i8 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES 



see who had taken honours and who were plucked, I 

 went with some of them to inspect their gardens. 

 These are tiny allotments on sunny slopes, just out 

 of the town of Nottingham,^ separated by hedges 

 or boards, in size about three to the rood — such an 

 extent as a country squire in Lilliput might be 

 expected to devote to horticulture. And yet it was 

 delightful to see how much might be, and was, done 

 in one of these pleasant plots. There was something 

 for every season : — 



* The daughters of the year, 

 One after one, through that still garden pass, 

 Each garlanded with her peculiar flower.' 



There, to cheer the ungenial days of winter, were 



the Christmas Rose, the Aconite, the Laurestinus, 



the Golden Holly, the Cheimonanthus fragrans on 



its snug bit of southern wall, w^ith the large yellow 



Jasmine near, and the winter Violets beneath. There, 



to follow in the spring, the Mezereon, the Erica, 



the Berberis, the Snowdrop, Hepatica, Polyanthus, 



Crocus, and Tulip ; after these the Lilac, Syringa, 



Laburnum, Ribes, Wistaria, and then the Royal 



^ No town in England displays the gardening spirit more manifestly 

 than 'old Nottingham.' Independently of gardens attached to 

 residences, there are, it is said, nearly 10,000 allotments within a 

 short distance of the town ; and as many of these are divided, and in 

 some cases subdivided, it is not too much to affirm that from 20,000 to 

 30,000 of the inhabitants, or nearly one-half, take an active interest in 

 the garden. And where will you see such Roses as are produced upon 

 the Hunger Hills by these amateurs — such cabbage and lettuce, 

 rhubarb and celery ? 



