340 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



AUGUST 23, 1900. 



cess for cleaning, firing, etc.; to 

 Hitrliings & Co., New Yorli, for cast 

 iron tubular boilerNo. 16; to D. B. 

 Long, Buffalo, for photographs and 

 florists' printing; to Robt. Kift. Phila., 

 for Kift's adjustable vase holders. 



Tuesday Evening. 



The first evening of the great con- 

 vention passed away and left nothing 

 behind but the most pleasant memo- 

 ries. It was an Ideal event, every fea- 

 ture of which reflected the ambition 

 of the New York Florists' Club to 

 leave nothing undone in order to ac- 

 complish the successful inauguration 

 of the greatest convention, floricultu- 

 rally and horticulturally speaking, 

 ever held on the continent of Amer- 

 ica. 



The most fertile imagination can- 

 not picture a more impressively beau- 

 tiful scene than that which was pre- 

 sented when President Wood, sur- 

 rounded by a bevy of beautiful wom- 

 en, stood shaking the hands of the 

 hundreds, nay, almost thousands, who 

 pressed on, apparently proud of the 

 privilege of being considered a mem- 

 ber of the S. A. F. The convention 

 hall was a human beehive of enthusi- 

 asm. Every one seemed anxious to 

 have the pleasure of an introduction 

 and this feature and its attendant re- 

 wards, to quote the remarks of many, 

 was alone well worth the long jour- 

 neys and sacrifices made by those 

 present from distant points. Men who 

 had been busy staging exhibits during 

 the day were, as it were, in a few 

 hours, transformed into perfect mod- 

 els of Beau Brummels. It at times 

 looked as if it were a gathering of 

 New York's 400, and well it might be, 

 for prettier women and handsomer 

 men it would be difficult to find. 



President Wood conducted the af- 

 fair in a very able way and all were 

 delighted with his reception. 



Mr. Robert Kift was afterwards in- 

 troduced and delivered his lecture on 

 decorative art. Mr. Kift handled the 

 subject as very few are able to. His 

 observations were both witty and in- 

 structive. The views of decorations 

 shown represented the works of some 

 of the best floral artists in the coun- 

 try. Never before were so many beau- 

 tiful designs shown and we congratu- 

 late Mr. Kift on giving the society one 

 of the greatest treats and most in- 

 structive lectures ever given before 

 it. 



Wednesday Morning. 



The reports of the exhibition judges 

 were read and J. D. Carmody read his 

 paper on greenhouse construction, 

 previously announcing that it was no 

 laughing matter and that the subject 

 would be treated with great solemnity. 



The selection of the place of meet- 

 ing for next year promised to result 

 in a warm contest between Buffalo 

 and Chicago, but before a ballot was 

 taken, Mr. Rudd, on behalf of Chicago, 

 withdrew the claims of the latter city, 



and Buffalo was made the unanimous 

 choice of the convention. 



The proposed amendment to the 

 constitution to strike out the words 

 "And Ornamental Horticulturists" 

 failed to receive the required two- 

 thirds vote and was therefore not 

 adopted. The discussion on the rose 

 was opened by E. G. Hill, as follows: 



THE ROSE. 



Bv E. G. Hill. 



My nomijiation to this function, 1 be- 

 lieve, is at the instance of the members 

 of the Rose Society of America. I con- 

 sider it a double honor to be thus chosen 

 and permitted the privilege of opening 

 this particular discussion before our Na- 

 tional Society. As time is precious, what 

 I say must necessarily be brief. 



The rose as grown in American gar- 

 dens, and the same tlower as cultivated 

 under our American forcing methods, are 

 two quite distinct phases of this im- 

 portant subject. 



In order that the rose may rise to its 

 proper place in American gardens — 

 a place similar to that which it holds on 

 the continent of Europe and in England 

 —it is absolutely necessary that it may 

 be freed from the dread fungous disease 

 known as "black spot," which so crip- 

 ples it in America, but which is practic- 

 ally unknown across the water. It is to 

 be sincerely hoped that some heroic rem- 

 edy, or some preventive measure, may 

 be found which is as yet unknown to 

 practical rose growers. B.v rose growers 

 1 mean both amateurs and professionals. 



The rose as seen and grown in Europe 

 is quite different from its development in 

 this country. Abroad you may see roses 

 at every turn, in every door-yard, grow- 

 ing in the healthiest and most luxurious 

 fashion. These very same varieties 

 growing in our northern states, in all 

 save a few favored localities, look like 

 mere ghosts of their prototypes in Eu- 

 rope. This is noted by all who have had 

 opportunity to compare growths as seen 

 on the two continents. 



I hold that in order to popularize the 

 rose, and to give it the supreme place 

 that it deserves in our gardens, a rem- 

 edy must be found for the fungous 

 growth referred to, and which has played 

 with such destructive force upon our 

 rose stocks. When I was a young man 

 I well remember with what vigor and 

 luxuriance old varieties like Malmaison. 

 Giant of Battles, Mme. Laffay, Bourbon 

 Queen, and a host of others, grew and 

 flourished; but it is no longer so. Even 

 these old varieties, at the present day, 

 are only shadows of their former selves. 

 If this remedy cannot be found which 

 shall restore our out-door roses to perfect 

 vigor, then we must breed a new race that 

 shall prove immune from the dr.?ad dis- 

 ease. This same disease was not many 

 years since a serious menace to our 

 indoor-grown forcing roses, but at the 

 present time where black spot is preva- 

 lent it is generally conceded to be due to 

 incorrect culture and improper methods. 



This is the situation as now presented, 

 whether we relish the fact or not. We 

 may ask in all seriousness, what has 

 caused this remarkable deterioration in 

 the growth and vigor of our garden 

 roses? Are our indoor-propagated roses 

 responsible for a lack of vitality suffici- 

 ent to withstand the disease? Are our 

 under-glass methods of propagation re- 

 sponsible for the enfeebling of the rose? 

 Your speaker waits for an answer. 



What we want in this country are va- 

 rieties of roses that shall flourish and 

 bloom as do La France, Mme. Testout, 

 Mme. Jules Grolez, L'Innocence. Prest. 

 Caruot, and the like, in France and Eng- 

 land. 



If it is necessary to breed a distinct 

 class of roses for our country, whither 

 shall we turn— to what section of the 

 family shall we look for the sturdy par- 

 ents? In the Rugosa section notable ad- 

 vance has been made by European rais- 

 ers and possibly we may tind varieties 

 adapted to American climatic conditions 



along this hne as the work progresses. 

 In the section of Rugosa Hybrids we 

 have Mme. Georges Bruant, Blanc Dou- 

 ble du Courbet, Souv. Pierre Cochet, and 

 I noted in the garden of Victor Lemoine, 

 two sorts, the result of crossing Tea 

 Varieties with the Rugosa; one of these 

 was a beautiful bright pink in color, and 

 M. Emile Lemoine stated that it flowered 

 continuously; the other quite as attrac- 

 tive but blooming only once a year. 



In the gardens of Mr. P. Lambert, of 

 Trier, of Soupert and Notting of Luxem- 

 burg, as well as in many others of both 

 commercial and private rosarians, this 

 work of experiment in the Rugosa sec- 

 tion progresses, and something of note in 

 beauty, vigor and hardiness is sure to 

 develop, and it may be that we are just 

 on the eve of having placed in our hands 

 a class, a set, a type which shall prove 

 the nucleus of a new race that shall in- 

 augurate a new era in the cultivation of 

 roses In our gardens. In this connection 

 we must not forget the two novel devel- 

 opments of M. Bruant, Fee Opal and 

 Rosa Belle: these were obtained from, 

 crosses of the Tea section with the old 

 variety Fortune's Yellow. I saw them In 

 bloom and am glad to testify that they 

 were strikingly beautiful. 



Probably the most noteworthy results 

 of the.se recent experiments is M. J. Per- 

 net's Soleil d'Or. which was obtained by 

 crossing the Persian Yellow and the H. 

 P. Antoine Ducher. This variety is dis- 

 tinct enough to merit the type name of 

 Pernettiana as bestowed upon it by the 

 raiser. 



"\\'hile recognizing the good work of our 

 friends across the water, we must not 

 forget to commend also the efforts of 

 our own hybridizers, who are also exper- 

 imenting on the line of the hardier types, 

 Messrs. Walsh, Manda, Dawson and oth- 

 ers. 



A more widespread effort in this partic- 

 ular lino of work should be inaugurated 

 over our own country': we need more 

 Ramblers, equaling the Crimson and in 

 different tints and colors: these can cer- 

 tainly be had bv proper and systematic 

 effort. 



To sum up: We must make an earnest 

 effort to either free our roses for garden 

 purposes from the blighting effects of 

 black fungous; or we must, with intelli- 

 gence and energy, seek to form and build 

 up a new race of roses by crossing the 

 hardier species with our present highly 

 developed Tea and Hybrid Tea varieties. 

 American hybridists must keep in mind 

 the haroy, vigorous characteristics re- 

 •juired by varieties that are to succeed 

 in our climate, nor stay their efforts until 

 the new type is produced; the reward 

 will be ample. 



Regarding new sorts for forcing pur- 

 poses: we need new colors in forcing va- 

 rieties — say like Gen. Jacq., or Rodocan- 

 achi, or a variety with a tint and fra- 

 grance of a Marechal Niel combined with 

 the fine practical qualities of Bride or 

 Bridesmaid; a fortune awaits the pro- 

 ducer of such a rose, and if you will al- 

 low prophecy, I will venture to predict 

 that vrithin a very few years we shall 

 have roses rivaling Am. Beauty. Bride 

 and Maid, but covering a good range of 

 color. The speaker h.as no knowledge of 

 such undisseminated novelties being in 

 existence at the present moment, but 

 with the number of workers in the tield, 

 and the crying need of such varieties ap- 

 I'larent to every rose-forcer, they are cer- 

 tainly among the probabilities. 



In conclusion: I believe that the Amer- 

 ican Rose Society will prove the instru- 

 ment that shall revolutionize the status 

 of the rose, and that will make plain to 

 the rose-grower, professional and ama- 

 teur.the needs of the rose from our 

 American standpoint, and with this hope 

 in view, may I not ask — and urge — that 

 you give to this young and growing so- 

 ciety your name and your helpful en- 

 couragement and support. 



WednesJay Evening. 



The paper by Prof. Galloway was 

 read as follows: 



