362 



JOUBNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ October 26, 1876. 



is of dwarf < vergreen habit, often throwing np its pretty rose- 

 coloured spikes of flowers from early spring to late autumn. 

 Polygonum *uiplexicaule should have a place in all shrubbery 

 and large herbaceous borders; its fine foliage and pretty red 

 flowers are a sufficient recommendation for it. There are 

 several otb>i kinds that are equally attractive and ought to be 

 more frequently met with. 



They will thrive in any moderately good garden soil, but 

 are all the b-tter for an admixture of sandy loam or decayed 

 vegetable matter mixed with the soil, which should be broken 

 up to the depth of 18 inches. They are increased by seed 

 sown as soon as ripe, and by division in spring when growth 

 has commenced. — Veritas. 



PREPABTNG LARGE CONIFEES FOR REMOVAL. 



A question from " An Old Subscriber" has suggested the 

 following : — 



Trees that have had their roots undisturbed for a long 

 period of time cannot be removed with safety without previous 

 preparation. With it and the exercise of ordinary care they 

 may be transplanted with perfect success, and in the course of 

 from three to five years they will be growing with as much 

 freedom ami vigour as if they had never been disturbed. 



During the laBt four or five years I have annually prepared 

 and removed several large trees of various species, and as the 

 process has been attended with invariable success I cannot do 

 better than describe it. As soon aB possible after the growth 

 of the current year is matured and the tree is at rest, the 

 whole of its roots are cut asunder at a certain distance from 

 its stem in proportion to itB size, say from 2 to 4 feet. This 

 is done by opening a trench all round it a foot wide and about 

 2 feet deep, the Eoil also being loosened beneath the ball, and 

 roots which are found there being also cut through. The 

 trench is then refilled with sound and rather rich soil, the 

 tree secured from damage by wind by having three or four 

 wire stays fastened to its stem, and to stout pegs driven into 

 the ground, and the work of preparation is finished. In the 

 following November, or about a year after the cutting of the 

 roots, a sloping trench is made down to and under the bottom 

 of the ball of earth sufficiently wide for a trolly — really a plat- 

 form of thick planks upon low broad wheels — to be run under 

 the ball, from the sides of which the soil outside the original 

 trench is then removed, causing the tree to drop gently down 

 upon the trolly, to which horses are then attached and the 

 tree drawn to its new station, planted and made fast with wire 

 stays as before. 



It may be well to explain why trees are so treated. When 

 the roots of a large tree are cut off so near to the stem, as 

 they always must be in order to facilitate its removal, it is 

 deprived of almost all its rootlets or feeders by which it ob- 

 tains nourishment from the soil. The shock to its system is 

 obviously a severe one, so much so that to remove it then 

 would most likely cause it to die. By putting rich soil about 

 the stumps of the roots we induce a rapid and abundant form- 

 ation of rootlets, so that the tree forms healthy foliage in the 

 following season, although it makes little if any growth in the 

 branches. When the tree is placed on the trolly for removal 

 its ball is a pleasant sight, for it is bristling with rootlets, 

 every one of which is preserved intact with most jealous care ; 

 and thus, although there is no appreciable growth for a year or 

 two, yet we koow that the tree is sound, that its roots are at 

 work, and that in due course vigorous growth will follow. — 

 Edward Luckhurst. 



THE BEST ROSES. 



Many years ago I had a long conversation on Roses with a 

 Cambridge don, and having answered many questions I put 

 one, " Who are the best men in your university ?" The reply 

 was, " Ah, that depends upon what you want them for." 



I have often thought since that in discussing the merits of 

 Roses, whether in conversation or in print, this fundamental 

 question is often lost sight of. My visitor continued, " One 

 is great in classics, another in mathematios, a third in history, 

 a fourth in physics, a fifth in theology, and so on, and even 

 beyond this one is great in some particular division of these 

 branches of learning and some in another." 



Now, it seems to me that it is much the same with Roses, 

 and when I am asked, Which are the best Roses? I reply, It 

 depends upon what you want them for. There are Roses for 

 exhibition, Roses for garden decoration, Roses for cutting for 



table decoration, Roses for light dry soils, Roses for heavy 

 moist soils, Roses for wet climates, Roses for dry climates, 

 and so on ; and anyone makiDg a selection without knowing 

 the special conditions under which the Roses are to be grown , 

 and the purposes for which they are wanted, is likely to lea I 

 those who are seeking information very far astray. 



Further, some Roses bloom early, some in mid-season and 

 all at once, others are continually putting forth a few flowers 

 for a lengthened period, and others, again, bloom finely late 

 in the year. These latter have always possessed great charms 

 for me, and I have consequently preserved and cultivated such 

 assiduously. How delightful, when all the summer-flowering 

 plants are spoilt by the frost, to find in one's garden red, purple, 

 white, and yellow Roses. How sweet they are, and almost as 

 fine as in summer ! 



In confirmation of the assertion that there are such, I trans- 

 mit you a bouquet. Although I would be cautious in saying 

 that they are the best, I am prepared to say that they are 

 among the best of the very late autumn-flowering kinds. They 

 were cut this morning (October 24th), and in fine seasons I 

 have often cut flowers nearly equal in size and symmetry, and 

 superior in colour, a month later. Here are their names : — 



Hybrid Perpetuate. — Marquise de Castellane, Conntess of 

 Oxford, Madame C. Crapelet, La Reine, Monsieur Noman, 

 Marie Eaumann, Dupuy Jamain, Madame Victor Verdier, 

 Madame Caillat, Francois Fontaine, and Princess Beatrice. 



Teas. — Madame de St. Joseph, Gloire de Dijon, Madame 

 Trifle, Souvenir d'un Ami, and Madame Falcot. 



Bourbons. — Comtesse de Rocquigny, and Souvenir de la Mal- 

 maison. 



In addition to these I have three China Roses — Cramoisie 

 Supurieure (crimson), Fabvier (crimson), and Mrs. Bosanquet 

 (blush), covered with masses of buds and flowers. These latter 

 are of course out of court as exhibition Roses, and hardly 

 fitted for table decoration, but for the garden nothing can be 

 more effective, nothing more lovely. What a deal they lose 

 who go in for a limited number of varieties, especially where 

 a garden is of large size ; it is like living on beef and mutton 

 only. — William Paul, Paul's Nurseries, Waltham Gross. 



[The Roses received were superior blooms, and sustain all 

 that Mr. Paul has said of them as being " sweet and almost 

 as fine as in summer." — Eds.] 



THE ROSE ELECTION. 



I have already on the spur of the moment said a few words 

 in reply to " Wyld Savage," bat often words, even when 

 answered, have the power of leaving a mark behind ; so have 

 they in the present case. " Wyld Savage " ad ministered some 

 advice without assisting me to follow it. He said, "What 

 Mr. Hinton should aim at is securing the opinion of the leading 

 nurserymen and those amateurs alone who have distinguished 

 themselves at the London or large provincial shows." Now, 

 as some answer to this, out of the forty-seven electors I have 

 ventured to seleot nine from each section as persons thoroughly 

 qualified to elect the best Roses. They are names that have 

 appeared in the prize lists either of the metropolitan or largo 

 provincial Rose shows, with the exception, so far as I know, 

 of Mr. Rumsey ; but his very long connection with the Paul 

 family, as foreman I believe, must make him fully qualified to 

 give an opinion, and I herewith present our readers with 

 another list selected by these eight sen voters. The voters I 

 have Beleoted are the following — viz., Revs. C. P. Peach, Dom- 

 brain, J. B. Camm, and A. Cheales ; Messrs. Beachey,Laxton, 

 Scott, Wootten, and Captain Christy among amateara ; and 

 amongst nurserymen Messrs. Cranston, Curtis, Cant, Davison, 

 G.Paul, G. Prince, Rumsey, Turner, and Walters. There are 

 perhaps several others who have equal right to be considered 

 sncoeBsful exhibitors, and I must apologise to them for omitting 

 them. The names above, it seems to me, ought to carry 

 weight. Does the result of the scrutiny of these votes pro- 

 claim the election list as already declared, to be " a mockery, 

 delusion, and snare ?" Does the list I append prove the cor- 

 rectness of " Wyld Savage's " anathema ? Does it stamp the 

 election as already given as " a miserable, misleading, un- 

 righteous, abominable election ?" I think the reply to all 

 these questions is distinctly in the negative. 



Supposing a beginner looking at the previous list deoided 

 on investing in the first fifty, how far does this fresh list below 

 prove that he has been misled and that he is investing in 

 inferior sorts? Tried by this fresh test what alterations do 

 we find ? Why, the very same Roses are in the fifty with the 



