Septemlwr 24, 1874 ] 



JOUBNAL OF HOBTIOOLTDEE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



273 



anonymous note from " South Hants " begging me to get the | 

 retiirus tilled up so as to distinguish the fragrance of the Roses. 

 It is very difficult now to get the returns. To some persons I 

 have written three times without any reply. I am, therefore, 

 unwilling to increase the difficulty ; moreover, it must be re- 

 collected that most fanciers look at a Hose fifty times to once 

 smelling it, and that different persons have different ideas of 

 the fragrance of (lowers, one liking a perfume that another 

 detests ; so that I cannot think it would be any very great 

 addition. But " South Hants " will see that I have not for- 

 gotten the matter, and provided there is an election next year 

 that I am able to carry out, I have a scheme that I think will 

 meet the case. 



By the thirty-eight electors 212 Roses have been named as 

 amongst the best fifty. Of these, amateurs have named 170 

 Koses, and the nurserymen 176; thus running very closely 

 together. In the best twenty 107 Roses have been named. 

 Here the amateurs have again named the smaller number — 

 viz., seventy-seven; whilst the nurserymen name seveuty-nine. 

 Here, again, the two numbers are nearly equal. I doubt not a 

 few of your readers will compare this election with that of 

 1872, pubhshed in .Journal of December I'.tth. Everyone will 

 remark that two Roses have rapidly come towards the top of the 

 tree; these are Roses of 1871 — Etienne Levet and Pran(;.ois 

 Michelon. The former obtained honourable notice in 1872, re- 

 ceiving four votes and high praise from some growers ; the latter, 

 however, was not mentioned at all. They now rank respec- 

 tively ten and thirteen. I cannot but think Franc^ois will get 

 higher. In shape it is to my mind superior to Etienne Levet, 

 and it will be noticed that all the nurserymen have voted for 

 it. Madame Bellon, President Thiers, and one or two others 

 noted in 1872 seem to have disappointed expectation. 



Four Roses are named by all, though two of these have 

 some second-class votes. Four others lose only a single vote, 

 and my cariosity is excited to discover why they are not named 

 by the voters who have passed them over. In previous elec- 

 tions I have returned some papers, asking if such and such an 

 omission were an oversight. I now think this is scarcely a 

 fair plan, and I have allowed the lists to remain. Marquise de 

 Castellaue and Gloire de Dijon have retrograded, but both 

 these Roses have a very large proportion of first-class votes. 

 Edward Morren, Marquise de Mortemart, and Maurice Ber- 

 nardin have also materially gone down. All votes for Louise 

 Peyronny have been given to Laslia. There is a difficulty 

 about Ferdinand de Lesseps and Exposition de Brie ; and, 

 again. Beauty of Waltham and Madame Charles Crapelet, Mr. 

 Cant specially giving his votes for one or other of these. It 

 must be confessed there is a great similarity between them ; 

 but here we do find this difference between the two former — 

 that Ferdinand is by far the more robust both in constitution 

 and growth. This, probably, accounts for the change that 

 has taken place in their position as compared with 1872. The 

 magnificent colour of Xavier Olibo has placed him in the best 

 twenty ; for it wUl be noticed that in the list he stands No. I'.l, 

 but receives only two first-class votes from each class of voters. 

 As an instance of the different value set upon two Roses by 

 the two sets of voters, compare Marie Rady with Marguerite de 

 St. Amand. With me the former is always kind, the latter 

 has never given me a good bloom. All the nurserymen, save 

 one, vote for the latter ; all the amateurs, save one, vote for 

 Marie Rady. 



Of the comparatively newer varieties I collect these opinions. 

 We have heard and read Mr. Camm's opinion of Madame 

 Lacharme (the Rose I mean, of course), in these pages, that 

 she was " a mockery, delusion, and a snare ;" my experience 

 coincided with his. Mr. Beaehey says, " What a vile lot of 

 rubbish last season's Roses are ! Madame Lacharme the 

 dirtiest, most frowsy-looking French madame I have come 

 across for a long time. I have never yet seen her with a clean 

 face. I pity Mons. Lacharme if the original suggested the 

 name on this account ! All the rest of the French Roses have 

 a hungry hollow look, as if they had helped to pay the German 

 war indemnity, and in so doing had got quite sucked-out ! 

 Claude Levet, Mrs. Veitch, and Marias Cote appear to be the 

 most respectable." Now, on the other hand, Mr. Burrell 

 writes, " Madame Lacharme I have placed in the first twenty. 

 It has been good here from cut-back plants, but indifferent on 

 maiden plants, and I tear is an uncertain Rose, but as a nearly 

 white Rose I think should take the first place." And Mr. H. 

 May, of the Nurseries, Bedale, says, " Prom what I have seen 

 of Madame Lacharme under glass, I con.^ider it a pern" (the 

 italics are mine), " it will become a great favourite for forcing. 



every plant however small producing magnificent blooms with 

 the greatest certainty. The Duchess of Edinburgh, judging 

 only from her appearance in an exhibition stand, must become 

 a favourite, and Mr. Bennett may well be proud of her. She 

 has only three votes from nurserymen, two of them being first- 

 class ; but one other nurseryman, though he does not place 

 her, says he thinks "very highly" of her. Capt. Christy 

 secures five votes, and one hopes it will prove an acquisition. 

 Madame Auguste Verdier is again named by Mr. Harrison ; and 

 another nurseryman, who does not vote for it, says that pro- 

 cured from Mr. Harrison he is exceedingly pleased with the 

 Rose. The Rev. E. N. Pochin says of it that he believes it 

 is Madame Eugene Verdier revived. My recollections of this 

 Rose are great endurance of colour, and this is one of the 

 points Mr. Harrison mentions. 



After the returns were complete and calculations made, I 

 received from head quarters an election condacted by a gentle- 

 man in the north — .\Ir. Bewick, of Whalton, Morpeth. There 

 are nine voters all in the district, but the returns of two of 

 the voters are incomplete. This rather militates against the 

 value of the returns. Still it is interesting as coming from 

 the north, and giving us the value of Roses in that locality. 

 The number of Roses to be named was twenty-four, and in all 

 seventy-four are named. The twenty-four Roses that received 

 the greatest number of votes and the votes that each Rose 

 received are as follows : — 



Alfred Colomb 9 



Charles Lefebvre 9 



Maclame Rothschild 8 



La Fraace 8 



Pierre Notting 8 



Dae de Rohan 7 



Seoateur Vaisse 7 



Marie Baumaun 



Madame Charles Crapelet . . 6 



Gloire de Dijon 6 



Madame Victor Verdier 5 



John Hopper 5 



(Marquise de Castellane 5 



I LoQis Van Houtte 5 



/ Abel liraDd 4 



J ComteSHe d'Osiord 4 



■j Exposition de Brie 4 



( Souvenir de Malmaison. .. . 4 



I Duke of Edinburgh 8 



Ferdinaud de Lesseps .... 3 



Etienuo Levet 3 



Mario Rady 3 



Paul Neron 3 



Comtesse de Chabrillant . . 3 



Mareehal Vaillant and Maurice Bernardin also poll three 

 votes each, thirteen obtained two each, and no less than thirty- 

 five only a single vote. What I am chiefly struck with in this 

 election is the fact, that in a limited district with the soil and 

 climate probably more similar, there should yet be such di- 

 versity of opinion that thirty-five Roses should receive only 

 one vote each. With more than four times the number of 

 voters, and twice the number of Roses, the general election 

 only has sixty-nine single votes. We most of us would notice 

 with wonder that Maruchal Niel is not in the twenty-four 

 named ; shall I add to it by saying it is not in the seventy-four ? 

 Seeing that Climbing Devoniensis has two votes, we wonder 

 the Marechal does not do with some sort of protection. Due 

 de Rohan's position astonishes me. With all it is a shy 

 bloomer and decidedly tender, still very beautiful. 



I have, in conclusion, to return my warmest thanks to all 

 who have so kindly assisted me in carrying-out this election. 

 Without their help it would have been a miserable failure ; as 

 it is, I hope it may prove both useful and interesting to the 

 many readers of " our Journal." Especially I gratefully ac- 

 knowledge the assistance of the Revs. C. P. Peach and E. N. 

 Pochin, without whose valuable help I could not have made 

 the list of the raisers' names as complete as it now is. 



Next week I hope to give the full Usts, and also a summary 

 of the votes looked at from a different point of view — viz.. 

 North V. South. — Joseph Hinton, JFariiunstcr . 



THINGS OUT OF SEASON. 



I WISH to tell Mr. W. Taylor that at this date (September 20), 

 I have Roses in prime condition for the button-hole on Elise 

 Bol'lle and Gloire de Dijon, dwarf plants, as many as sixteen 

 buds. Lord Macaulay and Duchesse de Morny are producing 

 most beautiful blooms. For scent Elise Boelle is perfection, 

 and for colour Lord Macaulay. Christine Nillson has also 

 several buds in various stages. 



Now for Strawberries. Miy Queen is now fruiting for the 

 second time this year in the open air; Perpetual Pine in 

 bloom for the first time. Last October I got from a nursery- 

 man plants of Le Gros Sucre, Vicomtesse Hericart de Thury, 

 and Marguerite. I potted them for forcing. The plants not 

 being good enough for the purpose, although housed through 

 the winter, did not bloom or fruit. The pots were turned oat 

 in May into the open air, and in June were plunged into the 

 soil. Le Gros Sucre and Vicomtesse Hericart de Thury bore 



