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JOTJENAIi OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GABDENEE. [ September 13, 1864. 



liad, I knew, prevented much second growth ; and conse- 

 quently the bloom of Eoses, I knew, must be very defective, 

 few in number, and, after what I had seen, hardly worth 

 looking at : but there was really more than I could have 

 expected. 



The nurseries of Messrs. Paul & Son, which adjoin the 

 pretty little village of Cheshunt, comprise about fifty acres, 

 a large portion of which is allotted to the usual general 

 stock of a nursery — fruit and forest trees, shrubs, &c, and 

 about ten or twelve acres are devoted to Eoses. The soil 

 on which these are grown is of that rich unctuous loam 

 which the Eose delights in, and which we in vain try to 

 imitate, and to which mainly are to be attributed the mag- 

 nificent blooms that have been exhibited by this eminent 

 fii-m during the past season. It must be borne in mind, 

 however, in comparing the stands of nurserymen with those 

 of private growers, that the great advantage that the former 

 have is in the possession of what are technically known as 

 dormant buds. These are those buds which, having been 

 inserted in the summer or autumn, have not started, but in 

 the spring shoot out. They are allowed to throw up their 

 terminal cluster of bloom, and both in size and brilliancy 

 far exceed those which are cut from older plants. 



The season is a very unfavourable one for autumn blooms ; 

 but I noticed amongst kinds freely in flower Marechal Vail- 

 lant, a flower not nearly so well known as it ought to be ; 

 Madame Caillat, of which the same may be said — it is large, 

 fine in shape, and good in colour ; Alfred de Eougemont, 

 one of the best of last year ; Lord Clyde, there was a very 

 fine piece of standard plants of this, and next to Charles 

 Lefebvre it is, perhaps, the best dark crimson Eose we have 

 — it is, like that noble flower, very strong in constitution 

 and vigorous in habit, and the number of fine blooms at 

 this time testified to its value as a perpetual-blooming Eose ; 

 Baron Gonella, a splendid Bourbon, rarely ever failing to 

 give a fine bloom at all seasons ; Olivier Delhomme, a beau- 

 tiful bright flower ; Alphonse Damaizin, excellent ; Vicomte 

 Vigier, very free-blooming, but at times somewhat thin; 

 Vainqueur de Goliath, fine ; Madame Julie Daran, either 

 the plant I had of this was not correctly named or my soil 

 does not suit it, for I have seen it so fine in so many places 

 that I must withdraw my judgment against it and put it 

 down as an Al Eose ; Lord Canning was also well in flower, 

 but Mr. Paul hesitates as to letting this out as a new Eose, 

 for it is somewhat flimsy in the petal, and he has therefore 

 decided on not propagating it further, but will put it into 

 his catalogue, and it may possibly happen that it will be 

 better in some localities and seasons than it has yet proved 

 to be ; Lord Macaulay, an excellent dark Eose ; Madame 

 William Paul, curious in its shading, and likely to be a 

 useful Eose; Lady Emily Peel, small, but will be in request 

 for its shape and colour ; Baron Adolphe Eothschild, a bright 

 and excellent flower, far before the other Baron de Eoths- 

 child. 



"We had a talk over the new Eoses, some of which were in 

 bloom, and our conclusions were very much of the same 

 character — viz., that they were a very indifferent lot, while 

 there were a few good flowers amongst them. The best of 

 these were Pierre Hotting, a. well-built dark crimson flower, 

 with a bright scarlet hue through it ; Claude Million, crimson 

 scarlet, which I also saw good in Paris ; Eate Hausburg, a 

 bright pink ; Madame Derreulx Douville, bright rose colour 

 with lighter edge to the petals, another flower I saw very 

 good in Paris with Leveque who sent it out ; Bernard 

 Palissy, bright reddish carmine; Madame Victor Terdier, 

 cherry red, very deep and excellent; and Bourbon Eev. H. 

 Dombrain, very brilliant and good. These form the cream 

 of the whole collection of last year ; and it will be seen that 

 there is a very large quantity of " skim inilk" left. There 

 must be an end to this ; and if the English Eose-growers 

 are resolute in the matter the inundation of rubbish will 

 soon come to au end. 



Besides the Eoses in the open ground there is a very nice 

 Eose-house, in which all the best varieties of Teas are 

 planted out, and which must in the proper season be a most 

 enchanting sight. The plants now looked very healthy, 

 and gave promise of doing well next spring ; nor have I 

 ever seen a finer house of Vines in pots than there was here. 

 The canes were all vigorous, well set with fruiting-buds, 

 .and as they weie grown in a small span-roofed house, and 



only one row on each side, every encouragement to their 

 growth was given them, which they amply repaid by their 

 vigour. 



In the greenhouses there was not, of course, at this 

 season much to see ; but Mr. George Paul's treatment of 

 that pretty autumn-flowering Amaryllid, Vallota purpurea, 

 has been very successful. He showed me a quantity of 

 bulbs which were last year very small, but which were now 

 throwing up two and three stems of bloom, while small 

 offsets of last year were now blooming strongly. This de- 

 sirable result has been obtained by simply growing them 

 well from the time of blooming. As soon as that is over 

 the stems are cut down as low as possible, the bulbs are 

 repotted, and then as they fill the pots with roots are again 

 repotted; and kept growing all through the winter and 

 spring. When they begin to show their flower-stems they 

 are removed into the greenhouse, and contribute greatly 

 to its gaiety. It ought certainly to be extensively grown 

 for this purpose. 



There is here, also, a very nice collection of Hollyhocks, 

 for which the season seems to have been especially favour- 

 able, the blooms having been finely developed, although it 

 has been necessary to mulch and water liberally. Amongst 

 the most remarkable varieties I noticed Jules Margottin 

 (a seedling of Messrs. Paul's), Morning Star, Lady Eing, 

 Stanstead Eival, Omega (a fine seedling of Mr. Eoake's, to 

 be sent out by the Messrs. Paul), Joshua Clarke, Lord Clif- 

 den (Lane's), Lady Dacres, Invincible, Beauty of Mitford, 

 and Hesperis (this more curious than pretty). The soil 

 seems here to suit the Hollyhock admirably, and a fine and 

 noble-looking flower it is. 



As I had to return to town early, so as to get down to 

 Colchester in the evening, my visit was a hurried one ; but 

 I was much gratified -with all that I saw, and have no doubt 

 that the Cheshunt Nursery will maintain the high position 

 it has held for so many years. — D., Deal. 



THE EOTAL HOETICULTURAL SOCIETY'S 

 AUTUMN SHOW. 



This was announced to take place on the 7th, the same 

 day as that selected for the Crystal Palace Show, and on the 

 fact being discovered or pointed out the date was changed 

 to the 6th ; but the result was much as we predicted, for 

 the display was meagre, and the attendance of visitors cer- 

 tainly less than a hundred. 



Eor Eoses there were three classes, and three exhibitors 

 came forward — viz., Messrs. Paul & Son, Eev. W. P. Ead- 

 clyffe, and Mi-. Treen, of Eugby. The first-named had first- 

 class certificates for twenty-four and eighteen. Mr. Ead- 

 clyffe had a second-class certificate for twenty-four, and Mr. 

 Treen first for twelve, and second for eighteen. We noticed 

 good blooms for the season of the year of Triomphe de 

 Caen, Senateur Vaisse, Marechal Vaillant, Gloire de Dijon, 

 Solfaterre, Jules Margottin, and Celine Eorestier, the best 

 coming from Messrs. Paul. 



Of Hollyhocks there were two classes ; and in each the 

 only competitors were Messrs. Minchin & Son, of Hook 

 Norton, Oxfordshire, whose flowers were remarkably fine. 

 The most noticeable were Argentea, Eoyal White, Gem of 

 Yellows, Pericles, Beauty of Mitford, Emmeline, Princess of 

 Wales, not large, but a pretty rosy pink ; Eev. Joshua Dix, 

 fine crimson, and. of great substance ; Queen Victoria, rosy 

 carmine ; E. B. TJUett, fine deep crimson ; and Invincible, 

 buff-tinted rose. Stanstead Eival was also large and fine. 

 Messrs. Minchin well deserved the first-class certificates 

 which were awarded them, both for their stand of twenty- 

 four and twelve. 



Of Gladiolus, Messrs. Paul & Son contributed a good box 

 of twenty-four, among which Brenchleyensis well main- 

 tained its position for brilliancy of colour. Of the others 

 the most showy were M. Vinchon, scarlet; Stephenson, 

 crimson ; Victor Verdier, fine bright scarlet ; and Mathilde 

 de Landevoisin, flesh, with a purplish streak in the throat. 

 Mr. Treen also sent some excellent spikes, but unnamed. 



Of Verbenas, Messrs. Minchin sent a very good stand, 

 comprising Foxhunter, Geant des Batailles, Grand Eastern, 

 Princess of Wales, pale blue, white eye, and Mrs. Moore, 

 deep blue with distinct white eye. 



