July 29, 1880. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 
87 
had a first-class certificate ; it is certain this honour has been 
awarded to varieties less distinct and attractive. Captain Patton 
esteems it the finest variety in his possession, and well grown it 
would make a handsome and imposing pyramid ; for the bush form 
of culture it is not so well adapted. Royal Purple (Bull) is perhaps 
the darkest of all, and of good habit; will make either a fine 
pyramid or bush, and “ tells well ” amongst the lighter colours. 
George Simpson, a celebrated variety raised by Mr. King and 
distributed by Messrs. Yeitch, is very rich, glowing and effective, 
with yellow teeth ; one of the best. Flambeau is of the type of 
Allen Chandler, deep bronze green with crimson veins. Turban 
is also of much the same ground colour, but spotted as well as 
veined with magenta ; distinct and fine. Chelsea Beauty is the 
finest of Mr. Bull’s last batch. The colour is bright velvety 
crimson with pale crimson veins and very prominent pale yellow 
teeth ; fine. Victory is good, as also is the better known Duchess 
of Teck. Amazement, though less highly coloured, is distinct, 
almost grotesque by its deeply cut leaves, the serratures exceeding 
an inch in depth. Sensation is an improvement on Kentish Fire, 
and Sunbeam is a bright and bold variety. 
Painted Varieties. —These are effective, being generally free in 
growth, lively in appearance, and adapted to any form of training. 
Several rather closely resembled each other, but the following are 
dissimilar and noteworthy :—Gloire de Montjeau, distinct ; pre¬ 
vailing colour bright deep green with numerous red veins, and 
mottled all over with greenish yellow. Mons. F. Henricq, pre¬ 
vailing colour yellow, blotched with pale red, and deeply toothed ; 
Keyser Wilhelm, very sportive, the colour varying almost from 
black to pale yellow, possibly not a robust grower. Miss Florence, 
much like Gloire de Mon§eau. M. Grakchef, peculiar rather than 
beautiful by its purple teeth. James Barnshaw is quite one of the 
finest, varied in colour, bright and free. Butterfly is also excel¬ 
lent ; Earnest Benary is strong, massive, and telling, as also is M. 
H. Jamain ; while Firefly is gay and cheerful, and will make a fine 
specimen. Placida, red, yellow, and green, is striking, as also are 
L. W. Baxendale, Brookwood, and Minnie Peed; and Distinction 
attracts notice by its greenish maroon leaves with purple veins 
and pink centre. 
Yellow Varieties. —One of the finest of these is Canary Bird 
(Carter) ; it is very bright and of fine habit. MM. Vilmorin and 
M. E. Pynaert are also extremely effective as associated with the 
darker forms. Yellow Gem (Bull) must not be omitted from this 
section. It is highly distinct and dwarf, cream and pale green 
with a mottled edge much curled and crisped. M. Charles Avril 
is fine, very pale crimson and yellow. 
Pale and Crisped Varieties. —These are mostly dwarf, and some 
of them are extremely attractive, while others do not appear to 
grow freely, those with much white in the foliage being prone to 
decay. Favourite (Bull) is perhaps the best of all, being free, 
curious, and bright; but about equally worth growing are Novelty, 
Lovely, Exquisite, Captivation, and Bijou ; the colours cream, 
green, and pink being more or less represented in the foliage. 
The above are selected as the most satisfactory varieties in the 
collection referred to, and well cultivated will not be likely to 
disappoint the admirers of this free-growing, gay, and extremely 
diverse genus of ornamental-foliaged plants. There may be others 
in commerce equally good that Captain Patton did not procure, 
but he endeavoured to obtain all the best, and spared neither pains 
nor expense in rendering his collection as complete as possible. 
It was a fine group and instructive, but would have been more so 
had the names of the raisers been included on the extremely neat 
and attractively written labels.—J. 
SCOTCH CHAMPION POTATOES DISEASED. 
I Am much obliged for your reply to my query about my 
Potatoes answered to “ G. R. B.” in the Journal of Horticulture, 
July 8th. The outbreak of the disease is most mysterious, ancl 
I am sorry to say is on the increase. Since I wrote to you the 
disease has spread among the Scotch Champions, and I fear none 
of them will escape. The Lapstone and Veitch’s Ashleaf are also 
attacked, and a few Myatt’s Prolific, but nothing to the extent of 
the Champions. Snowflake, and a new Potato named Monarch, 
and Early Vermont are quite healthy and in full flower. Until 
the last week the weather has been unusually dry. The rainfall 
for the year is as follows :—January, 0.46 ; February, 1.87 ; March, 
1.84; April, 1.42; May, 2.03; June, 1.11; to 10th July, 1.04; 
total, 9.77 inches. Since 10th July there has been heavy rain. 
The height of this place is 484 feet above the sea, sandstone 
subsoil coming in places within 18 inches of the surface. The 
temperature has been lower than average all the spring, but there 
was an absence of severe frost, and none of the Potatoes were 
cut down on the hills, while my neighbours in the valley suffered 
considerably. I have seen the person from whom I had the Scotch 
Champions. They came direct from East Lothian, a few miles 
from Dunbar, where the Potatoes were quite healthy last year. 
It is very mysterious.— Geo. ft. Bigge. 
[This is indeed a mysterious case. The disease of the Scotch 
Champions, as sent to us, first appears on the lower portion of 
the stems close to the ground, and even beneath the surface. We 
have seen the murrain this year attacking the Magnum Bonum and 
Grampian in a precisely similar manner, which seems to indicate 
that the disease spores were in the sets, and that they germinate as 
soon as the conditions of moisture and temperature are suitable, 
and the fungus spreads upwards ; frequently, or perhaps generally, 
the murrain attacks the tops and travels downwards. But the 
perplexing part of the question is that the seed Potatoes now 
diseased were the produce of crops believed to be perfectly free 
from the murrain last year. Of course the spores of the fungus 
may have been in the soil, but if so it is singular that it should 
have attacked these hitherto considered disease-proof varieties 
first. We extremely regret this occurrence, and can only advocate 
the removal and burning of the haulm of the late kinds as soon as 
it is attacked, and the taking-up of the early crops as soon as the 
tubers attain their full size. If any cultivators can make any 
more practical and useful suggestions we will readily publish 
them. We know of no application that will check the disease ; 
even “ salus ” quite failed to do so when it was tried at Chiswick. 
—Eds.] 
THE ROSE ELECTION. 
It is time, perhaps, that the preliminary note of this year’s 
Rose election should be struck. With the consent of the “ruling 
powers at No. 171,” it will be a Rose election “limited.” The 
term will not apply, however, to those who share in the election, 
but will be limited to Roses having a Tea flavour ; in fact, unless 
good cause is shown to the contrary, it will be an election of Teas 
and Noisettes only. For two years I have been asked to under¬ 
take this. 
As Teas are general favourites where they will grow, and seeing 
that vigour and ability to resist wintry blasts are very essential 
requisites to success, it does not seem to me advisable to make the 
election take an “ exhibition ” form, though doubtless many will 
frame their opinions by that test. I propose to divide it into twenty- 
four and thirty-six varieties, using all the replies in the twenty- 
four, and making a summary of the thirty-six varieties separately. 
It will be interesting to compare both tables, and seeing how far 
the smaller growers agree in their opinions with those who try 
every variety. The question, then, wilt be— 
Name the best six Teas or Noisette Roses for general purposes, 
the second best six, the next best twelve. 
Those who choose can add a third twelve, making thirty-six 
in all. 
I shall be glad to have replies by the last day of August.— 
Joseph Hinton, Warminster. 
EVENING FETE AT SOUTH KENSINGTON. 
The Royal Horticultural Society held its annual evening fete at 
South Kensington on Wednesday the 21st inst., and being favoured 
with fine weather after a few showers in the early part of the evening, 
it proved highly successful, and a very large and distinguished com¬ 
pany assembled to enjoy the numerous attractions provided. The east 
and west quadrants were occupied by numerous collections of plants, 
which appeared to excellent advantage beneath the electric light. 
Of the plants thus contributed a large proportion were from the 
Society’s garden at Chiswick, one group of Tuberous Begonias being 
particularly attractive. An extensive and imposing collection of 
plants were staged by Captain Patton in the east quadrant, compris¬ 
ing 150 varieties of Coleuses, some of them very handsome, arranged 
with Palms, Lilies, and miscellaneous fine-foliage plants. Another 
very attractive group was that from H. J. Atkinson, Esq., Gunners- 
bury House, Acton (gardener, Mr. Hudson), which contained some 
handsome specimen Ferns, Crotons, Palms, and other plants effec¬ 
tively arranged. Mrs. Hudson contributed an elegant and pleasing 
example of table decoration, which found many admirers. Nursery¬ 
men also exhibited well, one of the principal groups being that from 
Mr. B. S. Williams, Victoria Nurseries, Upper Holloway, which in¬ 
cluded a number of choice stove plants ; Orchids, Palms, Nepenthes, 
Ferns, &c., being exceptionally well represented. The General Horti¬ 
cultural Company sent a large and beautiful group of Palms, Ferns, 
Gloxinias, and others, the central plant being a fine specimen of the 
beautifully variegated Phyllanthirs nivosus. Messrs. Osborn <fe Son, 
Fulham, had a pleasing arrangement of fine-foliage plants ; and Mr. 
Aldous, South Kensington, exhibited a graceful mode of decorating a 
fire grate and mantelshelf. Messrs. Dick Radclyffe & Co., High 
Holborn, contributed a charming arrangement for a grotto ; and 
Mr. Cannell, Swanley, staged a large collection of trusses of Ver- 
