

The Weekly Florists' Review. 



August 24, 1911. 



BOBEBT PYLE IN EUEOPE. 



[RecoHectlons of an Irffervlew with :Hobt'jt 

 Pyle, president of the Conanl & Jones Co.. 

 West Grove, Pa., as reported by Phil, The 

 Review'* correspondent. Mr. Pyle gives an 

 account of some of his recent experiences In 

 Prance and England. The Illustrations are re 

 produced from photographs taken by Mr. Pjlo 

 himself.] 



We <fiailed June 3, going directly to 

 Paris, where we arrived June 12, in 

 good time for the judging of the roses, 

 June 14. You know I was selected as 

 one of the judges of new roses sent to 

 the Bagatelle for trial, and went at 

 that particular time to keep the ap- 

 pointment. There ,. were . twenty-five 

 judges in all — one each from England, 

 Germany, Luxemburg, the Netherlands 

 and America, the remainder from 

 France. The English representative 

 was Arthur "William Paul, present head 

 of the firm of "William Paul & Son, and 

 son of the founder. The German rep- 

 resentative was Peter Lambert, the 

 largest rose grower in Germany. The 

 French rose growers were mostly ex- 

 pert rosarians. The rules provide that 

 one of their number shall be .a mem- 

 ber of -^the Chamber of Efeputiies and 

 that he shall be president of this com- 

 mission of fudges. The American rep- 

 resentative was chosen vice-president. 

 But while the commission is organizing 

 I want to tell you something about 

 these rose gardens. 



Bose Gardens of the Bagatelle. 



Marie Antoinette, the beautiful 

 queen of France, selected about six 

 acres of the Bois de Boulogne, which 

 she set apart for her own use. This 

 tract was laid out and improved and 

 named by the queen ' ' Le Bagatelle. ' ' 

 After the downfall of royalty the Bag- 

 atelle was sold, but was finally bought 

 by the French government. 



liert . Mon^ieui^_< Jules , Grevereau, 

 who is one of the present commission 

 of judges, came upon the scene. M. 

 Grevereau is a man of wealth who 

 made money on the Bon Marche before 

 retiring fi^om business. At his invita- 

 tion Mrs. Pyle and I spei^t a whole day 

 in his rose gardens and rise museum at 

 L'Haye, ten miles from Paris. This 

 gai^n is won^erf lih It contains a 

 great number of varieties, carefully 

 arranged in groups of families. Then 

 there yvere standards, pyramids, trel- 

 lises, arbors, every known way in 

 which the rose can be grown. Marble 

 fountains, with roses, lent their charm 

 to this perfect garden. The museum 



Hugh Dickfon, Belfast, Ireland, Among his Roses. 



uearljy was also devoted to the rose, 

 showing the part played by the queen 

 of flowers in the arts and sciences; 

 showing, also, the history of the rose, 

 famous pictures of roses (Paul de 

 Longpre was among the artists), the 

 uses to which roses have been put, 

 botany and chemistry in so far as 

 they apply to roses; color, its causes, 

 combinations and possibilities — in 

 short, everything pertaining to the rose. 

 M. Grevereau 's office was in the mu- 

 seum. It was 'evident that he was a 

 busv man. 



A Pleasant Surprise. 



But the greatest treat of all came 

 as a surprise. "When M. Grevereau in- 

 vited us he indicated a' preference for 

 a certain day. We changed our plahs 

 to meet his wish, but the reason for 

 his preference was not apparent until 

 some time alter he had left us to roam 

 through the garden, when we heard a 

 clapping at one end. We followed the 

 sound and came suddenly on a theater. 

 The stage was of turf elevated to the 

 proper' height. Terraces led to the or- 

 chestra. In front were rows of vel- 

 vety turf seats, filled by dainty French 

 ladies in Parisian costumes. There 

 were at least 400 in the audience. 

 Overhead were tall trees, shading the 

 whole theater, while at the side were 

 the lovely trellises of roses; dark ever- 



M. Lemoine, of Nancy, France, at the Bagatelle Gardens. 



greens behind the stage completed the 

 picture of rare beauty. 



But to return, M. Grevereau, evi- 

 dently realizing that his own garden 

 would become too small to test the 

 new roses that came out each year, in- 

 duced the French government to under- 

 take the work at Le Bagatelle. Here 

 new roses are received each year from 

 the introducers. Carefully tested, the- 

 good are honored and the poor dis- 

 carded. The labeling is most carefully 

 burnt on porcelain, clear and enduring; 

 name, date, history and introducer are 

 all shown. Good judgment has been, 

 used in the laying out and planting of 

 beds. 



When the commission was organized" 

 we all went out to judge the roses. 

 They were divided into two groups — 

 those presented in 1910, brought there 

 the year before and now on their sec- 

 ond year's trial, and those presented 

 this year for the first time; they were 

 brought here a year ago. The work 

 was a little difficult, as I do not speak 

 French, nor could they speak English, 

 but they were most courteous, and by 

 the aid of an interpreter and close" 

 study of the numbers we got on pretty- 

 well. 



Bose Judging, as Done in France. 



The French manner of judging i» 

 different from ours. Ten is their high- 

 est number of points. These points are 

 awarded on general impression. When 

 opinions differ a vote is taken. For 

 instance, someone proposes that the 

 rose under consideration shall receive 

 eight points; someone else suggests 

 seven; a vote is then taken on the spot. 

 There were from three to six plants 

 of each variety. The awards were 

 made on their appearance on that four- 

 teenth day of June only, although any- 

 thing that was said by anyone familiar 

 with the variety was listened to with 

 interest. I understand that the French 

 judges assemble once again latdr in the 

 season, for examination, but not for 

 awards. 



"When we had finished outdoors, we 

 returned to the Orangery to make the 

 awards. The gold medal was given 

 to two varieties presented this year: 

 Beaute de Lyon Pernetiana, ten points,, 

 and Jonkheer J. L. Mock, hybrid tea 

 from Holland, ten points. Two eertill- 

 cates of merit were awarded : To Bayon 

 d'Or Pernetiana, nine points, and to 

 May Miller, hybrid tea, E. G. Hill Co., 



