January 13, 1912- 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



29 



of savj the same style as Tom Bolton is to show off his flowers to advantage. In 

 when'erown well. The variety Admiration good coni]>etition nowadays 18:n. square is 



- ^ ' ' ' " the least that should he allowed for a vase 



of from 20 to 25 spikes, and where the 

 staging is in tiers there should be at least 

 Sin. rise in each of the two back tiers; this 

 would allow the exhibitor to make the most 

 of his flowers, and also allow the judges to 

 see the blooms without having to move 

 some of the front vases. 



Sweet i>eas are still progressing, and 

 likely to continue, providing our raisers can 

 keep the public interested by putting a 

 few really striking novelties on the market 

 eaeh season, and these in a fairly well fixed 

 condition, as nothino; is so vexing to a 



always pleased me, and we could do well 

 with one of this colour in Spencer form. 

 Prince Edward of York w^as a good exhibi- 

 tion flower in the old type and very strik- 

 ing in colour, so that its appearance in 

 w^avetl form would be w^elcome. The blue 

 and yellow sorts, it goes without saying, 

 we desire to see improved, and it ean only 

 be a question of time, as there are many 

 capable men who are giving these matters 

 very serious attention, both for the love 

 of the flower and from a commercial point 

 of view. 



During the past season or two n any of 

 the varieties introduced have given rather 

 a large percentage of double standards 

 under good cultivation, and though some 

 growers look with favour on this, I am 



grower to find (after he has taken a lot of 

 trouble) that a very poor percentage of 

 the plants are true to name, but things are 

 nuich better in this respect than formerly, 



THE BAGATELLE ROSE 



TRIALS. 



The trials of new roses that have been 

 in progress during the past six or seven 

 years in the rosery of Bagatelle, which is 

 situaite on the westi^rn boundary of the 

 Bois de Boulogne, have proved so success- 

 ful as to have created much interest among 

 the leading ro;-arians of Europe and 

 America. These trials were commenced 

 on the-^initiative of M. Jules Gravereaux, 

 the eminent amateur rosarian, and 

 have been carried out under the direction 

 of M. J. C. N. Forestier, the able chief of 

 the public ganlens of Paris. Bagatelle is 

 remarkable for the charm of its grounds, 

 and is of fiome historical interest. The villa 

 W AS, orifrinallv built bv the Count d'Artois. 



"V , 



[Photo: H. N. KiiiL^ 



THE EOSP] GARDEN AT BAGATELLE, 



bound to say that I do not, as the del 



lost 



cate outline of 



the flower is quite 

 w ea t he r the flo we r s 



ire 



further^ in wet ,v^«ux.^. ..^.r^.^ 

 apt to be rather too heavy for their stems. 

 For market purposes the double standards 

 may be found useful, as it will take fewer 

 flowers to make up a bunch, but for really 

 light and elegant decorations, good single- 

 standard flowers will always be welcomed. 

 The cultivation and methods of exhibiting 



also advanced, and 



either of 



and when the seeds are obtained from well- 

 known growers there will not be much 

 cause for grumbling, so that progress is 

 being made in this direction also. 



Thomas Stevenson. 



Woburn Place Gardens, 



Crassuia 



m 



Til i s verv 



sweet peas have 

 only needs to visit 

 large summer show^s 

 ample of this ; man\ 

 cialists' 



artistic 



groups are 

 decoration, 



one 



any or either ot the 

 to see a striking ex- 

 of the sweet ])ea spe- 

 striking examples of 

 while the individual 



blooms give distinct evidence of good culti- 

 vation. The competitive classes are also 

 usually very well filled, and it is a rare 

 thing to see a poor or slovenly exhibit, but 

 the amount of space allowed an exhibitor 

 IS very often far short of what is required 



pretty memlx^r of the cra^ssula family was in- 

 trodiiced from South Africa a quarter of a 

 century or so ago, but it is even now very 

 little plant for the greenhouse, and retains 

 have been not?d this autumn at the meetings 

 of the Royal Horticultural Society. It forms 

 a mass of erect stems about three inches 

 high, each terminated by a branching corymb 

 of small red flowoxs. ^Tlie succulent leaves 

 and the stems arc also suff»ised with the 

 reddish tint, so that the entire i)laiit is more 

 or less of a ruddy hue. It i^^ a really pretty 

 little plant for the greenhouse, and retains 

 its beauty for a considerable time,— W. 



who subsequently bec^ame Charles X., for a 

 wager between himself and the Prince of 

 Wales that he would have it built in sixty 

 davs. It was c[>mpleted in fifty-nine days, 

 and the Count was accordingly the winner. 

 After several changes in ownership, the 

 villa and its grounds were purchased by 

 Rich a I'd Wallace, and subsequently became 

 the prop<Mty of the municipal authorities 

 of Paris. 



The rosery is not the least attractive fea- 

 ture of the'grounds. and during the sum- 

 mer months, when the roses are in bloom, 

 they possess much interest to those who are 

 desirous of seeing the more noteworthy of 

 the new roses growini: undtM- ordinary con- 

 ditions at the earliest possible mohient. 

 l^sually there are i^ome fifty or sixty roses 

 under trial, and the manner in which they 

 are grown is clearly indicated in the accom- 



painying illustration. 



edure 



The course of pro- 

 is for Mf 



