708 
THE GARDENING WORLD . 
September 3, 1904. 
tihe glasshouses, but I must mention a nw'iiaoei of Coleus; I 
saw herei, for -while retaining all the vivid colourings of the 
old type, the foliage is in; shape like that of the Codiaeums. 
It is a, type that is sure to; be favoured, especially by those 
who have decorating to; do. Potatosi are grown here, too;—but 
everyone grows; them now who; wants to make a- fortune! As 
yet we have heard but, little of ‘the Duchess of 'Cornwall, but 
Mr. Green informed me that after thorough trials it has 1 turned 
out to be the best of the; boomed varieties. 
The Chrysanthemums and zonal Pelargoniums are well 
grown, here, and the collection contains all the best on the 
market,. The new 'type of zonal, named Fire; Dragon, is 
now well known, and has had a good reception. In the houses 
here I noted a collection of this type, including many won¬ 
derful shades of colour. When these become better known 
they will be; welcomed by those who wish for a real decorative 
plant;, and one whose; flowers 1 may be used for a, great variety 
of purposes. The great advantage of this type is its; grace 
and lasting qualities ; it is not, so heavy as the ordinary double, 
and lasts just, as long without shedding its petals. 
Past Kewite. 
Obituary. 
The Very Rev. Dean Hole. 
We very much regret to announce the death of the Very Rev. 
Dean Hole, which occurred at, Rochester at twenty minutes past 
three on the morning of Saturday, August 27t,h. If the Dean 
had lived until December he would have, been 85 years of a-ge. 
He lias been failing during the past year, and at Easter went to 
Ramsgate, but returned to Rochester in rather a serious con¬ 
dition, Later on his health improved, and in July he was able 
to be wheeled round the Deanery grounds in, his bath chair in 
company with Mr. Joseph Chamberlain, who had been paying 
him a visit, 
.Needless, to say, his death has caused a, great feeling of regret 
and sorrow in the immediate neighbourhood of Rochester, but 
that feeling will extend to all classes of the people who, have 
come in contact with him at one time or other, or who, have read 
some of his, famous books, particularly that on “ Roses,” for the 
Dean has been fa-med for a. long period of his life for the caliiya* 
tion of this class of plants. 
The Very Rev. Samuel Reynold si Hole, D.D., has well been 
described as a parson, squire;, humorist, Rose; fancier, sports¬ 
man, orator, and friend of all men. He had a wonderful gift of 
sympathy with those whom chance or otherwise placed in his 
way, and many are the stories told of the way he secured! the 
return of that sympathy, even from the working classes, who at 
first might have been inclined to stand aloof. 
He was born at Ca,unton Manor, Notts, on December 5th, 1819, 
and was the son and heir of a, Nottinghamshire; squire, also, a, 
practical farmer and gardener. He was educated at the Gram¬ 
mar School, Newark-on-Trent, and subsequently matriculated at 
Brasenose College, Oxford, where he took a, high degree, in spit© 
of his great love for exercise and amusement. in the, open air, 
including hunting and a close study of nature in field and garden. 
Although heir to the estate, it was decided that he should go 
into the Church, and be was accordingly ordained deacon in 
1844, and was appointed curate; of Caunton, where he succeeded 
to the vicarage in 1850. During the twenty-seven years or so 
while he lived there the vicarage, e garden was literally made to 
blossom as the Rose under his fostering care. The Rose was, in 
fact, his favourite flower, and he kept adding every new variety 
of value which took his fancy, until every corner of the garden 
was a bed of Roses. 
In 1887 he accepted the, Deanery of Rochester, in succession, 
to Dr. Scott, and 'has been known, ever sine© by all classes, of 
people as Dean Hole ; hut this charge led to a keen feeling of 
disappointment and loss amongst the Churchmen, as they hardly 
hoped to see or hear him again, and this practically proved to he 
the case. 
Several hooks have been written by Dean Hole, the first of 
which was entitled the “Little Tour in Ireland.” In his jour¬ 
ney he was accompanied bv John Leech, who supplied the 
’sketches which brought this book into prominence. This was 
published in 1858. 
The Dean’s book about “ Roses ” first appeared in 1859, and 
went through twelve editions in as many months. Several 
editions of it have been issued since from the; Press in this 
country, hut Rose growers abroad also- heard of the fame; of this 
enthusiastic Rose grower, and translations of his book have ap¬ 
peared in almost every European country. A very character¬ 
istic saying of his, and which appeared in the beginning of his 
book, was : “ He who would have beautiful Roses in his garden 
must have beautiful Roses, in has heart. ” 
Many things have happened in the Rose world since then, but 
the call for the Dean’s book would seem to prove that he had 
said the moist about Roses which most people, wanted. Many 
gardens were visited by Dean Hole in the course of his life, and 
he always paid close attention to the Roses he met with in those 
gardens. If he saw Roses growing satisfactorily in any cottage 
garden, that was sufficient to, induce him to stop at the cottage 
and have a chat with the owner as to the methods of cultivating 
Roses. He had a great conviction that flower-growing had an 
important moral influence upon the character of those who tended 
gardens. His belief was; that; a man “ who loved his garden was 
likely to love his children.” 
Dean Hole also had a great influence; upon the origin and life 
history of the National Rose Society. Away hack in the seven- 
tie^ the condition of the Rose in this country had fallen to a 
very low ebb. At least, it was the belief of the votaries of the 
Rose that the queen of flowers had fallen on evil days. Roses 
were shown in quantity, but it, seemed that quantity rather than 
quality was th© principal object of those shows,, and all classes 
would be shown mixed up in one exhibit. 
The country was about to enter upon; a new phase; of its hisf 
tory, for a large meeting of rosarians; was held in December, 
1876, to consider what could be done to advance the cause of the 
Rose. At the meeting place of the Horticultural Club, Adeplhi 
Terrace, the Rev. H. Honeywood D’Ombrain, Y.M.H., was keep¬ 
ing an anxious eye upon the doorway to see who would make 
their appearance at that important meeting, and as one after 
another important man turned up the. late secretary’s heart rose 
with the prospects of something bright, but when Canon Hole 
presented himself at the entrance all present felt that the cause 
had been won. At all events, a good deal of business was done 
at that meeting.; Canon Hole-consented to become the president 
of the society, and the Rev. H. H. D’Ombrain was nominated 
secretary, and so the, National Rose Society was established. 
The first Metropolitan Show was held at St. James’s Hall, 
and, though largely patronised by the adherents of the society, 
it wa,s not ai success financially ; nevertheless, it, has since at¬ 
tained great success, as we have been, able to show from year 
to year for a long time past. Dean Hole was a frequent, if not, a 
constant; visitor to the Metropolitan Show of the National Rose 
Society, but we have reason to believe that the brightest 
moment of his life was when he attended the second show of the 
National Rose Society in the Inner Temple Gardens, and had 
the honour of explaining the various kinds of Roses to Queen 
Alexandra,. This was on July 5th, 1902. The Dean also per¬ 
formed the opening ceremony, giving a short but impressive 
speech about the middle of the day, and just, after the Queen 
had paid her visit of inspection and gone away. He said it 
was just 44 years ago, when he opened the first show of the society, 
the first Rose show in England. Since then he would remind 
his audience that much had happened, and on looking around 
them .they would see. all the best Roses in creation, their best 
form being as, used for garden decoration.. 
The Dean was a great humorist, and many are the stories that 
have been told of him. No longer ago than last year, at, the Temple 
Rose Show, a friend asked him how he was in health, and .the 
Dean replied, “ I am nearly 84—'in the shade.” He once visited 
a garden, where the- gardener knew him by reputation though not 
in person;. The Dean expressed his desire to have a look through 
the beautiful gardens, and, not knowing .his visitor, the gar¬ 
dener asked him his, name. Then, without a word, lie turned 
his hack on the visitor, walked into the garden, and shouted 
cut, “ Here, Bill, turn on the fountains ; we have got Dean Hole 
here,” and by that he knew that his visit was well received.. 
The Dean went on a lecturing tour to- America on one occasion 
in order to raise funds to assist m the restoration of Rochester 
Cathedral. Needless to, say, he, was warmly received by his ad¬ 
mirers, across the Atlantic, but one pa-per described him in a 
fashion which was very much -to his amusement, the expression 
being that the lecturer was, “ the finest specimen of Elizabethan 
ecclesiastical architecture that England has ever sent to this 
country.” 
The Wild Tulip. —Eor nearly a century Tulipa sylvestris 
has been known to grow in certain meadows around Muswell 
Hill, London, The leaves are annually cut amongst the hay, 
arid under such conditions it seldom flowers, though maintain¬ 
ing its position. 
