■'  344 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
April  26,  1900. 
has,  during  a  long  life,  won  tbeir  confidence,  not  more  by  her  greatness 
in  station  than  by  her  go(dness  of  heart. 
It  is  surely  well  to  evoke  the  sentiment  of  a  community  and 
afford  means  w’ithin  the  reach  of  all  for  its  symbolic  display.  Thus 
we  find  mutual  pleasure  incited  and  displayed  by  “  favours”  in 
celebrating  domestic  events  ;  we  have  “  colours  ”  denoting  loyalty  to 
an  “  idea  ”  or  obiect  as  personified  by  an  individual  ;  we  have  the 
“  flag  that’s  braved  a  thousand  years,”  of  small  material  value,  but 
as  a  symbol  priceless,  and  which  numbers  of  heroic  men  have 
defended  by  the  cheerful  sacrifice  of  tbeir  lives,  while  others  are 
equally  ready  to  do  so.  Both  in  war  and  in  peace  emblems  have 
their  uses  in  fostering  unity  and  affording  means  for  a  common 
expression  of  feeling  and  admiration  for  a  person  or  object  believed  to 
be  good. 
As  all  know,  only  quite  recently  the  value  of  a  symbol,  initiated 
by  the  Queen,  in  promoting  fraternal  kinship  has  been  remarkably 
demonstrated.  As  with  the  wand  of  a  wizard,  the  “  wearing  of  the 
green”  has  been  invested  with  a  significance  very  different  from  what 
it  was  formerly  supposed  to  bear.  From  a  badge  of  bigotry,  as  by 
some  good  people  interpreted,  it  was  suddenly  ennobled  as  an  expres¬ 
sion  of  trust,  loyalty,  and  good  feeling  between  the  Sovereign  and 
peoples  of  the  British  Isles.  That  act  of  grace  and  tact  of  the  Queen 
did  more  in  an  hour  in  engendering  a  spirit  of  good  will  among  and 
between  her  subjects  on  both  sides  of  the  narrow  sea  than  could  have 
been  effected  by  an  Act  of  Parliament  hotly  debated  for  a  session- 
The  permission  to  wear  the  Shamrock  of  Ireland  was  intended  and 
understood  as  an  expression  of  trust  in,  and  honour  conferred  on,  her 
subjects.  Let,  then,  these  in  turn  honour  the  Queen  by  wearing  the 
Eose  of  England  on  Coronation  Day. 
Just  as  one  of  these  emblems  was  worn  by  men  and  women  from 
all  the  sectional  parts  of  the  United  Kingdom,  so  should,  and  wonld  be, 
the  other,  in  commemoration  of  an  event  as  worthy  of  being  celebrated 
as  any  that  is  to  be  found  in  the  historical  records  of  the  nation.  Let 
those  who  wish  to  honour  St.  George,  whoever  he  was,  by  wearing 
Koses  when  they  are  scarce  and  dear,  do  so.  Vendors  will  not 
complain,  and  the  great  multitude  wdll  look  complacently  on  ;  but  on 
the  28th  of  June  Roses  will  be  everywhere,  and  everybody  will  under¬ 
stand  the  wearing  of  them  then  and  readily  join  in  the  celebration.  It 
would  be  a  great  floral  demonstration  of  the  affection  in  which  the 
Queen  is  held,  and  of  rejoicing  that  her  reign  has  been  of  such 
unexampled  duration  and  beneficence. 
It  is  interesting,  as  the  proposer  of  the  movement  observes,  to 
remember  “  that  far  back  in  English  history  the  Wars  of  the  Roses, 
red  and  white,  showed  how  bitter  racial  animosity  divided  England ; 
and  DOW  the  wearing  of  Roses,  of  all  colours,  would  show  how  the 
old  divisions  and  hatreds  had  been  healed  in  this  mode  of  celebrating 
Queen  Victoria’s  reign.” 
How,  when,  and  in  what  manner  the  Eose  became  the  emblematical 
flower  of  England,  perhaps  Mr.  William  Paul  could  tell  us.  His  fine 
work,  the  “  Rose  Garden,”  contains  much — very  much — that  is 
highly  interesting  historically,  but  the  particular  point,  if  treated,  has 
been  overlooked  by  the  present  writer.  That  it  was  the  favourite 
flower  of  the  luxurious  Rornan  emperors  is  clear  enough  ;  and  we  are 
told  that  about  2000  years  have  rolled  away  since  Sappho  christened 
it  the  “  Queen  of  Flowers.”  This  was  done  in  the  following  lines, 
written,  of  course,  in  Pagan  times  : — 
Would  Jove  appoint  some  flower  to  reign 
In  matchless  beauty  o’er  the  plain, 
The  Rose  (mankind  will  all  agree), 
The  Rose  the  queen  of  flowers  should  be ; 
The  pride  of  plants,  the  grace  of  bowers, 
The  blush  of  meads,  the  eye  of  flowers ; 
Its  beauties  charm  the  gods  above  ; 
Its  fragrance  is  the  breath  of  love. 
Associated  with  Royalty  through  past  ages,  and  now  a  favourite 
flow-er  of  the  Queen,  also,  no  doubt,  broadly  speaking  the  most 
popular  flower  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  United  Kingdom,  it  would  be 
appropriate  that  it  be  selected  as  commemorative  of  the  longest 
reign  in  the  annals  of  historv,  and  so  abundant  are  Roses  on  Coronation 
Day  that  [they  wouM  Ibe^withinjthefineans  of  the  millions  to  obtain. 
If  as  suggested  a  “  national  Eose  day  ”  should  be  fixed,  then  would  the 
fragrance  of  the  flower  in  city,  town,  and  village  be  dispensed  as  the 
“ breath  of  love”  by  the  people  for  their  Queen. 
The  Roses,  moreover,  would  not  be  the  production  of  foreign  lands, 
as  would  be  the  case  largely  if  an  abnormally  large  demand  occurred 
at  a  season  when  our  home  growers  could  only  produce  them  under 
glass.  Under  these  circumstances  enormous  importations  from 
southern  Europe  would  be  inevitable;  but  in  our  natural  Rose  season 
the  flowers  required  for  a  Royal  celebration  would  be  grown  in 
the  gardens  of  the  British  Isles.  This,  as  perhaps  will  be  generally 
conceded,  would  be  entirely  appropriate;  it  would  further  have  a 
tendency  to  induce  thousands  of  persons  to  grow  their  own  flowers- 
for  such  a  purpose,  and  thus  widen  still  more  the  deserved  popularity 
of  the  “  queenly  Rose.” 
Another  word.  On  the  occasion  of  the  completion  of  the  sixty- 
years’  reign  of  her  Majesty  in  1897 — the  Diamond  Jubilee — the  Royal 
Horticultural  Society  provided  a  Victoria  Medal  of  Honour  in  Horti¬ 
culture  for  commemorating  the  event  in  perpetuity.  This  medal  can 
only  of  necessity  be  held  by  sixty  recipients.  If  the  society  can  by 
the  exercise  of  its  great  authority  be  the  means  of  bringing  about  the 
celebration  of  Coronation  Day  in  the  simple  floral  manner  suggested, 
instead  of  pleasing  sixty  people,  it  would  afford  gratification  to 
millions.  A  strong  recommendation  widely  distributed  would  have  a. 
good  chance  of  success,  and  in  any  event  the  endeavour  would  be 
regarded  as  most  creditable,  not  only  by  the  Fellow’s  of  the  Society, 
but  by  members  innumerable  of  every  class  in  the  community,  from 
peer  to  peasant,  who  would  like  to  unite  in  a  common  method 
throughout  the  United  Kingdom  of  doing  honour  to  the  Queen. 
— V.  M.  H. 
- - 
Salsafy  and  Scorzonera. 
The  culture  and  treatment  of  these  esculent  rooted  vegetables  are' 
practically  the  same.  They  are  grown  from  seeds  sown  at  the  present 
time.  In  selecting  a  position  for  their  cultivation  choose  one  that  is 
open  and  sunny,  and  where  the  soil  has  been  deeply  trenched  with 
the  special  view  of  growing  tap-rooted  vegetables.  In  this  case  the 
manure  used  is  placed  very  low  down  as  a  thick  layer,  and  none  at  all 
in  the  soil  above.  Roots  will  then  grow  straight  down,  but  if  there 
is  manure  in  the  upper  layers  the  result  will  be  that  the  roots  divide 
and  are  contorted  in  shape.  On  the  other  hand  manure  in  the  lower 
spit  induces  the  formation  of  long  straight  roots  of  a  good  size. 
Previous  to  sowing  the  seed  break  up  a  piece  of  ground  to  a 
moderate  depth  with  a  fork,  so  that  it  may  be  well  pulverised  and 
freed  from  rough  stones,  which  would  hinder  the  growth  of  the  roots. 
Avoid  forking  so  deeply  that  the  manure  at  the  bottom  would  be 
disturbed.  Having  made  the  soil  fine  on  the  surface,  and  of  a  good 
tilth,  draw  drills  15  inches  apart  and  J  inch  deep.  Scatter  the  seed 
thinly  along  the  drills  or  place  three  or  four  together  at  a  distance  of 
one  foot,  eventually  thinning  to  one  plant  when  the  seedlings  have 
grown  a  few  inches.  The  cultivation  consists  in  keeping  down  weeds, 
and  stirring  the  surface  soil  to  promote  growth.  Should  the  plants 
produce  flower  heads  nip  these  out  as  soon  as  seen. 
Salsafy  is  a  hardy  biennial  with  white  skin  and  white  internal 
tissue  of  the  roots,  which  are  tapering  in  shape  and  under  good  culti¬ 
vation  long.  Scorzonera  is  a  Carrot  shaped  root,  but  the  outside  skin 
is  dark,  while  the  internal  tissue  is  while.  This  root  is  good  but  not 
superior  to  Salsafy,  which  is  termed  the  “Vegetable  Oyster.”  Both  are 
fit  for  use  in  October,  but  after  that  month  the  majority  of  the  roots 
should  be  lifted,  growth  being  then  completed  and  the  roots  as  large 
as  they  will  be  the  first  season.  Carefully  lift  without  breaking  them, 
and  twist  off  the  leaves  from  the  crowns  in  preference  to  cutting  them 
off,  this  latter  method  causing  a  certain  amount  of  bleeding  or  loss 
of  sap.  When  dry  store  the  roots  in  layers  of  sand  in  a  dry  cool, 
place,  and|withdraw  as  wanted  for  cooking. — E.  D.  S. 
