264 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
April 5,1894. 
Rose Show Fixtuees in 1894. 
June 26th (Tuesday)—Westminster (R.H.S.). 
„ 27th (Wednesday).—Windsor (N.R.S.). 
„ 28th (Thursday).—Canterbury, Eltham, and Sutton. 
„ 30th (Saturday).—Sittingbourne. 
July 3rd (Tuesday) Farningham and Bagshot. 
„ 4th (Wednesday).—Croydon and Reigate. 
„ .5th (Thursday).—Hereford and Norwich. 
„ 7th (Saturday). —Crystal Palace (N.R.S.). 
„ 10th (Tuesday).—Grloucester and Wolverhampton.* 
„ 11th (Wednesday).—Hitchin. 
„ 12th (Thursday).—Bath, Harleston, Woodbridge, and Worksop. 
„ 17ch (Tuesday).—Helensburgh. 
„ 19th (Thursday).—Halifax (N.R.S.)., Halesworth, and Trentham. 
„ 21st (Saturday).—Manchester. 
,, 26th (Thursday).—Southwell. 
* A Show lasting three days. 
Any date of Rose shows, or of other horticultural exhibitions where 
Roses form a leading feature, not named above, I shall be glad to receive 
as soon as fixed, for insertion in future lists. — Edward Mawley, 
Rosebanh, BerMamsted, Herts. 
National Rose Society—The Silver Cup for Small Growers. 
I FIND that in writing to you about Messrs. Harkness’ handsome 
gift to small growers I inadvertently did an injustice to Mr. Cran¬ 
ston of Kings Acre, Hereford, which I hasten to correct, and regret 
that even by temporary forgetfulness I should have detracted 
from the merit of his gift of a 50-guinea cup some sixteen years 
ago, for which guerdon Mr. Jowitt and Mr. Baker had a memorable 
struggle, frequently referred to in writings on Rose contests. With 
this somewhat notable exception my statement stands good that 
the present cup is the handsomest gift hitherto given, and in this instance 
the prize is to be solely competed for by small growers. I hope Messrs. 
Harkness’ example may be followed by others. With the re-arrange- 
ments made this year in the prize schedules of our Society, with most 
classes of growers fairly protected, and with several prizes now offered 
to new members, the N.R.S., if properly displayed, should advance 
more rapidly than hitherto in public estimation, and the roll of members 
within the next few years show a marked increase.— Charles J. 
Grahame. 
Rose Marechal Niel. 
One of the best examples of growing this charming Rose that I have 
seen is at Fair Oak, near Bishopstoke, in Hampshire. Mr. Axford, who 
cultivates Roses on a large scale for the London market, was formerly 
a gardener to a gentleman in the neighbourhood. The situation is 
apparently well chosen, being fairly high and dry as well as having a 
good exposure. Houses have been built especially adapted to growing 
Roses in pots, many structures being occupied with Perle des Jardins, 
and Mr. Axford considers this the best Rose for commercial purposes. 
He adds to his stock of this variety yearly by grafting. Out of 152 plants 
which I saw but one had failed to grow. 
The dimensions of one house in which Marechal Niel Roses are grown 
are 35 feet long, 16 feet wide, and 9 feet high at the ridge. It is not a 
large building, but when I say that 200 dozen Roses are annually cut 
from this one house it cannot be said that the crop is a bad one. The 
plants are growing on the common Briar, which Mr. Axford considers 
makes much the best stock for this Rose. The cutting-back system is 
adopted. Directly the last flowers are cut the branches are pruned back 
to within a couple of eyes or so of the base, the result being abundance 
of strong healthy growth. The plants are 4 feet asunder, the growth in 
the first place having been trained horizontally to the right and left to 
form the base for future shoots. From these main branches, so to 
speak, the yearly growth springs at right angles, and extends up the 
roof on one side and part of the way down the other until the autumn 
pruning takes place. Many of these growths extend 20 feet in a season. 
From the base of one plant I counted as many as seventeen growths, 
which is a plain proof how amenable this Rose is to the free use of 
the knife. 
The soil being sandy in texture abundance of water is required at 
all seasons to maintain the plants in such excellent health. Not a 
speck of mildew did I see anywhere, and but very little green fly, so 
well does Mr. Axford attend to the plants. Tobacco sheets are preferred 
for keeping the aphides in check. When the plants are in free growth 
abundance of atmospheric moisture is maintained, and a corresponding 
supply of air later on to harden and ripen the shoots.—E. Molyneux. 
New French Roses. 
There must be something very fascinating to the French rosarian 
in the production of new varieties, but one would hardly have thought 
that after the many years in which the process has been carried on 
much profit could attach to it, and yet when we open the list of Messrs. 
Ketten Frere of Luxembourg we find that in the three classes of Teas, 
Hybrid Teas, and Hybrid Perpetuals, no less than seventy-two novel¬ 
ties (?) are offered to us. The thoughts naturally arise. Where do they 
go ? who buys the plants at 25 francs apiece ? Not English nurserymen, 
I think, and certainly not English amateurs. 
There was a time, when led away by the glowing descriptions given 
by their raisers, the trade growers used to order indiscriminately, and 
then I have no doubt it paid very well, but when they so often burnt 
their fingers they begun to look more to the antecedents of the raiser 
than to his glowing descriptions. If they found that year after year he 
had been sending out a number of Roses, and that none of these 
remained permanently in our catalogues, he politely declined to have 
anything to do with him, and therefore he began to order only the 
varieties sent out by those raisers whose previous acquisitions still found 
favour with him. I suppose that some of the French growers have 
found this out, for in one of the lists of new Roses sent to me I find that 
only the initials of the raisers are given, but we are politely informed 
that if we wish to obtain the names they will be furnished by the firm 
that sent out the list. Unhappily for him he has not been able to form 
a corner and to get other growers to follow his example, and so in the 
list given by Messrs. Ketten the names are to be found in full. 
Of the seventy-two novelties offered to us forty-nine are Teas, eight 
are Hybrid Teas, fifteen Hybrid Perpetuals. Now this in itself is 
remarkable. There was a time when the Hybrid Perpetuals bore the 
same proportion to the list as the Teas do now, but seeing that the taste 
has run the other way, and that the best Hybrid Perpetuals of other 
years have been those produced in our own islands, our friends across 
the channel have devoted their attention to the Teas, and left the 
Hybrids in a vast minority ; but what are we to do with forty-nine Teas 
in one year ? And which among them is to exceed or even rival many 
of those we at present have? Our leading trade grower of Teas, for 
such I suppose we may call Mr. Geo. Prince, who has been to Lyons, 
says that there are two or three amongst the new Teas which will be 
desirable additions, while another has told me that the additions will be 
neither amongst Teas or Hybrid Perpetuals, but in that mongrel race 
the Hybrid Teas. 
Of these forty-seven new Teas nothing is positively known on this side 
the channel ; there is but little to be gained by our knowledge of the 
raisers, and we must only therefore trust that some enterprising persons 
will venture to grow and show them, so that we may be able to see 
how far the reality agrees with the glowing descriptions of the raisers, 
—D., Beal. 
HIMALAYAN RHODODENDRONS. 
Sir John Llewelyn sent cut trusses of several varieties of Hima¬ 
layan Rhododendrons to the Scientific Committee of the Royal Horti¬ 
cultural Society on March 27th, with the following remarks :—“ I send 
up a few trusses of Himalayan Rhododendrons, and have selected six, 
namely. Rhododendron barbatum, which has been in bloom for the 
past six weeks ; R. Thomsoni, just commencing ; R. arboreum, pink 
variety; R. Falconeri, R, grande, and R. Campbelli. None of my 
Himalayan Rhododendrons have been injured by the winter, though in 
the first week of 1894 we had 24° of frost for about a week ; and later 
on, when the Rhododendron blooms were expanding, we had on 
February 19th and 20th 14° of frost each night, with what effect upon 
the bloom you may judge for yourself, I should say the plants receive 
a certain amount of natural protection from adjacent trees, but 
absolutely none of an artificial nature. Very much advantage and 
pleasure may be obtained by those who exercise their judgment in 
distinguishing between the species of these Himalayan Rhododendrons 
which are being proved hardy in this country, and those which 
require greenhouse shelter, and, given suitable soil and climate, we 
may expect to see them more generally grown than appears to have 
been hitherto the case. 
“ Where the wood is well ripened in the summer, before the autumn 
and winter frosts commence, many species will stand the cold with 
impunity, but the danger arises when the spring frosts recur after the 
buds have begun to grow. Some are much earlier than others in their 
leaf action, and run a risk of getting the tender foliage cut off where 
later sorts escape, and these, of course, cannot be accounted as hardy as 
the later species. Frost on the expanded bloom may destroy a truss, 
and yet four or five days later fresh trusses take the place of those 
injured, for the unexpanded pips resist frost in a wonderful manner. 
All the blooms now sent have experienced frost, namely, 6° on the 16 th, 
and 7° on March 17th, 
“ Taking Sir Joseph Hooker’s ‘ Flora of British India’ as my guide, 
and judging from it of the approximate elevations at which the species 
occur, T should consider that those which grow in their native habitations 
at 9000 feet or upwards above the sea level will be found to prove hardy 
enough to thrive out of doors with us. I am trying and proving the 
following species :— 
Rhododendron grande 
„ Hodgsoni 
„ Falconeri 
„ arboreum 
„ niveum 
„ campanulatum 
„ lanatum 
„ campylocarpum 
Rhododendron Griffithianum 
„ Thomsoni 
,, Hookeri 
„ barbatum 
,, Edgworthi 
„ oiliatum 
„ glaucum, and 
„ cinnabarinum 
and there are others I am anxious to obtain and try. Prolonging the 
season is one advantage, the magnificent foliage for winter decoration 
