FrMUARV 19, lS ? 8 - 



GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



in 



THE PARENTAG 



OF ROSES 



kU* id this article must always be a peculiarly fascinating one 

 THE SU bj S2oB many of whom, doubtless, find it very interesting to 

 - me cultivators, many ^ , , Souvenir de S. A. Prince, 



has the 

 derived 



:naracieribiiLs ««. uuia^ "uai; «w „ — — > 



i below the petals the same exquisite suggestion of delicate 

 inding one instinctively of the aspect of a celebrated lily, L. 



self-same 

 it has even 



neen, reminding one u»wi«*'«7 y ««* «.p«.* 



cpeciosum Kratzeri, whose beauty is of a similarly distinctive descrip- 

 tion The variation from Souvenir d'un Ami, discovered at Oxford by 

 that* great ros*rian the late Mr. George Prince, has the charming 

 fragrance and floriferousness of its parent, but the pale pink of the one 

 has become in the other a precious pure white hue. This, in my opinion, 

 _ by far the most valuable of all tea roses of its special colour, at least 

 for garden cultivation. It has more vigour, finer foliage, and opens with 

 greater facility than The Bride ; but I consider the latter the more perfect 

 nriety when adequately grown. Souvenir de S. A. Prince is, however, a 

 much more accommodating and reliable rose ; if inferior in form, its per- 

 fume is more attractive, and of a widely different kind ; if, therefore, The 

 Bride has any superiority, it is found in the beauty of the individual flowers. 

 Niphetos is an old favourite, of whose origin I know nothing, but though 

 it may be admitted that the climbing form is much less capricious than 

 the original variety, I do not find it so worthy of praise as either of its 

 rivals in the essential matter of artistic formation. Even when grown on 

 a sheltered south wall, it often has a ragged and imperfect ppearance. 



Many of the older roses, whose names are historical, but whose 

 aspect and attributes are, to the present generation of cultivators, almost 

 unknown, now exist for the most part only in their descendants, some of 

 which, therefore, it may be presumed, are more generously endowed. 

 La Rene, for example, of which in his day the late M. Laffay was 

 especially proud, lives on in Francois Michelon, Paul Neyron, and that 

 more refined derivation from the latter entitled Ulrich Brunner, of 

 German origin [.< | ; whose value, I greatly fear, has been somewhat over- 

 rated probably because Teutonic roses of eminence are so rare ; 



[Spfu* tfjfit - - of La Reine ' Au * uste Mie > on 



us a very handsome rose for the garden in Duchess of York, whose 

 colouris identical with that ot Maiden's Blush. Mrs. Harkness is derived 

 from Heinnch Schultheis ; Margaret Dickson, a nobly endowed variety, 

 from Lady Mary Fitzwilliam and Merveille de Lyon ; while the former 

 hybrid tea, in conjunction with La France, has given us Mrs. W T 

 Grant, which is very beautiful in bud, but not equal to its parents at any 

 subsequent stage. 1 



Some of the older noisettes (whose name is not legion) are still in 

 cultivation ; among these is Aimee Vibert, and Lamarque (Marechal, 

 ib3o), the parent of Cloth of Gold, and great grandparent of Marechal 

 Niel. Its hue is very pale yellow, approximating to white, which makes 

 it somewhat hard to understand why the heirs of its attributes (including 

 considerable tenderness and consequent unreliability) should have been 

 so much deeper and more effective in colour. Gloire de Dijon, which 

 always reminds me of a very short and stout lady, with a most amiable 

 expression, has some daughters of a more refined formation, of which 

 perhaps the finest are Boule d'Or and Belle Lyonnaise. One of the most 

 graceful of recent introductions is Fiametta Nabonnand. I have been much 

 interested to learn that this rose is the result of a cross between Niphetos 

 and Papa Gontier, and partaking to some appreciable extent of the 

 characteristics of both. It would be even more interesting to ascertain 

 the origin of that uniquely coloured variety Empress Alexandra of Russia, 

 which is likely to prove a formidable rival of Comtesse de Nadaillac and 

 Madame Lambard. It is much more easily cultivated than the former, 

 and surpasses the latter in artistic fascination. 



Kirkmaiden. 



David R. Williamson. 



Grasses. 



™* n \u a . perhaps not in vigour—" goes to the wall 

 vi2^J?V t ^ 0ge ^, rosc " S° there ! )> has bee n relegated by 



rosanans to oblivion. Most of those varieties which drew their 



btS^H f thC bri,,iant, y- h ^ "Giant of Battles" (NeiSrd, 



Son! aToms, ,7" ° Ur M C0 P seivativ e and comprehensive collec- 



3. ov reason o? lf ; g k • C £ pt, °V bemg Cranston's Crimson Bedder, 



mTmmThFjZl* bnght C0,< ? ur ' lts rich prance, and productive- 

 ly .should be much more extensively cultivated than it is Some of the 



perfume nor are meT m 0 5 9** , and strength of their 

 E on the other hand in ZJ ^ . ° f A CIr lustrous flower s '■> '* 

 Erections that the less VrfrS? T^u 2*2 > y n ° means unimportant 

 There is at leas one ^ranc UM *£ ^TZ* Bedder is su P re ™. 



«* <*>ly in our caLirfJn^ ^ d f h ^ nd Perpetual that is still discoverable, 

 "vely mour earden, I ' u ls ° grOWin S and flowering very effec- 

 rosethat survive, Tv J™?*^ veteran-like General Jacqueminot, a 



"""tons ; ;"?>ong some of the 



Notwithstanding the vast areas of the earth's surface which are 



densely clothed with forest growth, wherein the grasses are in the 

 minority, in one or other of their forms, minute or gigantic, they pro- 

 bably cover by far the greatest portion. Except in the most arid deserts, 

 some species or other always manages to find a foothold, and although 

 in the dry seasons of the tropics the traveller, regarding the parched-up 

 prospect, and even curiously examining the rocks and soil around him, 

 might be inclined to deny the existence of any vegetation whatever, a 

 few days after the rains have set in every chink and cranny reveals the 

 contrary, and the blades of the all but ubiquitous grass speedily transform 

 the seemingly barren scene into a verdant and fruitful one. It is pro- 

 bable, too, that, having regard, as it were, to the versatility of the grass 

 family, as well as to the abundance of its members, no other tribe can 

 rival it in its general utility to man. 



We can roughly split it into three classes : first, those numerous 

 species which, in all parts of the world, do their best to monopolise the 

 soil wherever there is a suspicion of moisture, and the nutritious nature 

 of which constitutes them the first of forage plants, so that indirectly we 

 owe our cattle, sheep, and horses, and their myriad bye-products, so to 

 speak — meat, wool, leather, and so on — to this branch of the grasses ; 

 secondly, we have those which, by man's selection, and under his careful 

 cultivation, yield our daily bread in all its forms from their highly- 

 developed seeds — maize, wheat, oats, barley, &c. — again all due to grasses, 

 so that the old adage, " All flesh is grass," is extremely near the mark, 

 though other fruits of the earth yield a fair contribution in these later days 

 of varied foods. Then, if we go to warmer climes, we find some members 

 of the selfsame tribe know how to profit by the solar heat and terresrial 

 moisture ; and lo ! the bamboos — like grass under the microscope 

 soaring up for scores of feet, and yielding, from jointed stalk and leafy 



strong rnn^t't f* r 1/ LO "ee-nowering qualihca- soaring up ior scores or ieei, aim yiciuiug, num juuucu aiaiR. aim icaiy 



among which f 1 many hi £ hl y distinguished de- bl ade, endless utilities to the deft hands of the natives, their lithe, cylin- 



most impressive are Charles 



je Rohan. Perhaps the finest 



Colomb, and 



drical shafts, hard as steel almost, varnished by Nature, and only needing 

 cutting and joining, splitting and splicing, in the most primitive fashion 



Waltham 



Warrior 



It is 



The 



Roses in this respect much resemble 



p nSL » « SSL SweetneiS > and 



existing derivation to provide house furniture, and tackle of all sorts— again all made of 

 still highly popular with 



**cept 



these. None 



grass. Another tribe of the giant persuasion adds sugar to our list, each 

 knot a lollipop, the annual crop the outcome ot a mighty industry. 



It is indeed curious that in so extremely varied and widespread a 

 family one and all appear to be at once innocuous and useful. In other 

 tribes evolution, in some mystic fashion, has often linked deadly poisons 

 closely together with nutritious foods, even, it may be, in one and the 

 same plant or fruit— examples, the peach and almond, bearing the deadly 

 prussic acid in their kernels, while the deadly nightshade and the delicious 

 tomato or mealiest potato are very close relatives, as their flowers betray, 



(which seems to be utterly lackine though woe to the cook who made a general salad of the lot, as the cow 



~ r "-- 7 5 does in the pasture with its various grasses- Our statelv oak has its 



e reputation of the parent rose. Mrs 



* * rad 



KothKh 



^enoim. 



wnich mime , , " lc PHreni rose Mrs uun in iuc udsiuic wiuu '•-*» . e — • .Z. , <■ ■> , 



Action of form J?: pr u esumabI y> the same origin, but not an poisonous cousin in the States, and in the manifold forms of the other 



adianUy-beautifal ' r X. Ug somewhat deficient in central petals great division of dicotyledons boon and bane go hand in hand in very 



« sr*rM ... • . garden rose. pcuub, & j however, wherever crrass errows, no matter 



hich 



serious rivals in 



Gloire 



IfOCn 1 



great division of dicotyledons boon and bane go hand m hand in very 

 many instances. In the grasses, however, wherever grass grows, no matter 

 the species, cattle may feed with impunity, and in the various grains we 

 find, and naturally expect, the like, as they are al the result of selection. 

 Considering the great likeness which runs throughout the tribe, so that m 

 their very young state, except as regards size, seedlings are almost indis- 

 tinguishable the one from the other, it is a great blessing that hay fever 

 appears to be the only ailment to which humanity seems subject through 

 ^ C. T. Druery, F.L.S. 



its acquaintance with the grasses 



the teas. 



gj Proli6c 

 S 11, Re !">olds h 



n ,„,v " . ""■" U1 <*na valuable rose is 

 qualities of its nature have been inherited 



also 



tself 



I havp c »r«' c"n "'^"r l iJ c ominous Duke of 



'l S£ occasionally 



Duke and S2£ s A ™£l r °u Ses of considerably more 



nt **\ origin, 

 qgy^^ from Etien ie 



c ^viessrs docker, who are eminent 



cult 



of Fife have 

 Countess of 



,Vat ors of herbaceous flower " 



Transplanting Onions.-As the writer of " Men and Methods at page 

 83 refers to diverse methods of transplanting winter-raised onion plants. I 

 may mention that transplanting from the boxes into which they are pricked 

 from the seed boxes with balls of soil, so that the roots are quite undisturbed, 

 is the regular practice of Mr. Bowerman, gardener at Hackwood Park, Basing- 

 stoke, who has for two or three years been the champion grower, having always 

 had the finest bulbs. Now, the grower who washes the soil from the roots of his 

 plants before he plants outdoors may be able to show prize cards, &c ; but in 

 what sort of competition? Another gardener, who is a first-class vegetable ex. 

 hibitor and invariably has fine onions, is yet with these bulbs always beaten by 

 Mr. Bowerman, but the other washes all soil from his plants before transplanting. 



Seeing what splendid results come from the balls of soil, is it not the best 



Tney have also given way?— A. D. . 



J v " ~ 



whose name it 

 experience has told 



drawn their best 



as 



