156 The Rose Garden. 



CHAPTER XII. 



Remarks on Sundry Operations in the Rose Garden. 



branches of cultivation have been made the subject of separate 

 V ' Chapters, but there are various matters interesting and important in them- 

 selves yet not of sufficient magnitude to require this ; such it is our intention to 

 include in the present chapter. 



This would seem the proper place in which to speak of Garden Sports. When a 

 branch of a tree produces flowers which differ from those on corresponding branches of 

 the same tree it is called a "sport." Any cause that tends to produce an abnormal con- 

 dition of a plant, such as high cultivation, favours the production of sports. Camellias 

 and Chrysanthemums have hitherto given us the greatest number of " branch sports," 

 but they are becoming more frequent amongst Roses. During twenty-six years, from 

 1850 to 1876, I met with but one "branch sport" among my Roses, and that was a 

 branch of Mrs Bosanquet which produced red flowers. Now, see how many " branch 

 sports " have been produced over the last ten years, and others are continually coming 

 into notice from different cultivators. It may be said this is due, or partly due, to the 

 breaking of fresh ground by hybridizing the so-called species. Well, admitting this 

 to be a factor in the case, there still remains, it seems to me, a large residuum most 

 reasonably accounted for by the highly nitrogenised manures on which Roses have 

 been fed over the last few years, principally with the view of getting large flowers for 

 our flower shows. There is one fact worthy of notice as a point of difference between 

 " seedlings " and " branch sports." The former seldom re-assume the likeness of the 

 parent, the latter often do so ; hence, unless " fixed " by cultivation their commercial 

 value is somewhat less. 



Orange Fungus, sometimes known as Red Rust, is a frequent visitant in some dis- 

 tricts. When observed under the microscope and enlarged two hundred diameters it 

 is seen as in Fig. 45 a densely compacted mass of jointed orange coloured clubs. 

 The clubs grow by forming new joints at the bottom, and constantly push off the 

 top joints, which in turn germinate and reproduce the fungus. The upper joints 



