40 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
September 17, 1892. 
fessor Lambin, Rosamunda, President Chandon, and 
A. van der Heede ; Gladiolus hybr. Lemoinei J. H. 
Krelage, la France, Nuee bleu, Charles Joly, Toison 
d’or.. Telemaque, Amiral Gewais, Keteleer, Vercin- 
getoise, Crozy fils, l'Esperance, and Vondel; to Mr. 
J. C. De Lange, Rotterdam, for Cactus Dahlia Black 
Prince, and Canna hybr. Viruly Verbrugge; to Mr. 
J. Smits, Naarden, for Rosa indica (Thea) Papa 
Gontier; to Mr. C. G. Van Tubergen, Jr., Haarlem, 
for Crinum Powellii album, and Achimenes Phoebus ; 
to Messrs Groenewegen & Co., Amsterdam, for 
Fuchsia Beauty of Exeter, Reseda odoratavar. alba, 
and Centaurea cyanus fl. pleno; to Messrs. De 
Graaff Brotters, Leiden, for Delphinium sulphureum ; 
and to Mr. J. Th. Van Den Berg, Jr., Jutfaas, 
for Gladiolus hybr. nanceianus var. 
-- 
MR. BALFOUR ON 
GARDENING. 
Speaking at the opening of the recent exhibition of 
the East Lothian Society at Haddington, the Right 
Hon. A. J. Balfour, M.P., said :—" I understand from 
those who have had more opportunity of judging of 
these matters than I have that this is the best show 
that has ever taken place in Haddington. And I can 
well believe it, for, though I have not yet had time 
to make a complete survey of all the tables and all 
the exhibits in the various classes, I have seen enough 
to convince me that, at all events, if this is not the 
best show, shows that have occurred on previous 
occasions must indeed have been extremely success¬ 
ful. The association is an old one, and I believe it 
dates back for nearly fifty years. Yet it is only of 
recent years—only, I think, within the last two or 
three years—that a revival of interest has occurred, 
which has brought up the exhibition to the present 
state of perfection in which we see it. Much of this 
is due, ladies and gentlemen, to the co-operation of 
professional gardeners. They have shown great 
public spirit and patriotism, in my opinion, in bring¬ 
ing the fruits of their efforts for our benefit, and 
taking their share in the competitions. Yet I think 
you will all agree with me that the chief interest of 
the show necessarily centres, not so much in the 
flowers, fruits, and vegetables which are the result of 
professional labour, as in the table immediately before 
me, which, I believe, represents the cottagers’ and 
the farm servants’ work in the county. This is a new 
feature of these exhibitions. It evidently has been 
a success—you have only got to use your eyes to see 
that it is a success—but my hope is that, as from 
year to year this exhibition goes on, so the efforts 
made by the cottagers and farm servants in the 
various parts of the county may make their 
portion of the exhibition more and more 
prominent, more and more successful. I 
unfortunately belong to a profession which 
absolutely excludes its members from taking any 
part in gardening operations, beyond that which con¬ 
sists in admiring the flowers in August and 
September. The arrangements of the British 
Parliament make it perfectly impossible for a mem¬ 
ber to spend the spring and early summer anywhere 
but at Westminster. I do not know whether we 
shall ever see reform in that matter, but. at all 
events, as things are at present, I confess that I have 
to preach that which I am not able to practice. And 
in encouraging, so far as my voice is capable of en¬ 
couraging, all those whose privilege it is to live in 
country life to cultivate—as one of the highest and 
best pleasures of a country life—gardening in all its 
branches, I have to speak as one who, although he 
can acknowledge the results of other men’s labours, 
is not able to share them. And yet, ladies and gen¬ 
tlemen, it seems to me that even in my experience 
of the last ten years, I see a marked improvement in 
the character and in the amount of cottage garden¬ 
ing in different parts of the country. I see that an 
interest is taken not merely in the useful cultivation 
of vegetables, but in the cultivation of flowers of all 
kinds by farm-servants and by cottagers, which never 
was thought of a generation ago. We labour, of 
course, in the Lothians under some difficulties in 
this respect, owing to the fact that according to our 
customs—customs on which I think there is a great 
deal to be said—it is a very common practice for 
farm-servants to change the farm, from time to time, 
on which they work; and the result of that 
necessarily is that they labour under somewhat 
exceptional difficulties in taking an interest in 
gardening operations, which may at any time be 
interfered with by a removal of the kind of which I 
speak. Yet it is satisfactory to note that this 
difficulty, considerable though it may be, is being 
successfully surmounted, and that by the efforts, 
partly of great central associations like this, under 
which we are all taking part, and partly from the 
influence of the small local associations, a keen 
interest is being aroused in every class of the 
community, in cultivating this, one of' the most 
innocent and one of the most admirable of the 
pleasure which a country life is capable of afford¬ 
ing.’’ 
-- 
ROSE GROWING NEAR 
LARGE TOWNS. 
At the last meeting of the Preston and Fuhvood 
Horticultural Society, the paper read was on the 
popular subject above indicated, and the reader was 
Mr. S. H. Stott, a very successful amateur grower, 
but perhaps better known in the horticultural world 
as the inventor of the exceedingly useful ” Stott 
Distributor,” and the valuable insecticide known as 
“ Killmright.” Mr. Stott added a considerable 
amount of force to his observations by exhibiting 
cut blooms of some three dozen distinct varieties in 
admirable condition. Proceeding to deal with the 
subject of his text, he remarked that his illustrations 
were not altogether satisfactory, but if he had charge 
of the weather office they would have been different. 
Still, what with incessant rain and gales of wind, he 
was satisfied in having produced the flowers he 
exhibited. It was the height of cheek for an amateur 
to attempt to educate professional gardeners on any 
subject, but yet he considered that Roses as a rule 
were better grown by amateurs than gardeners. The 
reason for this was that the gardener had to keep up 
a constant supply of vegetables, fruit, and flowers 
both in and out of season, whilst the Rose grower 
made the growing of the queen of flowers a special 
hobby. A perfect novice, after one or two years’ 
experience, could grow Roses which would . be 
effective for a few hours, but this was not what was 
required from an exhibition point of view or satisfac¬ 
tory to a gardener or his employer. What must be 
secured was colour and substance, and how to 
attain this object he would endeavour to explain. 
In Rose growing, as in all other horticultural work, 
they were placed at a serious disadvantage com¬ 
pared with their southern friends. Although 
Aberdeen and Bedale kept well to the front, they 
had no long chimneys belching up volumes of smoke 
and poisonous matter. At the late Royal Show at 
Warwick he was digusted with his own laborious 
attempts to keep Roses in perfect health. There he 
saw them clothed with the most luxuriant foliage 
and covered with clusters of bloom, and felt Rose 
growing near large towns to compete with such a 
climate and atmosphere, for both professional and 
amateur, unfairly handicapped. Yet with care, fore¬ 
thought, and perseverance the southerner might 
meet with more than his match. He proposed, in 
dealing with his subject, to divide it under different 
heads as follows:—Situation, drainage, selection, 
stocks, planting, manuring, pruning, disbudding, feed¬ 
ing, pests and their extermination, and protection. 
In the cultivation of the queen of flowers the 
choicest spot ought to be selected. They could 
either grow in beds on the lawn, which he thought 
the best, especially as the rage for carpet bedding 
seems to have exhausted itself, or in special 
borders either in the kitchen or flower garden. 
Whichever plan might be decided upon, he would 
advise them to plant 18 in. to 2 ft. apart. If they 
had unlimited space he preferred planting 2 ft. apart, 
as it allowed more air and light to be admitted. As 
much sunshine as possible from dawn to dusk must 
be secured. No flower resisted coddling more than 
the Rose, but her most bitter enemy was cruel 
wind from east, north, and west, and to check their 
scorching blasts ramparts of evergreen cr privet 
must be planted to ensure success. Otherwise when 
the gale sprung up, like it did a few nights ago, they 
would find their beautiful foliage scorched to death. 
The gale had repeated itself about this time of the 
year for several summers, when everything looked so 
encouraging for the autumnal bloom. As to drain¬ 
age a word was scarcely required as to the impor¬ 
tance of doing that effectually. On a gravelly sub¬ 
soil it was of little importance, but as a clay subsoil 
suited the Rose best if well drained, those who were 
so fortunate as to have a clay subsoil must see that 
the drainage was thorough and effectual. 
Selection. 
In a limited number of varieties they could secure 
charming varieties of colour, from pure white to the 
deepest maroon, and beyond this the character and 
beauty of formation. He would not mention the 
cultivation of “ Teas,” because he was convinced 
that so far north and with such a cruel atmosphere 
they would not thrive. We had had severe frosts in 
late spring and even in summer, for on the morning of 
the 10th of August this year he registered 3 0 of frost. 
Of Teas, although much hardier than they used to 
think them, the bulk were cut to the ground line in 
spring, and only recovered in time to give them 
a splendid crop of buds in the autumn which cold 
and wet never allowed to mature into decent flowers. 
Madame Lombard and Anna Olivier seemed to be 
able to resist all adversities, but as he said he would 
leave Teas out of the question he would confine him¬ 
self to hybrid perpetuals, and in doing so would only 
name the varieties that in all seasons did well, and 
which he found gave the largest percentage of good 
flowers. They were as follows:—Red of various 
shades : Alfred Colomb, Countess of Oxford, Dr. 
Andry, Marie Baumann, Dupuy Jamain, Madame 
Victor Verdier, Marie Rudy, Senateur Vaisse, Ulrich 
Brunner. Dark crimson : A. K. Williams, Charles 
Lefebvre, Duke of Wellington, Fisher Holmes, 
General Jacqueminot, Prince Camille de Rohan, 
Prince Arthur, Victor Hugo, and Louis Van Houtte. 
Light crimson : Beauty of Waltham and Earl of 
Pembroke. Rose and deep rose : Alphonse Soupert, 
Marquisse de Castellane, Heinrich Schultheis, and 
Marie Verdier. Pale rose and pink: Eugene 
Verdier, La France, Madame Gabriel Luizet, Marie 
Finger, Mrs. John Laing, and Pride of Waltham. 
White, or very light and yellow: Baroness 
Rothschild, Captain Christy, Comtesse de Serenye, 
Duchesse de Valombrosa, and Merveille de Lyon He 
would be asked why he had left out such grand 
varieties as Duchess of Bedford, Duke of Edinburgh, 
Her Majesty, Horace Vernet, Countess of Rosebery, 
Pierre Notting, etc. He replied for the best of 
reasons, that they did not bloom freely, and were 
weak growers, rarely satisfactory. Of the other 
newer varieties which were still in the trial beds his 
opinion was not matured, and he therefore omitted 
them from the list. The Roses without exception 
that everyone should grow were Mrs. John Laing, 
General Jacqueminot, La France, Victor Hugo, and 
Captain Christy. 
Stocks and Soils. 
On this subject there were the most varied opinions. 
Some growers adopted exclusively the Manetti, while 
others said they used the stock which suited the 
variety best. Others used entirely the seedling Brier 
and Brier cutting. He found that his plants on the 
latter were much more robust. Although they did 
not bloom quite so freely in the summer, the wealth 
of bloom in the autumn more than compensated for 
this. For hybrid perpetuals he considered that they 
could not have the soil too strong. His beds were 
originally all top sod, and to this each winter he gave 
a slight dressing of clay, which fell with the 
frost, and being worked into the ground in spring the 
trees seemed to thoroughly enjoy their quarters. 
Had he the convenience to burn the clay he would 
give the trees much heavier doses. He was quite 
satisfied this treatment would surprise the believer in 
leaf soil, sand, and light soil. 
Planting and Manuring, &c. 
After securing the trees the first thing to be done is 
to work the soil where it w r as intended to plant as 
soon as the ground was at liberty. If the weather 
was dry when the plants arrived plant immediately, 
and have prepared some nice top sod, and to each 
barrow load of this add one gallon of bone meal and 
the same quantity of charcoal. Dig a hole for each 
plant about 18 inches deep, place a little of the pre¬ 
pared composition at the bottom, then plant the tree 
to the same depth it had previously grown, covering 
the roots. At the first appearance of frost, and 
when the ground was just crisp mulch to the depth 
of three or four inches with good farm-yard manure. 
Pruning was the most important business they had 
to consider. In cut backs first take out bodily all 
unripe and weak shoots, reducing strong growers to 
four or five shoots, and those of slender growth to 
two or three. This could be done any time from 
February to March. About the end of March, it 
