Juno 28, 1877. ] 



JODBNAL OP HOBTIODLTUBE AKD COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



479 



Buoh abase aa his. I was told when erecting them here that 

 the first high wind woald blow ont half the glass, and the 

 straight laps would allow the honso to be flooded during heavy 

 Tains. However, no glass has moved, and I can testify that I 

 aa well as my foreman have watohed the roof on wet days, but 

 a single drop we never saw. Watertight houses alone are 

 worth something. 



The house roofed ia a vinery, the Vines in which are sixty 

 years old. They have always borne fair marketable fruit, so 

 that they are retained. The Grapes, principally Hamburghs, 

 are now fast approaching maturity, and if it were the custom 

 of the Boyal Horticultural Society or Messrs. Veitch & Sons 

 to award prizes for whole vineries instead of for three bunches 

 I fancy that the garden at Bnrghley would be decorated. — E. G. 



THE CRYSTAL PALACE EOSE SHOW. 



"The Great Eose Show," "The Show of the Tear," "The 

 Bine Eibbon of the Garden." Such are some of the terms 

 which roaarians once employed when speakiue of this Show, 

 bat this year how is the scene changed ! When I arrived at the 

 far-famed building I found empty boards and exhibitors to be 

 counted on the fiogers. " Ten little niggers " indeed, I said to 

 myself as I set to work at my boxes ; and soon if the Palace 

 people continue to fix days for their shows irrespective of 

 weather, heedless of exhibitors' warnings, negligent to a really 

 culpable extent of financial considerations in limiting both the 

 number of prizes and the value of them, there will not be ten, 

 or nine, or one exhibitor. On this occasion, in spite of all 

 warniegs, of remonstrances, and of earnest expressed desires 

 which the would-be exhibitors addressed to the General Manager, 

 ■the Directors refused to alter their day, and the Show was of 

 course a failure. How could it be otherwise 1 When Mr. Baker, 

 who lives in snnny Devon, could not show; when I from Dorset 

 was only able to show twelve trebles, twenty-seven of which 

 'blooms were Teas; when Meesrs. Curtis, Granatin, Cant, Prince, 

 Keynes, Fraser, and a host of others could not show, can it be 

 wondered at that in the place of famous stands bare boards were 

 to be seen ? The amateur exhibitors consisted of Messrs. Jowitt, 

 Eidout, Davis, Chard, Hollingsworth, and myself; the nnraery- 

 men of Messrs. George Paul, Charles Turner, Mitchell of Pilt- 

 down, and Piper. Instead of words of admiration and delight 

 only exclamations of astonish tnent and regret were heard that 

 the day had not been changed. In some years the Saturday 

 next to Midsummer-day (the usual fixture of the Palace) may be 

 the best of all days, but it is very seldom ; and the Directors, 

 or General Manager, or whoever it may be that fixes the day, 

 may take it for granted that the last week in June is quite early 

 enough. 



And now, having relieved my mind of this grievance, let me 

 "turn to the Show. There were some very good blooms there 

 no doubt, and conBid>?riDg the year and the lateness of the 

 eeaaon it was astonishing how so many varieties could be brought 

 together. The nurserymen's seventy-two were very fair stands, 

 but no more to be compared with what they were last year 

 than is a wild Rose to a MarOchal Niel. The stands were fresh 

 and the colour was fair, but the blooms were very uneven. 

 What we have been accustomed to see at these great shows in 

 a nurseryman's seventy-two is an even lot of grand blooms 

 fill through the stand, only broken by a lovely Tea here and 

 there introduced for the sake of contrast ; but on Saturday it 

 was impossible to look .at any box without finding a small, or a 

 rough, or a dull bloom. Mr. May of Btdale, Yorkshire, showed 

 seventy-two Roses which he cut entirely from under glass, and 

 .considering that fact they were fine. To these were awarded the 

 -first prize. But may I be allowed to point out that dullness of 

 colour and a general washed-out look about the blooms ought to 

 go as much against a stand as any roughness, or uuevenness, or 

 any other blemish 1 Mr.May had certainly some very fine blooms, 

 notably Madame Therose Levet, Madame Lacharme, La^lia, and 

 May Turner; but tbere were some very coarse overblown 

 blooms in hia fr.jnt row which to me, at least, entirely destroyed 

 the symmetry of his stand. However, he came a long way, and 

 did a wonderfully plucky thing, and no one will grudge him his 

 great success. Messrs. Paul of Cheshunt were second. Well, 

 Mr. George Paul was not up to hia old form, but he was in good 

 company ; he brought with him at least the " Ijrigbtuess of 

 Cheshunt," and much needed it was at Sydenham, also the 

 MarchioneB3 of Exeter. I beg mv lady of Burghley'a pnrdon, but 

 I am alluding to a Rose named af fer her. And from Afric's sunny 

 shores he produced the Sultan of Zanzibar. Of older varieties 

 he showed one or two marvellous blooms, notably his own 

 Cheshuut-rained Rose Princess Mary of Cambridge. " Jost the 

 weather for Princess Mary," said the exhibitor, and so it has 

 been, but I doubt if, whatever the seasons may hereafter be, 

 I shall ever see auottier such Princess Mary. M"npieur Neman 

 was, as all rosariaus will well understand, grand here and 

 throughout the Show. Once more true to his colours, Mr. Paul 

 .again electrified ua with hia particolai pet Centifolia Eoaeaa 



He also in his forty-eight showed remarkably fine trusses of 

 ttiat old and rarely-to-be-seen variety, Jean Cherpin. It is a 

 little strange that the weather which suited so well Mods. 

 Neman and Marie Cointet should also have been favourable to 

 that capricious Rose the "Auld Jiueral," as the Torkshire- 

 men call General Jacqueminot, which was very fine, as was the 

 despised Julie Touvaia. In fact, Mr. Paul's stand waa full of 

 surprises. He showed a marvellous bloom of the novelty La 

 Rosiere. This is a very dark Eose, q:iite as deep in colour aa 

 Jean Cherpin or a fine Camille de Rohan, and I do not think 

 many amateurs as yet have it. I think it will prove a great 

 acquisition if it turns out to be a good grower. 



Mr. Turner's seventy-two also contained some very fine blooms, 

 notably one of a Eose which he introduced about seven years 

 ago — Lord Napier. He had a splendid Marechal Niel in hia 

 stand which did wonders for it, also very fiue blooms of the 

 little-known Souvenir de William Wood and La Frani^oia. The 

 former of these is very dark ; the latter a blush rose, somewhat 

 like (in form and colour) Madame Vidot. His Madame Lacharme 

 was magnificent, and bitterly do I regret ever having written a 

 word against that pure white beauty. Mr. Turner also had a 

 very good bloom of the novelty Dnchesse de Vallombrosa ; and 

 all I see of this Eose confirms me in the belief that in 1875 one 

 Eose at least was sent ont which will always be esteemed aa a 

 grand exhibition Eose. Mr. Turner had also some very fine 

 Teas in his stand, including Niphetos and Souvenir d'Elise, and, 

 strange to aay, Marie Guillot ; but this Rose came from indoors, 

 and Mr. Turner, jun., agreed with me that it is too double to 

 open out of doors. A third prize waa awarded to Mr. Turner. 



I must not omit to notice Mr. Mitchell's (Piltdown Nurseriea, 

 Maresfield), seventy-two, to which was awarded an extra prize. 

 He had some beautiful Teas iu this stand, one of which I neither 

 grow nor know— viz , Jean Pernet. This is a light canary yellow, 

 deepening in the centre something like Perle des Jardina or a 

 amall bloom of Cloth of Gold, the only bloom of which variety 

 was in the button-hole of "D., Deal." Mr. Mitchell's Marie 

 Van Houtte, Alba Rosea under the name of Julie Mauvais, and 

 Comte de Paris were very fine ; but hia Hybrid Perpetuals were 

 uneven, thongh he had very fine blooms of Edouard Morren, 

 Mdlle. 'rherese Levet, and Fisher Holmes. 



In the forty-eif^ht trebles Mr. C. Turner was first and Messrs. 

 Paul & Son second ; and for twenty-four trebles Mr. Piper, Uck- 

 field, and Mr. Meadmore, Romford, Essex, \tere placed first and 

 second respectively. I need not go through the blooms in the 

 treblea, aa the aame varieties which were conspicuous in the 

 seventy-two were to be found equally good iu the treblea, but I 

 will pasa on to the Teas and yellow Roses. These were neither 

 very good nor numerous. Mr. Mitchell waa first in the class for 

 twelve varieties, and Mr. C. Turner second. Mr. Mitchell's 

 twelve consisted of MarCchal Niel, Jean Pernet, Madame Wil- 

 lermoz. Souvenir de Paul Neron, Marie Van Houtte, Elise 

 Sauvafje, Josephine Walton, creamy white, good; Bougt^re, fine; 

 Julie Mauvais, lovely ; Madame Margotlin, and Cheshunt dybrid 

 — a very attractive stand. Mr. Turner had Mens. Furtado, 

 Belle Lyonnaise, Marie Van Houtte, Catherine Mermet, Presi- 

 dent, Marechal Niel, Cheshunt Hybrid, Lamarque, Madame 

 Falcot, Rubens, and Gloire de Dijon. 



Messrs. G. Paul & Son were first for Roses of 1875 and 1876, 

 among which in fine form were to be seen their own seediinga 

 Emily Laxton and Marchioness of Exeter. Mr. Turner waa 

 second ; the best Eose he showed throughout hia stand was his 

 own seedling, Eoyal Standard. This has both good form and a 

 soft rosy pink complexion. If it has fragrance like my namesake 

 (which was not so good to-day aa it ought to have been; per- 

 hapa Mr. Turner expected to meet me, and was careful not to 

 hurt my feelings by drawing too unfavourable a comparison 

 between the " Wyld Savage " in the flesh and his Rose), it will 

 be a great acquisition. He showed also several boxes full of 

 R'lyal Standard. For six trusses of auy Rose of 1875 or 1876 

 Messrs. Paul & Son won with Marehiouess of Exeter, Mr. 

 Turner being second with Misa Hassard, which waa rather too 



And now let ua turn to the little folka of the parsonage 

 and the country houses. We are but little in comparison with 

 the giants, but we do our little best, and the choicest blooma 

 we have we cut without a murmur. In the class for forty-eight 

 there were two exhibitors. In thirty-six I believe only tfiree. 

 In twenty-four trebles only two, and in twelve trebles just 

 three. Hear it, ye great men of Devon and Essex — you who 

 conquered ten times these numbers last year— for the Crystal 

 Palace amateurs to be counted iu units. Well, it had one 

 advantage — we most of us won something, and very few had 

 to go sopperless to bed, and we cannot say that often after Rose 

 shows. Mr. Davis, Wilton, Wilts, was first for forty-eight 

 single blooms with a rather small lot of blooma, and Mr, Cbard, 

 Clarendon Park, SaUsbury, second. Mr. Jowitt, The Old Weir, 

 Hereford, was easily first for thirty-six blooms with some very 

 line Roses. He had the most exquisite bloom of Belle Lyon- 

 naise I ever saw, also Madame Fuitado, that shy beauty, which 

 he cat fiom a maiden (the only way of blooming her). Mr. 



