November 23, 1893, ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
465 
Mr. Bartlett contents himself with saying in reference to Cryptomeria 
japonica that there are some fine specimens of good shape and with 
branches to the ground, Mr. Gatty boasts a tree 45 feet high. The 
branches are rooting and young shoots springing up. Cupressus 
Lawsoniana erecta viridis, 30 feet high and in splendid colour, is also 
noteworthy. _ 
Laurels and Rhododendrons thrive with wonderful luxuriance at 
Felbridge Place, and there are many splendid Beeches'and Oaks in the 
park. It is without doubt one of the most interesting of what I may 
term the tree places in the country. The gardens are well managed 
throughout, but my object when commencing these notes was to refer 
only to the Conifers. What I have said will enable skilled readers to 
see for themselves that Mr. Gatty’s Conifers are capable of providing a 
rich source of pleasure for every tree lover.—W. P. Weight. 
National Rose Society. 
We are informed that the annual meeting of the National Rose 
Society will be held at the Horticultural Club Rooms, Hotel Windsor, 
Victoria Street, Westminster, on Thursday, December 7th, at three 
o’clock; the Rev. W. Wilks, Secretary of the Royal Horticultural Society, 
will take the chair. The annual dinner will be held at the same place 
on the same day at 6 p.m. The dates fixed for the Exhibitions in 1894 
are :—The Southern Exhibition, June 27th, at Windsor ; Metropolitan 
Exhibition, Crystal Palace, July 7th; Northern Exhibition at Halifax, 
July 19th, 
Mr. Mawley’s Analysis. 
“Bucks” (page 440) reminds me of the little street boys who tie 
crackers to my hall door and then run away—they amuse themselves, 
don’t hurt me, and remain in the obscurity they prefer, and to which 
their methods are best suited ! I am sure Mr. Mawley will feel as proud 
of his champion as I feel deeply injured by tnis anonymous gentleman’s 
“ tremendous onslaught ” on me. 
Without wishing to detract one iota from Mr. Mawley’s services to 
the N.R.S., which in fact I have never brought into question, I must 
notice the last paragraph of “ Bucks’ ” communication ; and in comment 
thereon, say that the N.R.S. was formed in 1876, and 1 joined the Society 
in 1878, so that the words subsequent to “long years” are nonsense. 
Very evidently not to be known by “ Bucks” is to be unknown !— 
Charles J, Grahame, Croydon. 
[We suspect that Mr. Mawley could give a different version of 
Mr. Grahame’s work in conneetion with the N.R.S. to that which seems 
to be entertained by “ Bucks.”] 
The Rose in 1893. 
I HAVE now grown Roses for more than a quarter of a century. I 
have visited most of the Rose gardens in the kingdom, and have had as 
Secretary of the National Rose Society from year to year much inter¬ 
course with the principal Rose growers both amateur and professional. 
I have heard various and contradictory reports as to the eondition of the 
plants and flowers, but never during all that time have I heard from 
growers so general a condemnation of the season (if I except the northern 
men) as in the present year of 1893. This was all the more regretahle, 
as early in the year the prospects were bright, and the hopes of 
exhibitors proportionately elated. 
The wood had been fairly well ripened in the autumn, the winter 
had not been very severe ; January and February preserved their normal 
character, and at the time of pruning wood was strong and the buds 
promising ; but from that time all was changed. We had no April 
showers, and a period of droughtiunexampled I believe in our climate set 
in. From March to July, a period of four months, we had not in this 
locality 1 inch of rain, and consequently no good Rose season could be 
anticipated : the result of the shows proved this to be true. The southern 
grower was handicapped, the sub-tropical character of the season had 
driven the flowers into bloom long before their proper time, and con¬ 
sequently those varieties which bloom early were pretty well out of the 
field ; while from the earlier districts nothing was to be seen. There 
can be no question that it was a hard time for amateurs especially. The 
nurseryman has perhaps many places differing in soil and situation, and 
as Roses are worked on various kinds of stocks, in a season like the 
present if he cannot cut from one portion of his grounds he can from 
another. The amateur on the other hand is confined to one small piece 
of ground on which he is obliged to grow his Roses year after year, and 
I often wonder that under such circumstances he is able to show as well 
as he does. In a season like the past one the small amateur fared 
especially badly. The characteristics of the year were drought, abund¬ 
ance of sunshine and heat ; day after day as the Rose exhibition 
season approached the skies were absolutely cloudless, and a brilliant 
semi-tropical sun shed its influence all around. What could, then, the 
small amateur with his few plants hope to do ? It was no wonder that 
his exhibits generally were below the average, and that even the larger 
amateurs had to confess that most of their flowers were not worthy of 
their reputation. There were, of course, the usual differences of opinion 
as to the effects of the season. While some suffered severely from 
aphides and orange fungus others were comparatively free. I did not see 
one of the former in my Rose garden, while others said their plants were 
smothered with them. Orange fungus, which has in some years almost 
denuded my trees in July, was but little seen, while mildew, which so 
disfigures the Rose garden if it does nothing else, did not appear until 
late, when its ill effects were comparatively trifling. 
It was a year, however, in which the northern part of the kingdom 
had it all its own way. Messrs. Harkness & Son of Bedale, Yorkshire, 
again achieved what no other firm has ever done, namely the winning of 
the two challenge trophies in the same year. To the north, too, went 
the amateurs’ challenge trophy, and it was won by a young amateur, 
Mr. A. Whitton, a near neighbour of Messrs. Harkness. Messrs. Mack 
of Catterick, Croll of Dundee, and Cocker & Sons of Aberdeen were 
also forward in the race, the fact being that while in the south we 
were pretty well frizzled, the north and Scotland had been enjoying 
refreshing rains and cooler weather. Although the Messrs. Harkness 
suceeededin carrying off the jubilee trophy at Worksop, they were run 
very hard by Messrs. Alex, Dickson & Sons of Newtownards, a remark¬ 
able feat when we recollect they had to bring their flowers some miles 
the other side of Belfast, across the Channel, and to take them a long 
railway cross country journey to Worksop—a striking example for 
those who think it necessary to postpone the cutting of their flowers 
to the very last moment. There was one very remarkable feature 
which has been already commented upon by my good friend 
“ W. R. Raillem,” who always writes instructively, and that was 
the behaviour of the darker Roses in such a season. We 
have always been accustomed to regard continuous sunshine 
as seriously injurious to their beauty. The edges of the petals become 
disfigured, the colour is taken out of them, and they look as if scorched ; 
indeed, we generally speak of them when in this condition as being 
burned. How came it, then, that when weeks of bright sunny days 
prevailed this calamity did not take place ? Such flowers as Louis Van 
Houtte, Reynolds Hole, and Camille de Rohan, Prince Arthur, Duke of 
Edinburgh, Horace Vernet, and others were never cleaner or brighter 
than in the past season—I speak not of those which were carefully 
covered over, but of those growing in the open unshaded. There must 
be something else than sunlight to account for this ! It may, indeed, 
have been said to have been a Horace Vernet year, for never was this 
grand flower more generally exhibited in good form than in this year, 
when its raiser was taken away from us. Neither, on the other hand, 
as we might have supposed, were the light Roses remarkably good. Her 
Majesty, for instance, which had been so well shown in 1892; Mrs. John 
Laing, the best of the late Mr. Henry Bennett’s Roses ; Mods. Noman, 
La France, and others were not conspicuous for their superior form, 
while the earlier flowering varieties were all over before the exhibition 
time came on. 
Although three gold medals were awarded by the N.R.S. for new 
Roses, there never was a greater scarcity in this class ; the foreign 
raisers seem to have expended all their energies in the varieties they 
have already given us, and neither in the class of Hybrid Perpetuals or 
Teas does there seem to be anything amongst the Roses of 1891 worth 
reeording. Two Hybrid Teas have made their appearance, and one of 
them is highly spoken of as an exhibition Rose, and one (Caroline 
Testout) has been praised by such good authorities as the Rev. J. H. 
Pemberton and Mr. Ben Cant. The other (Gustave Resris) is a charming 
buttonhole Rose, in which its chief value consists. The two exhibition 
Roses to which the gold medals were awarded came from the North of 
Ireland, and there is every reason to believe that Marchioness of 
Londonderry (white) and Mrs. Sharman Craw'ford (bright pink, some¬ 
thing of the shade of colour of Madame Gabriel Luizet) will keep up 
the reputation of the raisers, Messrs. Alex. Dickson & Son of New¬ 
townards, who have already given to us such fine Roses as Earl of 
Dufferin, Margaret Dickson, Marchioness of Dufferin, and Ethel 
Brownlow. The other certificated Rose was Turner’s Crimson Rambler, 
a garden Rose from Japan, and likely to be most valuable for decorative 
purposes. Charles Gater (Paul & Sons) is a red Rose of great brightness, 
but somewhat small to suit present tastes. Harkness’ Merrie England, 
the best of all striped H.P.’s, was not shown in as good form as in 1892. 
It seems, however, to be tolerably constant, and if so will be a very 
great addition to our gardens.—D., Deal. 
(To be continued.) 
THE KEEPING OF APPLES. 
With the exception of the real late keepers, Bramley’s Seedling, 
Northern Greening, French Crab, and others of a hard nature, it seems 
doubtful whether any of our best varieties of Apples could this winter 
be induced to keep long. If the fruits, because of the long drought, 
have so marked a deficiency of juiciness or sap in them that they so 
soon become dry and woody it would be impossible by any method of 
keeping almost to replace what Nature has not furnished. But that 
our ordinary methods of keeping Apples ihrough the winter are far 
from being the best there can be no doubt. We exhaust our fruits far 
too much by keeping them in a comparatively dry atmosphere, where 
all the surroundings are absorbent, and not infrequently the tempera¬ 
ture varies from week to week fully several degrees. The practice of 
burying Apples in tubs in the earth is doubtless a good one, but then 
fruit in such case is so difficult of access. On the other hand, the 
