Decbmber 19, 1007. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



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ANYTHING NEW IN ROSES? 



[A paper by K. 6. Hill, of Richmond, Ind.. 

 read before the Chicago Florists' Club December 

 12, 1907.] 



"Anything new in roses?" is a ques- 

 tion propounded much more frequently 

 now than a few years ago, especially by 

 the rose growers of our country, and the 

 > same question is asked with even more 

 interest in Europe. 



The rose growers charge the retail 

 store men with being more largely re- 

 sponsible than themselves for the seem- 

 ing indifference toward new varieties 

 and in this there is undoubtedly a con- 

 siderable degree of truth, but it must 

 1)6 confessed that a large number of 

 florists, including the growers, have 

 shared in this indifference. In the light 

 shed on the matter of novelty by the 

 milliner, the silk manufacturer, the dry 

 goods man, and in fact by all the vend- 

 ors of apparel, ornament and furniture, 

 it is a wonder that we of the florists' 

 profession should have been the reac- 

 tionaries in the matter of novelty in 

 roses, but we will have to admit that 

 such has been our past record. 



A Society Lady's Protest. 



It was a leading society lady in an 

 eastern city who gave utterance to the 

 protest against being compelled to use 

 Bride, Maid or Beauty for her frequent 

 functions. Her criticism was only too 

 Nv'ell justified and she simply voiced the 

 general complaint concerning the world's 

 preeminent flower, the rose. But a change 

 lias recently taken place and new varie- 

 ties are given a very different reception 

 from that accorded a few years ago. 

 It is well for the rose that such is the 

 oase, else the carnation would have con- 

 tinued its triumphant march to the point 

 i)f disputing leadership with the rose. 



Believing that a radical change has 

 taken place and that novelty in roses 

 is^ being sought, the question arises : 

 Will we be able to meet reasonable ex- 

 pectations and can we provide new vari- 

 eties so as to satisfy this greater in- 

 terest! The answer is in the affirma- 

 tive, and it is a pleasure to record that 

 a considerable number of workers are 

 ondeavoring by hybridization and cross 

 fertilization to give to the rose-loving 

 public new forms and types. 



So many qualities have to be present 

 in a variety that lays claim to favor 

 as a forcing variety that the progress 

 made will seem slow, but nevertheless 

 It 18 within the range of possibility to 

 gain entirely new and unique colors and 

 forms. 



The Source of Future Varieties. 



I believe, with Eobert Simpson, the 

 present president of the Eose Society, 

 that the forcing roses of the future will 

 come largely from an admixture of Rosa 

 Indica with the present hybrid perpet- 

 uals. In fact, do not the hybrid teas 

 bear witness to this prophecy? Still, 

 the strong old Bourbon varieties, like 

 Gloire des Eosomanes, should be made 

 to furnish their rich scarlet tones to the 

 newer sorts. Our task is to breed into 

 the tea varieties the strength, vigor, 

 length of stem and the finer dark shades 

 found among the hybrid perpetuals, us- 

 ing the tea section in order to secure 

 freedom in flowering. The varieties of 

 the future will not be the result of a 



Rose Wm. R. Smith. 



single cross between the two sections 

 named, but will be the result of patient 

 interbreeding, extending through a series 

 of years. I would not say that here and 

 there a desirable new variety may not 

 make its appearance as a result of a 

 haphazard cross, but to get at definite 

 results we must make careful note of 

 the qualities present in the progeny and 

 then seek to breed those missing quali- 

 ties into future seedlings. 



We must not forget that Rosa Indica 

 is the one class that is to furnish the 

 foundation for all our forcing varie- 

 ties, and this is on account of its con- 

 tinuity of bloom. Xo matter how fine 



a rose, or what the tint or length of 

 petal, unless it has the inherent power 

 to produce buds and flowers freely it 

 will prove practically valueless. We 

 have every reason to hope that we may 

 yet possess the ideal from the careful 

 crossing of the hybrid perpetuals and 

 the teas. We have Richmond, Chatenay, 

 Liberty, Killarney, all undoubtedly from 

 this source; hence it is within reason to 

 hope for others in this particular line. 



The Treatment of New Varieties. 



The new varieties appearing will per- 

 haps require more careful treatment, or 

 at least different cultural treatment 

 from that given our present forcing va- 

 rieties. The new varieties will require 

 study; perhaps some will thrive best 

 grafted on certain stocks, or will do best 

 in certain soils. A case in point is the 

 variety Killarney. It was Ben Dorrance 

 who discovered the peculiarities of this 

 variety and who brought it into its pres- 

 ent prominence. It would be well, 

 therefore, to give new varieties a care- 

 ful trial before casting them aside. My 

 conviction is that we have much to learn 

 in regard to right cultural conditions. 

 I am inclined to think that perhaps other 

 valuable varieties have been lost sight 

 of by their not having had proper cul- 

 tural treatment. We know that to grow 

 American Beauty successfully requires 

 the application of good cultural skill, 

 and very often this variety fails to give 

 best results in the hands of the most 

 skillful growers. Great progress has been 

 made in methods of culture and you 

 have some notable examples in this line 

 in your own vicinity. I mention the 

 cultural side of the question in order to 

 show how important it is that new intro- 

 ductions shall not be condemned too 

 hastily. 



Some fairly saccessful rose men still 

 inveigh against Killarney and Richmond 

 because they cannot do them success- 

 fully, and it is only the fine showing 

 made by a majority of our best growers 

 that has given these roses the position 

 they deserve. Each new rose must be 

 studied and results carefully noted, be- 

 fore its cultural requirements can be 

 known. It is infinitely easier to master 

 the peculiarities of two or three sorts, 

 drop down into a rut with them and run 

 along comfortably, than to experiment, 

 and fail, and try again. Experimental 

 work is seldom comfortable work, but 

 buyers demand novelty and variety, and 

 there is nothing for it but for us to 

 take off our coats and get down to hard 

 work. 



ROSE W. R. SMITH. 



There are many instances where tlio 

 true merit of a rose has failed of gener- 

 al recognition at the time of its first 

 introduction to the trade. Killarney is 

 an instance. Another is Cardinal, one 

 of John Cook 's seedlings, which has been 

 considered of little value under glass, 

 but with which the Poehlmann Bros. Co., 

 Chicago, now is making a great suc- 

 cess. Heller Bros., New Castle, Ind., 

 point to William R. Smith as another 

 rose which was not received as it should 

 have been. This is a variety raised 

 some years ago by John A. Shellem, of 

 Philadelphia, of which little has been 

 heard until the present season, when Hel- 

 ler Bros., of the South Park Floral 

 Co., have taken it up and are growing 

 it largely because of the excellent re- 

 sults they have achieved with it. The 

 western trade first saw it growing four 



