June 22, 1893. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
497 
Rose, Duchess of Bedford. 
I HAVE to express my obligations to Mr. Harcourt P. Landon for the 
information he gives me on page 480 of your issue of last week. I find 
that regarding the origin of Rose Duchess of Bedford there is a very 
considerable and confiicting difference of opinion existing between the 
great British rosarians. In his list of 2000 distinct varieties, Mr. 
Cranston of Hereford attributes the origination of this, one of the 
most beautiful and brilliant Roses in cultivation, to the Waltham 
rosarian. It is on the other hand assigned to Mr. R. B. Postans by 
Mr. Cant of Colchester, who being an intimate personal friend of Mr. 
Paul is not likely to deprive that venerable Rose cultivator of any 
honour that especially belongs to him. That Mr. Paul was at least the 
first introducer and extensive cultivator of the Duchess of Bedford I 
cannot doubt. This continental fame does not, most fortunately, rest 
upon the Duchess, or even upon the more celebrated Duke of 
Edinburgh, the latter of which was unquestionably raised by him in 18G8. 
Next to Mr. Paul among British raisers I would place without hesi¬ 
tation the late Mr. Bennett, to whom we are indebted for Her Majesty, 
Mrs. John Laing, and Lady Mary Fitzwilliam. The last mentioned 
Rose, however, is entirely eclipsed, whether as regards form, substance, 
exquisite colour, or superb fragrance, by her more highly endowed 
daughter “ White Lady,” a Waltham production. Like Mr. Turner’s 
Polyantha Rose, whose success at Paris is extremely gratifying, it is a 
production of inestimable importance.— David R. Williamson. 
P.S.—Since writing the above note on the Duchess of Bedford I 
have received a letter from Mr. Paul, in which he says that the 
Rose in question was raised by Mr. Postans, but popularised by him. 
I am glad to have such an authoritative decision upon this subject. 
Mr. Paul, as I have indicated, does not require the Duchess to add to 
his reputation.—D. R. W. 
Stray Notes. 
“My attention has been called” to a statement in London, and 
even in Dublin, evening papers to the effect that “the well-known 
grower of Roses in Suffolk, Mr.-(Christian and surname given in 
full) was deceased.” As a matter of fact, the person in question, who 
has thus had a very rare opportunity of tasting posthumous fame, is 
alive and—well I would be “ kicking ” if due reason and a fit and 
proper object for that exercise could be shown him. 
The drought increases in intensity. We are now contemplating 
hanging Professor Falb for an opposite reason, for he said we should 
have rain in June. The heat and the glare, and the “ sharp dry,” as it 
is locally called, of the east wind are trying for Hybrid Perpetuals and 
even for some of the Teas ; and Rose showing must be a most vexatious 
and trying business in such weather. I am very pleased to see that 
Mrs. Paul (Bourbon) stands it well. My blooms are as firm and lasting as 
they were last year. Of its companion gold medal Rose, Salamander, 
the same cannot be said, I fear, in spite of its name. There is ample 
excuse for a Rose of that class appearing flabby in such a season ; but 
it appears to me to be also a weak grower, and it is certainly strange 
that I have not seen any account of its having been exhibited, even by 
the raiser. 
They are to be congratulated who have not been driven by the past 
cold and wet seasons to discard slow-opening and “ hot season ” varieties. 
It ought to be a good year for Marie Rady, Reynolds Hole, and Star of 
Waltham among Hybrid Perpetuals ; and as for Teas, with Boule d’Or, 
Madame Margottin, and Madame Willermoz throwing themselves open 
as freely as Anna Ollivier, where, oh ! Page Roberts, are those Marie 
Guillots which were our envy and despair in days that are past ? 
Violet Bouyer, as usual, won the race among Hybrid Perpetuals as 
being the first out; a dead heat for second place between Monsieur Noman 
and Captain Christy (the former rejoicing in the weather and coming 
very good, but, alas 1 too early), with Mrs. Baker in close attendance as 
third, and the others not far behind. Margaret Dickson at present shows 
no signs of giving any compensation for the disappointment of last year ; 
but the two Irish Marchionesses, who are not lacking in embonpoint, 
should have a good time. The Marchioness of Dufferin has come quite 
good with me, and probably likes this sort of weather. 
I am obliged to Mr. Mawley for his ample corroboration of my 
anticipation that the earlier grubs and caterpillars were to a great 
extent destroyed by pruning. Later pests which would not be thus 
affected are as numerous as ever. Aphides are more in evidence than 
usual, the little caterpillar which disdains leaves and appears first on 
the well developed bud only, is the cause of some quite private remarks, 
and that Beast (capital B) in the shape of a white maggot, which bores 
its way downwards from the top through the centre of the longest and 
strongest shoots which have not yet shown the bud, is really enough to 
make one tear one’s hair, for there is no discerning the mischief till it 
is done, and are not these shoots our only hopes for the later local 
shows 1 
Of other pests mildew is unusually early, and bids fair to do a 
good deal of harm. As for orange fungus, of which Mr. Abbey dis¬ 
courses so fully (page 481), and which formed the subject of a sympo¬ 
sium in the “ Rosarians’ Year Book” for 1887 (Mr. Worthington Smith’s 
contribution being very clear and well illustrated), I have found it 
practically unworthy of notice. Full of apprehension I most carefully 
carried away and burnt every sign of it in 1888 ; but finding no benefit 
in the autumn, and realising the next year that it really did me no 
practical harm, I have since left it alone, and do not find it increase. 
It does, in the secondary stage, cause a great falling of the lower 
leaves in autumn, the Victor Verdier race being particularly susceptible. 
But though this is unsightly it does not seem to me that the vigour of 
the plants, or their capabilities for producing first-class blooms in the 
season, are thereby diminished.—W. R. Raillem. 
CANKER IN FRUIT TREES. 
For more than one reason it was thought desirable to defer the 
publication of the following communications, mainly, though not wholly, 
commenting on Mr. Abbey’s comprehensive articles which appeared on 
pages 47, 68, and 98 in January and February of the present year. 
I READ Mr. Abbey’s remarks on the various Apple growing soils of 
the country, and also his comparison of the Leeds soil with the Sitting- 
bourne soil. I think in the main his deductions are correct, and that 
ammonia is needed to render the iron available for plant food, which 
was one of the things I suggested in my first letter on this subject. One 
error Mr. Abbey appears to have fallen into for want of more informa¬ 
tion as to subsoil, which I would have given had I anticipated his article, 
for he supposes our soil is different from the Kentish rag, which grows 
what he calls “ the large bright matchless Kent Apples,” whereas it is 
identical, for the parish of Leeds is situated on the ragstone formation, 
the technical geological name of which is the Hythe beds of the lower 
greensand. 
The ragstone range of hills, which is about three or four miles wide, 
runs parallel with, and situated about a mile from, the North Downs, 
the soil in the valley between being composed of gault and some soft 
sandstone. On the southern side the Weald clay comes right up to the 
ragstone, consequently we are able to grow such Apples as your corre¬ 
spondent describes and other fruits remarkably well. Hops also do well. 
Before coming here I spent a considerable time examining the various 
soils in the county and looking to see which suited fruit best, and came 
to the conclusion that on the whole this soil was to be preferred, although 
most fruits do well on the brick earth near Sittingbourne, Strawberries 
near Swanley, and Apples in the Weald. The sandy soil about Swanley 
is of course not nearly so rich as ours, but if it is regarded merely as a 
substance to hold the tree up, and plentiful applications of manure are 
given, fruit will do tolerably well, for there does not appear to be any¬ 
thing injurious in it. 1 had to wait a couple of years before I could 
obtain ground, but latterly, since prices have been lower than what 
they were, it is much more easy to obtain ground. 
A stranger not knowing anything of the whereabouts of the ragstone 
range would be able to trace where it began and left off simply by 
reason of the fact that fruit plantations and Hop gardens, which are 
such a remarkable feature of it, cease almost entirely directly one leaves 
it. Notwithstanding the high quality of the Apples grown on this 
range, the trees canker, though how far they do so varies considerably. 
On the lower slopes of the range the rock is nearer the surface, and the 
ground is richer, and is lighter in colour, evidently from containing 
more lime. As the ground rises the soil is redder, apparently from lime 
being less abundant, and iron more so, until at the top the subsoil is a 
red clay, locally known as “ red pin,” thickly interspersed with ragstone 
delris, the stones of a darker colour than the rock lower down, and 
where they are embedded in the red clay are also of a red colour. The 
upper soil is much darker than on the lower slopes. The presence of 
such a number of stones causes very good drainage, so that even when 
there has been much wet, after a day has elapsed the ground usually 
“ plumps up,” as it is termed locally. No doubt the stones also pre¬ 
vent such a hard pan forming as described by Mr. Abbey. The present 
variations in the ground have perhaps been partly caused by the action 
of rain washing fine particles of the soil lower down, so that the lower 
ground is richer, as is always the case, and this has also been aided by 
the different crops cultivated. 
The higher the ground the more the Apple trees canker. I would 
ask those who contend that canker is not a question of soil how they 
account for this fact 1 On the higher ground hardly any Pears will do 
well, the fruit of most varieties cracking so much as to be worthless, and 
the trees are unhealthy. Cherries do well almost everywhere, but on 
the higher ground are more liable to gum. The soil of which the analysis 
was given, and that of my own ground, is situated midway between the 
top and the bottom of the slope. It might be supposed from the fact of 
Apple trees cankering it was a poor soil; but it is not so. It is a rich 
brown loam in a very good condition; owing to the abundance of 
ragstone debris, is neither too heavy nor too light, and is well supplied 
with the principal elements of plant food. Experience shows that these 
are in a suificiently available form, for all kinds of vegetables can be grown 
of splendid condition and quality, and, as I said before, fruits of high 
quality are cultivated. When the ground was last sold it made £100 to 
£150 per acre, hardly any being then planted with fruit. But although 
Apples of first-rate quality are grown, yet some of the trees of almost 
every variety canker. With some varieties there is only a tree here and 
there, and other sorts canker so much that it is impossible to grow them 
except for a few years. The soil which was analysed by Dr. Voelcker had 
not then had much manure for some time. Mr. Abbey and others of 
your readers who are interested will now more fully understand the 
nature of our soil. I have gone into the matter fully in hope of throwing 
