358 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ October 21, 1836. 
wine because I was asked when I did not want it, and thought I “ had 
him,” but his retort was very simple, “ Do you think I should spend 
the money on it if it did not pay ? ” and I have not yet found the answer 
to that. 
Just now the Rose catalogues predominate, and in one respect I 
think these have a valuable advantage over general seed lists. But I 
have often thought that amateurs who are novices ought to have a little 
training in catalogue English before they rely on the descriptions in Bose 
catalogues. That “medium-sized” means “small” they might perhaps 
guess, but that “ pretty ” generally means “ small ” too, might not occur 
to them. They should also learn that “ mod.” for moderate, as applied 
to habit of growth, means such weak growth as to render the variety 
unsuitable for culture, except in quantities for exhibition, and that “a 
good garden Rose” means that the quality is not good enough for show 
purposes ; and on learning this latter definition they will probably ponder 
the question, If some of the best Roses are also the most floriferous and 
the best autumnals, why grow those of second quality at all ? And 
especially they should learn to beware, on seeing the fatal words “ almost 
full,” applied to any Rose, remembering that “ almost saved is altogether 
lost.” 
In one impoitant respect, the general winter and spring seed lists, 
particularly those of small local dealers, compare mo t unfavourably with 
Rose catalogues. Thanks to the National Rose Society, in every case, 
except perhaps the newest untried Roses, a named Rose is a distinct 
variety, and is not something else under another name; and the same 
might be said, perhaps, of all florists’ flowers. But in vegetables, every 
“John Smith” nurseryman of any provincial town now sends out his 
catalogue, and in all the more important vegetables, Peas, Potatoes, &c., 
you will find in it, “John Smith’s First Early Pea,” “John Smith’s 
Ashleaf,” &c., in large letters at the head of the list. Now I do not 
know if every John Smith means to say that he has a distinct strain of 
all these vegetables from every other John Smith, but only that I doubt 
if. No allusion, of course, is intended to Aims of world-wide reputation, 
nor would I go so far as to doubt that “ John Smith ” himself did raise 
-the variety, whatever it is, from seed ; but what I want to know is, is 
there any reason, beyond the old one, “ he wouldn’t do it if it didn’t 
pay,” why he should have the right to name any vegetable, simply 
tecause he has so raised it, if it be not distinct ? 
At a large show this summer, in front of an imposing display of 
seeds, &c., was a dish of Tomatoes, fair sized fruits, labelled “ New 
Tomato,” “ William Brown’s Glory of Glories,” or some such name. 
With something of the scepticism of the stranger in Mark Twain’s 
‘ Jumping Frog,” I asked the attendant, “ What points there were about 
that Tomato better than any other Tomato ? ” but he could not tell me of 
any, or even allege that it was distinct from existing sorts; all he could 
say was that it was of their own raising, and that he did not see the force 
of my argument that it was therefore at all events not proved to be a 
■“ New Tomato ” at all. 
What should be the remedy for this state of things ? Something in 
the certificate way, as done by the Royal Horticultural Society, seems the 
obvious one; but 1 am not sure that this would prevent the small and 
comparatively ignorant gardener from still believing in the local “John 
Smith ” Pea a9 the best and earliest in the world.—W. R. Raillem. 
THE ROSE IN 1886. 
According to custom I now proceed—after all the strife is 
over, and rosarians, whether exhibitors or not, are for a brief 
space resting on their oars previous to the preparation for plant¬ 
ing for next year —to review the past season and see how far 
one’s anticipations of it have been fulfilled or otherwise ; aud in 
so doing shall bear in mind as far as I can its bearing on exhi¬ 
bitions and on our gardens, for the reproach has sometimes 
been cast upon us, undeservedly I think, that we have no ideas 
about the Rose but those which are connected with it as an 
exhibition flower, and a great deal of very groundless “ gabble ” 
has been made on the subject. I be’ieve it will be found that 
those who are interested in it as exhibitors are also the best pro¬ 
moters of it as a garden flower. One of the very best authorities 
we have on the species of Roses, and whose garden contains 
nearly everything that is worth growing among them, and per¬ 
haps a good many that are not worth growing, is one of our 
foremost amateur exhibitors—1 mean Mr. Girdlestone of Sun- 
ningdale; while another of our members, Mr. Julius Sladden, 
who has exhibited such large collections of old fashioned Roses, 
is also a successful exhibitor of show Roses It is quite time 
that people with whom it is a cheap pastime to sneer at our best 
show Roses, should drop their “ vapourings.” 
It has been my good fortune this year, as before, to “ assist ” 
at most of our Rose shows, and although I did not again cross 
the border I had the counterbalancing advantage of breaking 
up new ground; and at Hitchin, Moreton in the-Marsh, and 
Clifton attended shows at which I had not been before. As 
usual I had to refuse many pressing invitations, not being able 
to accomplish the feat of being in two places at the same time. 
The wide range which I have again taken—Canterbury, Maid¬ 
stone, Farningham, C'ifton, and Moreton in the west, Wirral, 
Sutton, Tunbridge Wells, and Eltham, besides the National 
Society Shows in London and Birmingham, has given the oppor¬ 
tunity of seeing Roses in all parts of the country and Rose 
shows of very varied characters. I have also seen many Rose 
gardens, and in giving my opinion on the season and its results 
1 cannot plead want of data, and if I err it must be through 
incapacity, not ignorance. I was asked at the beginning of the 
season what I though; it was likely to be, and said 1 hoped, 
unless the unforeseen occurred, we might look for a good one. 
This was in May. Well, things did not go as we hoped for. 
Long cold weather succeeded by blazing heat was too much for 
the Roses, and although I never remember seeing Roses truer 
to character they were also small. It was rarely that one had 
to question what a Rose was, and I think that this to a great 
extent made up for the want of size. They were also, except in 
the very hot weather, fresh and good in colour; so that I should 
pronounce my verdict on the season, as far as exhibition Roses 
went, a good, but not a very good one. 
In two things the season has been exceptional—the unusually 
fine days in which the exhibitions were held, for I do not remem¬ 
ber one case in which there was rain. Even Wirral, which has 
generally managed to secure at any rate a shower if not a down- 
our, had a lovely day for its Exhibition. This season will then 
ave been a good one to test whether Rose shows will support 
themselves. In some places they seem to take and to be entered 
into with spirit, while in others it is lamentable to see the utter 
apathy with which they are regarded. Managers of shows cannot 
now, however, say that bad weather keeps people away. The 
other exceptional fact has been the almost total absence of aphis. 
I say almost a3 a sort of saving clause, for if I were to leave it 
out I should soon have someone starting up, “ What nonsense ! 
Never had it worse ; Roses literally weighed down with it.” 
But I never saw it or heard of it. Our Hops enjoyed the same 
immunity, and it was a strange thing not to see the syringe used. 
Another pest, however, in many instances took its place—the 
orange fungus, disfiguring the plants and injuring, 1 suppose, 
the blooms. This will be discoursed about in the “ Rosarians’ 
Year Book.” Mildew has also in many places been very bad; 
nor is this to be wondered at when we consider the very great 
alternations of heat and cold that we have experienced: and 
although when it comes late it doe3 not permanently injure the 
plants, it is very disfiguring to them while it lasts and injures 
much the autumn blooms. And this reminds me of what an 
autumn we have had and are still having, what a grand profusion 
of blooms ; and a'though we do not look for the same quality in 
the autumn, how valuable they are ! and above all how have the 
Teas vindicated their claim to be true Perpetuals! I am not 
surprised to find how much more popular this lovely class has 
beeome, and many growers are increasing their stock of these 
and diminishing the Hybrid Perpetuals. At almost every show 
that I attended there was a marked increase in the number and 
quality of the Tea Roses exhibited, and I think that we shall 
find this still more developed in the future. 
The exhibitions of the National Rose Society have again been 
most successful. New ground was broken at Birmingham, and 
everything went off with satisfaction to all concerned. The 
exhibitors were treated with courtesy, the arrangements were 
excellent, the Show a large and good one; and although I believe 
it entailed a heavy pecuniary loss to the Botanical Society yet 
there was a very large assemblage of people. The Show at South 
Kensington was good, but, held as it was in broilin ’ weather, the 
Roses suffered considerably, and I think the feeling was move 
and more impressed upon exhibitors and the public that it had 
outgrown the capabilities of the place. There has been the 
utmost loyalty on the part of the Society to connect itself with 
the great centre of horticulture, but withal that its experience 
has not been happy; and although the utmost that long patience 
could effect has been done, yet it is, I think, increasingly clear 
that the Society must look out for other quarters. Take but 
one case. The classes for twelve blooms of Roses (twelve of a 
sort), to many persons one of the most interesting of all, had to 
be p’aced in a narrow passage at the front of the conservatory 
where there is hardly room for two persons abreast, and with 
the sun pouring on the unhappy flowers. Everything, indeed, 
connected with the Royal Horticultural Society is in a very 
uncertain state. But independently of this the inconveniences 
are very great. It is at a distance from all railway stations; 
famished exhibitors and their assistants can get no breakfast, 
and 1 know of one who was severely ill for want of anything. 
Even a crust of bread and a cup of tea were not to be had until 
about twelve o’clock ; while in the after part of the day since 
the exhibition era commenced dinners as expensive as you might 
desire might be had, there was a famine in the land in the early 
part of the day. 
There has been nothing very startling in the way of exhi- 
