August 25, 1888.] 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



207 



colour — a deep claret, flushed with bright Bcarlet, 

 recalling to some persons' minds an old Rose, La- 

 charme's Souvenir de Dr. Jamain, but the colour is 

 far beyond that, while in size and substance of petal 

 it is superior, being stout and well formed. When 

 dying off it becomes almost black, and like all 

 Roses of these dark colours requires protection 

 from the sun's rays (when they do shine!). The 

 plant is of vigorous growth, and altogether it is a 

 very great gain both to Rose growers and Rose 

 exhibitors. 



Earl of Dujferin. — This Irish Rose, raised by 

 Messrs. A. Dickson & Son, of Newtownards, Co. 

 Down, is a most beautiful high-coloured Rose, of 

 strong constitution and vigorous habit ; the flowers 

 are of a brilliant rich crimson colour, with a high 

 pointed centre, the outer petals somewhat recurving, 

 and the brilliant tints of brownish-crimson are seen 

 to great advantage. Last year a good deal of criticism 

 was evoked by a statement in the Gardeners' Chronicle, 

 from Scotland, that it was identical with Prosper 

 Langier. This was indignantly denied, and the 

 denial was correct; the two Roses are perfectly dis- 

 tinct, and although the French Rose is a good one, 

 it is not to be compared for a moment with Earl of 

 DufFerin either in the colour or shape of the flower; 

 others have called it a dark Maurice Bernhardin, and 

 others a better Pierre Notting ; but I think we may 

 safely say that it is a perfectly distinct Rose, of very 

 superior qualities, likely to be a universal favourite, 

 and to reflect great credit on its raiser. 



Lady Helen Stewart, by the same raiser, is a flower 

 that, had it not been for the preceding Rose being 

 sent out at the same time, would have, perhaps, 

 attracted more attention. It is a very bright red 

 Rose, of good habit, and very free flowering ; it has 

 not often been exhibited, but I was pleased with it 

 in my own garden. 



Duchess of Leeds (Mack & Son). — A very pretty 

 Rose, which may be described as a pink La France, 

 with a dash of Marie Finger in it. I question if it 

 will be an exhibition Rose, as it lacks size ; but as a 

 garden Rose allowed to grow at will, it will be most 

 valuable, especially for cutting. Sprays of it will do 

 very well for baskets of Roses, as its exceedingly 

 bright and lively colour will lighten up other 

 flowers. 



Mrs. John Laing. — One of Mr. Bennett's seedlings. 

 The colour is a beautiful soft pink. The flower is 

 large in size and good in form, very free, and a good 

 autumnal bloomer. Although full it is not so liable 

 to spoil as Her Majesty, and has been on several 

 occasions shown well and attracted much attention. 

 The award of the National Rose Society's Gold Medal 

 when it was exhibited as a seedling seems to have 

 been fully justified. 



Madame Joseph Deshois. — This Rose was sent out 

 as a hybrid Tea — a fashion which the French raisers 

 seem to have adopted ; it they do it with the idea 

 that a Rose so described is likely to find more favour 

 with us, I think they are grievously mistaken. As 

 a rule, such Roses are regarded with suspicion. 



Grand Mogul. — I have not seen more than one or 

 two blooms of this Rose exhibited ; those that I saw 

 were good in form, brilliant crimson shaded with 

 dark maroon-crimson. As I have not grown it 

 myself I can only say that, as I saw it, it was a 

 brilliant Rose ; those who have grown it tell me that 

 in growth and bloom it bears a strong resemblance 

 to Jean Soupert, both in growth and flower. 



Mist Ethel Brownlow. — A Tea Rose raised by 

 Messrs. Dickson & Son, the raisers of Earl of 

 DufFerin ; very distinct in colour, salmon-pink, shaded 

 with yellow at the base of the petals, the centre high, 

 and outer petals somewhat reflexed. Of vigorous 

 growth, likely to be an acquisition owing to its 

 distinct character. 



Luciole. — A Tea Rose raised by J. Guillot, and one 

 that will apparently uphold his good reputation as a 

 raiser. The bud is long and pointed — the true Tea 

 bud ; the colour a blight carmine-red, but with some 

 of those extraordinary combinations of colours which 

 make the TeaRosesaonz rafale — fawn, copper colour, 

 bronzy-red, are all mixed together, or rather placed to- 



gether in the flower without being mixed, blending 

 with one another, and constituting a strikingly 

 beautiful flower. 



Lady Alice. — This is a sport from the well known 

 Lady Mary Fitzwilliam, and at times distinct from 

 it ; the colour is creamy-white with a faint yellowish 

 tint at the base ; in cooler weather it has more 

 colour. 



Looking a little further back we come to some 

 Roses which have been well shown this year or from 

 some other cause are worthy of more extended 

 cultivation. 



Gloire Lyonnaise. — It was unfortunate that this Rose 

 should have been brought out as a yellow hybrid per- 

 petual ; this it certainly is not — it is a white Rose with 

 a very faint suspicion of primrose at the base of the 

 flower, and as a garden Rose will be, I think, much 

 appreciated. It is one of those light Roses which will 

 stand a good deal of rain without being damaged by it, 

 and for such a purpose it may be safely recommended. 

 It is evidently a perpetual, with a good dash of Tea 

 blood in it. 



Victor Hugo. — This has established itself as a very 

 fine dark Rose, bright crimson-red, shaded with 

 darker colour, perhaps in ordinary seasons it may 

 not be so dark as during the past cold season, when 

 such Roses as Prince Arthur and General Jacquemi- 

 not came out in colours that made them hardly re- 

 cognisable. 



Marshall P. Wilder. — To all intents and purposes 

 this is a reproduction of Alfred Colomb, whether 

 obtained as a seedling or from a vigorous shoot I do 

 not know. When shown this year, attempts were 

 made by some to show its difference from the older 

 flower, but I believe the general opinion is that it 

 must be bracketed with Alfred Colomb. 



American Beauty. — Notwithstanding the somewhat 

 effusive praises bestowed in some of the catalogues 

 on this flower, it was nowhere to be seen this 

 year, and it was generally considered to be but a 

 synonym for Madame Ferdinand Jamain, a Rose sent 

 out by Ledechaux more than ten years ago, and of so 

 indifferent a character that it never found a place in 

 our catalogues. 



Lord Bacon. — This has been well exhibited this 

 year, and is one of those deep crimson Roses which 

 are ever acceptable ; it is shaded with scarlet, and 

 is a very beautiful flower. 



Madame Sussane Rodoconachi. — An exceedingly 

 pretty Rose, with light silvery-white shading ; very 

 distinct, and has been done well even in this wet 

 season. 



Comtesse de Fregneuse. — A very pretty Tea-scented 

 Rose, bright primrose-yellow : very free flowering and 

 good. 



Souvenir de Gabriel Brevet. — Silver-white with 

 bright rose centre, and oftentimes a mixture of 

 colours hard to describe ; it is of good size, and a 

 valuable addition to our lists. 



Pride of Reigate. — In my opinion simply an 

 abomination. One might as well admire a fair 

 face pitted with small-pox as this spotted thing, 

 which neither on the exhibition table nor in the 

 garden can do anything but spoil its surroundings. 



Vicountess Folkestone is an exceedingly pretty 

 hybrid Tea, of bright and pleasing colour ; it is very 

 free flowering, and for its beauty we may forgive its 

 hybrid character; but still not admit it amongst pure 

 Tea Roses. 



Such are the flowers which have come across my 

 line of vision this year; it shows that, after all — 1, 

 the great number of new Roses is no indication of 

 worth, and that every year a quantity of rnbbish is 

 brought forward which might have been passable a 

 few years ago. but is now useless ; and, 2ndly, that 

 notwithstanding the great perfection to which the 

 Rose has been brought there are still prizes to be 

 gained by raisers of seedlings, and the encouragement 

 which has been given to our home-raised flowers will, 

 I hope, enable them to show that they do not do 

 these things better in France. 



New Rose. Lady Castlereagh. 



A week or two since I reoeived from Messrs. 



Alexander Dickson & Sons, of Newtownards, Co. 



Down, Ireland, some blooms of a new Tea-scented 

 Rose, which I think is likely to prove a useful addi- 

 tion to this beautiful class, as their Miss Ethel 

 Brownlow has already done. It is a well-shaped 

 flower, and evidently both vigorous in growth and 

 profuse in its blooming ; the colour is very pale pink 

 or white, with salmon-pink in the centre. It is not 

 quite like any Rose in this class. 



It is pleasant to be able to record that our Irish 

 friends are not behindhand, and that two, at any 

 rate, of their first batch of Roses — Earl of Dufferin 

 and Miss Ethel Brownlow — have grown in the 

 estimation of the Rose world. Wild Rose. 



THE CHEMISTRY OF VEGETA- 

 TION, IN REFERENCE TO THE 

 GROWTH OF THE POTATO. 



(Continued from p. 18.5J 



Avoqadbo — Molecules. — The paper of Gay- 

 Lussac mentioned above (on the combination of 

 gases, 1809) attracted the attention of an Italian 

 physicist, Avogadro. A paper which he wrote 

 in comment appeared in 1811.* It is referred 

 to here because it contains the suggestion 

 that there must be two kinds of molecules (he 

 uses this word as Dalton had used particles 

 and afterwards atoms). He speaks of compound 

 molecules and elementary molecules. His paper is 

 a much more weighty matter than a question of 

 nomenclature. But from that time the introduction 

 of the word " molecule " into the atomic theory has 

 led to much confusion — nay, even acrimony and 

 ridicule. Chemists and physicists have used the 

 words with different significance, and, like the two 

 stalwart knights of yore, who each saw only one 

 side of the suspended shield, while ever ready for 

 doughty deeds, they have belaboured one another 

 with wordy fight. It seems at last to be generally 

 admitted among chemists, whatever physicists may 

 please to do, that the word atom shall be used for a 

 single atom, and molecule for a group (two or more) 

 of atoms held together by that unknown " affinity," 



There are many difficulties, as especially in what is 

 called dissociation, and the fight cannot be said to be 

 over. To give a rigid definition of a molecule would 

 be rash. But the way in which, among chemists, the 

 word is now used may be illustrated. 



Two atoms of H and one of 



®@© 

 unite and form one molecule of water 



To carry out Roscoe's illustration of a mazy dance 

 an atom of H has but one hand (or one quantival- 

 ence). It is called a monad. t is called a dyad — 

 it is divalent — to carry out the illustration it has 

 " two hands," and can take a partner in each hand. 

 Linked together they make one molecule of water. 

 Or again, one atom of C can unite with one or with 

 two atoms of 0. C is "four-handed," a tetrad. It 

 can form a molecule of carbon monoxide 



»®=0 



— where two " hands " of the C are left free : or a 

 molecule of carbon dioxide with two atoms of (o) 



®=©=® 



This dioxide is called commonly carbonic acid.} 

 The combining weight of a molecule is the sum 



* Esaai d'uae maniere de determiner lea masse*, relatives dee 

 molecules elementalres dea corps et lea proportions selon 

 lesquelles elles entreat dans cea combinations. Joitrn. de Phy- 

 siom. lxxiii., 1811. 



t /ao«)s, monos, one ; ouo, duo, two ; Tpts. tris, three ; rerpos, 

 tetros, four. 



; Each stroke against the circles represents the "valency" 

 of the element concerned. Whatever may be thought as to 

 ■\ hether it ivas or was not a stood word to adopt, it is to ne 

 purpoie to dtsenss here. Experiments have lad to tie con- 

 . luaioii that a form of force or forces, expressed by the word 

 actually exist- in Nature. 



