8 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ July 2, 1891 
Now the Rose season has commenced it will be desirable to remind 
our readers of the dates of the principal gatherings. They are as 
follows :— 
July 2nd (Thursday). — Farningham, Norwich, Lee, and Brighton 
(second day). 
„ 4th (Saturday).—Crystal Palace (N.R.S.) 
„ 7th (Tuesday).—Diss and Gloucester. 
„ 8th (Wednesday).—Dursley, Hitchin, Sutton, and Tunbridge 
Wells. 
„ 9th (Thursday).—Bath and Woodbridge. 
„ 11th (Saturday).—Eltham, New Brighton, and Reigate. 
„ 14th (Tuesday).—Wolverhampton (a three-days Show). 
„ 15th (Wednesday).—Ealing. 
„ 16th (Thursday).—Hereford (N.R.S.), Bedford, Helensburgh, and 
Trentham. 
,, 17th (Friday).—Ulverston. 
„ 18th (Saturday).—Manchester. 
„ 21st (Tuesday).—Christleton and Tibshelf. 
„ 23rd (Thursday).—Halifax and Worksop. 
Aug. 1st (Saturday).—Ripley (Derby). 
We regret that the alteration of date of the Eltham Rose Show was 
not made in our standing list, and the original date, June 27th, was 
transferred to the list of events on page 509 last week. The correct 
date of the Show is July 11th. 
Tea Roses at Westminster. 
In the account, on page 509, of the National Rose Society’s early 
Show of Tea-scented Roses, the opening sentences (lines 4 and 5) 
contain a statement to the effect that the blooms exhibited were “ cut 
chiefly from under glass.” This strikes me as a most unfortunate 
remark, calculated largely to defeat the main object of the Show, which 
is no doubt partly designed to make more generally known the earliness 
which characterises the blooming of the loveliest of all Roses out of 
doors, for I imagine that of the blooms staged in the Drill Hall last 
Tuesday those that had been grown under glass might have been counted 
on the fingers of one hand.—T. W. Girdlestone. 
[We are glad to learn on such good authority that the clean, fresh, 
and beautiful blooms exhibited had been produced without the aid of 
glass protection. Mr. Girdlestone is supported by another eminent 
rosarian, who states that not one of the blooms had been grown under 
glass.] 
' Large Growers and Small Classes. 
The note in your last issue over the well-known signature W. R. 
Raillem, revives the vexed and still unsettled question which I have 
ventured to put into the above form. The letter, and the determina¬ 
tion which it expresses, are quite consistent with the position taken by 
your correspondent in opposition to “ An Exhibitor,” myself, and others 
on a previous occasion ; but I ask leave to point out that this position is 
an absolutely unfair one, and fully bears out the contention that the 
small grower is very severely handicapped ; that, in fact, he has no 
guarantee that his fellow competitors shall be men of his own calibre, 
but he is exposed to the attacks of those whose stock of plants, time at 
disposal, experience, and other points of equipment are sufficient to com¬ 
pletely “ swamp ” him. Upon the principle qui s'excuse, s'accuse, the 
letter of your correspondent completely admits all this, for it is 
obviously penned with the desire to anticipate the very reasonable 
objection which would be offered to the idea of such growers competing 
in the smaller classes. 
We all know that, until the last week, the season has been a most 
trying one for our Roses, but this only makes it the more unfair for 
large growers to show in the small classes ; for if these gentlemen with 
their big battalions and the assistance they can command have been 
hard bit, how have the men fared who have but small stocks, and who 
are dependent upon their own hands for their cultivation ? No, sir, the 
principle of showing in whatever classes one likes according to the 
exigencies of a particular season is an unjust one. When once a man 
has developed ability to show and win in a large class he ought not to 
be allowed to drop down into a small one unless he has, at least, pro¬ 
portionately reduced his stock. 
Let us look how the principle works out. W R. Raillem claims the 
same licence for other growers as for himself—that is, that exhibitors in 
the class for forty-eights last year may show in the twenty-fours this 
year. Well, then, I suppose the thirty-six and twenty-four men may 
drop down into the twelves ; the former exhibitors of twelves go down 
to the sixes ; and then what is the small, bona-fide amateur, who with 
difficulty can muster six good blooms from his small stock, to do? 
Simply drop out altogether, or else stand to his guns and be “ wiped 
out” by such powerful antagonists as your correspondent. For, be it 
borne in mind, if the rules of the Society and the ethics of good taste 
will allow a man to drop from forty-eight to twenty-four under the 
pressure of certain circumstances, the same principle (or lack of it) will 
cause him to go to the very smallest classes under more severe pressure, 
and all this is unfair to the small man. The editor of the “ Rosarian’s 
Year Book” has more than once referred to this sort of thing, and, if 
memory serves me, has said of such an exhibitor, “ he ought to be 
ashamed of himself ! ” I hope he and the N.R.S. will continue this 
attitude, and also adopt some means of protecting the small grower from 
his more powerful confreres. 
By the time these lines appear the Palace Show will be upon us, and 
I shall look anxiously to see if your esteemed correspondent has come to 
a nobler frame of mind and is in his old place. I wish him every 
success there.—J. B. 
Rose Notes. 
Few Roses make a richer display during the early part of June oil a 
wall, and especially if it has a south aspect, than the old Crimson China 
or Bengal Rose of the Indica type. The colour of the blooms which are 
profusely borne in clusters is intensely rich, shown to great advantage 
by the dark green of its own foliage with which the branches are freely 
covered. Rambling over the walls of cottages are many specimens of 
this old Rose. Indeed it is surprising how well they succeed, consider¬ 
ing the treatment many receive, all current growth being cut in close 
from where it started with a hook directly flowering is past; new shoots 
are then made which have time to become partly ripened before winter 
sets in. From these the new growth and flowers are produced the fol¬ 
lowing year. _ 
Amongst June-flowering Roses there is none more lovely than the 
Persian Yellow when growing by itself, given space enough for it. to 
develope evenly into a thoroughly rounded bush, which it does with 
little or no pruning ; all it needs is space, and a yearly supply of flowers 
will result. Growing on grass no lawn plant could look more handsome 
than this neglected Rose. I lately saw a bush 6 feet high and as much 
thorough densely clothed with flowers. For cutting siDgly the stalks 
are too short, but in clusters, using the branches a foot or more long, a 
good effect can be made in a large vase. Those who have not tried this 
old favourite in the manner named should certainly do so. 
Captain Christy is one of the best Roses for culture in pots in a small 
state, say plants to carry from five to eight blooms. As a decorative plant 
in a small pot this Rose is second to none. The fine tinge of colour 
which this variety carries in the centre of the blooms renders it simply 
charming. Under glass, too, the colours are very pure.—E. M. 
THE MIDLAND COUNTIES’ PANSY SOCIETY. 
The first of what is to be an annual meeting of this new Society was 
held in Birmingham, June 24th, and was in every way a pronounced 
success, a very large number of blooms being staged, and several of the 
leading growers from Scotland attending and exhibiting—Mr. Cuthbert- 
son, Messrs. Dobbie & Co., Mr. Campbell, Blantyre ; Mr. A. Lister, 
Rothesay ; Mr. Irvine, Tighnabruaich ; Mr. Smillie, Busby, being 
present and competing. Mr. Charles Kay, Gargunnock, sent his blooms, 
and Mr. Bailey, jun., Sunderland, and Mr. Hy. Brooke, Durham, both 
attended and competed. Several exhibitors in the more distant parts 
of the Midlands, and many growers in the nearer districts of Birmingham 
competed. 
The Exhibition was originally fixed for the 10th, but owing to the 
season being late the Show was postponed until the 24th, so as not to 
clash with York on the 17th and Edinburgh on the 19th, but the hot 
sultry weather of a few days before the 24th had terribly tried Pansy 
blooms, and many could not exhibit stands they entered. Had the 
weather been cooler, as it has been since, the Central Hall, and it is a 
good sized one, would scarcely have held the blooms. 
In the open classes to trade growers and others in eight midland 
counties, Messrs. Pope & Sons, The Nurseries, King’s Norton, were first 
with fine blooms in the class for twenty-four Fancies ; Mr. Pemberton, 
florist, Walsall, second ; and Mr. George East, Leicester, third. For 
twelve new Fancy Pansies, sent out in the autumn of 1889 and sub¬ 
sequently, Messrs. Pope was first and Mr. Pemberton second. In the 
other classes in this section the prizewinners were the two exhibitors 
named ; and Mr. Henry Hughes, a Birmingham amateur, secured the 
first prize for six seedlings not yet sent out. 
In section 2, open to amateurs and gentlemen’s gardeners only in the 
eight counties, there were numerous exhibitors. For twenty-four Fancies 
and eighteen Fancies Mr. A. C. Christie, Shifnal, was first, Mr. Egginton, 
Wolverhampton, second in each of the classes, others taking third and 
fourth prizes. For twelve Fancies.—First, Mr. H. Hughes. Second, Mr. W. 
Fletcher, Powis Lee Farm, Shifnah Third, Mr. George East. Fourth, 
Mr. Fowler, Frasley, Tamworth. The several other classes were well 
filled, Mr. A. C. Christie being a leading winner. A section for amateurs 
in the midland counties who have never won a prize was arranged to 
induce amateurs to become exhibitors, and in the various classes Mr. 
Fowler ; Mr. Thomas Woodward, Stoke Green, Coventry ; Mr. E. Hill, 
Bulwell, Nottingham ; and Mr. H. Hill, Small Heath, were the leading 
prizewinners. 
