September 5, 1878. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
181 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
Day | Day Avera Clock 
ge Ss Ss , oc. 
of of SEPTEMBER 5—11, 1878, P sun | Sun | Moon | Moon | Moon’s 
Month) Week , Tem, erate meat Rises. Sets. | Rises. | Sets. Age. petore 
Day. |Night.)Mean.| h. m.j h. m.| h. m.| h. m| Days Rl. S. 
5 | TH | Dundee Show opens. 69.8 | 47.3 | 58.6 5) 20) |) 6 87) 4), 4) 10) 5 8 1 24 
6 F 69.5 | 46.0 57.7 5 22 6 34 4 40 | morn. 9 ib ee 
7/Ss Dundee Show closes. 69.6 | 47.1 | 58.4 5 24/1 6 32) 5 6] 0 19 10 2s 
8 | SUN | 12 SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 68.9 | 47.3 | 58.1 5 25] 6 30] 6 25] 1 35 ll 2 25 
9 M 68.8 | 48.0 | 58.4 5 27 6 28 5 40 2 49 12 2 45 
10 | Tu Coventry Show. 69.4 | 45.5 | 57.5 55 28) 1) 6) 25 Ey} cy at 13 3. 6 
LU awa Edinburgh Show. 68.4 | 46.8 | 57.6 BR] GPE) GB Apo B= 41h} @ 3 37 
om observations taken near London during forty-three years, the average day temperature of the week is 69.29; and its night temperature 
ROSES IN AUTUMN. 
URELY at no time of the year can the queen 
of flowers be more appreciated than at the 
present. It is true that the lordly Dahlia 
holds high festival in our gardens, that she 
appears to challenge attention by her splendid 
bust and form, and to ask, “Can any fault 
be found with me? My teeth are even, my 
complexion is slightly dull, is even in colour, and 
a I am always free from spots. Look at me all 
é) round and say, Am I not lovely?” We own freely her 
5): beauty of form, but we think she is a little stiff—too 
much like a milliner’s block in a shop window, and 
then indeed her colours are dull. The dews may come and 
go, the autumn rain may descend upon her choicest blooms, 
and the sun may come out and try and light up her colour, 
but in vain. No dewy shades of colour, no softness, no 
sheen as of a satin, is there. And as to fragrance, well, the 
less said about this the better. In fact we shall be far more 
complimentary to the Dahlia if we say she has no scent, 
than to speak of her fragrance. 
Then there is the splendid Gladiolus. No words can 
aptly and fully describe the varied beauties of this glorious 
flower, but it again has the same essential lacking to 
make it perfect—tragrance. Asters, with their somewhat 
ragged blooms, and Stocks make our parterres gay, but 
still do not compensate us for the lack of fragrance in the 
flowers of autumn. 
Then there is the lovely Lilium, the queen of autumn 
flowers ; here we have indeed all we want in form, and 
coleur, and fragrance, but the very sweetness of these 
beauties is almost too much for us. It is a cloying perfume 
partaking too much of the nature of. the Narcissus; and 
once more we turn to the Rose to give us ail we want. 
And here again as much if not more, as in summer, the 
glorious Rose repays us tenfold for all the love and labour 
we lavish upon her. She may not bloom so freely, it is 
true, but that makes her flowers all the more precious in 
our eyes. 
The giant ‘‘ Hercules” can no longer walk through his lines 
and cut twenty or thirty fine blooms of Marquise de Castel- 
lane at a time as he does in June, but he can wander about 
and find here and there a bloom which will bring back to 
his mind the past glories of his summer victory, and stir up 
grateful feelings in his heart. 
The blooms may not be so large, it is true, but they7are 
_ quite large enough for what we want now. A few blooms 
for the autumn shows and the rest for the decoration of our 
houses, this is all we want, and this in August and Septem- 
ber we can have. As to fragrance, I assert without fear 
that the bouquet of Roses in autumn, when the heavy dews 
descend at night and morning, and the frequent rain re- 
freshes the hot earth, is much more sweet and delicious 
than in summer. 
I have been in the lucky and privileged position of late 
to visit some of the largest nurseries where the Rose is 
cultivated, and have made it my special object to take 
notes on autumn Roses. The result of these notes I hape to 
NO. 910.—Vou. XKXV., NEW SERIES. 
convey to the readers of the Journal; and if there is any 
difference of opinion as to the judgment I have formed I 
| can only say that I have taken notes from four gardens of 
| the greatest rosarians in the country, and there is an old 
saying which surely may be considered true in this instance, 
that seeing is believing. ; 
The first nursery that I visited was that of Messrs. Thomas 
Rivers & Son of Sawbridgeworth. This old firm, once the 
very foremost in the Rose tournament, and almost the fons 
et origo of the Rose Show, now no longer exhibit ; they are 
content to rest upon their well-won laurels and leave the 
course to other and younger firms. A most extensive 
nursery, or rather nurseries, is that at Sawbridgeworth, and 
one that would afford material for many articles in the 
Journal were I competent to write on fruit and other choice 
gifts of Nature ; for there are but few flowers which Mr. 
Rivers does not cultivate largely. 
It was on a very stormy morning in the last week in 
August that I paid a visit to Sawbridgeworth, but I could 
not defer my visit till the weather improved, as my stay in 
London was very limited. I cannot hope to do justice to 
any department of that great nursery, but can only give a 
few impressions which the place made upon my mind. 
I went very carefully through the Roses with a view to 
discovering the best autumn bloomers, but I did not find 
so many blooms as I expected. The late stormy weather 
no doubt accounts for this, but the plants seemed to be 
ripening very fast. The leaves were disappearing, and the 
plants appeared to be almost ready for removal even at this 
early date. 
The freest bloomers were undoubtedly the Tea Roses. 
This is a most valuable section for autumn blooms ; far 
more flowers can be cut from Teas than from four or five 
times the number of Hybrid Perpetuals. Adam is a very 
free bloomer in the autumn, and Céline Forestier also. 
Souvenir d’un Ami and Marie Van Houtte also are good 
bloomers at this season. Triomphe de Rennes and Madame 
Falcot both come to the front in August and September. 
I do not remember to have seen any blooms of Souvenir 
d’Elise ; but Madame Willermoz and Souvenir d'un Ami 
were both well represented. After the Teas and Noisettes 
I place the Bourbons. Nearly all the old favourites of our 
fathers are to be found giving good blooms at this season. 
Souvenir de la Malmaison, Catherine Guillot, Sir Joseph Pax- 
ton, Queen, Baron Gonella, Aimée Vibert were all covered 
with blooms and doing as well or better than they do in 
the summer. 
Of Hybrid Perpetuals the best I could find was my old 
favourite Boule de Niege. Capitaine Christy ran her very 
close, however; and La France, Mrs. Rivers, and the 
Baroness were good stable companions. Of coloured Roses 
perhaps Jules Margottin and Paul Neyron were the freest 
bloomers ; but that excellent variety Sultan of Zanzibar 
proved to me that she possessed another virtue hitherto 
unknown to me—viz., that of a good stayer or autumn 
bloomer. Prince Camille de Rohan, Duke of Edinburgh, 
Duchesse de Cambaceéres, and Alfred Colomb were all doing 
well; while that little gem Elise Boélle held up her tiny 
head as perky as if she was as big as Paul Neyron. Annie 
NO. 1562,—VOL. LX., OLD SERIES. 
