236 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
December 8, 1894. 
first delightful period of life when we fell in love. 
I am almost inspired to remember the first love song 
I ever wrote. Oh ! I thought I was so desperately 
in love, although I was but thirteen years of age. 
(Laughter.) If I could remember those lines I think 
they would amuse you : 
"When first I saw the golden curls 
Of William Barlow's youngest sister, 
I loved her best of all the girls, 
And more and more I sadly missed her. 
"And though Bill Barlow when I proposed 
And told him how I loved his sister, 
Came at me with a stick 
And raised upon my arm a horrid blister. 
“And though I hit him on the nose, 
I still most fondly loved his sister ; 
And after that exchange of blows, 
More madly for my wife I wished her. 
"We met; she was so sweet, so shy, 
She called me ‘ sir,’ she called me ‘ mister.’ 
I never saw such modesty 
As that of William Barlow’s sister. 
"We shared each other’s hopes and fears ; 
We spoke in sighs; we spoke in whispers ; 
And didn’t we avoid the silly jeers 
Of William Barlow’s other sisters ! 
"It was Christmas time, you know, 
And she was kind, was Barlow’s sister. 
So underneath the mistleto 
I told her of my love, and——” 
I forget the rest. [Great Laughter.] 
Well, these are past things that we all remember. 
The first proposal we made, the marriage day, the 
first baby, and I am old enough to know how very 
delightful it is to remember the first grandchild. 
And these happy memories with us, my brothers, 
are more and more closely associated with flowers. 
Who does not remember the happy days of child¬ 
hood when we loved all flowers, we who were born 
in the country weaving Cowslip balls and Daisy 
chains, and the lanes that were covered with bowers 
of Roses, and no Roses are more beautiful than those 
wild Roses of the lanes. But the memory is tinged 
with sadness. 
"And by the brook and in the glade 
Are paths we wandered o’er ; 
Oh ! While my sister with me stayed, 
Would I had loved her more." 
And then who does not remember his first plant. 
I had a salvia which I bought for 6d. Since then I 
have cultivated every flower that grows, from orchids 
to the wild garden, but I never loved anything more 
than that dear salvia. There was a naughty boy, 
a bully, a bigger boy than I was, though you would 
almost think that impossible, and he was sure my 
salvia would be improved by beer. He would keep 
giving my salvia all sorts of nauseous thiDgs until 
the poor salvia died. 
I remember well my first flower show. A few 
leaves of Pansies and other flowers put on a piece of 
newspaper, and pasted on a piece of glass from a 
window that the glazier had been mending. The 
paper was turned over and fastened outside by a 
natural source, a little liquid, not gum ; and that was 
a "flower show." And I remember that my dear 
father and mother said it was very beautiful. I 
remember so well longing to know the great gar¬ 
deners of the country, and the interest with which I 
first met such men as Thomas Rivers, of Sawbridge- 
worth, who had done so much for the cultivation of 
fruits in England, and Charles Turner, of Slough, 
another nurseryman. Then I remember so well the 
joy that I felt in being allowed to originate the first 
"rose show ”—the first that perhaps was ever held 
in Europe or America, of roses only. I remember 
the delight with which these men responded, and 
how, in St. James’ Hall, I gave away thirty-six 
silver cups to the successful prize-winners, two of 
them to myself. And I remember the old Yorkshire 
gardener who was with me, said: "Sir, when tha 
took these two coops to thysen, Aa thowt tha ’ood’st 
’a gone straight oop to ’Ev’n ” [Applause.] But I 
was not ready [Applause and laughter], and so I 
stayed upon earth and then had another great 
delight, that which was given to me from the love of 
my heart to write a little book about roses, and the 
older I grow the more thankful I feel to Him who 
giveth all, that I have been allowed to do good to 
my fellowmen, as my dear friend and brother, Mr. 
Ellwanger, whose partner has come some 360 miles 
to meet me to-day (we met once on the other side of the 
Atlantic). I have the happiness of thinking that 
it has been given to me, most unworthy, as it has been 
given to so many of you, not only to enjoy things 
beautiful yourselves, but to promote the love of 
beauty. 
It is a scource of gratitude to me that I have in 
some little measure been allowed to promote happi¬ 
ness by the love of flowers. We know what it is, 
and we know what a gracious permission it is to 
extend to those who have not much of an induce¬ 
ment to grow flowers, to excite the love and to 
instruct the ambition. Well, then, I remember of 
the very great joy which the rosarians of England, 
professional and amateur, gave me, when they pre¬ 
sented me with a piece of plate, which I value more 
than anything I have in that form—a very beautiful 
silver urn, from these, my brothers. So you will see 
how much joy I have had for my love of the Rose. 
But the principal happiness is the sympathy and 
affection of my fellowmen, such as I receive on this 
occasion. Wherever I go, and wherever you go, 
you will find that where there is a true love of the 
flower there is a true love of the florist. Some years 
ago I was staying in the neighbourhood of some 
grand gardens, and was asked whether I had been 
to see them. I said, " No I have not, but I should 
like to see them." I walked out, got into the grounds, 
and met the head gardener, and said to him, “ Would 
you be kind enough to allow me to see the garden ? ” 
“ Oh, certainly,” he said. I said, " My name is 
Hole.” " Oh, indeed,” he said, " Is it Reynolds 
Hole?” "Yes,” I said, "Reynolds Hole.” Well, 
to my great surprise, he immediately turned his back 
upon me without taking any notice of me, until he 
had waved his hand to a gardener in the distance, and 
cried, "John, set the fountains a-playing " 
[Applause], and in about two minutes every fountain 
was playing in these beautiful gardens of Alton 
Towers. 
Gentlemen, you have shown a better act, a more 
charming act to me to-night, in setting the fountains 
of my heart a-playing. I believed I had some little 
claim on my brothers across the Atlantic, but the 
joy that I have in their fraternity and affection cul¬ 
minates in this meeting and in this offering of sym¬ 
pathy which I have for you. I had no right to ex¬ 
pect, I had not expected when I crossed the Atlantic 
to meet with such a welcome as this. I had hardly 
been ashore, I had hardly been to my rooms in my 
hotel (there I was a poor, seasick, emaciated 
wanderer, without any friends) when suddenly there 
came from the Summit [Applause], (I suppose it is 
called the Summit because the gentleman who lives 
there has got to the top of his vocation) [Applause]. 
From that Summit down came a brother, and offered 
me, not only in his name, but he could tell me in the 
name of you all, my brothers, a hearty welcome to 
America. He has kept my heart lighter, and he has 
made my room brighter ever since I entered America. 
Next to that I received a suggestion, nay, indeed, it 
was a request ; might I be shown the parks of New 
York—which was a request I had been longing for, 
had been desiring for, and did not know how to get 
at it, and here was this very thing I wished almost 
brought to my door. And I went through the parks 
of New York—the Central Park and the Morningside 
Park, and I shall never forget when I suddenly 
turned round and saw the Hudson river. 
My brother florists, I wish to offer here, publicly, 
an expression of my admiration and regard for the 
beauty of the parks in New York. I know there has 
been great difficulty in perfecting and establishing 
their beauty ; I know that in the vicinity of a great 
city like this there is opposition continually going on 
from men who have no taste, to spoil a park and to 
spoil a garden, and I think it is marvellous to see, in 
spite of these temptations and these obstructions, a 
park so grandly kept, true to the highest principle, 
and that is the principle of nature. [Applause.] 
And I am proud to-night to be in the presence of my 
friend, my brother Parson. [Laughter and applause.] 
We sometimes hear that " parsons ” are not quite in 
unanimity. I can give you proof to the contrary, 
for I have received the greatest possible expressions 
of friendship and unity, not only from mj friend on 
the right, Mr. S. B. Parsons, but from his father 
and his uncle. I have been to the house of one as a 
resident guest, I have been shown over the interest¬ 
ing collection of the other, and I have been, in fact, 
a fellow brother, as they have been to me, of the 
Parsons. Well, I do trust and feel assured that you 
will all appreciate this true principle of art with 
regard to Central Park and other parks of New 
York. Let me tell you, gentlemen, that we have 
nothing in London, and there is nothing in Paris or 
any of the great cities that I have seen, take it all 
together, to compare to your park, and that magnifi¬ 
cent drive by the side of the Hudson river. [Loud 
applause.] Not only from Mr. May and Mr. 
Parsons, but from all the florists of New York have 
I received welcome. I have been over the houses of 
Mr. Henderson. I have been over the houses of Mr. 
May and the houses of Mr. Pierson. Mr. Pierson 
was the only man who made a little mistake about 
Reynolds Hole. He came to me to welcome me, 
with hands showing that he was engaged in some 
operation which necessitated a good deal of proximity 
to the soil, and he said he was not in a position to shake 
hands with me. Well, for the first time I thought 
in deference to his wishes, I would pass it over, but 
when it came to parting, and he still insisted that he 
was not yet in a position to shake hands with me, I said 
to him, “ my dear friend, there is no gardener’s hand 
in the world that can ever be so hard or so immersed 
in signs of his labour, that I would not like to shake. 
I like to see a soldier with his war paint on.” 
[Applause.] 
Well, gentlemen, I must not keep you. I can 
only say that my heart is full of this magnificent 
testimony of love and affection which you have 
shown to me, and I can only wish that I shall have 
it in my power to reciprocate; it will give me the 
greatest happiness to welcome you to the Deanery of 
Rochester. I know that a great many of you have 
been to England, and I hope that many of you 
intend to come. Be sure you will have a cordial 
welcome when you do come. I know that your 
thoughts with regard to the old country are very 
much like those of Wendell Holmes, when he 
said :— 
With cliffs of white and towers of green, 
And oceans narrowing to caress her ; 
And hills with rippling streams between, 
Our little Mother Isle—God bless her. 
I hope you will come to see the little ■ Mother 
Isle,’ that you will come to Rochester, and that you 
will have the blessing of the Dean. My brothers, 
from my heart, and you know it, I thank you, and I 
hope and pray that your lives may be as happy as 
you have made my life to-night. (Applause.) From 
the Florist's Exchange. 

PLANT LIFE. 
(i Continued from p. 219 ) 
There is a remarkable phenomenon in connection 
with the great faculty for absorption which roots 
have, and that is bleeding, which, moreover, is only 
one expression of what is termed root pressure. 
Roots are not always equally active in absorbing 
water, but it is now well known that they are very 
active in spring even before the expansion of the leaf, 
and a Vine or Birch tree if cut at that time will 
bleed. Other trees will do so to a less extent and 
even herbaceous plants will bleed. The stems must 
be in connection with the undisturbed roots, other¬ 
wise there will be no bleeding. When the stems of 
herbaceous plants or flowers are cut and their ends 
placed in water they will absorb, but there is no 
bleeding, thus proving that the roots are the active 
agents in producing that phenomenon. They gorge 
themselves, as it were, with water which ascends the 
stems with a force or pressure that can be 
determined by proper instruments. The root 
pressure of the Vine has been ascertained to equal 
the weight of a column of mercury 32 ins. high. Be¬ 
fore the leaves of a tree expand there is no means 
for the surplus water to escape from the branches, 
so that after the wood and other cells of the stem 
and branches get gorged, the water filters through 
the weaker parts of the walls into the vessels of the 
wood and which previously were only filled with air. 
The bleeding then takes place from the vessels should 
the stem get cut. 
Besides the importance of the roots in collecting food 
for a tree, they also breathe, though not by the 
same method as we do. The free access of air or 
oxygen to the roots of fruit trees and land plants 
generally is essential to the proper performance of 
their functions, their healthy development and in 
fact to their very existence. Hence the reason why 
it is so necessary for gardeners to see that the 
land on which they intend to grow fruit trees and 
other subjects of the garden and orchard, is properly 
drained, if not so naturally. The same fact applies 
