April 8, 1875. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICULTORK AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



271 



1 am quite sure Mr. Smith's system would bo read greedily. 

 We all know Mr. Smith can use the pen as well aa the spade, 

 and let us hope he will favour the readers of your Journal with 

 an exposition of his mode of growing Violets. — E. Gilbert. 



ROSE TREES AND FROST. 

 I AM sorry I cannot altogether agree with Mr. Beachey about 

 injury done by frost to Rose trees. Old wood, no doubt, may 

 be enfeebled by encouraging the growth of young wood from 

 the base, but it will not account for the frost killing old wood 

 still strong and vigorous, and producing young wood from the 

 ends of its shoots as strong as that springing from the base. 

 Moreover, in 1860 I lost ninety-eight standards out of one 

 hundred, where the system of pruning, consequent on theii- 

 being standards, was precisely such as Mr. Beachey describes, 

 no suckers being allowed from the base of the Briar, and the 

 heads pruned to form symmetrical bushes. 



In the case of the MarCxhal Niel I referred to, the young 

 growth at the base was quite recent, and the strength of the 

 main stems, shoots, and branches quite unimpaired. It would 

 be scarcely possible, I think, to see more vigorous or healthy 

 growth, the tree having in the course of four seasons covered 

 a wall 20 feet long and 8 feet high. The young shoot from 

 the base sprung up at the end of August owing to a redundance 

 of sap, but it certainly could not have impaired the strength 

 of the main stem, which was nearly 2 inches in diameter, and 

 many shoots on the extremities of the branches were quite as 

 strong and thick as this succulent one at the base, and I feel 

 confident if Mr. Beachey were to see it he would agree with me. 

 As to the comparative merit of the two systems of growing 

 Roses, one of which produces quality, the other quantity, 

 there will always be diijerences of opinion. 



Having a fair amount of Rose trees — not to be reckoned by 

 the thousands as some amateurs, but between seven and eight 

 hundred — I prefer to be able to pick for my drawing-room 

 during the Rose season from thirty to fifty really choice blooms 

 every day fit for an exhibition table. There is no way, as a 

 rule, one enjoys Roses so thoroughly as when cut and arranged 

 in specimen glasses or in suitable vases, and one really good 

 Rose is, in my opinion, worth twenty inferior ones ; but, as I 

 said befoie, this will always be more or less a matter of taste. 



As to the question of the maturity or immaturity of shoots 

 there seems to be also great diversity of opinion. I cannot 

 accept the fact that young green shoots are as mature as older 

 shoots that have stood a whole summer's sun and winter's 

 •sold, nor do I see sufficient evidence that the strong growths 

 of two and three years have been injured sufficiently by the 

 younger growth from the base to account for the action of 

 the frost. I find the inner pith in the old shoots more injured 

 than the inner pith in the young, and I find old wood injured 

 where, owing to the strength of the shoots, no young wood 

 had been allowed to grow from the base. That sap, like water, 

 may be a non-conductor of heat is, no doubt, partially true, but 

 in such a severe frost as we had last year every particle of sap 

 would be frozen ; so the question still remains. Why is the 

 sellular tissue more injured in the old shoots than the young ? 

 I am very much obliged to Mr. Beachey for his remarks, and 

 as I, as a general rule, quite agree with what he has at different 

 times written in the Journal of norticultitrc, and in his 

 •estimate of Roses, I am sorry I cannot agree with him now ; 

 and till someone else can bring some other suggestions to bear, 

 am still inclined to believe that the effect of frost on cellular 

 tissue is very mechanical, and that the younger wood, with 

 softer pith, and less indurated bark, has more power of expan- 

 aion, so that the cell walls are not burst by the expansion of 

 the sap. Other plants, such as Delphinium formosum, can 

 stand an immense amount of cold when in their young state, 

 but which die in autumn with a much less degree of oold. 



I must thank " CoRxtjEii " for his letter, especially as he 

 agrees with what I said under the initials " C. P. P." I think 

 h'a hails from the sunny south, and not from a climate like 

 mine, where Tea Roses are killed to the ground every winter, 

 and Celine Forestier has to push afresh from the base nearly 

 every year. I can, however, quite enter into his enthusiasm 

 for the true Perpetuals — the Teas, where they can be grown. 

 Gentifolia Rosea is a very favourite Rose with Mr. George 

 Paul, and he has sometimes shown it splendidly, but I never 

 could feel any enthusiasm myself for it, as its beauty soon 

 fades away under either a summer's sun, or two hours in a 

 hot tent ; the petals are much too flimsy. Etienne Levet was 

 certainly grand last year, and I have great hopes of Francois 



Michelon, but I cannot say any new varieties I saw last year 

 impressed me greatly. 



I must acquit Mr. Radolyfie of never having recommended 

 Prince Camille de Rohan, as I remember at one time it used 

 to be a favourite of his ; but why it was discarded for Empereur 

 de Maroc, Baron Chaurand, Maxime de la Bocheterie, and 

 others like th^se, I fail yet to understand, anymore than I can 

 understand why he refuses to see the merits of La France 

 and Marie Baumann. I am somewhat inclined to think that 

 Mr. Radclyffe does not see enough of other persons' Roses as 

 well as his own, and that when once he has issued a verdict 

 in favour of a Rose he does not like to alter it afterwards, and 

 so Edouard Morreu and Felix Genero will remain amongst his 

 select Roses for some time to come. I agree with " GcrKNUBiA," 

 an election such as that conducted by Mr. Hinton ought to 

 give every amateur a good and safe guide to select from, and 

 it surprises me that so many should still write to the Journal 

 of Horticulture for lists of Roses.— C. P. Peach. 



THE GREAT HORTICULTURAL SHOW AT 



ANTWERP. 



[From our Special licporter.) 

 The hundred aud twenty-fifth Exhibition of the Boyal Horti- 

 cultural and Agricultural Society of Antwerp was held in that 

 city from the -Ith to the 7th of this month. The locality chosen 

 for it was the spacious suite of buildings belonging to the SociCtc 

 Royale d'Harmonie, and for an indoor exhibition we never saw 

 anything better done. There is a diversity of opinion as to 

 whether plants look better in a large well-lighted building or in 

 a tent; each has its advocates. And then there is the other 

 aspect of the question — whether an exhibition confined to one 

 large space which may be all seen at once, or one which is 

 distributed over several apartments, is most satisfactory. No 

 doubt the effect produced by the former is very striking when 

 first seen, but it soon passes off; while in the latter ca^e the 

 interest is kept up in passing from one part to another, each 

 furnishing its own special aud varied interest. It was so in 

 this Exhibition at Antwerp. A great hall, very much larger 

 than St. James's Hall in Loudon, but arranged much in the same 

 way, with spacious galleries on either side, was filled most taste- 

 fully with groups of flowering aud flne-foliaged plants, and this 

 was the chief part of the Exhibition; but there were smaller 

 halls and apartments, which were devoted to smaller subjects 

 than those exhibited in the large one. 



The centre of attraction was, of course, the large hall. The 

 centre of the floor was occupied with three large groups of 

 Azaleas, which were masses of bloom, and were grown in a 

 hemispherical shape. They were handsome healthy plants, but 

 there is the same objection to them that used to be urged 

 against the large specimens grown in England, and which were 

 so long the chief attractions at our exhibitions — that they are 

 too stiff and artificial, and wanting the grace and freedom of 

 plants allowed to grow more naturally. The corners of the hall 

 were filled with large specimens of Palms, Tree Ferns, Cyoads, 

 Dracfcnas, and other ornamental-foliaged plants. Those who 

 seemed to contribute most to the decoration were Madame Le 

 Grelle d'Hanis, M. de Ghelliuck de Walles, M. Van Houtte, 

 M. Vervaen, M. Charles Van Geert, aud others. At the extreme 

 end of the hall was a group of Camellias, the most extraordinary 

 plants we have ever seen. They were from 18 to 2-1 feet high, 

 and none of them more than 2J feet through. They were re- 

 markably well grown, full of health, aud covered with bloom. 

 These plants are seventy years old, and the gentleman who 

 propagated them was present in his eightieth year to testify to 

 the truth of this statement. They are exhibited by M. Edmond 

 Le Grelle. The CamelUas generally, of which there were 

 numerous groups distributed over the Exhibition, were well 

 grown. . 



Under the galleries we remarked soma good exhibitions. 

 Among them a wonderful collection of Aralias from Madame Le 

 Grelle, a group of ornamental-fohaged plants from Baron Osy 

 de Wychen; a group of Agaves, Bonaparteas, and Liliads 

 from M. Beaucarne ; and well-grown plants of Camellias from 

 M. Jean Vervaen and M. Vuysteke. In the gallery on the 

 right the first object which attracts attention is a pretty lot of 

 Azalea indica, exhibited by M. de Ghelliuck, which for fine 

 cultivation were not excelled in the Exhibition. Among the 

 most striking were Comte de Flandre, Punctulata variegata, 

 Eclatant, Magnifica, Charmer, and Grande Duchesse de Bade. 

 Occupying the corner opposite there was a fine collection of 

 thirty Hollies, fine large specimens in baskets, exhibited by 

 M. Charles Van Geert of Antwerp, and they unanimously re- 

 ceived the first prize, as they well deserved. Among them we 

 observed a very pretty species called crenata, with small leaves 

 of the size and shape of the dwarf edging Box. In the corre- 

 sponding corner opposit) M. Van Geert had a collection of 

 thirty large Conifers, specimens of perfect cultivation, which 



