868 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ October 27, 1892. • j 
be put into commerce in May next—Marchioness of Londonderry. 
It is a very full and large flower of the Lady Mary Fitzwilliam 
type, and in colour white ; but unlike that very miffylady, vigorous 
in habit. In company with a friend I examined it closely at 
Chester and came to the conclusion that it was a grand bloom. At 
the same Show Messrs. Dickson had in their box of new Roses some 
promising flowers of some of which we shall hear more anon. The 
other day the raisers were good enough to send me a couple of 
blooms of the Marchioness of Londonderry, and they fully 
confirmed me in the opinion I had formed at Chester. At the 
same show Messrs. Harkness & Son exhibited two remarkable 
sports of Heinrich Schultheis, Merrie England and Mrs. Harkness, 
both oddly enough from the same shoot. The former, if it 
only remains constant, will be the best of all striped garden 
Roses ; there is no muddling of colours about it, and it is a full 
Rose, unlike the Gallica Village Maid which so often goes by the 
name of York and Lancaster, (which it is not) ; moreover, being a 
Hybrid Perpetual, it is possible to obtain autumn blooms from it. 
There was nothing new in Teas that I can recollect, for Cleopatra is 
not new; and of Waban, of which some speak highly, I have not 
seen sufficient to enable me to judge of its merits; it is a dark pink 
from Catherine Mermet. Corinna (William Paul & Son) I thought 
a promising Rose and with a well formed pointed petal. I may 
here notice a Rose by no means a new one which I saw at Lord 
Brassey’s residence at Normanhurst Court, Madame Ferdinand 
Jamin ; it was only a buttonhole Rose but exquisite in its colour¬ 
ing, and planted out and allowed to ramble on the back wall of a 
house it gives thousands of exquisite blooms. 
The personnel of the exhibitors has not varied greatly this 
season; some new men have come forward, some of the older 
ones have moved on, but there has not been much change. 
Colchester has held its high place as far as professionals are 
concerned ; both the Cants have carried all before them. To 
the older goes the Jubilee challenge cup, to the younger the 
champion trophy, while probably the two best stands shown this 
year were Mr. B. R. Cant’s stand at the Drill Hall, and Mr. F. 
Cant’s at Earl’s Court; and Colchester has yet another card to play. 
Messrs. Prior & Son have exhibited better this year than ever they 
have done, and occupied a higher position. The same may be said 
of Messrs. Merryweather & Sons of Southwell, who have 
exhibited in grand form, one of their Roses at Chester securing the 
medal for the best H.P. in the nurserymen’s class. 
I fear as far as Rose societies are concerned the past season has 
been a disastrous one. We all know how “ upsetting ” to a society 
is a wet day, and many a secretary who had laboured hard and 
striven to make his show a success was doomed to disappointment. 
Of the shows which I have attended this season three were held on 
the most execrable days that it was possible to be out in. I shall 
not easily forget Chester, nor do I think anyone will who had 
experience of it. What a sight it was when I entered the tent to 
see my good friend Page Roberts like another Atlas, not haying the 
world on his shoulders, but valiantly holding up the dripping tent 
which threatened to swamp and mutilate his fine stand of herba¬ 
ceous plants ; he has well struggled with misfortune, and even had a 
Mark Tapley air about him, and so in many places exhibitors were 
trying to get their flowers out of the way of drip. The most pro¬ 
voking part of it was that had the show been held on the day pro¬ 
posed at first, it would have been fine, but the local municipal 
authorities willed it otherwise. Then Ipswich and Hereford were 
just as bad as bad could be; the former is said to be used to it, 
but it was a woeful contrast at Hereford to the glorious day of last 
year. I hear of other societies which have more or less suffered 
from the inclemency of the season. 
There was but little change amongst amateurs, although there 
has been some. Mr. Lindsell is still the champion grower, but 
Dr. Budd ran him close, and secured the Jubilee trophy, and was 
first at a great many shows. Mr. Alex. Hill Grey is still the 
champion Tea grower, while in that same class Mr. A. Tate, of 
Downside, Leatherhead, and Mr. Herbert Fowler, of Claremont, 
Taunton, are likely to be forces with whom those who have hitherto 
held the foremost place will have to reckon. Mr. Orpen, of 
Colchester, has made an onward movement, and it is always 
pleasant to note that they who have begun in a very small way 
have advanced to a higher (if not the highest) place. 
And now a word as to the Rose in the garden during the past 
year. The same causes which so interfered with Rose shows were 
also in force here. We had a grand flush of bloom, and then came 
heavy and dangerous storms to bring desolation in their wake. As 
an instance of this I had at the time of the Ipswich Show promised 
to visit my friend, the Rev. H. A. Berners’ garden at Harkstead, 
but one of the most awful thunderstorms I ever experienced swept 
over the East of England the night before, accompanied with 
torrents of rain. When I met him on the morning of the Show he 
said, “ It is hopeless, my garden is converted into a pond.” I could 
well believe it. Mr. Frank Cant, whose shed for setting up his 
Roses is some distance from his house, was imprisoned there for 
some hours and could not get home. Happily, in both these cases 
the Roses had been already cut, and when one looked at their 
splendid blooms a little doubt about the storm might have been felt; 
but alas! it was too true, and so it was that all through July, cold and 
dreary was too often the experience ; but September made up for 
July, and during the fine fortnight that we experienced then I 
have never seen the Rose gardens so radiant. Teas we always 
look for, but the Hybrid Perpetuals put forth their claims to that 
title ; for in my own garden—and I have heard the same from others 
—there was a great profusion of bloom, and that of Roses which 
might well have been July Roses. But after all, the glory of the 
Rose garden in the autumn is the Tea Rose. What lovely blooms 
one was enabled to gather of Catherine Mermet, The Bride, 
Madame Hoste, &c., and how very much they are preferred for 
house decoration to the Hybrids! 
Nor must I omit the pleasure I have derived (and many others 
also) from the single Roses. What is there in colour to excel the 
Austrian Copper, or in pure rich yellow the Austrian Yellow ? and 
to those who have space for it what a lovely thing is the single 
Polyantha with its sheets of white flowers absoluely covering the 
whole of the foliage ; nor can one forget the treat given to us by 
Lord Penzance at the sight of those beautiful semi-double Roses he 
has obtained on the Sweet Briar. I believe that the Rose-loving 
world will have an opportunity of growing them, as they will be 
distributed by a well-known firm. 
Such are my views of the Rose season of 1892 with its various 
advantages and disadvantages, and I think when we come to strike 
the balance we may fairly say that, although not quite up to the 
mark, it has been one out of which much enjoyment has been had. 
The fine weather of September has done much to ripen the wood, 
which is one of the most essential points for a good season in the 
ensuing year. The wet of the present month has greatly retarded 
the necessary operations ; but perhaps a finer time may come, and 
rosarians are about the last persons to sit down in despondency, but 
hope on in the persuasion that there is “a good time coming 
yet.”—D., Deal. 
FUNCTIONS (AND WEIGHT) OF VINE LEAVES. 
Although deeply interested in this discussion, it is with 
reluctance that I enter into it in any form. The weight given 
of Mr. Swan’s Vine leaves, however, caused me to examine mine 
more closely than hitherto, and as the Yines are allowed a moderate 
extent of lateral growth, I considered the leaves to be fairly good. 
I cut some off, and their weight was exactly 1 oz. each, and 
measured a trifle more than 1 foot across. They were taken off 
two or three eyes from the main rod, and it is generally this 
portion on which small weakly leaves are to be found, especially if 
crowding by sub-laterals be permitted. 
The Yines are planted and are growing in a span-roof house. 
The glass portion commences at 1 foot from the ground level, and 
the side shoots are encouraged to grow also from that height. The 
circumference of the rods at 9 inches from the ground is 6^ inches, 
at 7 feet 3i inches. The border, an inside one, is composed of turf 
taken from a poor pasture ground, and old lime rubble only ; but 
little feeding has yet been given. The Yines, the first season after 
being cut back, were allowed to make as much growth as possible, 
and when ripened pruned well back. The second season two 
bunches were left on each rod ; the third, an average of 10 lbs. of 
fruit to each left to mature ; the fourth, 16 lbs. This season the 
crop averages 20 lbs. to each rod, which is 10 feet long. Only one 
year did Gros Colman fail to colour well, the cause being over¬ 
cropping in this case. Both Yines and fruit have each season kept 
improving, with bunches and berries above average size. 
"Mr. Wright has, I believe, seen fruit exhibited from these 
Yines in past years, and this season we took some to Earl’s Court 
on September 9th and 10th, which were awarded a silver medal. 
I have made some mistakes in their culture, but by those mistakes 
I have profited. Being over-anxious to have a good “ set ” I used 
the rabbit’s tail too freely. Following the advice of a well-known 
grower, however, I used the tail less often, and was rewarded by 
having a perfect “ set.” Alnwick Seedling with us sets as freely 
as Black Hamburgh, and the berries swell remarkably well. 
Madresfield Court perfected a good crop of fruit, extra large in 
size of bunch and berry. Seeing an article by Mr. Iggulden in the 
Journal in the summer 1891 on colouring Madresfield Court, I at 
once tried his teaching—namely, securing a good current of warm, 
dry air about the bunches by removing two panes of glass from the 
front ventilator opposite these Grapes. On very warm days these 
were taken out, in addition to the usual ventilation given, the 
result being berries coloured to perfection, and no cracking 
