HYBRID TEAS. 



549 



HYBRID TEAS. 



By Alexander Dickson, F.R.H.S. 



I have chosen the subject of Hybrid Teas mainly on account of the deep 

 personal interest I have felt in its advancement as a class. I formed an 

 opinion in the early years of my effjrts as a hybridist, based upon the 

 actual results of my experiments, that before many years the class of 

 which I am now speaking would take the first place in the estimation of 

 rosarians, the place to which it is by merit entitled. Year after year, as 

 each crop was sown, germinated, and blossomed, I watched the results with 

 absorbing interest, and always with a deep-rooted conviction that what 

 was at one time a speculation was rapidly becoming a certainty ; until 

 I can now say positively that my assertion is quite irrefutable, and that 

 before many seasons the Hybrid Teas will ultimately supersede all other 

 varieties on the show beach, in greenhouse and garden. Roses suitable for 

 every purpose are now t) be found in the Hybrid Tea section, and I will 

 give examples of the varieties most adapted for the various purposes for 

 which Roses are used. With this object in view I will make five sub- 

 divisions 



1st. Roses with single flowers for garden and general decoration. 

 2nd. Bedding Roses with semi-double flowers. 

 3rd. Bedding Roses with double flowers. 

 4th. Pillar and Climbing Roses. 

 5th. Exhibition Roses. 



Probably no section of the " Queen of Flowers " excited so much 

 controversy at its initiation as that for Hybrid Teas. Many leading 

 rosarians were of opinion that Roses were amply classified, and that 

 further classifications were unnecessary and could only be confusing. 

 Since its establishment in 1893 by the National Rose Society no other 

 class has advanced with the same rapidity, and yet it is only in its 

 infancy, as the field f^r the hybridist to work upon is almost without 

 limit. Previous to Hybrid Teas being recognised as distinct from other 

 sections, the earliest known variety, ' La France,' which was introduced 

 by M. J. B. Guillot, 0£ Lyons, in 1867, was classed as a Hybrid Per- 

 petual. Some experienced Rose-growers consider it a hybrid of the 

 Chinas, and with this opinion I agree. It was in 1879 that the late 

 Mr. Henry Bennett, of Stapleford, exhibited a series of seedling Roses 

 which were the progeny of such Teas as ' Alba Rosea,' ' Madame de 

 St. Joseph,' and ' President,' crossed with smooth wooded Hybrid Per- 

 petuals of the 1 Victor Verdier ' type. The varieties then distributed 

 were 4 Beauty of Stapleford,' 'Duke of Connaught,' 'Duchess of West- 

 minster,' ' Jean Sisley,' ' Michael Saunders,' and ' Viscountess Fahn mth.' 

 Most of these have been allowed to fall out of cultivation here, but are 

 to be found described in some Continental catalogues. For several years 

 ' Duke of Connaught ' was extensively used for winter forcing in the 

 United States of America, where it was much esteemed. The initiation 



