March 2, 1876. i 



JOURNAL OF HORTIOULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDKNEB. 



163 



NEW EOSES. 



buy a pig in a poke is a triile compared to 

 tbo buying of the new French Eoses. I 

 have over and over again bought every new- 

 French Hose that has been sent out, and 

 certainly not one in twenty has been worth 

 growing. The descriptions of the raisers are 

 as much to be depended upon as the gushing 

 language of the circulars of advertising wine 

 merchants. The nutty, old in bottle, soft 

 velvety of Messrs. Swipey & Co. are ad- 

 jectives as delusive to us poor parsons as the superb, 

 vigorous growers, pure transparent rose colours, quite a 

 novel colour, beautifal satin Picouy Bose of the French 

 Kose tints, are to rosarians. " 'Tis all," as a dissenting 

 country cobbler called elastic-side boots with buttons on 

 them, " 'tis all a deception." 



Now, take the year before last. There were only two 

 Eoses out of the whole lot which were worth growing— 

 Madame Marie Fiager and Capitaine Christy. Last year 

 I do not know that a single good Eose was sent out from 

 France. "With regard to Capitaine Christy, men bought 

 that because it had received a first-class certifioate at the 

 Lyons Show ; and this year there is a Eose sent out 

 called Triomphe de France which has been (I presume 

 at Lyons) exhibited as a seedling, and received its name 

 from the Judges who awarded it a gold medal. 



Here we have a Kose that we can safely buy; but look- 

 ing through the list I can find no other with this diploma, 

 and the only protection we have for the others are the 

 names of the raiser.-. We can generally depend upon 

 M. Lacharme, although I never can see the beauty of his 

 wife (Madame Lacharme) which " D., Deal," raves about 

 so (of course I refer to the Kose, and not the lady of the 

 name). But takiog the useful calendar of my friend Mr. 

 Beynolds Hole as a guide, I find that very few of the 

 raisers have of late years sent us a,n acquisition. 



But when we turn to the English nurserymen the case 

 is quite different ; they, as a rule, never send out a Kose 

 till they have proved it. Take Mr. George Paul for in- 

 stance ; he has given us S. Eeynolds Hole, Wilson Saun- 

 ders, Duke of Edinburgh, and Princess Mary of Cam- 

 bridge. Mr. Turner, too, has sent out capital Eoses, 

 notably my namesake. And, by the way, I am happy to 

 teU him that I find from my tailor that I am gradually 

 assimilating my form to my namesake, and am really 

 becoming globular. Oh, how I have been chaffed about 

 the description ! I have had every kind of paper sent 

 me from the "Pall Mall" to the "Family Herald," with 

 the same old chaff in it about my globular form. Well, 

 I am a very good Kose at aU events, and there is no form 

 BO beautiful as the globular. 



Then Mr. Turner has three more good Eoses this 

 year — Oxonian, Miss Hassard, and Eoyal Standard. Mr. 

 Cranston, too, has sent out a gem of the first water, one 

 worthy of the great name — fcir Garnet Wolseley; and 

 there are several more Erglieh novelties, which from the 

 reputation of the raisers, no doubt, are worth buying, so 



No. 779.— Vol, XXX., New Series. 



that we really need not waste our money on French 

 novelties. The purchase of these latter is a most severe 

 annual tax to our leading nurserymen, and I am sure 

 they would all be dehghted if there was no demand for 

 improved French novelties. — John B. M. Camm. 



NEW AMAETLLISES, WITH CULTDEAL NOTES. 



This genus of stove and greenhouse plants has a very 

 wide geographical distribution. Many of the species are 

 merely valuable as botanical specimens, others of them 

 are really splendid flowers, and when well grown form a 

 gorgeous display in the plant stove or conservatory. The 

 countries from which most of the popular species have 

 been introduced are Brazil, which gives us A. reticulata, 

 psittacina, fulgida, aulioa, and others. From the Cape 

 of Good Hope we have A. pumilo, revoluta vittata, and 

 vittata major. There are also representatives of the genus 

 to be found in the East and West Indies, North and 

 South America, the Crimea, -Japan, and quite recently a 

 deep yellow-flowered species from Cuba. From Peru the 

 Messrs. Veitch were fortunate in obtaining, through their 

 late collector Mr. Pearce, the splendid A. Leopoldi and 

 the no less distinct species A. pardinum. These two last- 

 named species have been used to hybridise some of the 

 finest species and varieties already in cultivation, and 

 the one from which I believe the best results have been 

 obtained is that brilliant-coloured dark-crimson variety 

 A. Ackermannii pulcherrima. A. Chelsonii was exhibited 

 on a previous occasion ; it is as brilliant in colour as 

 Ackermannii pulcherrima, but a great advance on it in 

 the formation of the flowers; the segments are more 

 rounded, and the flowers more broadly opened and sym- 

 metrical; the colour is orange crimson. Brilliant is 

 another striking flower, with the scarlet shade predomi- 

 nating. Maculata was exhibited the same season (1872). 

 To all the above first-class certificates were awarded. 

 Again, the Messrs. Veitch exhibited a collection of no less 

 than forty-two distinct varieties at the Eoyal Horticultural 

 Society's meeting, February 16tb, every one of them worth 

 growing for decorative purposes, and the colours of the 

 flowers were quite as remarkable as their high-class qua- 

 lity. Indeed it may be truly said that this group of 

 Amaryllises contained some of the most strikingly novel 

 flowers ever seen in England, or perhaps any other 

 country. Five varieties were selected by the Committee 

 for first-class certificates, and a large proportion of the 

 others that had names attached were not inferior to those 

 so honoured. The followiag notes I made of the flowers 

 as they were exhibited, and the first five named were 

 certificated. 



A. Junius — Flowers of excellent shape, 6 inches across, 

 rich crimson scarlet, with deep crimson shade at the 

 centre of the segments. 



Sultan is a very distinct flower of handsome shape ; 

 the segments slightly recurve and give a very elegant 

 appearance to it. Colour crimson, with distinct shade of 

 claret. 



Agatha. — Well-shaped flowers; the centre reddish 



Ko. IISI.— Vol. LV., Old Seetes. 



