Deoemlier S, 1874. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



489 



PEBPETUAL ROSES. 



r T 13 a long time since I sent a line to your 

 columns, and as they of late have contained 

 but scant allusion to Roses, I think in this 

 gloomy season it would be interesting to 

 many readers of " our Journal " if some of 

 the large Rose-growers were to give their 

 experiences as to the "perpetual" qualities 

 of Roses called " Hybrid Perpetuals." 



Now it is very evident that many so called 

 do not bloom twice, such as Miss Ingram, 

 Boule de Neige, &o. I am aware that Miss Ingram is 

 properly a summer Rose, but Keynes and others place it 

 in their catalogues among the Hybrid Perpetuals, and so 

 people who are not well acquainted with Roses are often 

 misled. 



My object in writing is to point out what are the most 

 constant bloomers in my collection. First and foremost, 

 then, with me is Abel Grand ; except Lamarque on a 

 south wall no Rose is earlier, and no Rose blooms later 

 than this charming silvery pink one. Next to it, among 

 the Hybrid Perpetuals, is the coarse and by many dis- 

 carded Rose Souvenir de Julie Gonod. This in my 

 nursery is as full of bloom as a Gloire de Dijon in sum- 

 mer. Then come Marie Baumann. Mdlle. Eugenie Ver- 

 dier. La France, and Charles Lefebvre. Among the 

 Teas Madame WiUermoz is wonderfully perfect, I could 

 send you blooms jjicked on the 23rd of November which 

 are really exquisite. Niphetos, also, is a very constant 

 late bloomer, and the new and ever-charming Marie Van 

 Houtte. 



Hurrah for the Teas ! Messrs. Editors. Mr. Cant 

 writes me word that his orders for Teas are so over- 

 whelming that he literally cannot send me the trees that 

 I ordered of him at the Crystal Palace Rose Show ! He 

 has to beg for time till he can scour the country for Teas. 

 How refreshing such intelligence is to me in this duU 

 November weather you may understand ; for I feel sure 

 that we shall see more Teas in our boxes at next year's 

 shows. 



What a wonderful autumn [this was dated November 

 26th] we are having ! In my churchyard at the present 

 time there are the following flowers and shrubs in bloom : 

 Gladiolus, Clematis Standishii, Clematis Rubella, Passi- 

 flora casrulea, Veronicas, Rhododendron (Amilcan) second 

 time. Myrtle, Rose Madame Trifle, and various Hybrid 

 Perpetuals, and of course Chrysanthemums. Straw- 

 berries are in flower, and their fruit setting, so that if 

 there is no frost we may, perhaps, gather frait on Christ- 

 mas-day ; and Peach trees are covered with bloom buds. 

 But everything points to but one sad end — a late, yes, very 

 late spring frost, and if that comes like it has for three 

 years in succession here, where shall we be ? The answer 

 is, " Dp a tree." — J. B. M. C, ChannoiUh. 

 [Our correspondent adds this postscript : — ] 

 " It has nothing to do with Roses nor gardening, but I 

 cannot resist sending you the following true anecdote, 

 which you can insert or not as you please. At my native 

 No. 714.-V0L. XXVU-, New Seeieb 



place in Yorkshire the good folk have lately erected a 

 grand large organ in the parish church, with all the 

 newly-invented combinations, composition pedals, &o. 

 The old organist who had for a quarter of a century 

 played at the church was considered unable to manipu- 

 late the new instrument, and was pensioned-off. It 

 happened, however, that the new organist was a non- 

 resident, who, in order to catch the last train, had to 

 leave before the evening service was over, and who con- 

 sequently left his predecessor to play the last hymn. 

 As the old man was not equal to playing the pedals, he 

 gave him directions to make the bass as loud as was 

 needed to make up for the want of the pedal pipes. 

 This the old man did to such a wonderful extent that 

 when he began, it was bass et jjrcBterea nihil (all bass 

 and no treble). In despair the poor old fellow put his 

 foot on a composition pedal, in the hope that the builder's 

 ingenuity would make it all right. But such a hideous 

 screech came next that he stopped suddenly, and from 

 the organ loft a voice broke the awful silence, declaring 

 in piteous but exceedingly distinct tones, ' I can make 

 nought of it.' " 



[Our correspondent says this has nothing to do with 

 gardening, but we fancy that what he had just written 

 about a late spring frost suggested the anecdote, because 

 then every outdoor-Rose gardener, like the organist, may 

 truly exclaim, " I can make nought of it." — Eds.] 



WINTER CUCUMBERS. 



As Mr. Taylor has written so well on this subject, I 

 venture to give the culture as practised here, and its 

 results. 



The seeds are sown four in a 48-sized pot, and placed 

 in a temperature of 70' by night, and 70° by day, sun 

 heat 80". As soon as the first rough leaf is formed the 

 seedlings are potted singly in 60-sized pots, and repotted 

 again if the house is not ready for their reception. Be- 

 fore I proceed further I will describe a httle what the 

 house is like. It is a small lean-to, separated from tha 

 plant stove by a glass partition, and faces due south, but 

 owing to a building directly in front the sun does not 

 strike on it at this time of the year until about two in 

 the afternoon, which of course is a drawback. A flow 

 and return pipe runs under the bed for bottom heat, and 

 is covered with brick rubble, &c., and a flow and return 

 passes round the bed for top heat. The house is directly 

 over the stokehole, which has a considei'able amount of 

 piping, consequently there is no lack of heat. 



The compost used is a mixture of loam, leaf mould, 

 and dung from an old spent hotbed. This being placed on 

 the brick rubble, and left a day or two to get warm, the 

 plants are then inserted along the centre of the bed, and 

 watered to settle the soil about their roots, and a tempe- 

 rature of 70° by night, 75° to 80° by day, and 85' by sun 

 heat is maintained. The plants grow vigorously for a 

 time, and produce two or three good fruit, and then seem 

 worn-out, and I think, with Mr. Taylor, that the high 

 temperature has a great deal to do with their ceasing to 



No. K6G.— Vol. LII, Old Sekies. 



