NORTH SHORE BREEZE 
AND REMINDER 
Vol. XIll 
Manchester, Mass., Friday, August 27 
—— 
No. 35 
A Beautiful Garden of Roses 
“Beautiful Garden of Roses, 
Kissed by the morning Dew.” 
UNTIL a few weeks ago I had always considered the 
Busch Rose Garden on Orange Grove Avenue, Pas- 
adena, California, the finest in the world—not that | 
have seen all the fine gardens in the world, but it did not 
seem possible to me—then—that there ever could be got 
together a more wonderful collection of these beautiful 
flowers. And even at that I have seen some famous 
gardens, among them the rose gardens on the Isle of 
Wight, the rose garden at Chatsworth House and War- 
wick Castle in England, and some of the rose gardens 
that surround the old chateaux of Southern France. 
But I saw one last June that was the equal of any of 
them, and the most surprising fact about it all was, that 
it is right here on the North Shore, and only a few min- 
utes walk from where I have spent the summer for the 
last thirteen years. 
It is a peculiar fact about us Americans, who have 
travelled—some—that we can rave for hours at a. time 
about what we saw in England, France, Switzerland and 
Europe generally —and for us Easterners, the favorite 
topic is what we saw in California and the West—while 
right at our very doors we have sights and scenes that 
are equal of any—anywhere, and in some cases far sur- 
pass anything that either Europe or our own West can 
offer. . 
That is the reason I went to see the wonderful rose 
garden at “The Arches,” the charming summer home of 
Mr. and Mrs. Andrew W. Preston, at Phillips Beach. 
Frankly I went there with a little of that “I’m from 
Missouri” air, thinking to myself ‘well, I have seen some 
of the finest gardens in the world, and I hardly believe 
there is anything on the North Shore that can compare, 
etc., etc.” Well, I went to be “shown,” and through the 
courtesy of Superintendent Smith, | was “shown.” For 
it was right there, when | entered the ornamental steel 
gates of the Preston garden, I got the surprise of my 
life. For spread out before me was one grand gorgeous 
mass of bloom, just think of it, over twenty thousand 
roses. Twenty thousand roses in full bloom, with count- 
less buds ready to take the place of the beautiful flowers 
—which gave so freely of their beauty and fragrance— 
when their day was done, and I have not quite got over 
the surprise yet. | 
There were my favorite Irish Roses, the “Cressie Mc- 
Keller” and the “Florence Hazel Veitch” that I had not 
seen for years, and never in this country. Superinten- 
dent Smith told me they were imported direct from 
Dixon, of Belfast, and had never before, so far as he 
knew, been successfully cultivated in this country. 
Then there was the famous ‘Daily Mail” rose, per- 
haps not so well known here, but in England the first 
time it was exhibited it won the gold medal for the best 
rose produced that year. The coloring of this rose is 
superb and unique, running from pale pink to old gold. 
Coming nearer home there in great profusion wis 
the “Hadley” rose, which was first cultivated at Hadley, 
Massachusetts, and it is said that for a rose of the kind 
it has never been surpassed in America. | was much in- 
terested to learn that, while this rose has been extensively 
grown under glass, until it was tried in the Preston gar- 
den, it had never been successfully cultivated outdoors, 
aud that furthermore the exhibit of this famous 
rose 
won the Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s Gold 
Medal, the highest award for roses.in America. The 
“George Dixon” is another red rose which attracts a 
great deal of attention, but while the flower is as fine as 
the “Hadley” it does not grow so free. 
I asked Mr. Smith what he considered the most 
popular rose amongst them all, and while he would not 
commit himself, he said the most popular rose for the 
ladies this season had been the “Queen Mary.” Now 
Mr. Smith is an Englishman, and I was a little inclined 
to think he might be prejudiced, but when he showed me 
this rose with its exquisite coloring of pink, suffused with 
bright yellow, I there and then voted with the ladies and 
declared the “Queen Mary” the best. 
But that was before I had seen the “Madame Melatia 
Sapert,” many of which measured eignt inches across; 
the “Mildred Grant,” with its pleasing shell pink tinge, 
another importation from Dixon; the ever popular‘‘Kil- 
larney,”’ and the indescribable ‘Chateau de clos Vaugeot,” 
with its velvety red petals; the beautiful white ‘“Kaiserine 
Augusta Victoria;” the “George C, Wauld,” the “Gustav 
Regis,’ the “Richmond” and the “Rambler” roses from 
Walsh, of Woods Hole, which are now considered bettet 
than the “Crimson Rambler.” 
Thanks to Mr. Smith I an able to give the names 
of twelve roses he recommends for outdoor cultivation 
on the North Shore, they are:—‘“The Madame Melain 
Supert,” for pinkish yellow; ‘Harry Kirk,” for solid yel- 
low; “Irish Fire Flame’’; “Hadley” and ‘“Richmond’’ for 
red; “Carolina Test-Out;” ‘““Kaiserine Augusta Victoria,” 
for white; “George C. Wauld,” pinkish red; “Queen 
Mary;” “Pharisier,” the finest pink rose in cultivation ; 
“Gustav Regis,” pale yellow; and with a little care the 
“Tion” will prove a great addition. I feel sure these 
roses will do well on the North Shore. Why? Because 
Mr. Smith told me so,.and if there is anyone on the North 
Shore that knows rose cultivation from A to Z and ail 
the way back again, it is this same John L. Smith, for 
lie comes from a family who for generations have been 
florists, and has cultivated roses from the tine he was 
able to walk, furthermore he studied the art under Veitch 
of London, whose name is famous the world over. 
Since Mr, Smith has had charge of these gardens 
the Preston exhibits have won over 100 first prizes, four 
silver medals, a bronze medal and three silver cups, but 
what he is especially proud of is the fact that the Preston 
exhibit of twenty varieties of vegetables won the R. & J. 
Farquarhson cup some time ago. The Preston exhibit of 
Sweet Peas won the Sutton cup, presented by Sutton & 
Sons, of London, for the best exhibit of Sweet Peas at a 
recent exhibition of the Massachusetts Horticultural So- 
ciety held in Boston, and at the National Flower Show 
