30S 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENEK. 



[ October 5, 1876. 



Pears do not come to perfection here on walls, so I have tried 

 them under glass, where several succeed very well, this one 

 amongst the rest; but it is a winter Pear, not a late one. It 

 was of very fine quality until three years ago, when it suddenly 

 became uneatable, as also did its nest neighbour Zephirin 

 Gregoire, another very fine winter Pear under glass. On ex- 

 amination it was found that the roots had penetrated the 

 ferruginous subsoil; so of course this was removed, and it is 

 to be hoped the fruits will be as good as ever. 



Any information as to varieties that will ripen under glass 

 with their full flavour, or at least with a finely diluted flavour, 

 will be thankfully received by many of your readers as well 

 as by — K. E. 



EARLY WRITERS ON ENGLISH GARDENING. 



No. 19. 

 SIR JOSEPH BANKS. 

 Genuine and ardent love of natural history and gardening 

 n all its branches aotuat'.d Sir Joseph Banks in the great and 



Fig. 45.— Sir Joseph Banks. 



successful efforts he made for their improvement. He was 

 born at Eevesby Abbey, the seat of his father in Lincolnshire, 

 in 1743. He was educated at Eton and Oxford, which Univer- 

 sity he left in 1761 on the death of his father. He thus in- 

 herited an ample fortune, yet the active pursuit of scientific 

 discoveries was more to his taste than literary ease. In 1763 

 he made a voyage to Labrador and Newfoundland. In 1768 

 he went round the world with Cook, and in 1772 he made a 

 voyage to Iceland and the weBtern isles of Scotland. Natural 

 history was the favourite of his scientific studies, and every 

 department of it was enriched by his researches. In 1771 he 

 was elected LL.D. at Oxford. In 1778 he was created a Knight 

 of the Bath and chosen to the Presidency of the Boyal Society, 

 and three years afterwards he was made a baronet. He at 

 first gave much dissatisfaction to some of the members of the 

 Royal Society, so as nearly to cause it to divide, but the dis- 

 satisfaction gradually passed away, and from that time until 

 his death, May 9th, 1820, he was universally hailed as a 

 munificent friend of science and literature. But he was also 

 thoroughly acquainted with horticulture as a scienoe and an 

 art. He was the ruler as well as owner of his garden at Spring 

 Grove. In the Transactions of the Horticultural Society 

 between the yearB 1809 and 1820 he contributed essays on 

 the Potato, Strawberry, Roman stoves, training fruit trees, 

 American blight, and Fig culture. 

 Cuvier in an eulogium before the French Academy of Science 



observed that ten times collections intended for the Jardin du 

 Roi had been delivered up by the captors through the influence 

 of Sir Joseph Banks ; that men of science were aided freely 

 by his library and purse, and that noble collection of books is 

 still oprn to the public, for he bequeathed it to the British 

 Museum. 



Besides his numerous contributions to the transactions of 

 various societies he published two small works, " An Account 

 of the Causes of the Diseases of Corn called Blight, Mildew, 

 and Rust," and " Circumstances Relative to Merino Sheep." 



ROSES FOR A SMALL COLLECTION. 



I think that if a few of the small growers would express 

 their opinion on the various merits of their favourites it would 

 be a great boon to the class of which I make a part. 



There is a claes of Rose-growers whose selections vary, per- 

 haps, from twenty to forty varieties, whose means would not 

 allow them to purchase more than one or two of a few good 

 varieties, but a Rose list usually contains such a diversity of 

 names, colours, &c, that to pick a small lot from the owners' 

 descriptions, which I admit are in general very good, a purchaser 

 is at a loss where to begin and where to end. A few practical 

 papers with the small 'growers' opinions of the various sorts 

 which do best with him, and, stating the soil and position, 

 would be a guide for intending purohaserB of small means and 

 requirements. 



I will set the example, and state at the outset that the 

 locality where I live is not one of the warmest in the midland 

 counties, for Byron begins a well-known poem with 



" Hills of Annesley, bleak and barren ;" 

 but it is not only the climate, but the soil that is naturally 

 cold, and we have often frost and snow until very late in the 

 spring, which is very much against the forward culture of the 

 Rose, yet in spite of all this we manage to grow some pretty 

 good Roses ; in fact not far, if any, behind our more favoured 

 rivals, as returns show from our local exhibitions. 



My position is an open and rather exposed one, with no 

 shelter against the west and south-west winds. The soil is a 

 heavyish loam, with clay about 1 foot 6 inches from the sur- 

 face, so that I think that the soil makes up in part for the 

 position. 



I have about fifty varieties and about seventy in number. 

 I will begin, not as they stand in the list, but as they stand in 

 favour. One of the best, if not the best with me, has been 

 this season Pierre Notting. I have grown it very fine. I have 

 only one plant, and that is a half-standard. I cut for one 

 show two blooms of this variety. Madame Victor Verdier ia 

 very good both on Briar and Manetti ; Baroness de Rothschild, 

 splendid; Marie Baumann, one of the best; Alfred Colomb, 

 good, but I think a little wanting in colour ; Louis Van Houtte, 

 very good ; Charles Lefebvre, rather thin this year ; Etienne 

 Levet, first-rate, never been short of a flower when wanted, 

 blooms very freely ; Countess of Oxford good, but requires 

 shading, as the colour is soon gone ; Comtesse de Chabrillant, 

 a very nice cupped Rose, rather small with me ; Dr. Andry, a 

 very good old Rose, blooms pretty well ; John Hopper, pretty 

 good, very hardy, but rather flat ; Senateur Vaisse, very good 

 with me, but Bhort in petal; Edward Morren, very good and 

 full, but not one of the best to open ; Annie Wood, grows very 

 freely, and has had some good blooms ; Marquise de Castellane, 

 pretty good; Maurice Bernardin, a very good free-bloomer; 

 Bessie Johnson, a very nice flower with a grand scent ; Capitaine 

 Christy, very fine flower, and I think will prove a good Rose ; 

 Reynolds Hole, very good in oolour, but with me a rather shy 

 bloomer; La France, very good rich colour, but it has failed 

 to come out well this year; Dupuy-Jamain, pretty good; Ma- 

 dame Lacharme, somewhat better than last year, I think the 

 season ha9 suited it ; Henri Pages, bloomed well, but the 

 colour is rather dead ; Souvenir de la Malmaison, a first-rate 

 bloomer, but for exhibition wants showing in large bud, as it 

 opens full much. 



I think you now have a list of the best twenty-four for ex- 

 hibition as they have grown with me, and I hope some other 

 small growers will similarly contribute for the benefit of all. 

 — C. R., Notts. 



Mr. Alex. McKenzie, Landscape Gardener and Garden 

 Architect, of 1 and 2, Great Winchester Street Buildings, 

 London, E.C., has had the honour to receive a magnificent 

 diamond pin from His Majesty the King of the Belgians as a 

 souvenir of his recent visit to Brussels, accompanied by a letter 



