September 80, 1869. ] 



JOURNAL OP HOBTIOULTUBH AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



259 



Bpares no expense in the culture of his favourite flower, saya 

 he means to take his trees up every antumn, and give them 

 fresh food, <te. The great majority of bis plants are on the 

 Briar ; they are all well tended, thoroughly watered and fed, 

 and his plants are in prime condition ; this year, however, 

 hundreds of his Mat^uhal Niel buds dropped just as they were 

 expanding, the core being rotten, the stem rotting also. My 

 friend has six or eight plants against his wall in robust health, 

 with shoots 10 feet long. Just as the flowers were on the point 

 of opening we had very cold winds and rain. I went over his 

 garden before our local Rose show (amateur) ; it was pitiful to 

 see the ground strewn with buds. I pointed out to him, how- 

 ever, a break in the wall where two or three buds were sheltered 

 from the rain and had been kept dry ; these were perfectly 

 Bound, and made beautiful blooms ; and I fancy 1 learnt " a 

 wrinkle " from that accidental hole in the wall. About the 

 same time I saw in his garden a Marie Baumann on the Ma- 

 netti that was worth going a long way to see — some six or eight 

 blooms, all " fit for immediate exhibition," open at the same 

 time. It exerted the same spell on its master as on the Eev. 

 W. F. Kadcljffe ; he never tired of looking at it, declaring that 

 he never knew what a real Eose tree was before ! His partner, 

 an equally enthusiastic Rose-grower, showed at our annual 

 meeting six blooms, nearly all he had open, which obtained 

 easily the first prize in their class — they were triumphs of 

 Kose-growing ; Maiechal Niel, Triomphe de Eennes, and Cloth 

 of Gold especially. But this gentleman also exhibited as a 

 single a bloom of Marechal Kiel, as a curiosity, for it was too far 

 gone. I do not think I exaggerate, and certainly would not 

 willingly do so, but I believe it must have been i> iuches across 

 and 3 inches in depth. Many of the visitors could scarcely 

 believe their eyes, and it was likened to a Cabbage ! The 

 Maiuohals that do best here are budded on the Briar low down, 

 almost underground. I had budded it on the Gloire de Dijon 

 at Hinton, but had not seen it bloom before I left. I fancy 

 the Teas generally do not like the Manetti stock ; whilst I well 

 recollect some years ago somebody — was it Mr. Kivers ? — saying 

 in " our Journal" that Gloire de Dijon would prove the best 

 stock for the Marechal. 



The most successful Eose-grower in our amateur society — he 

 may be fairly called a roearian, I think, as he has certainly 

 introduced one seedling — had tried the Manetti extensively. 

 This year his Manetti plants have suffered severely from mil- 

 dew, and he threatens to make a clean sweep of them. Is it 

 the fault of the stock ? 



Bat to come home. What a pity it ia that that most lovely 

 Kose Cloth of Gold requires such an " age of years " to ripen 

 into womanhood. Planted against a house in a favourable 

 aspect, adorning it with its beautiful foliage, it will, when ten 

 or twelve years old, bloom abundantly ; in my old locality 

 several trees were noted. Does it not repay the waitiug? Tri- 

 omphe de Eennes is another great favourite of mine ; vigorous 

 in growth, free in blooming, beautiful to the eye, delightful in 

 perfume, but disliking, as my experience goes, a sharp winter, 

 yet in my estimation among the first- raters of the Rose world. 

 Climbing Devoniensis is a most useful Eose, but will our master 

 rosarians give us a hint in the treatment '.' I have seen one 

 this year which has sent up a shoot fully an inch in diameter, 

 still growing, and fully 16 feet long now. What ought to be 

 done with it ? Should its progress have been nipped in the 

 bud? Will cutting it back to 3 feet in the spring make it 

 bloom at every joint ? Anyway, there are some who say that 

 it requires mure knite than it usually receives. I am surprised 

 that " C. W. M." does not name Souvenir d'un Ami, one of 

 the most lovely Eoses I have ever seen, faultless in shape, of 

 lovely colour, and as a pot plant most graceful. Sombreuil 

 this year has disappointed me ; it is hardy, and a useful Rose 

 all the same. 



Of Hybrid Perpetuals Charles Lefebvre is magnificent ; it 

 certainly is not so full as I should like, but it is kind in its 

 nature, and will do well on the Briar, the Manetti, or on its 

 own account, and will never fail to have admirers. Alfred 

 Colomb and Maria Baumann are Charles Lawson's equals, if 

 not superiors ; both are first-class Eoses, and the former is 

 very kindly in taking hold when budded. Mdlle. Marie Eady 

 is not much behind these. But what has become of Kushton 

 Eadcljffa in some of our catalogues ? Is it discarded ? and 

 wherefore ? It may owe something to its name, but some of 

 the finest specimens of the Eose I have ever seen are from 

 thia discarded plant. Exquisite in colour and form, with 

 the petals so evenly and regularly placed, it has attracted the 

 attention of many of my friends ; it is, however, a rather 



tender Bose. With me it is vigorous in growth. It is on the 

 Manetti. 



In my hands General Washington has been continual disap- 

 pointment. Year after year have the most splendid buds of 

 immense proportions appeared, and just as it was opening it 

 would split to pieces. I still have one plant on its own roots, 

 and I have hopes that it will behave better in Wiltshire. If 

 it open well it is worthy a place in every collection. What ol 

 another American — viz., the Noisette America ? I have never 

 succeeded but once in obtaining a good bloom of it ; that, how- 

 ever, was worth waiting for. It seems to me that the petals 

 are too large and too numerous, and the lapping-over such that 

 it cannot overcome. Mr. Keynes shows it in perfection as an 

 opening bud, but even in his stands I have not seen it fully 

 expanded. Both these Americans suiier, it seems to me, from 

 a plethora of petal. Madame Victor Verdier, an improvement 

 on Senateur Vaisse, is always useful, like Senateur. Both are 

 magnificent Eoses, and will do on either stock. 



I quite agree with " C. W. M." that Duchesse de Caylns is 

 of exquisite form and of fine colour — in fact, in every way it is 

 a first-class Eose. Its only fault, perhaps, is a deficiency oJ 

 size. Pierre Netting and Leopold Premier are also first-rate ; 

 the latter about here has this year come constantly with a large 

 green eye. I think they both prefer the Manetti stock. Com- 

 tesse de Jaucourt will, I fear, prove coarse, though for colour 

 it is desirable. Madame Moreau is perfectly distinct ; that is 

 something in these days. It is apt to appear crumpled and 

 not to open freely, but to me its distinctness is a very great 

 point. Xavier Olibo for brilliant richness of colour is perhaps 

 unrivalled, but it opens badly, and when fully expanded is thin 

 and poor. For exhibition purposes we want flowers that will 

 at least retain their shape for a few hours, and not expose the 

 nakedness of the land before even the judge's eyehaa been over 

 them. Hippolyte Flandrin is indeed a prodigy when you can 

 get it, but there's the rub. Is it true that its first year's growth 

 is the only growth worth having ? If so, this must greatly 

 detract from its merits. Mdlle. Marguerite Dombraiu is alt 

 that " C. W. M." thinks — it ought to be in every collection ; 

 still, we have old Eoses very like it — to wit, Louise Peyronny. 

 But what of its respected parent, I mean as a Kose ? Why is 

 the Eev. H. Dombrain discarded ? It is very distinct, in colour 

 often almost mauve, with a glossy brilliant softness which is 

 most pleasing. Moreover, it is an abundant bloomer and very 

 vigorous. I cannot give it up. Like many others, a few more 

 central petals would improve it. Monsieur Nomau is indeed a 

 splendid Eose. Certainly, the late blooms this year are poor, 

 but then what a summer ! Does not that account for the 

 poverty ? But if Monsieur Neman is grand, Madame Neman 

 is sweetly pretty ; to be sure it is small, but then who ever saw 

 a fine large man take a large woman for his wife '.' So we 

 must be content as regards size, but the fimbriated edges of 

 the petals and its lovely shape make amends. Of another 

 white, Boule de Neige, the same may be said as to size ; it is, 

 however, a pure white, and an acquisition. Still, among the 

 whites, why not more of Mdlle. Bonnaire ? It is a beautiful 

 Eose in every way with me, and carries the largest blooms that 

 I know amongst the white Eemontants. 



Then who would be without John Hopper, a first-rate English. 

 Eose? There is something in the latter that ought to make 

 us cherish it. Moreover, its name is pronounceable in these 

 days of " Who's who." La France and Madame la Baronne 

 de Eothschild are both promising Eoses, but as yet I cannot 

 speak from experience. There is another Eose that I do not 

 see so often as I fancy its merits deserve, that ia La'lia ; it is a 

 great favourite of mine. Marechal Vaillant ia another old 

 friend for which I must always fiud room. It may be somewhat 

 straggling in growth, but in colour, shape, and perfume it is 

 very good; and it has this advantage in the garden, that it 

 flowers rather later than the others, when a fine bloom is 

 becoming rare. 



Amongst the whites I have omitted one, a great favourite of 

 mine, Louise Magnan. It is a gem of a Eose, but has had 

 with me a serious drawback, which is, that even in its second 

 year it is very easily broken by the wind at its junction with 

 the stock. I have lost several in this way, even when the point 

 of junction was 2 inches underground. 



After all, were I forced to select one single Eose as inost 

 suitable for every purpose, my vote must go for Gloire de Dijon 

 — free and vigorous in growth, hardy in constitution, profuse 

 and constant in bloom, almost our earliest, and certainly one 

 of our latest (I once picked a beautiful bunch of buds on 

 January Ist), of glorious colour and dehcious perfume, good 



