438 



JOCBNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



C December 12, 1867. 



without protection from spring frosts ; but in the case of the 

 Gooseberry or Currant trees, their neater appearance, and the 

 greater ease with which they can be protected from birds, will 

 go far to atone for any slight shortcoming there may be in 

 productiveness. 



The term "cordon training" seems to me to be not a 

 little vague ; perhaps this impression may be the result of 

 ignorance on my part, if so it would be a benefit to many 

 besides myself if some one thoroughly acquainted with the 

 subject were to point out what particular styles of training are 

 included under this name ; or, in other words, draw a cordon 

 round what really are cordons, and explain how the import of 

 the word can warrant its use in describing alike pyramid Pear 

 trees in pots ; Peach trees trained obliquely in single, double, or 

 triple file ; Pear and Apple trees fan-shaped, spiral, and espalier, 

 on walls, or on trellises. The cordon has become quite a house- 

 hold word with the ladies throughout the country, and it is very 

 awkward when asked questions about it to have to confess that 

 we really know little about it distinct from what we have known 

 and been practising for years in the case of our older modes of 

 trAining. — A\-rshibe Gakdenek. 



NEW ROSES. 



The invasion has taken place. Column after column (of 

 eatalogues), have taken the usual route, and landed on the 

 shores of "perfidious Albion." The same well-known com- 

 manders ; the same forces I fear, under different names, or 

 so little distinguished from those which have for so many years 

 disembarked here, that it would require an experienced regi- 

 mental eye to detect the difference in the facings ; the battalions 

 in some instances increased, but on the whole the effective 

 force not quite so strong as usual. Field Marshal Eugcue 

 Verdier with his twenty-three companies, doubtless leads the 

 van as far as numbers are concerned ; and Colonels Margottin, 

 Charles Verdier, LevCque, &o., take up their usual positions in 

 the Paris contingent. Then' up from Lyons, far towards the 

 sunny south, Guillot fils, Ducher, and others, take up their 

 position, and an imposing array, professedly friendly, stands 

 before us. And how does John Bull look at it ? Bless his old 

 heart 1 — why, he welcomes them with outstretched arms, fra- 

 ternises with their commanders, and receives the rank and file 

 into his warmest quarters. Already at Cheshunt and Colchester, 

 at Hereford and Salisbury, and other places too numerous to 

 mention, have the best houses been prepared for them, a plen- 

 tiful supply of fuel laid in, and everything done to make them 

 comfortable. It is of no use telling him, " You are a foolish 

 old fellow. These people have been over here before. They 

 have told you they were friends ; you have taken care of them, 

 nursed them when they were sick, housed them, and yet, after 

 eating your bread for twelve months, your anger has been 

 aroused, and you have had ignominiously to kick them out of 

 doors." " All very true," he says, " but these may be better ;" 

 and .John thinks it a fine thing to bo gulled. " It shows, sir, 

 I don't care about money — not like those mean foreigners, who 

 will haggle over a shilling. I like to be independent, and spend 

 my money freely. Besides, you know, I may find some good 

 fellow amongst what you call rubbish. And then, you know, I pay 

 them back in kind. My friend Jean Crapaud, over the water, 

 wants to know ' why the Dahlias, Pelargoniums, Fuchsias, 

 iSrc, which return the fraternal visit of the Koses, are so much 

 like their predecessors. Why will they not be honest ? And 

 if they are the same fellows let them say so ; but not come 

 blustering into Paris, be entertained as distinguished strangers, 

 and then after all be found out as the visitors of a year or two 

 ago, or so very like them that their best friends cannot dis- 

 tinguish them.' " So the mutual recriminations go on, and 

 perhaps I must honestly avow " that there is a good deal to be 

 said on both sides." 



I now commence my annual task of examining the lists of 

 new Eoses ; but I am sick of taking them in detail as I have 

 heretofore done. The task would indeed be somewhat more 

 difiicult this year ; for, whether intentionally or not, the lists 

 that have been published do not contain the names of the 

 growers, and one would have to search through the special 

 lists sent out by each grower before that could be done— a task 

 of which I may say that the results but poorly repay the 

 trouble. 



I was unable to visit Paris at the best time for seeing the 

 Eoses, and did not enjoy this year the opportunity of visiting 

 Lyons at all. I paid a visit in October to my honest old friend 



Margottin at Bourg-la-Eeine, and with him had a good chat 

 over the flower, of which I believe he knows more than any one 

 with whom I am acquainted. He has been so long engaged with 

 it, is so linked on to the bygone days when Hybrid Perpetuals 

 were unknown, is known so intimately to the raisers in France, 

 and is so honest and outspoken in his opinions, without the 

 least touch of envy of others, or mygeese-are-swans sort of 

 feeling, that it is always a great treat to enjoy his company. 

 At the late period of the year at which my visit was paid few 

 Eoses were to be seen ; but I did see blooms of his two, an3 

 heard his opinions of others. Like us all here, he deplores 

 the vast number that is every year sent forth only to perplex 

 and bewilder nurserymen and amateurs alike. At the same 

 time he says, " Don't let us condemn hastily ; a Eose may 

 really improve in the course of a year or two." " I never," he 

 said, "had the Eev. H. Dombrain so fine as this year; and 

 Beauty of Waltham was lovely also." Then he says a Eose 

 may be like another, but have nevertheless some better quality, 

 or as he neatly expressed it as to Madame Victor Verdier being 

 very like Senateur Vaisse, "Ce n'est pas une meilleure Rose, 

 c'est mi vteille^ir rosie7\" 



With regard to the Eoses of 1866, as far as I have been able . 

 to form an opinion, my prophetic judgment was not very far 

 out ; and by-the-by, I am very glad to find that after long 

 thinking about it, the Floral Committee of the Eoyal Horti- 

 cultural Society have come to the wise conclusion of considering 

 Eoses sent out in the twelve months, whether in France or 

 England, as belonging to that year. I advocated this two 

 years ago in the columns of a contemporary. The editors, 

 however, and my good friend Mr. Eadclyffe took sides against 

 me, and contended that Eoses sent out in the autumn of 1866 

 in France were not to he regarded as sent out here till 18G7. 

 I hope this same rule will be adopted at the shows, for it is 

 absurd to talk about stands of new Eoses. You get some four 

 or six of the really new ones, and the remainder is made up of 

 Eoses of the last two seasons. According to this new arrange- 

 ment we must look for, in our stands of new Eoses, only those 

 of last autumn and this. 



1S66 will not be noted as an annus mirabilis in the EosB- 

 grower's calendar. I did not think that it would, and the 

 result proves my judgment to have been correct. In one point 

 I hear that I am wrong. I thought very highly of Napoleon III. 

 when I saw it at M, Euguue Verdier's. I am told that it is 

 uncertain, and that it is an indifferent grower. I can only say 

 it seemed to be neither the one nor the other. As far as I can 

 see, the following Eoses aloue will "remain :" — Teas, Bouton 

 d'Or and Madame Margottin ; and Hybrid Perpetuals, Antoine 

 Ducher, Horace Vernet, and Mademoiselle Annie Wood. This 

 is strong cutting back from sixty varieties. I have heardmuch 

 of Comtesse de Jaucourt. It has been very much pufled up, 

 but not a single bloom of it have I seen exhibited, or have I 

 heard of any one who has seen it. Thorin may improve, at 

 present it wants a little more substance ; but cut about as 

 Eoses are, it is not fair to judge of them the first season. How 

 wonderfully, for instance, Lord Clyde and Princess Mary of 

 Cambridge improved from the first time they were exhibited ! 

 And so it may be with Thorin ; the colour is fast and good. 

 Madame Rival is like Auguste Mie, a splendid grower, but at 

 present I cannot say I think very much of it. Paul Verdier I 

 have not seen, but it is well spoken of. Of our English Roses 

 I have not been able to see much, but I believe that Mrs. Ward 

 will be a worthy compeer of John Hopper, and Mrs. John 

 Berners is an exquisitely shaped Eose. 



Of the Eoses which I have selected, Bouton d'Or is a charm- 

 ing little yellow Eose, very bright, and will be quite a jewel for 

 Mr. Standish, in purveying for the button-holes of the young 

 dandies at the West End ; it is so neat, so bright, and so charm- 

 ing in every way. Madame Margottin is a lovely Tea Eose, 

 dark yellow in colour, with a beautiful peach-coloured centre; 

 very full and beautiful. Antoine Ducher is a large purplish 

 rose flower, a seedling from Madame Domage, fine shape, large 

 petals, and an acquisition. Horace Vernet is one of the bright 

 Eoses, of robust habit, of a good colour, but at present inclined 

 with me to be a little rough. Mdlle. Annie Wood, I have 

 seen but two blooms of, but they wei-e beautiful, the shape ex- 

 quisite, the colour fresh and lively, somewhat, if I recollect 

 rightly, in the style of Olivier Delhomme, but likely to prove a 

 good Eose. So far for 18G6. 



And now for 1867. I honestly say that I do not expect very 

 mvich from it. Of the sixty-five which are advertised, I have 

 seen but four — two last year at Lyons, with Guillot fils, and 

 two this year with Margottin. But it must be remembered with 



