4i8 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



S. REYNOLDS HOLE, D. D. 



Fig. 1924. 



Vkry Rev. S. Reynolds Hole, D. D. 

 Dean of Rochester. 



FTER reading that charming' book 

 V) "Our Gardens" by Dean Hole, we 

 % feel justified in giving place to a 

 paragraph concerning this notable 

 gardener clergyman, which appears in the 

 Agricultural Epitomist, as follows: — 



"Wit and wisdom in a delightful intermin- 

 gling are embodied in the personalty of the 

 genial Dean ot Rochester, and the same blend 

 of happy qualities shines in all his writings. 



"No wonder he is welcome and beloved by 

 men in every class and station, but above 

 all by those who share his passionate affec- 

 tion for flowers and garden. 



"At eighty years of age he is the delight 

 of all who know him personally or by read- 

 ing his books. His 'Book about Roses' has 

 run throusfh fifteen editions, and is still 'run- 



ing' if I may copy a phrase from the adver- 

 tisements with which Mr. Penley booms his 

 laughable play of 'Charley's Aunt.' 



"To read one of Dean Hole's books is a 

 kind of feast for an epicure. The solid food 

 of information is so varied by the appetising 

 adjuncts of wit and humour that nothing 

 palls or satiates the reader. You commence 

 with a few striking phrases which arrest the 

 attention and stimulate the mental appetite. 

 You are easily carried on through course 

 after course of interesting matter. You find 

 yourself deeply absorbed, before you know 

 it, in the solid discussion of the main sub- 

 ject. By and bye a whimsical reminiscence 

 lightens your reading ere your attention is 

 tired and can begin to flag. Then come 

 courses of sweets and you finish the book 

 with satisfaction as you would finish an ex- 

 cellent dinner skilfully arranged by a master 

 of cuisine and faultlessly cooked and prepar- 

 ed for you. 



"Let me give an illustration or two from 

 memory. I remember the opening phrases 

 of the 'Book about Roses.' The idea they 

 embodied arrested and stimulated my atten- 

 tion instantly. I felt the truth of them and 

 the force of them. They declared that he 

 who would have beautiful roses in his gar- 

 den must have beautiful roses in his heart. 



"I remember, too, a skilful enlivening by 

 Dean Hole of his dissertation on manure for 

 roses. I am myself engrossed in the quest- 

 ion of manures. It is a question which fas- 

 cinates me because I think I see in it the 

 solution of the problem of humanity. The 

 increasing crowds of men growing ever 

 more dense as civilization advances will 

 either become happier and further removed 

 from want and misery as they grow thicker 

 on the ground, or they will become a strug- 

 gling mass of wretched and desperate com- 

 petitors and antagonists. It is all a question 



