November 15, 1883. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
417 
inform “J. B.” the annual meeting of the above Society, the funds 
invested, &c., have been announced in the Journal of Horticulture for 
years, as weil as the Gardener's Chronicle, — T. Coates. 
[Our correspondent “ J. B.,” as is obvious, was animated with the best 
intentions towards the Society, and his letter is at the least as likely to aid 
it as the one now published. The article on page 310 did not emanate from 
any member of the Society, and until its appearance, notwithstanding the 
casual notices alluded to, the real position of the Society was unknown 
to the great majority of gardeners. We have excellent authority for 
stating that the Society, and the advantages it offers, would have been 
made widely known had there been a surplus for that purpose from the 
management fund. With an accretion of members this fund will 
increase, and we venture to think that“J. B.” deserves the thanks of 
the directorate rather than otherwise for his letter on this subject.] 
TEA ROSES. 
Growing Roses only in a very limited area we are naturally diffident 
in offering experiences, and yet gardening is such an inestimable, such a 
health-giving delight, that I cannot refrain from 
making some observations suggested by the article 
“The Past Rose Season,” from the pen of a very 
high authority, in the Journal of November 1st. 
I entirely agree with that authority “ D., Deal," that 
the Tea Rose is not anything like so tender as it 
used to be represented. It is, in my opinion, as 
hardy as the Hybrid Perpetual. It is more graceful, 
more delicate in tint, and it is besides invariably 
perpetual. The Tea Rose may be grown either in 
the open or under shelter of a wall, and in either 
situation with me it succeeds. By the wall being 
at the bottom of a slope I keep the ground open by 
an application of ashes and fine cinders, laid on in 
November, and followed by a liberal mulching of 
manure. In the open, where the soil is lighter and 
apt to become dry, I seldom use ashes, only the 
usual mulching. But where Tea, or indeed Hybrid 
Perpetual, Roses are grown in an exposed situation 
as dwarfs—and in both cases dwarfs only are in 
question—I strongly recommend protection by 
screening with Yew cuttings on the north and east 
side from February or March up to the middle 
of May or June. In small gardens this is quite 
practicable, and the results thoroughly repay the 
cultivator. 
Nothing is more beautiful than the Rose. No 
flower is more universally admired, and let me 
add, that no flower really costs as little as the Rose. 
The first outlay is small, the after expense nominal, 
the returns certain and satisfying. 
I append a list of some Tea Roses whose hardi¬ 
ness I have proved for years—Madame Falcot, 
Souvenir d’un Ami, Souvenir d'Elise Vardon, 
Niphetos, Reve d’Or, Marie Van Houtte, Madame 
Bravy, Madame Willermoz, Innocente Pirola, Perle 
des Jardins, Caroline Kuster, Old Devoniensis, 
Climbing Devoniensis, and Reine Marie Henriette. 
This last, however, does not appear very perpetual. 
All the others are thoroughly so.—A. M. B., Mid- 
Lincoln. 
[We quite concur in the remarks of our corre¬ 
spondent. All the varieties named, and several 
others, may be successfully grown in most districts 
with the aid of a little protection, which they emi¬ 
nently deserve. No flowers are more charming 
than these, and one of the most useful of all, 
Niphetos, is admirably represented in the annexed 
engraving, supplied by Messrs. George Cooling and 
Son, Bath, and described in their catalogue as the 
“finest white Rose in cultivation.” It should be 
grown in all gardens, established in pots for green¬ 
house or conservatory decoration, also for affording 
cut flowers of the most charming and admired 
character. This Rose is perhaps grown more 
largely than any other for supplying blooms for sale, and they appear 
to be always in demand for personal adornment, bouquets, vases, and 
wreaths.] 
FIGS IN THE OPEN AIR. 
That Brown Turkey is the best Fig for culture in the open air either 
against walls or as bushes is a fact too well known to require any special 
statement to that effect, nor are details of its culture called for either ; 
for whether it is pruned and trained to the greatest nicety, or left to 
grow with all the freedom of a wilding, it continues bearing excellent 
fruit annually, alike good in quality and with such uniform abundance 
in proportion to the number of shoots—whether laterals or leaders— 
matured during the preceding season of growth, that the size of each 
tree may fairly be said to be the only limit to the quantity of fruit it 
bears. Brunswick, too, is eminently worthy of the good character given 
it by Dr. Hogg in the “ Fruit Manual,” as “ one of the best for outdoor 
cultivation against walls.” It is true that if taken tree for tree its crop 
is barely half that of Brown Turkey, but then the large size of its magni¬ 
ficent fruit well atones for the deficiency; and here at any rate we do 
not gain size at the expense of flavour, for I suppose we have nothing 
more delicious among our choicest fruits than a Brunswick Fig fully 
ripe, with its luscious interior temptingly revealed through the bursting 
skin. 
Have we any other Fig worthy to rank with these two for open air 
culture ? I think not; and yet varieties are numerous enough, one of 
our leading nurserymen enumerating thirty-three, and another twenty- 
one, which they offer for sale as worthy of cultivation, but not out of 
doors. White Marseilles is usually said to answer well against open 
walls, but I cannot say that I have often found it do so. Grizzly Bour- 
jassotte does bear a few perfect fruits every year on a south wall, but it 
is much too shy a bearer to occupy much wall space, and for all practical 
purposes I fear we must confine out selves to Brown Turkey and Bruns¬ 
wick. Now what is the cause of this somewhat singularly restricted 
cnlture of Figs in the open air ? In an examination of the trees growing 
here against walls on the last day of October I found Brown Turkey, 
Brunswick, and Grizzly Bourjassotte hare of leaves, with the season’s 
wood growth firm and well ripened ; but White Marseilles, Black Ischia 
and Early Violet had shed hardly any leaves, and White Ischia was not 
only still in full leaf, but its leaves were as green as they were at mid¬ 
summer. Nothing can be more explicit than this. The three sorts which 
come to early maturity bear ripe fruit every year, and are therefore 
suitable for our climate ; the four sorts, with foliage and wood still 
immature, are almost barren of ripe fruit, most of the fruit falling 
prematurely before it is half grown, and they are therefore unsuitable for 
our climate, requiring a few more degrees of heat than the average 
temperature of an English summer affords even here in the sunny south.— 
Edward Luckhurst. 
PLEIONES. 
These are, as Mr. Plant justly observes, very charming little Orchids, 
and well deserve a place in every warm greenhouse or intermediate 
