Jnly 31, 1806. ) 



JOURNAL OF HOKTICULTUliE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



79 



I would suggest to tho Editors the advisability of presenting 

 us with an article on the origin, tho working, and tho benefits 

 to bo derived from the Gardeners' Royal Benovolont Institution, 

 and I am cortain that by so doing they would oblige a great 

 number of their readers. — P. Dixon. 



ROSES SENT OUT IN 1866. 



It is not possiblo to form a correct estimato of the merits of 

 a Roso till it has undergone a period of trial which shall 

 embrace a sufficient time to determino the most important 

 points connected with it. These are : the flower — its colour, 

 shape, and size — and the constitution of the plant — its habit, 

 foliage, and blooming qualities ; hence, if we see only the 

 flower, we have but one half, and that the loast half, of the in- 

 formation which we seek, and it is not till we have the living 

 plant under our notice for a complete season that we can judge 

 fairly of its merits or otherwise. In taking down the names of 

 Hew Roses as seen for the first time at the great exhibitions 

 these circumstances should be borne in mind, particularly by 

 those who intend to purchase, in order to prevent after-dis- 

 appointment. I have known many instances of this : such 

 Roses as Madame Furtado, Irnpfratrice Eugenie, Le Rhone, 

 Louis XIV., H. Laurentius, and Francois Lacharme, are well -at- 

 tested examples, all of them being, when perfectly grown, 

 among the most beautiful of Roses, and sure to attract atten- 

 tion ; but it is only in favoured situations that they will grow, 

 owing to defect in constitution. 



The Roses received from France, with others raised by English 

 growers, and sent out in the spring of 1865, were in number 

 only a little short of one hundred varieties, and have now been 

 among us sufficiently long to enable us to state something de- 

 finitely about them. In the schedules of the Rose shows, they 

 are for the present year considered new, but I have not cha- 

 racterised them as such from there having been more than half 

 as many sent out since — that is, in the spring of the present 

 year. Of the latter I can add nothing to what has been already 

 stated by our respected correspondents, Mr. Radclyffe and 

 " D., Deal." My evidence, too, on the former must be con- 

 sidered rather as corroborative than otherwise of the sound 

 judgment arrived at, and correct information furnished, by those 

 gentlemen in their interesting articles. It is derived from 

 plants growing in my own garden on the Manetti stock, and in 

 a very light soil, from others in the garden of a valued friend, 

 Mr. W. T. Sargant, Brooke Lodge, Redhill, both on the Dog 

 Rose and Manetti, in strong clayey loam, and as seen in large 

 quantities in the nursery of Mr. William Paul, at Waltham 

 Cross, which I recently had the pleasure of inspecting. 



So far as yet proved, the Roses of 1865 show a somewhat 

 greater proportion of the whole number to be good than for 

 several years previously. It would be rash to say that they 

 are equally good, which is not the case, but they are of sufficient 

 excellence to secure a place in the rosery for some time to 

 come, and some of them show marked improvement over older 

 varieties. 



I subjoin a list, not, indeed, assumed to be complete, but all 

 of them contained in it can safely be recommended, and to use 

 Mr. Radclyffe's expression, "people will not burn their fingers 

 with them." 



Abbe Berleze 

 Achille Gonod 

 Belle Normande 

 Cbarles Margottin 

 Charles Wood 

 Dr. Andry 

 Duchesse de Caylus 

 Duke of Wellington 

 Elizabeth Vigneron 

 Glory of Waltham 

 General d'Hautpouit 

 Jean Roseukranz 

 Madame Versckaffelt 



Madame Charles Verdier 

 Madame Elise Vilmorin 

 Madame Moreau 

 Mdlle. Amelie Halphen 

 Merechal Niel 

 Marguerite de St. Amand 

 Rushton Radclyffe 

 Semiramis 



Triomphe des Francais 

 Xavier Olibo 

 Beauty of Westerham 

 King's Acre 



To particularise a few of the above. 



Bell? Normaiutc is a very vigorous grower, with flowers like 

 Duchesse d'Orleans. I do not, however, think it is better than 

 our old favourite. 



Charles Wood will supplant Louis XIV., being vigorous in 

 habit, with larger flowers, and equally good in colour. 



Duchesse de Caylus is probably the best in the list; a most 

 lovely carmine Rose, of perfect form. 



Duke of Wellington will be welcomed as quite distinct from 

 any other of the scarlet crimson tribe, which are now so nu- 

 merous, and must be weeded out. 



Dr. Andry and General d'Hautpault are two of M. Eugene 

 Verdier's seedlings, both very fine in form and colour. 



Elizabeth Vigneron is a fino Rose, both for the show-box, and 

 for garden decoration. It was magnificent last autumn. 



Glory 'of Waltham fully merits its name. It is without doubt 

 the grandest climbing Rose known. 



Mdlle. Amelie Ilalplien is another carmine Rose of great 

 beauty. 



Marechal Niel ie tho " sensation " Rose of the year. Last 

 winter was not sufficiently severe to test its hardiness, but the 

 frequency of its appearance in tho show-boxeB seems to indicate 

 a free-blooming quality. 



Madame Charles Verdier is a very large and full Rose ; it 

 may be pronounced good, with the qualifying remark that its 

 form is not pleasing. 



Marguerite de St. Amand is one of the best. As a light Rose 

 it may be put down as " a decided acquisition." 



Rushton Radclyffe is a fino full Rose, and when quite open 

 globular and imbricated— that is, the petals overlap like the 

 tiles on a house. The reBpccted name with which it is asso- 

 ciated also gives it a claim to consideration. 



Xavier Olibo requires further trial before I can speak con- 

 fidently of it. There ib room to hope that it will prove a 

 valuable addition to our dark Roses. 



Beauty of Westerham and King's Acre, as English seedlings, 

 should be favourably noticed as instances of the efforts of our 

 own growers. The powerful fragrance of the first is a very 

 strong point in its favour. 



To speak of the nursery at Waltham Cross and not to notice 

 the bedding Pelargoniums would be an almost unpardonable 

 negligence. The gorgeous beds now in full bloom, in contrast 

 with the well-arranged clumps of hardy shrubs and other 

 plants, for which this nursery is also famous, are very remark- 

 able. It is not difficult to imagine how anxious the lovers of 

 the bedding-out system, and they are legion, must be to possess 

 this beautiful strain of colour as seen in Rebecca, St. George, 

 Salmon Nosegay, &c., which must, indeed, be seen to be ap- 

 preciated. — Adolphub H. Kent. 



PEACH-TREE PRUNING. 



" The Modern Peach-Praner," by the Rev. Thomas Brehaut, 

 has been already printed in separate articles in The Journal 

 of Horticulture. I have now perused it in its collected form, 

 which has enabled me more easily to compare its several parts ; 

 and I advise all Peach-pruners to obtain the volume, consisting 

 of 178 pages. Its contents are as follows : The first part is 

 introductory, containing the History of the Peach, the Theory 

 of Vegetation, Phenomena Connected with Growth, Soils and 

 Manures, Aspects and Shelters, Transplanting, and Useful 

 Maxims. The second part is on Long Pruning, containing 

 five sections. The third part is on Close Pruning, containing 

 five sections ; and in my opinion the grand secret lies in these 

 five sections. A mixture of spurring and pinching to 6 or 

 8 inches is the system that I have always pursued, and I have 

 found it answer. My ten trees, planted here so late as April 

 this year, are so pruned, and they will bear well next season. 

 I showed them yesterday to my old friends Mr. and Mrs. 

 Farquharson, who approved of the plan. 



The fourth part, containing four sections, relates to Orchard- 

 house Pruning and Training, and to Variations from Seed, by 

 Mr. Rivers. The Appendix is also by Mr. Rivers, and con- 

 tains three sections :— On Diseases and Insects, a list of choice 

 Peaches and Nectarines for the open wall, and another list for 

 orchard-houses. 



The work is a very valuable one, and should be in the hands 

 of all those persons who profess to prune Peach trees. Long 

 pruning may suit the more genial climate of France, but short 

 pruning, or rather short pinching and spurring, is best adapted 

 to England. I conclude by thanking Mr. Brfhaut and also 

 Mr. Rivers.— W. F. Radclyffe, Okeford Fitzpaine. 



Potato Onion.— Tour correspondent, " G. S.," in the Num- 

 ber for the 17th inst., wishes to know if any of your readers 

 has, like himself, found their Potato Onions refn«; to increase 

 in number. Small bulbs vihcu planted always grow large, and 

 rarely ever split ; but good-sized bulbs always divide into from 

 two to seven bulbs, or even more. I often wonder that Potato 

 Onions are not more grown, as by deep culture, with plenty of 

 manure and watering well with weak manure water during the 



