March 11. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
371 
too like Ivoryana, and hardly so good ; No. 2, worthless ; 
No. 3, worth trying to grow, but at present too small, 
the semi-double one no use. (H. P., Devon ).— Let us 
see a side truss of Nos. 4 and 9 when well out in flower. 
The rest are of no use. 
Geraniums (Peachy, Hampton). —Very well for bed¬ 
ding-out, but we have many as good. The lighter colour 
is merely the same. Tom Thumb, where it is in flower 
now, is not so dark as it will be in its season. Beauty of 
St. Johns Wood, although a little frilled, is a brilliant 
fancy flower, and will pretty well beat them all for bed- 
I ding-out. We noticed it the season before last, when the 
Surrey people refused it a certificate. (X L .).—Several 
seedling scarlets, the one with a very distinct and darkly 
marked horse-shoe leaf, is new and good. 
Camellia japonica. —There are too many reach us 
every week of an indifferent quality, to indicate much 
j painstaking in the saving of seed. Although we admit 
that good ones have been raised from the seed of single 
flowers, it is going hack lialf-a-century to depend on 
them for any thing but stocks. A. owns he has had 
nothing better than those lakes sent, and there is not 
one that we would grow. Pinchard seed from abroad is 
likely to be from single kinds. Sow now in heat, and 
as they grow, lower the temperature gradually, so that 
you may, after three or four shifts, stand them out of 
doors. (Annie S.). —The names of those sent, are Fim¬ 
bria ta alba, Eximia, Imbricata, and Colvillii striata, 
but they are too small to be in good health. 
Green’s Scarlet King is not, as Alice supposes, a 
reflexed flower, but cupped, full-faced, very round, and 
all of a colour. It may be ordered at any London seed- 
shop between Whitechapel Church and Charing-cross. 
Bob is a red; Dr. Frampton a lovely light flower; and 
Sir F. Thesiger a rose. G. Glenny. 
THE ROSE. 
“ Is the Rose a florists’ flower ? ” some of our readers 
may exclaim, “ we thought it was a slirub, and had no 
idea that a shrub or tree could with any propriety be 
called a florists’ flower.” It is, nevertheless, quite true. 
Any flower that has been hybridized, and thereby im¬ 
proved in form, colour, and size, is a florists flower. 
Taking this as a settled rule, no one can deny that the 
Rose comes under the definition; it has been improved 
in form, colour, and size, and to as great an extent as 
any flower known—perhaps more so. That it has 
reached the acme of perfection in all its properties can 
hardly be allowed, because new and improved varieties 
in one or more points are constantly being produced. 
It is in this particular that one grower, by producing 
newer and better kinds, and by growing to higher per¬ 
fection the varieties already known, surpasses his com¬ 
petitors at the exhibitions. This holds good with all 
other florists’ flowers, or there would be no competition. 
If a rose possessed every desirable quality in the greatest 
perfection, and always came perfect, there would be no 
credit in growing it, and, consequently, no judgment 
would be called for when it was exhibited, neither would 
it be considered worthy of a prize. It is this want of per¬ 
fection that incites the industry of man in every art to 
attain it, and happy it is that such is the case. There 
is a principle infused into the mind of man by an all¬ 
wise power, to strive after, and long for, perfection. This 
principle spurs him on to be active and industrious, and 
to exert all his power to reach that point. Hence the 
farmer strives to improve, and if possible, bring to per¬ 
fection, his cattle, his grain, and his roots. The gardener 
studies to improve his fruit and his vegetables, and the 
florist is equally active and industrious to bring to per¬ 
fection the objects his particular turn of mind has led 
him to adopt for that purpose. With these few pre¬ 
liminary remarks, we now proceed to detail the culture 
of the rose as a florists’ flower. Its culture may be i 
divided conveniently into the following sections :— 
1.—Situation of the rose garden, including shelter 
and draining. 2. —Soil. 3.—Planting. 4.—Budding 
and pruning. 5.—Winter management. 6.—Summer 
management. 7.—In pots for exhibition. 8.—Exhi¬ 
biting as cut flowers and in pots. 9.—Insects and 
diseases. 10.—Raising new varieties from seed. 
1. Situation of the Rose-Garden. —Our readers will 
please to bear in mind that we write expressly on the 
culture of the Rose as a florists’ flower, throughout the 
whole of this essay ; that is, for purposes of exhibition 
only, and this consideration will influence the choice of 
the situation to grow them in. Any place will not answer 
the desired end. It should not be low and damp, for 
then the late frosts of spring will injure the young 
tender shoots; neither should it be high, for then the 
strong winds will break the young shoots, And destroy, 
in a great measure, the beauty of the blossoms. An ele¬ 
vation of fifty or a hundred feet above the level of a river 
of a low, flat valley, will be a suitable site. The aspect 
should, if possible, be south-east, and the garden should 
be sheltered by a lofty hedge of some shrub or other. The 
best for this purpose is the hardy evergreen holly, but 
this shrub is slow of growth, and, therefore, some quicker 
growing one should be selected, if time is an object. 
The common Arbor Vitae makes an excellent shelter, 
and where the expense is not considered, this shruh may 
be had from the nurseries, six or eight feet high at 
once, and thus form a shelter immediately. The beech 
or the hornbeam also form excellent shelters for the rose- 
garden, and may also be had of a good sufficient height 
at once. 
The hedge on the north-west' side should be the 
highest, and may be allowed to reach ten feet, but the 
hedge on the south-east side should not be allowed to rise 
more than four feet. The first will shelter the roses 
from the strong winds that generally blow from that 
quarter, and the latter being kept low, will admit the 
sun to shine upon the ground, and allow a sufficient 
gentle breeze to ventilate the air, and prevent moss or 
lichens from growing upon the stems and branches. 
The shape of the garden may safely be left to the 
taste of the cultivator ; but the best, we opine, is a paral¬ 
lelogram, about forty feet wide, and as long as may be 
convenient to hold the proposed collection. A good 
gravel walk should be formed down the centre, and if 
the ground requires draining, it should be done effect¬ 
ually. A main deep drain may be formed down the 
centre of the walk, and cross drains laid across the bor¬ 
ders into it. 
In such a situation so sheltered and drained, the rose 
will grow well, provided the soil is suitable, which will 
be treated upon in our next. , T. Appleby. 
MELON CULTURE. 
(Continued from page 359.j 
We some time ago recommended the various kinds 
of melon seeds to be sown in pots, plunged in some | 
heating material, sweet, wholesome, and, to a certain 
extent, moist, as a dry heat would rob the delicate seed- 
lobes of more of their juices than they could spare, and 
a sickly growth, or premature death, would be the : 
result; yet such moisture must not, by any means, 
amount to “ steam,” as complete saturation would be 
equally fatal, though in another way. It would be very 
difficult for most practical gardeners to describe what 
this “ fine sweet heat ” is, yet all know it by simply 
once inhaling it; and the tyro who once tasted it would 
probably have as perfect a knowledge of it as he who 
partakes of it daily. Without attempting the descrip- 
