PREFACE. IN publishing these CONTRIBUTIONS TO HORTICUL- A TURAL LITERATURE it seems hardly desirable that everything I have written over the last fifty years should be included. I began writing at a very early age in response to an invitation from the late Mr J. C. Loudon, during his brief Directorship of The Gardeners Gazette. Copies early life were rarely kept, to expect that the memory of the articles written in and it would be too much should recall trifles often written on the spur of the moment and as quickly forgotten. Moreover, some contributions were of a merely transitory interest. Of the articles selected, some contain lists of varieties of cultivated plants and flowers which were the best of that date, but which are now superseded by fashion or by the improvement of races by cultivation and selection. It was not, however, thought advisable in all cases to omit these lists, although the individuals have to a large extent been superseded, as they are assumed to be of historical and scientific value, and in some cases, especially with roses, many of the discarded varieties are being restored to favour. To show which were the most generally cultivated varieties of any flower or plant at a given date, is to show by comparison as some of the old kinds are sure to remain accessible, either as plants or plates the degree of progress gardening. attained in this branch of scientific The small number of articles, considering the lengthened period over which they extend, may by some be considered remarkable. To account for it the author would remind his readers that some of his writings have been published as separate volumes, and that writing with him was never a profession, but merely a hobby, pursued at intervals as time could be snatched from the duties of active business life. With regard to the controversies, happily few, in which he has been engaged, he has not thought it desirable to introduce here the opinions of those who awakened them. It is however obvious that the names and dates of the periodicals in which they appeared may be gathered from the replies, so that those who may be sufficiently interested in the con- troversies to wish to follow them throughout may do so with but little research or inconvenience. He now submits this book to his friends and the public. The search for and arrangement of the materials have been a matter of considerable labour. But the task has been one that has called up a host of pleasant associations, darkened only by the occasional reminder of the departure of valued friends and diligent fellow-labourers in the same field, who, while here, administered so much to the happiness of all who enjoyed their friendship. WALTHAM HOUSE, WALTHAM CROSS, 2Oth September 1892. WILLIAM PAUL. Roses in Pots .......... CONTENTS. ix CONTENTS. PART I. ROSES. PAGE i Rose Catalogues 13 Trip to Paris in Search ofAutumnal Roses . . . .15 Rosa Berberifolia Hardii 19 The History and Cultivation of the Rose . . . . .21 A Plea for Summer Roses 43 Morning Rambles in the Rose Gardens of Hertfordshire . . 45 Remarks on the Cultivation of Tea Roses as Conservatory Climbers On New Roses A Day 74 78 in the Elysian Fields ....... 91 On Roses 100 Two Rose Shows 136 Garden Roses . . . 141 Bedding Roses .......... 145 Thoughts on Roses . . . . . . . . ...