102 ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, KEW 
Dicksons, and Cants, have also played a worthy part. It would be 
as impossible as it would be unnecessary for Kew to attempt to 
cultivate more than a small fraction of them. But an endeavour is 
made to grow a selection of the very best, whether they are of ancient 
or of recent origin. Each sort is given a bed to itself, so that visitors 
have an opportunity of clearly appraising its merits. Standard 
roses find a place here, too. In spite of the condemnation of aesthetic 
people (and standard roses as plants are undeniably ugly and short- 
lived) they still remain as generally grown as ever. They have one 
great advantage over dwarf roses, in that they bring the flower to 
a position where its fragrance and beauty can be enjoyed without 
stooping. 
To complete his examination of the roses at Kew, the visitor will 
have to go to the Pergola. It covers the gravel walk that runs 
The Per la P ara Lel with the west wall of the herbaceous garden, 
between the latter and the Rock Garden. The per- 
gola, as a garden structure, is a creeper-covered walk of Italian origin. 
It is usually constructed of wood, with erect side-posts supporting a 
flat cross-piece. Sometimes the side supports are pillars of brick 
or stone. The pergola is essentially a garden structure for hot, sunny 
lands where shade is necessary for comfort. In the United Kingdom 
it is often used because it offers a charming way of growing many 
climbers. But instead of covering in the pergola completely with 
climbers and thus transforming it into a sort of square tunnel, as is 
usually done in the sunny countries of the South, it is often better 
in Great Britain to set up its sections several yards apart. Continuity 
and coherence can be given by connecting the arches by means of 
side pieces stretching lengthwise from the top of one post to 
the next. 
The best material for constructing pergolas is oak. Branches 
as cut from the tree may be used, but straight squared pieces of wood 
are sometimes preferred as being more in keeping with 
the formal character of the pergola. The only ob- 
jection to any kind of wood is that wiien once decay 
has commenced the stability of the w r hole structure is endangered, 
and repair is often awkward where the climbers have become old and 
their stems thick and stiff. The cheapest and most lasting material 
is iron ; but it is ugly until covered with vegetation, and many 
climbers do not take to it so kindly as they do to wood. Iron, how- 
Materials 
Used. 
