144 
CONTEMPORARY WRITINGS. 
so as to do away with tliat thorough indepen- 
dence which so much pains is taken to establish 
in other flowers. If the bas-matting tie is left 
on a Pink, or the label left in an Auricula pot, 
or a seedling that is known to be in one per- 
son's hands only, is placed in a Dahlia-stand, 
each would be considered a disqualification. 
But Pansies are shown in boxes, of all forms 
and colours, and there is no question but they 
are as well known as the owners. Generally 
speaking, it is disadvantageous to some, and 
the reverse for others ; but the necessity for 
uniform stands is obvious. Some exhibitors 
have a style about their boxes or stands which 
greatly sets off the flowers ; while others, less 
adapted, form a drawback upon ever such 
good ones. The thing is bad in principle ; 
and the uniformity now established in Dahlia- 
stands should be carried out with all other 
subjects. The mixture of good and bad and 
middling specimens is at all times puzzling 
enough to judges ; the claims of many seem 
almost equal ; and, therefore, the knowledge of 
which belongs to A, B, or C, is a dangerous 
knowledge. It settles things quickly, but not 
always rightly; for, instead of taking the 
trouble to weigh all the nice points against 
one another, some one who cannot help lean- 
ing towards his friend, sticks to his stand, and 
calls attention to anything in its favour, while 
the opposite points, which tell against the 
collection, are left to others, and these, perhaps, 
being in no mind for disputation, give way. 
Pansies were originally shown in boxes of wet 
sand ; and these being supplied by the soci- 
eties, were all alike; but this led to a good 
deal of trouble in arranging them at the show, 
which arrangement consumed a good deal of 
time, and led to delays incompatible with the 
regulaiity of the exhibitions. The same thing, 
then, should be done with these as has been 
done with the Dahlia-stands, and all the stands 
be made uniform. 
Pruning Rose-Trees. — Roses delight in a 
rich soil, and should be manured once every 
year ; in winter the manure should be applied 
in a solid, and in spring in a liquid state. The 
two chief objects to be attained in pruning, 
are, the formation of a handsome tree, and the 
obtaining an abundance of good flowers. To 
secure the first point, it is necessary to begin 
operating when the plant is quite young ; a 
certain number of shoots, varying from three 
to seven, according to the strength of the 
plant, standing at nearly equal and the greatest 
distances apart, should be selected, and the 
remaining shoots cut clean out. Close pruning 
is suitable for the small-growing varieties, but 
not for the stronger ones : moderately close 
pruning produces the finest flowers. The 
spring is to be preferred for pruning, because 
there is then no risk of the frost injuring the 
shoots which are left, which is the case with 
all the tenderer varieties if they are pruned in 
autumn. — M. 
Trees of a Pendent Habit. — These are 
rarely seen in that quantity which their various 
manners of growth and generally elegant out- 
lines would appear to render desirable. Very 
few indeed are seen, but the weeping willow, 
and weeping ash, although many others might 
be collected, that would form interesting addi- 
tions to shrubberies and park scenery ; for 
instance, other species and varieties of those 
last-named, also of the lime, beech, birch, 
poplar, larch, and other forest trees ; whilst 
among woody plants of smaller growth, a great 
variety exists, whose several habits may be 
well-displayed on congenial stocks, of heights 
regulated by their size and the situations they 
are intended for. This last point has not 
been attended to, in the majority of instances, 
as we seldom see a weeping ash with a stem suf- 
ficiently long to properly support its branches, 
and consequently it too frequently assumes a 
low squab shape, very detrimental to its gene- 
ral effect ; and such would doubtless be the 
case with the weeping willow also, but that 
the youngest branches only assume a pendent 
habit, the tree naturally growing to a con- 
siderable height. But this is the case with 
only a few plants of this class, most of them 
being like the ash, and requiring a stock pro- 
perly proportioned to their mature growth. 
Roses of long and slender habits have thus 
been introduced with excellent effect in garden 
scenery ; and the list of pendent plants may be 
much increased in number, by keeping this 
point in view, and adapting proper stocks to 
numbers of the trailing shrubs, as various 
Oenistas,Cytisus purpureas, and others; Cara- 
cjana pygmcea, Calophaca wolgarica, Coto- 
neaster micropyhlla, Cerasus .sempeijiorens, 
Daphne Cneorum, and many others. Again, 
the number of plants suited for this method 
of training may be increased by many of the 
climbing sorts, as honeysuckles, the Chinese 
and American Wistarias, and others, by train- 
ing them up to single stems to a proper height, 
and then allowing them to form a head. It is 
not intended to recommend an indiscriminate 
introduction of plants of these habits, but they 
might certainly be introduced in greater 
numbers, and with good effect, especially in 
small and suburban gardens, where the smaller 
varieties, from their compactness of growth, 
variety in flowering, and general difference of 
outline, would allow of a considerable number 
of species of hard-wooded plants being intro- 
duced in a very limited space. In some esta- 
blishments these points have been partially 
attended to, but certainly not to that extent 
which might be expected, few dealers having 
many varieties on sale. 
