494 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. t December 1, issi. 
flowers being proportionate to the provision in the soil for the 
growth of the plants. Light and shallow soils should have material 
added that will increase their power of retention ; cow dung may¬ 
be mentioned as cool and moisture-holding, and such soils will suit 
Roses on their own roots where those on the Briar can hardly 
exist. 
Varieties that succeed on their own roots and make effective 
growth are the following. Hybrid Perpetuals, red or crimson— 
Charles Lefebvre, Mme. Moreau, Due de Rohan, Annie Wood, 
Comtesse d’Oxford, Duke of Edinburgh, Dupuy Jamain, G6n6ral 
Jacqueminot, Francois Michelon, Etienne Levet, Marshal Vaillant, 
Pierre Notting, Prince Camille de Rohan, and Senateur Vaisse. 
Shades of rose—Captain Christy, Antoine Mouton, La Souveraine, 
Madame George Schwartz, John Hopper, Hippolyte Jamain, La 
France, Emile Hausburg, Pauline Talabot, Thomas Mills, Reine 
du Midi, Marquise de Castellane, Marquise de Chambon, Mr. 
Veitch, and May Turner. Pink—Lyonnaise, Duchess of Edin¬ 
burgh, Comtesse de Jaucourt, Abel Grand, Baroness Rothschild, 
and Princess Beatrice. White or blush—Madame Roland, Madame 
Lacharme, Baronne de Maynard, Bessie Johnson, Coquette des 
Blanches, and Olga Marix. China Roses make fine beds, and 
should be on their own roots; the common or Monthly, blush, is fine 
for effect. Mrs. Bosanquet, flesh ; Fabvier, carmine ; Cramoisie 
Superieure, crimson purple; and Louis Philippe, reddish crimson. 
Baronne Gonella (Bourbon) also does well on its own roots ; also 
Gloire de Dijon and Cheshunt Hybrid. With a good mulching 
over the roots Roses on their own roots are safe no matter how 
severe the winter, and equally so are those on the Manetti, as 
when cut down to the mulching they start freely in spring from 
the base ; indeed, our losses in standards have been so great that 
we shall have no more of them, and in good soil advise our 
friends to have dwarfs on the seedling Briar or Manetti, and plant 
so that the junction of bud and stock is 3 inches beneath the 
surface. 
For general purposes it is preferable to grow the free-blooming 
varieties in quantity, of which the following may be mentioned. 
Hybrid Perpetuals — Alfred Colomb, Annie Laxton, Baroness 
Rothschild, Boule de Neige, Charles Baltet, Charles Darwin, 
Charles Lefebvre, Comte Raimbaud, Dean of Windsor, Duke of 
Connaught, Dupuy Jamain, Fran<;ois Courtin, Franqois Michelon, 
Gbnbral Jacqueminot, Harrison Weir, Jean Soupert, John Hopper, 
La France, Madame Devert, Madame Victor Verdier, Magna 
Charta, Marie Louise Pernet, Marshal Vaillant, Marquis of 
Salisbury, Marquise de Castellane, Marquise de Ligneris, Miss 
Poole, Mrs. Veitch, Pauline Talabot, Prince Arthur, Princess 
Mary of Cambridge, Richard Laxton, Senateur Vaisse, Sir 
Garnet Wolseley, and Thomas Mills. Although most of the 
above are fragrant, the following are highly so—Bessie John¬ 
son, Francois Courtin, Harrison Weir, Madame Thevenot, Mar¬ 
chioness of Exeter, Miss Hassard, Miss Poole, William Jesse, 
Duchess of Edinburgh, Rev. J. B. M. Camm, Madame Oswald de 
Kerchove, and Mrs. Jowitt. The Moss Roses are indispensable, 
especially in bud. Mrs. W. Paul and Perpetual White are good 
in the Perpetual class. Some of the summer Roses, though now at 
a discount, are really beautiful, and especially valuable in cold 
localities. Of Provence none are more fragrant than the common 
or Cabbage. De Meaux valuable for its earliness. Crested Moss 
very beautiful, and Unique or White. Of Moss Roses Lanei, 
Angelique Quetier, and Marie de Blois are exquisite in bud ; com¬ 
mon Celina and White Bath are also beautiful.—G. A. G. 
RESPONSIBILITY OF GARDENERS. 
“ Single-handed's ” apologetic reply on page 471 is not 
quite satisfactory. He is unable to state, apparently, that he has 
had the opportunities of judging of the matter in dispute that I 
spoke of. If be had he would never have insinuated that many¬ 
handed men won prizes because they produced the largest plants. 
It is not so ; and, besides, the schedules are usually so arranged 
that all exhibitors have equal chances of obtaining prizes. As for 
small places Dot having houses big enough to grow specimens in, 
the excuse will not do, for such places are not so much dis¬ 
tinguished by the size of the houses as by their fewer number 
only. In one of the most noted places for specimens in England, a 
few years ago, the houses were so small that the stages were 
taken out and the plants grown on the floor to give them head- 
room, and very well they looked so arranged. May I also point 
out that the Eskbank people do not reckon the Edinburgh Show 
a local one 1 And if “ Single-handed ” calls “ owre the Border ” 
local, he must attach a much wider meaning to the word than 
other people, seeing it is nearly one hundred miles off. The only 
local show is the one referred to by me, and his friend at Eskbank 
does exhibit there, and seldom, or never, anywhere else, and he is 
not more successful than his neighbours. This is said without 
reflecting on his admitted abilities. It is not I, but “ Single- 
handed,” who has introduced names and places with the object 
of praising one and disparaging the other, the last just as plainly 
indicated as if they had been named, and without either reason or 
provocation on the writer’s part; and I simply want to show that 
your correspondent’s statements and conclusions are not correct. 
—another Many-handed Man. 
SCRAPS ABOUT FRUIT. 
Pitmaston Duchess Pear. —Again has this Pear failed to 
developeany of that richness of flavour which it is said to possess, 
and I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that it will never 
do so at Oldlands. Why ? There are seven cordons of it planted 
in a deep rich border of our light soil, specially prepared for the 
culture of Pears and Roses. They are remarkably vigorous, have 
reached the top of the wall before many others, and the fruit was 
large and handsome—quite as large as the size mentioned in the 
“ Fruit Manual ” by Dr. Hogg. I may add that due care was 
taken to gather it at the proper time, and it was carefully watched 
and tested during the process of ripening in the fruit-room. Is it 
a question of soil ? If so, I should be glad to learn the nature of 
the soil in which it is found to succeed. Or perhaps the stock 
upon which it is grafted has some influence on the quality of its 
fruit; all the cordons of it here are upon the Quince. I have not 
tried the effect of ripening it in a warm room, which is undoubt¬ 
edly beneficial to some Pears, notably to the fruit of Besi Vaet.— 
Edward Luckhgrst. 
The Best Twelve Pears.— Jargonelle, Williams’ Bon Chretien, 
Marie Louise, Fondante d’Automne, Comte de Lamy, Seckle, Doy- 
ennb du Comice, Winter Nelis, Jewess, Knight’s Monarch, Glou 
Morqeau, Madame Millet. These are chosen partly from an ex¬ 
tensive collection growing here, and also from observations in 
many parts of the country, as probably the best, or, at any rate, 
an excellent dozen to recommend for general culture. To make 
such a selection is by no means an easy task, so many sorts of the 
highest excellence having to be left out. One has in selection to 
remember the known effects of soil, stocks, and climate ; growing 
experience and more intimate knowledge of the peculiarities of 
different sorts serving to render us more cautious in pronouncing 
this to be good, that to be bad. Twenty years ago I was much 
more confident as to the merits of such Pears as were known to 
me than I am now ; but, then, rash youth has its day with all of 
us.— Sussex. 
Rivers’ Early Prolific Plum. —In Mr. George Bunyard’s 
work on “ Fruit-Farming for Profit,” it is stated of this Plum 
that a it is a very weakly grower, and never makes a big tree.” 
Now, the result of my nine years’ culture of it is certainly totally 
at variance with this statement, for several pyramids planted side 
by side with numerous other kinds of Plum have all grown with 
a vigour so uniform and uncommon as to render them as conspi¬ 
cuous for size as they are also for symmetry. They are kept 
closely pruned, and so the height was restricted to feet; but to 
judge from the vigorous shoots which they subsequently made 
they would have been twice that height by this time had they 
been left unpruned. It is a singular fact that the soil in which 
these trees have grown so well and borne heavy crops of fruit is 
poor and thin, but well drained, for which reason I have for some 
years regarded this Plum as one of the most profitable to plant for 
market purposes in any soil. The fertility of the soil in the neigh¬ 
bourhood of Maidstone is notorious, and I am anxious to learn 
something of the experience of other fruit-growers in that district 
about a matter that is of undoubted general importance.—A 
Kentish Grower. 
Pears not Keeping. —Pears are keeping very badly with us 
this year. Marie Louise became spotted and soon were decayed, 
and many othei’3 have gone in the same manner, and Beurrb 
Bachelier with others that are not ripe until December are now 
(November 18th) quite ripe, indeed over-ripe. Hacon’s Incom¬ 
parable has borne a full crop this year, doing admirably on the 
Pear stock near a west wall, and is one of the very best in its 
season—viz., November and December. General Todtleben has 
been better than usual, the fruit being of better form and less 
gritty than I have found it hitherto, and not liable to decay at 
the core. Beurre D'el is also first-rate, not at all gritty, but 
melting and good. Bergamotte Esperen is already ripening, so 
that the Pear season appears likely to be much shorter than usual 
as regards the keeping sorts, which is the more to be regretted as 
the crop was light.—G. A. 
