AUGUST 221 



growth to a deplorable extent. Nurserymen with heavy 

 stocks recommend it for game cover. It is the worst 

 thing in the world for that purpose, harbouring nothing 

 in its dense tangle but rabbits, which cannot be beaten 

 out of it. 



Hybrid varieties are in deserved favour, though care 

 should be taken to choose only the most distinct of 

 these. ' Pink Pearl ' has been resuscitated as a novelty, 

 though it originated fifty years ago in the seed-bed of 

 Peter Lawson of Edinburgh. That enthusiastic cultivator 

 raised a peculiarly fine strain of hybrids, among others 

 being ' George Cunningham,' an exquisite white flower, 

 closely spotted with very dark maroon practically black 

 reminding one of a fine engraving. It is not in the 

 market now, I believe, but I am doing my best to pro- 

 pagate it from a couple of bushes which I have had for 

 thirty years. Well, when Peter Lawson's stock was sold, 

 many good things were scattered, some beyond recall; 

 others, like 'Pink Pearl,' to pass into the hands of 

 sagacious tradesmen, and to take the gardening world 

 by storm. 



But finer than any hybrids are the natural species from 

 the Himalayas and China. These possess a peculiar 

 harmony between the hue and texture of leaf and 

 blossom which hybrids 'nature's bastards,' as Perdita 

 called them cannot rival. Several of them are perfectly 

 hardy in all parts of our country, provided they are grown 

 in the shelter and partial shade of an open wood ; nearly 

 all succeed, under similar conditions, within influence of 

 the western seaboard; yet how seldom one sees them. 

 Ireland has many attractions for the tourist ; but, had she 

 nothing else to offer, it were worth a journey to County 



