JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
170 
[ March 3, 1881. 
and blossom in a feeble way for many years with very little atten¬ 
tion, but they are the reverse of ornamental. 
Now the growth of a Rose is naturally so pliant when young that 
it may readily be trained to any form that individual taste may 
suggest, and one may usefully inquire why this valuable property 
is not turned to account to impart greater variety and beauty so 
as to relieve the too common monotony of Rose gardens. Not that 
one would altogether advocate the formation of a garden full of 
Rose bushes trained with mathematical precision, however elegant 
in design ; rather should we strive to impart variety under the 
pleasing guise of bowers covered with “ Lovely Ramblers,” pillars, 
arches, banks, whereon there should be a freedom and luxuriance 
of growth imparting an air of semi-wildness and with something 
of the grace that in the wild Rose so much attracts our admiration. 
In Lady Barker’s charming book “A Year’s Housekeeping in 
South Africa,” occurs a description of her garden in “ Fair Natal,” 
of which she says : “ The feature of this garden was Roses—Roses 
on each side whichever way you turned, and I should think of at 
least a hundred different sorts. Not the stiff standard Rose tree of 
an English garden, with its few precious blossoms to be looked at 
from a distance, and admired with respectful gravity. No; in 
this garden the Roses grow as they might have grown in Eden— 
untrained, unpruned, in enormous bushes covered entirely by 
magnificent blossoms, each bloom of which would have won a 
prize at a Rose show. There was one Cloth of Gold Rose bush 
that I shall never forget; its size, its fragrance, its wealth of 
creamy yellowish blossoms. A few yards off stood a still bigger 
and more luxuriant plant some 10 feet high, covered with the 
large delicate and regular pinkish bloom of Souvenir de la Mal- 
maison. When I talk of a bush, I only mean the especial bush 
which caught my eye ; I suppose there were fifty Cloth of Gold 
and fifty Souvenir Rose bushes in that garden. Red Roses, white 
Roses, Tea Roses, blush Roses, Moss Roses, and last, not least, the 
dear old-fashioned homely Cabbage Rose, sweetest and most sturdy 
of all. You could wander for acres and acres among fruit trees 
and plantations of Oak, and Willows, and other trees, but you 
never got away from the Roses. There they were, beautiful, deli¬ 
cious things, at every turn ; hedges of them, screens of them, and 
giant bushes of them on either hand.” And she adds further on, 
“ It was emphatically a poet’s or a painter’s garden, not a gar¬ 
dener's garden.” 
Very much like a page of the “Arabian Nights,” is it not? 
Only we know it is a literal statement of facts often dwelt upon 
by other sojourners at the Cape, and we are also aware of the 
tantalising fact that much of the wonderful luxuriance is owing 
to the climate. Do we, however, do all we can to promote luxu¬ 
riant growth ? I have frequently seen Roses on their own roots 
in very rich soil throwing up numerous shoots from beneath the 
surface, and such shoots are justly termed suckers, for they would 
soon rob the old growth of its requisite nourishment from the 
roots if pinching or training were resorted to. Yet if such bushes 
were allowed to grow almost wild, only cutting away weakly 
growth, what a wealth of blossom would the “suckers” yield if 
left unshortened and bent a little, for then every bud would give 
us a flower-bearing shoot. The idea is not at all original, for 1 
have repeatedly seen it acted upon with more or less success. 
There are soils wherein Roses will flourish for years, but in poor 
thin soil there is nothing for it but constant high feeding ; and in 
view of this, the preparation of wide deep stations in the first 
instance would be true economy, for then simple supplementary 
supply of manure would suffice for a considerable time. “ I could 
a tale unfold” of success and failure in a thin soil that would 
convey a useful lesson, for it has been my lot more than once to 
see a garden of Roses grow to full beauty and dwindle to extreme 
unsightliness.— Edwakd Luckhurst. 
SPRING FLOWERS IN IRELAND. 
The present condition of some of the popular spring flowers 
out of doors may not be without interest, as indicating the effects 
of the winter on them : — 
Wallfion 'ei's .—At this time last year I could have gathered a 
bouquet of these flowers, but now the double and semi-double 
Germans have been almost completely destroyed. I had two lines, 
one on each side of a central avenue, of double yellow grown 
from cuttings, and the other semi-double coppery brown. But 
little remains of either, though protected with high walls on each 
side, and in a southern aspect. Have any of your correspondents 
noticed in their collections that in several instances one branch 
remained quite safe, all the others being destroyed on the same 
plant ? The singles seem somewhat hardier ; but the gusty winds 
caught many of them while the soil was frozen and broke them at 
the base. Those that remain are now showing their flowers. 
Cheiranthus prsecox appears uninjured, and although later I have 
determined to have plenty of it in future. The question is well 
worth discussing—What is the best method of treating Wallflowers 
during the winter with the view to early blooming ? Grown in 
boxes and placed in a cool vinery or orchard house as a friend 
suggests, would not meet the case, as 20° of frost has been 
registered in such houses, and heat is not to be thought of for 
Wallflowers that it is wished to grow robust and stocky. 
Polyanthus .—These will be several weeks later than last year 
too, though some blooms have been opening for the past fortnight. 
’They are, however, inferior in size and substance, probably owing 
to the inactivity of the roots ; in fact they must have been several 
weeks in a state of torpidity. I had the more tender of the gold- 
laced and some seedlings under safe cover, but they seem no better 
than those exposed. The effectual frost-resisting mantle of snow 
is probably the explanation, and the same applies to all procum¬ 
bent winter and spring flowers out of doors. After the snow had 
melted, dwarf Silenes, Anemones, Limnanthes, Saxifraga granu- 
lata, hardy Primulas, Phloxes, and some early bulbs all seemed 
quite fresh ; even some Turban and French Ranunculus that had 
been forgotten. And stranger still, I had a bed of Fuchsias last 
year which I cut down early in autumn to help them to retain 
their vitality over the winter, and, with merely coal ash protection 
and by mulching, buds are already starting from the bases, though 
many persons have lost the greater part of their stock placed 
under shelves in cool greenhouses. With the same treatment I 
expect Salvia patens and Marvel of Peru are safe. 
Alpine Auriculas .—Owing to their wonderful adaptability these 
should be grown everywhere and by every lover of hardy flowers. 
No other outdoor plants seem to have suffered so little. The 
cabbage-like foliage now looks promising, and this applies to 
named and edged varieties grown on specially made outdoor open 
stands. In my limited collection I never see green fly or woolly 
aphis, and I believe the secret is cool treatment and comparatively 
small pots. I find a great tendency to unsatisfactory growth 
from overpotting. I am not sure, though it may be want of 
taste, that I do not enjoy more the fine robust foliage, softly 
shaded colours, and generally delicious sweet scent of the Alpines 
to the more tender-edged varieties with their richer colours. 
Lilies .—Except the advancing foliage on L. candidum, I am 
not aware of any outdoor Lily having sustained injury, except I 
include Belladonnas, which were seriously affected. L. auratum in 
peat beside Rhododendrons were out of the reach of any cold, and 
the same may be said of the tigrinum group. In a garden near 
here L. giganteum has been outside for years, and except for 
division L. lancifolium (speciosum) has not been touched, though 
it makes an excellent conservatory plant when coolly grown out¬ 
side in pots. The Martagon group is safe, and deserves a place 
in every border. Fritillarias I grow outside, and lost some in a 
frame this year. Nile Lilies (Richardias) were killed when near 
the glass, even in sitting-rooms, and must have run serious risk 
planted out in ponds or beds of rivers. Late Brompton Stocks, 
Pentstemons, Ixias, Sparaxis, Schizostylis, Babianas are amongst 
the killed here ; while Pansies, Carnations, the great majority of 
the Antirrhinums, Eschscholtzia, double Daisies, and bulbs, Violas, 
Sweet Williams, and hardy Veronicas, Pinks, Pseonies, and beds of 
Primula japonica, mulched are doing admirably.— W. J. M., 
Clonmel. 
PROTECTING FRUIT TREES. 
As your Journal stands pre-eminent for forwarding the inter¬ 
ests of fruit-growers, I should be glad to see a discussion in your 
columns as to the best methods of protecting the blossom during 
the next few months from the frost, which probably is alone re¬ 
sponsible for diminishing annually by more than 50 per cent, 
the fruit crop in this country. Why should our orchards be cul¬ 
tivated in this nineteenth century on the same principles as to this 
matter as they were a thousand years ago ? Surely the advanced 
state of art and invention might afford some efficient and practical 
plan at least to protect the smaller trees. The question of cost 
has hitherto been the difficulty. I enclose a sample of light jute 
netting (4 ozs. per square yard), only a very light web being re¬ 
quisite. Can any of your many practical correspondents show 
how to apply it to the purpose desired ?—W. S. Manning. 
BLUE ROMAN HYACINTH. 
I was glad to find on page 106 of the Journal that this 
Hyacinth has some admirers. In answer to “ L.” I may say that 
I am not a grower of flowers for the market, and therefore my 
remarks are not made from that standpoint. If “ L.” admires it, 
and the lady he has to please appreciates it, I should say, By all 
