a MODERN ROSES IN AUSTRALASIA."

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 217, 13 September 1930, Page 6 (Supplement)

a MODERN ROSES IN AUSTRALASIA."

This is a new book by B. V. Rossi, published by Michell and Casey Pty., Ltd., Melbourne, plates by Patterson Shugg Proprietary. It is a fine production and is a credit to publisher and author alike, as "the secret of popularity" is in the contents, and we venture to say that the book will be a popular treatise on roses in Australia and New Zealand for years to come. Well written in a conversational manner, it gives a description of rose-growing, with every detail well treated. Seed, cutting, bud, graft, garden, room, exhibition, and every manner and custom plainly expressed, without use of technical terms, only understood by the expert. The rather frequent introduction of poetical extracts adds to the size of the book, without adding to its uses, and, perhaps, popularity, for poetry appeals to a very few. The author " shows a practical acquaintance with every detail of the work, and rosarians must give him credit for recording the fact that there are points in rose-growing peculiar to Australia and New Zealand. : In short, it is a well-written, clearly illustrated, .wellprinted and practical book, dealing with Australian and New Zealand conditions, containing much useful information and new and useful hints of incalculable value to rose growers. There is one discordant note, and that is the use of "Australasia" in the title. The author himself in the text mentions "New Zealand" several times, so why use a nondescriptivcterm such as "Australasia" ?

SWEET PEA TRIALS. The "Horticulture Advertiser" says: There were ninety trials this year, eight of which received awards, and although the committee thought it well to warn us that the trials were judged in a strong wind, we do not think that their decisions will be quite so heavily criticised as in the past. The following numbers received awards:— Gold medal, No. 38, Ambition (Thos. Cullen), a very large lavender, or lavender mauve, when growing naturally; a very good pea, but scarcely distinct enough for such a high award. Award of merit, No. 5b (Ireland and Hitchcock), a mid-blue, showing little of the objectionable mauve tint, with very large frilled blooms, well placed in fours; a good exhibition pea and very floriferous. No. 13, Damask Rose (Thos. Cullen), brilliant carmine rose, deepening almost to crimson in the older blooms; very free. No. 29, Burpee, a cream pink, with a salmon rose flush; flower well placed, with duplex duple standards; very good variety. No. 39 (C. C. Morse), greyish lavender, flushed reddish mauve in the standard. The large blooms wero as frilled as those of the ruffled type, but well placed in fours on a long stem, with duplex standards on all four blooms, and we consider this the greatest advance in sweet pea development in the trials. Although it contained a lavender rogue it was allowed to receive an award under the new rule. No. G2, Orange Flare (Carter), a distinct shade of deep orange, which is difficult to describe exactly; the plants carried a remarkable crop of blooni. No. G5, Pink Glow (E. W. King), a large flower, delicate!}' flushed with pale orange, tinted with pink; a very pretty flower, especially for table decoration. No. G9a, a white of Constant Hinton type, but most of the sprays carried five blooms, and we counted several with six.

There were many other interesting varieties which did not receive awards. No. 35 (E. W. King) was a fine strong-growing cream, and No. 3(i, a . lavender sent in by an amateur (Major Barton), attracted a lot of attention. Messrs. Hurst sent in a very distinct variety, No. 31, with the outside of the wings and standard bright salmon scarlet and the inside flushed with the same colour on a white ground. No. 17 (Morse) was a good pale cerise, and there were two very beautiful varieties which differed very slightly from the fawn. It was very satisfactory to those interested in the sweet pea to see so many varieties, which mark an advance in sweet pea development, and to find the trials so splendidly grown.

TUBEROUS BEGONIAS

Fine new varieties of tuberous begonias can be obtained from seeds, which should be sown early so as to get good plants that will flower out of doors;during the summer. By this means

a larger batch can be grown than if they are all grown in pots. During the summer the outstanding varieties can be picked "out for pot cultivation the following season.