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August 19 , 1880 . ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 159 
ast winter on evergreens, Roses, &c., but I have not seen any 
remarks on the effects of the frost on what are always supposed 
to be hardy trees. In the county of Rutland and in the neigh¬ 
bouring county of Leicester many Apple trees have been killed, 
and I kuow of two or three old Walnut trees that have been very 
much damaged. Many Oak trees have not come into leaf at all, 
and are to all appearance dead, except that they are sending out 
small stunted shoots from the trunk. I should like to know 
whether this is the case elsewhere.—E. C., Oakliam, 
A DAY AT REIGATE. 
As a Secretary of the National Rose Society I could not but 
regard with feelings of admiration the conspicuous place which 
Reigate has for years taken as a Rose-loving and Rose-exhibiting 
locality. The names of Messrs. Baker, Waterton, Heywood, Horne, 
Wollaston, Sargent, and Pawle are too conspicuous in our prize 
lists to leave any doubt as to the zeal and excellence with which 
Rose-growing is carried on there. A closer acquaintance, too, 
with the Roses of the neighbourhood gained at the local show, at 
which I have had the pleasure of assisting as judge for a couple of 
years, has only confirmed me in the conviction that it is amongst 
one of the most rosy localities with which 1 am acquainted. It 
was, then, with the anticipation of a pleasant and profitable day 
that I accepted the pressing invitation of my good friend Mr. 
Baker, one of the Vice-Presidents of our Society, to spend a day 
with him and to visit with him some of the gardens which had 
become famous as homes of the Rose. I was not disappointed. 
The day was perfection in point of weather—bright but not too 
warm ; and the notes which I have taken of my day’s visit may 
perhaps have some little interest for those who have heard of but 
have never seen the gardens which I visited. 
HOLMFELS. 
This is the residence of our worthy Vice-President Mr. Baker, 
and is situated just on the outskirts of the town nearly opposite 
The Priory, the residence of Lady H. Somerset. The garden is 
of considerable size and prettily surrounded with handsome trees, 
the bedding-out tastefully and carefully carried out; but the Roses 
are its glory. It is here that its owner delights to be employed, 
and where he has acquired such solid knowledge as to the capa¬ 
bilities and wants of the Rose. The soil of the garden is naturally 
light, and hence he has adopted as his stock (and in this he sees 
no reason for change) the Manetti, using the seedling Briar for 
Teas, but preferring above all to get the Roses on their own roots ; 
and I must candidly acknowledge that I have nowhere seen more 
vigorous growth or more healthy-looking plants : indeed, I may 
go further and say that they are more vigorous than any I know. 
I have not visited the nurseries of Messrs. Cranston & Co., or the 
garden of Mr. Jowitt, from whence such marvellous blooms have 
come this year, but they must be vigorous indeed if they excel 
these.' Mr. Baker’s plan in making cuttings is to take them off 
about this time of the year, taking them with a heel, plunging 
them about 4 or 5 inches in the soil, if in a spent hotbed so much 
the better, and then in the spring potting them up ; by this means 
good plants are very soon obtained. As Mr. Baker obtains the 
most highly recommended of the new Roses, English and foreign, 
he is able to pass a critical judgment upon them. Of the newer 
foreign Roses he speaks well of Leon Renault, bright cherry red, 
very sweet-scented ; Louis Dord, brilliant red, which I have seen 
very good in many places ; Paul Jamain, a fine Rose like Charles 
Lefebvre ; Comtesse de Choiseuil, a good Rose, very much in the 
style of Marie Rady ; Charles Baltet ; Marie Verdier, a fine Rose of 
a novel shade of colour ; Baron 'Taylor; Gaston Leveque, bright 
crimson red ; Julius Finger, which Mr. Baker thinks a most ex¬ 
cellent white Rose, improved on Capt. Christy ; Madame Alphonse 
Lavallde, bright cherry red, good ; Souvenir de Victor Verdier, very 
dark; William Koelle, very like Alfred Colomb ; and Innocent 
Pirola, a pure white in the style of Niphetos, but of better form, 
amoDg Teas. Of the English-raised Roses he is greatly pleased 
with Harrison Weir, which is in truth a grand flower, and Duke 
of Teck, which is very brilliant, and Countess of Rosebery and 
Duchess of Bedford, both good Roses. Most of the more highly 
prized of the older Roses were here in grand condition, and showed 
how carefully their wants had been attended to. 
WOODHATCH 
Is the very beautiful residence of P. B. Heywood, Esq., whose 
excellent gardener, Mr. Ridout, is well known as a successful ex¬ 
hibitor. The Roses (for it is about them I must mainly speak) 
are grown partly in the kitchen garden ground, which is stiff, and 
partly near the house, where the soil is light. Mr. Ridout is an 
advocate for the Briar cutting as a stock in preference to either the 
Manetti or the seedling Briar, His contention is that the roots 
of the seedling Dog Rose go down with a tap root, while those 
of the Briar cutting spread more along the surface, and he brought 
a rooted plant of it to illustrate his view. The roots were spread 
like a fan just under the surface, and his contention is that this 
being the case they are more likely to receive the benefit of any 
mulching or liquid manure that may be applied to them ; and 
there is, I think, a good deal of reasonableness in the view thus 
taken. The growth that some of his plants had made was certainly 
very great. Such varieties, too, as do not always succeed well, Marie 
Baumann for instance, had shoots 5 and 6 feet long, and stout and 
vigorous. In the rosery near the house things were not looking 
quite so well: a great many of the standard Roses had been killed, 
and I believe they were all to be replaced with dwarfs, and stan¬ 
dards done away with—a consummation which is to be devoutly 
wished for more widely still. The general condition of the dwarfs 
was excellent, but Mr. Ridout is no advocate for the Manetti. 
Amongst other things which I saw here was a collection of most 
wonderfully grown Chrysanthemums, the plants being well fur¬ 
nished to the very bottom. 
(TREAT DOODS, 
The residence of A. J. Waterlow, Esq., whose able gardener, 
Mr. Brown, is well known as a most successful competitor at our 
metropolitan and provincial shows. The collection of Roses here 
is very large, and the plants are exceedingly well grown. Here 
there is a difference of opinion with regard to the stocks used, for 
although the soil is light Mr. Brown prefers the seedling Briar to 
the Manetti, and some of his plants grown on this stock were 
wonderfully fine. But a stock is here used which I have not seen 
anywhere else, the old Seven Sisters ; it bears a considerable resem¬ 
blance to the de la Grifferaie. of the French, although the colour 
of the flowers shows them not to be identical. It is very vigorous 
and seems to suit this light soil admirably, the plants budded on 
it being very fine, and Mr. Brown says the wood works wonder¬ 
fully well. The garden is especially strong in Tea Roses. Mr. 
Brown has generally taken the first prize for Teas, and a large 
number of this lovely tribe is grown in pots. Mr. Waterlow’s 
garden is rich in many things, his houses being remarkably well 
filled with excellent plants well grown ; but Roses were its chief 
attraction. Here, too, standards seem doomed, and after another 
season or two probably will disappear altogether'. From thence 
we went to 
STONEHOUSE, 
The residence of S. Mordan, Esq. This is one of the most 
beautifully situated places in the neighbourhood. It stands on 
high ground, and a beautiful view is obtained over the Weald 
of {Sussex, and its wonderful foliage. Great alterations have 
been made, and others are still in progress which will greatly 
enhance the beauty of the place. Here Roses are not a speciality, 
although I should not be surprised if they are taken up warmly. 
Zonal Pelargoniums are uncommonly well done, and a house full 
of the newest and best varieties was very gay. A Peach house, 
however, containing two trees on trellises was the most notice¬ 
able feature of the place. I have never seen a more remark¬ 
able case of good cultivation. One tree of Noblesse was over, 
but one of Princess of Wales was a perfect picture. There were 
at least twelve dozen fruits on it of nearly equal size. What 
these were may be gathered from the fact that last year there 
were 120 Peaches gathered from it averaging 10 ozs. each, the 
largest of them weighing 13 ozs. Begonias were bedded-out; but 
from what 1 have seen here as well as other places I do not think 
them very effective, nor are they likely to be much in favour for 
this purpose. Our last visit was to 
WRAY PARK, 
The residence of J. Simpson, Esq. A very beautiful place, 
where carpet bedding is carried out on a very large (to my mind 
much too large) scale. I should feel quite satisfied with that on 
the terrace, but when I saw and heard three or four men clipping 
away with shears, reminding one of the snick, snick, snick which 
one hears in a large hairdresser’s shop, I could notbut feel that it was 
labour thrown away which might have been much better employed. 
Mr. King, the gardener, is a very successful hybridiser of Begonias 
and Coleuses ; and his house of Begonias, containing not only the 
very best varieties in commerce but his own seedlings, was a most 
attractive sight. I am no admirer of Coleuses, but one that he had 
which obtained a first-class certificate on Tuesday last (Pompa- 
dourl was very effective. As Mr. King has all the best varieties 
I asked him to kindly furnish me with a list of what he con¬ 
sidered the best Tuberous Begonias ; this he has obligingly done, 
and I give it here as the opinion of a thoroughlv well-informed 
and practical man :— Singles: Laurent Descours, Baronne D ruby, 
P. E. de Puydt, Leopold II., Massange de Louvrex, and Pearcei 
Vittelini, raised by Louis Van Houtte ; Mrs. Howe (Laing); 
