86o 



THE 



GARDENERS' 



MAGAZINE. 



December 31, 1898. 



Sweet-brier for the New Year. 



NOT a few would consider it impossible to supply sweet-brier on 

 New Year's Day, but more experienced growers have long discovered the 

 possibilities of horticulture. It is many years ago since the seemingly 

 impossible task came to me. Fortunately, perhaps, I made too light of 

 it There were plenty of sweet-briers about, and within a month ot 

 the date several plants were dug up and plunged at one end of the 

 gardenia house. Here the sweet-briers had a bottom and surface heat of 

 from 70 to 90 degrees ; but instead of growing at once, or within a few 

 days or weeks, few of them showed much or any signs of responding to 



- • " * Indeed, the efforts to force the growing 



una uui ui scasuu »rw>- ■ _ 



A few of the sweet-briers preferred to die rather than 



such severe forcing conditions. . m . 



pace some six months out of season were in the main doomed to almost 



complete failure. , _ . 



grow, while others seemed simply to ignore the forcing conditions, as it 

 waiting quietly for the aid of April showers and the softer and more 

 suasive effects of May dews. 



These first attempts, however, proved extremely useful if rather stern 

 and severe teachers of this lesson. Sweet-briers in particular, and the 

 majoritv of hardy plants in general, resist sudden and severe changes of 

 temperature. Such plants may be led or allured into acceding to almost 

 all demands, but driven or violently forced, into little or nothing. It was 

 worth not a few failures in sweet-brier forcing to have learned this lesson 

 well. I know that strong examples may be quoted to the contrary, as 

 that of not a few successful growers of lily of the valley, who freeze the 

 crowns before placing them in bottom or surface heat of 70 degrees or 

 90 degrees. Retarded crowns, now rising in fashion and popularity, may 

 be said to have won their popularity on this theory of pitting extremes of 

 temperature against each other. The greater the diversity of tem- 

 perature the more sudden the start. Well, this may be, in fact, is so, 

 but it would be unwise to trust to any such law to help us in the forcing 

 of sweet-brier, especially if under promise to provide a good vase of 

 fragrant shoots for New Year's Day. 



Most of the art of forcing sweet-brier, and, indeed, other hardy shrubs, 

 consists in early and timely preparation. The briers for providing foliage 

 and flowers for Christmas, 1899, and January, 1900, should have been 

 potted up at the end of October or early in November, 1898. Where 

 sweet-briers thrive in the open air it will be found they differ considerably 

 in character and earliness. By selecting those thoroughly matured, and 

 of moderate and generally uniform growth, it will be found much time 

 will be gained later on. As to pots, eight inch, ten inch, and twelve inch 

 are the most suitable and satisfactory, though pretty little plants may be 

 grown in six-inch pots. Sandy loam with a dash of leaf-mould and a 

 little well-rotted cow manure, or, if poor or hungry soil, with a sprinkling 

 of bone meal, form a model compost for forcing sweet-briers. For 

 drainage use an oyster shell over the hole, then add a few smashed bones, 

 and a handful of turfy loam fills a larder with good things that will last 

 for years. Before potting carefully dress or prune off any bruised roots 

 and distribute those left regularly through the soil in potting. The 

 latter should be firm, ramming the soil home round the roots. As soon 

 as completed plunge the pots in a bed of oak or other long-lasting and 

 slow-heating leaves, covering the surfaces with the same some four or 

 six inches deep, thus rendering the roots quite frost-proof. Under a 



south or west wall is the best place for the briers, and there they should 

 remain till March or April, 

 looked and sorted. 



M — 9 — J 



The plants should then be carefully over- 



The worst may be placed by themselves and gently 

 forced for fragrant sprays or even welcome buds of eglantine. All the 

 best plants should, however, be reserved for forcing in the early autumn 

 for leafage and bloom at Christmastide and the New Year. 



It is well to place the whole of the sweet-briers under glass, say 

 in March, as it will then be 



will be found 



tops, 

 full 



found the roots are considerably in 

 Often at that earlv season the 



to burst into growth. 



of roots, and 



early season 

 the brier buds 



advance of the iods. unen at tnat *ariv season the pots 



ready 



A fernery, peach house, or orchard house at 

 work, or a cool forcing house or pit at 50 to 65 degrees, would be the very 

 place for sweet-briers from March to June. In such positions, with 

 abundance of light, air, water overhead and at their active roots, 

 growths, though rather slow the first year, would be strong, sound, and 

 clean. But, with the exception of the few weakest plants, all this early 

 growth the first year is rather preparatory to early autumnal forcing than 

 forcing itself. None of the growths on the best plants should be used, 

 but the blossom buds should be picked off. On June 1 at latest remove 

 all the sweet-briers into a sheltered place in the open air. Syringe over- 

 head at least twice a day, and keep the leaves clean and free from insects. 

 Larly in July place the plants in front of a south wall, plunging the pots 

 full in the sun. Any pruning or removal of shoots that may be needed 

 to preserve the form of the plants or hasten their early maturity should 

 now be given. The less pruning, however, the better. During the 

 ripening and resting periods, from July till the beginning or middle of 

 September, no excess of water or stimulating mulches or manures 

 should be given to the roots, for the more complete the maturity of the 



briers CaSier and m ° re successful the Arcing of sweet- 



v M r Y c>S C M b tl IS V he ? riers l or forcin S for Christmas and the New 

 ^ S, be Under gl3 f S - By att «tion to the simple details here 

 SHnn ™^ success ma y be cached the first year. But the older, in 

 ?nt^^ th ^ more . Aoriferous, though not always the more 



S TherC ? an ° ther stron * P° int in { ^ur of old 



plants. Habit becomes a sort of second nature? even with such strong 

 conservative instincts, and hence the lonc^r ;« Jul 1 J birui ;3 



in nntc *u 1V - C ia \ 1Q nger in reason the plants remain 



in pots the easier and the more surely they may be forced Cleanliness 

 and caution, careful maturing top dressina JJZa ™ *w n A f 

 keen sweet hr^rc in u^uu / P aressin & an< * mulching will suffice to 



rh^ p C hrnce^ afti fo , many * ears - But > & p™™* 



tne chances are, after the plants are fully established 



the fragrant branchlets and blossoms for which they are so highly prized. 

 One more wrinkle— plants used to pruning for shoots and flowers in 

 December, January, February, March, and so on, will be far better able 

 to provide crops of similar beauty and fragrance ever afterwards. 



Some prefer growing a double or a treble set of plants for forcing, for 

 fear of exhausting their old plants, and readers will agree that the 

 more sweet-briers there are in their gardens, in or out of doors, the 

 better. All this, written of the , common pink sweet-brier, with its 

 brilliant scarlet hips and fragrant foliage, is equally applicable to the 

 double scarlet and double white, which have never become common. 

 There is also a superb red sweet-brier, of brilliant scarlet, and one with 



s. ^ Janet 

 stripes, v< 



a race of flaked sweet-briers in the near future, perhaps rivalling our 

 flaked carnations or cloves. Lord Penzance's new hybrid sweet-briers 

 will give new interest to this charming class of plants, as it has already 

 brought us new colours with them without robbing us of the brier's 

 fragrance. Several of them promise to be earlier and easier forced into 

 growth and bloom in the winter than the uniquely sweet and beautiful 

 common sweet-brier. 



As to the forms of sweet-briers for forcing it is of less moment 

 than may be thought, but where the plants are likely to be 

 wanted in halls, dining or drawing-rooms, staircases, sitting-rooms, 

 conservatories, corridors, &c, the plants may b* trained into 

 pyramids, standards, or loose bushes. Small standards 

 inch pots have a dainty effect. The opposite extreme, where shoots 

 only are wanted, may consist in filling boxes a foot or more deep 

 with young sweet-briers, and forcing them en masse year after year 

 for cutting. Some years since a bold spurt was made on the borderland 

 of Covent Garden Market proper to push the sweet-brier in six or eight- 

 inch pots as a window plant in London and its environs. One can but 

 hope that such delightful home industries may be established or extended 

 in all our large towns until every home and garden shall be lightened 

 by the brightness and sweetened by the fragrance of one or many sweet- 

 briers. D. T. Fish. 



in eight- 



forcing Ii„ es , * plants ^ d ~ ~ « «Jr I- France, patriotism, poet^d 



The Names of Roses. 



It was the immortal Shakespeare who said, "A rose by any other 

 name would smell as sweet," while the assertion of the deeply romantic 

 Juliet was true, and illustrated her subject very effectively, there is more 

 in a name, especially a modern one, than her philosophy ever dreamed 

 of. It cannot, for example, be truthfully denied that in many instances 

 our greatest professional singers, such as Patti and Melba, in addition 

 to their gifts, which are unquestionably pre-eminent, owe much to their 

 names. So also, doubtless, do our leadi ng r0s3.na.ns ; but, it may be 

 added, in a much lesser degree. A consummate vocalist may, in a 

 moment of mental depression or physical weakness (or even after eat- 

 ing too hearty a dinner), sing with manifest difficulty of breathing, or 

 on still rarer occasions entirely out of tune ; nevertheless she will receive, 

 in virtue of her name, £500 a night. But it is somewhat different with a 

 great rosarian. His achievements are not transitory ; like that of the 

 poet, they are steadfast and enduring ; they are the result of patient 

 elaboration, they are intended to survive the utmost test of time. They 

 do not always accomplish this ; those that continue to exist for fifty 

 years are assuredly the exception and not the rule. Yet the name of a 

 great raiser, apart altogether from the merit of his creations, is even as 

 in the artistic and musical worlds, a mighty charm to soften and subdue. 

 A rose that has been originated (or "obtained," as Mr. D'ombrain would 

 say) by a Guillot, a Verdier, a Paul, or a Dickson, owes much in the 

 initial stages of its popularity to its raiser's name. But this also is cer- 

 tain, that unless it has great merit it will not endure. It is reputation, 

 founded on lofty characteristics, that confers its peculiar glory upon a 

 name. The fame of a rosarian may be, and is undoubtedly in every 

 instance, a great advertisement for his productions ; but unless they have 

 original or supremely fascinating attributes their names will soon dis- 

 appear from the catalogues, and their presence from our collections. This 

 is an age of stern competition, and it is the fittest and strongest and 

 loveliest that survive. 



But even, I should imagine, the name of a rose— other qualifications 

 and higher ones being owned by the variety— may have a distinct influ- 

 ence m the direction of popularity. Duke of Edinburgh, Duke of Wel- 

 lington, Crown Prince, and Prince Arthur are, by reason of their very 

 associations, popular names. So also should be such titles as Her 

 Majesty (though almost any other rose would smell as sweet), Princess 

 ot Wales and Empress Alexandra of Russia. There are abundant 

 uukes and Duchesses m our catalogues ; the one variety among these 

 most likely to survive is Duchess of Bedford. The fine fragrance of 

 lJuchess of Albany— a dark La France, of vigorous constitution-should 

 be sufficient to preserve its other merits from oblivion. Papa Gontier 

 should live, notwithstanding its somewhat childish name, which has never 

 St - S p ^ harmin f .flavour of affectionateness. So also should Susanne 

 Mane Kodocanachi , an invaluable rose for exhibition purposes, by reason 

 ™L V? rm and " ch « roseate hue. One of the most peculiar of all 

 S am n^f 1S ^° Verable amon S th e hybrid perpetuals is Xavier Olibo, which 

 IrnnS r y su 8g ests to my imagination a half-caste, nurtured in a 

 SK! k ■ , , manv varieties have classical names Homer and 



thSSr 1 il g n0t u bIe ex «ptions ; likewise Medea, the fairest of the 

 DirkW *IaA U ch "burning titles as Margaret Dickson, Jeannie 

 PrinrJ ' ^ ^ atson 5 also «»at of the betutiful Souvenir de S. A 



a"!! Jl Qe Darlln 8 suggests heroism ; Victor Hugo, poetical and 

 bihtv NJnh h , ,eVen,ent ; Cha ^s Lamb, humour, originality, and amia- 

 ednesSnT' P T y ' like th at of the virginal snow ; Reynolds Hole, 

 f I f™/"! ? 00d - n ature ; Bride and Bridesmaid, the fruition of love ■ 



romance. 



David R. Williamson, 



