January  4,  1900. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
3 
he  was  specially  interested — namely,  the  Rose  andjthe  Dahlia.  lie 
■was  a  constant  and  successful  exhibitor  of  the  former'for  many  years, 
but  latterly  his  exertions  had  been  confined  to  the  Dahlia,  more 
especially  to  the  single  varieties.  He  had  initiated  a  race  of  dwarf 
plants,  and  the  manner  in  which  he  used  to  exhibit  these  evidenced 
great  taste.  He  was  a  sharp  critic  and  keen  observer ;  for  many 
years  he  had  compiled  the  list  of  new  Roses  which  the  N.R.S.  printed 
as  a  guide  to  •  exhibitors,  and  there  was  no  person  whose  opinion  on 
the  merits  or  demerits  of  a  Rose  was  more  reliable. 
The  closing  days  of  the  year  brought  with  it  another  great  loss, 
the  Right  Hon.  Lord  Penzance,  who  passed  away  in  December  at  the 
advanced  age  of  eighty-four.  His  name  will  continue  to]^be  asso¬ 
ciated  with  the  new  race  of  hybrid  Sweet-Briars  as  the]iPenzance 
Hybrids.  In  the  “Rosarian’s  Year-Book”  for  1892  he  gave  an 
interesting  account  of  his  proceedings  in  this  matter,  and]  fairly  set 
forth  his  successes  and  his  failures.  He  brought  out  some  fifteen 
or  sixteen  varieties,  but  I  do  not  think  that  any  of  them  excelled  or 
even  equalled  the  first  two  which  he 
originated.  Lord  and  Lady  Penzance. 
And  now,  my  dear  friends,  having 
thus  lightly  touched  upon  the  matter 
connected  with  the  past  year,  let  me 
give  a  word  of  encouragement  to  you 
for  the  future.  1  am  rather  like  some 
of  those  old  soldiers  who  have  suffered 
in  our  wars,  and  yet  with  what  deep 
thankfulness  I  can  look  on  the  pleasure 
v'hich  my  garden  has  afforded  me.  It 
is  true  I  can  now  only  hobble  about 
and  partially  enjoy  the  sight  of  the 
flowers  I  have  loved  so  well,  but  this  is 
what  I  must  expect :  the  sportsman  has 
to  lay  aside  his  gun,  the  angler  can  no 
longer  throw  his  line,  the  huntsman’s 
pinks  are  only  contemplated  as  a  thing 
of  the  past.  All  these  may  indeed  tell 
what  they  have  done  in  years  gone  by, 
but  they  are  only  memories,  and  he  is 
wise  who  can  be  contented  to  regard 
them  as  such.  When  someone  said  to 
Talleyrand  that  he  did  not  play  whist, 
But  what  will  you  do  my  dear  fellow,” 
he  said,  “  when  you  come  to  be  old  ?  ” 
and  yet  the  time  came  when  the  old 
diplomatist  could  not  distinguish  a  club 
from  a  spade.  ■ 
And  does  not  all  this  teach  us  that 
we  ought  to  be  looking  forward  to  a 
better  and  more  enduring  inheritance  ? 
The  teaching  of  Scripture  with  its  figu¬ 
rative  language  makes  a  garden  of  trees 
and  flowers  as  the  future  home  of  the 
saints.  Strive  then  so  to  fulfil  your 
duties  that  when  you  are  enjoying  the 
products  of  your  gardens  you  may  be  encouraged  to  cherish  those 
blessed  hopes  that  our  Heavenly  Father  has  given  you  to  cheer  and 
strengthen  you  in  your  pilgrimage,  and  that  you  may  be,  as  I  say 
once  again,  a  partaker  of  that  Ti’ee  of  Life  which  is  in  the  midst  of 
the  Paradise  of  God. — D.,  Deal. 
CAMELLIA  BUDS  DROPPING. 
I  AM  glad  to  see  a  writer  (“  W.”)  recording  the  cause  of  failure  by 
Camellias  dropping  their  buds.  It  is  refreshing  to  read  records  of  this 
nature,  as  we  are  accustomed  so  much  to  read  of  successes.  Deficient 
root  action  always  causes  bud  dropping  ;  much  fire  heat  is  another 
cause  which  is  often  overlooked  ;  strong  heat  in  the  pipes  is  adverse 
to  Camellia  management  at  any  time,  and  the  forcing  of  the  plants 
should  be  done  during  the  growing  season  between  April  and  July. 
While  I  am  thoroughly  in  touch  with  “  W.”  I  am  prompted  to 
refer  to  a  case  of  “dropping,”  which  troubled  me  somewhat.  Buds 
which  were  set  thickly  on  plants  of  the  old  double  white  dropped  in 
great  numbers.  I  found  that  the  soil  had  been  allowed  to  shrink 
from  the  sides  of  the  tubs,  which  was  only  partly  filled  by  careless 
hands  when  surfacing  the  soil  was  done  after  the  plants  had  flowered 
and  were  starting  into  growth.  The  water  ran  down  the  sides  of  the 
balls,  which  effected  growth  formation,  but  plenty  of  buds  were  set 
which  fell  off  in  hundreds  just  before  they  should  have  opened. 
When  I  discovered  what  was  wrong,  I  filled  up  the  space  between 
the  roots  and  tubs,  which  was  not  more  than  half  an  inch  wide.  A 
smooth  stick  with  sharp  point  was  probed  as  deeply  into  the  ball  of 
soil  as  possible,  and  as  thickly  over  the  surface  as  could  be  done. 
The  holes  were  filled  up  with  dry  sandy  soil,  and  a  good  coating  of 
soil  and  plant  manure  was  placed  over  the  surface. 
The  plants  recuperated  after  the  whole  ball  was  well  moistened, 
and  are  now  laden  with  opening  buds,  and  foliage  green  and  glossy. — 
M.  Temple,  Carron,  N.B. 
PALMETTE  VERRIER  PEAR  TREES. 
It  was  after  an  interval  of  many  years  that  I  called  at  Oldlands, 
near  Uckfield,  in  Sussex,  on  the  27th  of  last  March,  to  see  some  of  the 
trees  which  I  planted  there  about  twenty-seven  years  ago.  On  the 
west  side  of  the  east  kitchen  garden  wall  there  are  nine  palmetto 
verrier  Pear  trees,  whose  appearance  was  so  striking  that  I  asked 
Mr.  Fitt,  the  very  able  and  courteous  head  gardener,  if  he  would 
kindly  have  them  photographed  for  me.  He  did  so,  and  I  now  send 
you  a  reduced  plate  of  half  of  them  (fig.  1),  hoping  that  if  it  can  be 
published  in  the  Journal  it  may  induce  more  general  attention  to  the 
beauty  and  utility  of  trees  of  this  form. 
They  are  on  the  free  stock,  are  perfectly  healthy,  affording  a 
splendid  object  lesson  in  training  so  as  to  secure  an  equable  distribu¬ 
tion  of  vigour.  In  horizontal  trees  of  such  an  age  the  lower  branches 
would  be  enfeebled  and  worthless,  but  this  can  never  happen  to  pal¬ 
metto  verriers,  because  the  tips  of  the  branches  are  on  a  common 
level.  It  is  simply  owing  to  this  that  the  lower  branches,  from  their 
greater  length,  become  under  development  the  most  useful,  and  they 
remain  so  always.  This  is  so  obvious  that  one  really  wonders  at  the 
general  clinging  to  horizontal  training. 
It  may  be  interesting  to  add  that  the  tree  in  the  foreground  is 
that  king  of  autumn  Pears,  Fondante  d’Automne.  In  the  last 
edition  of  the  “  Fruit  Manual  ”  Dr.  Hogg  appends  to  his 
description  of  it  my  note:  “The  fruit  is  large  and  handsome,  of 
most  delicious  flavour,  and  is  one  of  our  best  October 
Pears.”  That  was  a  fair  description  of  fruit  gathered  from 
this  tree.  It  is  also  noteworthy  the  tree  next  it  on  the  left,  which 
is  not  shown  in  this  plate,  is  a  grand  tree  of  Beurr4  Clairgeau.  This 
Pear  is  usually  only  second  rate,  but  on  this  western  aspect,  and  in 
the  favourable  climate  of  Sussex,  it  was  really  excellent.  Three  years 
after  the  planting  it  had  some  fine  fruit,  most  attractive  in  its  rich 
colourins  of  red  and  yellow,  of  which  my  note  says  “  it  was  gathered 
on  October  12th,  was  in  use  throughout  November,  being  very  sweet, 
rich  and  juicy,  with  a  delicious  aroma.”  The  other  trees  shown  in  the 
illustration  are  Josephine  de  IMalines,  one  of  the  best  late  Pears, 
Beurrd  Ranee,  Marechal  de  Cour,  and  Williams’  Bon  Chretien. — 
Edward  Luckhurst. 
Fig.  1. — Palmbtte  Verrier  Pear  Trees. 
