46 



jouknaij of horticulture and cottage gardener. 



[ JaDoar; IS, 1887. 



the experience of others in the next Number of the Journal. 

 —A. B. A. 



[We shall be mnch oblifieJ by the future notes you offer ; and 

 Tve shall also be obliged by notes from other correspondents on 

 the effects of the intense cold. — Eds.] 



NOTES OF AND ABOUT ROSES. 



{Continued irom patfc 3.) 



3. FnExcn Roses with English Names. — When a French 

 grower obtains a good Rose from his seed-plots, which, accord- 

 ing to his own estimate of it, he describes as " Variite extra, 

 superhe, tres hellc, rrmayquahle , liors liijne," &c., it is, of course, 

 offered for sale as soon as a stock of it has been propagated ; but 

 it is too often the case that others inferior to it in all points, and 

 therefore not desirable, are sent out with it, coupled with the 

 flattering but deceptive descriptions for which the French lan- 

 guage affords gi-eat faciUties. This is an especial failing of an 

 eminent Paris nurseryman, which cannot be otherwise than 

 detrimental to his reputation ; for although we are indebted to 

 him for some of the best Roses in cultivation, his best produc- 

 tions have been, for some years past, invariably accompanied 

 ■with others that have proved worthless and disappointing. 

 There is an old French proverb which runs thus — " On wit d'lin 

 autre (ril que ne voit aon prvclmin." If we loosely interpret 

 this to mean " Each one takes his own view of the matter," 

 and accept it as a truism, we must make allowance accordingly ; 

 but there remain some obstinate facts, such as were shown in 

 the previous communication. 



Many of these inferior kinds have English names attached 

 to them ; they are, therefore, sure to attract attention in this 

 country. There can be no wish to depreciate the politesse of 

 onr French friends; we readily acknowledge the distinction 

 they pride themselves on, of being the most polite people in 

 the world; but can we receive with a good grace compliments 

 that have a tinge of the ridiculous, and, as intimated by one of 

 onr oldest rosarians, accompanied with an " nrrierepensce," 

 connected with the sale of the varieties to which we find honoured 

 and respected names affixed, but which on trial we cast aside 

 with a feeling of vexation, or something stronger ? 



A perusal of the French lists for the five years, lS(31-.5. will 

 afford sufficient evidence of this. From them I glean the 

 following, with the names of the raisers : — 



KfSES. MISrE. 



James Dickson Eugene Verdier. 



Richard Wraith 



Mrs. Charles Wood " 



.lames MitchelUMoss) " 



John Cranston (Moss) 



George Paul ' ' ' " 



John Nasmith " 



Souvenir de William Wood V.'.V. .'.'. " 



Rushton Kadclyile !!!..!! " 



John Keynes . '. '* 



William Bull '.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'. " 



I am not certain that M. Eugrne Verdier is the raiser of the 

 last two ; he had, however, a share in the " edition." 



Robert Fortune Ducher. 



Princess Aliee 



William Paul [['Ill]]] Guiiiot pere. 



Mrs. Freeman 



Souvenir do Ladv Eardley .'!.'..".'.'!!!! " 



Mrs. William Paul Charles Verdier. 



John Fraser (Moss) Granger 



.John Standish. Trouillard. 



Reynolds Hole 



Mrs. Standish !!!.'."!!!!!!]! " 



The last two I believe were sent out by Mr. Standish. 



Peter Lawson Thomas 



John Veitch ;;;;;; Lcveque ot ms. 



Kev. H. Dombrain Margottin. 



JohnWaterer Portemer. 



Arthur Young (Moss) 



Henry Mnrtiu (Moss) !!!!!!.*! " 



Viscountess Douglas '.V.'.V. Gonod. 



Deuil de Prince Albert " ." " 



Lady Emily Peel .'.'.'.'.'.■.'.' Laciiarme. 



Charles Wood Portemer fils. 



I have taken the liberty of substituting the dear old Saxon 

 " Mrs.'[ for Madame, believing that the worthy ladies repre- 

 sented in the above hst, being Britons, are not ashamed of their 

 native laud. 



Of the thirty-one above named three only are in Mr. Kad- 

 clyffe's list of the best Roses— viz., Mrs. Charles Wood, Mrs. 

 W. Paul, and Rushton Eadclyffe. Tbe last, although worthy 

 of the place assigned to it as a ffrst-class flower, is, to my great 



regret, a failure here from defect of constitution, and, like 

 Gloire de Santenay, Furtado, and Franvois Lacharme, must be 

 given up in soils not naturally suitable for Roses. 



It would be an injustice to omit any honourable exception to 

 the majority of the French Rose-growers as regards the num- 

 ber and quality of their productions : M. Charles Verdier has 

 sent out but few Roses from his establishment, bat these have 

 in nearly every case proved to be of great merit. Besides Mrs. 

 W. Paul, above mentioned, we are indebted to him for Duchesse 

 de Caylus, Vicomte Vigier, and Francois Lacharme, as noticed 

 in the previous paper ; his announcement of Paul Verdier for 

 the next season may, therefore, be anticipated with some de- 

 gree of confidence. 



Of the remaining twenty-eight varieties there are three others 

 that may be considered deserving a place in the rosery, their 

 habit and colour being good ; but their form is not up to the 

 standard now raised so high by such flowers as Lord Macaulay, 

 Chabrillant, Senateur Vaisse, Madame Victor Verdier, Duchesse 

 de Cavlus, and others. These are .John Keynes, Charles Wood, 

 and Viscountess Douglas ; the last is surpassed by others of 

 its colour. 



The others can be disposed of in a few words. Peter Lawson 

 is fine of colour, but too often shows a yellow " eye." Mrs. 

 Standish is a pretty light rose, but uncertain, and only opens 

 well in favourable seasons. Reynolds Hole is a pardonable 

 mistake ; let us hope that our amiab.le and respected rosarian 

 may soon have a lopresentative wortby of him in the Queen of 

 Flowers, to whose interests he is so loyal and true. 



Bourbon Roses are not in very high favour as a class, always 

 excepting Malmaison, Acidalie, Baron Gonella, and to which 

 may be added, with a slight qualification, Louise Margottin, or 

 Madame de Stella, Celine Gonod, Sir Joseph Paxton, and Rev. 

 H. Dombrain, the last two being the best of their colour' in the 

 class with English names, or any name. 



Moss Roses are too rarely seen either in the garden or on 

 the exhibition table; yet, what more beautiful than the old 

 Crimson and its variety called Lanei? In tbe above list are 

 five Moss Roses. Is there any one between Land's End and 

 John o'Groat's house who knows anything about them ? It 

 woiild be a waste of space to offer any comment on the others 

 given in the list, although they represent names most distin- 

 guished in English horticulture. 



i. NosiENCL.O'UEE — Abcse OF Tekms. — It is quite reason- 

 able that the raiser of any new variety ot flower should assign 

 to it such a distiuctive name as his fancy or interest in- 

 clines. Generally the appellatives given to English flowers are 

 well-selected and short ; for, undoubtedly, short names are the 

 best and easiest to be remembered. When we turn to the 

 nomenclature of French Roses we often find the opposite of 

 brevity, in some instances no less than six words being used to 

 designate a single variety. We cannot complain of the grand 

 array of princes, dukes, duchesses, marshals, generals, and 

 other high and mighty personages when they represent known 

 and distinguished individuals ; but we do stumble over such 

 appellations as Souvenir de la Reiue d'Angleterre, Triomphe 

 dela Terre des Roses, Souvenir de Bemardin de St. Pierre, La 

 Baronno Pelletan de Kinkelin, and which when uttered by those 

 unacquainted with theFrench language haveaverj'odd and even 

 ludicrous effect ; still more so the contractions very often and 

 naturally applied to those lengthy designations for which our 

 French neighbours appear to have an especial aptitude. I know 

 of an instance whicli afforded me much amusement when it 

 occurred. An honest, hard-working, but somewhat illiterate 

 gardener in this neighbourhood, whose ideas of orthography 

 are rather misty when any departure from the strictly phonetic 

 principle is observed. Labels his Roses for his own and others' 

 recoguilion. When the name is copied from a catalogue all 

 goes on rightly enough ; but a catalogue not being always at 

 hand, our friend is left to the resources of his own memory. 

 Some very curious derangements are the consequence. The 

 instance that amused me was the well-known General Jacque- 

 minot, which was marked General Jaek-me-uot, the syllables 

 being distinctly separated. It is very usual to recognise that 

 Rose about here as " General Jack," Charles Lefebvre as 

 " Charley," and Jules Margottin as " Old Jewels." Mr. Rad- 

 clyffe knows similar cases, I believe. What Xavier Olibo will 

 become it is not easy to guess, unless, as "D., Deal," conjec- 

 tures, " Holybones." 



These cases are simply absurd, but not altogether unnatural, 

 nor inexcusable. Much more deserving of notice, in my 

 opinion, is the abuse of a term that has now been many years 

 applied — I mean the teim Perpetual, as used to designate what 



