248 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
March  19,  1903. 
Rose  Show  Fixtures  In  1903. 
.June  24  (Wednesday),  York.f 
25  (Thursday),  Holland  House  (R.H.S.).* 
27  (Saturday).  Windsor. 
.July  1  (Wednesday),  Temple  Gardens  (N.R.S.),  and  Richinon<i 
(Surrey). 
.,  2  (Thursday),  Canterbury,  Colchester,  Norwich,  and  Reading. 
.,  4  (Saturday),  Sutton  and  Walton-on-Thames. 
,,  7  (Tuesday),  Gloucester  and  Wolverhampton.! 
,.  8  (Wednesday),  Croydon  and  Southampton.* 
,,  9  (Thursday),  Bath  and  Woodbridge. 
„  15  (Wednesday),  Glasgow  (N.R.S. ),  Formby,  Ipswich,  and 
Thornton  Heath. 
„  21  (Tuesday),  Tibshelf. 
„  22  (Wednesday),  Cardiff.* 
,,  23  (Thursday),  Salterhebble. 
Aug.  3  (Monday),  Sheffield. 
*  Shows  lasting  two  days.  )  Shows  lasting  three  days. 
.  The  above  are  the  only  dates  of  Rose  shows  or  of  other  horticul¬ 
tural  exhibitions  where  Roses  form  a  leading  feature  that  have  yet 
reached  me.  I  shall  be  glad  to  receive  notice  of  any  other  Rose  show 
fixtures  for  publication  in  a  future  list. — Edward  Mawley,  Rosebank, 
Berkhamsted,  Herts. 
Rose,  Becker's  Ideal. 
In  the  second  column  on  page  116,  I  see  a  notice  of  a  new 
sport  from  La  France — Becker’s  Ideal.  It  is  stated  that  the 
petals  have  a  tendency  to  incurve,  instead  of  reflexing  as 
in  the  well-known  La  France.  If  this  is  so  I  will  have  none 
of  it ;  the  shape  of  La  France  is  of  the  essence  of  its  beauty. 
Very  few  incurved  Roses  are  really  good  ;  they  become  bad 
openers,  and  are  naturally  liable  to  be  quite  spoiled  by 
rain,  the  petals  gumming  together,  rotting  and  turning 
brown  before  the  Rose  has  come  to  its  perfection. — 
W.  R.  Raillem. 
Rose,  Devoniensis. 
After  dealing  with  the  history  of  the  Rose  in  his  paper 
before  the  Devon  Gardeners’  Association  at  Exeter  recently, 
Mr.  R.  Hodder  referred  to  that  famous  Rose,  Devoniensis, 
the  origin  of  which  is  interesting.  In  1810  the  Old  Blush 
Tea  Rose  was  introduced  into  this  country  from  China. 
Ten  years  later  came  the  Yellow  Tea  from  China  also. 
These  two  Roses  were  crossed,  and  the  famous  Devoniensis 
was  the  result  of  the  first  union.  This  Rose,  Mr.  Hodder 
believed,  was  raised  in  Plymouth  or  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Plymouth,  but  to  Exeter  belonged  the  credit  of  its  distri¬ 
bution.  Passing  on,  there  could  be  no  two  opinions  about 
the  usefulness  of  Roses.  Their  colour,  scent,  and  form  were 
such  as  to  suit  the  most  fastidious,  and  what  could  equal 
the  Rose  as  a  cut  flower  ?  All  knew  something  of  the  bright¬ 
ness  they  imparted,  even  in  our  humble  homes.  If  they 
only  had  a  piece  of  ground  a  few  feet  square,  and  the  posi¬ 
tion  was  at  all  suitable,  they  must  have  a  Rose. 
The  Metropolitan  Public  Gardens’  Association  liave  under 
consideration  the  Horticultural  Society’s  Garden  at  Chiswick, 
which  w'as  likely  to  be  given  up  by  the  society,  fields  belonging 
to  Eton  College,  adjacent  to  Hampstead  Heath,  and  the  gardens 
of  St.  Peter’s  Square,  Haimnersmith. 
Melon,  '  Karl’s  Favourite. — Tliis  is  a  variety  offered  by 
Messrs.  James  Carter  and  Co.,  of  High  Holborn,  London,  who 
say  that  “  it  is  a  strong  grower,  free  setter,  and  may  be  said  to  be 
canker  resisting!  It  does  quite  as  well  in  cool  frames  as  in  the 
houses.”  It  is  one  of  the  finest  green-fleshed  Melons  in  cultiva¬ 
tion,  having  come  first  at  Shrewsbury  in  1901,  beating  fifteen 
other  exhibits.  The  R.H.S.  has  awarded  it  a  first-class 
certificate. 
The  Gardener  as  a  Man. 
The  real  university  is  a  collection  of  books.— T.  Carlyle. 
The  world  is  crowded  with  a  number  of  well  educated  young  fellows  who- 
know  much  but  are  fit  for  nothing.  .  .  .  It  is  not  knowledge,  but  the  ability 
to  use  it,  which  is  of  importance.  The  pebble  in  David’s  hand  is  more  than  the 
huge  spear  of  Goliath.  Too  often  our  young  people  are  sent  out  into  the  world 
splendidly  encumbered  with  their  panoply  of  knowledge.— Ris/iop  of  lUpon. 
We  have  at  present  two  classes  of  gardeners,  viz.,  good  men 
who  are  gardeners,  and  good  gardeners  who  are  men,  and  what 
everybody  wants,  of  course,  is  that  the  best  of  gardeners  and  the 
best  of  men  should  be  united  in  the  same  individualiS.  This,  in 
many  cases,  has  long  been,  and  still  is,  the  case,  but  there  is  even 
yet  some  levelling  up  to  be  done,  and  in  this  work  of  higher 
grading,  the  young  members  of  our  craft  must  naturally  take 
their  share ;  or  where  shall  we  get  our  Thomsons,  Dunns, 
McHatties,  'Whittons,  and  the  Finlays,  and  Hunters  of  the 
future?  As  is  indicated  by  the  words  of  the  Bishop  of  Ripon, 
which  serve  as  my  text,  young  gardeners  may  learn  too  much. 
The  leading  principles  of  botany,  geology,  logic,  and  political 
economy  will,  however,  always  be  useful  and  helpful  to  them. 
Professor,  now  Sir  Michael  Foster,  M.P.,  told  us  years  ago  that 
“  All  knowledge  is  of  service  to  the  gardener  if  it  can  be  rightly 
applied,  but  that  no  knowledge  is  of  service  if  wrongly  used.” 
We  see,  therefore,  that  it  is  not  so  much  the  acquirement  of 
knowledge,  as  the  ability  to  use  it  rightly,  that  forms  the  crux 
or  focus  spot  of  the  whole  education  of  gardeners,  or  other 
practical  craft.snien.  The  best  gardeners  are  those  taught  by 
actual  experience  in  good  gardens.  In  addition  to  this  practical 
education,  however,  the  gardener  should  also  be  a  well-educated 
man,  capable  of  any  social  co-operation  or  civic  duties  he  may 
be  called  upon  to  perform. 
Opportunity  for  All. 
It  is  said  that  every  French  soldier,  no  matter  what  his  origin, 
carries  a  field  marshal’s  baton  in  his  knapsack,  and  by  the  same 
token  all  men  in  our  own  land  have  the  chance  to  rise.  It  may 
be  that  gardeners  suffer  as  well  as  gain  from  their  isolation,  still 
w’e  have  had  our  Sir  Jos.  Paxton — a  great  gardener,  and  still  a 
greater  engineer — and  there  are  many  other  gardeners  who, 
though  “  unhonoured  and  unsung,”  really  deserved  recognition 
by  their  sovereign  and  country.  This  brings  me  to  a  point, 
viz.,  that  while  no  true  gardener  wishes  for  honours  that  so 
far  his  Government  has  denied  him,  still  he  does  wish  to  be  not 
only  a  succe-ssful  gardener,  ever  “  increasing  the  fruits  of  the 
earth,  so  that  in  due*  time  w’e  may  enjoy  them,”  but,  above  all 
things,  he  wishes  to  enjoy  his  birthright,  the  privilege  of  being 
a  respected,  true,  and  loyal  citizen,  or,  in  other  wmrds,  a  good, 
useful  man.  A  man  may  be  a  good  gardener,  but  as  Burns  said, 
“  A  man’s  a  man  for  a’  that,”  and  it  is  of  the  gardener  as  a  man 
I  wish  to  speak  to-night. 
False  Dignity. 
A  genuine  manly  dignity  is  a  thing  to  be  envied  and 
praised,  and  a  true  gentleman  will  do  anything  that  is  useful 
and  necessary  to  be  done  for  an  honourable  purpose.  No  true 
man  ever  shirks  when  duty  calls.  A  modern  author  has  said, 
“  When  you  see  a  youth  that  will  do  any  sort-  of  work,  no  matter 
how  menial  it  may  be,  rather  than  be  idle,  you  can  make  up  your 
mind  that  he  amounts  to  something.  The  young  man  who  would 
starve  before  he  would  do  any  work  beneath  what  he  conceives 
to  be  his  dignity  is  not  made  of  the  right  kind  of  stuff  to  cut 
much  of  a  figure  in  this  life.  All  honest  toil  is  honourable. 
There  is  nothing  so  morally  degrading  as  that  aversion  to  manual 
labour,  which  is  usually  a  combination  of  laziness  and  conceit.” 
I  have  sometimes  thought  that  our  higher  schools  and  the  univer¬ 
sities  have  fostered,  at  any  rate  have  not  counteracted,  this 
priggish  prejudice  against  useful  manual  labour.  Tlie  colleges 
may  do  much,  still  we  must  not  forget  that  all  teaching  is  merely 
the  means  to  the  real  end,  which  is  a  man’s  life’s  work.  After 
all,  the  universities  are  not  everything,  and  the  prevalence  of 
able  self-taught  men  in  all  walks  of  life,  even  the  highest,  must 
be  remembered. 
Schools  and  Colleges  may  be  Sometimes  Overrated. 
W’e  have  men  to-day  who  are  moving  the  commercial  and 
political  world,  who  owe  but  little  to  the  schools,  and  le.ss  to 
the  universities.  Look  at  C-ecil  Rhodes  of  yesterday  and  Mr. 
Cliamberlain  or  Stanley  of  to-day.  Even  Shakespeare  owed  none 
of  his  world-wide,  fame  in  literafure  to  Oxford  or  Cambridge ;  , 
while  men  of  genius  like  Goldsmith  and  Shelley  were  scouted 
when  alive  by  universities,  only  to  be  glorified  in  statues  by  their 
respective  colleges  when  they  were  dead.  It  is  said  that  even 
a  fool,  w’ith  whom  the  universities  can  do  nothing,  will  learn 
in  the  school  of  experience,  and  some  of  our  brightest  and  most 
useful  men  alive  to-day  are  those  that  have  graduated  in  the 
