THE 



GARDENERS 



7 



MAGAZINE 



SATURDAY, JULY 23, 1898. 



Ovring'.to 



NOTICE TO ADVERTISERS. 



continued increase in circulation, the " Gardeners* Magazine " 



' , c , n ? arer ins P ec t ; on reveals, and the tiniest flower we can 

 pick or a leaf plucked even from the nearest weed will, when brought into 

 the focus of our little glass, expand in the one case into a tissue ot 



%oes to press on Wednesday. No advertisement can be guaranteed VU1 mue glass, expand in the one case into a tissue ot 



Son, or altered, unless received before Four p.m. on that day. ™ hh StrUCtUre ' ^ " the ° ther d ' SpIay t0 the lighted eye fully 



NOTES OF THE WEEK. 



EXHIBITING ROSES. 



1ZT\ w a 7 °J C ° r0l,a ' and peta1 ' and stamens > and PoUen as the 

 stateliest blooms display to vision unaided. A little hairy, or woolly, or 



nt ; .° r , St u em , iSSeent ° be deck «lwith thousands of neatly, and 

 of ten complexly built-up outgrowths, as different from the ordinary notions 



- * hairS aS Can P^sibly be, some being arranged even in star fashion, 



With the magnificent display at Halifax on the 14th inst, the exhi- . . ™ e \ ery case on some special and symmetrical plan which, in itself, 



may be plain, or ridged, or 

 fluted, or jointed, or varied in manifold and multiform ways, and cuts 

 across by a sharp knife will display beautiful sections. In the flowers 

 and leaves viewed generally, little or none of these special characters are 

 seen, but under the little triple lens a transformation scene takes place, 



fajtian season of the National Rose Society for the current year was 

 brought to a close, and notwithstanding the fact that the lateness of 

 the season somewhat adversely affected the southern sh ow, there can 

 be no question as to the season having been one of the most successful 

 the society has yet had to record. The exhibitions, regarded as a whole, 



» . 



have in no previous year been more extensive, interesting, or attractive, an ^ Ven tn e smooth petal of the rose not only glows with added brilliancy 



while the average quality of the thousands of blooms staged has been °* °° under lts keen . scrutiny, but the lovely cells which built it up 



eminently satisfactory. This year the two provincial exhibitions have dls P la J a texture our unaided eyes can never detect. The pollen alone is 



*en supplemented by conferences, which have so greatly enhanced their an endless study of variety from the comparatively huge, dark crimson 



interest and educational value, as to justify the hope that the experiment gramS lly tnbe t0 the minute dust- like atoms which in the common 



of affording rosarians an opportunity of assembling in council will be . S .^ nging nett ! e ma y be seen to be puffed out from its exploding blossoms 



repeated next year. At Bath the all important question of pruning was * mi ™ K microscopic gun batteries. Not merely flowers, leaves, stems, 



discussed, and as the result, we trust clearer views will obtain on the f, pollen, but the resulting seed and seed vessels are one and all things 



principle and practice of pruning roses. Not less satisfactory was the beauty viewed through the lens. Every seed is built on a plan of its 



S ° me are smooth, some rugged, and many are very beautifully 



conference at Halifax, when Mr. George Paul opened a discussion on 

 exhibiting roses, and the rosarians present had an opportunity of express- 



own. 



decorated. We 



ig their views on the tying and dressing of exhibition blooms and the Same a PP lies even to the smaller for Nature laughs at size, and can put 

 Having of garden roses. Mr. Paul expressed himself as strongly opposed as much ornate decoration on a pin's point as the deftest artist could 

 to the practice now so general of tying blooms for the purpose of keep- d ^ lineate on an acr e of canvas. With the lens, too, the other marvels of 

 ng the centres together, and he based his opposition on the loss of colour garden, its insect as well as its floral tenants, display a myriad 



resulting from the practice. It was, however, shown that there are two wonders > an <i if led on, by the exhibition it affords, to try higher powers 

 ■des to this question, and Mr. A. Dickson, Mr. O. G. Orpen, and Mr. and aspire t0 a micr0SC0 P e proper, we shall find that the smallest are 

 E. a Lindsell stated it would be practically impossible to convey exhi- ° ften the most beautiful, and that every step of magnification reveals 

 on roses long distances without giving them the support a strand of m ° re and m0re Intricac y of charm a nd design in a thousand things 

 ~* «-«• « • - which to 1 the eye alone are mere moving dots devoid of interest altogether* 



This being so, it is really astonishing in these days of progressive know- 

 ledge, to find how few people, even ardent gardeners, carry or use a 

 pocket lens, though in many cases, apart from its aid in detecting the 

 underlying beauties of nature, a little practice in its use would often 



„ 11 .1 J . • f m m m 



^A—Am\ ■ ^m* A ■ mm m _ a ■ Am M M^m _ 



<*ton wool affords. Tying the blooms "is a small mattVr as compared which t0 the eye alone are mere movin S dots devoid of interest altogether 



».th subjecting them to the manipulation know as dressing, and TV " ----,---.--„ ~ 



m reference to the latter practice, we fully ajrree with Mr ge ' t0 find how few P eo P le > even ardent gardeners, carry or use a 



Paul that "To transform a flower from ' A — : - 



its natural shape is a 



esteem." 



raud, and distinctly injures the flower eventually in public - - • 



in not a few instances the blooms are so manipulated as to deprive them enable the cu,tlvator t0 detect his insect and fungoid foes long before 

 « the exquisite form they naturally possess, and give them much the their P resence is betrayed by the destruction they cause, and thus to be 



beforehand with his remedies. 



ROOTS. 



& £ the K Ca , bbages and Iettuces that %ure in catalogues, with 

 - ob ec br ,t en d ° Wn t0 their ce ^res. There can be no 



Z th , e u removal of a dama ^ d Petal or even to a slight 



^e sys ma icf ^ 5 ^ there * the gravest 



« « £1T~ r SSmg WhlCh finds faV0Ur With some exhibitors, and 

 jeare glad to say that not a word was said in its defence The Na ional 



Kose Society has steadily set its face aeainst dressing K„t sJi ££u and lt may be gorgeous flowers, they rarely receive the attention they 



* 'mpose an efficient check upon the oractire 4Z n \ merit as vital essentials. Their extremely diverse.character, too, is largely 

 «*ine — , upon tne practice. The present method of . , ., Am ,„L • „ Mt , ft „, „ ra .1 L I' 



Roots, as a rule, are of such a modest, retiring nature that, as com- 

 pared with the aerial growth of plants, the stem, branches and leaves, 



nissed tin 



trusses 



hidden, although in a general way we know that they vary in size from 



the 



nyble in the forest, down to 



linutive plants. In addition? 



ourselve 



dd be imposed. We, and those who h Id th U ° S however, to mere difference in dimensions, they also vary enormously in 



- believe that the collections of earden ™=« * V1 ^ vs u aS character ; but here, probably, the popular notion goes beyond the mark 



-«nonal value if the nvAm^^^^^^^. h ^ s5nce carrots > turni P s ' and fleshy grOWths " ° f that kind are n0t reaIly r °° tS 



*M* to see at a glance the relative size of rhH ' Tu as usually considered, but mere stores of nourishment elaborated by the 



**ed. Mr i> a .,i * _ , T relatlve size of the trusses of the varieties : _ : /_ _ f ' ... *^ i.,„ M k»;„„ 



yantha 



u , ' => 1 *- or eignt trusst 



would be useless to show that sort," but from 



our 



^^C£2S2ESL visitor" wo^the"; 



size, 

 ^nbert 



>rSS?n^° f ??i ^ thCVariety Pr ° duCeS trUSS6S ° f 



and Mr F uV"" 7 * aCC ° rd with Mr - Pau1 ' w hile Mr. 

 k "^e question I T I expressed themselves in favour of a 

 4a: of the other Z mt ! conside rable interest, and its discussion with 



^reeabl 



upon the audience. 



THE POCKET LENS. 



Z a sim P Ie 



r* 005 beauty revealed T"" ' UC " 35 m3t 3t KCW ' that inner world of mar " of branches and twi S s above U * AJouDtle ss very otten were it possible 



^ 11 mainly enjoved'h ^l? 7 flower and leaf b y a simple little pocket to get out a huge tree intact with all its roots and rootlets, the difference 



s*l c °lour constituting .v bot anist. The outside loveliness of form in spread and ramifications between the upper and lower portions would 

 5 rtUtion to th P ,°P ular attractions of flowers bears much the 



^* t0 msSac S rlOVeImess as doesa broad and picturesque 



^ynad beauties of hill and dale, green lane, and " ' 



joint action of roots proper, and the leaves, the said roots proper, being 

 those slender fibres proceeding from the carrots, turnips, or what not, 

 near their lower terminations. Bulbs, too, such as lilies, tulips, &c, are 

 not roots, but really gigantic buds, which produce roots in some way 

 from their bases. The active portions of roots, indeed, are usually very 

 much alike in all tribes of plants; these consist of threads of cellular 

 growth, the tips of which penetrate the soil and spread in all directions, 

 absorbing as they proceed the necessary salts and moisture required for 

 the formative work going cn above ground with the aid of materials de- 

 rived from the air, and the vital force imparted by the light of the sun. 

 Naturally as these primary rootlets proceed, branching as they go, the 

 conduits to the upper air, which they also constitute, roust be enlarged to 

 accommodate the increasing contributions, hence thickening goes on as 

 well as lengthening under the ground, precisely as it does in the network 

 of branches and twigs above it. Doubtless very often were it possible 



When 



transpiring the water 



