144 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ August 22, 1878. 
ant 
the class for six distinct new Roses of 1876 and 1877 Madame 
Deverel, Mons. Gabriel Tournier, Mrs. Laxton, Oxonian, Mrs. 
Baker, and Sultan of Zanzibar formed Mr. Paul’s selection, 
and I say without fear of contradiction that the two varieties 
raised at Cheshunt were the cream of the collection, for Mrs. 
Laxton and Sultan of Zanzibar as exhibited were splendid 
both with regard to shape and colour. I shall be very much 
surprised if “Mrs. Laxton does not make one of our most 
constant exhibition varieties. Oxonian, another new English- 
raised Rose, flowered very early, and its shell-like petals, 
combined with its great substance, will render it a great 
favourite. It is also a Rose that is not easily injured by 
heavy rains. Messrs. Paul & Son staged at this show a richly 
coloured claret-red bloom of Dr. Hogg, very distinct All 
agree that there was a very creditable display at the Alex- 
andra Palace, but unfortunately I was prevented from being 
present. Jam also told that Mons. Gabriel Tournier as shown 
there was very coarse. ; 
From the 18th to the 25th is exactly seven days, which made 
a great difference in the mean temperature, and tropical heat 
had fairly set in. The maximum heat registered in many places 
on the latter date exceeded 90° in the shade, and the nights 
were correspondingly hot. Roses that were mere buds in the 
morning were full-blown at night, and those cut early in the 
morning for exhibition displayed coarse eyes before there was 
scarcely time to set them up in their proper positions. Very 
severely was this felt under canvas tents, and at Richmond the 
elorious blooms sent by Messrs. Paul & Son and several others 
from a distance that were obliged to be cut overnight were all 
overblown before the day was half spent. The only flowers that 
had anything like a respectable appearance towards afternoon 
were those which came from Messrs. Veitch & Sons and Messrs. 
Lee from their Ealing nursery, which were cut very late on the 
morning of the sho. Messrs. Lee exhibited at Richmond a col- 
lection of twenty-four La France that were models of perfection, 
and stood allday unscathed. From these observations Tincom- 
mon with many others would like to solve the problem, When is 
the best time to cut? My experience is that blooms cut over- 
night invariably stand better than those cut very early on 
the morning of the show, especially if they are covered with 
a very heavy dew ; but blooms cut, like the Ealing and Coombe 
Wood collections after the sun has risen some few hours, will 
stand a better chance against those cut overnight in times of 
such exceptional heat. Let anyone stroll along a collection 
of Roses, say from two to three o’clock in the morning, and he 
will find numbers of fully open flowers that are simply grand ; 
ut if those blooms are cut then and exhibited, and if the day 
proves hot, nothing but disappointment can follow. Let the 
same observer also notice an opening bud, and in a very short 
time if he returns again he will find a fully expanded flower : 
so that the solution arising tomy mind is either to cut while the 
blooms are warm and dry on the previous evening or after 
the morning dews have left them. It would be well if other 
growers stated their experience in this matter. bp 
To continue my notes. That grand tournament, the National 
Rose Society’s Show, was held when great heat prevailed, but 
canvas was admirably arranged to come very low down towards 
the boxes; the floors had been well saturated with water, and 
the whole Show was refreshingly cool. It could not, however, 
be inspected comfortably, for the space allotted to the public 
was far too narrow. To particularise any one flower from such 
a quantity exhibited will appear almost invidious, but mention 
should be made of Souvenir d’Elise, for it was almost, if not 
quite, the grandest Rose in the whole Exhibition. A box of 
Capitaine Christy from Mr. G. Paul was indeed splendid. 
Mdlle. Marie Rady was also magnificent, and as for Horace 
Vernet and Marie Baumann they were beautiful in the extreme. 
Le Havre also played a most prominent part, as did several 
other of our well-known old exhibition varieties. Before passing 
from the Palace Show it may be well to remark that that good 
and much-admired Rose Etienne Levet was nowhere, and in 
almost every case where it was included in the collections it 
presented a bleached appearance. Frangois Michelon has not 
been up to its usual standard of excellence this year. — 
On the 10th of July, when the Royal Botanic Society held 
their Rose Show, the weather had become much cooler, and 
some heayy rains had fallen in the interval, so that maiden 
blooms were showm there magnificently by several nurserymen, 
notable amongst them were Messrs. Paul & Son and Cranston 
and Co., and I have never seen better blooms exhibited any- 
where than by these two firms, who staged enormous flowers of 
Reynolls Hole, La Dachesse de Morny, Louis Van Houtte, 
Madame Lacharme, Le Havre, Alfred Colomb, &c. A grand 
bloom of Jean Sury was also exhibited both in Mr. Paul’s col- 
lection here and on the following Saturday at Bickley. Itisa 
Rose sent out about the same year as Horace Vernet, and as 
shown by Mr. Paul a deep and well-built flower of excellent 
shape. Messrs. Paul & Son also exhibited at this Show a 
basket of Alfred Colomb containing exactly one hundred 
blooms which were remarkably fresh and fine. This gorgeous 
display rivetted the attention of everyone, and when H.R.H. the 
Duchess of Teck saw them she was so enamoured by their beauty 
that Mr. Paul sent them to her as a present after the Exhibition 
was closed. 
At Bickley on July 13th I noted Jean Soupert, Pauline Tala- 
bot, and General Von Moltke as very promising Roses in Messrs. 
Veitch & Sons’ collection ; this last is a splendid dark Rose, and 
is spoken very highly of by Mr. Hills, Messrs. Veitch’s Rose- 
grower. Messrs. Paul & Son had La Duchesse de Morny, 
Marie Rady, Jean Sury, Mdlle. Marie Finger, and Louis Van 
Houtte in admirable condition. 
Madame Sophie Tropot and Louis Pernet are two good addi- 
tions. They have been exhibited in good form in almost every 
nurseryman’s collection throughout the season. Duchesse de 
Vallombrosa has also met with the favouritism she deserves as 
a light Rose, and amongst newer additions Penelope Mayo, 
Countess of Rosebery, Duchess of Bedford, and Earl of 
Beaconsfield, all English-raised Roses, have exhibited some 
very promising qualities. The very best white Rose yet sent 
out, not a Tea, is without doubt Madame Lacharme, which has 
frequently been exhibited of both extraordinary size and purity 
this season. To attempt to say which is the best dark Rose I 
cannot, for the Cheshunt firm is growing rich in them, but 
Reynolds Hole and Louis Van Houtte will not be very far 
behind in competition. Star of Waltham will hold its own for 
many years to come ; its form and substance can scarcely be 
excelled. Royal Standard has also been fine, the warm weather 
evidently suiting it, but I fear its beautifully delicate soft 
satiny rose-coloured petals will get sealed during wet summers. 
Jean Soupert, Jean Liabaud, Abel Carriere, and Madame 
Prosper Langier may be considered desirable acquisitions 
where a collection is aimed at. 
The tropical weather did not last long, but sufficiently to 
cause the cutbacks to be in bloom almost all at one time ; the 
wood became ripened and fresh growths bursted almost simul- 
taneously, which are now giving a very fair supply of second 
blooms.—J. W. MOORMAN. 
AUTUMN PRUNING OF FRUIT TREES. 
OWING to the general absence of fruit, and to the rains that 
have periodically fallen throughout the season, the growth of 
fruit trees is unusually exuberant. The importance of summer 
pruning has been pointed out and much has been done ; but, 
on the other hand, many more trees have as yet received little 
or no attention in the matter of thinning out superfluous 
growth and exposing the foliage at the base of the shoots to 
the action of sun and air. 
The importance of admitting the sun to the foliage of fruit 
trees, not at the tips of the shoots but at the base, cannot be 
too strongly urged. It is only by inducing the formation of 
perfect and fully developed foliage at the base of the shoots 
that fruiting spurs can be formed. Large leaves form freely 
enough in the crowded and shaded portion of a tree ; they are 
indeed often larger than the leaves that are fully exposed, just 
as the growths in the interior of a tree are more exuberant 
than those on the outside ; but such growth is useless, and its 
very exuberance is caused by an effort to gain light and air. 
The grossness is a result of shoot struggling with shoot, and 
leaf with leaf, in an attempt to emerge from the semi-darkness 
of the tree’s interior, in order that they may obtain what are 
so essential—namely, light and air, to enable the foliage to 
perform its natural functions of assimilating food and storing 
it for the tree’s well-being, and to render it really healthy and 
fruitful. If a tree is let alone it will eventually bear fruit on 
the extremities of the branches. In the battle for existence 
some shoots will assert their supremacy and the weaker will 
succumb. Thus it is that so many trees become destitute of 
bearing wood at their base and in the interior of the heads. 
It is the duty of man to intervene in this battle of nature by 
admitting the light to the foliage by the timely and judicious 
thinning-out of the branches. Hundreds of fruit trees are at 
the present moment crying out with Goéthe for “light, more 
light.” Give them that light, and in due time they will give a 
