July £2, 1886. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
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ETH Sunday after Trinity. 
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Royal Horticultural Societr. Committees at 11 A.M. Carnation and 
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[Picotee Shows. 
EARLY EFFORTS AND LATER EXPERIENCES 
IN ROSE-GROWING. 
A paper read by Duncan Gilmour, jun., Esq., of Highbury, Sandygate, 
Sheffield, July] 16th, at a meeting of the Walkley Amat-ur Floral and 
Horticultural Society.] 
is now a good many years since I was first 
seized with a desire to grow Roses, and I began 
by planting a strip of land in a field adjoining 
my father’s bouse at Sandygate. My first step 
was to purchase a little boob, price Is., by the 
great Rose-grower, Mr. Wm. Paul, of Waltham 
Cross, which little hook contains much useful 
information for beginners. The soil was very 
poor—about a foot of light sandy loam, and 
below that yellow building sand and ratchel. Rose-growers 
will admit that it was about the worst soil for the purpose 
that could he selected; added to that the field facing due 
south, and being situated on a hillside, what rain fell upon it 
did not remain long ; added to that again, it was very much 
exposed to the south-westerly gales, which blow there pretty 
hard at times. Now, here were a good many disadvantages, 
the two greatest being, according to the books, bad soil and 
too much wind; the latter I feared quite as much as the 
former. One solitary advantage I had was that the ground 
was virgin soil, and would be likely to grow good Roses for a 
time at least. 
I began with about five hundred half-standards, Hybrid 
Perpetuals mostly, in about one hundred varieties, planting 
them without manure, for two reasons—first, I had none ; 
and secondly, I thought, as the soil was so porous and open, 
that I should prefer to keep the manure near the top. i may 
here say that later experience has proved to me that I was 
right there, in case of light soils at any rate. Following the 
advice in the book, I procured about two loads of cow manure 
quite fresh, because I could not’get it in any other state, and 
this was wheeled on in heaps just before the snow and wet 
came on. It was turned once or twice during the winter : 
and in the early spring, although it was very rank and green, 
we boldly dug it in. Of course, like all other beginners, I 
did not half prune the plants, but the result was beyond my 
wildest hopes. Probably such Roses as Xavier Olibo and 
Prince Camille de Rohan came about the colour we wish to 
see Marie Baumann, while Marie herself would be about five 
degrees lighter than she ought to have been. But I knew 
no such distinctions at that time—“where ignorance was 
bliss ’twas folly to be wise and up to then I had seen no 
Roses so fresh, so bright, or so clean as mine. The results of 
this first season were found to be that it was almost impossible 
to have too much wind, and that if one has a clear atmosphere 
and plenty of fresh air that fine Roses may be grown even on 
a poor soil with plenty of manure. 
The second season was much the same as the first; the 
treatment was the same except that we put on four or five 
loads of clay in the autumn, and dug it in in the spring. 
But whether it was that I was getting more critical and hard 
to please, or that the soil or the plants were deteriorating, I 
No. 317. —Vol. XIII., Third Series. 
cannot say, but I was not so well satisfied. At this time, 
too, I began to haunt the local flower shows, and the Roses 
there may have made me discontented with my own. 
The third year the plants were much troubled with insect 
pests (another sign that things were not going all right). 
In the spring, just when the first leaves were making their 
appearance, I discovered that many of the plants had every 
leaf and bud eaten off. I watched them all day, and that 
being no use I got a dark lantern and resolved to watch 
them all night if necessary. Going out the first night about 
10 p m., to my surprise I found the stems and shoots literally 
alive with insects, which, on my touching the first plant, all 
fell to the ground and disappeared as if by magic. With 
the other plants I was more cautious, and managed to kill 
about 150 of the insects. In the course of a few evenings 
they were all cleared out. On examination I found that they 
were weevils or small beetles. I cannot understand why these 
weevils should attack the Roses for one season only, for I 
never had any trouble with them since, and they have not 
emigrated, as I sometimes see them strolling about. 
Green fly, which rarely appears in quantity at Sandygate, 
began to bother me that season, and for some time I used to 
always carry a painter’s brush in my pocket, with which, first 
laying the shoot in the palm of the hand, I lightly brushed 
off the insects. We never require brushes or anything else 
for that purpose now. Caterpillars seemed more plentiful 
too, and added to these the plants were getting old and 
feeble, and a good many of them died during the winter. I 
should have said before that the ground I had planted was 
intended for a permanent plantation, and the shrubs, which 
were at first very small, were gradually growing and sending 
their roots out here and there, and so getting possession of 
the manure which was put there for the Roses. 
After this I launched out more boldly, and getting pos¬ 
session of a large piece of land without any trees or shrubs 
of any kind on it we laid it down with grass. On this grass I 
made beds to contain one dozen plants each, and in each bed 
only one variety was planted. Round the boundaries were 
placed shrubs to break the wind, but these were never allowed 
to grow so high as to shut out light or air. This plan of the 
beds I still carry out, but instead of one bed of one variety 
I place about four or six beds of the same kind together, 
using only the best and most free-blooming kinds for the 
purpose, and we find the effect is much better. For instance, 
what can b 9 finer than a great mass of Baronne de Roth¬ 
schild, or La France, or A. K. Williams, or Charles Lefebvre, 
or Merveille de Lyon, or Marquise de Castellane ? all of which 
are excellent for the purpose, C. Lefebvre being the most 
unsuitable in consequence of its straggling growth. Of course 
I planted these beds with a lot of unsuitable varieties, and 
have made many changes, but the best bit of experience I 
have picked up yet in the case of Rose beds on a lawn is the 
necessity of planting few varieties and massing these few 
together. As we renew the plants or change the varieties in 
these beds the soil is renewed and manure added, and lately 
clay has been placed at the bottom to hold the moisture, 
while it has also been mixed with the soil composing the bed. 
Lime, Beeson’s manure, night soil, sewage—in fact, anything 
that contains manure—is added at the proper time. Under 
this treatment the land should become better year by year 
and should give better results, and I think does so—in one 
particular I am sure of it—that is, in the foliage. For years 
the foliage was very poor and a bad colour; now we get 
^rind leaves and plenty of them, and of a good healthy dark 
green. Most gardeners will know that without good leaves 
there can be no good flowers, and so when I say we get 
better leaves I think I am safe in saying we get better flowers 
also. The colour of the darker varieties is very different of 
later years too. Formerly Xavier Olibo, Louis Van Houtte, 
and similar varieties came the colour of Marie Baumann, 
and the lighter coloured ones were equally affected; now 
we can gather blooms as black as they are seen anywhere, 
No. 1973 .—Vol. LXXV., Old Series 
