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H O R T I C U L T U R i: 



December 21, 1907 



REMARKS ON ROSES 



Before the Chicago Florists' Club, 

 by E. G. Hill. 



Your secretary did not state what 

 particular phase of the rose question 

 I was expected to discuss, whether the 

 raising of new varieties, the general 

 culture of roses, or to discuss some- 

 what the coming exhibition of the Na- 

 tional Rose Society which will shortly 

 occur in your city. Hence my apology 

 for the present somewhat discursive ef- 

 fort. 



"Anything new in roses?" Is a ques- 

 tion propounded much more frequently 

 now than a few years ago, especially 

 by the rose growers of our counti-y, 

 and the same question is asked with 

 even more interest in Europe. 



The rose growers charge the retail 

 store men with being more largely re- 

 sponsible than themselves for the 

 seeming indifference towards new va- 

 rieties, and in this there is undoubt- 

 edly a considerable degree of truth, 

 and it must be confessed a large num- 

 ber of florists — growers — hold the same 

 view. In the light shed on the mat- 

 ter of novelty by the milliner, the silk 

 manufacturer, the dry goods man, and 

 in fact by all the vendors of apparel, 

 ornament and furniture, it is a wonder 

 that we of the florist profession should 

 have been the reactionaries in the mat- 

 ter of novelty in roses, but we still 

 have to admit that such has been our 

 past record. It was a leading society 

 lady in an Eastern city who gave ut- 

 terance to the protest against being 

 compelled to use Bride, Maid or Beau- 

 ty for her frequent functions; this was 

 only too true and the lady in question 

 simply voiced the general complaint 

 concerning the world's pre-eminent 

 flower, the rose. A change has taken 

 place and new varieties are given a 

 very different reception from that ac- 

 corded a few years ago. It is well for 

 the rose that such is the case, else the 

 carnation would have continued its 

 triumphal march to the point of dis- 

 puting leadership with the rose. 



Believing that a radical change has 

 taken place and that novelty in roses 

 is being sought, the question arises — 

 will we be able to meet reasonable ex- 

 pectations and can we provide new va- 

 rieties so as to meet this greater inter- 

 est; the answer is in the affirmative 

 and it is a pleasure to record that a 

 considerable number of workers are 

 endeavoring by hybridization and cross 

 fertilization to give to the rose loving 

 public new forms and types. 



So many qualities have to be present 

 in a variety that lays claim to favor as 

 a forcing variety that the progress 

 made will seem slow, but nevertheless 

 it is within the range of possibility to 

 gain entirely new and unique colors 

 and forms. 



I believe with Robert Simpson, the 

 present President of the Rose Society, 

 that the forcing roses of the future will 

 come largely from an admixture of 

 Rose Indlca with the present Hybrid 

 Perpetual; in fact, do not the Hybrid 

 Teas bear witness to this prophecy? 

 Still, the strong old Bourbon varieties, 

 like Gloire des Rosomanes. shoild be 

 made to furnish their rich scarlet tones 

 to the newer sorts. Our task is to 

 breed into the Tea varieties the 

 strength, vigor, length of stem, and 

 the finer dark sh.ides found among the 



HocsE OF Crotons. — Robert Craig Company. 



Hybrid Perpetuals, using the Tea sec- 

 tion in order to secure freedom in flow- 

 ering; the varieties of the future will 

 not be the result of a single cross be- 

 tween the two sections named, but will 

 be the result of patient interbreeding 

 extending through a series of years. I 

 would not say that here and there a 

 desirable new variety may not make 

 its appearance as a result of a hap- 

 hazard cross, but to get at definite re- 

 sults careful note must be made of the 

 qualities present in the progeny and 

 then seek to breed those missing 

 qualities into future seedlings. 



We must not forget that Rosa Indica 

 is the one class that is to furnish the 

 foundation for all our forcing varieties 

 and this is on account of its continuity 

 of bloom. No matter how fine a rose 

 or what the length or tint of petal, un- 

 less It has the inherent power to pro- 

 duce buds and flowers freely it will 

 prove practically valueless. We have 

 every reason to hope that we may yet 

 possess the Ideal from the careful 

 crossing of the H. P. and the Tea. We 

 have Richmond, Chatenay, Liberty, 

 Killarney, all undoubtedly from this 

 source, hence it is within reason to 

 hope for others in this particular line. 



"The new varieties appearing will per- 

 haps require more careful or at least 

 different cultural treatment from that 

 given our present forcing varieties. 

 The new sorts will require study; per- 

 haps some will thrive best grafted on 

 certain stocks, or will do best in cer- 

 tain soils; a case in point is the va- 

 riety Killarney. It was Ben Dorrance 

 who discovered the peculiarities of 

 this variety and who brought it into 

 its present prominence, so it would be 

 well to give the new varieties a careful 

 trial before putting them aside. My 

 conviction is that we have much to 

 learn in regard to right cultural con- 

 ditions. I am inclined to think that 

 perhaps other valuable varieties have 

 been lost sight of by their not having 

 had proper cultural treatment. We 

 know that to grow American Beauty 

 successfully requires the application of 



good cultural skill and very often this 

 variety fails to give best results in the 

 hands of the most skilful growers. 

 Great progress has been made in im- 

 proved methods of culture and you 

 have some notable examples in this 

 line in your own vicinity. I mention 

 the cultural side of the question in 

 order to show how important it is in 

 order that new introductions may not 

 be condemned too hastily. 



Some fairly successful rose men in- 

 veigh against Killarney and Richmond 

 because they cannot do them success- 

 fully, and it is only the fine showing 

 made by a majority of our best grow- 

 ers that has given them the position 

 they deserve: each new rose must be 

 studied and results carefully noted, be- 

 fore its cultural requirements can be 

 known: it is infinitely easier to master 

 the peculiarities of two or three sorts, 

 drop down into a rut with them and 

 run along comfortably, than to experi- 

 ment, and fail, and try again; experi- 

 mental work is seldom comfortable 

 work, but buyers demand novelty and 

 variety, and there is nothing for it but 

 for us to take off our coats and get 

 down to hard work. 



INCORPORATED. 



Lakeview Rose Gardens, Jamestown, 

 Va.; A. N. Broadhead, N. A. Broad- 

 head, W. A. Bradshaw; capital, $50,000. 



VISITORS IN NEW YORK. 



Phil. Breitmeyer and son Harry of 

 Detroit, Mich. 



^\'e have just received from Arthur 

 I. Veseelius, floral artist, Paterson, N. 

 J., a most beautiful calendar for 1908. 

 consisting of reproductions in color of 

 four flower paintings by the celebrated 

 flower artist, Paul de Longpre, viz., 

 lilacs and violets, American Beauty 

 roses, daisies and golden rod, and poin- 

 settias. These pictures will be given 

 a place in any home, even the most ex- 

 clusive, and will no doubt prove a po- 

 tent advertisement for Mr. Veseelius. 



