November  20,  19C2.  JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
473 
Theoretically,  the  plant  must  lose  energy  in  proportion  to 
the  absence  and  distance  of  the  sun’s  influence,  and  loss  of 
energy  tends  to  repose  and  inactivity.  It  is,  therefore,  more 
than  probable  there  is  a  period  in  the  night- — however  small — 
when  the  vitality  of  the  plant  succumbs  to  the  soporific  anodyne 
so  providentially  furnished  by  Nature.  Under  such  circum¬ 
stances  there  can  be  no  growth,  the  process  being  necessarily 
suspended,  and  the  available  energy  being  required  alone  to  keep 
in  motion  the  pulse  of  life.  The  process  of  cellular  construction, 
which  must  of  a  necessity  command  the  highest  combined  in¬ 
fluence  and  energies  of  sun  and  plant  in  the  operation,  is  doubt¬ 
less  inactive  till  once  more  the  power  of  the  sun  returns  to 
renew  the  loss  of  energy,  when  the  great  army  of  phytozoons 
mount  again  the  scaffolding  to  perform  the  duties  of  the  day. 
We  are  all  familiar  with  the  well-known  phrase,  “  the  dead 
of  night.”  The  appellation  carries  with  it  a  greater  significance 
than,  perhaps,  is  ever  assigned  to  it,  for  at  that  particular  time 
is  Nature  not  dead?  True,  in  the  summer  months,  w’hen  the 
withdrawal  of  the  sun’s  influence  is  so  little  felt,  scarce  any 
appreciable  diminution  in  growth  can  be  detected,  for,  in  point 
of  fact,  the  essential  influence  is  to  all  intents  and  purposes 
continuous.  Therefore,  during  the  few  hours  which  the  sun’s 
disc  is  below  the  horizon  it  is  very  probable  that  its  influence 
operates  in  a  similar  way  to  which  it  does  in  the  case  of  plant 
life  when  developed  in  a  cellar.  But  in  the  case  of  day  and 
night  of  equal  duration,  or  in  that  of  the  period  of  winter,  the 
sun’s  influence  is  much  lessened  and  the  period  c-f  rest  in  pro¬ 
portion  increased. 
Were  such  unduly  protracted,  there  is  every  reason  to  think 
that  plant  and  animal  life  would  cease  to  exist,  for  what  is  this 
sleep  and  rest  which  supervenes — the  disappearance  of  the  life- 
giving  power  of  the  sun,  but  a  loss  of  vital  energy  corresponding 
to  the  duration  of  the  absence  of  that  power?  And  if  we  con¬ 
ceive  the  possibility  of  a  midsummer  night  being  protracted 
to  the  duration  of  a  midwinter  night,  the  probable  effects  would 
be  disastrous,  and,  similarly,  the  same  direful  effects  would 
supervene  the  extension  of  the  winter  season  into  the  summer. 
The  diurnal,  or,  rather,  the  nocturnal  period  in  which  the  plants 
rest,  is  a  prefigure  of  that  greater  rest,  which  Nature  prepares 
for  it  m  the  winter  months.  With  the  decrease  of  the  sun’s 
power  begins  the  symptoms  of  loss  of  vital  power  in  the  plant. 
The  leaf  changes  colour,  it  withers,  and  falls.  The  sap  itself 
is  congealed  into  wood,  and  at  length,  when  all  is  finished,  the 
plant  falls  over  into  a  long  and  profound  sleep. — Atlas. 
- - 
Leading  Commercial  Rosarians. 
Mr.  Ceo.  Dickson,  Sen. 
Mr.  George  Dickson  is  the  eldest  son  of  Alexander  Dickson, 
who  founded  in  1836  the  very  flourishing  nursery  business  of 
Messrs.  Alexander  Dickson  and  Sons,  Limited,  Newdownards, 
Co.  Down,  Ireland,  and  was  born  on  July  7,  1832.  He  is  now 
chairman  of  the  company,  and  from  the  death  of  his  father, 
in  1880,  until  1900,  traded  as  Alexander  Dickson  and  Sons.  For 
family  reasons,  he  converted  the  business  into  a  private  limited 
company  on  the  latter  date,  the  shares  being  all  held  within 
the  family. 
Mr.  Geo.  Dickson  has  always  been  closely  identified  with 
Florists’  Flowers,  particularly  Gladioli,  Dahlias,  and  Pansies, 
more  especially  in  his  earlier  years,  when  he  raised  many  fine 
varieties,  and  was  a  successful  exhibitor  at  the  leading  Irish 
and  Scottish  shows.  It  is  almost  fifty  years  since  he  gave  his 
attention  to  Roses,  making  a  speciality  of  them.  It  was  from 
him  that  his  sons,  George  and  Alexander,  received  instruction 
in  hybridising,  which  has  enabled  them  to  produce  the  large 
numbers  of  seedling  Roses  that  are  now  grown  in  all  parts  of 
the  world,  and  to  whose  merit  the  present  analysis  bears 
record. 
In  latter  years  the  management  of  the  business  has  been 
largely  left  in  the  hands  of  his  four  sons,  while  Mr.  Geo.  Dickson, 
sen.,  gives  much  of  his  time  to  the  breeding  of  Shorthorns,  of 
which  he  possesses  an  excellent  herd. 
He  is  a  magistrate  for  Co.  Down,  member  of  the  Down 
County  Council,  sitting  for  the  Newtownards  and  Mount  Stewart 
Division  since  the  passing  of  the  Local  Government  Bill  for 
Ireland,  Chairman  of  the  Beard  of  Guardians,  and  Chairman  of 
the  Technical  Instruction  and  Agricultural  Committee  of  the 
Down  County  Council,  where  his  large  experience  is  much 
appreciated. 
At  present  at  Newtownards  upwards  of  two  acres  is  devoted 
to  the  growth  and  testing  of  seedling  Roses.  Last  year  the 
firm  budded  from  upwards  of  2,000  seedling  plants  that 
had  germinated  during  the  spring  of  1902.  All  seed  is  sown 
in  pots,  and  the  parentage  of  each  correctly  noted  and  pre¬ 
served.  AH  through  the  flowering  season  the  head  of  the  firm 
spends  much  of  his  time  daily  going  in  and  out  the  various 
quarters,  making  notes  of  the  results. 
Mr.  B.  E.  Cant. 
The  memory  of  the  late  Benjamin  R.  Cant  is.  revered  by 
all  of  those  steadfast  rosarians  who  were  contemporaries  with 
him.  He  died  untimely,  but  left  a  first-class  business  in  the 
hands  of  two  very  capable  sons.  The  firm  trades  under  the  name 
of  Messrs.  B.  R.  Cant  and  Sons,  the  Old  Rose  Gardens,  Col¬ 
chester.  Mr.  B.  E.  Cant  principally  supervises  the  cultural 
work  of  nursery-gardening,  and  during  the  exhibiting  period  he 
is  to  be  seen  one  day  here,  another  day  there,  with  collections 
of  Roses.  Not  a  little  of  the  success  achieved  by  the  firm  in 
this  connection  is  due  to  his  excellent  judgment,  care,  and  cool¬ 
ness  in  setting  up  large  numbers  of  flowers  in  a  short  time. 
Mr.  B.  E.  Cant  has  of  late  years  devoted  a  good  deal  of  timq 
and  consideration  to  the  hybridising  arid  crossing  of  Roses.  His 
efforts  in  this  direction  are  also  crowned  with  good  results,  for 
at  the  exhibition  held  at  Richmond  on  June  26,  1901,  his  firm 
secured  a  Gold  Medal  for  a  new  Hybrid  Perpetual  Rose,  named 
Ben  Cant- — a  variety  of  splendid  form,  substance,  and  crimson 
colour;  and  again  on  July  4,  1901,  at  the  N.R.S.  Temple  Show, 
a  Gold  Medal  for  the  new  seedling  Tea,  Mrs.  B.  R.  Cant. 
Many  promising  seedlings  were  seen  at  the  Old  Rose  Gardens 
last  summer,  and  one  has  every  reason  to  predict  a  future  of 
distinction  for  Mr.  B.  E.  Cant  as  a  raiser  'as  well  as  exhibitor. 
He  states  in  a  letter  to  us  that  his  great  object  is  to  secure 
hardiness  and  great  vigour  of  growth  in  his  seedlings. 
Mr.  Hugh  Dickson. 
Mr.  Hugh  Dickson,  of  the  Royal  Nurseries,  Belfast,  has  been 
connected  with  Rose  growing  since  his  earliest  years,  and  served 
his  apprenticeship  in  Edinburgh  in  the  famous  nurseries  of 
Messrs.  Lawson  and  Son,  who  were  then  amongst  the  leading 
Rose  growers  in  Britain.  Mr.  Dickson  returned  to  Belfast 
in  the  early  fifties,  and  brought  with  him  a  choice  collection 
of  the  finest  Roses  known  at  that  date,  also-  a  number  of  Manetti 
stocks,  (the  first  introduced  into  Ireland),  and  thus  became  a 
pioneer  in  Irish  Rose  growing. 
Mr.  Hugh  Dickson  has  been  a  leading  exhibitor  throughout 
Scotland  and  Ireland  for  the  past  forty  years,  and  his  success, 
which  has  continued  so  uninterrupted  for  so  long  a  period,  has 
made  his  name  a  household  word  among  Rose  growers  in  these 
countries.  His  recent  successes  in  England,  particularly  under 
the  National  Rose  Society  in  London  and  the  provinces,  has 
also  brought  his  name  prominently  before  the  Rose-growing 
public  in  England.  His  good  fortune  at  English  and  Scottish 
shows  is  all  the  more  meritorious  considering  the  great  distances 
the  blooms  have  to  travel.  Mr.  Hugh  Dickson’s  nurseries  are 
situated  at  Belmont,  on  the  most  beautiful  suburbs  of  Belfast, 
and  are  amongst  the  most  up-to-date  in  the  country.  Roses 
are,  of  course,  the  leading  feature,  and  about  200,000  are  grown 
and  distributed  annually.  Coniferse  are  also  a  leading  feature 
of  the  nurseries,  as  well  as  ornamental  trees  and  shrubs,  which 
do  admirably  at  Belmont,  the  climate  of  Ireland  suiting  them. 
The  trees  are  all  splendid  in  health  and  colour.  The  general 
nursery  stock  is  large  and  well  grown,  covering  about  forty 
statute  qcres. 
Mr.  J.  Harkness. 
The  business  of  Messrs.  Harkness  and  Sons,  Rose  growers, 
Bedale,  Yorks,  of  which  Mr.  J.  Harkness  is  the  leading  member, 
was  founded  in  1880,  in  connection  with  Mr.  R.  Harkness,  who 
now  successfully  carries  on  a  separate  business  at  Hitchin,  in 
Herts.  Mr.  J.  Harkness  has  taken  the  keenest  interest  in  all 
hardy  flowers,  and  Roses  especially,  for  over  thirty  years,  during 
which  period  he  has  also  been  a  noted  exhibitor. 
The  late  Queen’s  Jubilee  year  (1887)  brought  the  firm  of 
Harkness  and  Sons  their  first  great  success  in  Roses,  for  they 
then  won  both  the  National  Rose  Society’s  trophies  and  every 
class  for  seventy-two  distinct  varieties  in  which  they  contested 
during  the  Rose  season  of  that  year.  In  the  years  1887,  1889, 
1893,  1895,  1897,  and  1901  the  N.R.S.  trophy  was  awarded  to 
their  flowers,  and  in  1887,  1888,  1889,  1890,  1893,  1895,  1896, 
1898,  and  1900  the  N.R.S.  Jubilee  trophy  was  captured  by  the 
Bedale  blooms,  making  fifteen  successes  in  (open)  trophy  classes 
from  1887  to  1901. 
On  three  occasions  the  firm  was  unable  to  compete  through 
the  lateness  of  the  season,  and  were  second  (twice  beaten  by 
one  point)  several  times.  The  past  season  being  a  phenomenally 
late  one,  especially  for  firms  northward,  the  Messrs.  Harkness 
and  Sons  were  unable  to  cut  exhibition  flowers  till  well  on  in 
August.  The  firm’s  record  in  competitions  with  hardy  her¬ 
baceous  flowers  is  equally  creditable,  and  is  a  silent  testimony 
to  the  care  and  cultural  attention  bestowed  on  the  stock  at 
Bedale,  where  twenty-two  acres  are  under  use. 
An  interesting  fact  in  connection  with  their  exhibiting  of 
Roses  is  that  the  start  was  made  after  reading  a  hint  given  in 
“  The-  Rosarians’  Year  Book,”  edited  by  the  Rev.  H.  H. 
D’Ombrain,  to  this  effect:  “that  if  any  nurseryman  planted 
5,000  Roses  solely  for  exhibition,  he  would  be  almost  certain 
to  win  the  championship.”  Mr.  J.  Harkness  took  the  hint, 
wilh  the  results  indicated  in  the  foregoing  lines. 
