THE 



GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1898 



standing the fact that they are in the majority of cases growing freely, 

 roses may still be transplanted with safety provided arrangements are 

 made for replanting them within as short a time as possible of their being 

 lifted, and protecting their roots from atmospheric influences. Planting 

 operations carried out under these conditions will in many instances be 

 beneficial to the plants, inasmuch as the lifting and replanting will so 

 far check the growth as to materially reduce the risk of the tender shoots 

 being injured bv the frosts which may be experienced later on. There is 

 yet time for pushing on with the work of planting, and also for considering 

 the classes of roses to plant. To the selection of varieties for the produc- 

 tion of exhibition blooms we shall not now refer, as our object is to direct 

 attention to the importance of greater care in selecting roses that are 

 required simply for enhancing the charms of the garden, and yielding an 

 abundance of flowers for use in a cut state. But a few years since roses 

 that produced great masses of indifferently formed flowers, and it may 

 be, with a short season of flowering, were generally regarded as garden 

 roses, and there are still many who consider varieties of this class the 



j - . . . . . most suitable for the garden. This is a misapprehension which cannot 



_ whole of the open spaces and churchyards in the county now mam- be tQO quiddy corrected? for as the ^ of thg ^ q{ q{ ^ 



Uinedatthe expense of the local authorities shall m future be kept in years? many of the old favourites haye been su ed _ There . . 

 order and maintained at the cost of the Coancil, either by its own staff deed n0 j d rn \ti^Z „f ™. f„ 



^mTTTRAL SHOW ADVERTISEMENTS are inserted m this 

 ORTICULTURAL M u ^ ^ Sbi , hngs> Advertise 



^O^A^V^ Str'eet. London, E.G. 



NOTES OF JHE W EEK. 



MINOR PARKS OF LONDON. 



The open spaces within the boundaries of the county of London not 

 (ceding ten acres in extent, number two hundred and eight, and, in 

 die aggregate, occupy an area of three hundred and sixty-six, and their 

 maintenance has become a matter of considerable importance to the 

 public bodies interested. The question as to the manner in which these 

 -mall spaces should be maintained, and upon what public authorities the 

 responsibilities of their proper keeping should be placed, has for some 

 time engaged the attention of the London County Council. As the 

 result of their deliberation, the Council passed a resolution, a short time 

 tince directing the committee responsible for the parks and other open 

 spaces, to prepare a scheme for the considerat'on of the Council whereby 



T *t ■» • . 



the 



Gc 



by making suitable financial arrangements with the local authorities, 

 e reference has been carefully drawn, and we anticipate with consider- 

 e interest the report of the committee upon this important question, 

 ir reasons that will be obvious to those of our readers who have 

 oted any considerable share of their attention to the gardens undei 



deed, no longer any good reason why the cultivator of roses for garden 

 decoration should have to be content with varieties producing blooms 

 of poor quality, or limiting his enjoyment of their flowers to a short 

 period. The creation of the race of hybrid teas, the improvement in the 

 constitution of the teas, and the multiplication of the chinas, have greatly 

 extended the range for selection/ and rendered it possible to fill the beds 



, , c .1 i_i u a\~~ i_ aU . At . u A -11 v - Aluuuv - u laij^c jui acicLuuii, *uu i cnuereu 11 possiDie to nn tne Deas 



the charge of the smaller local bodies, we hope that the committee will „ A K nr j flVf . M • . 



Z c * it- \a . and borers with varieties that will give a continuous succession of flowers 



report in favour of placing the whole of these open spaces under the 

 direct control of the Council. There can be no question as to the benefit 

 would be derived by the metropolis, as a whole, from all the open 



from early in the summer until the autumn is well advanced. Some of 

 the hybrid perpetuals are sufficiently free and continuous in blooming to 



u • _ • * • a u | v j j • • . r i r , justify their having a high position amongst garden roses : but there can 



res being maintained by a central body deriving its funds from the i ' / , 11-scl - n f Y . 4 f * . f . 6 * , " . . 9 \ . I , 



, f .» * » r~ u . ^ / . . *\ f , . . . be no question that the most useful are the hybrid teas, which have 



•leofthe county. The question as to the advisability of their being v u a ■ ■ i . 7 9 " " 



i « i j i . . X •« «• „ I U1 H^ 11 uc * accomplished so much in enhancing the interest in rose culture; the 



ntained and kept up by the Council's staff is equally free from doubt. W/ j:J1 of fht% fAnc M u tt1 , , / , u 



^itKctirriincr *h\e f.of iu* at , v* T) ir j * . hardiest of the teas, which can be depended upon to pass through a 



withstanding this fact, the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association MWM ^ «,^k^«* . a *u w tir ^ r , 



» e .Kmnnh iK.ir a,; 4 v« i c at \ , ci ,1 , severe winter without injury; and the chinas. We therefore strong y 



ts through their chairman, the Earl of Meath, that they "would be M , 4 , , f . , , c . . f . . , * y 



J recommend the planting more largely of varieties belonging to these 



three classes than has yet been the case, for with a liberal selection of 



r and did the worYof" m7btew« byls own7taff7" ButThe Tarl ^ ? rCC l r0UpS therC ™ abundant r ^PP^ of beautiful «»es 



Meath has failed to advance any good reason why the association throughout the summer and the greater part of the autumn. To ensure 



«ld regret the smaller open spaces being placed under the c ° ntinuit / "J Aowcnng there must be a v.gorous growth, and to obtain 



y to see the local authorities deprived of control over and interest 

 hem, as would be the case if the London County Council took them 



ge of men fully qualified to maintain them in a condition that 

 ensure visitors deriving the fullest enjoyment from them, 

 re may be in the metropolis, as elsewhere, some public bodies 

 fully appreciate the value of open spaces in relation to the 

 th of the community, and recognise the necessity of employing 

 with sufficient skill to properly manage them; but speak 



this good cultivation is necessary. This for our present purpose may be 

 described as consisting of liberal manuring and deep digging previous to 

 planting, and the generous application of rich top dressings subsequently. 



TASTE. 



The senses of taste and of smell are so closely allied that it is quite 

 in a general way, from long and wide observation, we have not "a impossible to draw a line between them, the nerves of nose and palate 

 I opinion of district boards and vestries as garden managers. Were are P r f ctical, y continuous; and though on the one hand many substances 

 e local authorities differently constituted, and included among their ° f decided flavour ar e odourless, such as sugar, and on the other, there 



ibers some who possessed a sufficient knowledge of gardening to are Sublle Scents which onIy the n0Se Can detect » this is mainly due, in 

 t »n, i„ «-- — the first place, to the solvent action of the saliva being necessary to 



disengage the flavour, and in the second to the undeniably greater 

 susceptibility of the olfactory nerves. The human senses, however, are 



rder the!" 1 ,/u° Per * rr ™8*™nts for keeping the open spaces 

 be r^S" bC many CaseS in which the °P en spaces could 



satisfactorily managed by ther, 



open space 

 as the area would not be 



mi. r l ° Jl I St t! fy the em P lo >'ment of a skilled staff. The London doubtless of limited range in comparison with those of other living beings ; 

 i openTnaces aV a e A T"l COmmittee for the control of the parks 

 have eood ' J haVC a Staff of ^P^ndents of whom 



and just as we need the telescope and the microscope to extend our 

 range of vision to that of the eagle or the insects, immeasurably excelling 

 the scope of the former, but probably falling far short of that of the 



position to keep up these minor parks more efficiently than latter ' SO t00 ' there are tastes and odours utterly beyond our ken, as we 



ir.e local authorities Tn crxr>-. A : *. Zm. i i * ... mav tnnw. <;n far as nrlnnrc arp rnnrerned. hv the sudden ndvent nf the 



uld the local a „»i, • * c nmor P arKS morc emciently than 

 IC the smaher n . 0mieS - In S ° me inStanCes '* WOuld be P^sible to 

 * in the district "toS ****** ° f ^ SU P erinte n d ent of the 



may know, so far as odours are concerned, by the sudden advent of the 

 rarer moths from great distances to meet their captive mates. In the 



*<mall ff a " " CrS they could be grouped, and kept in order ve S etabIe world » the variety of flavours is practically infinite, since not 

 endtnt Un lhe char & e of a foreman responsible to the snner merel y has th ^ foliage and fruit of every plant its characteristic flavour, 



■able. When u? e PaTk f ° r thC Chief ° fficer ' as ma y be considered 

 ^nf^m^^^^^^^^ cases ; ! 0CaI authorities 

 by the MetropolitanT 



P*4 r<\ 7 e nec «sary to pi 



«re oi expense " the I — - 



10 l} >e central bodv' a "l I „ mP L ° rtanCe of their management being entrusted 



ardens Association, and that in others 



sweet or bitter, nice or nasty, subtle or pungent, but this varies not only 

 in the different individuals, but also at different ages of the same ; so that 

 the selfsame fruit may be by turns bitter and sour, pleasantly acid, 

 sweet, very sweet, and luscious, and then passing the gamut of human 



ace in their hands the spaces u in good order P rediIections ' lt runs through all the sickening flavours of taints 



omes apparent. 



I n coii 



GARDEN ROSES. 



-«i.sec,uence of the ex rZ i™ 



* ho "t the winter v me mi,dn ess of the weather experienced 



w * Apartments 3a ^ 15 remarkab, y active in the rosery as 

 l *ons or alterations Jn? garden > and those who purpose making 



^tethem somewt. . WC " advised in taking the necessary steps 



^wnat in advance of the usual date. 



Xotwith- 



and ultimate rottenness, though with the medlar, curiously enough, 

 it is only this stage that is really palatable. All this, of course, 

 we know very well, our own particular tastes being in question, 

 but what we are very much in the dark about are the particular 

 tastes and distastes of the lower creation, and especially of that 

 section of it whose tastes run apparently so nearly on the lines of our 

 own that they trespass upon our preserves, and are therefore ranked as 

 foes. Every horticulturist is aware that some plants of precisely the 

 same species are much more liable to be eaten by caterpillar, grub, 

 weevil, or what not, than their fellows ; and it is abundantly clear :huc 



