32 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
{ July 11, 1878. 
well as the proprietors speak English, and the house is to be 
well recommended, 
THE HEREFORD ROSE SHOW. 
[Mr. Camm prefaced his report with a high expression of grati- 
tude for the kindness shown him at Hereford, but we have not 
space to spare for its insertion —EDs. ] 
RosaRIANs are here treated as not only guests to be welcomed 
and honoured, but as members of the rosarian brotherhood. The 
West of England Show has been held at Hereford for, I believe, 
about fifteen years, and although financially it has had often to 
strugele for existence, it has never failed to be a great success in 
all other points. Rosarians from all parts of the country flock to 
the old border city, nestling as it does in the midst of such pic- 
turesque scenery, that it is a positive sin to read a newspaper 
when approaching it in the train. On the last occasion Roses 
came from Cheshunt, Slough, Torquay, Exeter, Nottingham, King- 
ton, and many other places of less note. The Colchester Roses 
were not on this occasion to the front, Mr. Cant’s foreman being 
ill, and the distance and other reasons no doubt keeping that great 
rosarian away. Messrs. Keynes also did not putin an appearance, 
bas with these exceptions nearly every other great grower sent 
ses. 
The open class for seventy-two Roses was very well contested. 
Messrs. Cranston of King’s Acre were, of course, here first. Being 
in fine bloom at the time and on the spot, and having several hun- 
dred thousands to cut from, it would be indeed wonderful if any- 
one could come and beat them at Hereford. I think I have seen 
this great firm stage a better seventy-two, and my fellow judge (Mr. 
Baker of Exeter) agrees with me that the year they showed that 
marvellous box of twenty-four blooms of Horace Vernet, a record 
of which will be found in the Journal, was the finest ever staged. 
Be this, however, as it may, there is no doubt that they showed 
remarkably well on Wednesday. They had a bloom of Louis Van 
Houtte which I never saw equalled. Mr. Cranston himself said 
he had never seen such a bloom before. It was of globular shape, 
of enormous size, and vivid colouring. His bloom of Xavier 
Olibo was also the finest I ever saw. Comtesse d’Oxford and 
Serenye were very fine. Sénateur Vaisse was splendid. He 
showed also a bloom of that tiny variety Comtesse de Chabrillant. 
But here we had a large bloom of a rather lighter shade than 
ordinary seen of perfect form. His blooms of Charles Lefebvre, 
Horace Vernet, and other dark Roses, though of lovely form, 
were all of lighter shades of colour than usually seen, and Mr. 
Cranston informs me that all these Roses have come light this 
year, owing no doubt to the excessive rainfall. Marie Baumann 
was splendid both here and in a superb box of twenty-four blooms 
which gained the first prize, and which were quite equal to Messrs. 
Curtis’s stand of the same variety at the Crystal Palace. Annie 
Wood, Marie Cointet, Elie Morel, Le Havre, Francois Michelon, 
and Etienne Leyet were all grand. Messrs. Davidson of White- 
cross Nurseries, Hereford, showed very finely and were placed 
second in this class. I have been much struck eyery time I have 
visited Hereford by the great improvement this firm is making in 
showing Roses. Each year they are better than the last, and on 
this occasion, if their great neighbour had been absent, they would 
have attracted great attention to their stands. Their best blooms 
were Marie Baumann, Madame Lacharme, Xavier Olibo, Eugénie 
Verdier, Madame Georges Schwartz, Etienne Levet (grand), 
Général Jacqueminot, and Abel Carriére. Mr. W. Lee of Kington 
was third. 
For forty-eight trebles Messrs. Cranston were first with marvel- 
lous good clusters, Mr. Davidson second, and Mr. Grove of Here- 
. ford third. For twenty-four singles Messrs. Cranston were again 
first ; Mr. Griffiths of Tillington, an old foreman at King’s Acre, 
second ; and Mr. Frettingham of Beeston third. 
For the close class of seventy-two (that is, excluding Hereford) 
Mr. George Panl was first, Mr. Turner of Slough second, and 
Mr. Frettingham third. Mr. G. Paul’s blooms were very fine in- 
deed considering the distance they had come, and so were Mr. 
Turner’s. The trebles and other classes were well filled with the 
exception of one class, that of eighteen trebles for nurserymen. 
We now come to the great amateur contest for the challenge 
cup given by Messrs. Cranston & Co. for the best thirty-six Roses, 
to be won twice. This cup was won in 1876 by Mr. Thos. Jowitt 
of The Old Weir, Hereford, and in 1877 Mr. Baker of Heavitree 
came in his might to Hereford and carried it off. It was now 
pretty certain that one or other of these giants would finally win 
the cup. The interest was very great. Mr. Jowitt perhaps a 
little weakened his chance by showing at Torquay the day before, 
where he carried off seyen first prizes. Mr. Baker wisely reserved 
all his strength for the great contest, where he should meet his 
noted rival on his own ground. In order to beas fresh as possible 
Mr. Baker followed the plan he has adopted of late years when 
showing at Hereford. He cut his blooms late the evening before 
the Show, took them as far as Gloucester by the mail train, and 
the next morning went on to Hereford, getting there just in time 
to stage. Mr. Jowitt had about nine hours’ more time in his 
favour and only a journey of three miles, so that the odds were 
apparently in favour of the Hereford champion. Close was the 
contest, severe the fight, and grand the triumph for the west when 
ae Baker in the long run carried the cup off for the last time to 
eter. 
The two stands were different in several points. Mr. Jowitt’s 
was more even, while Mr. Baker’s had many much finer and larger 
blooms. Mr. Jowitt’s had also more Teas, and his stands were 
more varied as to colour and the arrangement was a little better, 
but nothing could come up to the size and grandeur of Mr. Baker’s 
back row with the exception of two Roses. It was freely owned 
by most rosarians present that Mr. Baker spoilt his box by insert- 
ing in his back row a large but coarse bloom of that objectionable 
variety for exhibition, Madame Charles Wood. His Capitaine 
Christy also was by the time the public were admitted a little 
past, and three Roses in the front row were a little undersized. 
‘When this has been said nothing remains that can be urged against 
his stand. His other blooms were perfection. He had a bloom 
of a Rose little known called Comte de Rainbold, a dark, full, 
somewhat cupped Rose, which created quite a sensation. Mx. 
Robert Veitch is one of the very few nurserymen, if not the only 
one, who possess this Rose, and the rush upon his plants will be 
very great next autumn. Once more Mr. Baker astonished the 
company with his blooms of Marie Baumann, Charles Lefebvre, 
and Marie Rady, and many others too numerous to name here, 
while his freshness and purity of colour were marvellous con- 
sidering the distance he had come. Mr. Jowitt’s thirty-six were 
also a great treat. He staged them in one box, and it was a 
perfect treat to see them. As I have said, a more even lot has 
seldom been seen. His best bloom was Thomas Mills, while his 
Comtesse d’Oxford, Louis Van Houtte, Triomphe de Rennes, and 
other Teas were also very good. 
Mr. Bulmer the energetic Secretary was third with, among 
others, I think the best bloom in the Show, and the only specimen 
I have seen of it this year. In his back row there was a bloom 
of Comtesse de Nadaillac which I shall never forget. This lovely 
Tea Rose is a very bad grower, and I have never yet seen it shown 
half the size of Mr. Bulmer’s. If there had been a fourth prize, 
or if a consolation prize is eventually given by the Society when 
they read this report, no doubt I shall win it. Meantime truth 
compels me to say that your correspondent was left out in the 
cold. 
The other amateur winners in other classes were for twenty-four, 
Mr. Baker first ; Mr. Jowitt and Mx. John Arkwright of Hampton 
Court equal second. I wo’n’t say who was third, but will leave 
it to the imagination of your readers. For eighteen trebles and 
for twelve singles Mr. Baker was again first. 
The Herefordshire amateurs in their close class showed uncom- 
monly well, particularly Miss Bulmer, and the whole Show was 
a good one. Mr. George Paul was first for Teas, but I am vain 
enough to think I ran him yery close. For twenty-four Roses of 
asort Mr. Cranston staged a marvellously good stand of Marie 
Baumann which was first, and the other prizes went to the same 
Rose. Jean Liabaud won the first prize for twelve blooms of one 
new Rose and again brought Mr. Cranston’s name to the front. 
There was no competition for the Veitch Memorial prize, and Mr. 
Cranston won Mr. Arkwright’s prize for twelve Teas and twelve 
H.P.’s shown in the same stand. The bouquets and table decora- 
tions were very good, and everything connected with the arrange- 
ments was not to be surpassed. a i 
The only drawback—the one crumpled Rose leaf which dis- 
turbed my comfort, wasthe band. Fancy, Messrs. Editors, instead 
of the string Rhine band which used to delight all lovers of music 
at this Show, twelve or thirteen brazen instruments without a reed 
or a string to mitigate their ferocity, went blaring and pounding 
away till they drove every lover of music to distraction, and 
effectually got rid of me. A militia band at the head of a regi- 
ment or in the open air is all very well, but in the Shire Hall, 
Hereford, it is something too terrible. Mr. John Cranston enter- 
tained the principal exhibitors in the most hospitable manner, and 
few of us will forget the stroll round his nursery in the cool of 
the evening, or the splendid entertainment he gave us ; but above 
all other things his genial welcome, his unmistakeable love for 
Roses and rosarians, the pleasure with which he greeted us as 
friends and guests, this will not be forgotten by us as long as the 
Rose continues to be the queen of flowers. It is with almost a 
sad heart that I thus bid farewell to the Hereford Rose Show for 
the year 1878 ; and were it not for the thought that, all bemg 
well, in another twelye months I shall be there again, I should 
hardly haye the courage to sign my name to this letter—W¥LD 
SAVAGE. 
SPIRHA ARUNCUS. 
I HAVE known this plant for fifty-one years, and last year 
I saw it great perfection at the gardens of A. Fletcher, Esq., 
Salton Hall, Hast Salton. I induced the gardener Mr. Barrie 
to measure it. The plant was 5} feet high and 18 feet in cir- 
cumference, There were ninety flower stems on it 18 inches 
