312 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENEB. 



[ October 26, 1871. 



the rows, and about 8 inches apart in the row, are safe dis- 

 tances at which to plant. Water eparingly at all times, par- 

 ticularly on the finishing-off of the crop, otherwise, instead of 

 having a iirm-fleshed Potato of good flavour, you will have a 

 soft and soapy one without flavour. — Thomas Eeooed. 



OPINIONS ABOUT ROSES. 

 It is always interesting to compare opinions with regard to 

 Eoses ; and for the sake of inducing others to give their ex- 

 periences of this year some correspondents have already done 

 80, as the Eev. W. F. Eadclyfie ; " P., Essex ; " Mr. A. H. 

 Kent, and others, and I now offer a few more remarks. It is 

 in my opinion very diffienlt to name the best twelve Eoses, as 

 in naming only twelve it would be necessary, I think, to give 

 the best in each shade of colour. I will endeavour to do so, 

 beginning with the dark Eoses, and shading to the light. 

 1, Xavier Olibo; 2, Pierre Notting ; 3, Charles Lefebvre ; 4, 

 Alfred Colomb ; 5, Marie Baumann ; 6, John Hopper ; 7, 

 Cfieile de Chabrillant ; 8, La France ; 9, Baroness Eothschild ; 

 10, Madame Vidot ; 11, Gloire de Dijon ; 12, Mareohal Niel. 



Of these Xavier Olibo is hardly free enough in growth, but it 

 is decidedly the finest as yet in its shade of colour. Pierre 

 Notting requires protection from direct sun, as it burns. 

 Charles Lefebvre still keeps its position as one of the hardiest 

 and most useful Eoses grown. Alfred Colomb, omitted in 

 " P. 'a " list, is, taking it all and all, the best Eose ; and the nest 

 is Marie Baumann, running it a very close race, and drawing 

 very near it in point of colour, only a shade lighter ; its fault is 

 that the flower-stem is too weak, and the bloom generally hangs 

 its head ; with me it makes plenty of growth. John Hopper 

 is too well known to need. any remark, except that many 

 persons might not think its shape good enough for the first 

 twelve. It has been everywhere good this year, and is more 

 constant than any other variety. I especially remember a 

 bloom shown by Mr. Mitchell, at Manchester, which not only 

 was splendid in point of colour, but was not to be beaten 

 in shape. Comtesse de Chabrillant still holds its own. La 

 Trance is the most perpetual bloomer of any Eose yet intro- 

 duced, not even excepting Gloire de Dijon, and I cannot under- 

 stand 'why Mr. Eadclyfie should consign it to the conservatory, 

 as I will undertake, given six or twelve plants of any variety, 

 oftener to pick good Eoses for the table from La France than 

 -from any other Eose. It has some of the blood of the old 

 China Monthly, as may be seen by noticing the manner in 

 which the young wood pushes from growing shoots. Baroness 

 JElothsohild is the most beautiful Eose of its colour, and is quite 

 unequalled both in size, form, and smoothness of petal. It 

 has one great advantage — it rarely has more than one bud on a 

 stem. Madame Vidot I should not have put into the list except 

 for the sake of the colour, as there is no pure white good enough 

 to name among the first twelve. Baronne de Maynard and 

 Bonle de Neige, though good Eoses, cannot take rank among 

 those I have named. Madame Vidot is most beautiful, but, 

 alas ! difficult to grow. When caught in perfection, as Capt. 

 Cuttie would say, make a note of it. Gloire de Dijon I am 

 still faithful to, and though rarely shown to perfection in stands 

 of cut Eoses during summer, it is a fine spring and autumn 

 Eose, and an undeniable grower, certainly the best climber to 

 cover a house with either a S.E., or S. to W. aspect. My 

 No. 12, Maieehal Niel, is in favourable situations magnificent, 

 and certainly the fiuest yellow Eose ever yet introduced. 



I agree with Mr. Eadclyfie, that Louis Van Houtte (La- 

 charme) is likely to be too weak a grower, besides which the 

 flower is too small. I am in hopes that Marquise de Morte- 

 mart will succeed when established on the Manetti, as it will 

 then get on to its own roots as well. 



This summer has added still further to my faith in the 

 Manetti stock for the permanent Eose garden. Many of my 

 plants were cut down to the snow line, and more than half in- 

 jured, but all have made shoots from beneath the soil, and 

 aearly all have made from 4 to 6 feet of strong young wood 

 from the base. Some that I out down to only two eyes have 

 pushed from below the ground, and have made as good plants 

 as any. On a strong Eose soil, and for exhibition purposes, I 

 do not deny that the Dog Eose is the best stock, but the Dog 

 Eoses (Briars) on which the nurserymen bud, are very un- 

 equal in point of merit, for besides the number of difierent 

 kinds of Dog Eoses which may be used as stocks, they are cut 

 out of the hedgerows by the dozen or hundred with very little 

 care, and the roots are often sadly damaged to begin with. 

 Some, too, are old, others young, and nearly all contain a plen- 



tiful store of young root-suckers laid up in the hard knob root. 

 With Manetti stocks it is different ; they are all raised by 

 cuttings under the care of the nurseryman, generally have 

 much the same treatment, and have plenty of fibrous roots. 

 They never throw up root-suckers, but only push shoots from 

 dormant eyes at the base ; if these eyes are properly cut out at 

 planting time there will be no more shoots from the Manetti to 

 trouble the Eose-grower. I have not had to cut away more than 

 half a dozen Manetti shoots from six hundred plants this year, 

 whereas a few dwarf standards on which I have some Bourbons, 

 have furnished on an average from five to seven suckers each, 

 to be pulled or cut out, but which can never be permanently 

 got rid of without lifting and replanting, even if then. 



Besides the twelve Eoses I have named, I should add Abel 

 Grand, Adolpbe Brongniart, Antoine Ducher, Berthe Baron 

 (rather too like Abel Grand), Boule de Neige, Centifolia rosea. 

 Countess of Oxford — an undeniably good new Eose, which I 

 should put among the first twelve if I bad not confined myself 

 as to colour — Devienne Lamy, Dr. Andry, Due de Cazes, Due 

 de Eohan, occasionally splendid ; Duke of Wellington, nearly 

 fit for the first twelve ; Duke of Edinburgh, very fine in point of 

 colour, but nearly always quartered, and soon gone by ; Dupuy- 

 Jamain, very promising, very free-blooming, and of a pure 

 bright colour like old Madame C. Crapelet, but not quite full 

 enough ; Edward Morren, a good Eose, but I have not yet seen 

 its claim to the first prize at the Exposition Universelle at 

 Paris, and I do not understand its being named as one of the 

 first twelve ; Elie Morel ; Emilie Hausburg, an undoubtedly 

 good Eose. very fine form ; Fisher Holmes ; Frangois La- 

 charme ; Henri Ledechaux, an exquisitely ctloured Eose, 

 giving me the impression it is a seedling of Jules Margottin 

 crossed with Victor Verdier ; Horace Vernet ; La Brillante ; 

 La Duchesse de Morny, which runs a near race for the first 

 twelve, a very soft pleasing cerise colour, with fine depth of 

 petal, and good shape ; Lady Suffield, La Ville de St. Denis, 

 Lord Macaulay, Madame Boutin ; Madame Caillat, a very 

 fine Eose, and as yet distinct ; Madame Clfimence Joigneaux, 

 glorious foliage ; Madame Creyton, Madame Encrr, Madame 

 Liabaud, Madame Thfiiese Levet, Madame Victor Verdier, 

 Mdlle. Enetenie Verdier, Mdlle. Marie Eady, Marguerite de St. 

 Amand, Marquise de Mortemart, Marquise de CaeteUane, 

 Madame Noman, Monsieur Paul Neron, Monsieur Woolfield, 

 Nardy Fjeres, Paul Verdier, Prince de Portia; Princess Mary of 

 Cambridge, Senateur Vaisse, Vicomte Vigier, Victor Verdier, 

 Victor le Bihan, Virginal. IBourbons — Baron Gonella, Louise 

 Margottin, and Souvenir de Malmaison. Noisettes — C61ine 

 Forestier, Climbing Devoniensis, and Triomphe de Eennes. 

 With Teas I have not much experience, and will leave them to 

 your other correspondents who have lately given us some in- 

 teresting and able remarks on them. — C. P. Peach. 



P.S. — Since writing the above notes on Eoses I have read 

 the remarks of " J. B., Darlington," and " A. C." " J. B.'s" 

 experience in the north of England very nearly corresponds 

 with mine ; the only difference is, I retain Cecile de Chabrillant 

 and Madame Vidot instead of Madame Victor Verdier and Mar- 

 quise de Mortemart. Madame Victor Verdier is undoubtedly 

 good, but not sufliciently distinct, and Alfred Colomb is far 

 superior in the same shade of colour. Marquise de Mortemart 

 will not, I think, prove any stronger in constitution than Ma- 

 dame Vidot, and it is certainly not so finely shaped, as it opens 

 much too flat. I am in hope that " J. B." has underrated 

 Countess of Oxford, as a stand of twenty-four blooms put up 

 by Messrs. Paul & Son at Manchester were nearly as fine as any 

 twenty-four I have ever seen, except twenty-four of Baroness 

 Eothsohild and the same number of Madame Furtado. I am 

 afraid Homere will be too delicate for the north of England. I 

 add these few lines to what I have already said, as I have rarely 

 read any notes on Eoses that I could more thoroughly endorse. 



As to "A. C.'s " remarks on the premier Eose at Notting- 

 ham, I may say, as one of the Judges, we were not at liberty to 

 choose from all the stands in the tent, as is generally the case, 

 and as in my opinion ought to be done whenever a prize is 

 offered for the premier bloom at a show ; and in this case there 

 were several blooms of La France much finer than the Duke of 

 Edinburgh shown by Messrs. Paul & Son. We had, however, 

 to select from single specimens staged by growers for the pur- 

 pose of competing for the prize, and the competition was very 

 close indeed, Duke of Edinburgh winning on account of its 

 fresh colour. Marquise de Mortemart would have beaten it if 

 it had not been too flat, and President (Tea) run a very near 

 race. The Duke, shown at Nottingham, though very fine, was 

 certainly by no means perfect in shape. It is a very good-con- 



