566 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
December  10,  18^6. 
exceptionally  cold  weather,  my  Teas  were  not  protected  more  than  last 
season.  The  sharp  winter  of  1893-4  did  no  more  harm  to  my  Teas  than 
to  the  majority  of  my  neighbours  who  protected  heavily.  I  have 
never  advocated  no  protection,  but  I  do  repeat  that  in  many  cases  it  is 
carried  out  in  a  more  elaborate  manner  than  is  generally  necessary. 
Both  maiden  and  older  Teas  have  been  left  unprotected  in  an  open  field 
facing  due  north  for  the  last  five  winters,  and  they  certainly  came  to 
rather  less  harm  than  the  majority  of  the  Hybrid  Perpetuals  in  the 
same  position. 
Your  correspondent’s  position  must  be  very  bleak  and  cold.  If  it 
were  not  that  I  have  had  the  pleasure  of  assisting  to  judge  his  beautiful 
Teas  and  Noisettes  upon  several  occasions  I  should  imagine  “  VV.  E. 
Eaillem  ”  cultivated  none  but  the  more  tender  varieties  of  our  Teas. 
Can  he  even  claim  that  the  Tea  Rose  is  any  but  a  tender  flowering 
shrub  if  it  needs  such  wrapping  up  with  “extra  thick  ‘giant’  Berlin 
wool  ”  as  well  as  straw  caps  to  keep  off  wet  ?  The  same  winter  which 
proved  so  disastrous  to  his  budded  Teas  certainly  crippled  some  of  my 
own  dormant  buds  upon  standards,  but  not  more  than  10  per  cent,  failed. 
I  do  not  like  Teas  upon  full  standards,  not  only  because  of  the 
greater  exposure,  but  because  experience  has  proved  to  me  only  the 
strongest  and  freest  growers  survive  any  length  of  time.  Not  that  they 
are  killed  by  frost ;  it  seems  to  me  to  be  rather  lack  of  vigour  and 
ability  to  derive  sufficient  sap  through  the  length  of  a  standard  stem.  It 
also  appears  to  me  an  unnatural  form  for  the  Briar,  which  in  a  wild 
state  is  constantly  producing  fresh  suckers,  thus  gaining  new  life  and 
strength,  whereas  we  rigorously  cut  these  off. — Practice. 
The  Past  Season’s  Influence  on  Roses— Hybrid  Teas, 
The  past  season,  memorable  almost  beyond  precedent  for  its 
terrible  visitations  of  wind  and  rain  (especially  during  the  autumnal 
months),  immediately  following  upon  a  strongly  contrasted  period  of 
exceptional  drought,  has  been  a  most  trying  one  for  the  earnest  horti¬ 
culturist,  whose  patience  was  not  seldom,  in  the  words  of  Matthew 
Arnold,  “  too  near  neighbour  to  despair.”  Yet  it  brought  out  the 
remarkable  merit  of  at  least  one  race  of  Roses — I  mean  the  Hybrid 
Teas,  which,  in  other  senses  than  those  I  have  indicated,  have  had 
much  to  endure. 
In  my  own  garden  by  reason  of  the  fierce  floods  that  prevailed  pure 
Teas,  such  as  Catherine  Mermet,  Madame  de  Watteville,  and  The  Bride, 
either  “damped  off”  or  refused  to  unfold  their  secret  charms.  Many 
of  the  Hybrid  Teas,  on  the  other  hand,  revealed  a  marvellous  capability 
of  steadfastly  flowering  under  the  pressure  of  circumstances  the  most 
saddenin?  that  the  soul  of  a  rosarian  could  conceive  ;  while  in  my 
strongly  sheltered  garden  I  looked  in  vain  for  the  fragrant  beauties 
of  those  supreme  favourites,  Innocente  Pirola,  Bridesmaid,  Princess  of 
Wales,  Ernest  Metz,  Ethel  Brownlow.  Maman  Cochet,  Comtesse  de 
Nadaillac,  and  Princess  Beatrice,  while  it  was  seldom  that  flowers  of 
considerable  merit  were  not  discoverable  on  such  Hybrid  Teas  as  La 
B’rance,  Augustine  Guinnoiseau,  Viscountess  Folkestone,  or  Caroline 
Testout. 
Most  of  the  Teas  are  line  weather  productions,  too  delicate  in  their 
constitution  to  be  always  satisfactory  in  a  climate  such  as  ours  ;  the 
great  majority  of  them  are  like  extremely  obdurate  oysters,  difficult  to 
open.  A  few  of  them  indeed,  such  as  the  venerable  Safrano,  Souvenir 
d’un  Ami,  and  its  snow-white  variation  Souvenir  de  S.  A.  Prince,  are 
notable  exceptions  to  this  general  rule.  Upon  such  as  these,  in  almost 
any  season,  I  can  always  rely  ;  but  as  I  have  indicated,  my  reliance  for 
inevitable  floral  achievement  under  the  most  exacting  atmospheric 
influences,  is  chiefly  concentred  upon  the  Hybrid  Teas. 
These  are  indeed  invaluable  for  garden  cultivation.  They  are  a 
remarkable  combination  of  sweetness  and  of  strength,  for  they  have  the 
vigorous  constitution  of  the  grandest  Hybrid  Perpetuals  in  association 
with  the  refinement  and  delicate  fragrance  of  the  Teas.  They  are  also 
valuable  for  their  free  flowering  capabilities.  Catherine  Mermet  and 
her  exquisite  daughters  may  fail  us  in  such  a  season  as  I  have  pictured. 
If  we  want  consolation  for  the  absence  of  their  individualistic 
beauty,  we  instinctively  seek  the  presence  of  the  La  France  family. 
Caroline  Testout  is  always  heroic,  and  Duchess  of  Albany  we  seek  not  in 
vain,  for  she  too  has  strength  most  calmly  to  endnr^.  Viscountess 
Folkestone  passes  through  the  waters  with  an  equanimity  and  an 
assurance  which  it  rejoices  the  heart  of  the  rosarian  to  see.  She  has 
not,  as  a  rule,  too  many  encumbering  hard  petals  in  the  centre,  and, 
unlike  such  varietien  among  the  purer  Teas  as  Ernest  Meti  (whose  value 
has  been  over-estiiuated)  and  Souvenir  d’Elise  Vardon,  opens  with  a 
facility  which,  if  they  only  possessed  the  gift  of  consciousness,  would  be 
the  constant  envy  of  these. 
The  greater  number  of  my  precious  Tea  Roses  are  now,  fortunately 
for  their  continued  existence,  asleep,  and  they  have  not  done  much, 
unless  for  a  few  weeks  during  the  early  summer,  to  earn  their  repose. 
But  rny  feeling  is  different  when  I  contemplate  their  stronger  and  more 
enduring  companions,  those  veritable  giants  in  strength  and  in  activity, 
the  Hybrid  Teas.  They  rest  from  their  labours,  like  warriors  after  a 
fierce  combat,  in  which  they  have  prevailed. — David  R.  Williamson. 
Public  Park  for  Dublin.  —  We  learn  that  Lord  Ardilaun, 
Lord  Iveagh,  and  Mr.  James  T.  Power  have  made  arrangements  for 
laying  out  and  maintaining  a  public  Park  near  St.  Patrick’s  Cathedral, 
one  of  the  most  crowded  districts  in  the  city.  Already  £10,000  has  been 
expended,  and  it  is  intended  to  spend  an  additional  £20,000  in  acquiring 
the  necessary  property  and  in  laying  out  the  park.  > 
WINTER  PRUNING. 
{Continued  from  page  373.) 
Bush  Fruits, — Currants  and  Gooseberries  are  the  first  to  require 
attention  in  the  matter  of  pruning.  Some  growers,  especially  near 
towns,  in  villages,  and  by  farmsteads,  consider  autumn  or  early 
winter  pruning  inadvisable,  as  the  birds,  particularly  house  sparrows, 
do  considerable  damage  by  pecking  and  eating  the  embryonic  growths 
or  fruit  in  the  buds.  This  is  a  serious  consideration  in  some  localities, 
but  the  sparrows  are  not  the  only  delinquents  that  have  to  be 
reckoned  with,  for  bullfinches  are  notorious  eaters  of  buds  in  the 
winter  and  spring  time,  these  being  their  almost  sole  food,  when  seeds 
of  weeds  fail,  up  to  breeding  time  ;  then  they  devote  their  attention  to 
insects.  The  tomtits  also  visit  the  fruit  quarters  in  the  winter  season, 
and  sometimes  peck  the  scales  off  the  buds,  but  I  have  failed  to  discover 
their  devouring  the  embryo  growth  and  fruit.  The  long-tailed  titmouse 
certainly  does  not  eat  anything  but  the  eggs  of  aphides,  which  are 
frequently  deposited  in  late  summer  on  the  buds  of  Currants  and  Goose¬ 
berries  and  on  Damsons.  I  have  noticed  that  when  these  curious 
birds  visited  the  bush  fmit  quarters  in  the  winter  there  were  few  aphides 
on  the  bushes  in  the  summer  time,  and  when  they  did  not  there  was  a 
dreadful  plague  of  the  lice  on  the  Currants.  The  blue  titmouse  also 
visits  the  buds  more  or  less  ;  but,  though  a  vegetable  feeder,  at  times  on 
Peas  and  Pears,  it  is  chiefly  for  the  purpose  of  devouring  insects  or  their 
eggs.  In  hard  winters  I  have  known  them  clear  Apple  trees  of  mussel 
scale,  and  several  times  found  them  enter  glass  structures  and  devour 
mealy  bug.  The  great  tit,  likewise,  occasionally  has  recourse  to  the 
buds,  but  though  tearing  some  in  pieces  the  bird  does  not  appear  to  be 
guilty  of  eating  the  would-be  growths  and  fruit.  The  green  linnet  has 
been  charged  with  destroying  the  buds  of  fruit  trees.  This,  however,  is 
a  somewhat  rare  occurrence,  only  once  (and  that  a  not  very  clear  case) 
have  I  seen  anything  that  could  be  attributed  to  them  in  that  direction. 
Thus  the  question  of  bud  destruction  is  confined  to  bullfinches  and 
house  sparrows.  The  former  is  very  beautiful,  and  for  nine  months  out 
of  twelve  in  a  year  does  nothing  but  good.  It  is  bred  in  woods  or  their 
outskirts,  in  hedgerows,  and  sometimes  about  gardens  When  autumn 
arrives,  and  winter  has  become  foreshadowed,  it  visits  orchards  and  fruit 
plantations.  The  cultivator  then  traps  it,  and  one  of  the  freest  creatures 
in  Nature  is  sold  into  detestable  slavery.  Death  by  shot  is  a  merciful 
preventive  of  the  torture  in  cages  scarcely  large  enough  for  the  captured 
creatures  to  turn  in,  and  a  badgering  from  pillar  to  post  by  bird  fanciers 
(save  the  mark) .  Piping  bullfinches  mean  many  sacrificed.  Why  not 
keep  the  birds  until  the  buds  are  so  far  out  of  danger  as  to  admit  of 
their  being  set  free  ?  Surely  nine  months’  service  in  behoof  of  useful 
crops  is  worth  such  little  attention  and  expense. 
In  the  case  of  the  house  sparrows  their  scavengering  in  towns  is  a 
great  blessing,  and  it  is  a  notorious  fact  that  town  gardens  are  much 
more  free  from  insects  than  thpse  in  the  country.  The  scene  entirely 
changes  when  they  devour  the  tender  growths  of  seedling  vegetables  and 
eat  buds  of  fruit  bushes  and  trees.  The  good  qualities  of  sparrows 
are  then  lost  to  view— the  insects  they  destroy  in  breeding  time, 
innumerable  small  weed  seeds  consumed,  and  the  waste  put  out  of 
way  of  fostering  microbes.  Too  many  may  be  an  evil,  none  a  curse.  The 
former  is  the  case  when  they  are  so  numerous  as  to  prey  on  tender 
salading  and  vegetables,  and  on  the  buds  of  bushes  and  trees,  then  what 
is  man  for  but  to  restore  the  balance  of  Nature  which  he  has  destroyed  ? 
Town  denizens,  without  gardens,  seldom  consider  that  the  sparrows  they 
protect  in  breeding  time  are  so  many  that  go  to  form  the  flocks  that 
devastate  the  farmer’s  grain  in  advance  of  harvest  time,  and  which 
render  it  practically  impossible  to  grow  cereal  crops  advantageously 
neat  towns  and  large  villages.  Thus,  instead  of  the  sparrows  being 
mutually  advantageous,  there  is  positive  parasitism — the  towns  profit  at 
the  expense  of  the  farmers,  and  stable  yards  at  that  of  gardeners.  The 
towns  certainly  profit.  Why  should  not  the  damage  committed  on  the 
farmer’s  crop  be  assessed,  and  corporations  be  made  pay  1  Private  places 
have  the  matter  in  their  own  hands  ;  strike  a  fair  balance,  and  then 
sparrows  do  far  more  good  than  harm.  This  is  my  experience  in  both 
town  and  country. 
Red  and  White  Currants  mainly  produce  the  fruit  on  spurs,  the 
bushes  having  the  centres  kept  open,  and  the  branches  so  disposed  that 
the  hand  can  be  got  freely  between  them.  The  side  growths  are  annually 
shortened  to  a  few  buds  of  the  base,  leaving  about  half  to  one  inch  of  the 
last  made  wood.  This  means  dense  clusters  of  spurs,  and  the  fruit  being 
huddled  together,  decays  wholesale  in  a  wet  season.  Besides,  the  bushes 
become  too  crowded,  hence  no  opportunity  should  be  lost  to  cut  away  an 
old  limb  to  a  younger  one  springing  from  the  base.  This  means  much 
larger  berries,  more  air,  and  a  more  satisfactory  result.  It  is  a  matter 
that  requires  some  judgment,  so  as  to  keep  the  bushes  well  furnished  with 
bearing  wood,  without  inducing  the  growth  of  timber. 
Gooseberries  are  often  pruned  on  similar  lines.  It  is  not  the  way  to 
get  plentiful  crops  of  berries,  for  the  more  of  the  knife  the  more  wood 
for  cutting  away,  hence  beyond  getting  the  requisite  number  of  branches 
always  far  enough  apart  to  get  the  hand  between  them,  and  preventing 
crossing  and  too  much  height  by  shortening,  the  less  pruning  in 
winter  the  better  for  filling  the  basket.  There  is  the  question  of  small 
berries,  but  that  is  overcome  by  timely  gathering  for  green  fruit,  and 
also  by  cutting  out  the  old  branches  and  laying  in  new  from  the  base  or 
where  favourably  situated.  This  means  very  little  work  for  the  knife  in 
winter,  short,  stubby  shoots,  giving  either  berries  or  spurs  for  subsequent 
crops  instead  of  a  lot  of  wood  to  cut  away  to  no  useful  purpose.  Confine, 
therefore,  the  pruning  to  shortening  irregularities,  and  keeping  the  heads 
