September 26, 1878. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 235 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
Daye Day, Average Sun Sun Moon | Moon | Moon’s| Clock | Day 
aad Wonk SEPT. 26—OCT. 2, 1878. Tem peratire neat, Rises. | Sets. Rises. | Sets. Age. etore aoe 
Day. |Night.,)Mean.| h. m.| h. m.} h. m.| h. m] Days. | M. 8s. 
26 TH 65.7 43.8 | 54.7 5 54 5 48 5 42 56 19 (e) 8 42 | 269 
27 F 65.3 44.6 | 55.0 5 56 5 46 7 14 5 37 1 9 2) | 970 
28 Ss Rudbeck died, 1702. 65.1 $4.0 | 54.5 5 57 5 44 8 47 5 57 2 9 22 | 271 
29 SUN | 15 SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. Si. MICHAEL. 65.5 44.3 | 54.9 5 59 5 42] 10 20 6 26 3 9 41 | 272 
30 M 65.0 43.3 | 54.2 Gecnal 5 38 |} 11 46 cg 8) 4 10 14 273 
1 TU Sr. REMIGIUS. Cambridge Term begins. 63.4 44.7 | 54.1 6 2 5 87 pieseeal 762 5 10 20 | 274 
2 WwW 64.4 43.9 | 54.1 6 4 5 35/15 9 8 56 6 10 39 | 275 
45,5°. 
From observations taken near London during forty-three years, the average day temperature of the week is 64.9° ; 
and its night temperature 
\ 
ROSE ELECTION. 
DECLARATION OF THE POLL. 
AYLD SAVAGE” now calls the election “a 
mockery, delusion, and snare.” Why? Be- 
cause it does not agree with his preconceived 
notions. Was it likely—nay, was it possible, 
or even probable—that the collected opinions 
of thirty or forty different persons, however 
good and sound they might be as to the 
merits of the varieties of a given flower, when 
those varieties are so numerous as in the case of 
the Rose, could agree as regards forty-eight of those 
varieties ? It is simply impossible. T ive and thirty 
and so far there would have been unanimity ; but the re- 
maining baker’s dozen would have sadly taxed the powers 
even of “ WyLp Savace” in obtaining anything like a 
unanimous opinion. But it is this variety of opinion that 
gives zest to all our pursuits. And why, I ask, may we 
not have these differences of opinion without the results 
being “a mockery, delusion, and a snare?” Supposing an 
amateur asking the advice of our friend, stating that he 
intended to begin Rose-growing with a view to exhibition : 
surely ‘““WyLp Savace” does not mean to say that if he 
ordered the first sixty varieties as they appeared in last 
year’s election, ten plants of each, and if he brought to bear 
on these the best soil and climate and the greatest skill in 
cultivation that could be obtained, this amateur would have 
been wholly out of the race in the battles of the past season 
because the plants thus ordered were altogether wrong, they 
were the worst varieties instead of the best ; they were, in | 
fact, nothing more nor less than ‘‘a mockery, delusion, and 
snare,” and that to stand any chance in exhibiting Roses he 
must begin afresh—select the Roses that never obtain men- 
tion amongst the sixty best of the election, and that by 
these means he is likely to obtain in future contests the 
“ double firsts” that he covets ? 
I give our friend credit for knowing better than this. 
He knows well that the other way would not pay, and that 
it would turn out a greater “delusion” than the election. 
Indeed I scan down (I have just done it) the list of last 
year’s election, and though I might shift the position of 
our favourites according to my fancy, yet the bulk of them 
are right. The position, I have explained before, is most 
easily shifted by an eccentric vote, but several votes of the 
same character will not drive a thoroughly good Rose out 
of the forty-eight or place a worthless variety within the 
charmed circle. 
Tf “Wyip SavacEe” really wishes to save the Rose 
election from being “a mockery, delusion, and snare,” let 
him use his influence—not slight, I believe—in urging his 
brother enthusiasts in the trade and amongst amateurs to vote. 
Our friend is somewhat inconsistent ; he poured the vials 
of his wrath on the election of 1876, which was the result 
of “household suffrage.” Then we established a franchise, 
a very fair one [ still think, and again he is not satisfied— 
he would have only those at the National, Alexandra, &c., 
who appeared as prizetakers ; but it does not seem to occur 
NO. 918,—VOL. XXXV., NEW SERIES. 
out of the forty-eight might have been allowed by all, | 
| best time to cut Roses for exhibition ? 
| 
| 
to him how faulty this may prove, for a man may devote 
himself say to forty varieties alone, and figure successfully 
at the National in the twelve or six varieties. This has 
occurred this very year, and the gentleman declined to give 
more than twenty-four votes. 
In last year’s election I ventured to give my idea on an 
exhibition Rose and its qualities, a valued discussion fol- 
lowed in these columns. I would like to start another 
subject in connection with exhibiting Roses: What is the 
And again, At what 
stage should it be cut from the plant to insure its growth 
in every way after the cutting? Few of us can have 
helped remarking that one Rose will grow, improve in size, 
colour, and exhibition qualities for twenty-four or thirty 
hours after cutting ; whilst others, apparently cut under 
similar circumstances, do not improve at all. Why is this ? 
The conditions of the parent and the atmosphere have, I 
fancy, some influence on the cut bloom, as well as the time 
at which the separation takes place and the conditions 
under which it is kept. I recollect a correspondent, I think 
it was Mr. Curtis, suggesting that the damp moss used for 
covering the stands had an injurious effect on the cut 
blooms and caused their colours to fade. This would be a 
reason for trying some other material, and the green velvet 
may, after all, prove the best ; but if this be correct, dis- 
tance is a severe handicapping which only those with very 
large numbers to cut from can meet successfully, and it 
would seem also to point to the conclusion that those coming 
from a distance should not moss their reserve box of blooms. 
Whilst penning these thoughts a postcard from “A. C.”” 
threw out the suggestion as to what Roses were the most 
lasting and bore the brunt of travelling the best. Perhaps 
another year may induce many to give their opinions on 
this subject. 
The electors are, as before, either frequent prizetakers in 
district shows or prizetakers at the National, Alexandra, or 
larger meetings. One list has not been used, no name being 
attached to it, but the list itself will appear. Whatever may 
be the opinion as to the merits of those voting in the forty- 
eight varieties, there can be no question that the electors 
voting in the seventy-two varieties are all growers and ex- 
hibitors whose opinions must carry weight. They are all 
well-known names, and this election must set at rest for a 
year or two at least the best varieties of our national flower. 
Writing before the summing-up of the figures, I still 
venture to hazard the opinion that the seventy-two will not 
greatly differ from the general poll except in the position 
of the Roses, but that the first forty-eight Roses in each 
poll will nearly agree. I may here say that Mr. Cranston’s 
list is used only in the seventy-two varieties, I having pro- 
mised this ; but I feel certain that all Rose-growers will feel 
grateful to him that, whilst disbelieving the value of these 
elections, he has yet given us the benefit of his opinion 
and yielded to the persuasion of friends to the election. 
The columns run thus :—First, the number denoting the 
position of each Rose on the poll, determined thus:—first by 
number of votes altogether; these being equal, by greater 
number of votes in first twelve; if still equal by greater 
number of votes in the second twelve; if still equal they are 
No. 1565,—VOL. LX., OLD SERIES 
