring my very pleasant visit 

 to the quaint old city I saw a good deal of him, and my inter- 

 course has left a very pleasing recollection. A genuine Christian 

 and a gentleman in its truest sense, one could not but ad- 

 mire the simplicity and gentleness of his character, and could 

 well believe he had thoroughly won the hearts of those who 

 were in the employment of the firm. Throughout his own 

 county and in the north of England and in Scotland he was 

 well known, and wherever known valued, not only for his 

 amiability of character but for his business habits. Among 

 my projects for this season I had looked hopefully to renewing 



