September 3, 1885. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
197 
3 
TH 
Abingdon. 
4 
P 
s 
Crystal Palace (Fruit and Dahlias) two days. 
6 
SUN 
Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity. 
7 
M 
8 
TU 
Royal Horticultural Society (Dahlias and Grapes). 
9 
W 
Edinburgh (two days). 
THE ROSE SEASON OF 1885. 
S the din of battle has now ceased and the weapons 
of war laid aside for another year, for the com¬ 
batants in this strife are like those Italian com- 
mendatores, of whom we read that after a hard 
summer’s fighting they used to go into winter 
quarters, so as to prolong the strife, their trade 
being likely to suffer if the contests were too 
quickly decided. It may now be a good time to 
do as I have been wont to do in former years — 
take a survey of the past season. I feel, however, some 
difficulty, for I have seen the most conflicting accounts, and 
on matters which one would think there could be little room 
for difference of opinion. Let me take one example. It was 
stated in one gardening paper that the blooms at South 
Kensington stood remarkably well, as there was a cool breeze 
through the conservatory—very different from the day before ; 
while another writer stated that the blooms opened more 
rapidly than he ever recollected. No less an authority than 
Canon Hole has stated that it was the best season he remem¬ 
bered for forty years, while I have seen the statement of others 
that it was inferior to last year. 
I must, then, take my own lines, and not be influenced 
by any of the opinions that I have read or heard. I have 
had, again, a tolerably fair opportunity of judging ; for 
although I have gone neither to Wales or Scotland, I have 
enjoyed the opportunity of judging at thirteen or fourteen 
shows, beginning at Canterbury on June 26th, and ending 
at Darlington on July 25th, and have moreover visited many 
private and public gardens where the Rose reigns supreme. 
But the difficulty of judging about the quality of the Rose 
season has been considerably increased of late years. In 
the first place the Rose season, or rather the Rose showing 
season, is very different from what it used to be. Before 
the establishment of the National Rose Society Rose shows 
were few and the exhibition season was soon over ; in fact, 
after the first week in July, although Roses might be seen at 
other shows, they held only a secondary place. When con¬ 
sidering the character of the Rose season only these had to 
be taken into account; but now all this is changed. As I 
have said, from the end of June up to the very end of July 
exhibitions in which the Rose forms not the principal but 
the sole feature are held. The number of exhibitors has 
multiplied beyond what one would have at one time deemed 
possible, and as most growers are influenced by the condition 
of their own plants in giving their opinion concerning the 
general growth, it comes to pass that we have so many dif¬ 
ferent opinions ; and one has, in deciding as to the character 
of the Rose season, not to think over some three or four 
shows, but over some three or four and twenty and a corre¬ 
sponding number of gardens. Another reason why it is diffi¬ 
cult to judge is that the requirements of the Rose-grower 
and exhibitor, and I may add the demands of the public, 
have so much advanced of late years. The standard of ex¬ 
cellence is so much higher than it used to be; the size to 
which Roses have attained without destroying their symmetry 
No. 271.— Vol. XI., Third Series. 
is so remarkable, that we must, however difficult it may be, 
dismiss from our memory the seasons that have past, and 
only judge by the present high standard. I am no temporis 
laudator acti. I believe that stands of Roses which fifteen 
years ago excited applause and wonder would look miserable 
alongside of winning stands of the present day ; and hence 
it is most difficult now, so used have exhibitors and the 
public become to the very finest exhibits, that it is very diffi¬ 
cult to bring forward anything which shall come out promi¬ 
nently above all others. There is a more level style of 
exhibiting, but the level is higher. 
It will thus be seen that I am fully alive to the difficulties 
which beset the task which I have before me, and that my 
opinion is one not hastily given. That opinion is most 
decidedly that it has been a good Rose season—the best, in 
fact, that we have had for some years, but briefer than usual 
owing to the very dry weather, which, although unfavourable 
to the exhibitor, was on the other hand favourable to the 
managers of Rose shows. I have attended my usual number, 
have heard about a good many others, and with the exception 
of some rain at Wirral I am not aware of one where fine 
weather did not encourage the secretaries and committees of 
shows. I do not recollect any season in which there was so 
total an absence of aphides, or when the Rose maggot was 
less troublesome. I fancy I see some holding up their hands 
in wonder at such a barefaced statement, notably my good 
friend Mr. Williams of Alderminster, who seems to have 
been specially favoured by them, but none the less do I main¬ 
tain this opinion. In my own garden!from'beginning to end, 
on the walls or in the open, I hardly saw one. I have visited 
many gardens and have conversed with many growers, and 
that what I saw and heard fully confirmed this opinion. 
One would have thought the long-continued dry weather 
would have been favourable to their development, but some 
cause or other seems to have militated against them, and 
indeed with us all insect plagues have to a great extent been 
absent. The dry weather, too, was up to the middle of July 
favourable for the light Roses. Such flowers as Captain 
Christy, Madame Lacharme, and Mons. Noman had a good 
time of it and were shown in admirable condition, but in 
some places and soils it was too hot for the higher-coloured 
flowers ; but it is a curious illustration of the uncertainty 
that clings to Rose-growing, that while last year a good 
bloom of Marie Baumann was rarely seen and Alfred Coiomb 
was everywhere good, the case has been reversed this year. 
Marie Baumann has been shown generally, and Alfred Coiomb 
rarely, well. Why this should be so in Roses so nearly alike 
it is very hard to say; indeed this peculiarity of one Rose 
coming out prominently in some particular season is one of 
those problems no “ fellar can understand.” I do not know 
that this year any one variety has thus stood out prominently; 
indeed in the earlier part of the season there was often much 
difficulty in saying what Rose should claim the merit of being 
best in the show, but it is very difficult to find flowers that 
will beat A. K. Williams or Marie Baumann. 
There has been no diminution either in the number of Rose 
shows or in the vigour with which they have been carried 
out. The National Rose Society has again had a most suc¬ 
cessful season, their shows at South Kensington and at 
Manchester having been very successful—that at South Ken¬ 
sington, both in the extent of the exhibition and the quality 
of the flowers, have been, in my opinion, superior to any of 
its predecessors. But here again the extreme hot weather 
of the early days of July told much against the smaller exhi¬ 
bitors, and the “ fallings out ” were much larger than usual, 
and had all who entered been able to come to the starting 
post I think it would have taxed even Mr. Barron’s skilled 
hand to have given them a fair start. At Manchester the 
same held good. Many well-known exhibitors were absent, 
owing simply to the fact that the heat had driven their flowers 
out of bloom. But as showing how uncertain a thing Rose¬ 
showing is, Mr. Whitwell of Darlington, who has always 
No. 1927.— Vol. LXXIII., Old Series. 
