198 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ September 3, 1885 
shown so well there, was not in bloom ; and, indeed, when I 
was in his garden previous to the Darlington Show on July 
25th, his Roses were not nearly in full bloom. How trying 
the weather then was may be evidenced in the fact that Messrs. 
Paul & Son, B. R. Cant, Prince, the Rev. J. W. Pemberton, 
and other distinguished growers, were not able to put in an 
appearance, and as telegram after telegram arrived announc¬ 
ing their failure the courage of a less experienced manager 
than Mr. Whitwell might have “ oozed out at his fingers’ 
ends.” But he was not disheartened, and the northern men 
boldly sustained the reputation of the Show. The earlier 
shows, on the other hand, exhibited a decided advance— 
Canterbury, Reigate, Farningham, and Sutton all showing a 
large increase. One other very satisfactory fact has to be 
recorded—viz., that the number of inferior blooms exhibited 
at all the shows and slovenly ways of setting up have greatly 
diminished. The competition becomes more severe, and 
growers are put upon their mettle. The National Rose 
Society may well be proud of the impetus it has given to 
Rose-growing. Nor has it confined itself to the exhibition 
flowers only ; garden Roses have been encouraged, and 
many a long-forgotten favourite has been inquired after. 
Questions of varied character are brought before it, and its 
decision is regarded as final in all matters connected with 
the Rose. One or two questions will have to be brought 
before it when the Committee meets again. 
I do not think that there has been any such startling re¬ 
sults of exhibiting as I was enabled to chronicle last year. Mr. 
Pemberton secured the challenge trophy, and exhibited, as 
he always does, well ; but the weather was too much for even 
him, and he could not continue from the beginning to the 
end of the season, as he did in 1884. Mr. Slaughter again 
resumed the position he occupied in 1883, and exhibited in 
fine style. Mr. Girdlestone is evidently coming to the front, 
and is showing what can be done even in the Bagshot sand 
by an enthusiastic grower. In the north the Messrs. Hark- 
ness have developed into first-rate exhibitors, and their exhi¬ 
bits at Darlington and Newcastle were of a very superior 
order. It is pleasing to record the uprising of new exhibi¬ 
tors, for older ones drop off, and we want to have their 
places supplied. 
Again have Tea Roses been shown in increasing numbers 
and in great beauty ; and here let me say how heartily welcome 
was the sight of Mr. George Prince, after his long and most severe 
illness, at the South Kensington Show; still, indeed, show- 
ing signs of its severity, but giving us hope that he will one 
day resume his old place amongst us. The impetus given to 
Tea Rose-growing has been in great measure due to him, 
and he must rejoice to think how many apt pupils he has 
had. On this occasion we cannot pass by the remarkable 
success of Mr. E. Claxton of Liverpool, who, with a small 
number of trees, has been enabled to achieve a great success. 
One Rose which he has specially patronised, Madame Cusin, 
has a great future before it, owing mainly to the excellent 
manner in which he has shown it. 
With regard to new Roses, there is very little to record. 
Mr. Henry Bennett has succeeded in raising a new Rose—Mrs. 
JohnLaing, which, if I mistake not, will be a much greater fav¬ 
ourite tlianHer Majesty, and he is evidently reaping the results 
now of his careful hybridising. That wonderfullypuffed Rose, 
Gloire Lyonnaise, which was described as a yellow Perpetual, 
has proved an egregious take in. It is a pretty Rose of the 
Capitaine Christy type, but yellow ? Well, you may perhaps 
discover at the base of the petals the very slightest tinge of 
sulphur yellow. It may be, as was said to me by a thoroughly 
good rosarian, that it is the forerunner of a new race, and 
that that is its claim to merit. Perhaps so ; but the same 
was said of La France, of the same raiser, but nothing came 
of it. It remains, indeed, one of the grandest Roses for the 
exhibitor and the garden that we have, but it has produced 
no progeny. Merveille de Lyon has proved, I fear, a disap¬ 
pointing Rose. Nothing can exceed its purity when caught 
in perfection; but, alas, that it is too seldom ! In every 
stand that I have seen of it this year there was always a 
large number which showed the eye. A new Tea Rose, 
Madame de Watteville, is likely to become a general favourite. 
It is white, slightly shaded and edged with salmon, and is 
very attractive. The Hon. Edith Gifford has fully established 
its claim to be one of the very best of its class. Ulrich 
Brunner, though not a new Rose, has come out marvellously 
this year; and, indeed, if any Rose may claim to give a title 
to the year, one may say it was an Ulrich Brunner year. I 
have not seen Messrs. Paul & Son’s Madame Norman Neruda, 
so can say nothing about it, but I hear a very high character 
of it. It will thus be seen that our catalogues are not likely 
to be much burdened by new Roses. There may still be 
some unknown to fame, but they have as yet bloomed in the 
desert. 
I cannot conclude this rapid survey of the year without 
a word of thanks to all with whom I have been associated 
during the past season. I have received unvarying kindness, 
and have been further strengthened in the conclusion I came 
to long ago—that Rose-growers are a “ good set of fellows,” 
and to me it has been a cause of much thankfulness that I 
have been enabled to fulfil every engagement that I made, 
and when one is verging on to being a septuagenarian can I 
be thankful enough ?—D., Deal. 
NOTES ON FRUIT AND FRUIT TREES. 
The lovely tintings of purple, ci-imson, and gold now begin¬ 
ning to attract the eye on the ripening and clustering fruits of 
Apple, Pear, and Plum, forcibly remind us of the rapidly 
declining days of a charming summer. Although the abundant 
blossom which clothed the trees in early spring augured well for 
a good general crop of fruit in 1885, our expectations were not 
fully realised, but we have not much reason to be dissatisfied. It 
is true the Apple crop is not quite so bountiful as it was a 
couple of years ago, and this was no doubt owing to the late 
spring frosts, which occurred when the latter were in full 
blossom. In some districts, however, notably the southern and 
western counties, the crop is above the average, there being only 
a few isolated instances of failure known. Many of the orchards 
in the western counties had their trees badly infested with blight, 
and this, coupled with the excessive drought, has caused a great 
quantity of the fruit to fall prematurely, and will, no doubt, 
prevent the remainder of the crop from attaining its normal size. 
Jn some of the districts in Kent where fruit-growing is exten¬ 
sively carried on, we recently saw, in the course of a drive, the 
majority of the Apple trees bending under the weight of its 
crop 
Our American cousins are looking forward to having a 
bountiful harvest, and round the environs of Homburg in 
Germany we are told there is the heaviest crop that has been 
borne for years. Most of the Apple trees about Homburg are 
planted in the|hedgerows by the roadside. It is a great pity 
that this plan is so seldom adopted in England, where so many 
hundreds of miles of favourable sites exist by the sides of our 
main roads. The planting of railway embankments with fruit 
trees has been suggested times out of number, but, before we 
attempt this, let our hedgerows by the roadsides be made both 
attractive, useful, and a source of profit. The total acreage 
devoted to Apple culture in Great Britain, however bountiful 
the crop, cannot supply the demand, hence the many thousands 
of bairels which are imported annually into this country. Now 
were Apple trees planted as we suggest, the farmer would possess 
a fruitful source of income, as well as the consumer the better 
qualities of home-grown fruit at a cheaper rate. Farmers are, 
however, beginning to find that fruit-growing is a profitable 
business as regards bush fruits and Strawberries, and the day is 
not far distant when they will become alive to the importance of 
planting Apple trees in the hedgerows. 
Of Fears there is a grand crop all through the country, but 
the fruit will, in consequence of the drought, be far below the 
average in size. It will, however, be better ripened and well 
coloured. These remarks refer principally to standards and 
pyramids, but in the case of cordon-trained trees well looked 
after in watering and so on, the fruit will be very fine. We are 
more impressed than ever with the value of cordon-trained trees 
for walls; the trees are more certain of a crop, and the quality of 
the fruit superior to those grown in any other form. Out of a 
collection of some hundreds of cordons we have to record one 
failure this season, and that is in respect of Pitmaston Duchess, 
which has not borne a single fruit It is planted near the 
