3i8 



THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



[October, 



depraved, — could attend its meetings without be- 

 coming not only a better pomologist, but also a 

 better man and Christian. 



The work which our Society assumed was im- 

 mense. It required a great Society to carry it on. 

 A great amount of time, labor, and treasure has 

 been expended in bringing it to its present flourishing 

 condition; but however great tlie labors performed, 

 and the sacrifices made in behalf of our Society, 

 not one regrets them, but all rejoice that they 

 have had a share in promoting a work so bene- 

 ficent in its design, and in perpetuating it for the 

 comfort and happiness of mankind. 



That the Society's mission for the future will be 

 not less beneficial is hardly to be doubted, built 

 upon so solid a foundation as it is. It will con- 

 tinue and complete the reform in nomenclature 

 just commenced. As the laws that govern cross- 

 fertilization become better and better understood, 

 it is not improbable that the most desirable types 

 and strains of fruits will become more firmly 

 established, resulting in the diminution of the 

 number of varieties, and the perpetuation of only 

 those best adapted to our various climates and 

 soils. The special aim of the Society should be 

 to enlist in its active membership all the best 

 elements of our country, and to form, as far as 

 possible, a closer relation with all existing State 

 Pomological or Fruit Growers' Societies. 

 (To be concluded in next issue.) 



FLORISTS' CONVENTION NOTES. 



BY EDWIN LONSDALE. 



I. 



Philadelphia is selected for the next convention. 



Mr. C. L. Allen, of Garden City, N. Y., said 

 that plants reason, think and feel. 



Mr. Robert Craig, of Philadelphia, wonders 

 what the rose Andre Schwartz thought when 

 the florists who were so unfortunate as to have it 

 on their hands were frowning on it. 



Mr. Charles Henderson, Jersey City Heights, 

 says that the dormant rose plants received from 

 Georgia last autumn did not prove satisfactory, 

 most of them dying during the winter after being 

 potted. The cause was the unripe condition of 

 the wood. If a position could be selected and 

 secured where the soil is comparatively dry and 

 poor, and the same success attend the rooting 

 of the cuttings in the latter case as in the former, 

 and the ripening process be thoroughly accom- 

 plished, there would be a lucrative rose trade 

 diverted from Europe to our own sunny South. 



Mr. Robert Craig, of Philadelphia, says there is 



no question about the superiority of the Bennett 

 over any other red rose, and it will eventually, 

 and that very soon, supersede the Duke, Pierre 

 Guillott and Jacqueminot. 



Mr. Robert J. Halliday, of Baltimore, says he 

 will admit that Bennett is a good rose, but when 

 the Duke is handled right he wants nothing better. 



Mr. Walter W. Coles, Claymont, Del., declares 

 that the Duke paid him better last winter than 

 any other rose that he grew ; that is, he realized 

 more money from a given space planted with the 

 Duke than from the same amount of space planted 

 with any other variety. Mr. Coles' plan of grow- 

 ing the Duke is to give it lighter soil than is used 

 generally for other varieties, and it should contain 

 at least one-half manure. Temperature is an im- 

 portant factor in the production of good Dukes ; 

 iqO higher at night than is generally used for such 

 as Catherine Mermets, may be advantageous. 



Mr. John Burton, Chestnut Hill, Philada., is 

 of the opinion that steam possesses no advantages 

 over a well constructed hot- water apparatus for 

 heating greenhouses. With him there is no differ- 

 ence in the consumption of fuel, and if his advice 

 were solicited as to which was the best system to 

 use in a large new range of houses the toss up of 

 a penny would decide the question. 



A. B. Fowler, of Exeter, N. H., says, " Heads ! 

 steam wins ; tails ! water loses. When steam is 

 not more economical than water for heating green- 

 houses, all other things being equal, the trouble is 

 generally found to be in the draft." 



The painting by Mrs. Duffield of the rose Her 

 Majesty was flashed on the convention by Mr. 

 May at the conclusion of his practical and excel- 

 lent essay on " The Rose," and it created a sensa- 

 tion. This rose may be described as enormous in 

 size, excellent in form, and pleasing in color. 



Mr. John Henderson, who it is reported had 

 said on a former occasion, that he had been well 

 repaid for his trip to London after seeing blooms 

 of Her Majesty, said here that the picture did not 

 do the rose justice (this the distinguished artist 

 admits herself), for, said Mr. H., the coloring is 

 somewhat defective, being too dark, and the pur- 

 ple shading at the lower part of the flower has no 

 place in the rose itself. Such unstinted praise as 

 this distinguished rosarian bestows on Her Ma- 

 jesty places it beyond a doubt as the foremost 

 rose of any age, and one that has undoubtedly 

 come to stay. From its extraordinary strong 

 growth, no person would suspect its origin. It is 

 a cross between Mabel Morrison and Tea Canori. 

 The disseminators would be justified, from its 



