July 7, 1887. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
prohibited, and to have pruned' the Vines on the orthodox system would 
have been orthodox nonsense. They would not bear on the close spur, 
and the owner of the Vines wanted- Grapes. He did not pay me for 
cutting oil the laterals as close.as it could be done, and if I had foolishly 
persisted in following that plan I should have had to adopt the extension 
system by extending myself off ttlic' premises. 
If Mr. Abbey does not know there arc dozens of vineries in which the 
Vines cannot have fresh soil and new borders, no matter for what 
reason, he is in blissful ignorance of circumstances with which many 
readers of this “ defence ” are familiar. His lot has been cast in plea¬ 
sant places. Trusted,, as I am sure he deserves to be, to do what he 
deems best, he has not known what it is to labour under difficulties. 
He steps from place to place with a little enjoyable rest between, and 
enters on fresh duties like a jgiant refreshed. I hope lie will always 
have scope for his abilities, and will teach sound doctrine ; but he will 
have to shake the bee out of his bonnet on Vine pruning before he can 
meet the wants of workers under difficulties—the very persons who are 
in need of i uidance from which they can derive substantial benefit. 
It would not be difficult to adduce more evidence of a departure 
from the system of closely spurring Vines proving highly satisfactory, 
and to refer to' one authority that I believe even Mr. Abbey cannot 
ignore ; but a consciousness of incurring a literary castigation for this 
my temerity renders it prudent to reserve something to counteract its 
effect, therefore at present I only add two words more— Experientia 
DOCET. ... 
ROSES IN SUMMER. 
So far, the present season h»s not been in favour of Roses in 
South Wales; the winter ,,was*.long, the spring cold, the summer 
until now excessively hoi and dry. In some parts, notably at 
Swansea, there is a water-famine; and although some may recom¬ 
mend watering Ros'es, it' is,"under such circumstances, no easy 
matter to accomplish. Indeed I fear that Roses cultivated in a 
general way, and withotit fitly special appliances, will be very 
inferior in many parts tljjs ' year, and cultivators will do well to 
treat them in such a way.as. io secure autumn blooms, and improve 
the plants, if possible, for next year. 
No Roses will succeed in-flight or poor soil. They may appear 
fresh and green in early plumper, but as soon as a slight drought 
occurs in June or July they shrink, and cease to grow or open 
their buds. Where the s.oil is light, and little or nothing can be 
done to make it heavy, extra manuring ought to be applied. A 
large quantity of rich manure--should be dug into the soil near the 
roots early in the year, and when the hot dry weather begins, mulch 
heavily on the surface. Somd object to mulching, as it gives the 
beds and borders an untidy appearance, but that is nothing if good 
blooms, and plenty of them, can be secured. It matters not what 
kind of soil recently planted Roses are growing in, they should all 
be well mulched at the present time. If liberal supplies of water 
can be given them excellent results will follow, but mulching saves 
watering to a great extent. Good manure is excellent for mulching 
when it can be watered, but when this cannot be done any light 
material, such as lawn mowings, will answer the purpose, as the 
main object is to prevent the roots being dried too much. Unless 
Roses make considerable wood in May and the fore part of June 
they will never bloom well at this time, and unless strong shoots 
are produced from now until the middle of August or later, autumn 
blooms will be deficient. Where the blooms are very poor now, 
and the returns altogether disappointing, the best way will be to 
pick off the buds and blooms, mulch and water heavily, and encou¬ 
rage the production of strong growths to bloom in autumn. It 
will be found that these will expand, gaining size, colour, and 
fragrance, which cannot be secured on poor plants at the present 
time. Red spider is very apt to damage the foliage of Roses, and 
its presence is indicated by the leaves becoming pale in colour and 
of an unhealthy appearance. Shoots badly infested will not make 
much progress, and they ought to be cleaned, if possible, by a 
frequent use of the syringe. The evening is the best time to 
syringe at this season,'as the foliage retains the moisture throughout 
the night. 
Many Roses throw up suckers from their stocks at this time. 
The shoots of these are always liable to be infested wiih insects, 
and worse than this, they rob the plant of much substance ; in fact 
they are worse than useless, and every one should be cut off as soon 
as they appear. Old blooms and seed pods are not beneficial to the 
plants, and they should be removed once or twice weekly. We find 
Marechal Niel bloom very much better when confined to forming a 
number of very strong shoots than when allowed to make a host of 
small twigs, and if those who do not succeed with it well would cut 
away the majority of the small shoots, and encourage the growth 
of a number of very strong ones, they would find them produce 
many grand blooms in the spring. This applies to Marechal Niel 
in the open air and under glass, but it is important that the shoots 
form early, as they must be well ripened in the autumn. 
All Roses which have a tendency to bloom best on longTstrong 
shoots should be treated in this way when they are making their 
growth. Climbing Devoniensis is a splendid white Rose when pro¬ 
perly grown, but it does not flower freely if restricted, and the best 
way is to allow it plenty of headway. There is a plant of it grow¬ 
ing against Margam Church, which borders the pleasure grounds 
here. It has grown up 20 feet or more, and of late it has been 
producing armfuls of charming blooms. 
As a cottage or villa Rose in June, or indeed from May until 
October, none surpasses Gloire de Dijon. The fronts of some of the 
small houses about here have lately been covered with its massive 
buff blossoms, and let the weather be what it may, they never fail 
or disappoint. I should like to see Chesliunt Hybrid planted as a 
companion to it everywhere, as it is almost as free in growth, quite as 
free in blooming, and its lax-ge bright flowers are charming in colour 
and exceedingly fragrant. When it comes to a question of cut 
Roses, it is a difficult matter to secure large, perfectly formed, and 
coloured blooms in the glare of the sun, but if half-expanded 
blooms are cut about 7 a.m., and placed in water in the shade, they 
open beautifully. — J. Muir, Mwrgam Parle, South Wales. 
A PECULIAR FOXGLOVE. 
Abnormal floral forms occasionally occur in the common Foxglove, 
Digitalis purpurea, as in other plants with irregular monopetalous 
corollas, and the tendency is commonly towards a regularity of form, 
as in Linaria vulgaris var. Peloria. In the Foxglove represented in the 
woodcut (fig. 1), the corolla has become greatly enlarged and split up 
into spreading segments, beautifully spotted and very handsome. Mr. 
E. M. Holmes, F.L.S., curator of the Pharmaceutical Society's Museum, 
has kindly brought this specimen to our notice and submits the follow¬ 
ing description. 
“ This Digitalis was grown in aqarden at Bush Hill Park Farm, Kent 
