1^3 JOURNAL OF nORTICULTURE AND OOTTAGE GARDENER. February i4,iggs. 
all the king’s soldiers and all the king’s men could not build up the 
ancient precipice again. 
And what is the return for all the labour and wealth invested in the 
work that has been accomplished ? Roses, Tea Roses, nothing more, and 
nothing more is wanted, for these give the owner happiness. They are 
his delight, and his pleasure is to attend to their wants and make 
friends happy with baskets of blooms. See how the plants are cared for. 
Summer shoots tied out each to its separate stake, lest they should 
brush against each other and injure their precious leaves ; half a dozen 
men walking abreast moving the soil, searching for suckers and a stray 
weed, lest it should abstract a trifle of the abounding food that has 
been provided for the Roses. Of the blooms their owner is entitled to 
the best, and grand are many of them. Now and then he takes same 
to the shows, bringing home his share of the prizes, but his labour of 
love is not directed to showing alone, but mainly for home pleasure, and 
it must be a pleasure for him to feel that his son, his only son, 
inherits the parental love for Roses and flowers generally, enjoying 
himself in raising many. Both of them, father and son, were preparing 
for a journey to the Azores on a hunting tour—for Rose seed, and what¬ 
ever they could find to bring home to Beaulieu in the spring. Some 
seedling Roses have been raised of wonderfully rampant growth against 
walls, and one of these is, I think, being distributed by Mr. George 
Paul. 
Of the varieties grown by Mr. Gray, Mar^chal Niel is the first 
favourite, and he cuts magnificent blooms from admirably grown 
standards. About 600 plants of this famous Rose are grown, and about 
400 each of The Bride, Catherine Mermet, Comtesse de Nadaillac, 
and Souvenir d’BIise Vardon. Next in order of merit, and grown in 
lesser number accordingly, are Innocente Pirola, Edith Gifford, 
Madame Cusin, Anna Ollivier, and Marie Van Houtte. Then follow 
Souvenir d’un Ami, Souvenir de S. A. Prince, Francisca Kruger, Alba 
Rosea, and Princess of Wales. Next in order of numbers at Beaulieu 
are Caroline Kuster, Madame Lambard, Ernest Metz, and Ethel 
Brownlow. Cleopatra comes within the charmed circle, but as 
being comparatively new is not yet so largely represented as the others. 
Mr. Hill Gray, however, regards Mar^chal Niel as the queen of Roses, 
and may he not be regarded as the king of Teas among amateur 
growers ? 
Mr. Foster-Melliar gives a view of part of this wonderful Rose garden 
in his beautiful book which has been previously referred to, and I have 
the permission of Messrs. Macmillan to use the illustration (fig. 23), in 
which the master is seen standing among his plants, evidently discussing 
the merits of the blooms he has cut and handed to his assistant for the 
tray held by a servitor, women as well as men having to help “ among 
the Roses ” at Beaulieu.— J. Weight. 
WoEKSop Rose and Horticultueal Society. 
The annual general meeting of this Society was held at the Lion 
Hotel, Worksop, on Friday last, the 8th inst., Mr. H. Y. Machin in the 
chair. In spite of the bad weather some of the members of this Society 
came several miles over the snow (some on foot) to attend. Amongst 
others present were Messrs. J. S. Whall (Treasurer), George Baxter 
(Hon. Secretary), A. Baxter (Assistant Hon. Secretary), C. Slade (head 
gardener to Duke of Newcastle at Clumber), S. A. Woods from 
Osberton, and F. B. Chambers (Gateford), John Dougall, F. Sissons, and 
others. The following officers were unanimously elected : — Patrons, 
His Grace the Duke of Portland, His Grace the Duke of Newcastle ; 
President, Mr. H. V. Machin ; Vice-President, Mr. J. S. Whall; and an 
active and influential Committee, composed of twenty-five members, 
was elected ; Hon. Treasurer, Mr. J. S. Whall ; Hon. Secretary, Mr. 
George Bailey (subject to his consent to act). 
The much-esteemed late Hon. Secretary of this Society (Mr. George 
Baxter) finds himself unable to undertake the hon. secretaryship for 
1895 owing to the increased demand on his time from other sources. 
He will, however, act in his old capacity until a new Hon. Secretary 
comes into office. It is hoped that Mr. Bailey, who is very highly 
thought of in Worksop, will succeed Mr. Baxter, who was heartily thanked 
for his past services. Mr. Baxter has for a long time been connected 
with horticultural shows at Worksop. He was Hon. Secretary of the 
old Worksop Horticultural Society, which was broken up some eighteen 
years ago. The present President, who may justly be called the founder 
of the new Rose and Horticultural Society, which came into existence 
in 1889, is eldest surviving son of the late Mr. J. V. Machin of Gateford 
Hill, who in his turn was President of the original Society for upwards 
of twenty years. The next Rose and Horticultural show will be held 
on Thursday, 11th July. 
WHITE AND YELLOW RICHARDIAS. 
Amongst the crazes that have been ventilated of late years has 
been that of giving English instead of botanical names to plants, 
such, for instance, as when we are told that a Tiarella should be 
called Foam Flower, a practice which, it is hoped, will never be 
popular, and which in the instance of the Richardias is singularly 
incorrect. This is sometimes called the White Arum, and at other 
times the Lily of the Nile, but in truth the plant is a native of 
South Africa, and does not occur within a thousand miles of the 
Nile. It has been more than 200 years in our gardens, and is often 
the ornament of a cottager’s window as well as a gentleman’s con¬ 
servatory, but never during its history has it been so largely 
cultivated as at the present time ; tbe demand for cut flowers, 
which has so greatly increased of late, and the custom of placing 
wreaths on the graves of departed friends, have both largely 
influenced this culture. 
Tens of thousands of plants are now grown near the Metropolis 
and in various parts of the country for supplying this demand, and 
the facility with which the plant increases by offsets has greatly 
assisted in this matter ; in fact, it is one of the easiest plants in 
cultivation where a cool greenhouse can be relied on. It is 
essentially a water-loving plant. The plan which I have found 
succeed best with it is, after it has flowered, and all fear of frost is 
over, to take the plants out of the pots and plant them in a cool, 
moist part of the garden. Here they may remain during the 
summer, and then in September they may be lifted and 
repotted, brought into the greenhouse, liberally supplied with 
water, and kept clear of aphis, which are very fond of getting into 
the spathes, and if they do nothing worse disfigure the purity of 
the flower. I do not think it is at all particular as to soil, but a 
good retentive loam seems to suit it best. 
During the past few years considerable interest has been excited 
by the appearance of dwarf forma, and also of bright yellow 
flowered varieties. With regard to the former there seem to be 
two forms at least, very different indeed from each other ; one of 
these is called compacta nana. This plant has a very curious habit. 
The leaves are about one-third the size of the normal form, and so 
indeed are the flowers. These are formed at the base of each leaf, 
so that every leaf has a flower attached to it; it also comes into 
bloom in the winter months without any forcing whatever. The 
other “ Little Gem " is entirely different in character ; its foliage is 
much smaller—indeed, the leaves, which are only a few inches long, 
are flaccid instead of being stiff, more like the Lords and Ladies of 
our hedges. The flowers also are very small, about 3 inches in 
length, so that the whole plant deserves tbe name which has been 
appropriately given to it, “Little Gem.” 
It has been doubted by some whether it will retain its miniature 
character under higher cultivation. All I can say is I have now 
grown it for three years, and have not found it alter in the least. 
I know, however, that in some cases the previous variety has been 
supplied instead of this. I received last year two plants from a 
well-known nurseryman as “Little Gem,” which turned out to be 
“ compacta nana ; ” they had been supplied to him under the 
former name, and as such he had grown and distributed them. I 
have no idea as to how this plant originated, but it is so unlike the 
type that I have heard some people call it a di^inct species. 
Perhaps the greatest interest which this flower has aroused 
has been the introduction of two beautiful yellow flowering forms 
which have been exhibited during the past two years, R. Elliottiana 
and R. Pentlandi, one introduced by Capt. Elliott of Farnborough 
Park, Hampshire, and the other by Mr. R. Whyte, Pentland 
House, Lee ; the latter of these, I think, the more beautiful of the 
two. I happened last year to meet at the Hotel Windsor a gentle¬ 
man who evidently took some interest in flowers, and who told 
me that he was home from the Transvaal. This led me of course 
to inquire about the yellow Richardia, which I had just seen at the 
Drill Hall. I asked him whether he had seen this flower. “Oh, 
yes ! ” was his reply, and then he told me that in the Cape 
Territory he had seen whole gullies and ravines full of the white 
variety in flower, and that it is a most beautiful sight; while in 
the Orange Free States there was a variety with yellowish flowers, 
which gave place in the Transvaal to the fine yellow varieties 
named. On leaving he gave me his card, and I found that he was 
a Mr. Montague White, but I did not think of asking him whether 
he was related to the introducer of Pentlandi. He told me that 
he had brought home some bulbs of it, and that they could be had 
in any number in their native habitat. 
Both of these are peculiar in their habit, being deciduous ; they 
form tubers something like a Caladium, and as all the small pieces 
of tuber will grow it is likely that they will soon be widely dis¬ 
tributed. The nurseryman from whom I obtained my plant seems 
inclined to think that it will not be so easy of cultivation as some 
imagine, and I think it is just possible that it may require more 
heat than the ordinary varieties. He said that he was going to 
shake out his early in the year, take off the small tubers, and repot 
the plants. As during the winter months it is at rest it will require 
only a little water, but must not be allowed to become perfectly 
dry. I am treating my plant in the same way, and shall look 
forward with some anxiety to the result. 
There are, I believe, other varieties or species in cultivation, 
but as far as I am aware they are not of great horticultural 
interest, while those that I have enumerated above are, I think, 
the general favourites. I should add that the yellow of these two 
varieties is not a washy but a brilliant colour, and a number of 
them will probably be seen in the coming season.—D., Deal. 
