410 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. c November 4 , mo. 
they can be propagated and grown at home. I do not mean to 
say many could not raise them with little expense, but they will 
not, as a rule, be so good as those specially prepared in a 
nursery, and it is by the crop which is obtained from them that 
we must judge their relative value. A good Vine occupies no 
more space than a poor one. One requires as much attention 
as the other, and if those of our own growing will only pro¬ 
duce five or six little bunches to the ten or twelve large 
bunches to be had from the best Vines, those most to be pre¬ 
ferred will not be difficult to decide. Many Vines in pots of 
last season's growth did not prove satisfactory this spring, but 
they will be very different next year, as everything has 
favoured their perfect development. Those intending to 
purchase Vines in pots should order them at once, and have 
them home as soon as possible, as I know from experience 
there is nothing to be gained but much to be lost by delay.— 
J. H. M. 
HINTS UPON AND A SELECTION OF ROSES. 
At the present time many, doubtlessly, contemplate either sup¬ 
plementing their stock or making a first attempt to cultivate the 
queen of flowers,” and to whom a few hints may prove acceptable. 
In the first place, then, I should advise those inexperienced in the 
matter to give their orders at once, for nurserymen, as a rule, work 
on the principle that the first come be first served, and what is 
more with the best plants. By ordering late in the season, not 
only is there a risk of receiving the weakest plants, but, this 
season especially, there is every likelihood that all the popular 
varieties, and which are those that beginners and the owners of 
small gardens really desire, will be sold out quickly. Where but 
few Roses are grown they should be of the best description, and 
from which the greatest number of blooms shall annually be 
taken. In my brief list, therefore, I shall enumerate those which 
not only are fine summer Roses, but which also will give some 
really good and very acceptable blooms during the autumn 
months. 
If a general election of varieties took place the one to head the 
poll, all points considered, would very probably be Gloire da 
Dijon. A more serviceable Rose than the “old G-lory ” I do not 
know, for whether grown as a standard or a dwarf, up pillars, on 
walls, or rambling over shrubs, it seldom fails to give a more or less 
continual supply of useful if not always well-formed blooms from 
the commencement of the season till severe frost commences. 
Pruning lightly is a mistake often committed with this and other 
Tea and Noisette Roses. Long ripened shoots if laid-in to their 
full length will flower at nearly every joint; but unless they have 
been much bent or depressed, the growth that should supersede 
these exhausted shoots will not be formed. We prune our 
standard Gloire de Dijon rather closely, and in addition to good 
heads of bloom in the summer a few strong shoots are produced 
each with a terminal bud, which is followed by other blooms 
down nearly the whole length. These are usually taken out at 
the next pruning. Other good Teas are Madame Falcot, Marie 
Fan Houtte, Homere, Souvenir d’un Ami, and Safrano, all of 
which do well either as standards or on walls, and are really in¬ 
valuable for cutting when in a bud state, giving at least three 
times the number of blooms that the Hybrid Perpetuals do. The 
standards of these are pruned similarly to the latter, weak shoots 
being cut hard back, say to the second or third joints ; but any 
very strong shoots are twisted round and tied-in, as hard pruning 
of these only induces the formation of still stronger growth. 
Mardchal Niel fails as a standard, but is well worthy of a 
place on a warm wall. This, or part of the tree, requires to 
be hard-pruned occasionally, in order to secure long and strong 
shoots, from which only can good blooms be obtained. For this 
reason I should advise the owners of apparently worn-out speci¬ 
mens to cut them back next February to the main stems, as, 
although this will entail the loss of much inferior bloom the same 
season, they will be well repaid for the sacrifice in the next. It is 
the practice of some skilful rosarians to have at least two plants 
of Marechal Niel, and to cut one back each alternate year, thereby 
invariably securing a quantity of fine blooms. Another extremely 
useful Noisette, and which, unlike the foregoing, is both perpetual- 
flowering and well suited for growing as standards, is Cdline 
Forestier. I find its blooms particularly good for bouquets, but 
unfortunately that and the beautiful Lamarque are not so hardy 
as one would wish. The old and vigorous Noisette Jeanne Desprez 
on a high wall with a north-east aspect proves exceptionally 
hardy, and this season has given many splendid bunches of 
bloom. 
Of Hybrid Perpetuals La France proves by far the most flori- 
ferous, and is one of the best. Of this and Marie Baumann, 
Charles Lefebvre, Capitaine Christy, Alfred Colomb, Mods. Etienne 
Levet, Madame la Baronne de Rothschild, Jules Margottin, 
General Jacqueminot, Duchesse de Caylus, Duke of Edinburgh, 
and Comtesse de Chabrillant we had not only a goodly number 
of handsome blooms in the summer, but have cut many creditable 
examples up to the end of September, and they are still blooming. 
To these may well be added John Hopper, Duke of Connaught, 
Beauty of Waltham, Annie Wood, Madame Victor Verdier, Mons. 
Franfjois Michelon, and Prince Camille de Rohan. 
All the above with me are perfectly hardy. They are princi¬ 
pally budded on the Briar stock, which suits our deep and rich 
soil, but they succeed equally as well on their own roots. Those 
who have a light and rather poor soil should order Roses that are 
budded on the Manetti stock, taking care when these are received 
to bury the part where the bud was inserted just below the sur¬ 
face. The Manetti stock is not recommended for the Teas and 
Noisettes, and if dwarf plants are required they will be found to 
do well on their own roots. The evil attending planting dwarfs 
or those on their own roots is that they are seldom properly 
pruned, and for this reason are soon comparatively worthless. 
There are two methods of pruning dwarfs, each of which answers 
well. My practice is to prune them precisely the same as the 
standards—that is to say, all spray is taken out, weakly shoots 
cut to about the second bud, and the vigorous shoots to the fourth, 
or they are left still longer in the case of the over-luxuriant growth. 
Some of the latter is sometimes taken clean out, and also some of 
the old wood is shortened in, in order to well balance the head 
and to keep the growth constantly starting from near the centre. 
The other plan is to lightly shorten all the strong shoots, and to 
peg these down, the bloom springing up from the entire length. 
Fresh growths start from the centre, which are thinned out, 
and the best selected to take the place of those pegged down 
the previous year. One year’s neglect upsets the whole system. 
The same may be said of neglecting to prune standards, but 
then these being so conspicuous are not so liable to be over¬ 
looked. If dwarf, pillar, and wall-trained Roses were as regu¬ 
larly pruned as standards they would not so frequently be seen 
in a flowerless insect-infected condition, but would give equally 
as good displays in their respective seasons as others. 
I often think that if many gardeners and amateurs knew how 
easily Roses are struck from cuttings we should see a great many 
on their own roots both in pots and in the open ground. All that 
is necessary is to select a few well-ripened shoots at pruning 
time, taking them off with a “heel”—that is to say, with a small 
piece of the older wood attached, and shortening back to about 
four or five buds. These may be either dibbled under handlights 
placed at the foot of a north wall, or in the open ground in the 
same position. A little road grit may with advantage be used, 
and the cuttings should be inserted firmly.— W. IGGULDEN. 
PEACH BLISTER AND POTATO DISEASE. 
The discussion on “Fungi, a Cause of Disease,” is of much 
greater consequence than at first appears, for instead of complain¬ 
ing that our crops are destroyed by some mysterious occurrence, 
we should search out the actual cause and endeavour to find a 
remedy. It is well known that there are certain forms of the 
lower orders of the vegetable kingdom that are present every¬ 
where, and only require suitable conditions to bring them into 
activity; therefore if we carefully make our observations it will 
not be difficult to discover what is most favourable to their ex¬ 
istence, then we should endeavour to bring about a state of 
things that will act against them. 
It is generally acknowledged that vigorous health is antagonistic 
to disease, therefore I consider “ S.” is reasonable when he states 
that unripe wood is favourable to Peach blister. In that case im¬ 
perfectly matured tissues form the condition congenial for the 
fungus, which quickly germinates, and we see the effect in the 
blistering of the leaves. It is, therefore, plain we should insure 
the ripening of the wood as much as possible, bearing in mind 
that excessive luxuriance or want of heat is calculated to render 
the tissues imperfect. Why the blister does not appear so much 
under glass is because the wood ripens better, the Peach being a 
native of a warmer climate. If our seasons are not dry and warm 
the wood does not ripen sufficiently to resist disease. 
For the Potato disease the condition is apparently disorganised 
tissue. We find heavy clays, low undrained ground, thick planting, 
crowned with a wet season, most favourable to the disease. What 
is more reasonable than that we should seek the reverse of those 
conditions, and plant our hills and lightlands; then we should have 
Potatoes, not very large, but free from disease. It is desirable to 
select well-formed suitable-sized Potatoes for planting ; the very 
