The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



52 J 



The White Golden Gate Rose. 



eiin is not a good shipper, nor is it a 

 good winter bloomer except in far 

 southern climates. It has a tendency to 

 black spot, and it is not quite rapid 

 enough in its growth, nor quite free 

 enough of bloom. I might possibly add 

 to these the White Maman Cochet, the 

 use of wliieh for out-door cvit is develop- 

 ing in the East. With the two roses, 

 however, the florist can cover the entire 

 year fairly well. 



Consequentl}', what the grower is in 

 need of is a good all-the-year-round 

 white rose, and this we are convinced 

 from a five years' test will be found in 

 the White Golden Gate. But let me give 

 you our estimate of the qualities which a 

 rose should possess in order to be a com- 

 mercial florist's rose. It is very difficult 

 to name in order of importance the 

 many necessary elements; but if it had 

 every other qualification and was a shy 

 bloomer it would be utterly worthless to 

 the commercial grower. I do not believe 

 we ought to go outside of the strictly 

 pure tea rose unless we are compelled to 

 do so. Almost every hybrid tea retains 

 too much of the spirit of rest which 

 flows in the Iilnnd nf the hybrid perpet- 

 ual. T^ii til,. (,.;, ir.^c is like you west- 

 ern floii-i,, \,iii liiiMl.Ts of the Universe, 

 you acii\.. pioiii .■^-ivc elements of our 

 profes>i,,ii. In Hliniii 1 h.iv come 800 

 miles tc. itiiikr iii\ K,iv\ ^^.ll^ Reinbergs 

 and Ba--rii~ •ni.j W:i-I,I,mi iis. your Wiet- 

 ors and Wrilaii.U, aii.l llio himdreds of 

 otliers who within a decade have piled 

 more florists' glass over the earth than 



can be found east of the Alleghanies. 

 Like you western florists, the tea rose 

 never rests, and should be your hand- 

 maiden. 



But to return to our estimate of the 

 necessary qualifications of a white rose, 

 and they are freedom of bloom, good 

 shipping and keepirtg qualities, thick 

 leathery petals, erect long stems, large 

 flowers the year through, rapid but not 

 soft growth, freedom from black spot, 

 strong root action, fragrance, good color, 

 no hybrid blood in its veins. These are 

 the general and most important require- 

 ments, and they are rarely to be met 

 with assembled in any one variety. 

 Some of the most necessary of these 

 qualifications can only be discovered by 

 an investigation of the growing plant, 

 by personal inspection and custody of 

 flower and plant for a long period of 

 time. Consequently in a competitive 

 exhibit the scale of points fails to cover 

 such vital commercial elements as the 

 keeping and shipping quality, freedom of 

 bloom, habit of growth, freedom from 

 disease. 



From the commercial standpoint free- 

 dom nf h1onm would scorn to be entitled 

 to llir 111. 1-1 |M.inl-. Willi keeping and 

 shi|i|.|ii'j .|ii,iliiir. a .1,1-0 second. And 

 tills l.iin.j. 111.. 1,1 III,. |.,iiTit of emphasiz- 

 ini; III.. II.... ..-in ..| .-l.i-.. ,-ibservation of 



th,. .ji..,\iii- |il.iii. wli.ii forming judg- 

 mciii ..1 a ii..\,.l!\ I,.-.. Take for illus- 

 trali.ui 111., -.al,. ..i ii.iiiits formulated 

 by tlic Anipvieaii Rose Society for nov 

 cities: Size, 10: color, 20; "stem. 15, 



10; foliage, 15; fragrance, 5; 

 distinctiveness, 10; total, 100. As a 

 commercial grower of roses under glass 

 for cut flowers we will suppose the fact 

 is proven to you that a certain novelty 

 produces twice as many flowers during 

 the period from December 15 to Febru- 

 ary 15 as American Beauty, but that it 

 is neither more fragrant nor better col- 

 ored, but is simply equal to American 

 Beauty in all respects. I ask why those 

 two elements should be allotted 15 

 points? Why in a white rose should 

 color be assigned 20 points? This might 

 be a correct proportion of points of color 

 ill irjard to pink or red or yellow, but 

 III. line of demarcation in white is not 

 I |ii.iiiounced characteristic. When the 

 Minuet sported into Bride what gov- 

 erned your judgment? Would anybody 

 have grown Bride if it had been a shy 

 bloomer? and yet that quality did not 

 figure in the scale of points. It, there 

 fore, seems as though the judges should 

 not be barred from using their judg- 

 ment, nor be compelled to pro rate the 

 percentages according to a fixed stand- 

 ard. 



The consideration of the Bride lo.ids 

 inevitably to the great distinction thai 

 -Iiiiiilil li'i' made between a seedling and 

 i -|.<.ri, ..-]ii.i'ially if the sport is from a 



I lanl 1 uiiimercial variety of many 



\.'ai-' -tan. ling whose every good and 

 bad characteristic is known to the pio- 

 fession. In the case of a seedling many 

 of the defects may be concealed by the 

 introducer. He may succeed in winning 

 the whole gamut of gold and silver med- 

 als and certificates, and yet pain: upon 

 the purchaser a very unprofitable rose. 

 The size, color, fragrance, stem, form, 

 substance, foliage and distinctiveness 

 may be of perfect standards, and thris 

 j-ieid 100 on the scale of points, bjr, 

 where will the grower be if the product 

 of fiowers is of the smallest? or the 

 sleepy jade cannot be roused by any 

 stimulating influences in winter; or if 

 black spot skins off the 100 per cent of 

 grand foliage, leaving nothing but the 

 100 per cent flower at 'Jii eed of the 

 100 per cent stem? 



Not so, however, with a sport from a 

 standard variety, such as 1 have tlluded 

 to. Vou start out with a thorougli 

 knowledge of all its traits l)Oth good and 

 1 ad Thus we know that the Bride, like 

 i^s parent, produces a very small flower 

 during the month of May and to Novem- 

 ber; that it has a tendency to produce 

 weak stems and much blind wood, ttc. 

 So with the White Golden (Jato, it has 

 the characteristics of the Golden Gate 

 from which it sported five years ago; 

 and those of you who grow Golden Gate 

 know its qualities, both good and bad. 



Perhaps a few historical words about 

 Golden Gate, its characteristics, etc., 

 may interest you. Golden Gate was in- 

 troduced to the trade, I think, about 

 1890 or 1891, by Dingee & Conard of 

 West Grove, Pa. It is said to have come 

 out of Safrano crossed with Cornelia 

 Cook, although there are some --'igges- 

 tions in the foliage of NiphetDs' blood. 

 The characteristics of Cornelia Cook 

 predominate in nearly every element cf 

 growth and bloom, although it lepro- 

 duccs much more rapidly than its i)ar- 

 cnt. 



It has a strong tendency to break 

 from the base and these canes, if al- 

 lowed to bloom unchecked, produce enor- 

 mous flowers. For many years, however, 

 we have treated these growths as you 

 would a mum. When the shoot has 

 reachcil a height of about thirty inohi-s 



