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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
July  11,  1901. 
the  pe.-t.  Such  treatment  is  like  massage  for  an  internal  complaint, 
where  an  inward  application  of  medicine  is  the  cnly  sensible  means 
of  cure.  I  ccmpare  mildew  attacks  of  Roses  with  that  on  Peas.  If 
no  remedy  is  taken  to  prevent  its  inception,  how  can  it  be  avoidfd 
1  would  ask  ?  Prevention  rather  than  cure  is  the  motto  to  adopt. 
Taking  the  present  season  as  an  example,  the  careful  cultivator  early 
in  May  mulched  the  surface  about  his  Roses  with  half-decayed  manure, 
covering  it  again  with  fine  soil,  decayed  vegetable  refuse,  or  some 
such  substitute,  just  for  appearance  sake,  and  to  prevent  the  birds 
scratching  it  about.  Such  an  addition  to  the  surface  prevents  the 
evaporation  of  moisture  from  the  soil,  and  keeps  the  roots  cool,  thus 
enabling  the  plants  to  carry  out  their  proper  function. 
My  excuse  for  going  so  fully  into  this  phase  of  Rose  culture  at 
what  may  appear  to  some  an  inopportune  moment  is,  that  I  am 
conversant  with  far  too  many  instances  of  mismanagement  in  this 
detail.  l>y  a  perusal  ot  these  notes  those  cultivators  who  have  n  t 
hitherto  realised  the  importance  of  early  mulching  may  in  the  future 
be  led  to  charge  their  method,  and  by  this  a  brighter  result  may  be 
forthcoming. 
One  point  about  Rose  culture  that  astounds  me  is  the  ignorance 
displayed  by  many  who  ought  to  know  better.  Many  bushes  receive 
careful  tending,  and  surprise  is  evinced  when  such  do  not  repay  by 
giving  a  wealth  of  blossom,  when  close  inspection  would  prove  that 
nothing  but  the  stock — Brier  or  Manetti — is  being  so  carefully  j  runed 
and  tended.  This  is  no  imagination,  but  a  stern  fact,  as  any 
rosarian  has  experienced  when  inspecting  the  collection  of  many  an 
enthusiastic  amateur.  The  ignorance  displayed,  too,  by  manv 
gardeners  in  this  detail  is  to  me  astounding.  Even  when  such  do  not 
actually  come  under  the  category  of  the  innocent  in  knowledge,  they 
leave  such  growths  upon  the  plant  far  too  long,  robbing  and  sapping 
needlessly  its  energy. 
How  pleasing  it  is  to  see  the  welcome  change  that  has  come  over 
the  Rose  grower  of  tc-day  as  compared  with  those  of  fifteen  or  twenty 
years  ago  ;  I  mean  in  the  matter  of  the  selection  of  tj  pes  and  varieties 
of  Roses  and  the  manner  of  staging  many  of  them  at  shows 
Nowadays  Roses  are  grown  for  the  beautifying  of  a  garden  as  a  whole 
by  the  selection  of  varieties  and  types  not  dreamt  of  in  the  days 
alluded  to.  I  do  not  mean  to  infer  that  the  cultivation  of  H.P. 
varieties  for  exhibition  has  in  any  way  diminished — on  the  contrary  ; 
but,  by  the  introduction  of  so  many  free  flowering  and  perpetual 
blossoming  sorts,  there  is  such  a  vast  increase  in  the  rosery.  So 
often  now  do  we  see  whole  beds,  and  huge  beds  too,  filled  with  one 
variety  only,  that  would  be  quite  useless  in  competition  with  the  more 
strictly  florists’  varieties,  yet,  at  the  same  time,  such  a  display  is  most 
showy  and  pleasing  to  all  concerned.  For  example,  take  a  bed  of 
Gustave  Regis,  Gruss  au  Teplitz,  or  one  of  the  Hybrid  China  varieties, 
what  could  be  more  beautiful  as  a  garden  ornament  ? 
In  cultivating  such  varieties  exclusively  the  would-be  exhibitor 
need  not  be  deterred  from  a  hobby,  as  there  are  at  nearly  all  summer 
exhibitions  classes  for  such  types  of  Roses.  I  venture  to  say,  too, 
such  a  class  provides  more  interest  fcr  the  visitor  at  shows  than  the 
more  formal  looking  H.P.,  or  even  the  handsomely  formed  and  chaste- 
looking  Tea-scented  varieties.  The  cultivation  of  what  are  commonly 
known  as  garden  Roses  is  a  step  in  the  right  direction  when  we 
consider  all  phases  of  culture,  opportunity,  and  meins  of  the  would-be 
grower. 
As  far  as  I  know  there  is  no  authentic  definition  of  what  constitutes 
a  garden  Rose.  Even  the  N.R.  Society  do  not  stipulate  what  are 
the  terms  of  such  a  variety.  To  my  mind  it  is  a  safe  appellation  to 
define  a  “  garden”  Rose  as  one  that  would  individually  take  a  place 
in  a  collection  lor  a  defin' d  number  of  blooms.  For  example:  W.  A. 
Richardson,  Crimson  Rambler,  or  Carmine  Pillar  are  all  beautiful 
varieties  in  their  way,  but  as  individual  flowers  possessing  no  virtue 
to  the  florist  as  an  exhibiiion  variety.  Such  a  class  embraces  a  wide 
sphere,  taking  in  all  single-flowered  varieties.  Moss,  small-blossomed 
Tea-scented  sorts,  China,  Piovence,  Damask,  Brier  Roses,  Banksian, 
and  evergreen  kinds.  For  the  ornamentation  of  a  garden,  large  or 
small,  such  a  type  or  class  as  indicated  is  most  valuable  What  more 
beautiful  object  in  a  garden  is  there  than  an  arch,  pillar,  or  screen 
covered  with  such  free  flowering  varieties  as  the  charming  pink  of 
Euphrosyne,  the  glowing  crimson  and  carmine  of  Crimson  Rambler, 
Carmine  Pdlar,  the  debcate  blush  of  Ranunculoides,  the  nankeen  tint 
of  Claire  Jacquier,  the  pure  white  of  Aimee  Vibert,  or  the  richly  yellow 
anthered  blossoms  of  Rosa  brunonis  moschata  ? 
For  a  mass  of  blossom  of  one  colour  in  separate  beds,  or  edgings 
to  other  beds  or  borders,  what  can  excel  such  typical  dwarf  growing, 
yet  hugely  flowering  sorts,  like  Gloire  des  Polyanthes,  Cramoisie 
Superieure,  Mrs.  Bosanquet,  Madame  Anna  Marie  de  Montravel,  Red 
Pet,  or  the  glowmg  crimson  of  Marquise  de  Salisbury  ?  Even  the  lover 
of  single  flowering  Roses  can  make  an  equally  good  selection  of  such 
sterling  varieties  as  Cooling’s  Crimson  Bedder,  Hebe’s  Lip,  Macrantha, 
Paul’s  White  and  The  Lion,  not  forgetting  the  various  varieties  of  the 
Rugosa  type.  Many  more  points  in  Rose  culture  are  before  me  in 
my  cogitations,  but  I  fear  I  have  already  trespassed  too  far  on  your 
valuable  space,  that  they  must  perforce  stand  over  for  a  future  oppor¬ 
tunity.  One  point,  however,  of  importance  at  the  present  moment 
of  exhibiting  I  would  impress  is  that  of  correctly  naming  all  exhibits. 
Those  who  are  careless  in  this  do  not  thoroughly  appreciate  the  harm 
they  are  doing,  though  inadvertently  it  may  be.  A  visitor  sees  a 
variety  in  a  prize  exhibit  with  which  he  or  she  is  enamoured  ;  the 
name  is  jotted  down,  a  plant  ordered,  but,  lo  and  behold  !  when  the 
time  comes  round  for  blossoming,  quite  a  different  sort  is  in  hand- 
The  nurseryman  sent  according  to  name,  hence  the  error  and 
disappointment  which  must  of  necessity  ensue. — E.  Molyneux. 
Cherry  Time. 
Except  in  the  words  of  a  popular  song,  the  cry  of  “Cherry  ripe” 
is  seldom  heard  in  these  days.  Like  many  once  popular  London  street 
cries  it  has  passed  away,  though  there  never  was  a  time  when  so  many 
Cherries  found  their  way  into  the  metropolis,  nor  has  the  luscious  fruit 
ever  been  more  sought  after  than  it  is  to-day.  Bsfore  these  lines 
appear  in  print  the  rush  of  the  Cherry  season  will  be  full  on,  and 
evidence  of  the  fact  may  be  found  both  in  London’s  crowded  streets 
and  in  the  leafy  orchard  lands  of  Kent. 
I  question  whether  many  people  living  outside  the  latter  county 
have  a  true  idea  of  the  magnitude  and  importance  of  the  Cherry 
industry.  Weeks  ago  the  first  tempting-looking  berries  appeared  in 
tne  shop  windows,  and  the  man  in  the  street  at  once  gathered  the 
impression  that,  like  all  the  rest  of  the  early  produce,  they  must  have 
come  from  abroad.  It  is  more  than  likely  he  was  right,  for  early 
Cherries  are  1  rzely  imported  from  the  Continent,  and  this  season  the 
samples  have  been  very  good.  The  Kentish  growers  do  not  appear  to 
mind  this  competition  very  much,  for  most  of  the  foreign  fruit  comes 
in  before  the  native  produce  is  fit  for  market,  but  when  the  latter  is 
ready  it  claims  the  monopoly.  At  the  same  time  I  am  not  sure 
whether  home  growers  are  not  too  willing  to  let  the  foreigner  have  the 
early  market  without  making  an  effort  to  get  a  share  of  it.  Some 
have  paid  attention  to  the  importance  of  planting  early  varieties,  and 
a  few  weeks  ago  I  saw  some  splendid  samples  of  Early  Rivers  sold  at 
a  price  that  must  have  been  highly  remunerative. 
When  the  early  supplies  are  over,  and  the  season  is  in  full  swing, 
perhaps  the  average  purchaser  does  not  realise  what  a  business  the 
work  of  production  must  be  He  sees  great  piles  of  Cherries  on  the 
costers’  barrows,  and  vaguely  wonders  where  they  all  come  from, 
without  considering  that  he  sees  but  a  small  item  of  the  whole.  In 
short,  Cherry  growing  for  market  is  a  distinct  branch  of  fruit  culture. 
The  private  gardener,  who  has  a  few  trees,  and  grows  Lr  the  supply- 
of  the  dessert  table,  knows  very  little  of  it,  and  to  become  initiated 
it  is  necessary  to  get  about  in  the  district  that  probably  grows  more 
Cherries  than  all  the  rest  of  the  country  put  together. 
So  much  has  been  written  of  late  years  about  the  bad  methods  of 
English  fruit  culture  that  it  may  sound  strange  to  hear  something  in 
support  of  the  ways  of  the  home  grower;  but  in  the  case  of  Cherries 
it  is  justified.  There  are  miles  of  Cherry  orchards  in  Kent  that  are  a 
credit  to  the  growers.  No  methods  could  be  better  than  those  on 
which  the  trees  are  planted  and  cultivated,  and  the  means  are  justified  in 
the  end  by  the  splendid  crops  of  fruit  that  are  obtained.  You  may  take 
Sittingbourne  or  Maidstone  as  your  centre,  and  work  in  any  direction, 
where  you  will  find  orchards  planted  with  geometrical  precision,  trees 
shapely  and  well  balanced,  and  flourishing  in  a  manner  that  is 
suggestive  of  the  fact  that  the  conditions  are  highly  favourable  for 
the  fruit  Orchards  of  young  trees  point  out  that  planting  is  on  the 
increase,  and  that  the  Cherry  industry  is  growing;  orchards  of 
established  specimens  show  trees  in  their  prime,  and  orchards  of 
veterans  give  you  an  idea  of  the  lasting  powers  of  the  Cherry  under 
suitable  conditions,  for  gigantic  patriarchs  are  to  be  seen,  with  mighty 
trunks  and  gnarled  limbs,  which,  perhaps,  produced  fruit  for  London 
when  the  cry  of  “Cherry  ripe,  Cherry  ripe,”  was  familiar  in  the  streets 
j  of  the  metropolis. 
