October 6 , 1881. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 305 
6th 
Th 
Woolhope Club, meeting- at Hereford. 
7th 
F 
Exhibition of Gourds at the Alexandra Palace (two days). 
8th 
S 
9th 
Sun 
17'rn Sunday after Trinity. 
10th 
M 
Sale of Bulbs at Mr. Stevens’ Booms, Covent Garden. 
11th 
Tu 
Koyal Horticultural Society, Fruit and Floral Committees at 
12th 
W 
[11 A.M. 
THE ROSE ELECTION. 
HE results of the polling which I am now about 
to lay before the readers of our Journal, if 
proving nought else, decidedly affirm an in¬ 
crease in the lovers of exhibition varieties of 
the queen of flowers. In former elections the 
number of voters has never reached fifty, 
whilst now with a more restricted franchise no 
less than sixty-seven have sent replies, which are tabu¬ 
lated. If, as the wise man said, “ In the multitude of 
counsellors there is safety/’ surely the present election 
should produce more useful as well as more reliable results. 
Some old names will be missed from the lists, but, on the 
other hand, we have replies from over twenty nurserymen, 
many of them very extensive growers, having a world-wide 
reputation, which must make the tabulated results valuable 
as a guide to those who need guidance ; and I cannot help 
thinking, that while they are helping those with less ex¬ 
perience to form their opinions, they are also doing themselves 
some benefit amongst buyers of Eoses. I trust it is so. 
Not only is this the heaviest poll “ on record,” but when forty- 
eight varieties have been asked for, it is the largest number 
of varieties that have been tabulated—very nearly one hundred 
Roses—all, in fact, are tabulated that reached double figures, 
and we may safely affirm that in the list published the best ex¬ 
hibition Roses are to be found. Yet at the outset, I am again 
struck by one extraordinary result I have noticed in previous 
elections—how few, how very few, Roses are considered by 
all the electors worthy of a position, not amongst the first 
twelve, but in the first forty-eight. Surely most of us would 
have said that at least a dozen Roses must be named by every 
elector, and yet the tabulated result shows us that only three 
are thus favoured. From this I think we may learn one 
thing at least—that peculiarities of soil, climate, and situation 
affect the character of the varieties and render some, most 
valuable to others, useless here and there. This, at least, is a 
reason for giving each elector his due, and acknowledging 
what each one of us know by practical experience, that the 
omission of a name or names in the forty-eight may mean, 
not ignorance, but an inability from some of these circum¬ 
stances over which we have little or no control to bring out 
in anything like their proper character certain varieties, and 
hence their exclusion. 
Again, w r e do know that certain years favour the perfection 
of certain varieties, and vice versa, and the varying position 
of some is thus accounted for—notably, for instance, Francois 
Michelon has not been seen so generally good for two, if not 
three seasons, and as a result he has lost a place in the first 
twelve, and Etienne Levet has also narrowly escaped joining 
him. There are some other terrible lowerings of position, 
especially Victor Verdier, in 1877 No. 29, now 55 ; Emilie 
Hausberg, No. 23, now as low as 51. Of the latter I have 
only had a single bloom this year, and it might have been 
anything but its real self, so utterly worthless ; but perhaps 
the most wonderful change is that of Edouard Morren, No. 19 
in 1877, now No. 73 ! Equally extraordinary are the shifts 
upwards of some, especially E. Y. Teas, now No. 13, then 
No. 35; Comtesse de Serenye, No. 24, as against 45 in 1877. 
Here I would just note that the nurserymen with their large 
stocks are almost unanimous in naming her ladyship, whilst 
probably not a few amateurs had with their past experience 
tried and discarded her. Those, who like myself, have re¬ 
tained one or two plants have been agreeably surprised this 
year by seeing how beautiful she is when in her glory—every 
inch a queen ! But what is the rise of these two Roses com¬ 
pared to that of A. K. Williams, now No. 11, and Madame 
Gabriel Luizet, now No. 22, both of which were only intro¬ 
duced in 1877 ? There are other contrasts which may be made 
between the two elections ; and to facilitate “ comparisons,” 
which Mrs. Partington says “ are odorous,” hence fitted to 
Roses, I have added another column—the position of each 
Rose in election of 1877. 
I am bound to state that some electors seem to have con¬ 
sidered that Teas were omitted, whilst others have purposely 
omitted them. Some feel that Hybrid Perpetuals and Teas 
cannot be compared together, and it appears to me that the 
number of electors feeling this is on the increase ; nor is this 
feeling one to be passed by unnoticed, especially when it is 
mentioned by such Rose lovers as Rev. C. H. Bulmer and Messrs. 
G. Baker and Whitwell. The position, therefore, of the Teas is, 
perhaps, rather lower than it should be, and it has somewhat 
altered the condition of the poll. Possibly another year I 
may be able to meet the wishes of these electors by a general 
election with Teas excluded, but in a separate table. 
Two or three voting papers with only twenty-four names 
have not been tabulated. Two or three electors also in¬ 
advertently named the same Rose twice, thus losing one vote ; 
but one elector named the same Rose as A1 and as A3. This 
seemed to me inexplicable—how anyone could consider a Rose 
as in the best twelve, and second twenty-four. So I wrote 
requesting an explanation. To my greater surprise the voting 
paper was returned with the name scratched out of the best 
twelve, and a Rose named that had not been previously 
mentioned even in the forty-eight! This, it appeared to me, 
showed an amount of carelessness sufficient to make the return 
of no value. As one such return, though not absolutely de¬ 
stroying the value of the table for general purposes, does un¬ 
doubtedly affect it, I felt myself compelled to reject the enig¬ 
matical return in question. 
The schedule is familiar now to many readers of our 
Journal, but still I must again explain. The first column is 
the position of each Rose in the last general election, next the 
position in the present, then the name, date of introduction, 
and raiser of the Rose. Then A, B, C represent the first, 
second, and third-class votes of the amateurs, and the same 
letters with an asterisk the same votes of the nurserymen, and 
it will be noticed that the amateurs are for practical purposes 
as two to one, and now the list may tell its own tale. 
No. 67.— Yon. III., Third Series. 
No. 1723.—YOL. LXVT., Old Series. 
