June  8,  1899. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
473 
demeanour,  enriched  by  the  ‘  tips  ’  and  flattered  by  the  familiarity  of  the 
gunners,  makes  the  meek  obeisance  of  true  respect  to  his  employer,  who 
can  marshal  a  troop  of  beaters,  or  break  a  retriever,  or  bring  down  a 
rocketer,  as  well  as  he  can  ;  but  he  stands  before  his  gardener  speechless 
— cannot  remember  whether  he  was  instructed  by  his  wife  to  insist  on 
more  flowers  for  the  room  or  more  room  for  the  flowers,  and  dare  not 
fulfil  his  promise  to  the  farm-bailitf  to  reduce  the  extravagant  amount  of 
manure  which  is  demanded  for  the  garden.” 
Pioneers  and  Progress. 
In  these  chapters  we  have  interesting  historical  matter  dealing  with 
the  initiatif  n  of  gardens  and  the  advancement  of  gardening.  The  Romans, 
we  are  told,  were  the  first  gardeners  in  Britain,  but  growers  of  vegetables 
only,  not  flowers.  “They  were  glad,  as  some  of  our  magnates  now,  to 
defray  part  of  the  labourer’s  wages  from  the  results  of  his  toil.  Their 
success  was  in  proportion  to  their  zeal,  and  was  esteemed  to  be  of  such 
honourable  merit  and  distinction,  that  Cicero,  Fabius,  Lentulus.  and  Piso 
derived  their  appellations  from  their  skilful  treatment  of  the  Vetch,  the 
Bean,  the  Lentil,  and  the  Pea.”  We  are  then  reminded  of  the  arrival  of 
Augustine  “  not  with  the  shout  of  battle,  the  fur}'  of  the  oppressor,  and 
the  clash  of  arms,  but  with  psalms  and  hymns  and  spiritual  songs,  with 
prayers  of  penitence,  with  promises  of  pardon,  with  the  offer  of  eternal 
peace.  There  was  neither  sword  nor  spear — a  simple  cross  and  a  message 
from  the  Crucified,  ‘  Come  unto  Me,  all  ye  that  travail  and  are  heavy 
laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest.'”  Ecclesiastics  were  for  long  the  chief 
farmers  and  gardeners,  in  connection  with  monasteries  ;  eventually  they 
grew  flowers,  but  “almost  exclusively  for  church  decoration,  for  their 
altars  and  shrines,  for  marriages,  for  the  graves  of  the  departed.  Some¬ 
times  the  priests  wore  floral  garlands,  and  it  is  on  record  that  at  the 
consecration  of  a  bishop  at  St.  Paul’s  Cathedral  in  1405,  the  canons  walked 
in  procession  crowned  with  Roses.  It  is  still  the  custom,  when  the  judges 
pay  their  annual  visit  to  St.  Paul’s,  for  the  canons  to  carry  bouquets  in 
their  hands,  but  a  similar  embellishment  of  the  head  would  bring  all 
London  to  see.  Nevertheless  this  ancient  coronation  might  be  suggestive 
and  helpful  to  some  gay  'young  ritualist,  yearning  to  irritate  the  Pro¬ 
testant  mind,  and  a  garland  of  Sunflowers  or  a  wreath  of  Dahlias  could 
hardly  fail  to  succeed.”  In  the  ancient  gardens  topiary  work,  or  clipping 
evergreens  into  fantastic  shapes,  receives  a  strong  rebuke  in  “the  mistakes 
of  the  Creator  were  to  be  rectified  by  the  gardener’s  shears,”  Bridgeman, 
we  are  informed,  was  the  inventor  of  the  sunk  fence,  and  his  successor, 
Kent,  is  honoured  as  Field  Marshal  of  English  landscape  gardening,  of 
which  the  chief  modern  exponent  was  Robert  Marnock, 
The  Formation  of  a  Garden. 
Excellent  hints  are  imparted  in  this  chapter  It  is  said  on  formation 
work  “  Nature  must  really  be  put  ‘inform.’  You  may  rectify,  arrange, 
develop,  or,  alas  !  you  may  disfigure  and  destroy  ;  but  if  you  would  win 
the  approbation  of  her  smile,  you  will  never  think  to  thwart  her,  and  only 
to  alter  or  assist,  as  she  may  teach  you  ;  ever  listening  for  her  instructions, 
and  obeying  the  intimations  which  she  gives.  I  have  watched  with  great 
interest  attempts  to  improve  Nature.  I  remember  an  under  gardener  who 
carved  flowers  with  his  pocket  knife  out  of  Turnips,  chiefly  the  Ranunculus, 
the  Camellia,  and  the  Tulip,  and  coloured  them  with  stripes  and  spots  of 
the  most  gorgeous  hues  :  and  I  recall  a  day  when,  passing  by  the  potting- 
shed  in  which  he  was  exhibiting  his  splendid  achievements  to  a  friend,  I 
heard  him  sa)’,  ‘  They  whacks  natur’ — don’t  they,  Dobbs  ?  ’  And  Dobbs 
replied,  ‘  They  whacks  her  ea-si’.’  ” 
Component  Parts  of  a  Garden. 
In  references  to  climbing  plants,  of  which  the  Dean  gives  a  good 
selection,  he  describes  Ampelopsis  Veitchi  as  “the  greatest  of  the  many 
treasures  which  Mr.  Veitch  has  introduced  info  this  country,  because  its 
enjoyment  is  not  restricted  to  the  rich,  but  is  within  the  means  of  all  who 
desire  it.”  On  the  subject  of  lawns  we  cite,  “  There  should  be  in  front 
of  every  home  a  piece  of  green  grass,  as  spacious  as  the  means  permit, 
well  mown,  well  rolled,  kept  free  from  worm  and  weed.  ‘The  lawn,’ 
writes  Mr.  Robinson,  ‘  is  the  heart  of  the  garden,  and  the  happiest  thing 
that  is  in  it.’  Flowers  may  come,  and  leaves  may  go.  the  lawn  goes  on 
for  ever.  It  refreshes  the  spirit  through  the  eye,  which  never  tires.  We 
wander  all  over  the  world  in  search  of  things  pleasant  to  the  eye  ;  we 
find  them  here  and  there  ;  but  nothing  delights  us  more  than  the  green 
fields  and  the  green  lawns,  which  are  only  to  be  seen  at  home.”  The 
subject  closes  with  an  amusing  anecdote.  “A  gardener,  not  far  from 
Rochester,  having  obtained  through  the  kind  influence  of  his  master  a 
more  lucrative  appointment  at  a  luiiatic  asylum,  came  back  after  a  year’s 
absence  to  visit  his  benefactor,  and  standing  with  him  on  the  lawn,  he 
said,  ‘  I  suppose,  sir.  you  remember  Peggy.’  ‘  Of  course,’  it  was  answered  ; 
‘  the  two-year-old  Exmoor  pony  we  bought  at  Maidstone  fair  and  put  into 
the  mowing-machine  when  she  was  almost  unbroken.  What  battles  you 
had,  and  what  a  good  bit  of  stuff  she  was  when  she  came  to  years  of 
discretion.’  ‘Ah!’  replied  the  gardener,  ‘I  used  to  think  that  no  min 
ever  had,  or  could  have,  such  a  rampageous  job,  but  now  that  I’ve  got  to 
mow  with  seven  lunatics,  most  of  'em  wanting  to  sit  down,  I  olten  wish  that 
I  was  back  with  Peggy,’  ” 
The  Rose  Garden— A  Defence  and  a  “Sell.” 
After  giving  good  advice  on  the  herbaceous  border,  our  author  dis¬ 
courses  on  his  favourite  theme — Roses,  and  proceeds — “  ‘  And  who  are 
you,’  I  hear  the  critic  say,  ‘  Who  made  you  Lord  Chamberlain  to  the 
Queen  of  Flowers  ?  ■’  I  make  answer — because  he  who  would  guide  others 
must  show  his  credentials — ‘  If  you  please,  Mr.  Critic,  I  am  the  man  who 
invented  Rose  shows,  and  won  many  cups,  and  wrote  a  book  about  Roses, 
and  am  the  President  of  the  National  Rose  Society,  and  for  fifty-four 
years  I  have  admired  and  studied  the  Rose.’  If  the  critic  intimates,  not 
for  the  first  time,  that  I  have  wasted  this  portion  of  my  life  and  dis¬ 
honoured  my  sacred  vocation  by  these  diversions,  I  lose  all  sense  of 
humility,  boldly  proclaiming  that  I  have  not  only  derived  from  horti¬ 
culture  great  help  and  refreshment  in  my  work  ;  but,  brought  up  among 
horses,  hounds,  and  partridges,  I  have  from  boyhood  to  middle  age- 
occasionally  enjoyed  the  sports  of  the  field  ;  and  that  as  regards  my 
ministrations  in  a  small  country  parish,  I  always  maintained  the  daily 
service  of  the  Church  and  my  daily  visits  to  the  school ;  knew  every  man,, 
woman,  and  child  in  the  place,  and  have  preached,  since  I  took  orders,  in 
500  churches  from  the  Land’s  End  to  the  Border.  This  is  rank  egotism, 
but  it  is  provoked  by  rank  ignorance.”  Now  for  the  “  sell.”  The  Dean, 
on  being  asked  to  propose  “  The  Visitors  ”  at  a  great  city  dinner, 
observed  an  elderly  gentleman  with  his  hair  cut  close  with  the  exception 
of  an  enormous  white  moustache.  “  He  wore  over  his  breast  a  broad 
crimson  ribbon,  and  I  said  to  myself,  ‘  That’s  a  Marecbal  of  France!’ 
Accordingly  I  proceeded  to  welcome  our  friends  from  France  with  a 
polite  bow  to  the  Marechal,  and  finally  expressed  my  special  sympathies 
as  a  rosarian  indebted  to  France  for  the  introduction  of  our  most  beautiful! 
Roses.  ‘It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say,’  I  concluded,  turning  with  a  sweet 
smile  lo  the  Marechal,  ‘  that  “  La  Rose  est  la  Reine  des  fleurs  et  la* 
France  est  la  Reine  des  Roses.”  ’  I  sat  down  and  inquired  the  name  and 
title  of  the  illustrious  soldier,  and  was  told  that  he  was  a  London  pawn¬ 
broker,  wearing  his  badge  of  office  as  president  of  a  benevolent  society.  ’ 
General  Shablekine. 
This  is  not  the  heading  of  a  chapter,  but  the  name  of  a  Rose  recorn- 
mended  by  the  Dean  with  the  following  footnote.  “This  Rose  is  not  in* 
our  English  catalogues,  and  must  be  procured  from  the  raiser,  Mons. 
Nabonnand,  Grasse,  Cannes.  Nic“,  France.  Lord  Brougham  describes  it 
as  ‘caring  neither  for  cold,  damp,  sun,  or  mildew;’  and  he  declares 
‘  that  if  a  law  was  passed  that  one  man  should  cultivate  but  one  variety 
of  Rose,  he  should  without  hesitation  choose  General  Shablekine,  as 
being  without  a  rival,  flowering  continuously,  with  100  blooms  of  equal 
merit  on  a  plant.  Its  constitution  and  hardiness  would  guarantee  it 
success  in  our  colder  climate,  and  of  all  Roses  it  is  the  most  laichful' 
and  generous.’  Without  disparaging  the  merits  of  the  General,  one  could 
have  wished  that  the  flower  had  received  a  more  euphonious  title.  The- 
Rose  by  any  other  name  would  have  smelt  as  sweetly.” 
Other  Gardens. 
Excellent  and  instructive  are  the  chapters  on  the  rock  garden,  the- 
water  garden,  the  wild  garden,  and  the  cottage  garden.  The  author  ha^ 
a  great  desire  to  help  the  sons  of  toil  and  make  their  homes  brighter  and 
better,  and  hence  his  appreciation  of  the  efforts  of  County  Councils,  and 
indeed  all  who  give  encouragement  and  instruction  with  that  laudable- 
object  in  view.  Nor  are  children’s  gardens  overlooked,  while  an  admirablo 
chapter  on  town  gardens  is  contributed  by  Mr.  Marsland. 
A  Word  to  Young  Gardeners. 
In  the  “Pedagogue’s  Farewell  to  His  Pupils”  we  find  these  words,  which 
cannot  be  too  widely  disseminated.  “  I  must  earnestly  implore  the  young 
gardener  not  to  be  wise  in  his  own  conceits.  Of  all  the  prides  since  Lucifer  s 
attaint,  there  is  not  one  more  disastrous  to  progress  and  success  than  that 
which  will  never  acknowledge  ignorance,  and  would  rather  remain  in* 
darkness  than  ask  a  neighbour  for  a  light.  I  confess  in  sackcloth  and 
ashes  that  I  was  misled  for  the  greater  portion  of  my  life  by  this  moral 
obliquity,  and  I  am  sure  that,  if  I  had  resisted  and  overcome  it  in  my 
youth,  1  should  have  quadrupled  my  store  «  f  useful  knowledge.  Nor 
can  I  derive  much  solace  from  the  fact  that  this  stupid  arrogance  is  a 
common  disease  :  so  is  the  influenza.  It  wastes  time,  loses  opportunity,, 
and  gets  in  other  people’s  way,  like  a  loafer  at  the  corner  of  the  street. 
Let  it  not  be  supposed  that  we  have  extracted  the  “best  bits’” 
from  this  entertaining  and  suggestive  work.  We  have  done  nothing 
of  the  kind.  We  have  simply  taken  a  few  lines  from  about  half  the 
chaiiters,  in  their  order,  and  which  fairly  represent  the  style  and 
character  of  the  boob.  The  volume  comprises  300  pages  of  matter, 
much  of  it  even  better  thin  the  samples.  It  ranges  from  g.ay  to 
grave.  There  are  parts  that  will  make  the  reader  smile  and  others 
that  will  make  him  pause  and  “think.”  It  will  impress  on  many 
that  the  great  ecclesiastic  and  gardener  has  a  big  and  tender  heart, 
full  of  sympathy  for  the  toiling  millions  who  strive  to  improve  their 
lot  in  life  by  diligent  labour  in  the  garden ;  and  the  rich  whom  he 
esteems  the  most  are  those  who  cherish  their  own  gardens,  and  m 
addition  give  help  and  encouragement  to  the  present  and  future 
working  populations  of  the  land  he  loves. 
Cercis  siliquastrum.  —  In  several  gardens  about  Kow  fine 
examples  of  the  “Judas  Tree,”  as  this  plant  is  popularly  called,  are  to  be 
found,  all  flowering  with  exceptional  freedom,  while  in  the 
Gardens  several  exceptionally  fine  specimens  are  a  mass  of  colour.  The 
habit  of  the  plant  is  rather  straggling,  if  pruning  is  not  attended  to  while 
young,  which  often  causes  it  to  be  planted  in  out  of  the  way  corners  ;  if, 
however,  it  is  kept  in  shape  from  the  time  it  leaves  the  nursery,  dense 
round  bushes  can  be  had,  12  feet  or  more  in  height,  deserving  a  place  m 
a  prominent  position.  On  different  plants  various  shades  of  colour  can 
be  had,  some  forms  being  almost  white,  others  rosy  red,  with  several 
intermediate  shades.  It  is  not  particular  regarding  soil,  a  medium  loam, 
perhaps,  being  most  suitable  for  it' — W.  D. 
